Elmhurst Bicycle Club Newsletter

In 2010 we will focus less on beginner rides, as we have had mostly the same folks on the beginner rides for several years and they are no longer beginners, most are ready to do the moderate single track rides that I lead on a regular basis. Spending too much time at the beginner level inhibits a mountain biker’s growth and does not allow their skills to grow.

I recently was asked by some members of The Naperville Bike Club to take some their members out and teach them to mountain bike, I did this in November and took the I.M.B.A. approach and it was very successful and a lot of fun. I did some basic instruction, then we did a 4 mile loop on double track and next we rode over 10 miles of single-track and everyone learned a lot and had a blast. Pussanee and I were able to do a lot of teaching that can't take place on double track. In order to teach single-track riding....you must be on single-track. Everyone learns at a much faster rate, as my friend and advanced mountain bike rider Peter Gough likes to say about new mountain bike riders: "In to the deep end"

I intend to use this approach (which was taught to me at the I.M.B.A ride leader course) with beginners next year. Everyone gets on single-track on their first ride and the majority of that first ride will be on single track. After 1 or 2 beginner rides, we will encourage riders to move to the moderate single track rides which will make up the vast majority of the 2010 EBC MTB program. I think beginner's will love it and progress much more quickly to being a skilled rider. Just like road riding and skiing, mountain biking is not for everyone and we cannot attempt to make it for everyone.

Single-track is the soul of mountain biking and the reason most mountain bikers love the sport. I.M.B.A describes mountain biking as riding on dirt single track trails 2 feet wide. Double Track at Palos and Teason is trail riding; and riding flat trails like The Prairie Path and The Great Western is path riding. Both are fine options for those who don't like single track or when the single track is wet.....but it is not mountain biking and I am a Mountain Bike Coordinator. Many riders labor under the false assumption that if they ride a mountain bike on the Prairie Path...they are mountain biking. They are not. Same goes the other way, if I take my Orbea Orca on single track....it's not a road ride...it's a mountain bike ride on a road bike. If I take my mountain bike on the road, I am a road rider on a mountain bike.

Baltimore will lead beginner rides as needed on the 3 mountain bike pool party rides which will be on the last Saturday of June, July and August 2010 with Pussanee sweeping and assisting as needed. There will also be moderate and advanced rides lead by myself, Chuck Gentile or Peter Gough depending on Schedules.

Throughout the year, under my direction Chuck Gentile will lead moderate and faster rides when he can, I will lead rides of all sorts all year long...every month of the year. Peter will lead fast rides as his schedule allows. Beginner rides will be held on an as needed basis and will be mostly single-track as our goal will be to very quickly move beginners up to higher levels.

We will take more day trips to Kettle in the spring as it dries out much faster than Palos, we will make at least 5 trips to Imagination Glen and several to Brown County. Chuck Gentile. Maureen Williams. Marty Feipel, Pussanee and I have already booked a cabin near Brown County State Park for July, 23rd, 24th and 25th and I post the first ever B.C.S..P. summer mtb ride soon. I will lead several rides at Saw wee Kee in Oswego next year as well.

We will have an outstanding 2010 Mountain Bike Program...on single-track. Mountain Bikers have more fun!

Tips for Winter Riding

---Ride with a friend or group. Sharing conversation as well as a draft helps the miles go by. But group rides must be cohesive. Don't let them degenerate into hammerfests. You shouldn't do any hard, fast riding when the temperature is below 50F degrees (10C). Instead, use winter to accumulate base miles.

---Don't overdress. If you're not chilly in the first few minutes, you have probably worn too much and will overheat.

---Start with hot drinks in freezing temperatures and use insulated bottles or covers to increase the time before liquids turn to slush.

---Be wary of shaded corners, which may hide ice.

---Wear light, bright colors to help motorists see you on dim days.

---Install rear reflectors or carry reflective ankle bands for times when dusk catches you a few minutes from home.

---Carry two tubes. Patching a tube with freezing fingers isn't easy, should a second flat occur.

---Don't stop for long, if at all. Resumption of the windchill will make you cold, and you may be unable to shake the shivers for the rest of the ride.

