street smarts

STORY BY RACHEL STONE AND CHRISTINA HUGHES BABB PHOTOSBYCANTÜRKYILMAZ AND DANNY FULGENCIO

Dallas, with its car-clogged streets and hurried drivers, can be a dangerous place for bicycle commuters. But watching 60-yearold Bill Bryan, in loafers and navy sports coat, pedal his 1972 Raleigh up a quiet street, there is no indication, save the helmet on his head, that he comprehends the potential perils awaiting him.

Don’t let the casual demeanor or his subtle smile fool you, though. He knows what he is up against — honks, close calls, motorists’ angry assertions that bikes don’t belong on roads. He has dived into grass, out of the way of oblivious and fastapproaching drivers.

Not to mention, as put by one neighbor who believes bikes don’t belong on streets at all, “a cyclist can’t keep up with the flow of cars and one blown tire or pothole could pitch him into traffic and, squish, with no one legally at fault.”

Bryan’s keen awareness that it can be something like a war zone out there has kept him virtually accidentfree despite many years riding to his job at Southern Methodist University from his home near Flag Pole Hill.

“I go out knowing each day that at least one driver will make a mistake, or take a shot at me,” he says.

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The recently approved Dallas Bike Plan aims to not only improve driver and cyclist safety, but also advance public health and fitness and clear up the air. But there’s more to it. The plan is also about changing the neighborhood landscape and bringing us closer together. It’s about creating a culture in which drivers don’t fantasize about running down cyclists (an urge to which many have unabashedly admitted).

The visionaries say a day may come when we can walk outside and see people and faces on two-wheeled rides, rather than just a sea of cars and buildings.

A HANDFUL OF PEOPLE in our neighborhood and city, like Bryan, get around by bike. But the vast majority drives cars, and some have no compassion for cyclists. The editors of Bicycling Magazine in 2009 called Dallas the worst city for bicycling. They call us a sprawling, car-centric city with enormous arterial roads jammed with impatient, hostile drivers in huge vehicles.

A recent comprehensive study by the Alliance for Biking and Walking ranked Dallas 49 out of 51 major cities for its percentage of residents who cycle to work. We rank 40 out of 51 when it comes to safety for cyclists (based on documented accidents and fatalities). The same study, however, notes that Dallas’ plan to construct more than 1,000 bike lane miles over the next 10 years is among the country’s most ambitious.

THERE IS ONE SCHOOL of thought that says bikes don’t belong on the road at all, and that a financially struggling city shouldn’t pay millions — about $16 million for the on-road portion, to be exact — on a bike plan.

“Bike lanes are mostly financed by taxpayer dollars, and our city — hello, we are broke — is in no position to borrow money for bike lanes for the few people who would use them,” says Bill Parker, an Advocate reader.

Another neighbor, Nancy Roberson, thinks that even in a perfect world where everyone follows the rules, bicycles do not belong on the streets.

“For the sake of argument, let’s pretend that everyone — motorists, cyclists — obey the letter of the law and operate defensively and conscientiously. It would never happen, but let’s say anyway, I would still say bikes don’t belong on road. Cyclists need to realize they are the odd man out. And most of them need a large dose of humility and respect for motorized vehicles. ”

Some want cyclists on the sidewalk — “If they don’t have a special lane,” says Jerry Keeler, “they need to carefully ride the sidewalk.”

But the sidewalk and trails bring a new spectrum of issues — pedestrians, strollers, cracks, curbs and so forth.

Road rage or “bike-lash” directed at cyclists can be vicious and dangerous too.

“As a paddler who regularly frequents White Rock Lake, I have regular urges to run down both rude, inconsiderate bikers

get bikes. and runners who blatantly disregard the law, common courtesy and their own personal safety. Many almost challenge you to get out of their way,” Mike Stovall says. He is not alone. The spandex and speedy bikes tend to draw the ire of motorists.

Bill Bryan, the professor who rides both to work and competitively, says he is treated differently depending on how he looks.

“Drivers seem to give you a wider berth when you are riding in a navy blazer, as opposed to a few ounces of spandex.”

