The Debate on the new ordinance

Hi all, for the past few days I have been in a friendly private debate with my local magistrate about what the effects of the new Oldham County Bike ordinance will be. Basically my position is that club rides shouldn't need a permit because they are normal traffic and subject to normal rules of the road. I agree that there needs to be a process by which large events notify and gain approval for their events from the local governments, but it is unreasonable for them for have to file separate paperwork and fees for every city and county through which they pass.

The Magistrates last e-mail to me was cc'd to a slew of other government officials, and referred to me as a fear monger, so I guess we have moved our conversation from private to public. Below is my response which is basically an outline of some of the concerns that I have about the ordinance. I welcome your comments, and encourage residents of Oldham county to weigh in with their magistrates on this issue as well. Because apparently I am the lone voice in the wilderness on this one.

Link to actual ordinance: http://www.goosecreekcycle.com/EventOrdinance.htm

Discussion on forum site: http://www.goosecreekcycle.com/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=6429

Mr. Sparks,

I have noted your concern about the presentation and authorship of the bill on our forum site. I was actually done with this conversation, but as I see we have added a larger group to the cc list I will respond because they have missed much of our conversation. Largely you have heard these arguments, so you can ignore the rest of this if you wish, but for those of you just joining the conversation...

First I don't consider posting a current draft version of a ordinance on a forum site and asking for discussion "fear mongering". I think presenting an ordinance to the community that will be primarily affected by an ordinance before it comes up to vote is important. I don't know how widely the authors consulted the cycling community before drafting this but i am glad we are having the discussion now.

Second. I am not against any event ordinance, and I understand that there are real issues out there, but I would argue that the primary ones that people are complaining about are NOT addressed by this bill, and there are some of the best things about cycling in our community that are damaged by the bill.

The ridiculous thing is that I am going to go through this whole argument and all I am asking for is specific clarifications on a few definitions and more precise language in the bill so we can make the bill do what it originally claims to do.

There are really two issues here. The one this bill attempts to address and the underlying issue which is causing most of the complaints that led to the bill. There are also a number of types of riders on the road and this bill addresses each of them differently. My point here is that this bill is most harmful to those who are in general the most courteous and least disruptive to traffic, and generally leaves alone those who are most likely to be causing the problems and generating complaints.

First the Riders: There are 4 main types of rides on our roads (more depending on how many hairs you want to split, but I will divide into 4 groups.)

Group 1: Races- These are riders on relatively short highly Marshaled courses who are in a competition. As such they expect the right of way under all circumstances and courses are usually either blocked off, or contain only right hand turns. Racers generally pay an entry fee. Organizers typically carry event insurance. Organizers fully expect to have to file permits and generally lean on local officials to lead them through this process.

Group 2: What a cyclist would call Event rides, but as this ordinance defines "Event" differently I will call them Charity and organized tours. Typically these are typically large rides with over 100 starting but they tend to break into groups of 15 or less within the first mile or to and often feature a rolling start where people just sort of start when they please. Course are often marked with signs or paint on the tar. Riders are considered normal vehicles on the road and are expected to obey the rules of the road. Usually these are run by or to benefit non-profit, and riders are either required to raise a certain amount for the charity or pay an entry fee. Organizers typically carry event insurance

Club Rides: Usually 5-60 riders. Most are well below the 50 rider mark, but because there is only a sign in, and no registration actual head count is not generally known until the ride starts. Courses are not marked, but riders are generally provided directions. Riders are expected to obey the rules of the road. Rides are typically swept which means there is an experienced ride captain near the back to help out less experienced riders while stronger riders go off ahead. Rides typically thin to groups of 3 to 10 within the first mile or two. This is where young riders typically learn how to navigate the roads safely on their bicycles as well as how to ride in close proximity to other riders. Rides are covered by the clubs insurance, and rides are subject to termination or modification if the club finds the ride to be dangerous or otherwise disruptive, or if the ride captain is found to be wanting in some way. These tend to be some of the safest rides because riders are no only accountable to the law but also to the club and the stigmas that are attached to breaking the rules of the road or riding recklessly.

Non-Organized rides: This is probably most of the riders you see out on the streets. They are riders who either meet up with friends and teammates, and go for a ride, or simply go out alone and see who they meet. Groups are typically between 1 and 10 and they tend to all stay very close together as there is often not a determined route. Many of the racers tend to fall into this group on non race days because they are doing specific workouts that don't lend themselves to club rides.

