Gone Mountain Biking

 Are we entering into a new era of off road dominance? 

To some, it's an era we never left.

There was a time when the humble mountain bike covered almost all aspects of non-competitive cycling. A short trip to the grocery store? Check. Your commute to class? Check. A ride around town or to a friend's house? Check. A weekend getaway to your local trails? Check. In the beginning, there was one bike to rule them all. It was not a fancy carbon road bike costing in the thousands. It wasn't even a gravel bike as in those days we've never even heard of the concept. It was the old school, twenty six inch wheel diameter, horizontal top tube, diamond framed mountain bike with optional (not de facto) suspension. This was a time dominated by cyclists who rode the sidewalk where they existed or rode the shoulders of roads in their area. Fanny packs and saddle bags ruled supreme, and helmet use was still optional. Bicycles were simple, analog machines with cable actuated gears and brakes that anyone with a basic set of tools could learn to service from their backyard. Recently, I have noticed a longing for simpler times and the market slowly gravitating towards the kind of riding that most people who don't call themselves cyclists have been doing for years.  For good reason, as the biggest demographic of cyclists has been underserved by the trends that have dominated for so long that it is hard to remember there existed a time before them.

In the past 30 years, the U.S has gone through three cycling popularity waves. This doesn't include the great bike boom era of the 1970's because that era is well in the rear view mirror of time now. The first wave of cycling popularity came around 1989 and lasted until about the year 2000. This is the era that I will refer to as "Gone Mountain Biking" because of a meme I saw a few years ago on a cycling forum on this very subject. This era coincided with Greg Lemond's last Tour De France victory and the rise of Lance Armstrong in subsequent years. The early years of this era counted on some very good marketing approaches such as televised races and appearances of mountain bikes in shows and sitcoms (does anyone remember Jerry Seinfeld's Klein that hung inside his home?). Road biking during this time was both a niche sport and arguably more dangerous than it is today, although in this article we will discuss the return of those dangers that kept cyclists off the roads during that time. During the entire decade of the 90's, I cannot remember one person that owned a road bike. Aside from a few 70's Schwinns that would occasionally pop up at pawn shops there was no trace of any curvy handlebar bikes anywhere in society. One can argue that I was observing society then through the lens of a child and maybe I would of noticed road cyclists more had I been paying attention, but I can honestly say that during that decade I didn't see a single one. I didn't know those bikes existed until the late 90's and only through watching the Tour De France.

Imagine a society that only rode on rigid or hardtail mountain bikes for recreation and in a nutshell you have what cycling was like in the 90's. I was first made aware of road cycling as a sport in the early 2000's, but still had no connection personally to what it meant to be a road cyclist. Around 2003, a friend of mine showed me his Cervelo Time Trial bike he used when he competed in South Africa. That was the first time I got to see one up close and I remember the twinkle in my eye when he told me how far he could ride on that bike. I think I already owned one of those yellow Livestrong bracelets during those years. A few years later, around 2007 I bought my first road bike. My interest in road cycling coincided with Lance Armstrong's return to cycling in 2009 when he rode for team Radio Shack. With an ambassador for the sport domestically, road cycling enjoyed a resurgence in popularity for a few more years. This popularity led to improvements on multi-use trails nationwide and a much larger national conversation about the health benefits of cycling as well as it's use for transportation. All of these efforts came crashing down around 2012, when Armstrong became a disgraced figure in the sport over his use of performance enhancing drugs. This era is what I refer to as the Lance Era, spanning in earnest from about 2003 to 2012.

Since 2012 the popularity of cycling has waned and is now suffering a slow atrophy. Road cycling has traditionally been exclusive in its ability to attract new people into the sport. From it's cost of entry (road bikes being some of the most expensive) to the lack of infrastructure to ride safely it would seem like road cycling is a sport practiced by daredevils and those with a death wish. Instead of local municipalities addressing the concerns of cyclists, the nationwide construction booms for housing have not made any concessions to cyclists on the roads. Many neighborhoods are still being built without sidewalks and many cities are not adding bike lanes or protected shoulders for those who wish to commute by bike. Roads are getting busier while at the same time less maintained. Adding to the difficulty of being a cyclist on the roads, most new truck or SUV grills are on average four feet tall, making it difficult to notice a cyclist riding at about the same height as the grill. The average consumer of road cycling equipment are men over the age of 40. Many who have been at this for a while are now hanging up their road bikes in favor of E-bikes, or simply no longer riding at all. While some Millennials and even some Zoomers are picking up cycling, they are more the exception than the rule and many are chasing the clout that social media showcases them. It is difficult to know whether this new generation of road cyclists that is small in numbers will stick to the sport the way the generations before them did. While the road cycling genre sputters to stay alive, a new movement has been slowing gaining traction and should make it's day view as the next big wave of the sport.

