Subject: Bicycle Newsletter 1-16-00 Date: 1/16/00 12:47 AM Received: 1/16/00 12:48 AM From: Michael Bluejay, bluejay@mail.com To: austin-bike-news@topica.com ###################################################################### /__/ == /_____/ BIKING IN AUSTIN NEWSLETTER ___/ \ _/ \___ covering bikes as alternative transportation / /\ \/___/\ \ \___/ & \___/ bluejay@mail.com * michaelbluejay.com/bicycle Michael Bluejay, editor Jan. 16, 2000 ###################################################################### [See very end for publication info, and how to unsubscribe.] [Please visit our website: http://michaelbluejay.com/bicycle ] T H E R E V O L U T I O N W I L L N O T B E M O T O R I Z E D ###################################################################### #### C O N T E N T S : #### #### FROM THE EDITOR: Contest: Vote on newsletter logo #### #### #### RIDES: Valentine's Day ride, Critical Mass, Full Moon rides #### #### EVENTS: Recycled Bikes conference Jan. 21-24 #### #### JUSTICE: Statesman's slanted coverage, and anonymous notes #### #### ADVOCACY: Congressman Lloyd Doggett's online survey #### Bicycle Advisory Council new meeting schedule #### #### POLITICAL: Amy Babich runs for City Council, #### Charles Gandy runs for U.S. Senate #### #### DISCUSSION: The right kind of people aren't moving here #### #### CLASSIFIEDS: Used bikes for sale #### #### Publication / Subscription info #### ###################################################################### ====================================================================== FROM THE EDITOR: Vote on newsletter logo ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Should I change the bicycle logo that appears at the top of each newsletter? The one that's there now is something I drew myself. The tires look a little flat, but it was the best I could do. Recently I came across another character-based logo, which I modified so the rider is in an upright position rather than a racing position. So here are the two logos. Let me know which one you think I should use by emailing me at bluejay@mail.com. Or, if you can draw one that's better than either of these, then send that to me. Everyone who enters (either by voting or by sending me a new drawing) is eligible to win a free red blinking bike light. Emails must be received by 11:00pm Sunday 1/22. /__/ == O VOTE /_____/ |\ FOR ___/ \ _/ \___ _`\<,_ YOUR / /\ \/___/\ \ (*)/ (*) CHOICE \___/ & \___/ NOW LOGO #1 LOGO #2 ====================================================================== RIDES: Valentine's Day ride, Critical Mass, Full Moon rides ---------------------------------------------------------------------- CRITICAL MASS - - - - - - - Meets on the last Friday of each month at 5:00pm on the UT West Mall, between 22nd & 23rd St. Here are the ride dates for 2000: 1/28 2/25 3/31 4/28 5/26 6/30 7/28 8/25 9/29 10/27 11/24 12/29 FULL MOON RIDES - Every time there's a full moon - - - - - - - - (1) Clothing Optional Ride: 10pm, Wheatsville, 3101 Guadalupe (2) Midnight Ride: 11:59pm, Ozone Cycles, 32nd & Guadalupe We moved some dates a day ahead or behind the actual full moon, so the ride could be on a Fri or Sat night. Ride dates for 2000: F 1-21 Sa 3-18 W 5-17 Sa 7-15 Sat 9-16 F 10-13 Sa 12-9 F 2-18 M 4-17 F 6-16 M 8-14 (see note) Sa 11-11 Note: The September Midnight ride leaves at 2:00 am Sat. night (Sun. morn.) and leaves from Palmer Auditorium. Neither Wheatsville nor Ozone sponsors these rides; they're just convenient meeting places. VALENTINE'S DAY BIKE PARADE by Mike Librik - - - - - - - - - - - - - - There will be another Human-powered Parade and Human-powered Party on Sunday, February 13th, the day before Valentine's Day. As usual, the parade will begin at 1 pm at the south steps of the Capitol, and proceed to Waterloo Park for the party at 2 pm. Those who cannot make it to the parade are still welcome to the party, but like always, one may not drive a car to the Human-powered party. Costumes are encouraged. Big hearts, Cupids, or mobsters with violin cases all fit with the theme of the day. All ages are welcome. To make a better parade and party, the organizers request the help of a few volunteers for the following duties: PARADE LEADERS: need only know the route and keep at the front of the parade to keep it on course. CORKERS: to stop traffic when the tail of the parade is passing through an intersection. FOOD, DRINK, & BEER PROVIDERS: bring refreshments to the party. FUN PROVIDERS: bring games or musical instruments to the party. For more information or to volunteer, call Mike Librik or Amy Babich at Easy Street Recumbents at 453-0438, or info@easystreetrecumbents.com ====================================================================== EVENTS: Yellow Bike Project hosts Recycled Bikes Conference, 1/21-24 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The Yellow Bike Project, an all-volunteer organization devoted to promoting bicycling in Austin, is hosting a (re)Cycled Bikes Conference January 21-24, 2000, at its workshop at 1182 Hargrave in East Austin. There is no set registration fee, but donations are encouraged. For registration information, go to YBP's website at: http://michaelbluejay.com/yellow Suggested workshop topics and events include: * Guerrilla Bike Mechanics * Bicycle film festival * Welding & Reusing Resources * Working with Municipalities * Setting up a Free Bike project * A bike ride * Youth & Bicycle programs [Ed. note: Although I host the YBP website, I'm not actually a member of