Now the issues. There are really two issues here, the one we are talking about and the one we are dealing with but pretending like we are not. This was crystallized for me by two examples that Mr. Sparks sent me in a prior e-mail, and I think it makes sense to use his examples so you know I am not just making stuff up.

Excerpt 1 :

" I HAVE VIDEO I took one day of a club running the sign in Pewee valley. I think I can send to you if the file isn’t too big. Don’t play with me and pretend these guys don’t run signs all day long. I am being honest with you and I don’t think you are returning the respect. If these guys weren’t breaking the road rules all the time people wouldn’t be calling us. I wager I can go this weekend and catch them doing it, if the weather is nice. In fact I almost side swipped a guy the other night because he was riding on the wrong side of the road and I didn’t see him until he raced up on me… It scared the crap out of me. He was in one of your fancy outfits with all the club names and sponsors on it.. I am not stupid. "

This is the underlying issue that we are talking about here, but are saying that we are not. It is also an issue that members of the club as well a sponsors of teams have been harping on more and more. Teams are getting pressure from above, because organized cycling realizes that we are held to a higher standard than other vehicles on the road. For this reason the kind of this mentioned above is seen much less on club rides than in non-organized rides. The problem is that the general public can't tell the difference.

Side note on jerseys. The club issues precious few jerseys, the ones you see are largely purchased, mostly logoed with manufacture logos, random images, or logos of pro teams. The ones that do tell you who the rider is, are largely racing teams which is why the teams are coming down to hard on their riders, because they are identifiable by their clothing if you know what you are looking for.

Incidents like the ones above, as well as a general feeling that because cyclists tend to slow down traffic and that they shouldn't be on the road is what generate hard feelings towards cyclists in general. These hard feelings lead to complaints. I am guessing that most of the complaints about the larger events are not as much about the events, which really only occur 2 or 3 days a year in our county, but those events are sort of the icing on the cake. In other words a person who is generally ticked off at cyclists is more likely to call in a complaint about Ironman.

All this is tangential, because the riders above most likely fell into Group 4 and as such are not affected by the ordinance.

Excerpt 2:

"And simply put… the issue isn’t individual riders or even groups… it is EVENTS. Last year I was driving down the road on my way to take my kids to school. It was Friday and this guy was out hanging signs on every street corner stop sign. I asked him what he was doing and he said, “we are having a ride here tomorrow and I am laying out the course”. I said, “No you are not, I haven’t been informed of any such event”. He said he had every permission to do so. (apparently he had called state and they didn’t care if he did it on their public roads) I called the chief of police right there in his presence and asked him. The Chief confirmed (not a quote) that he didn’t know anything about it. This was an event they planned to have some 250 or more riders all day LONG. And they were setting up in parking lots for refreshments and the such (with out permissions I am told)…. This was a LOUISVILLE “charity”. They said they do it every year. NO ONE… NO ONE in our local govt had been contacted, nothing had been approved. Etc etc. And this guy on the side of the road had NO intention of listening to me until I had to call the Chief of police.

Well, this is your problem… and this isn’t the only case. It is just one perfectly glaring example of what you guys want to pretend isn’t happening. "

Now we are to the real issue and what the ordinance tries to and does address, the problem is we need to clarify our words to make sure it doesn't hit all the wrong things.

I agree that the county government should have known about an event this large if it is on county roads. But it sounds to me like the organizer did jump through all the hoops he was supposed to there was just a communication breakdown in the system that we have for notification of our government officials. This is why my initial suggestion was that permitting be handled by the largest government body involved with rights of refusals to smaller bodies. So for an event such as this that may pass through 3 or 4 counties and many more cities, it is unreasonable for an organizer to be expected to file a $50 permit fee along with separate paperwork for each city and county that it passes through. He should be able to contact the state (as he did) and get one permission that any of the smaller bodies could reject based on the larger application to the state.

Similarly, an event contained on only county and city roads could file one application with the county and the county official could get the okay from involved cities.

If it is all in one city, the permit goes through the city.

What we are talking about here is simply administrative streamlining which makes it easier for all involved to bring events our state, county and cities, and for all involved to know what is going on.