Gravel biking has been discussed in the cycling circles way before the first bikes were marketed to the public. I first heard of it in the early 2010s through cycling forums and blogs, which referred to gravel biking as gravel grinding, randonneuring or underbiking. Before purpose built, race gravel bikes were invented, many would fashion gravel bikes out of cyclocross bikes, old mountain bikes or 70's road bikes with clearances for 650b wheels. Here in the states, some of the first gravel events were held in rural parts of the country, such as the Trans Iowa hosted by it's inventor Guitar Ted. Some of the oldest events in my area are the Texas Chainring Massacre and the Red River Riot. Gravel bikes are constantly undergoing a metamorphosis leaning either towards becoming a road bike or back to a mountain bike. Seeing as how gravel events are similar to early XC mountain biking events, I would say that we are on a return to the "Gone Mountain Biking" era. After all, gravel bikes are marketed as do it all bikes, a trait that they share with some of the first mountain bikes. It seems like the gravel bike trend is becoming a segway as more road cyclists get off the pavement and onto rail trails, country dirt roads and eventually mountain bike trails.

With no "Lance Era" spokesperson left for cycling in the U.S, it has become increasingly difficult to maintain the hard fought and delicate space we have created for ourselves on the roads. As the nation reverts back into it's car centric identity, the notion of looking out for or respecting other road users quickly vanishes from the collective consciousness of drivers. Maybe this is a phenomenon only witnessed in new suburbia or other sprawling communities, yet it is impactful to society at large as well as  in the world of cycling. People will always use their bicycles. The question is going to be how they do so moving forward. Many who were once remote workers during the pandemic have had to return to the office, further adding to the gridlock that exists on the roads. Will people who love cycling simply be forced to move to where there is more infrastructure for it, or move so far out into a remote area where there's no cars to worry about? Or will we see a "Gone Mountain Biking" part 2 play out in this decade, with road bikes falling into obsolescence for a few years?  I can only speak from my own experience that I am now using my road bike less and less and find myself driving out to paved trails when I do. I figure since I'm driving either way it might as well be to a mountain bike trail. Also, mountain bikes have bigger tires for all of the rough surfaces I have to deal with when out on the roads. So, in a way I've never left that "Gone Mountain Biking" era and I feel it will eventually come full circle at some point in the next few years. It was nice being a road cyclist while it lasted, but I have always been and will continue to be on a mountain bike.

 

     

For Old Times Sake...

 Demonitized, de-incentivized and irrelevant as time has moved on...

...But I'm still here.

    I remember a time when Google would send me a $100 check in the mail every year for my blog contributions on Blogger. It was always a treat to see proof that people were engaging with my written content and it made me feel good as an amateur columnist of the internet. Those were the days when people read instead of scrolled. The modern day chat forums were in their infancy and if most people were interested in researching a topic they would turn to blog posts instead of going on YouTube. 

A lot of good ideas and good intentions have now gone by the wayside. Technology has left them behind as well as the fickle nature of people's constant wandering interests. Every once in a while, something is picked up from the rubbish heap and trended for a few days on social media. A good idea can be acknowledged with a fleeting curiosity, given a self righteous lip service then tossed back in the heap for a few more years. The truth is, all good ideas are filtered through the sea of bad ones, making it impossible for them to prevail. They are constantly tumbling in an ever changing media spin of trends and content that is making the world's head spin. Society is primed and ready for a Fahrenheit 451 scenario, all too ready to stop reading, critically thinking, creating and imagining all together. Here's the thing, if good ideas were allowed to flourish, progress would be made and our society as a whole would be improved. However, only be bad ones prevail because they promote inequality and division instead of collaboration, inclusion and a societal baseline safety net. Bad ideas only benefit a small group of people who hold the most power, instead of giving more power to the people. Social media has become the coping mechanism for the masses, a means of consuming the fantasies of wealth and status (whether real or imaginary) that the privileged few occasionally decide to share with us. Meanwhile, the infrastructure projects that would improve people's lives are quietly shelved or hollowed out of funds on a local, state and federal level so that a bigger football stadium can be built in one town or more parking space for giant SUVs and trucks can be added in another.

