Manhattan, Kansas earned the bronze-level Bicycle Friendly Community award, joining Lawrence and Shawnee (both at bronze level as well) as bicycle-friendly communities in the state of Kansas, along with Leawood on the “Honorable Mention” list.

There have been so many great bicycling things happening in Manhattan recently, and to have the good news capped off with the Bicycle Friendly Community designation is quite exciting. Congratulations to the Little Apple!

Momentum has been building in Manhattan over the last few years, leading to this designation. Some of the great things happening in the area include:

• A new bike club, the Flint Hills Area Bike Club, which provides social rides, training rides, and bike event throughout the year.
• Bicycle racing teams, including Bad Goat Racing, the Kansas State University Cycling Team, and the Tallgrass Cycling Team.
• Two bike shops: Big Poppi Bicycle Co. and The Pathfinder
• A growing collection of trails, including Fancy Creek State Park, the Manhattan Linear Trail, and the Manhattan River Trails.
• Ongoing bike events, including Cycle CASA, the Dirty Little Secret mountain bike race, the Tallgrass Stage Race, the Wildcat Race Weekend, and the monthly Critical Mass Manhattan, as well as nearby events such as the Cabin Fever Challenge and Yellow Brick Road Ride out of Wamego, the Santa Fe Trail Spring Ride and Santa Fe Trail Bike Ride out of Alta Vista, the Gravel Ride for Maisie’s Pride in Eskridge, and the Pasta 58 Road & Gravel Ride out of Junction City.
• On the advocacy front, the Manhattan Bicycle Advisory Committee is working to make the city a better place to ride a bike, and BikeManhattan.info covers news and events in the city and surrounding area.
• Manhattan has proposed a Five-Year Strategic Plan for Bicycling.
• Manhattan Bike Week festivities were held two weeks ago, April 29th to May 5th, and featured a ride with Manhattan Mayor Pro Tem Loren Pepperd and other city commissioners, as well as a ribbon-cutting and dedication of the city’s first Bicycle Boulevard.

Elsewhere Around The Region

Manhattan is not the only community in the state or region to receive good news.

The bronze-level Bicycle Friendly Community designation for Lawrence, Kansas was renewed, as was the same award for Arvada CO. Colorado Springs CO stayed at silver, Durango CO moved up from silver to gold, and Longmont CO moved up from bronze to silver.

New to the list of Bicycle Friendly Communities are Aspen and Gunnison Colorado, both rated at silver, and Cedar Rapids IA, Lincoln NE, Summit City CO, and University Heights IA at bronze.

West Des Moines IA and Pueblo CO earned Honorable Mentions.

Read more from the League of American Bicyclists: Congratulations to New and Renewed Bicycle Friendly Communities! and see the full Spring 2012 list.

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Approximately 15-20 cyclists attended the bike forum, which included representatives from organizations such as BikeWalkKC, KanBikeWalk, and Kansas Cyclist.

The purpose of the forum was to allow the public to learn about and discuss bike-related issues, and to help move the city in a more bicycle-friendly direction. The forum included presentations from city staff:

• An overview of Overland Park’s new Complete Streets Resolution from City Traffic Engineer Brian Shields
• A presentation on the city’s Sustainability Planning efforts — including bicycle-related issues — from Planning & Development Services Director Doug Johnson
• An update on Overland Park’s plans for a multi-use trail along the Turkey Creek corridor (the city is not currently planning to add bike lanes to their approximately one-mile segment of Merriam Lane from Antioch to Metcalf).
• An overview of Bike to Work Week activities in Overland Park, from Nico Cantarero. Mayor Carl Gerlach issued a proclamation designating the week of May 14-18 as Bike to Work Week in Overland Park. The city will provide an Information Booth at the Farmers’ Market on May 12, free Breakfast Stops from 6:30 – 8:00 a.m. at various points in the city on Monday through Friday (see schedule), and “commuter displays” at City Hall, Matt Ross & Tomahawk Ridge community centers.