So we are done right? Unfortunately we struck with too wide a hammer and there are a lot of unintended consequences. The biggest is that under current definitions club rides, which are open to the public, will not know if they are an "Event" or not until about 5 minutes before the ride, so they will have to do some crazy work around if too many people show up and risk heavy fines for themselves and their riders.

Alternatively these unpaid volunteers who typically host two or three rides a month could shell out a few hundred in permit fees and risk being told they need officers at every corner for what turns out to be series of 10 rider rides.

The more likely result is that ride leaders will simply pull their rides out of Oldham County. And yes I have already talked to ride captains who have said they will do this, but I have not heard any official response as to what the Louiville Bycyle Club will do. This is not to say that there will not be cyclist here, but that we will have eliminated the rides which are organized,insured, and routed along the safest roads possible. In their stead will be a series of uninsured, loosely organized rides, which will make it difficult for our rookie riders to learn how to ride safely on our roads unless they take their cars, their bikes and their dollars into Louisville.

For this reason my suggestion is that we limit the ordinance to commercial events. With commercial being defined as "Any ride or race that can reasonable expect 25 or more participants where the participants are required to pay and entry fee or raise money in order to participate -or- any event that will request or require road closures or traffic redirection"

I also ask that it is specified that the event must have aspects on county roads or property to require a permit from the county. And that if a mixture of state and county roads are used that State level permissions should override county leaving the county with a right of refusal based on the information provided to the state but sparing the event coordinator from having to pay separate permit fees in every county and city that decides to pass an ordinance such as the one we are discussing.

Finally if this seems too complicated to only target the big events I suggest that we revert to the status quo where we simply accept that bicycles are part of traffic and are subject to the same rules and regulations as any other vehicle, and leave it at that.

Again this is just my opinion and since I am already being called out as a fear monger I am going to share it with my friends as well, thanks for your time. - Jon Kindig

New Ordinance to regulate cycling events in Oldham County

I don't know how I get myself into this stuff, but here I go again….

First try a little thought experiment with me examine these two statements:

1. In general people are idiots behind the steering wheel.

2. I am an idiot behind the steering wheel.

Most of us will agree to the first, but disagree with the second. This leaves us with the problem that we have just proved ourselves to be idiots. It also leaves us with a bit of protection in that no mater how much we hate idiots on the road, we can't do much about it because at one time or another WE are the idiot on the road.

Now consider this same experiment but we will use cyclists instead of motorists.

1. Cyclists are idiots and are unsafe on the road.

2. When I ride my bike on the road I am an unsafe idiot.

The initial response is about the same unless you do not ride your bike on the road. Now you have the conclusion that cyclists are idiots, but the counterbalance is gone because there is no chance that you are the idiot on the bike.

This is the PR battle we fight as cyclists. If a motorist sees another motorist run a red light they will see it as the fault of the individual. But if that motorist sees a cyclist run the red light they will see it as the fault cyclist in general. So when they go home the story is told in two different ways. Either a) "So this guy ran a red light, jeez, people are idiots" or b) "I just watched this cyclist blatantly run a red light, those cyclists think they can do whatever they want, they shouldn't be on the road"

So what's my point? Well this separation where most people view cyclists as something other than themselves has led to some new proposed regulation about how cyclist ride their bikes in Oldham County, Kentucky.

Before I get to the proposed ordinance let me tell you a little about myself. I am a bike guy. I like playing with bikes. I like fixing bikes. I like talking about bikes. I like riding bikes. So it is only natural that I opened a little bike shop because it seemed like something I would like.

As it turns out running a small business is more than playing with bikes. Before I new it I was filling out forms and applications. Applying for permits to hang a sign in my window, permits to start a business, business licenses, Employer Identification numbers. Etc etc. It took me about 5 days of reading an assortment of legal documents to figure out how to pay my employees. As it turns out you can’t just pay an employee, you have to pay five different Government agencies as well, carry insurance that covers the employees in case they can't work for you anymore, and unemployment tax to cover people who never did work for you in case THEY can't work. Then you have to pay your Property tax on your building, and your inventory, and your car, and collect the governments sales tax for them. Then comes a separate tax bill for the water that runs off your roof (yup I got that one). And as soon as you have it all figured out they change the law and all of a sudden you are doing it wrong. So to avoid more fines you hire out your calculations to a company who does such things. Now you are paying people just to tell you who you have to pay how much to, and all you really wanted to do is play with bikes and give some local kid some money so that he could help you out with it.