Reading the list of transportation initiatives that have failed to thrive in the past ten years would easily read like a eulogy.  Mixed use zoning was a way of property developers to make overpriced, luxury apartments that gentrified long standing neighborhoods. Bicycle transportation networks have resulted in many trails that lead to nowhere. Sharrows no longer get repainted by city maintenance. Rental bikes were often vandalized, stolen or tossed around towns and college campuses as road debris. Whatever happened to that bullet train that was supposed to go from Dallas to Houston? Whatever happened to that trail that was supposed to connect Dallas to Fort Worth? What ever happened to many cities 2030 walkability plans? Was that bond money re-allocated to say, having the nation's largest High School football stadium only to be outdone by another town the following year? How about the policing and fare enforcement of DART rail? How did DART go from being one of the largest rail networks in the country to one of the most poorly maintained, and dangerous to ride on? Why does most new city planning in new areas not include sidewalks or bicycle infrastructure? Why are SUVs and trucks 3 times the size that they were 10 years ago as well as 3 times as fatal? Why do public works projects like installing a traffic light now take a year or more to complete?

The changing landscape that has resulted as bad ideas have taken over have left us in the DFW cycling community with little recourse as our roads have slowly become unrideable over the past few years. The post pandemic population explosion has also added more vehicles to an already strained, unkept road infrastructure. All of these new vehicles have grills and headlights taller than a child's head in the front, resulting in poor visibility to the driver and over reliance on lane and other object sensors. Now, already distracted drivers on their phones are behind the steering wheels of much more fatal weapons. What is a road cyclist to do these days?

The truth is, it is expensive to live near any cycling infrastructure as properties that are built or around existing trails are fetching a premium. In addition to these locations having always been expensive and cost prohibitive, the current mortgage interest rates and property values have deemed areas that once could be aspired to as un-obtainium. For long time locals in the area, moving to another part of the state is simply not doable. The result of all of this is that we now face a grim choice as cyclists if we are to continue doing the sport we love; cycle indoors or quit cycling. In recent years, indoor cycling has enjoyed a resurgence as more technology has been thrown into smart trainers and virtual reality cycling software. I guess when reality sucks the only way to keep fitness gains and be a part of the community is through virtual workouts. As a user of indoor trainers there is nothing I hate more than burning the rubber on my rear bike tire sitting in place or an hour, sweating puddles and giving myself crotch pain trying to push out watts on a traditional trainer. However, with how bad the situation has gotten on the roads I am seriously contemplating buying a smart spin bicycle that can work with virtual riding software. Even with a mischievous toddler and limited space in my home this option seems wiser than riding out of the neighborhood sometimes. 

Driving to the trails isn't much of a better option. The nearest trail to nowhere that is paved is still a good 30 minutes away from my house. To get to a premium riding destination is about an hour drive. I have a few mountain biking trails that are closer, but extreme weather can keep those trails closed weeks at a time. Up until a few years ago, I lived near trails or lived in a bike friendly town. I would routinely get rides in as often as 3 times a week. I had fitness, I had drive and I was in the right environment for cycling. When we bought our first home in many years we were priced out of the areas I had lived in previously. We bought into a new community which was at time a small neighborhood surrounded by quiet, rural roads. In a matter of just a few years, the growth in the area has exploded, but the roads aren't any better. Several neighborhoods are now built or being built in the area. Newcomers who don't respect the slower pace of rural life are tearing up the once tranquil, idyllic roads. The new home we bought as a family has become a money pit of problems caused by rushed construction and rolling black outs in the area. We are in the golden handcuffs scenario as having a mortgage rate too low to refinance and no way of lowering our mortgage payment elsewhere. So unless I leave Texas altogether, there is no moving back to the city or closer to bike trails anytime soon. 

As I get older, the more irrelevant  I become. My cycling peers of a similar age have already moved over to the dark side of cycling, aka indoor cycling. Road cycling isn't attracting a younger audience like it did when I started riding, one could even argue that it has always struggled to find its footing with younger people. The fact that I am choosing to blog about it in 2024, when the written language is going the way of analog film cameras, is my therapy and way of coping with life's changes. We are in a malaise era in a lot of ways, but this is probably the worst time to be a cyclist on the roads of north Texas than any other period of time that I can remember . In the grand scheme of things, my problems are only a ripple effect pointing to a much larger moral bankruptcy in our society today. 

