On 2018-03-18 08:10, jbeattie wrote:
On Saturday, March 17, 2018 at 8:05:50 PM UTC-7, Frank Krygowski
wrote:
On 3/17/2018 8:53 PM, jbeattie wrote:
On Saturday, March 17, 2018 at 2:35:10 PM UTC-7, Joerg wrote:
On 2018-03-17 14:06, jbeattie wrote:
On Saturday, March 17, 2018 at 9:25:02 AM UTC-7, Joerg
wrote:
On 2018-03-17 08:15, jbeattie wrote:

[...]

Joerg also needs to read-up on current and past federal
transportation financing -- ISTEA, SAFETEA-LU, MAP-21 and
note that the Orange Overlord is gutting federal
transportation funding -- shifting costs onto the states
for the huge, incredible, the bestest infrastructure
projects ever! Most of the big bicycle projects in Oregon
were funded in large part by the feds. There was also
state and local funding under the Oregon Bicycle Bill.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/rex-b...b_3861490.html






Just open some government land (which they are now doing) and let people
ride their MTB there. That solves a lot of the missing bike
links. For example, thanks to Arnold Schwarzenegger we've
got this connector from Lotus to Folsom:

https://s3-media4.fl.yelpcdn.com/bph...rXV2vLEQ/o.jpg





Before that the ride was much longer and quite hazardous (I almost got
clipped by a motorcyclist there). Now the ride is like a
mini-vacation but you do need a serious MTB. Rim brakes
like in the photo are not recommended on this route.

Oh, so tax payers should be paying for your "serious MTB"
route? That's dopey. Government should be installing
infrastructure to reduce inner-city and suburban congestion
-- and providing useful connectors for ordinary cyclists and
not the super-gnarly mountain biker mountain-lion tamers.
Focus on the topic: "bike paths" and not super-awesome, scary
mountain bike trails.


People out here are different and that may be hard to
understand for city folk. For example, when I came back from
Placerville on the usual route (singletrack) a bunch of kids
and their dad came by. Dad had to drop off the car for service,
they loaded all their MTBs and rode back. Just a normal day in
paradise. They sure rode like they know how to handle MTBs.

Pfff. You move to a airpark-golf-course community and make it
sound like you're the Donner Party crossing the Sierra. You are
city folk. If you can ride to Costco, you're not in the middle of
nowhere.

I'm not impressed by someone who hauls his kids in a car, gets
out and then goes trail riding.


It was the only way back by bike. The oter option would have been their
courtesy shuttle.


... I can do that around here, too
(assuming I still had small kids) -- but it's not relevant to
transportation planning in general. Do the awesome mountain bike
kids ride to school? I would find that more impressive. Living
near the hills give you easy access to trails, and maybe even
makes them relevant connectors, ...


Exactly, relevant connectors. When riding from here to Placerville the
only viable connector.


... but your mythical person who
would ride if there were infrastructure is not going to be
dragging his or her ass over dirt trails to get somewhere.


Several did. They are not mythical but real people and are now regularly
riding the trails. One even splurged and bought a new and serious MTB.
What triggered it was me taking our dogs along a different road, came by
an open garage, saw a garage queen MTB in there. A guy was outside and
we got to talk. "You can get to Placerville by bicycle?" ... "Yes, I can
show you" ... Then we rode together. Then one of his friends wanted to
come along. Then they rode together and another friend joined.

Now we even have a bike shop right on that trail, Sam's Town Cyclery. He
would not be there if he wasn't sure that that's where MTB riders come by.

https://s17-us2.ixquick.com/cgi-bin/...4aae05fff73191


Exactly. Joerg is all about anecdotes, and believes his "I saw one
guy..." tales trump all data.

When he does deal with data, it's to say "Well, 1% bike mode share
is excellent for America." Or "Well, all those facilities don't
work because they're built wrong. It's the _next_ facility that
will perform miracles."


No blah-blah, come here and ride the American River bike path during
rush hour. Or the Humbug Willow Creek trail system in Folsom. Then you
know. Those are prime examples of a bike paths built right.


He should spend more time investigating transportation policies and
maybe even getting on the Cameron Park CSD board of directors ...


That would be rather useless. I know someone who tried and eventually
resigned. I remember when I was at a meeting, they discussed a yuppie
town mural ad nauseam and then blew an incredible amount of money on it,
wanting us to look like El Dorado Hills. Which will never work.

I could tell you some stories about other "smart" decisions.


... -- or
some bicycle advocacy group. I'm not that happy about the direction
ultimately taken by the BTA (now the Street Trust), but it
accomplished a lot back in the early days. I can look around
Portland and identify specific projects we accomplished -- bikes on
TriMet, the re-do of the massively popular Hawthorne Bridge crossing,
the Rose Quarter bike facilities and all the bike lanes put in to
comply with the Bike Bill -- including the one I ride practically
every work day (unless taking an alternate route). This was because
of button-up bicycle advocates and not the lunatic fringe wanting to
promote gender equality among whales (a frequent problem with
advocacy groups -- fringe interests taking over). Our fearless
leaders knew all the ins-and-outs of ISTEA and angles for selling
bike projects in a way that meant money for state or local planning
bodies. We also caused city planners to educate themselves on
bicycle infrastructure -- Mia Burke in particular who turned it into
a huge business, Alta Planning. Joerg could go to the people in
Folsom and find out exactly how they did all the magical things the
people in Cameron Park are too busy golfing or flying to care about.


They have enough smart leaders, we don't.


He could go there in his stage coach and talk to the country folks,
speaking in that special country-folk way. Maybe stop at Costco on
the way home.


The stage coach folks are in Placerville, Costco is more west in an
urban area. Oh, and once they (finally!) finish a bike path from White
Rock Road to Costco in Folsom later this year I can indeed get to Costco
on ... drum roll ... singletrack! Also to lots of other stores there.
I haven't tried at Costco yet but Lowe's, Home Depot and Trader Joe's
let me bring the bike inside so I shop there. Walmart doesn't so I
mostly don't shop there anymore.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/