---Ride short on frigid days. As a rule, you can be fairly comfortable for 90 minutes in subfreezing temperatures. But things may deteriorate quickly after that, particularly if you have raised a sweat.

---Take time to recover after riding. Winter takes more out of you. Because of the elements and your lower fitness level, a 50-mile (90-km) winter ride feels like 80 miles (128 km).

---Be extra careful when you've been sick. Don't try to make up a week of lost training by riding before you're completely well. There is plenty of time to get back on track when spring arrives.

---Even if you live where winters are mild, you still need to go easy. Use winter for recovery. Don't get caught in the flying-in-January, dead-by-June trap.

Myths of Motorists and Bicyclists

It is time to dispel some commonly held ideas about the separate and combined rights and responsibilities of motorists and bicyclists.

Myth #1: Bicyclists should ride only on sidewalks or trails. False. By the laws of the State of Illinois, bicyclists are permitted to ride on the streets and, in fact, local communities can prohibit cyclists from riding on sidewalks in designated areas. In Elmhurst, for example, bicyclists may not ride on the sidewalk in the business districts such as those located downtown, at York and Vallette, and on Spring Road. These areas are clearly marked with signs to indicate that cycling is not allowed on the sidewalks. If, however, the bicyclist steps off the bicycle and walks it, she becomes a pedestrian and may walk the bike on those same sidewalks. In many cases, it is also recommended that children, when under the age of 12 or without an adult, ride their bikes on the sidewalk until they acquire the necessary skills for riding on the street. Further, District 205 asks that children before third grade never bike to school as it is felt that generally these younger children have not yet developed the motor and observational skills required for safe biking. This is for much the same reason that Illinois does not grant vehicular licenses or permits to those less than 16 years of age. Finally, motorists are not expecting a fast moving object on the sidewalk and so they are not looking for bicyclists crossing intersections on the sidewalk. A motorist is looking for other vehicles on the roadway. There is a better chance you will be observed by motorists if you are on the road. Statistically, a bicyclist riding on the sidewalk is more likely to be struck by a motorist at an intersection than had the bicyclist been riding on right side of the road.

Myth #2: Bicyclists and motorists do not need to stop for stop signs. Fortunately this is not true. Just as many bicyclists, to their possible detriment, run stop signs and run the risk of being killed. We see all too many motorists who either make a feigned attempt to stop (the proverbial “rolling stop”) or just slow down to look both ways and continue ahead at street speed. The difference is that 200 pounds of cyclist and bike will never win out against a 4000-pound vehicle. The result will always favor the vehicle.

Myth #3: A bicyclist has learned all he/she needs to know once they can successfully pedal down the block on their own. Again, this is false. This would be like saying that once you know how to start the car and operate the mechanics, you are ready to drive on the road. For starts, because bicyclists have to follow the Rules of the Road just like motorists, bicyclists need to be trained in what those rules are. Children don’t typically get receive Rules of the Road training until their driver’s education class around the age of 16. For example, drive on the right side, or with the flow of traffic, of whatever you are on, roadway or sidewalk. (30% of bicyclist fatalities occur from head-on collisions as opposed to less the 5% from rear-end collisions.) Next, not all driving, or bicycling, is a matter of driving down the street. Often it requires reacting to unexpected behaviors from others on the road, so the ability to deal with the unexpected is important. These skills can be acquired in simple bike handling and education classes. The Elmhurst Park District offers these periodically, as well as activities at their Safety Town for the younger set.

Myth #4: As a motorist I am allowed to drive as close to a bicycle as necessary so that I don’t have to slow down as long as I don’t hit them. Nope. In 2008 the Illinois State Legislature enacted a safety-related law that requires a motorist to leave at least 3 feet clearance when passing. Often that means you won't be able to "squeeze by" in the same lane.

Myth #5: It is okay to go around a bicyclist and make a right turn in front of them because they are so much slower on the road. Wrong! This type of motorist behavior is the 3rd most frequent cause of motorist/bicyclist accidents and the cause of many cyclist deaths each year, usually under the wheels of a vehicle. You would not think of pulling around a slow moving car and making a right turn in front of them so you shouldn’t do that with a cyclist. Part of the difficulty here is in misjudging how fast a cyclist is going, which can vary greatly.