the YBP. For information about the YBP, please contact YBP.] ====================================================================== JUSTICE: Statesman's slanted coverage, and anonymous notes ---------------------------------------------------------------------- There have been a rash of car-bike collisions over the past couple of months, which are detailed on the Bicycling in Austin website: Bicycling in Austin -> News -> No Justice for Cyclists What's more distressing about these incidents is how many are hit-and- runs, and also the "blame the cyclist" style of reporting we get from the Austin American-Statesman. In response to this poor reporting, local cyclist Dan Connelly sent the following letter to the Statesman, which it ran on Jan. 3. After the letter was published, Dan received an anonymous note in the mail that said, "Cyclists should get the hell off the road." Here's Dan Connelly's letter: Tuesday's short article on the Saturday incident, critically injuring Jason Boardman and seriously injuring Cameron Cooper, was quite disappointing. You report Jason's bicycle "made contact with" the Suburban. Other sources report the car, driven by a 71-year old man who may have been under the influence of drugs, careened off the side of the road when the driver fell asleep at the wheel, striking the cyclists. While technically your description is correct, so would be the description that a shooting victim "made contact with" a bullet. Your story leaves open the interpretation that the victims were negligent in this incident, and thus is unfair to them, their families, and your readers. ====================================================================== ADVOCACY: Take Congressman Lloyd Doggett's online survey Bicycle Advisory Council's new meeting schedule ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Doggett's Survey - - - - - - - - - U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) wants to know how his constituents feel about contemporary issues, and has set up an online survey for citizens to communicate their views to him. This is an easy and painless way to express your support for federal support of alternative transportation such as cycling. The survey is at: http://www.house.gov/doggett/ An initial form checks your address to make sure you're in his district before letting you complete the survey. Bicycle Advisory Council's new meeting schedule - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The Bicycle Advisory Council, an advocacy group whose work includes advising the City's Bicycle Program, now meets on the third Thursday of each month at Mother's Cafe (43rd & Duval) at 6:30pm. Also, there is no more Facilities Committee meeting. For more information about the BAC, contact Tommy Eden at 327-7817. ====================================================================== POLITICAL: Amy Babich runs for City Council, Charles Gandy runs for U.S. Senate ---------------------------------------------------------------------- I've seen the state of local bike advocacy go through three phases. When I first moved to Austin, there really wasn't any significant bike movement. Then in the early/mid-90's, cyclists started lobbying the government for improved conditions and more support. When government officials were less than receptive to their requests, bike advocates got smart and realized that the best way to influence government officials was to BE those government officials. Towards that end, two bike advocates (Michael Zakes and Patrick Goetz) got appointed to the city's Urban Transportation Commission. Even when not actually running for office, cyclists have shown that they are a political force to be reckoned with. Cycling was a popular issue in the 1997 City Council elections, with candidates taking the questionnaire by the (now defunct) League of Bicycling Voters seriously, and with most candidates actually getting on bikes and riding in a special ride to show their support for biking issues. And just last month, Mayor Watson pledged to focus on traffic and sprawl problems in his second term. One bicycle advocate is now trying to get a spot on the City Council herself. Amy Babich, known to thousands who have read her vitriolic letters to the Austin Chronicle, is seeking the council position currently held by Bill Spelman. The Biking in Austin newsletter is proud to bring you the first print interview with Amy regarding her candidacy, scooping both the Chronicle and the Statesman. Our interview appears below. This isn't the first time Babich tried to run for City Council. Candidates must either collect hundreds of signatures on a petition or pay a filing fee in order to run. Last year when Babich tried to run she collected the signatures, only to have the City Clerk throw the petition out because some of the signers didn't write the word "Austin" on the form (even though they listed their address and zip code). And even that wasn't the first time that citizens have had their petitions spat on by the City. A year earlier, the Clerk threw out campaign finance petition by Austinites for a Little Less Corruption by invalidating thousands of signatures -- for no good reason, according to the petition organizers. And in 1992, after the City Council's inaction on water quality issues forced citizens to submit their petition calling for the SOS ordinance, the council illegally delayed placing the issue on a ballot for 90 days, allowing developers to file development plans under the much softer rules during that 