Improved biking conditions (roll out) on Buffalo State campus

Inverted-U-racks in front of E.H. Butler Library

By Darius Crolle

If you’re a commuter at Buffalo State and choose to ride your bike instead of a motor vehicle, you may have notice some improvements in the biking conditions on campus. Some of these new additions include new U-racks for parking your bike, fix-it-stations used to properly maintain your bike, and more improvements, such as bike lanes, on the way.

Buffalo State has recently undergone an extensive master plan aimed at making the campus more biker friendly. This plan began in 2013 and was finished earlier this year.

The college contracted with Alta Planning and Design to perform a transformation assessment geared towards bicycling on the campus. The master plan consisted of recommendations and practical plans for improving bicycling conditions at Buffalo State.

“The bicycle master plan came about because of an environmental benefit project connected to a settlement of an enforcement action from the DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation),” said Lisa Krieger, assistant vice president for Finance and Management.

Krieger talked about how the school manages to allocate the funding for the master plan.

“We had, in the ‘90s, an air pollution related offense infraction, and in order to make that right, the DEC assigned us a certain amount of money to make that problem better. One of the ideas we proposed to them was the bicycle master plan, which they approved of.”

Gobike Buffalo, along with Wendel Companies, were also on board and played an instrumental role in assisting Alta with strategic advice and instruction for improvements on campus.

“We contributed to the master plan by giving them sound advice and recommendations on how they should go about enhancing their campus infrastructure to make the campus more biker friendly,” said Thea Hassan, of Gobike Buffalo.

Some of the proposed enhancements in the bicycle master plan include a new bike parking design standard. The bike parking standards that apply to college officials are as follows:

“When choosing bicycle parking solutions, college officials must balance the need for low- to medium- cost solutions with a variety of other considerations such as usability (is the parking solution intuitive?), capacity (number of bicycles per rack/corral), aesthetics, and pedestrian maneuverability.”

The Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP) is responsible for the Bike Parking Guide. These guidelines are implemented with the intentions to help cities and various organizations choose bicycle parking and create design standards. Here is a list of some of the bike racks that meet the APBP requirements:

• ·      Inverted-U-Rack
• ·      Post and Ring Rack
• ·      Bicycle Corral (APBP calls this an “Inverted U Seriers”)

Besides the new bike racks, the master plans also includes other improvements. Here is a list of some of the proposed infrastructure improvements, and the locations of where they will be assigned.

• ·      Bike Lanes (Rockwell Road)
• ·      Shared Lane Signage (Reese Street)
• ·      Intersection (striping and green) (Iroquois Drive/Elmwood Avenue)
• ·      Campus Bike Routes (various locations)
• ·      Shared Use Path (Grant Street and Iroquois Drive)

The bike lanes for Rockwell Road and Iroquois Drive have not been assigned to the streets and will be postponed due to construction that will take place in the near future.

“We’re holding off on the bike lanes for Iroquois Drive because that road will be milled up and repaired within the next year. So adding the stripes now wouldn’t be a good idea, and that’s the same for Rockwell Road” Krieger said.

Fix-it station in front of E.H. Butler Library

By Darius Crolle

Another noticeable addition to the campus is the bicycle fix-it stations, located in front of E.H. Butler Library and the Classroom building. The fix-it station provides essential tools for bike repairs and also each have a pump that provides free air for students on campus.

“If your bicycle has a flat tire, or the chain needs tightening, you just put it on this rack that you can pull out and it has free air and tools for fixing minor repairs.” Krieger said.

Not only have GObike Buffalo supported the plan by offering sound advice and counseling, they even offered biking workshops for cycling commuters since the plan was completed. One previous workshop focused on the fix-it stations and how to utilize them properly.

“The fix-it station was one of the workshops we gave at Buffalo State, along with a safety workshop. However, The workshops weren’t well attended despite our advertisement for it on social media.” Hassan said.

Moreover, the bicycle master plan for Buffalo State campus is an extension of the GOsilver campaign started by GObike Buffalo and the Buffalo mayor that focuses on improving biking in Buffalo in five areas-engineering, education, encouragement, evaluation and planning.