BUT A WIDESPREAD SHIFT in thinking is occurring, says Park Board member Lee Kleinman who also served on the Bike Plan Committee. “I think people are frustrated in this urban sprawl that we live in, that you have to get in your car to go to the grocery store. People are starting to look closer in, more local. That’s what enhances the city — closer neighborhoods.”

Our homes, in large part, have rearentry garages, Kleinman notes. We often drive down our alley, into our garage and go inside without enjoying any face time

Cycling Savvy DFW offers a threepart course at Northway Church, teaching the principles of riding in traffic. It begins with a classroom discussion followed by bicycle training in the parking lot. Finally, cyclists put their skills to the test on a tour of the city.

The program started in Orlando, and the curriculum comes from the Florida Bicycle Association. Instructors Richard Wharton, Waco Moore and Eliot Landrum show students how to cycle safely on any road in Dallas without using sidewalks or hugging the right curb. “You lead the dance,” Wharton says. “A driver is a driver whether it’s on two wheels or four.” with our neighbors.

The next programs are March 2-3 and April 27-28. The cost is $75. For more information, visit cyclingsavvy.org and click on the Dallas chapter.

“I think we need to erode that fortress mentality. Bike lanes and bike trails do some of that.”

The overall goal of the Dallas Bikeway System Master Plan, approved by the Dallas City Council last summer, is to create a comprehensive bike system, increase commuter and utilitarian bike trips across the city, raise awareness and education about bicycle safety, and eventually create complete streets, which make room for cars, bikes, pedestrians and public transportation. Dallas currently has almost 400 miles of bike routes, mostly in the city’s center, but no bike lanes. The Dallas Bike plan aims to remedy that. It calls for increasing the number of shared-lane markings, bike lanes and paved shoulders to make the city more bike-able. The city has a good trail system that is improving, and the plan calls for continuing that work. The impetus for a bike plan is threefold, says project coordinator Max Kalhammer. There’s the environment. “Part of the reason we got the funding to do the plan update is because North Texas Council of Govern- ments had air quality funds available. Reduced emissions would have a positive impact on the region, not just the city.” Then, there is public health. “Riding a bike to work every day as a transportation choice helps you stay in shape and be healthy and lead a healthy lifestyle and most people who take active transportation to work are 70 percent less likely to have a heart attack because they’re [exercising] for 40 minutes a day.

Finally, there’s the ideology shared by Kleinman and others, that a bike plan can shift the landscape, values and culture of our city. “The most important thing about the bike plan is that it represents a movingforward plan, and choices in the way we live our lives.”

People like Bryan, who has been biking around Dallas for decades, say it contributes to his quality of life immensely. Bryan doesn’t commute by bike out of necessity or environmental reasons but because he really likes it. He talks fondly about his run-ins with nature — “the hawks and butterflies and pigs.”

“Cycling around White Rock Lake in the late afternoon leaves you feeling mellow,” he says.

MAKING BICYCLES an integral part of Dallas’ commuter traffic is doable, many believe, but different cycling proponents have different ideas about how to do it.

Bryan says the bike plan is fabulous, but until it is implemented, he feels confident intermingling with traffic. He always wears a helmet. He understands that, in a fight, a 4,000-pound car beats a two-wheeled

piece of aluminum any day. He seeks out the most sparsely populated roads, surfs tra c pulses, and even swallows his pride and rides the sidewalk up a short section of Northwest Highway. In Downtown traffic, he rides the bus lane so as not to doubly hold up tra c. He has a handlebar bell; he doesn’t ride in the dark; and he stops at every red light and stop sign. He is exceedingly courteous.

Richardson Bike Mart offers free bicycling safety workshops. Visit bikemart.com.

“Sometimes if I see behind me a car has on its turn signal to turn right on a red and I am in front of them, I will hoist my bike up on to the sidewalk and let them turn. You can see them look at you di erently when you do something like that.”

Courtesy goes a long way in creating good feelings between cyclists and motorists, says Eliot Landrum, who lives near White Rock Lake and teaches a bicycle safety course called Cycling Savvy.

