Bicycling

Memphis at Eye Level: Part 1

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“Memphis at Eye Level: Part 1” is a reference to “The City at Eye Level”. I want to highlight my favorite Memphis bike route so far. I realize that I have not explored every Memphis neighborhood yet, so I may find a new favorite route. As I stated during my interview with Tulio from the Memphis Hightailers Bicycle Club, I have been pleasantly surprised by Memphis’ bike infrastructure across the Mississippi River at the Big River Crossing and between Downtown and Shelby Farms Park.

Instagram recording is https://www.instagram.com/p/Cywr50UgYrR/
Facebook recording is https://www.facebook.com/MemphisHightailersBicycleClub/videos/6620980434622801
Zoom recording (passcode !!S0H!R^) is https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/TWI8YeuVcb3CaZh7qVLMJ2qIk-f1DMuqUCBAk8HSezAKddvGfq4YQYchVPlmdBA.wP19ToM8Q4j7Xj6F

I am thankful to work with coworkers who value my passion for active transportation. I treasured receiving this handwritten letter from Matthew more than receiving an email.

Handwritten letter from Ray’s coworker

Ray’s Favorite Memphis Bike Route

I wish that I had stopped to take more photos while biking because my usual “The City at Eye Level” post is not going to be as visual as I prefer. At least I can share a map of my favorite Memphis bike route. Yes, it takes about 90 minutes. I usually stop on the way for a meal and to do errands. I enjoy the variety of bike infrastructure, which starts with speed bumps on Front St, protected bike lanes on MLK Ave, bike lanes on Peabody Ave and McLean Blvd, low-volume side streets on Jefferson Ave and Tucker St to more easily access Overton Park, wooded car-free roads in Overton Park, multi-use trails called the Hampline and Greenline, and ends with wooded trails in Shelby Farms Park.

Ray’s favorite Memphis bike route. Source: Google Maps

Yes, I wish Peabody Ave connected directly to the Greenline when I am in a rush. However, I do not mind the extra distance through Overton Park too much because I enjoy forest bathing in Overton Park. As this map shows, there are plans to extend the Greenline closer to Peabody Ave. The Shelby Farms Greenline Western Extension should be connected to the South Memphis Greenline Phase 1 someday. An on-street connection will likely be needed to safely connect these future extensions to Peabody Ave. I should clarify that this is my personal opinion and not the opinion of the City of Memphis’ Bikeway and Pedestrian Program, which I manage. Do you see the South Memphis Greenline Phase 1 in the bottom left corner and how it could someday connect to the Shelby Farms Greenline?

In addition to improving the active transportation networks in Memphis, I am also looking forward to improving the City’s bike map to make it more user-friendly. For example, I want to make it easier for people to find safe routes and bike shops that will work on e-bikes. As an e-bike owner, I recommend All About Bikes. In case the bike shop is located too far, I also recommend Velotooler, which is a mobile bicycle service. I am located far from All About Bikes, so I have been trying to improve my bike repair skills. Since it is tough to change an inner tube without help, I was thankful to have a Memphis friend help me when I got a flat tire. I now carry everything on my bike that I need to change an inner tube without needing to stop at a bike shop. I still support bike shops, especially local shops, but they are not always nearby when I get a flat tire.

Map source: https://bikepedmemphis.files.wordpress.com/2023/05/facilities-map_mar_2023_36x48.png

I also want to spotlight the importance of signals in creating safe active transportation networks. While the above map does not show bike-specific signals, I have found these signals helpful. The below bike signal is in Memphis on the Hampline at Tillman St as it crosses Sam Cooper Blvd. I would love to take this signal to the Dutch standard by adding a wacht signal (wacht is Dutch for “wait”). As I showed in this 2015 post from when I studied abroad in the Netherlands, the wacht signal allows people biking to see how long the wait time is for the signal to turn green. Since the Dutch standard is usually not legally allowed in the US, I was excited to see Portland (OR) install a wacht signal in 2015. I was actually in Portland when this signal was installed. I got to experience using it when I biked in Portland. I realize that Memphis has a unique culture and may not want to copy what Portland does. I look forward to collaborating with Memphians to create a unique approach that accomplishes the same goal of improving bike signals in Memphis.

Do you see the “bicycle detected when illuminated” signal on the Hampline at Tillman St as it crosses Sam Cooper Blvd? Photo: Ray Atkinson
The “bicycle detected when illuminated” signal coordinates with the bike signal on the Hampline to cross Sam Cooper Blvd in Memphis. Photo: Ray Atkinson

My favorite artistic part of the Hampline is the upcycled tires that are found on Broad Ave, which is just north of Sam Cooper Blvd. The photo below does not show the upcycled tires well, so I need to take a zoomed in photo when I bike on Broad Ave again. The upcycled tires are produced by locals at the Binghampton Development Corporation, which has an inspiring process of hiring at-risk locals. I got to tour their process during the Binghampton Tour. I tweeted (does X still call them tweets?) from the Bike Ped Memphis account during the TAPA Conference.

