Bike events aim to boost Tucson’s image
by Ryn Gargulinski on Mar. 28, 2008, under Local
The Third Street bike path, from Campbell Avenue to Wilmot Road, is one of the city's top bicycle routes.
A series of events this weekend will kick off Tucson’s Clean Air Days and Bike Fest, and the three-day Tucson Bicycle Classic race also is this weekend south and west of town.
The events highlight Tucson’s reputation as a bike-friendly community.
But that reputation needs some burnishing if Tucson is to be successful in receiving the top ranking among bike-friendly communities from a national bicycle advocacy group.
The Pima Association of Governments last week applied for platinum status from the League of American Bicyclists’ Bicycle Friendly Communities Campaign. A decision is expected next month.
Davis, Calif., is the only community that has platinum status, according to the league’s master list.
Since May 2006, the Tucson/Pima Eastern Region is one of only seven communities awarded gold status for having bicycle-friendly environments.
But a bicycle-friendly environment does not necessarily mean a bicycle-friendly community.
“Achieving platinum is not bike utopia,” said Diana Tolton, chairwoman of the Tucson-Pima County Bicycle Advisory Committee. “It’s not the ultimate bike-friendly community. It just shows we have a lot to offer.”
The offerings include year-round riding weather, proximity to Saguaro National Park, the inclusion of bike lanes on new road construction, bicycle- friendly bridges and dozens of miles of bike lanes, according to Tolton and the league.
“There’s a lot of reasons why Tucson works (for bicycling) in spite of the issues that exist,” she said.
Some of those issues were recently captured on a Pima County Sheriff’s Department video of a group of bicyclists participating in a regular Saturday morning ride called the Shoot Out.
Bicyclists were captured breaking laws that ranged from crossing over the double yellow line to urinating in public.
Pericles Wyatt, 49, a regular bicyclist who owns an RV park outside of town, said the video has served to give all bicyclists a bad name. He was not one of those breaking laws on the video, but he said some of his tenants saw clips of the film and became angry with him.
“They hate me because I’m wearing Lycra,” Wyatt said. “They said they’d throw rocks at me.”
Getting things thrown at them, having cars cut them off, hearing drivers swear at them and even getting shoe prints stamped on their backs are just some of the horrors area bicyclists said they have endured.
A March 1 incident in which a sheriff’s deputy stopped the Shoot Out riders by pulling his car into their path, causing several to crash, is still under investigation, the Sheriff’s Department said Thursday.
“Does platinum mean we reached perfection? No,” Tolton said.
“There are people who are unfriendly in every community. If we focus on that, we’re missing the point. Platinum is for what the community as a whole has done for bicycling.”
Wyatt said a change in perspective would also be helpful.
“No one looks at any positives,” he said, “Like, ‘Wow, they’re keeping fit, they won’t be obese, they are getting fresh air.’ Here, it’s like, ‘Get the heck out of my way.’
“Once cycling becomes more commonplace,” he said, “the more accepting the public should be.”
For information on the Tucson Bicycle Classic, go to www.tucsonbicycleclassic.com.
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CLEAN AIR DAYS AND BIKE FEST EVENTS:
• From noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, the Fox Theatre, 17 W. Congress St, will host a bicycle movie fest. Those who ride their bikes and park them in the theater’s bike area will get free admission to two feature films and other short bicycle films. The features will be “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure” and “Triplets of Belleville.”
• From 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on April 3, the Green Commute Fair will showcase green transportation options at Jacome Plaza, in front of the Joel D. Valdez Main Library, 101 N. Stone Ave.
• April 4 is Walk and Roll to School Day, where all children are encouraged to bicycle, skate or walk to school.
• At 8:30 a.m. on April 6, the Doo Dah Road Club will embark on a beginners bicycle ride. Meet at Ike’s Coffee and Tea, 3400 E. Speedway Blvd., for a 14-mile ride over flat terrain.
• April 6 also features free bus rides on Sun Tran buses. Hop on at any stop, any time and ride free.
• April 11 is Bike 2 Work Day, complete with two Bike 2 Work fairs from 7 to 9 a.m. A downtown fair will be held in front of the Joel D. Valdez Main Library; an East Side fair will take place at the Bristol Coffeebus at 5601 E. Broadway.
• At 8 a.m. on April 12, meet at La Madera Park, 2700 E. La Madera Drive, to bicycle with Mayor Bob Walkup on a 14-mile ride.
• From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 19, Tucson’s Earth Day Festival is set for Reid Park, East 22nd Street and South Country Club Road. A parade will be held at 10 a.m.
• From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 19, those who bicycle to Reid Park Zoo, 1100 S. Randolph Way, will get free admission when they show their helmet and use the free valet bike parking.
• A lecture series will be presented from noon to 1 p.m. every Thursday in April at the Joel D. Valdez Main Library, 101 N. Stone Ave. Topics for the lectures, held in the lower level meeting room, will include green and bicycle commuting, water conservation and green home building. More information is available at www.library.pima.gov.
For more information on the Bike Fest activities, visit www.dot.tucsonaz.gov/BikeFest. To learn more about the Clean Air Days, visit www.cleanair.pima.gov or call 740-3947.