In addition to the presentations, there was a good deal of audience discussion about bicycle issues in the city, including:

• A suggestion for a bicycle parking ordinance that would require retail, business, and housing developments to provide a minimum level of safe, secure, and convenient parking.
• Why does the city prefer bike “trails” (multi-use pathways) rather than on-street bike lanes.
• Is the city going to provide signage for recommended bicycle routes?
• Are the “Share The Road” signs on 199th Street temporary or permanent?
• Neighbors along Nall Avenue are opposing adding sidewalks and bike lanes.
• Does the Complete Streets resolution have any “teeth” that will result in actual on-street bicycle transportation improvements (probably not).
• Can to the city do any educational outreach to the community to improve bicycle/motorist cooperation?

See also: Overland Park Bicycle Routes Map and Overland Park Trail System Map

I didn’t take any photos at the forum itself, but I rode to Overland Park City Hall for the forum, and parked my bicycle at the bike rack provided by the city:

Overland Park City Hall provides a wheel-bender bike rack, far away from the entrance, in the dirt, rusted, not permanently secured (so that someone could steal the whole rack, along with any bicycles attached to it).

Contrast that to the bike racks at Olathe City Hall:

Olathe City Hall provides a set of five clean, well-maintained “Pi Racks” (though they are unfortunately situated so that they appear to be labeled “Handicapped Parking”).

Overland Park is the 2nd-largest city in the state, with a population of about 173,000, and Olathe is the 5th-largest city in the state, with a population of about 126,000.

Those two photos say a great deal about how seriously each city takes bicycle transportation…

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There’s a lot of great things in this scene: gravel roads, trains, flowers, and bikes, of course!

Big ‘ol sky out on the open prairie in Franklin County, Kansas.

It’s said that a round grove of trees may harbor a fairy ring, a portal to the hidden world of faerie:

Celtic legends states that under a full moon is the best time to investigate a fairy ring. One must travel around the ring in the direction of the sun nine times, then you can hear the fairies dancing and frolicking. Never walk around a fairy ring in a counter-clockwise motion for this allows the fairies to place you under their spell and never circle the ring a 10th time for this is foolharded and very dangerous.

This grove, in this light, had a bit of that feel…

Here is another world, indeed, a pair of mating Hover Flies in a Spiderwort blossom.

And here the camera reveals the hidden world of detail in a red clover bloom — the tiny hairs on the leaves, the delicate intricacy of the interior, the Spotted Cucumber Beetle feeding on the blossoms.

And finally, I’ll end with a reminder about one of the things that the 30 Days Of Biking reinforces: Keep ‘Em Spinning!

I ended up with just shy of 600 miles for the month. My longest ride was 74 miles, and the shortest was about 2 miles. The 30 Days challenge was a nice jump-start, and I’m well on my way to reaching my yearly goal of 5200 miles.

And now that the 30 Days Of Biking challenge is complete, the National Bike Challenge is set to begin:

The National Bike Challenge is an opportunity to challenge yourself to ride more often. You’ll be part of a team of more than fifty thousand riders logging over ten million miles, demonstrating the power of the bicycle to build healthy people, healthy communities, and a healthy planet.

If you’d like to take part in the National Bike Challenge, feel free to join the Kansas Cyclist Team!

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It was a soggy morning, but by mid-afternoon the rain had moved on, though gray clouds remained. I took a short ride to a local park, wanting to check up on the progress of the wild berries.

The rain certainly turned this a trail a lush green!

Some blackberries are still in bloom, though the berries are beginning to appear on others. If the weather doesn’t turn nasty, it looks like we might have a nice crop.

Of course, last year the blackberries looked good at this time of year, but a long stretch of hot and dry weather wiped out the entire harvest. Hoping that doesn’t happen this time around…

The mulberries are progressing quickly. It was just a few weeks ago that they were just setting on. Now they’re already starting to color up. Won’t be too long now!