Photo of upcycled tires on the Hampline during the Binghampton Tour. Photo: Ray Atkinson

Improving How Ray Navigates While Biking

Even though I majored in Geography at UNC Charlotte and love studying maps, I will admit that I sometimes struggle to navigate Memphis without looking at a map. Due to this issue, I decided to back this $700 Kickstarter for Minimis’ augmented reality (AR) glasses. Assuming the glasses are shipped on time, I should receive them by next summer. I am looking forward to publishing a blog post about my experience using the expensive glasses!

Minimis Glass Prototype video. Source: Minimis

Since I prefer to socialize when biking, I am thankful that I have been invited to participate in several slow group rides in Memphis. The below ride along the Greenline was unique because it was the first large group ride organized by City of Memphis employees. While I did not feel comfortable taking photos of kids during the Carpenter Art Garden’s kid-friendly group bike ride, I also had an amazing experience helping to lead this weekly group bike ride along the Hampline and Greenline. One of the kids actually hugged me after the ride to thank me for helping!

Hopefully, someone took a high-quality photo!
Biking the Greenline in Memphis. Photo: Ray Atkinson

Future Blog Post

I was originally planning to write about my experience volunteering on the Urban Bicycle Food Ministry’s weekly bike rides. Since I have not participated in the Wednesday evening or Saturday morning ride yet, I will need to postpone blogging about this experience.

Ray’s New E-Bike Fits On Bus Bike Rack

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Greetings from Memphis! I wanted to publish a post when I moved to Memphis during Labor Day weekend. I felt the need to postpone blogging because I have been busy with moving, unpacking, organizing, meeting neighbors, and preparing for my new job, which starts on Monday, September 11th.

Podcasts About Ray’s New Job

In case you are curious to learn more about my job, I recommend listening to the below podcasts where my predecessors and other people were interviewed about their active transportation work and the future work that I will be managing. Due to the history that is shared in each podcast, I recommend listening to Episode 3 first before proceeding to the next podcast. I copied the episode descriptions, so the descriptions were not created by me. As you will hear in the podcasts, my predecessors and other passionate champions did impressive work to help Memphis become known as a national active transportation leader!

Making bikes affordable to more people by founding Revolutions Community Bicycle Shop led Anthony Siracusa to bike advocacy work on the local, state, and national levels. In time, he saw the bike as only one lever to affect change among many. Anthony’s doctoral studies at Vanderbilt deepened that knowledge by showing him the many Champions and their causes within the Civil Rights Movement. That led him to his current work at Colorado College, where he helps students better champion their own causes.
Kyle Wagenschutz was a critical figure in growing and sustaining Revolutions Community Bicycle Shop in Memphis, alongside founder Anthony Siracusa. Together, the two shared a love for bikes and punk rock, and they found that each subculture played a role in helping them build a community around bikes. Kyle advocated for bike lanes in Memphis, first from his perch at Revolutions, but then as the City of Memphis’ first bicycle/pedestrian coordinator. Anthony and Kyle’s effective “inside-outside” game showed what can happen when government and grassroots work together. The two friends’ partnership helped move Memphis from a “worst city for biking” to “most improved” and on to being a national leader in just six years. Now the Director of Local Innovation at PeopleForBikes in Boulder, CO, what Kyle learned through trial and error in Memphis is benefiting people in other cities.

Episode 30: Nick Oyler is not on the Champions of the Lost Causes’ website, so you will need to access it through this Google Podcasts link. The episode 30 description is below:

Nick Oyler is the Bikeway & Pedestrian Program Manager for the City of Memphis. When the push for bike lanes in Memphis resulted in early victories for the bike/ped movement and then gave way to the city’s initial buildout, Nick was away at college, grad school, and then working in Germany. Following all that news from afar, Nick thought that he might have missed his moment to get involved. But as many multifaceted causes require, there was plenty of work left to be done when he got back to his hometown. Nick’s experience of riding a bike when he was young helped pave the way for his interest in city planning and to his current role, and helped him see the many benefits to cities and people of having a well-designed system of bike lanes and walkways. Memphis has come a long way, but it still has a lot of work ahead of it.

Champions of the Lost Causes
John Paul Shaffer from PeopleForBikes and Nick Oyler from the City of Memphis join us to talk about how Memphis has gone from 2 to 300 miles of off- and on-road bicycle facilities over a decade; which projects have been truly transformative, such as Shelby Farms Greenway and the Harahan Bridge Crossing; and how an intentional focus on equity and neighborhood-based programming has helped more Memphians get on bikes for recreation and transportation.

