Just a reminder that our monthly meeting is Monday 03/18/13 at Calhoun’s on the River at 7 pm.

Hope to see you all there.

Sue Casper, SMWBC Secretary.

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Knoxville City Council members, L-R: Mark Campen, Duane Grieve, Nick Pavlis, George Wallace

Over 50 eager bicyclists participated in the Ride with Elected Officials on May 7, 2012. Smoky Mountain Wheelmen was one of the sponsors. The ride included some of the Knox County and Knoxville City Greenways including Ten Mile Creek and Jean Teague Greenways.  Knoxville City Council members George Wallace (at large seat A), Nick Pavlis (1^st district), Mark Campen (5^th district), and Duane Grieve (2^nd district) rode their bikes in the event. Other participating cyclists representing  local governments included: Bob Whetsel, director of Knoxville Redevelopment; Jim Hagerman, director of Knoxville Engineering; ; Lori Goerlich, Knoxville Greenways coordinator; Doug Bataille, director of Knox County Parks; Jeff Welch, director of Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization (TPO); Kelley Segars and Ellen Zavisca, TPO planners responsible for bike and pedestrian programs.

The City Council members enjoyed the ride and spoke with various citizens who rode along with them. At West Hills Elementary the physical education teacher discussed the Safe Routes to School Program and how the greenway is a critical link for children walking and biking to school. The bike route signs for the West- East Knoxville route which includes Ten Mile Creek and Jean Teague greenways have just been erected by city engineering and Jim Hagerman was pleased to see them. The greenways serve as corridors for active transportation as well as recreation.

After the ride, Earthfare provided refreshments.  Jeff Roth Foundation and Bike Walk Tennessee offered information about their organizations. They both advocate for safe and accessible bicycle facilities. Information regarding the economic and health benefits of implementing a Complete Streets policy was given to each City Council member by Caroline Cooley.

This first bike ride with Elected Officials was well received by all participants. The Elected Officials expressed interest in potential future events showcasing other area greenways.

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• You will be emailed a copy of your membership form to mail in with member signature

• Once the membership fee is received, you will be given access to the Members Only area of our website

• You do not have to have a PayPal account to pay with your credit/debit card using PayPal.  PayPal is just processing our credit card transactions.  

• If you already have a PayPal account, PayPal will know from your browser history.  Just follow the instructions on the screens to pick the payment method you prefer.  

• If you do not want to use your PayPal account, just chose the option to continue as a “guest”.  

Screen shot examples are provided below:

 Step 1 – Fill out the online membership form .  Note:  you will receive an email back after completing the form which you will sign and mail (instructions are in the email)

Step 2 – After you are redirected for payment click “Buy Now” and pick the Single or Family option

Step 3 – Choose your payment option.  1) Pay with PayPal account or 2) Pay with credit/debit card and don’t use a PayPal account

Step 4 – If you have a PayPal account, PayPal will remind you and double check that you don’t want to use it.  If you don’t just continue as a guest.

Step 5 - Review transaction and finish with Pay Now

Step 6 – Thanks for your order screen

We hope the above helps with any questions and we are thankful to have you as a new or renewing member!

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The talents of Susie Norris allowed us make the change from our previous logo and achieve the new modern SMW logo you see here.  Susie offers special rates to non-profit organizations and was a joy to work with.  We encourage you to contact her for your logo, branding, or marketing material needs.

Our new website has lots of great features geared to improving current member experience.   Check out some of our great new website features below:

Online Membership Registration

• New and renewing members will now be able to register and pay for membership online through our online membership form

SMW Event Calendar

How it works…

• Rides and events will be updated by the SMW club leadership and designated members so that all members can stay up-to-date on all SMW sponsored rides
• Website visitors can toggle between Calendar view or Event list view
• Click on any listed event to see details like start/end times, organizer, address, map, etc.
• Share events with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. via social links at the bottom of each event
• Scroll down under the Google map to see any event details
• Our big events like the Cherohala Challenge include cost and registration details

Subscribe to updates…

• Visit the site to stay updated on all our rides and events
• Quickly add events/rides to your personal calendar through iCal import and Google Calendar buttons available at the bottom of every event details page (iCal works great for Outlook users)
• Get email updates on blog news and events posted to the blog through RSS subscription available on our blog
• Check out Twitter and our Facebook Group for updates on new events/rides

Photo Gallery

Members can check out our photo gallery to see all the great shots taken on rides and at events.

Members Only Section

Registered members will be able to login and see proprietary information only available to current club members.

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The Tennessee Department of Transportation has a Complete Streets Policy that requires transportation projects on state and federal roads to include all possible users from children to elderly, disabled persons as well as healthy individuals on foot or bicycle. But sometimes TDOT does not feel compelled to abide by the policy especially if local citizens do not demand it. Often, TDOT’s position is that the local community where the project is being constructed should have meaningful input on the design. Some communities have Complete Streets Policies and others do not and therefore, there is no guarantee that local infrastructure projects will be inclusive.  Therefore, bicyclists must remain actively involved with their local and state transportation planning agencies and also, the local elected officials who actually have final say on projects, to promote safe, accessible bicycle facilities.

The “5E’s” that make a community bicycle friendly are:
1) Engineering
2) Education
3) Encouragement
4) Enforcement
5) Evaluation

The Knoxville community has done well with Encouragement, Education, and Evaluation. We also have made good strides in Enforcement though this is not consistent across the region. Our greatest deficiency and challenge is Engineering that results in infrastructure changes that safely accommodate bicycles. Our club, Smoky Mountain Wheelmen, and our parent organization, League of American Bicyclists, have a long history of bicycle advocacy.  I and other club members will continue to actively advocate for bicyclists at the local, state, and national level. Anyone interested in learning more about bicycle programs and funding can look at these resource sites:
Bike Walk Tennessee: www.bwtn.org
League of American Bicyclists: www.bikeleague.org
America Bikes : www.americabikes.org
Alliance for Biking and Walking: www.peoplepoweredmovement.org

Post by Caroline Cooley

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