After 30 years in Temecula, we are moving on, and out of the area. So no more posts as Bicycle Temecula.
That sound you hear is applause at City Hall from the bike hating City Council members and their faithful minions on the Public Safety Commission and City Staff. Hold it down guys while I make my apologies.
Sorry I pointed out that you did NOT spend $500,000 on bicycle infrastructure as you claimed so confidently in public. In fact, you spent about $499,000 less than that, most of it on pretty bike sharrows in Old Town. But you seemed to enjoy making fun of me in front of the cameras at the City Council meeting, even though the facts, as they say, were clearly on my side... so I don't feel that bad. You did have the "alternative facts" on your side, so keep clapping guys. Keep clapping. Kellyanne Conway would be so proud of you. Maybe get Sean Spicer to announce your next "updated master plan for bicycle trails." He can make it believable.
Sorry I made fun of the pretty bike sharrow you painted in Old Town so your out-of-town $100,000 a year consultants had something to post on your pretty (expensive) web page hiding behind the folksy title "Hike/Bike Temecula." Who would guess that Hike/Bike Temecula is just your PR guys earning their six figures one pretty picture at a time? I guess that PR fluff move is about over -- I rode through Old Town today and most of the sharrows have already been sandblasted off the pavement. Gonna miss those sharrows, although motorists paid absolutely no attention to them and police never had any intention of citing anyone for ignoring them, did they?
Sorry I wrote about Temecula Police not citing motorists for harassing and threatening cyclists -- with the exception of the motorist who bumped a cyclist who also happened to be a ranking member of local law enforcement. But that wasn't really Temecula police, was it? Wasn't it Highway Patrol? My comment was the only motorist to get in trouble with law enforcement around here was a guy who had the most rotten luck of hitting a guy who happened to be a bike but also happened to have a badge. How many motorists have been cited for violating the state mandated three foot minimum passing space for cyclists by Temecula Police? One.
So as I leave, there is still no connected system of bike lanes or paths to help cyclists get around safely in Temecula (although the city is poised to build a dirt track at the Ronald Reagan Sports Park, and that will REALLY make it safer to ride in town), there is still no signalization (buttons that cyclists can reach) to help us get across intersections with a green light, no special sensors that recognize cyclists and change to a green light, no special lights that let cyclists make right turns first so we don't get "right hooked" and killed by inattentive motorists -- nothing. Cities across the county, the state and nation have installed all of the above, and much more.
But not Temecula.
And in the end, that is what I am most sad about as I leave Temecula. I tried to move our leaders to support cycling, but to no avail. As I took one last ride through Old Town tonight, I realized that Temecula has become a city of beer bars and bikers -- the kind that ride Harleys with straight pipes loud enough to rattle windows and set off car alarms.
There are other places to ride bicycles of course. and a lot of us are moving to them. That seems to be the only choice for some of us. Young people in particular -- they seek progressive, "green" cities with forward thinking leaders.
And that is definitely not Temecula.
Sunday, April 23, 2017
Thursday, January 5, 2017
Cycling infrastructure
We need more signatures on our petition to make cycling safer in Temecula. Why should the city invest in cycling infrastructure? It's a safety issue -- Temecula has not worked to install even basic infrastructure -- bike lanes, bike paths, signalization -- to make cycling safer. Other cities are way ahead of us. Look around. But it's also a health issue -- we have a crisis of obesity, and we need to make Temecula a more livable community where more of us can get outside and stay active. Finally, it's really an equity issue -- there are many, many residents who cannot afford to drive, or who are young and not ready to drive. They need to get to work and school. Don't they count? Why are we forcing them to use unsafe streets while spending all of our public money on motorists? Temecula spends literally hundreds of millions of our tax dollars building bigger and more elaborate freeway interchanges. Why not set aside a little bit of money to make sure cyclists can use a bike lane that is not strewn with rocks and other debris? Why not install sensors that give cyclists a green light once in a while at intersections? And why not direct our police officers to hunt down and punish motorists who try to harm cyclists either through inattention or actual malice? Sign the petition at change.org. Forward it to your friends and family. It's time for a healthier Temecula, a safer Temecula.
