 |
| Image: Bike routes from the
Bike Plan Today begins my official summer. Since my son is out of school and our daughter's babysitter has changed schedules, I'm responsible for both of my kids on Mondays. I've got them until 2PM for the next few months of Mondays. I had my daughter on Tuesdays up until now, and she was pretty easy. She was all about a ride to work on the B-Line, some walking around downtown, and a lunch of rice at Aco Taco. While the B-Line might still be in the cards this summer, it doesn't really open up all of the summer locales Chico has to offer. I may take my car a couple of times, to get the kids up to Upper Park now and again. I'm afraid if I take my car I'll fall into the trap of running errands for half the day. It's amazing how many errands/how much spending can be delayed if you limit your transportation options. Several weeks ago I was riding back from the Doe Mill area with my son. We used the bike path that runs across the Meriam Park nature preserve site (entrance on Bruce near the big radio tower). I had never been on that bike path. It was very pretty, especially where it ran behind a series of apartments but skirted the creek for a distance. Interestingly, there were a bunch of barbeque stands located between the bike path and creek that were overgrown and obviously unused. I wonder how they got there, and why nobody uses them? More interestingly (to me, and probably nobody else) is that by traveling that route I had a completely new view of the town I've lived the last 20 years in. Those brief, lucid, experiences of newness are hard to find. As I wind my way into becoming an old Chico local it is sometimes challenging to ditch the rat race and reinvigorate the home town experience. Turning in 6,200 referendum signatures was something that made me feel like part of Chico. But really, you can only hold a referendum once every 6 weeks at best. As a parent I often feel the newness of this town vicariously through my children. Hiking to Salmon Hole, taking a canoe trip on the river, or experiencing the Christmas tree lighting downtown are examples. I think we'll adopt Monday mornings as a bike exploration day. That'll burn my son's energy, and give us a slow "summery"Chico way to explore the town. Here are some destinations that we might shoot for... 1. The airport, my daughter loves spotting airplanes, seeing them up close would be fun for her. 2. Sycamore pool for some wading, Caper Acres is closed on Mondays... bummer. 3. Sacramento River, just a quick trip from my house, but no bike paths. 4. Ride out to Durham (does anyone know a good place to have an early lunch or late breakfast in Durham?). 5. Sherwood Forest to throw some discs. 6. 5 mile to catch some wogs. 7. Wildwood Park, big slides although no replacement for Caper Acres. To help in our summer explorations the city has a bike map. But I'm going to go one step further. The city also has a 2008 bicycle plan located at its FTP site (see 3MEG pdf here). If I read the bike plan I can be a bike path know-it-all. If someone asks me where the nearest Class I bike path is I can respond... "Estimates of numbers of bicycle to school commuters are more difficult to calculate, because there are no official sources of this type of data. A major source of bicycle to school commuters is CSUC, where facilities management estimates that 6,500 persons bicycle to the University on a daily basis. Elementary, junior high, and high schools also generate bicycle traffic. Caltrans' Statewide Travel Survey estimates that 3.4 percent of Butte County students bicycle to school on a regular basis. Based on total public school enrollment of 14,000, it is estimated that this adds an additional 1,150 bicycle commuters. Combined with bicycle-to-work figures, the current total of bicycle commuters in the Chico Urban Area is estimated at 9,400, or about 11.4 percent. According to the City of Chico General Plan, the population of the urban area is expected to increase to approximately 135,000 people within the next 15 - 25 years. With the implementation of the policies for bikeways included in the General Plan, as well as the safe, well marked routes planned herein, the General Plan forecasts that 9 percent of the new population will commute to work by bicycle. Bicycle to school commuting is expected to increase as well. Total public school enrollment is expected to grow to 22,820 in FY 2013-14, thus adding another 780 bicyclists. CSUC, on the other hand, is close to its capped enrollment level, so no significant growth in enrollment or bicycle commuters is anticipated. Combined with existing numbers, the total amount of bicycle commuters is expected to reach