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Tour de Belleville, Tour de Donut safety tips

Two of the St. Louis area's largest group rides are coming up -- the Tour de Belleville on Friday night and the Tour de Donut on Saturday morning -- and it's time to offer these tips to make your ride a fun and safe experience.

These same tips can be used for rides such as the St. Louis World Naked Bike Ride on Aug. 15 and the Moonlight Ramble on Aug. 29-30 in St. Louis, as well as other similar rides throughout the country

Tips for newbies:

• If you're a slower rider, try to ride as far to the right as safely possible so faster riders can pass you. If you have to walk up a hill, walk your bike as far to the right as safely possible.
  
• Groups of cyclists should not take up the entire lane, again so other people can pass.
• If you plan to stop, be sure to give some type of warning. At a minimum, give a verbal warning such as "braking" or "stopping." It's also a good idea to give a hand signal by extending your left hand toward the ground. For a good illustration of that, download the Illinois Bicycle Rules of the Road (pdf file).
• If you're stopping for an extended period of time, pull off the road so other cyclists can pass safely.
• Use your gears. Most new cyclists tend to use a gear that's too big for them. Find a gear where you feel comfortable riding 60 to 90 pedal strokes a minute. When you approach a hill, you probably want to shift to a lower gear before you start climbing.
  
• Above all, ride at a pace that's comfortable for you. The Tour de Belleville is not a race, so don't get tempted to ride at a faster speed than you're used to just because you want to keep up with other people.

Tips for experienced riders:

• Be patient with the less experienced riders. Remember that you once were an inexperienced rider yourself.
• Ride defensively. When approaching a family with young children, give yourself plenty of room to get around them because you never know when someone will suddenly veer to the left or right.
• Use caution on hills. There's a good chance someone will try to climb a hill only to run out of gas and suddenly stop. Give yourself plenty of room to maneuver around them.
• Slow down. This is not the time for a 20-25 mph training ride and long pacelines. Events like the Tour de Belleville are meant for fun, so slow down and smell the roses. The exception here, of course, is Tour de Donut, which is a race.
  
• Be a good ambassador. The way you behave will influence whether a newcomer will stick with the sport.

After riding last year's Tour de Donut, I have to say I'm concerned with some of the riding I saw last year. Way too many people were riding three or more abreast on portions of the course that are open to motorized traffic -- which is most of the course -- and too many people were crossing the yellow line to pass them.

Too many people think that because the first part of the course through Staunton is closed to traffic that the entire course is. That's not the case. Once cyclists make the turn off Illinois Route 4 on the southern edge of Staunton on Renken Road toward Prairietown, the rest of the course is open to motorists. This year, please use common sense and obey the rules of the road.

I hope all of you have a safe and fun experience on whatever big ride you choose to do.

Labels: bicycling, safety, Tour de Belleville, Tour de Donut

Roger 2 comments links to this post 11:37 AM

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Random thoughts from Belleville

Roger, where have you been? You've probably noticed I haven't been posting very often since the end of the Tour of Missouri. The primary reason for that is because I'm teaching a course in publication design at my alma mater, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, in addition to my night job as design editor of the Belleville News-Democrat. It's the first time I've ever taught a course at any level, and preparing for two class sessions a week is taking most of my spare time.

The full-time professors say the first time teaching the course is the hardest and that it gets easier the more you teach it. I hope I get the chance to see whether that's true. I did find out early in the semester that it takes more material to fill an hour and 15 minutes than I thought it did.

I did find it cute when one of the students actually called me Professor Kramer, even though I'm a humble adjunct instructor. I don't even have a master's degree! Fortunately, the folks at SIUE decided my experience in the field counted for something, and I am appreciative for the opportunity to expand my horizons.

Bicycle maps available for all 102 Illinois counties: I wasn't aware of this until this week, but thanks to the folks at the ChampaignCountyBikes mailing list, I now know that the Illinois Department of Transportation has them available here: http://www.dot.state.il.us/bikemap/state3.html

These are county-by-county versions of the regional bicycle road suitability maps available through IDOT and Illinois bicycle shops. Here are direct links to PDF maps for some metro-east counties:

• St. Clair County
• Madison County
• Monroe County
• Clinton County
• Jersey County
• Macoupin County

Tour de Belleville raises money for signals: Drivers will soon get a warning that bikes might cross their paths on East Main and B streets in Belleville, the Belleville News-Democrat reported.