Later in the program, regular commentator Charlie Santo reflects on moving from transportation mecca Portland, OR to Memphis and trying to navigate the local system. Charlie and Emily also talk about how bike infrastructure and related improvements like traffic calming can potentially help increase access to public spaces such as Tom Lee Park and Riverside Park.
Nick Oyler, bikeway and pedestrian program manager for the City of Memphis, makes a return visit to Memphis Metropolis to talk about pedestrian safety. This past week, Smart Growth America issued its Dangerous by Design 2021 study, which found that pedestrian deaths due to traffic accidents continue to increase nationally. Moreover, the study found that Memphis was the third most dangerous city for pedestrians, with pedestrian deaths up around 75 percent since 2019. In the show, Nick explains the connection between street design and pedestrian safety, why COVID and driver distraction have contributed to the rise in fatalities, and how dedicated funding for pedestrian infrastructure could help change the trajectory. And, why his team created a special map to help memorialize the lives of Memphis pedestrians that have been lost.
Pedestrian deaths in Memphis are at an all-time high and the city is one of the most dangerous in the U.S. for people who get around on foot. But while driver behavior and poor street design are the primary contributors to the problem, pedestrians themselves – the victims – are often blamed. Nick Oyler, Bikeway and Pedestrian Program Manager in the city’s engineering department, pays a return visit to Memphis Metropolis to discuss what the law actually says about where pedestrians can and cannot cross the street, why pedestrian behavior that seems illogical often is quite rational, and how “windshield bias” – seeing the problem exclusively from the driver perspective – is inhibiting the development of solutions.
Nick Oyler has spent the last several years working in and with the community to improve the city’s active transportation systems, first with the Memphis Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) and most recently as bike and pedestrian program manager for the City of Memphis. Nick is leaving Memphis to pursue new professional opportunities in Denver, and we asked him to return to Memphis Metropolis one last time to reflect on the successes, frustrations, and opportunities he has experienced during his tenure here.
A city’s ParkScore is a measure of how it compares to other places, using criteria such as access, acreage, equity, and investments. The ParkScore Index is prepared annually by the Trust for Public Land, a people-focused parks and public land advocacy organization. In this show, Noel Durant of the TPL’s Tennessee office visits Memphis Metropolis to talk about why ParkScores are so important and how Memphis ranked in their recent study. Memphis park advocates JoAnn Street also joins the conversation to provide a local perspective. JoAnn is the founder of HUG Park Friends, a support organization for three North Memphis parks, Hollywood, University, and Gooch.
Jackson McNeil, a longtime friend of Memphis Metropolis, recently joined Innovate Memphis as Director of Transportation and Mobility, overseeing the Commute Options program. In this show, we discuss the hard work of (and many obstacles to) getting Memphians out of their cars and onto alternate modes of transportation. Jackson and Emily also discuss the recently published Safe Speed Index, which ranks cities on the average vehicle speeds on streets used by pedestrians.

Ray’s New E-Bike Made His Car-Free Life Easier

Since my blog is focused on my car-free lifestyle, I wanted to share the most significant improvement to making my car-free lifestyle easier. As I shared in this 2022 post, my first e-bike did not fit on the bus bike rack because it was too heavy (58.4 pounds) and long (47″) to fit on the standard bike rack. Thank you to Brandie Macdonald for making me aware of the Wing Freedom ST.2 e-bike, which is light (39 pounds) and short (42.9″) enough to fit on the standard bike rack. I frequently had to leave my old e-bike at home in California because I knew it would not fit on the bus bike rack. I was excited to put my new e-bike on the bus bike rack when I went shopping in East Memphis last week!

I had to rush to get on and off the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) bus, so I did not have time to take a photo of my e-bike on the bus bike rack. Taking selfies with my bike was possible on the Big River Crossing, which is an impressive and wide active transportation bridge between Tennessee and Arkansas. The views are fantastic! My new Memphis friends, who were also born and raised in the Charlotte region (all three of us went to high school in Cabarrus County!) and graduated from UNC Charlotte around the same time as me, invited me to join them on a walk across the Big River Crossing. I am not an early bird, especially when I prefer to sleep in during the weekend, so I felt accomplished with waking up in time for the 8am walk today!

Biking on the Big River Crossing. Photo: Ray Atkinson
View of downtown Memphis from the Big River Crossing. Photo: Ray Atkinson

My new church, The Church of the River (First Unitarian Church of Memphis), is near the trailhead to the Big River Crossing. I honestly had difficulty focusing on the sermon because the church has such an impressive natural view! I felt like I was forest bathing during church!

View from The Church of the River (First Unitarian Church of Memphis). Photo: Ray Atkinson

Future Blog Post

I am trying to keep this post short, so I will share more about Memphis in a future post. Since I have never seen a bike ride combined with cooking and feeding low-income people living on the street, I am excited to experience the Urban Bicycle Food Ministry’s weekly bike rides on Wednesday night and Saturday morning!

Car-Free Redwood National Park Vacation Barriers

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I was hoping that planning my June 24 – July 2 car-free Redwood National Park vacation would be as easy as renting an e-bike in Eureka and then biking to Redwood National Park. I normally have Fridays off work, so I wanted to clarify that my vacation starts on Saturday and not Friday because I will be attending the Mobility as a Service (MaaS) in the US Conference in San Francisco on June 22-23. I enjoy catching up with colleagues and meeting new people at conferences. Will you be attending this conference, or do you live in San Francisco?

