Blog Baltimore

I’m sitting here at Joe’s Bike Shop in Fell’s Point as they replace my back rim and I got to thinking. There was a lot of things I learned the hardway when I first started commuting by bike.

The first thing I learned was that tire pressure is crucial! Check your tire pressure every other week at least. This is key to avoiding flats and helping your rim keep true.

Secondly, always keep an eye on your rims for wobbling. If you bust a spoke this could severely impact your wheel and its safety.

Thirdly find a bike shop you can trust. Every time I’ve been to Joes Bike Shop in Fell’s Point they’ve been fast, fair in price, and efficient. They also don’t make me feel like an idiot when I ask stupid questions.

The recent count efforts was reported by Bruce Wallace on NPR. I’ve included the link below for anyone that missed it

http://marylandinmotion.wordpress.com/2011/01/12/1-12-11-counting-on-bikes/

It was definitely a cold count! Anything to help the collective growth for cyclists though

From micacycling.net

Tickets still on sale!!!

We are excited to announce that the MICA Cycling Association will be presenting the one and only Baltimore screening of the new cycling film Chasing Legends, on October 14th, 7pm at Falvey Hall. Tickets are 6 dollars for MICA Students, and 10 dollars for general admission. The movie has been selling out where it goes so get your tickets early online at chasinglegends.com

It’s been a long time posting and I really have no excuse other than there hasn’t been anything that has interested me enough to get off my lazy ass and write. That was until I started seeing the progress that Nate Evans and Baltimore City have been making towards cyclists.

I’ve been following the bike plan for about 5 years now and the recent growth in the past 2 for cyclists has been amazing. Before it seemed as though it was just a lot of planning and talk. Who knows, maybe it was. Recent developments of the bike lane painting on Lombard, laws giving penalties to drivers that violate bike lanes, and laws requiring motorists to attempt to pass cyclists with a minimum of 3ft distance, are just a few of the major changes recently.

Most importantly I’m starting to see a lot of people cycling now who aren’t just using it as a weekend means of exercise or a hobby. I’m seeing more and more cyclist that are using it as their means of transportation. This is a culture shift to a more economical, environmental, and parking friendly alternative.

I’m truly excited to see these changes happen and play a very small part in them.

Some links for fun:

Bike Baltimore – Nate Evan’s Site

Baltimore City Transportation Planning Page

My bike route if anyone is interested in riding in with me to get comfortable with cycling in the city

Just remember fellow bicyclists:

When the driver of a vehicle thinks they own the road and wish to be assholes about it towards you, if you choose to confront them when they get stuck at the next red light, don’t be aggressive or mean. A lot of drivers believe that cyclists are supposed to ride on the sidewalks, not realizing that this is illegal. Even though their ignorance is not justified, they still have a much larger vehicle then we do and it would be hard to sue someone and enjoy it if you are dead.

I think it is about time the city and/or the state run some ads informing drivers that motorcyclists are not the only people that are required to be on the roads.

I’m passing along a survey that was sent to me by Nate Evans. This survey is collecting information about bicycling in the city. Pass it along if you can?

http://www.surveymonkey.com/bikebaltimore

I received an email from Nate Evans, with the City of Baltimore Bike and Pedestrian Planning Committee, regarding a current list of legislature that are currently in committee with the city council right now. He added a link to a petition site supporting these bills.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/petition/853575826

I went over to http://www.baltimorecitycouncil.com and looked through list of legislature and found the bills on the petition as well as additional bills. Some of the bills seem to be fluff where as others are extremely important and require as much support as possible from the bicycling community.

Ordinance 09-0431 is extremely important. Seeing that there are still many grates in the city that are NOT bicycle friendly, the chances of an accident when required to bike on the road are more likely. Multiple places on Pratt Street where there are already designated bike lanes these grates exist. S. Hanover St at Pratt St is an example of an unsafe bike grate. If for some reason I need to shift close to the side walk because a car comes in to the bus/bike lane it could end tragically if the grate is hit. I for one would not be excited about flipping over the handle bars of my bike in the middle of downtown during rush our because of an encroaching car (which I’ve experienced many similar situations.)

Ordinance 09-0430 follows along the same lines of importance. If the city is going to embrace a growing biking community, they need to provide space. This ordinance covers the creation of bike lanes as well as grates that are bike safe.

Ordinance 09-0429 is unique in that many people don’t realize, you still need a safe place to put your bicycle once you get to work. I consider myself lucky because I can bring my bicycle inside and store it safely. For the longest time there was very little space for people to store their bicycles where I work. As of recently I’ve pushed management to provide more bike racks and to secure the bike racks. This is all in hopes that the students take advantage of this and bike, instead of drive, to school.

