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| The December ride
schedule is posted and available at http://surf-ici.com/chaingang/Schedule/RideSchedule.htm
Chain Gang Members and Friends, I would like to extend an open invitation to anyone who would like to attend our Christmas Party. This includes members and friends. It is a potluck so bring a dish. I plan on ordering party plates, one with meat and one with vegetables. Drinks will also be provided, I was thinking of getting water and soda pop. No alcohol will be provided, so bring your own. If you have any special requests please send me an email. The party is at Max Davenports house. He lives at 302 Plaza Drive. From the Courthouse go west on Gurley Street towards Thumb Butte approximately 2 miles. Take a left on Plaza Drive, just past the ABCO. Max's house in approximately ¼ mile up the road on the right hand side. Please send me an email if you plan to attend so I can get a count for Max. For entertainment we will be showing the Tour de France. Hope to see you there. Cindie Travis Cindieno smamPrescottYellowPapes.com Max Davenport 302 Plaza Dr. Prescott AZ 86303 99/04 771-0867 Sat. 4 It’s Party Time!!! ‘Spin the Spars
I am sorry about sending the attached picture of Biker Dave last month. I got the picture from Nacho but he never asked me to email it out. It was all my doing. I thought I would do something different for Halloween. What I failed to realize was that an attached file of that size could crash an older computer. I should have posted this picture on our site and just linked to it or stored it on a remote server. If this caused you any problems I am truly sorry. There are much better ways of sending pictures. The images that come with the Chain mail are different from a file attachment. They are not stored on your computer and these newsletters will not fill up your hard drive anymore than regular text email. The Chain Mail images are stored on our web site (server) and come to you much the same as images do when you look at a web site while surfing. If you are not online and you open the Chain Mail the text will appear but the images will not. OK, now I know.
There is a very important Prescott Bicycle Advisory Committee (PBAC) meeting coming up on December 1, 1999 at 4:00 PM in the City Council Chambers. The main item on the agenda is the Watson Woods Bridge. This bridge will cross Granite Creek at about the Rails to Trails trailhead. The road will continue to go west then turn south to intersect Highway 69 hence the name 89/69 Connector. What they will be voting on is NOT which method is best to make the bridge more bike friendly but instead the vote will decide if the PBAC should continue to push the request of widening the bridge. In a nutshell they will be voting on whether Cindie Travis has the support of the PBAC when she goes to the city council on December 7th (3 PM City Council Chambers) and asks for additional funding (3% more) to widen the bridge. Sue Knaup is of the opinion that even trying to improve this bridge is not what the PBAC should be doing. Sue says, "That's a lot of beans for not much in the way of bicycle improvements." Cindie plans on going to the city council meeting anyway. Obviously Cindie, and her many supporters, would prefer the support of the PBAC. OK, I admit that I am biased on this issue. Besides Cindie being my wife I believe that it is the PBACs obligation and responsibility to the cyclists in this area to pursue anything that will make Prescott a more bike friendly city. We should at least try. It is most important to have a good showing of cyclists at the City Council Meeting on Dec 7th. If you have ever wanted safer roads for cyclist this is the time to do something about it. Cindie has taken on this project for us and the least that we can do is show up and give her our support. If you are interested in this issue please show up at the PBAC meeting and hear both sides for yourself. Cindie, Sue and Derek have written down their arguments. I have reproduced their statements below. There are two sides to every story and I encourage you to contact Sue and hear her out. Tim Travis From Cindie Travis I think it is our responsibility as a Bicycle Advisory Committee to pursue the widening of the Watson Woods Bridge before the permanent structure is built. Here are my reasons: It is my understanding that the current bridge is designed so that bicyclists will have to get off their bike (or run the gauntlet on the white line) and use the side walk to cross a 600 foot long bridge. I find this unacceptable. Why is it that motorists get 6 lanes to drive in and a bicyclist has to get off their bike and use the sidewalk? A wider bridge is safer for bicyclists and motor vehicles alike. I agree with all of Dereks points listed below, especially emergency parking for breakdowns and police stops. In addition, the cyclist has reasonably safe place to ride. Widening this bridge will truly facilitate alternative transportation in the Prescott area. The bike lanes on this bridge will add connective ness between Prescott Lakes Blvd., rails to trails, and the mall. Once the additional roads in the Prescott area are added you will be able to ride your bike from the Prescott High School to the Mall! This means that a Prescott High School student can safely ride their bike to the mall via the 89/69 connectors to work or shop. It just so happens that the bridge is going in before the other roads. This means we need to plan ahead and look into the future and decide what we can do now to facilitate bicycle transportation in this area. If we do not tell them what we want we will get what they give us. We cannot retrofit a bike lane on the bridge once it is built so it is now or never. The funding for this bridge comes from a 1% city tax designated for road improvements. JJ is getting me information on the revenues from this tax and whether it is above or below the projected revenue. The overall cost of the project is $10,000,000, widening of the bridge is just 3% of the total cost of the project. The revenue from this tax will most likely be the sole source of funding for the bridge. These funds are separate from funding sources for the Guinea Pig Project. We could also approach Prescott Lakes Development for matching funds as well. I would like the support of PBAC when I go to City Council to discuss widening of the bridge. Now is the time to get to know the new city council members and mayor and let them know what we want for bicycle facilities in the Prescott area. Cindie Travis Derek Brownlee mentioned some other benefits to bridge widening: room for breakdowns and police stops, room to pass slow vehicles, room for plowed snow, and room for emergency vehicles to pass. From Sue Knaup Cindie, J.J. and I have been looking in to the feasibility of widening the Watson Woods Bridge that will connect the new 69/89 connector with Prescott Lakes Blvd. Tom Long is confident that the connector road will have four foot paved shoulders outside of the white line as has been the plan all