“It really does tail with what Mayor Byron Brown is doing downtown, scrapping so many miles of bike paths every year. He’s made it a real priority to make Buffalo more bicycle friendly. So its synergistic because were connected, were at the north end of the bike path, and now the bike path expands north of us,” Krieger said.

Avid cyclists who commute to classes have also expressed their appreciation for the new biking conditions on campus.

“The new biking conditions on campus are definitely noticeable,” said Anthony Riggs, a senior at Buffalo State College and avid cyclist.“The bike racks, I believe, stand out the most, and there are way more bikers on campus this semester.”

“In fact, I don’t think I ever seen this many bikes on campus in all my years attending this college.”

Biking in Buffalo NY

Slow Rolls reuniting Buffalo and revitalizing youthfulness

 By Darius Crolle

 It’s 10 p.m. Friday and you are driving your car west on the 198 Scajaquada Expressway. You glance to your right towards Delaware Park and you suddenly notice a cluster of fluorescent glow lights floating in unison in the dark. These lights are not moving by themselves, though, and are attached to the cyclists participating in one of the many annual slow rolls.

“I’ve been out riding around all night, we were out riding around last night until about midnight, it was our annual glow ride,” said Jon Clauss, a salesman at Ricks Cycle, a local bike shop in Allentown, the day after a recent Friday night ride.

             Clauss, a middle-aged man with a lean build, (rode while) draped with plastic glow rings intertwined in his shoestrings and a rainbow glowing wrist band. They take place the second Friday of every month.

            “Last night was Friday night bike party ride,” said Clauss smiling. “It was glow night. Everyone’s bike was lit up and there were well over 100 people out there.”

The glow ride is one of the many slow rolls that have been taking place every week in Buffalo. Such rolls started in Detroit and have branched out globally to other communities.

 They have become so popular, though, that GObike Buffalo, a non-profit biking organization, has joined in and supported the biking events.

“They’re such a huge thing and great for the biking community that we decided to support their events. They’re not a GObike event but we list their annual rides on our website and many of our members go out and support them,” said Gobikes community outreach coordinator, Thea Hassan.

The slow rolls take place every Monday, meeting up at various venues or public locations. The meetings spots are chosen by various people who attend the weekly events, communicate through Facebook pages and Twitter accounts.  

Various locations

Here is a list of some of the various locations that were chosen over the past few months.

•       Sept. 7: HandleBar (149 Swan St.)
•       Sept. 14: Hydraulic Hearth (716 Swan St.)
•       Sept. 28 43 North (640 Ellicott St.)
•        Oct. 5: Delaware Park Marcy Casho (199 Lincoln Parkway.)
•        Oct. 12: Big Ditch Brewing (55 E. Huron St.)
•        Oct. 19: Buffalo Irish Center (245 Abbott Rd.)
•        Oct. 26: Flying Bison Brewing (840 Seneca St.)

The different locations chosen, which are scattered around numerous areas in the inner city, is a big part of what make the slow rolls unique. More specifically, they bring together a large amount of people from different areas in Buffalo, and concentrate them in one area of the city. This is important because Buffalo, a relatively small city, is not that close-knit and, at times may seem segregated.

The decentralization

Since the 1950s, urban sprawl also has pushed much of the region’s population into the suburbs.

The slow rolls, however, have brought many of the people who were raised on the East, or West sides of Buffalo back to their old stomping grounds.

“A lot of the people that are now coming on these rides are coming in from the suburbs,” said Nate Hill, a member of Gobike Buffalo, “but they’re experiencing parts of the city that they’re parents, or maybe grandparents, once lived.”

Hill talked about some of the feedback he has received from some of the participants.

“From word of mouth, I’ve heard people say, ‘Hey, I used to live in this area on the East Side!’ and now they live way out in Lancaster.’ ”

Another fascinating aspect of these slow rolls is the different demographics it has attracted. These slow rolls are not just limited to the younger people but have also been supported by middle age people and older. Not only are they participating in the bike rides, the excitement and fun they derive from the rides resemble that of the young.