90-day window. Babich is collecting petition signatures now, and this year she's making damn sure that each signer includes the word "Austin" in their address. The petition is due in March, although she hopes to have collected enough signatures to turn it in by mid-February. While I share Babich's dream of a car-free city, I'm less optimistic that it could actually be achieved any time in the near future. Still, the radical thinkers help to pull society in a positive direction away from the negative extreme. Babich may not get her wish of a car-free Austin by 2020, but her insistence on that goal will mean that more attention will be placed on transportation issues affecting the city. On that basis, we wholeheartedly support her candidacy. In other news, Charles Gandy, founder and former director of the Texas Bicycle Coalition, and former Texas State Representative, has announced his bid for the U.S. Senate, seeking the position currently held by Kay Bailey Hutchison. We'll try to bring you an interview with Gandy in a future issue. For now, you can check out his campaign website (still under construction) at . I N T E R V I E W - - - - - - - - - - [True to her reputation, when we called Amy about this interview, she answered her cell phone while she was on her bike! Gotta love it. And because she's a safety advocate, Amy insisted that we explain that she was actually on the back part of a tandem bike with her husband, and that she would never try to steer a bicycle while talking on a cell phone.] Why are you running for City Council? Because I really think it would be good to have a non-motorist on the City Council, and I think it would be good to have someone who thinks that facilitating non-motorized transportation is an important thing. Nobody on the current council thinks that, at least not strongly. What's your vision for Austin? This is more of a long-term thing, but I think that Austin ought to be the first city to get rid of cars, by around 2020. It would be wonderful to have a city where people got around by public transit, walking, and biking. Would trucks be able to deliver goods to the retail shops, or would you get rid of them too? It really doesn't matter if there are only a few hundred motorized vehicles. That would be okay. The problem is that the city is currently overrun by them. You'd have to get rid of all the private cars, because you can't say that some people can have them and some can't. You'd still have emergency vehicles, though hopefully those would be converted to electric power. How, specifically, would you implement these ideas? I'm working on writing all of this down to explain it better. The first thing is to reduce usage and slow cars down, such as with bicycle boulevards. [These are streets which have obstructions which let bicycles go through, but which block cars. Cars can still get to any house or building, but can't use the street for through traffic.] And then we could establish car-free zones, such as in the downtown area. The idea is that this will be so nice that people will want it all over the city. You're not going to get anything all over the city unless people want it -- it has to be democratic. Another thing is to build more sidewalks and to fix those that are in bad condition. Right now the City doesn't claim any responsibility for maintaining sidewalks -- I'd try to change that. You think people will really go for all this? Yes. I know they're not into it now, but they'll see how attractive it is. If we start having car co-ops [in which several people jointly own a share a single vehicle], people won't be so attached to "their" vehicle. Once they have less attachment to the car system, it will be easier for them to buy into the idea of a car-free city. What is your response to all the people who say that you're a one-issue candidate? I don't think that's true. I favor a citizens review board for the police and I support the Living Wage campaign, for example. I also think that companies could employ more local people if they'd let people work part-time. A lot of these computer companies only offer full-time jobs, which keeps people like musicians from getting better jobs. They have to take lower-paying jobs because those are the only part-time jobs available. It's true that I probably wouldn't run if transportation weren't on the table. Running for public office isn't my favorite thing to do. But this problem really affects me, and I don't see that anything is going to be done about it unless someone who doesn't drive a car DOES run for office. This issue affects all other issues, and it easily gets swept under the rug. People talk about redeveloping downtown, but they don't talk about what they're going to do about the car traffic it's going to cause. Why did you pick Spelman's seat? I'm not even sure whether Spelman is running again; I don't think he's announced. Since he's younger and stronger than I am and has a tenured position at UT, why isn't HE the bicycle candidate? I don't think he really sees the problem. And maybe if I don't win, I can influence him or whoever does win. He has a bike and could ride it if he felt that it would help him politically. (laughs) If you're elected, how do you plan to convince your fellow councilmembers to agree to your radical ideas? By pointing out that I got elected! I'm not planning on getting elected by lying and saying I'm giving out free gasoline. I'm running by saying that I want to get rid of the cars by 2020 while promoting other forms