Since I do not feel safe or comfortable enough to bike on Highway 101, which only has “bike share the road” signs, I am not willing to bike on Highway 101. I briefly wrote about bike signage in this 2015 post. I was excited when I found Hammond Truck Road, which is shown in the below Google Maps screenshot, because I thought I found a route to avoid biking on Highway 101. Redwood National Park is the dark green area in the top right corner. Eureka is located south of Crannell. Due to Google Maps showing “This route has restricted usage or private roads,” I contacted Humboldt County staff to clarify whether I could bike on Hammond Tuck Road. As Bob’s reply shows, I would be trespassing if I biked on this road.

The route that you are considering is through private property. These roads have locked gates and are posted with signs indicating no trespassing.

Bob Bronkall, Humboldt County Surveyor

I do not want to embarrass Humboldt County too much. They are at least trying to plan for people who do not drive by providing the Hammond Trail, which I plan to bike on during my vacation. I just wish this trail went all the way to Redwood National Park. Hopefully, this trail will be extended further north someday!

Ray’s Backup Plan

It appears I will be biking less than I wanted during my June vacation. Thankfully, transit services exist between Eureka and Redwood National Park. Redwood Coast Transit operates Route 20 along the below route. While Route 20 does not provide frequent service and only operates on Monday-Saturday, I do not have any safe alternatives to consider. Due to Route 20 ending in Arcata, I may stay in Arcata to avoid having to transfer to another bus to reach Eureka. I wish there was one regional transit provider in this rural area so I could avoid having to transfer!

As this 2022 post shows, I am also concerned about whether the e-bike that I plan to rent will fit on Redwood Coast Transit’s buses. I have not found a transit system in the US that has an entire fleet that can fit e-bikes. While I am waiting for Redwood Coast Transit to confirm that my e-bike rental will not fit on their buses, I assume that I will have no e-bike when I reach Redwood National Park. Despite being used to riding an e-bike, I may rent a non-electric bike so I can take a bike on the bus to Redwood National Park.

Source: http://redwoodcoasttransit.org/routes-schedules/route-20/

Difficulty Finding Redwood National Park Tour

My next barrier after reaching Redwood National Park is finding a group tour. Redwood National Park has limited or no cell and internet services, which is great for disconnecting from social media and emails. I will be traveling alone, so I would prefer to find a group tour to prevent anything bad from happening when traveling alone in an isolated place. While I was excited to find Redwood Adventures, they only offer private tours to groups of at least two people. I emailed them to ask if I can join a larger group or schedule my tour on a less busy weekday. I realize they make more money by preventing single people from scheduling a private tour. I wish I had a girlfriend to go on the tour with me!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZzJ6C5ujSw&t

Future Blog Post

I may not blog much during my June vacation because I want to enjoy exploring Eureka, Arcata, and Redwood National Park. I also may not have reliable internet access, which I think will be great to help me disconnect from social media and emails. I hope to have time in July to publish posts on how my vacation went. What do you want to read about?

Riding Alone on National Ride A Bike Day

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The first Sunday in May, which is today, is National Ride A Bike Day. The League of American Bicyclists created this day in 2021, so it is a recent addition to National Bike Month. As I shared in my last post, May is also National Mental Health Awareness Month. My personal connection between National Ride A Bike Day and National Mental Health Awareness Month is that I felt depressed biking alone today. While my close California friend, Stephen (not Stephan who lives in Minnesota), lives too far away in rural Clearlake Oaks to go on bike rides with me, we are hoping to plan a future bike ride someday. Stephen is excited to try riding my e-bike when we can find a safe test ride location in Petaluma. This was the closest I got to biking with someone today. I am also excited that an asexual (we met through OkCupid with my original thought of dating) female Windsor friend wants to bike with me someday. Our first attempt to bike together in and near Windsor was canceled due to light rain forcing the bike shop to cancel all bike rentals. I still cannot believe the bike shop canceled our rentals due to light rain!

Continuing Ray’s Settle Down Topic

While I also need male friends, most of whom have respected my desire to be friends and not lovers (I am recovering from almost getting raped by a male leader), I do not want to lose track of my “settle down” topic. Before I share political thoughts, I want to be clear that I know many moderates and conservatives who share my perspective on creating mixed-use neighborhoods that are safe to walk, bike, and ride transit in. Since I believe education is needed to create behavior change and know many moderates and conservatives who value increased property values, I want to encourage moderates and conservatives to research the return on investment (ROI) of investing in mixed-use neighborhoods that are safe to walk, bike, and ride transit in. I realize that I could share the research that I have already done on this topic. Due to my curiosity about the approach that moderates and conservatives use to research this topic, will you please share what research you found and the approach that you used to find the research?