The proceeds from this summer's Tour de Belleville bicycle ride are being used to install two signals by the MetroLink Bike Trail in a section near Douglas School, ride chairman Phil Elmore said. When bikes on the trail approach East Main and B streets, they will trigger sensors that cause yellow warning lights to flash and alert motorists that bicycles are approaching.

Bicyclists must still stop at the intersections.

Work on the signals began Tuesday. The two signals cost $30,000, Elmore said.

While the signals at East Main and B streets will be helpful, my hope is that something can be done about the trail's intersection with North Green Mount Road along the MetroLink tracks. To me, it's the most dangerous intersection on the trail because of the volume and speed of traffic on Green Mount.

Labels: Illinois, journalism, Tour de Belleville

Roger 0 comments links to this post 3:40 PM

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Eat out tomorrow and help the Tour de Belleville

If you live in or near the metro-east and want to go out to dinner Wednesday night, consider going to the Chevy's Restaurant at 1305 Central Parkway Drive in O'Fallon, Ill., and help out the Tour de Belleville and its goal of installing signal lights on key intersections on the city's bike paths.

From 4 to 10 p.m., Chevy's will be giving 15% of each person's bill to the Tour de Belleville -- if you bring (or ask for at the hostess desk) the Tour de Belleville flier (Word document). By showing up and eating you are automatically in a drawing for one of four Gas Cards to be given away courtesy of St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Belleville and the Tour de Belleville.

The Belleville Area Bicycling and Eating Society will be going there after our Wednesday Evening Ride, which also happens to be in O'Fallon. In case you're interested in riding with us, we'll meet at the "Caboose" parking lot at 6:15 p.m. and take off on routes of 14 to 26 miles at 6:30.

Last Friday's Tour de Belleville drew 1,362 registered riders to the streets of Belleville, according to the Belleville News-Democrat story published Saturday.

Labels: Tour de Belleville

Roger 0 comments links to this post 7:14 PM

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Tour de Belleville safety tips

For the third straight year, I offer these tips for those of you who are planning to do the Tour de Belleville tomorrow night. These tips can be put to use on other big nighttime rides such as the L.A.T.E. Ride this weekend in Chicago or the Moonlight Ramble on Aug. 16-17 in St. Louis:

Tips for newbies:

• If you're a slower rider, try to ride as far to the right as safely possible so faster riders can pass you. If you have to walk up a hill, walk your bike as far to the right as safely possible.
  
• Groups of cyclists should not take up the entire lane, again so other people can pass.
• If you plan to stop, be sure to give some type of warning. At a minimum, give a verbal warning such as "braking" or "stopping." It's also a good idea to give a hand signal by extending your left hand toward the ground. For a good illustration of that, download the Illinois Bicycle Rules of the Road (pdf file).
• If you're stopping for an extended period of time, pull off the road so other cyclists can pass safely.
• Use your gears. Most new cyclists tend to use a gear that's too big for them. Find a gear where you feel comfortable riding 60 to 90 pedal strokes a minute. When you approach a hill, you probably want to shift to a lower gear before you start climbing.
  
• Above all, ride at a pace that's comfortable for you. The Tour de Belleville is not a race, so don't get tempted to ride at a faster speed than you're used to just because you want to keep up with other people.

Tips for experienced riders:

• Be patient with the less experienced riders. Remember that you once were an inexperienced rider yourself.
• Ride defensively. When approaching a family with young children, give yourself plenty of room to get around them because you never know when someone will suddenly veer to the left or right.
• Use caution on hills. There's a good chance someone will try to climb a hill only to run out of gas and suddenly stop. Give yourself plenty of room to maneuver around them.
• Slow down. This is not the time for a 20-25 mph training ride and long pacelines. Events like the Tour de Belleville are meant for fun, so slow down and smell the roses.
• Be a good ambassador. The way you behave will influence whether a newcomer will stick with the sport.

Good luck, have fun and ride safe!