along (we need to make sure this remains as part of the final road plan). However, the bridge plans have morphed several times since planning began. Early plans for the bridge described four lanes with a center turn lane and wider outside lanes for cyclists. Then these outer lanes were pinched back creating a potential hazard for cyclists traveling along the shoulders to cross the bridge. Last Tuesday, November 16, Tom Long, Dale, Cindie, J.J. and I met to discuss widening the bridge plans for cyclists. Turns out, after the latest metamorphosis, the bridge plans show six lanes (four straight, two turning) and there is a signal immediately after the bridge at highway 89. Tom and Dale told us that widening the bridge another eight feet (four feet each side) would cost the City over $300,000. Cindie is still interested in pursuing this. I have my reservations. Since the final plans will soon be set in stone, a decision must be made soon. If we decide to pursue this, we must go to Council on December 7th. That is the reason for this notice. With this information I hope all of you (PBAC members) will be informed enough to vote on this matter at the next PBAC meeting on December 1st at 4:00 in the Council Chambers. Hi Cindie: Thanks for putting that meeting together. I got a lot of questions cleared up in my mind. I want to pass on some thoughts I can't seem to shake. This bridge widening would cost the City over $300,000. That's a lot of beans for not much in the way of bicycle improvements. Our striped and paved shoulders will not be pinched like I thought, since four lanes will meet six on the bridge, plus there is a light at the end of the bridge that will act as a traffic calmer. I've spent three years scratching and scraping for every penny towards, first the bike plan, then the Prescott Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation System Phase I. We celebrated big time when we received $7,000 from the Governor's office. I'm going to council in January with Tom Long to beg for $10,000 to go toward the trail improvements in West Granite Creek Park, and though he assures me we stand a good chance of getting the money, I'm worried sick that they will shoot us down. The TEA 21 application that Eric, J.J., Dale and Ramona just finished after months of sweat and toil (not counting the months of sweat and toil they put into the first attempt that was shot down) is for $330,000, just a bit more than what you are proposing for the bridge. A lot rides on the success of that grant since it is the hub of a bicycle and pedestrian system that stems for miles. When I first heard you were taking on this project, I was glad because I knew it would be very bad to pinch cyclists off at the bridge. At that point I did not know it would be six lanes and I did not know that there would be a signal at the other end. I also had more faith that Prescott Lakes would help with the funding. I'm a little apprehensive about going to council to ask for $300,000 for something that will benefit cyclists so very little. If in fact there is that kind of money available, I'd much rather pool our energies to seek funding for projects that would make a drastic difference for our city's bicycle system. For instance: paying for the multi-use trails of Phase I if the TEA 21 application is shot down again, the light at Merritt and Montezuma ($105,000), low water crossings for the multi-use path through West Granite Creek Park ($8,000 for both), more route signs ($5,000 for just over 100), Phase II projects like the widening of Copper Basin, Iron Springs and Thumb Butte Roads, etc. Basically it just doesn't sit right with me and I wanted to let you know so you too could mull it over. I'm afraid if Council shoots us down, which is not unlikely, we could lose credibility with them and future requests for funding could be jeopardized. Let me know your thoughts. I think we need to look at this really hard before we jump off the proverbial bridge. Still, I appreciate your efforts and I am very open to discussion. Thanks a lot. Sue CC: J.J. McCormack My opinion hasn't changed. Please call me (777-0710), Cindie or J.J.(776-6362) for more info so that all of you will be prepared to vote on December 1st.
There are lost crafts in cycling. A few days ago Peter Stevens came over to my house to show Seth Bennett and I his skills of gluing a tubular (or sew up) onto my track bike. Seth did not really know what sew ups were. Hardly anyone does nowadays even though they are still in use. You see, back in the 70s you could not buy a skinny road clincher like you can today. Mountain bikes were still a decade away from hitting the market. Those who rode back then had to tackle the fine art of gluing the tire onto the rim. Any flat tire required this. I rode sew ups for about five years before getting a pair of road clincher wheels. I did glue tires on but never mastered this skill like Peter. I was in my early teens and could make a very big mess every time. The glue has got to be one of the stickiest substances known to man. To make matters worse one company colored their glue red. I can remember going to school with so much red glue on my hands that people thought I had a skin disease. This mess, along with a constant problem of bike grease everywhere, surely drove my mother crazy. Peter said that he had lots of practice gluing tires on for kids. He has a long history of working with kids who raced. I can now remember several senior members of our road pack gluing tires on for me and even giving me tires. I would have never been able to ride without the help of these men. Do we help young cyclist like this today? Peter can glue a tire quickly with the style and grace of a master craftsman. No mess either. He explained the history of the tires and various other components. Did you know that the first thing Campy made were hubs. Derailers and freewheels (now cassettes) were not even invented yet. After gluing the tire on and inflating it, we set off on a track bike ride. Seth recently has become interested in track racing and has been dying to try out the fixed gear. My track bike had a flat for a decade so he could only look at it. Peter fixed my bike and loaned Seth one of his 1950s track bikes. I have ridden countless miles on a velodrome but rarely on the road. Peters bike has a hand brake but mine, like most track bikes, does not even have a place for one. NO BRAKES. We road around Indian Hill for about an hour. Indian Hill is a nearly flat loop about a half-mile long close to my house. It was like going back in time for me. Thank you Peter for passing down some cycling lore. Road cycling is a very old and established sport. It is full of tradition and etiquette that will never be captured in a book or movie. Only the telling of stories around the repair stand will continue this. Tim Travis - President - Chain Gang Cycling Club Ride Schedule = http://surf-ici.com/chaingang/Schedule/RideSchedule.htm Chain Gang Web Site= http://surf-ici.com/chaingang/index.htmBuilt and Maintained by PrescottYellowPages.com  |