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The Kansas City Metro Bicycle Club held their annual Spring Classic ride today, and they had a nice-turnout, with over 300 riders reported to have signed up.

The Spring Classic started in Lenexa, and offered three route options: 24, 46, and 70 miles. I did not participate in the ride itself, but rode to the second SAG stop, near Gardner:

The SAG stop had quite a spread of goodies for the hungry riders that passed through on the 46 and 70 mile routes. Here you can see a variety of granola bars, cookies, fig bars, nuts, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, which kept the volunteers busy!

This is a look at the healthier end of the table, with strawberries, grapes, bananas and oranges.

One of the fun things about group rides is seeing all the cool bikes! Race bikes, hybrids, mountain bikes, cruisers, vintage steel, tandems, recumbents, trikes — it’s amazing the variety of two-wheeled contraptions that people ride.

Great to see so many cyclists riding today!

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This is Prairie Wild Rose (also known as Arkansas Rose) along a gravel road. The colors of the flower can vary from almost white, as in this example, to a deep, rich pink.

Prairie Wild Rose grows throughout Kansas, and is native to much of central North America. It has been designated as the state flower of both Iowa and North Dakota.

The USGS says to “Look for prairie wild rose in prairies, sandy tame pastures, roadsides, and at the edges of woods. Roses are used as foods (preserves, candies, sauces), drinks (teas, wines), flavorings, and perfumes, and the essential oils have been used as medicines.”

KSWildflower.org says: “Rose hips contain high levels of vitamin C and can be eaten raw, stewed, candied, or made into jelly. Many Plains Indian tribes used the hips as an emergency food source. Prairie wild rose is resistant to drought due to roots that can go down more than 20 feet.”

Hope you don’t mind the frequent flower and plant photos from my 30 Days Of Biking; I love to stop and check them out when I’m riding in the country, and after the browns and grays of winter, the fresh colors of Spring are so very welcome!

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I did get in a few miles today, but this photo is actually from yesterday, when I was in Kansas City, Missouri for a few hours, and took the opportunity to ride the Trolley Track Trail, and visit the Revolve Community Bike Shop:

While I was there, Gene was picking up the bike he’d just earned by completing the Traffic Skills 101 course and on-bike skills test.

Instructor Elizabeth Bejan is taking Gene’s photo to add to Revolve’s scrapbook. Gene is the 84th person to earn a bike through Revolve’s Earn-a-Bike Programs!

Elizabeth is Executive Director of Revolve, and a certified League Cycling Instructor (LCI) for the Smart Cycling Program of the League of American Bicyclists.

Revolve has a huge collection of bicycles of every description: road bikes, single-speeds, cruisers, mountain bikes, kids bikes, etc. Many are vintage, but some are nearly new. It’s fun to go there just to look around at all the cool old rides.

With all those bikes, they need a lot of help in restoring them, and are constantly in need of volunteers, particularly people with bike wrenching skills or mechanical aptitude.

And, of course, if you have any bikes you no longer ride, in any condition, consider donating them to Revolve. Even bicycles that cannot be refurbished are stripped for usable parts and the metal is recycled. Revolve also appreciates monetary contributions to support their community programs. Donations are tax deductible.

Drop off bicycles or components at the Revolve Community Bike Shop at 5100 Troost in Kansas City, Missouri. They’re open weekdays from 9am to 5pm, and on Saturdays from 9am to 4pm. You can contact them at info@revolvekc.org or 816-835-3310.

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This photo shows a racer participating in the PowerFiTTE 10K Time Trial Series in Gardner, Kansas.

The event takes place at New Century AirCenter on a nearly flat 6.2-mile course. The route is open to traffic, but by early evening, traffic is light, and there are no stop signs or traffic lights to deal with, so racers can open it up and pump out the power.