Sign our petition
SIGN OUR PETITION TO MAKE CYCLING SAFER
Sign our petition
SIGN OUR PETITION TO MAKE CYCLING SAFER
Whereas, the city of Temecula has 100,000 residents and statistically more than half of them who are old enough will ride a bicycle this year, and
Whereas, the Temecula City Council and city staff, while spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on "bicycle trail master plans" have consistently refused to spend money on projects called for in those plans or those projects that make cyclists safer despite funding hundreds of millions of dollars on projects that only benefit motorists,
We, the resident cyclists of Temecula demand:
The city of Temecula immediately spend a minimum of 2 percent (the national average percentage of all travel trips by bicycle) of its annual public works budget on projects that directly have an impact on bicycle safety, including immediately connecting bike lanes citywide, building protected bike paths where needed, and installing and installing signalization that assists and protects cyclists at intersections, and
The city of Temecula immediately hire a contractor to remove debris from bicycle lanes, paths and portions of city streets used by cyclist, as opposed to the current method of simply pushing debris from motorist lanes into bike lanes which is putting cyclists' safety at risk, and
The city of Temecula immediately instruct its Police Department to enforce the state's 3-foot minimum passing distance between motorists and cyclists, aggressively pursue and prosecute motorists who harass, physically threaten or attempt to intimidate cyclists.
Friday, December 30, 2016
Sign our change.org petition to make cycling safer in Temecula!
Go to change.org and sign our petition to make cycling safer in Temecula.
Sign or safe cycling petition
Here is the text:
Whereas,
the city of Temecula has 100,000 residents and statistically more than
half of them who are old enough will ride a bicycle this year, and
Whereas, the Temecula City Council and city staff, while spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on "bicycle trail master plans" have consistently refused to spend money on projects called for in those plans or those projects that make cyclists safer despite funding hundreds of millions of dollars on projects that only benefit motorists,
We, the resident cyclists of Temecula demand:
The city of Temecula immediately spend a minimum of 2 percent (the national average percentage of all travel trips by bicycle) of its annual public works budget on projects that directly have an impact on bicycle safety, including immediately connecting bike lanes citywide, building protected bike paths where needed, and installing and installing signalization that assists and protects cyclists at intersections, and
The city of Temecula immediately hire a contractor to remove debris from bicycle lanes, paths and portions of city streets used by cyclist, as opposed to the current method of simply pushing debris from motorist lanes into bike lanes which is putting cyclists' safety at risk, and
The city of Temecula immediately instruct its Police Department to enforce the state's 3-foot minimum passing distance between motorists and cyclists, aggressively pursue and prosecute motorists who harass, physically threaten or attempt to intimidate cyclists.
Sign or safe cycling petition
Here is the text:
Whereas, the Temecula City Council and city staff, while spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on "bicycle trail master plans" have consistently refused to spend money on projects called for in those plans or those projects that make cyclists safer despite funding hundreds of millions of dollars on projects that only benefit motorists,
We, the resident cyclists of Temecula demand:
The city of Temecula immediately spend a minimum of 2 percent (the national average percentage of all travel trips by bicycle) of its annual public works budget on projects that directly have an impact on bicycle safety, including immediately connecting bike lanes citywide, building protected bike paths where needed, and installing and installing signalization that assists and protects cyclists at intersections, and
The city of Temecula immediately hire a contractor to remove debris from bicycle lanes, paths and portions of city streets used by cyclist, as opposed to the current method of simply pushing debris from motorist lanes into bike lanes which is putting cyclists' safety at risk, and
The city of Temecula immediately instruct its Police Department to enforce the state's 3-foot minimum passing distance between motorists and cyclists, aggressively pursue and prosecute motorists who harass, physically threaten or attempt to intimidate cyclists.
Friday, October 7, 2016
Amsterdam Continues to Lead with the Appointment of a Bike Mayor -- One can only dream about this kind of support
April 26, 2016
Amsterdam Continues to Lead with the Appointment of a Bike Mayor
The semi-official post will be the first of its kind in the world.
Photo by Amsterdamized.