In short it took about a year of being in business to realize that pretty much every time rule, regulation or ordinance is passed, it is going to make my life more complicated and cost me money.

In fact off the top of my head I can’t think of a new law that has been passed since I was born that has helped me out in anyway, I'm sure they are out there, I just can’t think of them. Most of the important stuff they got right off the bat. Don't kill anyone, don't put anyone in danger, and "if it is not yours, leave it alone" pretty much covers it. Everything else is just a modification or a complication.

So when I hear that our county government is proposing a new way to regulate how we ride our bike, my gut reaction is to say "this can't be good". The last little non-complicated thing in my life is heading for government regulation. Well today I got my hands on the regulation in draft form and as suspected it is basically an ordinance drafted either by, or in order to appease, people who think cyclists are idiots and view them as an inconvenience on the road.

To their credit, they are right that cyclists are an inconvenience to drivers on the road. But if we are honest with ourselves, we have to accept that every user of the road in an inconvenience to the other users. Think how fast you would get to work if you were the only car on the road. How many times in the past month have you had to slow down or stop because the driver in front of you was turning left? A train crossed the road? A tractor? Gotten stuck behind a funeral procession? Gotten caught in School or Church traffic? Tried to get on the interstate just after a local business lets all its employees off work at the same time?

Now do you want to ban left hand turns? How many of these things can we regulate? How many should we regulate? Is there a point to my rambling?

Well at this point only kind of… I am still crunching numbers to figure out what this ordinance will cost me as a race promoter and a ride organizer. I will also need to determine what it will cost me as a retailer of bicycles and bicycle parts if our county takes a firm stand against bicycle tourism in our county. It is my hope that the tourism board and other businesses will do the same. So for now I will just post up a copy of the current draft of the ordinance and let you all see what you think.

Link to the draft of new ordinance here:
http://www.goosecreekcycle.com/EventOrdinance.htm

Vigor Nox hemets Revamped for 2012, Super Sweet.

Ok, I catch some grief from time to time to time for getting excited about all the wrong products. Read the buzz in the cycling world and you will see people hopping up and down and drooling about the latest bit of carbon fiber, titanium or scandium. Small variations in products that produce weight savings with a value of about $1.50/g. Don't get me wrong, it is not that I don't love high end gizmos, its just that when you are talking about bikes that run over $3500, I just expect them to be nice. If you drop $1000 into a wheelset it would be really more surprising if they weren't crazy light and packing ceramic bearings. What gets me excited is when an inexpensive product steps up and turns out to be more than you should expect. So now that the guys at the shop are used to me rambling on about budget products I guess I will subject my blog readers to the same.

This years little surprise is Vigors Nox helmet.

For the past 4 or 5 years I have basically using the Nox as a jump off product for selling products. Basically I would throw it out there as an option for someone who just wanted a safe head for as little cash as possible. So I was a little caught off guard when I was in the middle of my "let me show you why I don't like this helmet" speil when I discovered that all the things I was about to point out had dissapeared.

For 2012 Vigor has finally done away with what could only be described as a cheesy retention system which basicaly jut pushed against the back of your head and hoped it stayed snug. The new sysem is the same as what they use on their higher end helmets (also the same as used on the even higher end Spiuk helmets). The retention/fit system is basically a band that wrapps around the back of the head with two little ratcheting clips that allow the band to be snugged up to your head and locked in. Small buttons on the ratchets allow them to be released and moved out in the event that you put on a hat or share your helmet with a friend. Adjustment time is less than a second.

In addition to the new retention system Vigor has also added 3 more vents (up to 16 vents now) Which allow greater airflow. design team has also added a little more style to the color scheme so they have a nice look rather than a plain solid color.

So while the Next helmet up the line (FastTraxx) still has better airflow and is marginally lighter. The improvements to the Nox are great enough that I am no longer sure the upgrade is worth it. So if you are in the market for an helmet but don't want to shell out three digits for a pro level helmet, have another look at the Nox. It is just unheard of to have a helmet that fits this well clock in at less than $40.