Myth #6: Bicyclists are allowed to “scoot” up on the right side of a line of stopped cars in order to get to the front of the line. Wrongo! As a vehicle on the road, a bicycle should wait it’s turn in the line of vehicles waiting at a stop sign or traffic control device. As a bicyclist, pulling up on the right is just setting you up for being “right-hooked” by a car. Further, just as cars are required to maintain a distance of 3’ between their vehicle and a bicycle, a cyclist should not deliberately violate this distance with such maneuver.

Myth #7: It is okay for a bicyclist or a motorist to text message while operating their vehicle. Yep, we have seen both instances and it is equally wrong. Effective January 1, 2010, it will be illegal in Illinois to write, send or receive text messages while driving. Fines start at $75. These infractions will often be caught in conjunction with another, such as speeding, failure to avoid an accident, etc. All the authorities need to do to prove their case is to subpoena the cell phone records from your provider.

Myth # 8: Signaling a turn or stop is optional. Wrong again! Only by using your signals will those around you know what your next action will be. Drivers communicate that by using their turn signals and brake lights; bicyclists use their arms to point left or right for turns or a straight opened hand down and facing back to indicate slowing. The bottom line is that there are a lot of myths and misconceptions about the role of bicyclists and motorists in action. The important thing is they are courteous and respectful of each other. If you have a question regarding the proper way to handle a particular situation involving a bike and a motor vehicle, please send it to the Elmhurst Bike Task Force at biketaskforce@elmhurst.org.

Why I Have To Ride a Bicycle

High Cholesterol. I inherited the problem. My mother had five brothers and they all had heart attacks before they were forty years old. Of their daughters, three died of heart related conditions before they were forty.

I started to have high cholesterol in my 40s but it didn’t require medication until I was in my 50s. Diet and exercise did not fix the problem so I have to take medication. That controlled my bad cholesterol but my triglycerides were still 247 when they should be below 150. I thought I was just going to be taking higher drug doses until I found an unexpected solution.

My husband and I had planned to do a bicycle tour around Lake Michigan in June 2009. As preparation for the trip we biked fifty miles a week each and every week beginning in January. In May I had my regular blood test to check my cholesterol. My doctor was amazed that my triglyceride count had dropped to 123! She asked me what I was doing differently and I explained about my bicycle training. “Well,” she said “You will need to bike 50 miles a week for the rest of your life.”

It’s not that I wasn’t exercising before. I got into exercising a little late (I was 48) but I’m pretty religious about my routine. The five or six hours a week on my bike replaced part of that routine - about an hour and a half in the gym. I don’t know if it was the extra time spent exercising, or if it was the difference between spinning on a stationary bike and propelling myself around outside. It doesn’t matter. I have been given a wonderful life sentence and I intend to fulfill it: Ride my bicycle for fifty miles week.

Pedestrian Courtesy: Common Sense and the Law

Larry Gitchell stimulated more than a few responses from other club members when he posted the following note … First off, I'd like to thank the hardy EBC members who rode with me in the slush and slop this weekend. Betty Bond and Chuck Gentile are fast approaching their mileage goals, and I believe Steve Omori made his during Saturday's ride. There was a moment on Saturday's ride (Dec 12th) I'd like to mention in terms of ride safety. We turned the corner to head north on Spring Road in Elmhurst at the beginning of the ride. I saw people in the crosswalk at the Prairie Path, so I called an immediate stop. I received a bit of chiding because the pedestrians were two York High School girls running on the Prairie Path, and my riders suggested I wouldn't have stopped if they were men. I didn't get a chance to respond to this during the ride, so here's my reasoning: I didn't even notice age or gender until after I stopped the bike. My stopping was based on my experiences commuting home from work, specifically crossing the intersections of County Farm and Geneva on the Prairie path, and Lake Street at Villa Avenue on the Salt Creek Greenway Trail. The drivers at both those locations appear totally unaware of the yield to person in a crosswalk rule, even with a clear 'Walk' signal in front of them. Dealing with these intersections has made me very aware of why we need to support the 'stop for person in a crosswalk' initiative, and I'm trying to be more courteous in this situation, whether I'm driving or on the bike.” Larry Gitchell (still your club Safety Committee chairman)

Here are some of the responses...