Charging ahead with its enviable plan to remain the world’s most bike-friendly city, Amsterdam has recently announced the appointment of the world’s first bicycle mayor. The person who will fill the semi-official person is set to be selected June 24,according to CityLab. The mayor’s roles and responsibilities are all focused around promoting and protecting cycling in the Dutch city – acting as a mediator between city hall, cyclists, community groups, residents, and anyone who has an interest in or may be affected by the city’s bicycling policy. While we’ve seen similar concepts, such as in the case of Atlanta’s recent appointment of a Chief Bicycle Officer, this is the first time a city has inaugurated the official position of “bicycle mayor,” and offered such a breadth of responsibility.
The idea was developed by local cycling advocacy CycleSpace, whose ultimate plan is to roll out the concept internationally. “This global program launched in Amsterdam is [intended] to elect the city’s representative of cycling progress,” said CycleSpace co-founder Roos Stallinga in a press release. “We plan to inaugurate our first 25 cycle mayors in cities as diverse as Beijing, Sao Paulo, Chicago, Cape Town and Warsaw. It will result in a yearly conference, starting in Amsterdam in 2017.”
The bike mayor will be a public representative, but not strictly a politician in the classic sense. Since they’ll technically be an employee of CycleSpace, an independent NGO, they won’t be elected by an entirely democratic process. The benefit of this system, however, is that they won’t be as constrained by the political system as elected officials are, and as such will be better able to represent a diversity of interests.
The bike mayor will be selected by a combination of public vote and an expert jury. Candidates who express their interest (via a short video) by May 1st will be put forward for the public vote. The public is able to weigh in until June 24, and while their opinion will hold influence, the final selection will ultimately be up to a jury of relevant parties including Amsterdam’s mayor and representatives from the city’s transit authorities and cycling groups.
While outsiders may think Amsterdam – already a beacon of hope for what a bike-friendly city could look like – is creating a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist, the people at CycleSpace see it differently. “We are really far ahead in Amsterdam, but there is a tendency now to see bikes as a problem,” CycleSpace co-founder Maud de Vries told Citylab. “People don’t see the magic of it anymore, because they’re so used to it.”
In danger of stalling on the path towards a virtual bike mecca, advocates believe the bicycle mayor could be the push the city needs to renew residents’ enthusiasm for bikes. Whether or not it really is necessary in Amsterdam though, is only half of the equation. By using that city as a testing ground for the logistics, operations, and function of such a role, CycleSpace is developing a new form of institutionalized bike advocacy that then could then be exported around the world to the cities that need it the most.
Monday, August 29, 2016
Bicycle Injustice
Can't wait to read this new book by two researchers at UCR. Here is a link: Bicycle Justice.
Here is a paragraph about it:
"Policymakers and urban planners in much of Southern California – where a car culture dominates – are not highly receptive to rascuache cyclists, the researchers said, noting the lack of secured bicycle-parking areas at shopping centers, commuter rail stations and college campuses; bike paths that are designed with recreational users – not low-income commuters – in mind; and bike-safety legislation that negatively impacts cyclists who can least afford helmets and reflective clothing."
"Rascuache" is a term these researchers use to describe low income citizens who rely on their bicycles for transportation. That could have been me at one time -- trying to get to school, and a job, living on Top Ramen and no car. My bike? A freebie from a dumpster in Santa Ana that I rescued and coaxed back to life with a little WD40, a screwdriver and a crescent wrench.
So what does my hard luck story have to do with Temecula, one of the most affluent cities in the county?
If you live in Temecula, cruise Rancho California Road some time and watch the men and women who work at the car washes, grocery stores, and restaurants pedaling their 38 pound department store bicycles to work every morning, and home late in the evening. They have jobs, but no cars.
Look for the students among them who are carrying heavy backpacks or worse, carrying books swinging in plastic bags tied to the handlebars. They need to get to school. They have bikes. But unfortunately, they live in a city that is openly hostile to cyclists. Their leaders spend nothing out of the millions they collect in taxes each year to make cyclists safer.
Why is this so important?
Because they are cyclists. They are Temecula residents.
And a lot of them are riding on the sidewalks, where they are dodging pedestrians, moms and dads pushing strollers. It's not a healthy mix.
Yes, Temecula is affluent, but it is such a dangerous place to cycle these commuters are not about to venture out in the three skinny (probably not even up to code) car traffic lanes squeezed into Rancho California Road, because the city wiped out the bicycle lanes there!