It's official that the millennial generation that I am a part of has finally grown up, peaked and fallen out of style and favor with the generation coming behind it. Despite this, I am still here in the sense that I will continually adapt to life's changes and will do my best to make the best of getting older. I do not really feel like my time has passed. There is very little evidence of change of who I am on the outside as well as how I feel on the inside. I must admit, however that the rest of the world is moving on and away from those in my age group, especially in terms of deeming them a target audience in the fitness community. I get more targeted ads for investing and politics than I get for new bikes. No matter what, I will keep going, putting one foot in front of the other, one pedal stroke at a time.

Transit Oriented Developments: Bikable, Walkable Cities or an Economic Double Standard?

Transit Oriented Development

Discussing the modern effects of mixed used zoning, both good and bad

Downtown Las Colinas was the first transit oriented development in the mid-west. This residential and office district now features a light rail, connecting it to the rest of Dallas.

As a former resident of the Las Colinas/Greater Dallas area, I am a huge fan of Transit Oriented Developments and mixed used zoning. When I lived in the area, I could ride my bike to the library, the post office, the local pizza shop and even the grocery store. Las Colinas has a 10 mile bicycle trail connecting it to the neighboring suburb of Valley Ranch. Valley Ranch is a township of the city of Irving, with an extensive trail and canal system running through it's core. Back in 2007 it was the place to be if you were a twenty-something, young, single person or a young couple without kids. I have many fond memories of this place in the 3 years that I lived there, although after 2008 I was hard pressed to find work due to the economic recession. With the addition of a new member to the family, after 2010 it soon did not make economic sense to stay there any longer. My wife and I took advantage of the depressed housing market and we have been living in the suburbs ever since. Not the happy ending I was hoping for, but a happy one nonetheless. 

Don't get me wrong, I love living in apartments. I love living on the chic, trendy side of town with endless choices of good eateries and high end retail. I would be lying to myself if I said I didn't miss the convenience of not having to mow my own lawn, repair my own house, or drive to my favorite restaurant. I miss the late nights as a single guy where I would go jogging around the canals or go free-running in downtown Las Colinas, jumping over trash cans and clearing bus stops. I miss being an urbanist. Maybe one day I can get back to that place, maybe make it a goal. The point is I couldn't afford to live there any longer, I was priced out of the market. I have since made my peace with it and moved on, because change is inevitable and the Valley Ranch/ Las Colinas area isn't what it was 8 years ago anyway.

The truth is, after I lost my job and had a kid, the concept of livable, walkable cities became more and more foreign to me. The fact of the matter is that living in a place where all you do is spend money eating out and shopping goes against everything that someone struggling financially would do. The master plans and zoning regulations of most New Urbanist developments in the United States favor and cater to high end retail, niche boutiques and haute cuisine dinning. Where are all the corner stores and delis? Where are the Aldi's? The Lidl's? The pharmacies? The farmer's market? Is a community that is supposed to be walkable, livable, really sustainable without these things?

The answer to the latter question is no. The minute the economy turned many young people abandoned ship and left Las Colinas to go live with their parents, or to go live in the suburbs where the cost of housing is relatively cheaper. The fall of the economy also coincided with rising costs of living and renting in the area. One could say that a figurative noose was tightening around our necks, as apartment costs out-priced home mortgages. It didn't matter how walkable or bike friendly a place Las Colinas was, essential goods and services were out of reach and the area had no "real" economy to sustain itself with. During hard times, people will eat out less, shop less and drink more coffee at home. Therefore a mixed used zoning development that has businesses such as jewelry stores, coffee shops and organic burger joints will not be able to weather the storm when hard times hit. The people living there will not be able to sustain their consumer spending lifestyle of eating out all the time and not having food in their refrigerators. Yet here in the U.S, at least in North Texas where I live, there are no practical businesses in these types of Transit Oriented Developments being built. The businesses moving in seem to be taking out the corner stores, bakeries, tax offices, and other vital businesses that the existing communities have relied on for years. This is especially true in the case of historical downtown re-developments, or downtown revitalizations. Main streets all across the country have been neglected for about 50 years thanks to suburban sprawl. In the meantime many city centers became working class communities and cultural districts. Commercial and residential property values crashed in these areas and in a lot of cases it brought poverty and crime as a result. In the last 10 years or so, the kids of suburban dwellers started to rediscover urban centers and their affordable cost of living. Many of them started to buy back commercial spaces and historical homes. Now property values in these areas have increased and become too expensive for the blue collar residents that have been living there for generations. Whether intentionally or consequently, Transit Oriented Development has led to gentrifying of whole neighborhoods and communities. We only need to look at places like Brooklyn, New York to confirm this is true.