“Cyclists disobey laws too much,” Landrum says. “When we do that, we do ourselves a disservice, and we’re a bad ambassador to other road users.”

Bryan says he uses the trails, though they lack connectivity in some places, as well as the DART rail. He even hops the continued on page 44

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Name: John Beach

Age: 41

Occupation: Owns a landscape company Neighborhood: Casa View Bike: Gary Fisher mountain bike

Street cycling is fine, but Beach likes the adventure of going off road on a mountain bike. “There are fewer limitations,” he says of riding trails. Beach received his first mountain bike as a Christmas gift in 1991, when he was still in college. But in the past five years or so, he’s become more serious about riding. There are several popular mountain bike trails in Dallas and the surrounding area. Beach’s favorites are Boulder Park in the Red Bird area and Oak Cliff Nature Preserve, which he recommends for beginners. The Dallas Off Road Bike Association website, dorba.org, lists all of the mountain bike trails in the area, with updates on riding conditions and reviews from users. DORBA also hosts a group ride, starting at 7:45 p.m. every Friday, at Dallas Bike Works, 4875 W. Lawther. “If you want to get out there and meet people, that is a good ride,” Beach says. He’s had only one serious injury, about a year ago, when his front wheel malfunctioned and he flew over the bike and broke a collarbone. Since then, he’s learned that bike maintenance is extremely important in mountain biking. The injury could have been avoided if he’d just had better equipment, he says.

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TRE to Fort Worth on occasion, where he rides the Trinity Trail and visits the art museum (it’s like a mini European vacation, he says).

Mark Manson says the bike plan, and the consciousness that it raises, will be good for business where he works, at a bike shop near the White Rock trail. It will undoubtedly get more people on bikes, he says, and that is good, but he says bike lanes alone aren’t going to keep people safe. First and foremost, he says, cyclists, motorists and pedestrians need to learn the rules of the road.

“The fear is that a line painted on the street will provide false security. There also needs to be education and common sense.” Manson, who moved here from New Orleans after hurricane Katrina destroyed his home, says he generally notices a trend of Dallas motorists being in a constant hurry. That, and “a cavalier attitude” among some cyclists, contributes to problems on the streets, he says. Woody Smith, the store manager, points out that regulators are making some forward moves in that direc-

Name: Michael Hubbard

Age: 49

Occupation: Attorney

Neighborhood: Casa Linda

Bike: 2008 Electrabike Amsterdam 3

Hubbard started riding a bike about five years ago, after his doctor told him he needed to get more exercise. Normally, he rides his bike a little over a mile to the White Rock Trail, which feeds to the Santa Fe Trail, which he rides almost all the way to his office in Lakewood. “It’s like they built the trail system around me,” he says. Once Hubbard got into cycling, he became a little obsessed with buying and selling bikes on Craigslist. They mostly are vintage cruiser-style bikes. At home, he has about eight bikes. They take up a lot of room, but the upside is that if one breaks down, he always has a backup. Bicycles are fairly simple to understand and work on, even for someone who’s less than mechanically inclined, he says. Hubbard prefers upright bikes with comfortable saddles. He’s not into road bikes or pedaling long distances. But Downtown is only a few miles away, and it’s a fun way to get a lot of exercise, he says. “Instead of mindlessly exercising at a gym, I try to go out and ride my bike for errands,” he says. It’s also been a good way for Hubbard to meet people and save on gas. It’s so easy and fun to ride a bike that there aren’t many excuses not to do it, he says. “If I have to meet a client or go to court, or if it’s 100 degrees out, I drive.” tion too. “In 2003 Texas put a law on the books that forces the Department of Public Safety to include bicycle awareness information in the Texas Driver’s Handbook.”

A simple rule on which most of the cyclists we talked to agree: The trails should be used for leisurely riding and commuting when possible. The roads should be used for training and fast riding.

A small group of vehicular cyclists, such as Richard Wharton, reject the whole idea of the bike plan, arguing it sets back the integration efforts of cyclists like him.