of transportation. If I get ELECTED on that basis then I've shown that those issues are popular. I think it's more popular than people think. Lots of people wave to me and encourage me while I'm riding. And I don't think my ideas are that radical anyway. ====================================================================== DISCUSSION: The right kind of people aren't moving here ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Many locals have pointed out that with so many people moving here because of the quality of life in Austin, that very influx of people reduces the quality of life. The influx will only stop, the thinking goes, when the increased population destroys those very qualities that brought those people here in the first place. But what if the reality is even more insidious? What if only the really community-oriented people stop moving here, leaving SUV-driving bike-haters as the only immigrants? The following letter we received last month from Kimberly, a professional in Denver, gives us pause. I went to Austin in October to look at homes to buy and surveyed the infrastructure of your fair city. I finally got my hands on a bike map and noticed how the area where I would work and live were not very bike friendly. I thought perhaps I had missed something about how bikeable Austin was supposed to be. There are not continuous sidewalks, long distance bike paths, decent shoulders on the main roads, nor did I see many cyclists. I was concerned about living in a town that seemed less bikable than Denver. Upon my return home and after much thought and more emails with Austinites, I decided on the basis of low bikability that I would not move there. I believe cycling in Denver to be more of a priority with our city planners than I saw in Austin. ====================================================================== CLASSIFIEDS: Used Bikes for Sale ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [No current ads. Send me some. This is free, you know!] AD POLICY --------- Ads for individuals up to four lines are free, and run for six months or until you tell me to remove it. Ads are accepted ONLY through email at bluejay@mail.com. This newsletter is geared towards people who ride for transportation; if you're trying to sell a $1000+ racing or mountain bike, you probably won't sell it here. Commercial ads are $10 per insertion per issue for up to three lines. Email me to get an account set up. We reserve the right to reject any ad or to suspend its publication for any reason. Actually, we don't even have to have a reason. ====================================================================== PUBLICATION / SUBSCRIPTION INFO by Michael Bluejay, editor - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - http://michaelbluejay.com/bicycle bluejay@mail.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- We currently have 478 subscribers, up 14 from the last issue. Back issues are available on the Biking in Austin website. Biking in Austin is published about once every week or two. You're getting this newsletter because you either asked for it, or you joined the austin-bikes discussion list. (As advertised, joining the discussion list gets you an automatic subscription to this newsletter. If you no longer want the newsletter, send a blank email to: austin-bike-news-unsubscribe@topica.com If that doesn't work, visit the Topica website at www.topica.com. If someone forwarded you this newsletter and you want your own subscription, send a blank email to: austin-bike-news-subscribe@topica.com Articles are by me if uncredited. Articles by others may have been edited for grammar, clarity, conciseness, superstition, or just for the hell of it. News submissions that focus on bikes in general or on bikes as alternative transportation are welcome, but please don't be upset if I don't have room to run them. (I've already got plenty of material for dozens more newsletters.) Please don't write to us about sport or off-road cycling, since we don't cover those areas. Also, please don't send OPINION pieces for inclusion in the DISCUSSION column of this newsletter. I get material for the Discussion column by selecting highlights of the discussions on the austin-bikes email list (see above). Post there, and your opinions may show up here. Before writing with questions, please check the Biking in Austin website to see if your question is answered there. Here are some useful links: Bike Safety........... michaelbluejay.com/bicycle/safety.html Back Issues........... michaelbluejay.com/bicycle/newsletters Traffic Laws.......... michaelbluejay.com/bicycle/laws.html No Justice for Cyclists michaelbluejay.com/bicycle/justice Yellow Bike Project.... michaelbluejay.com/yellow City's Bicycle Program. www.ci.austin.tx.us/bicycle Tracking License Plates www.publicdata.com Calendar.............. michaelbluejay.com/bicycle/calendar.html Don't worry about copying, saving, and bookmarking all the website URLs you see throughout these newsletters. Links to these sites appear on the Bicycling in Austin website, for one-stop URL shopping. Thanks for reading this far. Ride safely! :) -MBJ- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ http://michaelbluejay.com AUSTIN MUSIC * BEN FOLDS 5 * SAVING THE EARTH BIKING IN AUSTIN * VEGETARIAN GUIDE * MORE ------------------------------------------------------------------------ _____________________________________________________________ Check out the new and improved Topica site! http://www.topica.com/t/13