Now the city says it is "impossible" to have bicycle lanes on Rancho California Road. How is it impossible when they used to be there? They would still be there if you had left them alone. And a lot of us would be safer for it.
I've talked before at City Council about connecting Old Town to Wine Country for tourists via Rancho California. Their $150,000 consultants from San Diego want tourists to ride out of the south end of Old Town and up some gnarly hills, turning a 15 minute ride into hours. Tourists bring money to Temecula, but most of them don't try the bike to wineries trip more than once. Ask the bike shop owners what these cycle-tourists say when they return their rental bikes. Yikes!
But I have also reminded Council that a lot of their constituents who do a lot of the work in this town use Rancho California Road to get to work. Do your San Diego consultants have answers for them? Do they think they should ride out the south end of Old Town too? Where are they supposed to ride?
The sidewalk.
Here is a paragraph about it:
"Policymakers and urban planners in much of Southern California – where a car culture dominates – are not highly receptive to rascuache cyclists, the researchers said, noting the lack of secured bicycle-parking areas at shopping centers, commuter rail stations and college campuses; bike paths that are designed with recreational users – not low-income commuters – in mind; and bike-safety legislation that negatively impacts cyclists who can least afford helmets and reflective clothing."
"Rascuache" is a term these researchers use to describe low income citizens who rely on their bicycles for transportation. That could have been me at one time -- trying to get to school, and a job, living on Top Ramen and no car. My bike? A freebie from a dumpster in Santa Ana that I rescued and coaxed back to life with a little WD40, a screwdriver and a crescent wrench.
So what does my hard luck story have to do with Temecula, one of the most affluent cities in the county?
If you live in Temecula, cruise Rancho California Road some time and watch the men and women who work at the car washes, grocery stores, and restaurants pedaling their 38 pound department store bicycles to work every morning, and home late in the evening. They have jobs, but no cars.
Look for the students among them who are carrying heavy backpacks or worse, carrying books swinging in plastic bags tied to the handlebars. They need to get to school. They have bikes. But unfortunately, they live in a city that is openly hostile to cyclists. Their leaders spend nothing out of the millions they collect in taxes each year to make cyclists safer.
Why is this so important?
Because they are cyclists. They are Temecula residents.
And a lot of them are riding on the sidewalks, where they are dodging pedestrians, moms and dads pushing strollers. It's not a healthy mix.
Yes, Temecula is affluent, but it is such a dangerous place to cycle these commuters are not about to venture out in the three skinny (probably not even up to code) car traffic lanes squeezed into Rancho California Road, because the city wiped out the bicycle lanes there!
Now the city says it is "impossible" to have bicycle lanes on Rancho California Road. How is it impossible when they used to be there? They would still be there if you had left them alone. And a lot of us would be safer for it.
I've talked before at City Council about connecting Old Town to Wine Country for tourists via Rancho California. Their $150,000 consultants from San Diego want tourists to ride out of the south end of Old Town and up some gnarly hills, turning a 15 minute ride into hours. Tourists bring money to Temecula, but most of them don't try the bike to wineries trip more than once. Ask the bike shop owners what these cycle-tourists say when they return their rental bikes. Yikes!
But I have also reminded Council that a lot of their constituents who do a lot of the work in this town use Rancho California Road to get to work. Do your San Diego consultants have answers for them? Do they think they should ride out the south end of Old Town too? Where are they supposed to ride?
The sidewalk.
Friday, August 19, 2016
Valley News Prints Letter to Editor on Temecula Cycling
The Valley News has printed my letter to the editor about the Temecula City Council's lack of support for creating infrastructure that makes cycling safer for Temecula families.
Tuesday, August 9, 2016
Temecula City Council Candidates -- Any cycling advocates in this bunch?
Just got the list of candidates or potential candidates for Temecula City Council. Three of the names on the list are former city managers or incumbent councilmembers (marked in red). I will leave it up to you to determine how effective you think your current city leaders have been in addressing our concerns as cyclists. If you need help, peruse previous posts here and comments from actual cyclists -- not city hall insiders or paid consultants from San Diego.