This is the double standard of Transit Oriented Development. It's affordable for "some", but not affordable to all. It gives the illusion of a walkable, bike friendly community, but without the accessibility to get one's basic necessities. This is what is fundamentally wrong with this model as it is being currently implemented. If I pay over $1,000.00 a month for rent on an apartment, I'm not going to be eating $10 burgers everyday and driving to the next town to find a grocery store. That defeats the point of paying for the "privilege" and convenience of living in a mixed used zoning development. It's better to live in a suburb with a real sense of community rather than in a "fake" economy, glorified strip mall with flats on the second floor. All retail business that do not provide an essential service to the community are "fake" economy businesses. All they do is take up commercial space that would otherwise be used by more permanent entrepreneurs. Many of these businesses stick around an area while they are in vogue, later closing down the minute their sales start to drop. The result is a high turnover of residents and little to no investment in the community. The long term outlook for these new urban developments is bleak unless grocers, bankers, pharmacies and other real businesses start getting in on the action and setting up their shops in them. For that to happen, the current consumer and corporate mindset alike has to change. The concept of the "supermarket" or "superstore" is one that is hardwired and ingrained in everyone living in the U.S. Having a grocery store in a corner retail slot rather than in a stand alone building can be as foreign a concept as the moon to most people living here. Retail businesses are currently increasing rather than decreasing their store sizes, reasoning to themselves that "bigger is better as long as there is somewhere to build it". Case in point Nebraska Furniture Mart, a furniture store that takes up 77 acres of land, or several football fields in size. I mean, who needs a furniture store that big? In order for things to change, consumers need to demand it with their wallets. 

No one wants to hear or to talk about the negative effects of Transit Oriented Developments. Everyone wants to talk about sustainability, complete streets and environmental friendliness. Land developers, architects and investors need to practice what they preach. A truly sustainable community is one were all the residents rely on each other. It's a community where people work, shop, buy their necessities and don't shop at Wal-Mart or other big box stores. It's a community that in a way has it's own GDP; where economic growth comes from within by an exchange of services and not from outside consumer spending. Sustainable developments don't kick the current residents to the curb by raising the rent on them. They adapt and cater to all levels of income and demographic types. The conclusion we can draw is that there is currently a double standard to Transit Oriented Development. It's a situation that could spell the end of master planned, livable communities in the long term unless things change. Many of these projects have been abandoned mid-stage, many end up being converted into office spaces or even ghost towns as a result of unresolved issues. We shouldn't leave good ideas like  the Transit Oriented Development to die. Otherwise people will remember these developments as failed social experiments, not for the potential that they once had. I'm no one with the power to change that though, I'm just a guy writing a blog. Developers, businesses, local governments and entrepreneurs alike need to work with each other and come up with the solution. All I know is if I were the venture capitalist of a master planned community and my aim was livability, I wouldn't allow any $10 burger joints or stand alone supermarkets to be zoned there. End of rant.



P.S on this article: 

I also wanted to say that bike friendly neighborhoods have been a cause that I have personally defended and championed in the past. I still feel that it is the way to go to counteract the negative effects of car-culture. However, I am strongly against any action that would displace others for the sake of "the greater good". I understand that things change, landscapes change and cities change. Change is inevitable. There are people who have come to call a place home only to get uprooted or forced to leave because they were "not a right fit" financially or otherwise. Those people have skin in the game, a real relationship with their community and are heavily invested in their properties. I for one know what it's like to have to leave an area after thinking I had laid down my roots and settled down. So while I'm in favor of purpose built communities and "revitalizations" that favor bicycle transport and walkability, I can't say I agree with the way TODs are being carried out. 

Bike Friendly Garland is here!

Bike Friendly Garland, Texas

Although Garland, Texas has a long way to go before becoming bike friendly, there is a group of people who are now trying to change that.

On the outer edges of Dallas and Richardson, with it's wealthier cousins Plano and Allen to the north, exists a city of blue collar grit that has been virtually been left behind in all of the recent developments of the last 30 years or so in North Texas. In this case, left behind is sort of a good thing, because the it's bones still resonate traces of a time where there were more pedestrians and bicyclists on the road. It's downtown area is virtually shut down after 5pm, but you can still see the beauty of what it once was. The old Plaza theater, the hand painted murals on the walls, the mom and pop coffee shops. Surburban Assault even wrote an article about car-centric Garland and the irony that it's downtown was very bike friendly. All roads leading into downtown garland are residential. There is no major freeway running alongside the downtown area. Downtown Garland is in the middle of a city which is landlocked by 3 major freeways and one toll road. For this reason, the term "Garland is Car-land" is regularly used by locals to refer to it's lack of bike friendliness.  But that's all about to change.

