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Sarah Reiter works for Saris Cycling Group, a manufacturer of cycling accessories. Sarah told us about her company’s emphasis on encouraging their employees to use bikes instead of cars to commute to work. They added inside bike parking and shower facilities. They also instituted a prize system for the employees that rode the most miles. For any company thinking about emphasizing bike commuting, the Saris program would be a good template. View Presentation
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Andy Clark is the Executive Director of the League of American Bicyclists, the national bike organization. He updated us on the goings on within Congress concerning funding for bike projects within the Federal Transportation Commission. While in Oklahoma Andy had a chance to tour OKC ( via bicycle ) and Tulsa ( by car ) to view the biking trails/streets. Andy plans to write up his findings and recommendations and provide them to city leadership. I hope we can share those with you at a future date.
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Steve Magas is an attorney from Ohio who specializes in biking law. He gave us a perspective on asserting your rights as a biker in a motorist world. He told a story about a pair of cyclists that were pulled over for delaying traffic ( 3 cars ) when they were riding two abreast. One of the cyclists was argumentative with the police, stating that traffic law permitted them to ride that way. Things went South and the biker was tasered, arrested and jailed.After $10K in legal fees, the charges were dropped, and subsequently the police were sued for false imprisonment and kidnapping.
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Jerry Norquist talked about the “Cycle Oregon” bike ride, explaining its origin and current popularity. He spoke about progressive biking facilities built in Oregon that was possible with a supportive population and legislature.
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Joy Hancock discussed biking tourism across the US and specifically in Oklahoma. She is the executive director of Freewheel. She emphasized the local community benefits, both from an economic impact to the towns, and also the exposure to the riders as they experience small town charm.
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T.J. Juskiewicz is the director of RAGBRAI, the largest organized bike ride in the US. Iowa sees 20,000 riders descend on small towns each year. Lots of planning and organization go into being able to handle that many riders. Like Freewheel, the economic benefits to small towns is enormous.
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Anne Lusk traveled from Harvard University to be the key note speaker for the Friday session. She did an encore presentation on Saturday. She spoke on the benefits of “cycle paths” which is a road architecture that puts the bikes on a protected path that is physically separated from car traffic and pedestrian sidewalks.
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Preston Tyree ( an OBC Member and an LCI instructor ) lives in Austin and presented a session on the best practices for conducting an organized bike ride. His experience in being an expert witness for bike related lawsuits has prepared him to share his suggestions to the summit participants to help them develop practices that minimize risks associated with organized bike rides. He has develop an e-book on that topic that should be required reading for anyone who is associated with organized bike rides.
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Saara Snow came to the Summit from Adventure Cycling Association in Montana. ACA leads bike tours all over the US ( and across the US ). ACA publishes maps that are used by bikers for many routes, including their newest map set: Route 66. This map set will be available in 2015. Saara also gave an update on the progress of establishing U.S. Bike Routes ( including Route 66 ).
View Presentation
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James Wagner is the Transportation Projects Coordinator for INCOG, the Tulsa based Council of Governments
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Kate Brady is in the Transportation & Planning Services for ACOG, the OKC based Council of Governments. She specializes in Bike/Ped issues.
Together James and Kate provided an explanation of the role of INCOG and ACOG, as well as an update on the funding for bike/ped projects that will be made available to cities and towns in their regional area.
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