Bob Hoel said: Larry, thanks for the reminder about cyclists stopping for pedestrians. As cyclists we are obligated to follow the rules of the road, just like a motorist. I have caught myself on the bike a few times ready to charge across an intersection where a pedestrian was in the crosswalk. If we want respect on the road we need to show respect on the road. H.B. (House Bill) 43 is the legislation that Larry is referring to that would change the wording in the law and require that a motorist stop (not just yield) to a pedestrian. This bill has passed the Illinois House of Representatives and can be called for a vote anytime in the Senate. At this time there are not quite enough votes to pass in the Senate so I would ask that you call your Illinois Senator and ask her/him to co-sponsor and support the bill. Over 6,000 pedestrians are hit by cars in Illinois each year; every 2 days a pedestrian dies in Illinois from a vehicular collision; a child is killed once a week by a car. States that require motorists to stop for a pedestrian have a lower accident and death rate. In DuPage County, Senator Cronin is a co-sponsor so please let him know you appreciate his support. Senators Lauzen, Millner, Pankau, Murphy and Hultgren are not with us yet. If you live in their district, please take a few moments to call and ask them to support H.B. 43. (If you are not sure who your Senator is, go to this site to look it up and get their contact info http://www.elections.il.gov/DistrictLocator/SelectSearchType.aspx) As soon as we are confident the bill has enough support it will be called for a vote. This has to happen, however, before the end of the current session next Spring or it will be back to square one.

Eric Peterson said: I once had three members of the Lombard police tell me that cars did not have to yield to me when I used the crosswalk (I was walking my bike, not riding it) on the Prairie Path to try and cross Westmore-Meyers. I asked them what the crosswalk meant then and they said that was a good question. Crosswalks, according to one of them, only applied when they were located in the immediate vicinity of a traffic light or a four-way stop. When I got home I sent an email to the chief of police and he called me later and admitted on the phone (not email, smart man) that the officers were not accurate in their statements. “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance."

Peter T. then commented: As is often the case we need to get existing laws enforced, and as Eric's tale suggests, understood by law enforcement. Interestingly enough the law should not apply "were located in the immediate vicinity of a traffic light" because a vehicle with a green light should not have to stop for a pedestrian entering an intersection against a red light. But in my opinion we do not need the California style "stop for any pedestrian approaching a cross walk" law. Do we want cars to come to a screeching halt every time a pedestrian nears an intersection? Let's think this through, lest our wishes be granted. We need reasonable laws that are understood and enforced. Just piling on more laws does not help. The yield law is reasonable. A stop requirement is not.

And Nancy Rice noted: In Illinois, cars are supposed to yield to bicyclists who are riding their bikes in crosswalks just as they would yield to pedestrians. So why do all the warning signs at crosswalks say "yield to pedestrians" instead of "yield to pedestrians and bicyclists"? The Prairie Path has many crosswalks in Lombard and Villa Park, but cars rarely yield for waiting bicyclists. Shouldn't we ask for the signs to mention bicyclists too? The relevant Illinois law is quoted below: ". (c) A person propelling a bicycle upon and along a sidewalk, or across a roadway upon and along a crosswalk, shall have all the rights and duties applicable to a pedestrian under the same circumstances" ( unless such use of bicycles (in a crosswalk) is prohibited by official traffic-control devices.” Her note caused Tim Moore to question: This is an interesting point. It is clear, here, that in a cross-walk, the bicyclists are "protected" as a pedestrian. I am curious about people's thoughts regarding a potential double standard here. On one hand the laws seem to be protecting bicyclists as pedestrians, on the other hand, bicyclists want some protections as vehicles on the road. Could the pedestrian status over-ride the vehicle status?

Finally, Petra offered these thoughts: When a pedestrian steps of a curb in a cross walk all vehicular traffic should stop, period. Pedestrians are protected when they use a cross walk with a green light. I learned the hard way several years ago when I was crossing a busy Atlanta street and was hit by a Dekalb Co. sheriff's deputy. I was cited for contributory negligence because I didn't walk a quarter mile up the street to the stop light and use the cross walk. Illinois cyclists and pedestrians would greatly benefit from a California style law and enforcement of anti-jaywalking as they occasionally do in downtown Chicago.