GAIT: Getting Around Issaquah Together

Representative Earl Blumenauer from Oregon introduced House Congressional Resolution 305 (H.CON.RES. 305), otherwise known as the “National Bike Bill” and it was adopted by the House of Representatives back in May. This week it will come before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

The bill is a marvelous laundry list of things the federal government can do to expand the use of bicycles for transportation and recreation and reasons why they should.

Senator Cantwell is Washington’s representative on that committee, you can contact her through her website.

Here’s what I wrote. Feel free to borrow liberally.

Dear Senator Cantwell,

I’m writing to request your support for the National Bike Bill (H.CON.RES. 305), scheduled to be considered by the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee this Thursday 7/31/08.

As our country embarks on an effort to move away from our dependence on petroleum, it is vital that we recognize the role cycling will play.

Nearly half of all trips in the US are three miles or less; more than a quarter are less than a mile, distances easily covered by bike.

Every mile traveled by bike rather than by car keeps one pound of climate-damaging carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

And yet, of all the trips in the United States, just two-thirds of a percent are made by bicycle.[1]

There is a huge opportunity here and H.CON.RES. 305’s recognition of cycling as part of our transportation solution is a step towards embracing it.

Thank you for your support,
Jeff Youngstrom
founder of GAIT: Getting Around Issaquah Together

[1] This statement and those in the previous paragraphs are from the Sightline Institute’s book Seven Wonders for a Cool Planet.

I joined Bob Miller for the “Bridges of Issaquah” ride this evening. There were four of us plus Bob. I put a version of the ride pretty close to what we did up on Bikely if you want to see where we went.

The most fun part of the ride for me was when we were cutting through the school administration parking lot to take the trail over to Dogwood (it’s not a bridge, but it’s a handy bit of ped/bike infrastructure that Bob chose to highlight). As we were reaching the end of the pavement, Bob noticed a bike off in the blackberries. It turned out to be a bike and a trailabike attachment.

The amazing thing is that Bob had just heard of a fellow cyclist having a similar rig stolen from in front of his house a couple of days ago. David Kappler was with us on the ride and happened to have the Issaquah Police non-emergency number on his cell phone (it’s 425-837-3200) so he called to see if the theft had been reported. But the more Bob looked at the bike the more sure he was that this was the one. The suspected owner was just a little ways out of our way, so I offered to tow the bike (and trailabike) there with my Xtracycle. Here’s a picture David snapped of the rig:

When we got to the bike’s suspected home we discovered that yes indeed, this was the stolen bike and the owner was very happy to be reunited with it.

Everybody left there pretty happy and we finished up the ride catching the last couple of bridges on the route.

GAIT member Bob Miller will be giving a class this Thursday 6/26 at 7pm in the Issaquah Library meeting room. Here’s what he’ll be talking about:

The class is about how to successfully use a bike to get around Issaquah. What clothes, what kind of bike, what the law says you can do, and most importantly, how to ride to survive.

I bring my bike, a bag of clothes, some handouts from cascade bike club and other sources, and then discuss road strategies.  I hope that then people will join me on my Thursday night rides so that we can experience some on the road stuff and brainstorm safe riding.

Pass this along to any friends who have been contemplating riding their bikes more (probably all of your friends ;-) Even if you’ve done some riding around town, please come out and share your experience.

GAIT members Christine and Kent Peterson gave a talk last week at the Towards Carfree Cities conference in Portland. They talk about the joys and challenges of living in Issaquah (and elsewhere) without a car. It makes for inspiring reading. I encourage you to click that link and read their story. They even give GAIT a very nice plug near the beginning of their talk!

Even if the thought of giving up your car sounds like torture, the same process of identifying your real transportation needs that Christine and Kent describe is just as valid if all you want to do is cut back a little on your driving (and with gas prices what they are, who doesn’t want to cut back a little on their driving?)

Bob Miller’s Bridges of Issaquah ride is now a weekly event every Thursday at 7pm starting from the Issaquah Community Center. If people are there at 7 then Bob will lead the ride. Don’t let light rain stop you, either!

This is a great way to get used to riding around town if you’re new to bicycling around. And if you’re a veteran rider it’s a great way to make bikes more visible to our car driving friends and neighbors.

For more info about the ride see the Cascade Bike Club page.

If you’ve got kids in grades K-5, bring them out to Issaquah Valley Elementary this Saturday June 7th from 10am to 2pm for a Bike Safety Fair.

It’s a free event sponsored by a bunch of local organizations and includes

• Bike safety tips
• Bike and helmet inspections
• Obstacle course challenge
• Bike tune-ups
• Free helmets fitted by police officers (while supplies last)

I’ll be out there talking to people about GAIT. Should be a fun event.

For more info call Bruce at 425-653-1089 or Miho at 425-653-1109.

Bob Miller has come up with a bike ride that visits many of the bridges in Issaquah. He’ll be leading the ride next Thursday, June 5th starting at the Community Center at 7pm. This is an easy ride of approximately 10 miles at a leisurely pace.

The ride is organized through the Cascade Bike Club and there is more info about it here.

Come out and meet fellow GAIT members and be a bicycling presence on the streets of Issaquah. If you’re still nervous about riding on the street this is a great way to get some practice with some more experienced riders.

If you have questions leave a comment or send email and we’ll get Bob to give us answers.

I guess we should point out that May is Bike to Work Month. If you have been thinking about trying to commute to work by bike it’s a great time to get some help over the initial challenges. The full calendar of events is at Cascade Bike Club.

May 16th is Bike to Work Day. Stop by the City’s booth at West Lake Sammamish Parkway and SR-900 from 6am to 10am.