Lost in OK

A 20 mile ride around Lake Overholser in an extreme headwind (25-45 mph) showed me how out of shape I am.  But you have to start somewhere . . .

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While the Old Route 66 Bridge along Lake Overholser is undergoing much needed deck repair, cyclists have been forced to take an unappealing detour along busy 39th street to cross over the Lake Overholser spillway.  To help make this passage safer, Oklahoma City has placed signs such as the one shown right on both sides of 39th street and have run street sweepers along the detour route.  While I did still see quite a bit of debris still on the shoulder, the route is much much clearer than before and it very passable.

Ray H. has reported that his 2010 Cervelo S3 was stolen out of his garage near NW 50th and Portland.  The bicycle has a 54 cm frame with SRAM S60 wheels and Dura-Ace components.  The Serial Number for the bike is: SNS3C10E00336.  Below is a picture of the bike in question:

If you have any information at all regarding this bicycle, please fill out the form below!  Thanks.

Today was another incredibly beautiful day.  This stretch of warm weather has caused all the flowers to bloom which always makes for a beautiful day . . .

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KFOR put together a nice story on the new Edmond cycling ordinances:

I wanted to make sure to send out a great big thank you to all those who sponsored me for this year’s St. Baldrick’s Day event. Together we raised over $1100 dollars for this great cause. It was also wonderful to see many of you at the event. However, for all those who didn’t brave the chilly weather, here is a video of my shaving:

So, it’s time again for another round of #30DaysofBiking.  I like this event because it gives me a chance to work on some aspect of cycling, and since I’m never in a hurry to improve my speed, I get to work more on just  riding more.  Last time I worked on being calm on the city streets and trying to just enjoy the ride.  This time it has been a long winter and I wimped out through most of it and hardly rode at all.  Well, because of this long delay, I’m going to take this run to remember how much I love riding and to remind myself of all the stuff I don’t get to see when I drive.

Following the cue of Oklahoma City and Norman, the Edmond City Council has passed an ordinance change that requires vehicles to pass cyclists with at least 3-feet of distance. Violation of the ordnance comes with a fine of not more than $500. The Ordinance also makes several other changes to cycling rules in Edmond:

• It officially defines a bicycle as a vehicle when traveling on the road ways.
• Clarifies the definitions of bike lane and shared-use paths.
• Requires that cyclists stay under the posted speed limit.
• Allows cyclists (NOT REQUIRES) to ride on the sidewalk everywhere in Edmond except for the downtown area which is defined as “south of Thatcher, east of the railroadright-of-way, north of Second Street, and west of Littler.”  Not that I would ever recommend taking up the extremely dangerous practice of cycling on the sidewalk.
• Removes the requirement that cyclists have a bell, whistle or other noise maker on their bike.

You can read the full ordinance and background information in the City Council Agenda packet: http://edmondok.com/docs/city_council/meeting_agendas_and_minutes/03_28_2011_packet.pdf

Admittedly, this has nothing even remotely to do with cycling so I hope you’ll forgive the change in subject matter.  In any case, this Sunday, March 27th, at between 2 and 4 PM at VZD’s (4200 N. Western), I will be getting my head shaved in support of the St. Baldrick’s Foundation.  This is my second year to participate in this event which raises money for much needed grants for childhood cancer research and I’m gladly taking up their challenge to shave my head not only in solidarity with childhood cancer patients but to also help raise money for this wonderful cause.

The Tulsa World has published a nice article about Tulsa’s latest bike friendly award, this time from Bicycling Magazine:

Tulsa was recently named one of America’s Best Bike Cities by Bicycling magazine - but when it comes to being truly bike-friendly, the city has a little farther to ride, say cyclists and transportation officials.

via Tulsa’s bike-friendliness lauded | Tulsa World.

The story also goes into many of the dangers also faced by cyclists on Oklahoma’s roads including the aggressive drivers we all know and love.