“I’m starting to see a lot of mature people coming into the shops and buying bicycles. I mean, we’re all kids deep inside,” Clauss said. “It’s trying to get them on a bicycle, and getting them outside on the bike rides.”

These slow rolls are effective at bringing different kinds of people together because of the universality of riding a bike. Who doesn’t know how to ride one, or rather, who doesn’t remember how to? More importantly, who doesn’t remember the joyful and liberating feeling accompanies it? This youthful feeling, however, is still achievable and has touched many of the people who partake on these annual slow rolls.

Clauss echoed these sentiments.

“Bicycles touch everybody, from a 3-year-old on up to an 83-year-old, you hold on to your youth by continuing to ride it, or you give back to your youth by getting back on it. I always like to see them when they come back from the bike rides, the expressions on their face, the bright smiles and excitement.”

                        

Cyclists continue to ride through the winter

By Darius Crolle

October is coming to an end and cyclists, like motorist, are preparing their rides for this upcoming winter.

Biking in Buffalo has become a major phenomenon lately and the bikers don’t seem to be intimidated by the extreme weather during the winter, as long as they are properly prepared. “Biking in the winter is definitely possible and is done every year by numerous bikers,” said Tony Mueckl, sales manager and buyer at Campus WheelWorks bike shop located at 744 Elmwood Ave.

However, without the proper preparation and tutelage, winter biking can become an arduous task. First and foremost, choosing the right bike is essential to the preparation process.

According to Muecki, some of the most efficient bikes for the winter include the cyclecross, mountain, and the newly designed fatbikes. The fatbikes stand out because of their unusually large tires.

“The new fatbikes are great with riding in the snow because how flat and wide the tires are,” said Nate Hill, a bike mechanic and member of GObike Buffalo.

These bikes, however, come at a costly price. Some of the fatbikes can equal the cost of a motor vehicle, ranging anywhere between $1,500 and $3,000.

Hill also teaches after school biking lessons at various elementary schools on the West Side, including, D’Youville Porter Campus and Herman Badillo Billingual Academy.

Keeping your bike well maintained is another prerequisite for riding in the winter.

“You have to make sure you keep your bike clean by greasing it and lubricating it, if not, the salt will definitely ruin your bike,” said Muecki, who has biked through the winter for the last four years.

GObike Buffalo offers workshops on how to properly prepare and maintain your bike through the fall and winter. Their workshops are held at their community workshop center at 98 Colvin Ave. every Sunday.

Although the proper bike maintenance is an important factor for those who choose to ride in the winter, it is also very important that riders themselves adjust to the inclement conditions. Moreover, there are certain useful techniques one needs to know when riding their bike on slick, icy roads.

Body control, for one, is a way of preventing the dangers of falling off the bike.

“It’s important that you keep yourself loose and not stiffen up when riding over icy roads. If you stay loose, the bike just does its thing and you keep going,” said Matt Dunning, an avid cycler and sales wizard at Campus WheelWorks, who has biked through many winters.

For some, biking through a cold Buffalo winter may seem intimidating and precarious. Simply bundling with heavy jackets, scarfs, gloves and hats seem logical. However, contrary to popular belief, undressing is sometimes better for those who bike through the winter. More specifically, fleeces and fitted thermal gear may be more preferable than a bulky winter jacket.

“Usually you want to wear thinner clothing like a fleece because of how warm you will get from the peddling. You don’t want to end up too hot. If you dress for the right weather you will be fine,” Mueckl said.

Safety concerns, like riding with the traffic in the street, may seem more dangerous in the winter because of the icy roads. Nonetheless, riding with the traffic in the winter can be much easier than what people may think.

“From my experience, drivers are actually a little more careful of cyclist in the winter,” Dunning said.