approximately 14,130 at buildout." People who talk to me about bike paths will soon develop bicycle route Class envy. Since I want to make sure readers of CI aren't subject to this same envy, here are to descriptions of the various types of bicycle classes in Chico. Class I Bike Path - Red Provides a completely separated facility designed for the exclusive use of bicycles and pedestrians with minimal cross flows by motorists. Caltrans standards call for Class I bikeways to have a minimum of 8 feet of pavement with 2-foot graded shoulders on either side, for a total right-ofway of 12 feet. These bikeways must also be at least 5 feet from the edge of a paved roadway. Class II Bike Lane - Green Provides a restricted right-of-way designated for the exclusive or semi exclusive use of bicycles with through travel by motor vehicles or pedestrians prohibited, but with vehicle parking and cross flows by pedestrians and motorists permitted. Caltrans standards generally require a 4-foot bike lane from face of curb or edge of roadway with a 6-inch white stripe separating the roadway from the bike lane. Class III Bike Route - Blue Provides a right-of-way designated by signs or permanent markings and shared with pedestrians and motorists. Roadways designated as Class III bike routes should have sufficient width to accommodate motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians. Other than a street sign, there are no special markings required for a Class III bike route. |
Class Envy
4 Comments
Leave a comment
Lon
About Me: Fasten your seatbelts for an exhilarating trip through Chico's public policy; I guarantee it's marginally better than public access TV.
|
Hey Lon,
I like that little bike path you're referring to. It's kinda lush back there.
It's not open on Mondays, but don't forget to take Ruby (and Becket too) to the Chico Air Museum on a Saturday. Talk about getting up close - she can actually get in and "fly" a plane. We used to volunteer for CAM until Baby B came along and I finally learned to set some boundaries in life. It's a great organization - good people running it.
I guess you are up and running early with those kids, you lucky, luuuucky bastard. We had our burley trailer, oh man, them was the days. It's like an extension of your own childhood, if you play it right. Ramblin'.
Since we do homeschool, we got a deal. Our school year is 12 months, because we take so many breaks to go places and do stuff, including just do nothing, that you have to keep it up all year round to avoid getting behind. They don't mind, they actually crave the intellectual stimulation. My 13 year old is the one who pulls out the algebra book, I'd like to pour gas all over it and set it on fire.
But we do fun stuff too, cause learning is fun. Kids ask so many questions, if you follow their lead, you find you learn alot of stuff too. That's how we got involved in local government, it just occurred to me one day, the kids should know about that stuff, not just George Washington and Abe Lincoln and the flag salute.
I got a curriculum guide from the county homeschool, so we have kind of a map of what we are supposed to study, but it's wide open how you study it. We do alot of art. One time we made a cutout of the older one on that brown stuffing paper you get in packages. Then we went about attaching all his guts and stuff. We made all his body parts out of odds and ends, and cut paper, it was so fun. We hung it on the fridge for the entire summer while we studied guts and added more stuff. We'd read about it and then try to decide, what would be the best thing to represent your small intestine, etc. About a year later, I finally took it off the side of the fridge and folded and folded and stuffed it into a manilla envelope. I have two filing cabinets full of that kind of stuff, and everytime I try to throw it away, I start crying and shove it right back in the cabinet.
The big one has completed a week at his new job. Sniffle.
Bike riding in Chico can be hazardous. I am all for peppering Chico with bike paths. If only they could all be connected. I spend half my year on a bike, it is the only thing that keeps me from locking up completely in my declining age.
I took a four hour ride some Monday a month back. Through lower park and then into upper park on the east side of the golf course. It was wonderful, even after I planted my face into a Toyon after wandering into a rock. (At least I missed the poison oak.)
If it were not for Bidwell Park and the ability to take care of errands in the Food Max, Best Buy, Home Depot triangle I would blow this pop stand.
Dear David,
don't forget your helmet! I just got one for the first time and they aren't that bad.