I wanted to share the below tweets because I believe they relate to my struggle to meet and settle down with a non-asexual woman who is passionate about living in a mixed-use neighborhood that is safe to walk, bike, and ride transit in. I wish more than just liberals favored this type of neighborhood. Since the type of electric vehicle was not specifically mentioned in the Gallup poll, I have to assume that the poll question was asking about electric automobiles. Due to the ride of e-biking, I wish e-biking was taken more seriously in national polls. I am not sure if the Gallup poll asked a separate question about e-biking. Either way, a respondent’s political party was the greatest differentiator in whether Americans were willing to consider electric vehicles.

Future Blog Post

I copied the following from my last post. I have to use about 40 hours of PTO before it expires at the end of June. Since the rural areas in the Central Coast do not have connected and reliable transit services, I decided to plan a car-free vacation to Eureka with day trips to Redwood National Park. Due to Redwood National Park not having extensive public transit service, I am researching other ways to access the trailheads. Assuming the battery can last long enough, I may ride an e-bike rental from Eureka to the park, charge the battery, and then ride it back to Eureka. Hopefully, the battery does not take several hours to charge like my personal e-bike battery. I wish e-bike batteries would charge as fast as fueling a gas-powered car. While I have not refueled a car at a gas station recently, I believe cars can be refueled within a few minutes. I look forward to blogging more about this vacation.

Sebastopol at Eye Level

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Due to May being National Bike Month and National Mental Health Awareness Month, I want to combine my usual “The City at Eye Level” post with advocating for breaking down the silos between National Bike Month and National Mental Health Awareness Month. While I am spotlighting these awareness months that occur in May, I honestly have difficulty supporting the effort to create awareness months because biking and mental health issues should not be focused on only in May. I also question the need for awareness months because is there a National Car Month?

The closest awareness months I could find to a National Car Month are the Car Care Council’s National Car Care Month in April and Fall Car Care Month in October. Since these car care months focus on car care and preventative maintenance, they do not focus on encouraging more people to shift from another mode of transportation to driving. Could National Bike Month and National Mental Health Awareness Month no longer be needed someday because American culture views them as normal aspects of our culture, like driving a car? I will keep dreaming and advocating for an American culture to exist like this someday!

Source: Car Car Council

Breaking down the silos between National Bike Month and National Mental Health Awareness Month

Even before American culture reaches the point where biking and helping people with mental health are normal aspects of our culture, I feel an easier and faster milestone will be breaking down the silos between National Bike Month and National Mental Health Awareness Month. As the below tweet by the League of American Bicyclists shows, National Mental Health Awareness Month is not even mentioned in their tweet. While celebrating bike joy could be interpreted as celebrating how biking improves mental health through bringing people joy, mental health is still not explicitly stated in the tweet. The promotional materials for National Bike Month on the League of American Bicyclists’ website also do not mention National Mental Health Awareness Month.

In addition to understanding the need to break down these silos, I hope by the end of this post you will understand the important connection between slowing down and improved mental health. Before I share my personal experience with this connection, I want to share results from this 2017 research study (the article is from 2019 but the research study is from 2017) that support what I have been writing. As the below infographic shows, a 2017 research study on commutes and happiness in Portland, OR found that happiness goes down with the length of a person’s commute, except for cyclists. Those who bike to work were happy no matter the length of their biking commute. 828 individuals in Portland, OR were surveyed. From these surveys, researchers measured commute well-being using a composite score.

Source: Clearvue Health https://www.clearvuehealth.com/b/biking-driving-commute/

While this 2014 British research study does not have an infographic, I like how it provides longitudinal evidence from eighteen waves of the British Household Panel Survey. Since walking was excluded from the Portland research study, I wanted to share the below quote from the British research study.

Our main observation of a positive association between active commuting and wellbeing was supported by four distinct groups of analyses…Furthermore, the commuting time analyses showed a positive relationship between time spent walking and wellbeing which, together with the observed increased effect sizes as participants with shorter commutes were progressively excluded from the first group of analyses, indicate a dose–response relationship.

Martin et al https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4262577/

I realize the research study results that I shared are focused on commuting. Since the below infographic shows how stress varies depending on the type of bike, which is important for my experience biking to and from Sebastopol, I choose to ride an upright bike to reduce stress and load on my neck and lower back. Many recreational cyclists ride racing bikes, so I would be curious to see how the severe stress and load on their necks and lower back impact how they would respond to a research study on the stress of biking. Do you think recreational cyclists are as happy, relaxed, and comfortable as bike commuters?

Source: https://phippssofttissue.com/blog/3-quick-tips-for-a-pain-free-bike-season/

Barriers to slowing down when accessing and enjoying Sebastopol

Well, I finally made it to discussing my April 29th Sebastopol daycation. The below map shows where Sebastopol is in relation to the rest of California. A variety of barriers prevented me from slowing down enough to enjoy my daycation.