I’ve listed the rest of the ordinances that were brought up in the petition. All I can hope is that Baltimore takes advantage of its unique layout and embrace cycling as a major form of transportation, as opposed to some hobby or fad.

• 09-0176R – The Cyclists’ Bill of Rights FOR the purpose of reaffirming support for efforts to improve conditions for cyclists and encouraging more widespread awareness of the “Cyclists’ Bill of Rights” .
• 09-0175R – Informational Hearing – Baltimore Police Department – Police and Cyclists FOR the purpose of inviting the Baltimore Police Commissioner to report to the City Council on the Police Department’s procedures for responding to incidents involving cyclists and the Department’s general approach to the bicycling community.
• 09-0431 – City Streets – Bike-Safe Grates FOR the purpose of requiring that all City street paving and repaving contracts require that drainage grates be installed in a bike-safe alignment; requiring anyone undertaking a street paving project to install drainage grates in a bike-safe alignment; and generally relating to bike-safe grates on City streets.
• 09-0430 – Transit and Traffic – Bike Lanes FOR the purpose of allowing the creation of bike lanes; defining certain terms; prohibiting parking or standing in bike lanes; requiring bike-safe grates in bike lanes; imposing certain penalties; and generally relating to bike lanes on City streets.
• 09-0429 – Required Parking for Bicycles FOR the purpose of requiring certain new or expanded structures, premises, and uses to provide bicycle parking that meets certain standards; requiring certain employers to provide their employees with bicycle parking that meets certain standards; defining and redefining certain terms; imposing certain penalties; providing for a special effective date; and generally relating to required parking spaces for bicycles.
• 09-0173R – Informational Hearing – Mountain Biking on City Reservoir Watershed Property FOR the purpose of inviting representatives of the City agencies concerned with mountain biking on City reservoir watershed property and the mountain biking community to discuss how to allow mountain biking on City reservoir watershed property without harming water quality.
• 08-0077R – Baltimore City Green Collar Jobs Creation Coalition FOR the purpose of requesting the Director of the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development, the Director of the Department of Housing and Community Development, the Director of the Department of Public Works, the Director of the Department of Transportation, and the CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools to form a coalition to develop a plan to create green collar jobs in Baltimore City.

It’s nice having a bus and bike lane in Baltimore to bike to work in. Recently though, it seems that the cars have started to ignore this fact. Over the past month I’ve started to see drivers disrespect these lanes, pulling out randomly on bikers and other cars alike. Even though there are signs posted every other block and the city has (almost readable) bike lane markings, drivers feel that they should drive in these lanes and speed excessively. Not only are drivers pulling into these lanes without really looking, they are also taking the opportunity to go as fast as possible down the street – as if they have more important things to do than wait for lights, pedestrians, bikers, and buses.

There was a sign posted when the city first designated the far right lane on Pratt Street for buses, bikes, and turning cars. It stated, “Bus lane violation $90 and 1 point.” If the city would like, I would love to start snapping photos of all the violators, including the license plates. I am sure I could save a few jobs from layoffs with the amount of revenue I could generate.

This would also include the taxi cabs that still refuse to obey the no stopping signs by the ESPN zone.

According to this sign it appears that there will now be enforcement of a $90 and 1 point fine for violation of the bus (bike) lanes in Baltimore. I wonder if I can offer the police my assistance by taking snapshots of offenders license plates! Maybe get a commission!

For all those bicyclists in Baltimore (me being one as well) remember that even though you ride a bike, this doesn’t mean you’re above the law. Many bicyclists tend to forget that we have to abide by the same laws as cars and trucks.

This doesn’t give us the right to zip through red lights. This doesn’t give us the ride to fly across lanes cutting off cars. This also doesn’t give us the right to cut through pedestrians trying to cross the street. Just because we’re not covered by tons of steel doesn’t mean that we have the right to go anywhere and everywhere our bike will take us, including side walks, walkways, and pavilions.

At this time the police are lenient but if these sophomoric acts continue, we’ll start to see a crack down and I for one don’t want to get a ticket for riding on the sidewalk because some asshole decided to ruin it for the rest of us.

If you don’t believe me, you can read about it here.

http://www.sha.state.md.us/OPPEN/acom_bike_laws1.pdf

It’s long, its painfully legalese. You can read a summary of this information here for those who have a hard time with big words.

Ultimately, cars have horns and blinkers. We have our voices and our arms. Make sure to use every means possible to communicate with other bicyclists and vehicles. Don’t assume that they know you’re there. Don’t assume that they’re going in any specific direction. If you’ve got a voice, use it. Otherwise buy a bell damnit.