On this date, there were 24 racers, both men and women, ranging in age from juniors to masters, riding everything from stock road bikes to specialized time trial machines. The fastest riders completed the time trial with a nearly 29 MPH average.

The time trial takes place once a month from April through September. The series is promoted by Gina Poertner of LifeBALANCE Sports & Wellness, who also officiates the event as well as numerous other cycling, triathlon, and track & field events around the region. Gina also provides bike fitting and coaching services to athletes throughout the nation.

If you’d like to test yourself with this cycling discipline, the next race is scheduled for Thursday, May 17th. Details at lifebalancesports.com.

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Yesterday, I looked at a new school that Spring Hill, Kansas is building, Wolf Creek Elementary, and why its isolated location is a poor choice in terms of transportation, especially for walking and biking.

Today, in contrast, I’m taking a look at most of the schools in Gardner, Kansas (USD231), a nearby community slightly larger than Spring Hill, that has five elementary schools, two middle schools, and one high school.

This is Gardner Elementary, located near downtown Gardner. Two bike racks and 6 bikes. [A]

This is Madison Elementary, on the west side of town. Two bike racks, 17 bikes and one scooter. [B]

This is Sunflower Elementary, located in northern Gardner. Three bike racks, and 7 bikes and one motorized scooter. [C]

Moonlight Elementary, on the east side of town, has four nearly full racks, with about 30 bikes! [D]

And the fifth elementary school, Nike Elementary, has no bike rack and no bikes at all. It is located about 2.5 miles south of the center of town town, along an arterial road with no sidewalks. [E]

Wheatridge Middle School, located near downtown Gardner, has six bike racks in two different areas, with a total of about 20 bikes. [F]

Gardner Edgerton High School is located on the west side of town. It has one small bike rack, and 5 bike commuters on this day. [G]

There is one more middle school, Pioneer Ridge, located on the far northwest fringe of Gardner, roughly three miles from the center of town. I didn’t have time to check it out, but I’d be willing to bet that it had very few kids biking to school. [H]

Here are the schools plotted on a map:

Hmmm, wonder if there’s a relationship between a school’s location and how many students bike or walk to school?

It’s a no-brainer: Make it safe and easy to bike or walk, and that’s the mode of transportation that kids (and parents) will choose.

Glad to see that Gardner has mostly made the right decisions!

And for the kids at Nike Elementary and Pioneer Ridge — sorry, but your community let you down.

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The following photo is only tangentially related to cycling, but it got my dander up:

The Spring Hill School District is building a new school, Wolf Creek Elementary, and there are now dirt movers and construction equipment preparing the site. Here’s how the district describes the new school:

Construction on the district’s newest elementary school, which is set to begin in March 2012, will result in a 72,000-square foot facility that can accommodate 580 students in kindergarten through grade 5. Known as Wolf Creek Elementary School, the building will be located on 14 acres at 192nd Street and Ridgeview Road, which is northwest of the Spring Hill High School campus.

Sounds great. Here’s what they’re not telling us directly: The new school will be located more than three miles outside town.

As you can see from the illustration, they envision that the vast majority of prospective students will be driven to school, either by bus or by Mom’s taxi service. There is a small housing development nearby, so perhaps a few kids will be able to walk or ride bike to school, but will the school even bother to install bike racks?

Will Ridgeview Road, which is currently a chip-sealed two-lane road, have sidewalks and bike lanes when it is expanded to carry the additional traffic load? Or will it be just another unfriendly arterial?

I’m sure that the new school will be a very nice facility, and the empty fields make it easy to lay out the school and its vast collection of parking lots just the way they want it, but does this sort of school location make any sense in an era of sharply-rising as fuel prices?

It strikes me as incredibly short-sighted, and borderline insane. I just don’t understand why Spring Hill would choose to build a new school so far from the town.

Not that Spring Hill is alone in this. There are numerous examples I’m aware of where new schools were constructed in a far-flung rural area, rather than in the town they serve.

I don’t get it…

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