The biggest barrier was the very limited train schedule. Since my e-bike does not fit on the bus, I had to wait until the first northbound SMART train departed Petaluma at 10:12am. I rushed on my e-bike instead of enjoying the beautiful ride on a trail from Santa Rosa to Sebastopol. I missed most of the Apple Blossom Parade because it started at 10am. While I probably should have paid for a hotel room for the night so I could enjoy dinner and the rest of the evening in Sebastopol, I decided to rush back to Santa Rosa to catch the last southbound SMART train that departed at 6:05pm. The later Saturday service started in May, so the 8:12pm trip was not available in April. Instead of feeling relaxed and enjoying a slow bike ride, I felt the need to rush to and from Sebastopol.

Northbound schedule on Saturday
Southbound schedule on Saturday

Thankfully, Patrick Amiot’s spectacular and very detailed upcycle art on Florence Avenue helped me end my daycation on a high note.

Future Blog Post

I have to use about 40 hours of PTO before it expires at the end of June. Since the rural areas in the Central Coast do not have connected and reliable transit services, I decided to plan a car-free vacation to Eureka with day trips to Redwood National Park. Due to Redwood National Park not having extensive public transit service, I am researching other ways to access the trailheads. Assuming the battery can last long enough, I may ride an e-bike rental from Eureka to the park, charge the battery, and then ride it back to Eureka. Hopefully, the battery does not take several hours to charge like my personal e-bike battery. I wish e-bike batteries would charge as fast as fueling a gas-powered car. While I have not refueled a car at a gas station recently, I believe cars can be refueled within a few minutes. I look forward to blogging more about this vacation.

While I debated whether to devote an entire post to how this 2012 issue at UNC Charlotte relates to my current accountability and transparency issue at Unitarian Universalists of Petaluma, I decided that sharing a brief update here is enough. This is an ongoing issue at my church, so I am not going to publicly share specifics. I feel the below quote from Stephan Hoche is powerful enough that it needs to be spotlighted in my blog. I am thankful that Stephan and I are still close friends despite no longer living in the same state. He has been supporting me through my current issue.

“It’s interesting why they have overlooked them for so long.  Basically it seems like UNC Charlotte has been enabling corrupt politicians,” said Stephan Hoche, a geography major. “What they are doing is undermining the fabric of society.  They have sworn to uphold the rule of law.  If you don’t uphold it you should be held accountable and at the very least the SGA Executive Cabinet should give a public apology for their error.  They should be made an example of.”

Stephan Hoche’s response to my UNC Charlotte issue
Source: Niner Times https://www.ninertimes.com/news/sga-disagrees-over-open-meeting-law-policy/article_97683b2b-e36a-5221-a472-28c223265350.html

San Jose at Eye Level

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I am riding transit on my way back to Petaluma from my first trip to San Jose, which is actually the largest city in the Bay Area. I carpooled with James Rojas to Oakland to reduce the trip time for my return trip. I rode transit for the full four-hour distance yesterday. I still cannot believe that San Jose is the largest city in the Bay Area. I honestly think of San Francisco and Oakland before I think of San Jose. Since I surprised myself by seeing and hearing more of “The City at Eye Level” while walking and riding transit than biking, I wanted to focus on this aspect as I continue to share my perspective on the power of slowing down.

As Stephan remembers from our bike adventure in Minneapolis, using a bikeshare system is not always easy. Since I wanted to avoid the stress of constantly looking for the next bikeshare station to dock my bike, I decided to walk and ride transit in San Jose. My frugal approach to spending also pushed me to walk because the Bay Wheels system gets expensive very quickly. Unlike the Capital Bikeshare’s Day Pass that I worked on in the DC region, Bay Wheels does not offer a Day Pass option. I was unwilling to pay for each bikeshare trip separately!

Thankfully, I saw and heard more of “The City at Eye Level” by walking and riding transit. Since I am usually focused on not getting hit by cars when biking, I was able to focus on the below colorful art in San Jose while walking.

Photo: Ray Atkinson
Photo: Ray Atkinson

Viva CalleSJ

The main reason why I traveled to San Jose was to participate in Viva CalleSJ, which was an open-streets event. I appreciate James Rojas making me aware of this event. While I wish every day looked like the photo below, I enjoyed the rare open-streets event by watching how people interacted with streets that were almost absent of cars. I wrote “almost” because the intersections allowed cars to cross the route. As many American cities that have organized an open-streets event know, the car dependency of most Americans prevents Americans from experiencing a truly open-streets event. Do you think Americans will ever have the opportunity to experience a truly car-free open-streets event?

Photo: Ray Atkinson

Future Blog Post

I have to use about 40 hours of PTO before it expires at the end of June. While I do not like how some of my PTO hours do not roll over to the next fiscal year, the silver lining is that it forces me to take a vacation. Yes, I can be a workaholic. Since I have so much to explore in California, I am planning a car-free vacation through the Bay Area, Central Coast, Los Angeles, and possibly the Central Valley. While I depend on the Central Valley for food, I am more attracted to the scenery of the Central Coast. Hopefully, the rural areas in the Central Coast will have connected transit services to the Bay Area and Los Angeles. You will find out in a future blog post!