Labels: safety, Tour de Belleville, tours

Roger 0 comments links to this post 8:33 PM

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Tour de Belleville deadline approaching

The third annual Tour de Belleville ride is set to roll at 9 p.m. Friday, July 11, and you have until this Saturday, July 5, to sign up online at the regular price of $15. After that, the cost of the ride goes up to $25 a person.

In addition to online registration, you can sign up at the Bicycle World bike shop, 4516 W. Main St. in Belleville, where a registration party is planned for Saturday.

Outback Steakhouse will be sponsoring a picnic meal before the ride, from 6 to 8 p.m. Tickets are available at Bicycle World or the Belleville Parks and Recreation office at 1105 Laderman Ave.

This year's Tour de Belleville will feature routes of 5 to 17 miles. Proceeds from the ride will be used to purchase stoplights to be installed on the Belleville bike path to insure the safety of those hundreds of people that ride the bike path every day. After the ride, participants will receive a free ice cream treat.

Labels: Tour de Belleville

Roger 0 comments links to this post 10:50 PM

Thursday, April 03, 2008

Tour de Belleville gets results

Two emergency call towers have been placed on the MetroLink Bike Trail in Belleville, Ill., thanks to more than 1,000 cyclists in the annual Tour se Belleville who helped raise the money last year, the Belleville News-Democrat reported today.

The two call towers are located at McKinley Avenue and in North End Park at North Douglas and North Illinois streets. The towers cost $8,000 each.

"I am so happy the towers are in place," Phil Elmore, co-founder of the Tour de Belleville told the News-Democrat. "I hope they never get used, but it is there in case."

The call towers were in response to an attack on the trail. In August 2006, a woman was jogging on the trail near McKinley Avenue when a man knocked her to the ground, got on top of her, covered her mouth with his hand and grabbed her breast. He let go after she managed to kick him in the groin. Michael W. White, who has no permanent address, was charged Feb. 1 with aggravated criminal sexual abuse, aggravated battery and criminal sexual abuse. His case is pending.

This year's Tour de Belleville will take place Friday, July 11. The goal of this year's ride is to raise money for a stop light to be put at location to be determined where Belleville's bike trail intersects with a busy street. The cost per intersection is $20,000.

The route will be longer this year -- 17 miles -- but there will be bailout points for people who want to do just 6 or 8 miles.

The ride starts at 9 p.m., and there will be a picnic from 6 to 8 p.m. served by Outback Restaurant. The cost of the ride is $15 if you register from May 26 to July 5 and $25 after that. The picnic will cost an additional $5.

The Tour de Bellevile now has a Web site: www.tourdebelleville.com

Labels: Tour de Belleville

Roger 0 comments links to this post 10:23 PM

Friday, February 08, 2008

Man charged in bike trail attack

The Belleville News-Democrat reported today that a man has been charged in the 2006 attack of a woman on the MetroLink Bike Trail in Belleville, Ill.

The attack prompted organizers of the Tour de Belleville, a nighttime ride held in July, to use proceeds from the 2007 ride to help purchase emergency call towers for the trail.

Michael W. White, formerly of Cahokia, Ill., was charged Feb. 1 with aggravated criminal sexual abuse, aggravated battery and criminal sexual abuse. His bond has been set at $200,000.

The woman was jogging on the trail near McKinley Avenue the night of the attack when the suspect knocked her to the ground, got on top of her, covered her mouth with his hand and grabbed her breast, police said. He let go after she managed to kick him in the groin.

This year's Tour de Belleville is slated for Friday, July 11. Phil Elmore, the chief organizer for the event, says proceeds from this year's ride will be used to install flashing signals on the bike trail at busy intersections within the city's jurisdiction.

Labels: Belleville, Tour de Belleville, trails

Roger 0 comments links to this post 11:58 AM

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Tour de Belleville video

It sounds as if the Tour de Belleville was a big success, or that is at least what my newspaper, the Belleville News-Democrat, reports.

The second-year event drew more than 1,000 people, which doubled what the event drew in 2007. Below is a QuickTime video shot and edited by a friend of mine, Assistant City Editor Brad Weisenstein. The video was shot just outside our office as the cyclists crossed South Illinois Street (Illinois Route 159) on Lincoln Street.

Enjoy!

Labels: Tour de Belleville

Roger 1 comments links to this post 1:55 AM