Bike Friendly Garland is out there to show that it is possible to get around the city of Garland by bicycle. Among it's group goals are to promote and facilitate bicycle ridership, educate people about the rules of the road and seek support from the City of Garland to make improvements for safer and complete streets. 

On October 28, 2012, Bike Friendly Garland will have it's first inaugural ride to kick off the group and to get the ball rolling on the task at hand. Here is an event flyer from their page with details on when this event will take place.

If you are a north Texas local, I encourage you to show up and give these guys your support. Their task is a seemingly big one, since Garland is a seemingly large city. But if everyone works together, I believe that Bike Friendly Garland will have success in their goals and will have the necessary support to carry them out. My best wishes to Bike Friendly Garland in their endeavors.

DART Orange Line- Irving, welcome to Mass Transit

It's finally here! The Orange line comes to Irving/ Las Colinas

Open for business on July 30.

This Rail Line marks where the Las Colinas Urban Center Station will open come Monday, July 30.

Finally, after three years of long anticipation, the Orange line will be open for business on Monday, July 30, connecting Irving and Las Colinas to the DART railway system. This could not come sooner for residents around the  Las Colinas business sector. There are many new attractions in Las Colinas that people will now have more accessibility to. There is also a bike centric atmosphere developing in this area. Las Colinas is home to the L.B Houston trail system, also known as Campion Trails, a on and off road trail system running between the subdivisions of Las Colinas and Valley Ranch. The Bike Shop in Las Colinas just opened it's doors a few years ago in downtown Las Colinas and provides top notch service with any bicycle repairs. Every Wednesday evening cyclists will get together in the La Villita subdivision for the weekly criterium race.

The DART rail station is the icing on the cake for many new changes that this area is undergoing to quickly become a magnet for bicycle friendliness and mixed use zoning development. It has also attracted many new job companies and potential employers, Research in Motion being their latest acquisition. Things are looking up for this architecturally wonderful area that only a few years ago had nothing going on in it.

Flashback to 2006. I was in my early 20s. At 11:30pm, I would lace on my Converse high tops and put on my rolling stones tee shirt. Tonight was free-running night, otherwise known as parkour night. Las Colinas was the sort of nightly ghost town you could do such a thing in. As I jumped staircases and bus stops, flying over trash cans I couldn't help noticing how beautiful this place was. It has canals, like Venice, even clever vines that wrap themselves along a faux-pas brick wall. A lonely set of lanterns lit up the cobble stone paths. The windows of businesses that no one ever shopped in still displayed 80's manikins with their teal jewelry and wide Sunday hats. There was a building that had one floor in it where there was always a party, you could tell by the changing lights coming out of the windows. Along it's skyline was an unused metro rail, suspended by bridges, even going through some of the buildings.  Las Colinas was eerie, in a very cool sort of way. To best describe what Las Colinas was, it was like being in a Duran Duran music video, a place that got stuck somewhere in the mid to late 80's, and hid itself from the world. It was the kind of place that left you wondering after you visited, was it real or did it only exist in my mind?

My favorite shot of Las Colinas at night. 2008 by Jonathan Guzman. All rights reserved

Anyway, back to 2012. Las Colinas continues to be a cool place, getting in cooler as time goes on. Although they no longer allow free-running (that's ok, I don't think I can do that anymore anyway) it now boasts gondola boatmen in it's canals and a hometown bike shop. Surrounding Las Colinas is the DFW airport, friendly roads and lots of places to ride. Check out more on what Las Colinas has to offer. Read my blog other blog posts about this area. Check out the bike information on the DART website with tips on how to use the DART to commute by bicycle. I look forward to this year's opening of the Orange Line, and the Blue line station in Rowlett come December.

Great Cycling Cities of the World-And What Dallas can Learn

Great Cycling Cities

Because Bikes are taking over the world!

I recently joined a local online discussion regarding the use of bicycle lanes in the city of Dallas. Although there is much deserved support for this measure in my area, there is another group of cyclists within the cycling community (and I won't mention any names) who think it's best that everyone ride on the streets without the benefit of a bicycle lane. They feel that it is in the best interests of local tax payers to not have bicycle lanes around. They feel that the best answer to the bicycle commuter/motorist dilemma is to educate the cyclist and or motorist about road safety. In my discussions with some of them they have made it a point even to call out most cyclists for being at fault when there is a bicycle related injury or death on the road. They have been present in the same city hall meetings with pro bicycle lane advocates acting as the naysayers, the filibusters and the opposing party even though they should be part of the same team. They too are cyclists and they too would benefit from any measure that would allow more people to want to ride their bicycles on the roads.

