Biking Lifestyle
By Cate Huisman
S
andpoint bicycle mechanic extraordinaire Larry Baggett arrives at his shop on a snowy February morning on a bike that’s set up for snow, with full fenders and bumpier-than-average tires, which a close inspection reveals are actually studded. And he’s not alone. A few blocks away, Waldorf School teacher Thomas Jenkins is wheeling his way to work from his home on First Avenue, and special education teacher Ben Wimmer is heading in on the Dover bike path to his job at Farmin Stidwell School. Wimmer has studded tires too, but Jenkins eschews them for his short commute, instead opting for a single, annual fall to help him remember how to ride on snow: “It’s my November-December ritual; I have to go around a slippery corner once and fall down as a reminder.” Although biking might not be the year-round, all-around way to get around for the rest of us that it is for these die-hards, we do find Sandpoint an easy place to get around on two wheels. In fact, Sandpoint’s Bicycle Committee is in the process of applying to join Coeur d’Alene and the Wood River Valley (home of the Sun Valley ski resort) as one of three areas in Idaho named Bicycle Friendly Communities by the League of American Bicyclists. Geographically, the town is a natural for the designation: It’s flat, so commuters and students and errand runners needn’t haul heavy loads uphill or arrive at an appointment soaked with sweat, and recreational cyclists can take advantage of relaxing, waterfront rides free of hills. For those seeking more of a workout on wheels, there are many paved roads with little traffic for long road rides, and mountain trails of varying difficulty are available for mountain bikers right at the edge of town. The paved path Wimmer traverses, as well as the enormously popular path across the Long Bridge and south to Sagle, are the result of years of work by North Idaho Bikeways, one of the first groups in town to address the needs of cyclists and pedestrians in an area with ever-growing auto traffic. These paths enable cyclists of all abilities to get into town from the south and west along major highways unencumbered by the presence of motorized traffic. Going north and east is a bit harder, but determined cyclists can follow a paved path along Boyer Avenue as far north as the University of Idaho Extension Station,
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where they must drop down to Sand Creek, cross the oddly named Popsicle Bridge, and head up to U.S. Highway 95. Here a certain amount of mojo and motivation are necessary to get across the traffic to the commercial delights of Ponderay. This is the route that another perennial commuter, Sandpoint High School science teacher Woody Aunan, pedals 15 miles round-trip daily from his home in the Selle Valley. “I loathe being hermetically sealed in an auto,” says Aunan, who has cycled regularly since high school. Aunan dealt with winter snows by riding a homemade tricycle for a while, but found its weight and resistance overwhelming. So he switched to a bulldog of a bike aptly called a Surly Pugsly; it has wide, soft tires that absorb the slings and arrows of winter commuting. Winter or summer, habitual riders have varying reasons for using two wheels instead of four. Some are introspective: Aunan mentions that his route provides “ample time to reflect,” and Wimmer talks about “getting the cobwebs out” before work each day. Others are ideological: Aunan abhors “using fossil fuels without good reason,” and Jenkins says simply that he uses a bike
PHOTO BY MARSHA LUTZ
Life on two wheels
SUMMER 2009
5/4/09 1:12:21 PM