LaGrange Urban Short Track 2011/2012 Race 4

Race 4 was crazy.
Period.
I would say "end of story" but it is one of those stories that needs to be told. Ok, I can't tell it, but you have to watch the video. The new years eve race could not have asked for better weather. Of the courses so far this was the shortest with riders turning 2-3 minute laps. But considering that we squeezed the whole course into 3 city blocks, that is not bad. The course ran through two buildings and in and out of alleys and cracks between buildings. Lots of thanks to John and Chellie who let us run across their property. I fear we have created permanent single track in Chellies back yard.

You definitely need to watch the video below that shows a couple of laps from the Cat 3 race. What I love most is watching the bikes out there and seeing the variety and the number of people that this urban format in drawing in. By way of example. The video below is shot from atop a full XTR Niner RIP9. You can see him passing a guy on a roadmaster who is racing in sweatpants. Both riders had a blast. Both riders will be back for next race, and what we are seeing is the development of the sport. New riders coming in, getting a taste and rolling with it. So thanks to all who have been helping with this, what we have done here is far cooler that I ever imagined. Now enjoy the video.

Urban Short track Race #1

Well the first race in the series is in the books. Well almost in the books, I still have to put up the results, but the racing is in the books anyway. The weather held out for us perfectly, and it seems like a good time was had by all. Congrats to Nick Barbieri(Backwoods Racing Project) and Debbie Baker (Bishops Bicycles) who won the Mens and Womens Pro/1 catagorys.

Despite some technical diffuculties on the back end and some vandals playing with course markings between races, we have received generally positive feedback and the serries will roll into its next race on December 3.

We will have a couple of changes for the next race, the biggest one is the way we do timing. This race we used a standart Criterium timing which works great when you have a large peleton of riders. As it turns out, the whole system breaks down when you have riders spread over the course. For the upcoming race we will use a timing format typically used in 12/24 hour races. You will have 30 minutes to do as many laps as possible. If you come through the start finish at a time less than 30 minutes you will be expected to go out again. Over 30 minutes and you are finished. This should clear up a lot of confusion. So our appologise to the riders who we accidentally made do an extra lap, (a list which actually includes or Cat3 mens winner), but we should have it fixed for the next event.

We will also be putting award cerimonies on the schedule for next race so we won't miss any of our finishers as we try to do improptu awards.

Anyone who has other suggestions for us, we welcome your comments, this was just the first time out and we have a lot to improve on, but at the very least this was a good jumping off point. See you all in December.

Urban Short Track Racing in LaGrange

A while back we tried to put a criterium in the downtown area, but there was just no good way to lay out the course without disrupting major traffic paths or cutting across the active train track. After leaving the idea on the back burner for a while we found the soulution...

What if we used Mountian Bikes instead?

This simple idea lead to the creation of the Urban Short Track series that will be going on all winter. Racing will be done primarily on mountain bikes but we expect a few yahoos to try them on CX bikes. Courses will run on roads, alleyways, sidewalks, ditches, down stairs, through buildings, on footpaths, single track, fields, yards, retaining walls, basically wherever we can get permission to ride, we will.

Short races will keep riders from freezing, and spectators will be able to jump into restaurants and shops to stay warm. Our first event will actually be able to seen quite nicely from the window of Karen's Book Barn and Java stop.

So if you are local you will need to come check it out either to race or just to spectate. I also need some volunteers to run crossings so if you are up for it, we will have some swag for the volunteers as well as the racers. See you out there.


Entry fee: $10/race or $60 for series
Online registration available here: http://store.goosecreekcycles.com/Product3062
Smack talk on the forums here: http://goosecreekcycle.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1340
We are looking for sponsors to sponsor either the whole series, individual Race days or individual events. Let me know if your business might be interested in cash, product or time donations.

This weeks bling

Fresh off the stand this is a beauty. Nic named the Darth Vader bike, this is a top shelf Niner JET9. Full XTR, SID XX fork and Stan's NoTubes Crest 29" Wheels. There are some bikes that are just fun to build, and there are some details that just boggle ones mind, like hydraulic fork lockouts and Niner Carbon Bars. I could talk about this bike all day, but until you pick one up and ride one there are just no true words. The bike will be on its way out the door today so if you want to see it, just stop in. These are available for order and require about a week of lead time. Price available on request.