I visited Berlin in 2009. Brandenburg Gates at night

The truth is, most if not all great cities are bicycle friendly. Where people yearn to live, there are bicycles present. Mentions of cities such as Paris, Rome,  Berlin, Amsterdam, conjure up romantic backdrops, but in many cases, might also bring to mind a scene of an old building with a bicycle leaned up against it. One can make the argument that most of these cities are hundreds of years old, and the small roads can accommodate bicycles much better than cars. That's one theory. Yet in the U.S, much newer cities are starting to follow the same example and are having excellent results. They have been able to reduce obesity rates in their populations, enjoy a better quality of life, and have become magnets for young professionals as well as the industries that hire them. Their down-towns and city centers provide a vibrant scene after work hours and the city becomes a community rather than a zoned area for business. In total, when a bicycle lane goes through a town or a city, everybody wins. Some of these cities are so well talked about that they are often used as adjectives to describe something's bicycle friendliness.

Cyclist in Portland,  photo courtesy of the New York Times.

Take for example, Portland. The bicycle initiative in Portland has been around for probably less than 20 years. It actually started in the 1990's as a result of the city hitting bottom and being considered one of the worst places to get around if you weren't driving a car during that time. Now Portland has undergone a 360 turn. If a city has bicycle friendly measures, you may now hear the term "Portlandia" when people talk about it. Bicycle fatalities have gone down considerably and cyclists are considered a part of the road rather than a group that doesn't belong.

New York City is another city I wanted to mention. Bloomberg's New York, not Giuliani's. Mayor Bloomberg has done more for the health of New York City than any other mayor in history.  He took New York out of being a city with dark alleys and halted traffic that went nowhere. He has been revitalizing it with bicycle lanes and much safer districts. The Times Square where I was nearly mugged over ten years ago is not the same one today. New York has also enjoyed  having transplants from other states coming in to live there because of it's health initiatives. There is actually a large growing number of Texans moving to New York, can you believe that? Bloomberg has also outlawed the sale of large two liter soda beverages within city limits. Rather than wanting to profit from the beverage giants by imposing a heftier sales tax on them, Bloomberg said "no" altogether to the over consumption of high fructose corn syrup, a chemical ingredient found in almost all processed foods in the United States, which is one of the leading causes of obesity in the nation. Kudos to Mayor Bloomberg, there's a spot waiting for you in Dallas if you get bored of New York.

Mayor Bloomberg oversaw the construction of many bicycle lanes throughout NYC. Courtesy of Ecovelo

Courtesy of New York Daily News.

Like New York, I can mention other cities that have benefited from bicycle lane infrastructure. Seattle, San Diego, San Fransisco, Chicago, and even Asheville in North Carolina which I just wrote my last article about just to name a few.

Now back to Texas. Our neighboring cities to the south of the state are starting to turn heads in dramatic fashion. Austin is leading the path as the most bike friendly city in Texas, with San Antonio taking a strong second place for it's bike sharing program initiative. Let's talk about Austin for one moment. A city with a little bit of everything in it, Austin is known for taking pride in it's uniqueness. "Keep Austin Weird" is the city's slogan which has become internationally recognized. Not only does this city boast miles of bike lanes with more in the works, it is surrounded by some of the most beautiful scenery Texas has to offer. The Colorado River that runs through the city is a big destination for kayaks and canoes and is known for it's summertime bat watching parties when tens of thousands of bats come out to hunt at dusk. Lake Travis as well as about a hundred miles of mountain bike trails are other outdoor attractions you can find in Austin. It is also the home to professional employers like Apple and Activision. In Austin you will find more small business owners and more entrepreneurs than anywhere else in Texas. It is also home to seven time Tour De France winner Lance Armstrong, who has personally put in a lot of his own efforts to make Austin even more bike friendly.

Lance Armstrong,  cycling advocate for the city of Austin, at his bike shop Mellow Johnny's. Originally posted by Bike Commute Tips Blog.