Windsor at Eye Level

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I was surprised to see that I have not published a “The City at Eye Level” post recently. The link to The City at Eye Level keeps changing, so you can longer download the free book in my previous posts. I will need to update the links. For laypeople reading my blog, I am hoping this post helps you to understand the connection between The City at Eye Level and my recent posts about the power of slowing down and its impact on creating robust in-person social networks. Does this connection make sense after reading this post?

Light Rain Cancels Bike Rental

I was planning to rent bikes from a Windsor bike shop to ride with a new friend who was raised in Windsor, which is an unincorporated town on the northern edge of the North Bay Area. This was my first time visiting Windsor. I have so many new places to explore just in Sonoma County let alone the rest of the Bay Area and California!

While my friend and I were prepared to bike in the light rain, the other renters canceled their rentals and bike tours due to the light rain. The bike shop ended up canceling all the rentals and closing for the day. I have never experienced a bike shop cancel rentals due to light rain. I guess this is a weird welcome to California!

Walk Through Windsor

My friend and I did not want the canceled bike rental to ruin our day. We decided to walk several miles through Windsor instead. Walking instead of driving allowed us to more easily see Windsor at eye level. As the below “MORE BIKES, LESS CARS” banner shows, Windsor is trying to reduce car usage and promote biking. I would include walking in with “MORE BIKES” because there is only so much space on the banner. Unfortunately, my friend and I had to walk single-file through downtown and many other parts of Windsor because the sidewalks are too narrow. Even when the sidewalk is wider, street trees and awning posts prevented us from walking side by side. I saw many people walk directly from their parked cars to their destinations. This does not encourage robust in-person outdoor social networking!

Source: Ray Atkinson

I should clarify that I do not want the street trees to be removed. As this Trees in the Curb Zone Pilot Project from the City of Portland shows, it is possible to replace on-street car parking spaces with trees. BikePortland also published this post about the City of Portland’s project. As my 2015 post from Rijswijk, Netherlands shows, I have been thinking about how to replace on-street car parking spaces with trees for several years. Since my Windsor friend said she does not want to lose car parking for her car and actually feels downtown needs more car parking, do you think rural towns like Windsor will ever have the public and political support to create a project like what Portland created?

Rembrandtkade in Rijswijk, Netherlands in August 2014. Source: Google

I wanted to share the below Spanish version of the above banner because I have never seen a banner with different languages on each side of the banner. I am still using Duolingo to improve my Spanish skills. I even bought a used Spanish textbook from the Windsor Public Library.

Source: Ray Atkinson

Another element that could improve Windsor’s eye-level walking experience and encourage the creation of robust outdoor in-person social networks is the planned SMART regional trail, which will someday connect all the way to the Larkspur Ferry Terminal that provides ferries to San Francisco. I would love to bike from Windsor to the Larkspur Ferry Terminal someday. The first signs of the planned trail and the associated Windsor SMART Station are in the below photo. The SMART Train does not currently serve Windsor, so I rode a Sonoma County bus from Santa Rosa to Windsor. I am excited to see the future of transit-oriented development (TOD) and trail-oriented development! Since trail-oriented development could also be shortened to TOD, I am curious to see what the acronym for trail-oriented development will be.

Source: Ray Atkinson

Future Blog Post

Do you understand the connection between The City at Eye Level and my recent posts about the power of slowing down and its impact on creating robust outdoor in-person social networks? If not, I will keep thinking about how to more clearly write about and show this connection in future blog posts. If so, what other topics do you want me to write about?

Ray’s Halloween Costume

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Happy early Halloween! I would publish this post on Halloween but I will be working on Halloween. While I do not have Halloween evening plans yet, I cannot do anything late in the evening because I have to wake up early for the 2022 CALACT Autumn Conference & Bus Show, which is November 1-4 in Santa Rosa, CA. Due to how close I am to Santa Rosa, I am embarrassed to admit that I have not been to Santa Rosa yet. I almost visited Santa Rosa this weekend for the Fall Fun Fest.

Fixing Flat Tire

Since the rear tire on my new e-bike had a flat from the below small thorn, I skipped the Fall Fun Fest to spend Friday and Saturday learning how to remove the rear tire from my e-bike. Removing the rear tire is much more complex on an e-bike than on a pedal-only bike. I should have also spent time learning how to reinstall the rear tire because the bike mechanic took pity on me when they saw how much I was struggling to reinstall the rear tire. As a silver lining, the wheels do not have quick-release levers. This is important because thieves can easily remove wheels that have quick-release levers.

Ray’s Halloween Costume

Hopefully, the bike issues are over so I can enjoy Halloween and the conference. My employer, Petaluma Transit, is organizing a Halloween party on Monday. While I may improve my costume before Monday, the below photo shows my first attempt at creating my costume. In case the photo does not make sense to you, the meaning is explained in this 2022 post. Even though California is usually one of the most progressive states, Governor Newsom vetoed Assembly Bill 122, which would have legalized the Idaho Stop. Since I do not enjoy having to figure out which states have legalized the Idaho Stop when I am biking on vacation, I hope the federal government legalizes the Idaho Stop in every state. This article gives me hope that the federal government may legalize the Idaho Stop before California legalizes it.

