Conway Advocates for Bicycling

The shirts are here! They look great. I will shlub them over to The Ride next Friday before the ride. Again they are $11 - sizes are S - XL.

Nice and simple. Sign me up for a meduim please.

Let's roll with it.

That looks like a good route for the first ride.

After a recon of LaHuerta, there are some chainable structures in the parking lot.

Here's some info from BACA's Critical Manners ride. I like the idea of ending with dinner somewhere.

http://bacar.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=254

Greg

We run the Critical Manners rides on the first Wednesday of each month thru downtown Little Rock, usually thru the trailing end of rush hour. It's a "no drop" ride, save only getting split up at a red light or something. The average pace is around 12-13 mph, which seems to be comfortable for everyone. And really, that's a pretty fair pace in downtown traffic, we're usually moving at about the same pace as everyone else if there's more than a couple of cars. If the group gets split up at a light, the front guys will usually pull over up the road to let the stragglers catch up.

The rules for Critical Manners are pretty simple -- We follow the same procedures that we teach in the Bike Ed Road and Commuting classes:

1. Ride on the right side of the roadway, never on the left, and never on the sidewalk.

2. Obey all traffic signs and signals. We stop for stop signs and stop lights, then follow the right-of-way rules as far as proceding onwards.

3. Lane positioning -- We use the "rule of thirds" in positioning ourselves with respect to which way we're going at intersections, and ride in the rightmost lane that's going where we want to go.

4. Speed positioning -- When stopped, be at the curb; when moving slower than the rest of traffic ride in the right lane. When passing, or going faser than the rest of traffic, use the left lane. Never pass on the right, or filter forward at stop lights and stop signs. When at stop signals, we take our proper place in line behind or with the cars, then take our proper turn moving onward when the light changes, or according to the rightof-way rules.

5. We ride single file. Only Little Rock has a specific ordinance that specifically allows riders to ride no more than two abreast. So we ride single file, and double up at stop signs and stop lights. Proceed across the intersection 2 at a time, then we go back into single file. What you don't need to be doing is riding as a peloton or swarm across several lanes of traffic.

6. We require bike helmets be worn by all participants. Sure... Arkansas law doesn't require that anyone wear a bike helmet. But we're certified and insured by the League,and our insurance policy requires that all ride participants wear helmets. Same thing if you're getting your coverage thru the bike club. Secondly, we wear helmets to set a good example for the young folks, who are the future of cycling. And lastly, helmets make sense because accidents and crashes do happen, and your brain can't heal itself if you hurt it.

Critical Manners has been a good venue to get newer city cyclists out and let them get experience and confidence riding in traffic with LCIs coaching them on proper technique. It lets motorists get accustomed to seeing cyclists acting properly in traffic, and getting used to us being there. And it's a good social occasion a la Critical Mass; we're out there to have fun every bit as much as make a demonstration, and we usually stop off for supper at the end of the ride.

We're riding next Wednesday, btw, August 6th, at 5:30 p.m. from the parking lot at the Arkansas Arts Center, 10th & Commerce, in Little Rock. We'll make a few loops around the downtown area, then go find somewhere to eat down around the River Market.

Tom

I'd suggest a pace of 10mph or less so we can include more riders.