Now that we've discussed some bicycle friendly cities of the world, let's go back to, ahem, Dallas. Voted worst city for cycling by Bicycle Magazine and The League of American Cyclists. What can Dallas learn from all this? First it needs to get along. There are cyclists of all types in Dallas. There are those who wear spandex and those who don't. Those who ride for sport or recreation need to take a look at those who ride to get their groceries. The age and fitness levels of people who ride bicycles are all over the spectrum. We would like to see a city where 12 years old's as well as 70 year old people are able to get around by bicycle. For that, you need bike lanes. Education is important for bicyclists to be accepted and respected on the roads, but needs to go hand in hand with infrastructure in order to be successful in the end. Once everybody can get along, the Dallas Bike Plan  as well as a statewide safe passing law have got to be taken seriously and given more attention than lip service. These measures need to be aggressive and changes need to start happening soon. This, unlike popular belief, does not have to be financed by tax payer money alone. Dallas has it's own self financing transportation piggy bank called Interstate 90 and the Dallas North Tollway, as well as federal grants available that are designed to encourage this sort of development. It also has millions that have been given to the city by private donors and non-profits alike. Dallas, to put it bluntly, is losing it's educated young people to other states and cities around the world. Some might come back to Dallas for personal reasons or financial hardship, but most will not look back at this place reminiscing if Dallas does not step up it's game soon. I can't and won't at this time walk the Downtown of Dallas at night unless it's to see a Maverick's game, when most police are present. Otherwise it's just an invitation to get mugged or worse in a city that's too quiet for anything good to be happening. Bring in the bicycle lanes, transit oriented development, give Dallas more neighborhood businesses at are open late and maybe I'll change my mind.

Irving, Texas- A Little Gem for Cyclists In North Texas

Bike Friendly Irving, Texas

You can find weekly races in this part of town. Featuring riders from the Wednesday Night Criterium Series.

Tucked away between the Dallas/Ft.Worth airport and the city of  Coppell lies a small section of a larger city. Valley Ranch, a branch of the suburb of Las Colinas, is mostly known for the Dallas Cowboys training arena. What most people don't know, even locals here in Texas, is that this is one of the most bike friendly places around. Valley Ranch is not it's own city. It is in fact part of Irving, Texas. Though it might as well be, because this area has a personality of it's own.  Below is a the route which was covered in this trip around Valley Ranch and Las Colinas.

Find more Bike Ride in Irving, TX

Here is where you'll find some of the local racing scene battle it out on the weekly Criteriums. The Wednesday Night Criterium series brings cyclists from all over the area to race here. This is a place where people know other people, and cyclists know other cyclists. It is a place where I know business owners by name, and they they know me by name as well. It is rich in it's cultural diversity, home to delicious cuisines from all over the world. It has the best coffee shop I have been to in North Texas, Java Me Up.  It is also a place that is starting to welcome progress, and has the blue print preset for welcoming transit oriented development. In fact, by 2014 this haven will be linked to the international airport via light rail, part of a more larger aggressive program that is connecting all of Dallas County.

Let's take a small tour of what Valley Ranch has to offer. (On a side note to the reader, it is getting hot over here in Texas. The late afternoon sun here builds endurance like no other place in the country. That is why Lance Armstrong was able to win the tour seven times, just sayin'). Check out these observations of my ride through Valley Ranch.

Campion Trails in Valley Ranch.

Gotta love the color yellow.

Java Me Up. The BEST coffee in all the Dallas County Area!

The picturedoes not do this climb much justice, but this is the highest hill in Valley Ranch.

The Bull logo, you see it everywhere here.

Cool Sculptures in the La Villita neighborhood of Las Colinas.

Back on the trail doing a little bit of off-roading on a short section of singletrack.

Making Progress: Rail lines mark where the new transit system will be shortly.

Vinice? No, its the Mandalay Canals at Las Colinas

The Lions of Campion Trail

The hot, late evening sun is the the hottest time of day here.

Richardson, Texas At a Glance

Richardson on an evening ride

Kids Playing at a square at close to Gatalyn Park. Transit Oriented Developments are becoming more common in this area

A last minute end of weekend urge drove me to go out to Richardson and do a little bit of cycling photo-journalism.  I managed to get on my bike just as the sun was setting. Although this short article does not do full justice in relating my experience, it does capture some points of interest along the North Richardson bike trail system. I will have to continue reporting on Richardson as time allows, although I can truly say that this city is already becoming one of the safest and most bike friendliest city for cyclists in Texas and among other states as well. Here's a couple of snapshots that I took today before night fell and left me in darkness. Below is a similar route of the trail and bike lane system in Richardson.

Find more Bike Ride in Richardson, TX

Proof that there are dedicated bike lanes here as well.