The new sharrow lanes that are present on numerous streets have also played a major role in people’s ability to bike through the winter safely. The sharrow lanes, which are used to delineate the given space between car traffic and bikers are very useful and provide bikers with their own single lane to occupy. This single lane, though, isn’t always respected and is sometimes disregarded by drivers who aren’t aware of their significance. Hill mentioned the importance of educating car drivers on how to properly share the road with bikers.

“I think it’s important that they are educated on how to drive with bikers and how bikers do have the right to ride along with the traffic,” he said. “Some drivers are simply not aware and are upset when they see a biker riding their bikes alongside of them.”

This minor setback, though, is not enough to keep bikers off the road in the winter, further showing that the biking phenomenon taking place here on the West Side is not just limited to the summer and fall seasons and, instead, is starting to become a year-round mode of transportation. 

Postscript

Matt Dunning has biked through numerous winters and has never owned a car his entire life. He has used various bikes when cycling through the winter, including, the cycle cross, mountain, and fatbike. Nate Hill, who has also biked through many winters, owns a Suburu Impreza with All Wheel Drive, however, prefers to ride his bike than drive in the winter. Hill occasionally bikes to Canada by riding over the Peace Bridge, saying that the experience is liberating and fun.

The surge of GObike

                                 

By Darius Crolle

Thea Hassan is the public relation representative for GObike Buffalo, a non-profit organization, who recently talked about the biking advocacy group’s main goals and agenda. She also discussed the different ways they wish to accomplish these goals and the progress they have already made.

Q. What is Gobike Buffalo’s main agenda. What does your organization wish accomplish?

Thea: We are a non-profit organization founded by Justin Booth back in 2008 that focuses on educating the people on the importance of cycling through different advocacy efforts, including infrastructure improvements and other various community programs.

Q. Has there been a lot of support from the local communities?

Thea: Yea, for sure. Things have been going great thus far. We have gained a huge boost of momentum from the Buffalo residents, many of whom come to are weekly programs

Q. What takes place at these programs?

Thea: We have a bit of everything.  Some of our workshops involve bike maintenance classes where we teach people how to fix and maintain the quality of their bicycle. We also go into various high schools to educate students on how to take care of their bicycle and how to ride safely in the streets.

Q. That’s cool, I wish that was around when I was in high school.

Thea: Yea it’s so much fun, I wish it was around when I was in school too.

Q. Are you guys responsible for the annual Slow Rolls that have been taking place weekly throughout the city of Buffalo?

Thea: Actually we are not, that is a separate event. However, we have recently contributed to the slow rolls and supported them. So you can say that it falls under our umbrella.

Q. I have notice the recent influx of bike lanes on various streets including Elmwood, Linwood, and Delaware. Did you guys have a hand in that?

Thea: Yes we have. We did that by advocating for the city-to-city Complete Streets Act to add more bike lanes to the city. That actually falls under our Bicycle Master Plan which included adding 300 miles of new bike lanes by 2020.

Q. I have noticed in particular that there are a lot of them present on most streets on the West Side besides Grant. Is there a specific reason why that is so?

Thea: I’m not sure about that, however, we do have specific quotas and I don’t think Grant Street is included at the moment.

Q. What are some of the streets that are targeted for the new bike lanes?

Thea: Let’s see, Elmwood, Delevan, Main, North and South Division, and Niagara.

Q. Recently we received a bronze rating for our bicycle friendly community. Who’s responsible for handing out those certificates?

Thea: That was given to us by the League of American Bicyclist and was a big accomplishment considering that most cities don’t even receive a certificate.

Q. That’s interesting. What are some ways you think we can improve that rating to, let’s say, silver?

Thea: That’s funny that you say that because we have recently started a GOSILVER campaign that’s aimed at improving cycling in five areas.

Q. What are the five areas?

Thea: We have this saying called the five E’s, which are engineering, education, encouragement, evaluation, and enforcement. Our goal is to reach silver status by 2017 or maybe even sooner.

Q. That’s amazing, do you think the city is on pace to reach that goal?

Thea: Absolutely, the support has been tremendous and we are confident that it will continue on for the next few years.