There are others on the list. So if you are one of the names on the list, or you have information about these candidates and their views on cycling, please contact me.
I do not hide behind anonymous web pages, like our consultants from San Diego (HikeandBikeTemecula.org, please, really?) or fake names on Facebook or Twitter. My name is Rick Peoples, I have lived in Rancho California (now Temecula) since 1987, and my personal email is rickpeoples@hotmail.com. And thanks to each and every one of you who took the time to comment about previous information here and at BicycleTemecula on FB and Twitter. Your comments are important to me, whether you agree with my ideas or not. We are a community, one that is being ignored by the city of Temecula, and that has to change.
I will be visiting City Hall to obtain contact information (unlike the county and other government agencies, the city does not put contact information or biographies about our potential civil servants online for constituents to peruse until the election roster is set, which is probably not the best way for us to see who is interested in leading us or get more people involved in the process of sending new faces into leadership ranks) and I plan to contact each of them about cycling issues ASAP.
But we, as a cycling community, need to get involved as a group in vetting the people who control hundreds of millions of dollars in capital improvement project monies coming to Temecula. If we were to get even a tiny percentage of those millions, think about the projects we could fund.
And do we really need more massive City Hall buildings, parking structures, or decorative fountains?
What would it be like in Temecula if we took the money for that fountain and other Council paid projects and spent it on desperately need signalization to help cyclists get through red lights, on-street bike lanes that connect and get us through particularly dangerous roadways like Margarita Road or Rancho California Road, off-street bike lanes (we can dream), or (please) a police force that is pro-cyclists and is busy out there cracking down on Temecula motorists who make roadways unsafe for cyclists.
We should be asking people who want to serve as leaders if they agree that these things are minimum requirements for Temecula cyclists. Just remember, half of the city's population throw a leg over a bicycle saddle this year and go for a spin. What are we facing out there?
Here is the list, current or former leaders in red. Like I said, you decide, but please help me update.
Thanks in advance:
There are others on the list. So if you are one of the names on the list, or you have information about these candidates and their views on cycling, please contact me.
I do not hide behind anonymous web pages, like our consultants from San Diego (HikeandBikeTemecula.org, please, really?) or fake names on Facebook or Twitter. My name is Rick Peoples, I have lived in Rancho California (now Temecula) since 1987, and my personal email is rickpeoples@hotmail.com. And thanks to each and every one of you who took the time to comment about previous information here and at BicycleTemecula on FB and Twitter. Your comments are important to me, whether you agree with my ideas or not. We are a community, one that is being ignored by the city of Temecula, and that has to change.
I will be visiting City Hall to obtain contact information (unlike the county and other government agencies, the city does not put contact information or biographies about our potential civil servants online for constituents to peruse until the election roster is set, which is probably not the best way for us to see who is interested in leading us or get more people involved in the process of sending new faces into leadership ranks) and I plan to contact each of them about cycling issues ASAP.
But we, as a cycling community, need to get involved as a group in vetting the people who control hundreds of millions of dollars in capital improvement project monies coming to Temecula. If we were to get even a tiny percentage of those millions, think about the projects we could fund.
And do we really need more massive City Hall buildings, parking structures, or decorative fountains?
What would it be like in Temecula if we took the money for that fountain and other Council paid projects and spent it on desperately need signalization to help cyclists get through red lights, on-street bike lanes that connect and get us through particularly dangerous roadways like Margarita Road or Rancho California Road, off-street bike lanes (we can dream), or (please) a police force that is pro-cyclists and is busy out there cracking down on Temecula motorists who make roadways unsafe for cyclists.
We should be asking people who want to serve as leaders if they agree that these things are minimum requirements for Temecula cyclists. Just remember, half of the city's population throw a leg over a bicycle saddle this year and go for a spin. What are we facing out there?
Here is the list, current or former leaders in red. Like I said, you decide, but please help me update.
Thanks in advance:
Nomination Papers Filed
Ronald Bradley -- former Temecula city manager
James Cooley
Michael McCracken -- incumbent council member
Michael Naggar -- incumbent council member and mayor
Adam Ruiz
James Stewart
Nomination Papers Issued
Jeffrey Frichner
Skylar Tempel
Angel Garcia
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