I am adding this paragraph because readers asked me whether any studies have found that the Idaho Stop is safer. Plus, I learned through discussing my costume with people that many people are against the Idaho Stop. These people felt the Idaho Stop is dangerous for cyclists and motorists. Yes, I find it concerning that these people assumed the Idaho Stop is dangerous without researching whether it is actually dangerous. While I wish there were more studies about the Idaho Stop and that lay people actually read the studies, I found this 2022 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) fact sheet titled “Bicyclist “Stop-As-Yield” Laws and Safety Fact Sheet”. I also found this 2022 article titled “Study shows Idaho stop improves cyclist safety”.

Bicyclist stop-as-yield laws allow cyclists to mitigate risk to their advantage, increase their visibility to drivers and reduce exposure. Bicyclists have greater incentive to yield, as they are at high risk for injury at intersections. One study cites research showing that pedestrians and bicyclists exert more care and attention before crossing red signals than green (Leth et al., 2014).

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

Future Blog Post

I realize the above post is short. I covered everything quicker than normal. While I will likely be exhausted from attending the conference this week, I may blog about the conference.

Ray’s Petaluma Apartment Complex Has Strict Bike Parking Policy

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My roommate and I received a patio notice from our Petaluma, CA apartment complex yesterday (Friday) that requires me to park my two bikes in a bike cage or inside my bedroom. The patio notice also requires us to bring our small trash and recycle cans inside. While I was tempted to share the notice publicly, it has our address on it. Since our lease states that only furniture can be on our patio, I should have read our lease closer. Thankfully, we did not get fined and the property manager is helping us to be compliant. We learned that many residents have bikes on their patios, so we were not the only residents who receive the notice. While I may find similar restrictions in a homeowner association (HOA) if my first home ends up being in an HOA, I have enough savings to buy my first home after my one-year work probation period is over next July. Due to how many Californians cannot afford to buy a home, I am fortunate to be able to afford an expensive home in California.

Where Can Ray Park His Two Bikes?

I wish the answer was as simple as inside a bike cage. While the below photo is hard to see inside the bike cage, there is only space for one more bike. The property manager said more bike cages are planned. Unfortunately, they do not have a timeline for when the bike cages will be built. At least they recognize the need for more bike cages.

Source: Ray Atkinson

Due to the potential for bike theft, I would prefer my bikes to be parked in a secure bike cage. Since I do not want to hang my bikes on the wall in my bedroom because they are heavy, I am hoping the property manager will allow me to lock my bikes to the non-secure bike racks outside the bike cages. I wrote “allow” because my apartment complex has a bike registration system. This is separate from the City of Petaluma. The property manager will remove my bikes if they are not registered and parked in the correct location. I have never lived in an apartment complex that has a bike registration system!

Ray Purchased His First E-Bike

I try to include something positive in my posts. While I was not planning to buy an e-bike when I moved to Petaluma and I still prefer pedaling, my new boss felt comfortable enough with me to share that I had bad hygiene issues. He actually told me this on my birthday, which is likely the most helpful birthday gift I have ever received. Yes, it was an awkward meeting but I am thankful that my boss felt comfortable enough with me to share such an important issue. The below photo shows my Class 2 e-bike and pedal-only bike. As a full-time City of Petaluma employee, I receive a $500 (before taxes) annual wellness benefit. I used this benefit to help me pay for the e-bike. I have never had this benefit before. I love how it is an annual benefit!

I am keeping my pedal-only bike as a backup bike. I also have it posted on Spinlister, which is like Airbnb but for bikes. Since I purchased this bike when I still lived in Arlington, VA in 2017 and I rode it daily through rough western Oregon rainy seasons, I doubt it will be rideable much longer.

Source: Ray Atkinson

Due to my e-bike having a longer wheelbase than my pedal-only bike, I have been concerned about whether my e-bike will fit on the bike rack when riding the bus. As the below photo of a parked Petaluma Transit bus shows, the back wheel of my bike is in the wheel well. Since the front wheel is only partly in the wheel well, I am nervous about whether the wheel is far enough into the wheel well to keep my bike from moving. I plan to ask a bike shop for advice before doing a real-world test on a moving bus. While I am not asking for professional advice from my readers, do you think my bike is far enough into the wheel well to keep it from moving on a moving bus?

Source: Ray Atkinson

I wanted to end this blog post with an enjoyable Instagram post. You can read the description to understand what is happening in my Instagram post. Yes, I rode my e-bike through Petaluma River Park. While the severe drought has caused the park to be brown, I hope to see it lush and green someday soon. Since I did not enjoy the long rainy season in western Oregon, the lush and green park better happen without a long rainy season!

Next Blog Post

I may write a follow-up post about the above post. Another option is to continue writing about what I started in my last post. Do you have a preference?