How can a session of TV watching enhance cycling in Traverse City?
Veteran bicyclist Dennis Bean-Larson was not thinking about boosting on-road safety when a Traverse City Police Department public service announcement aired last summer. But the message to drivers about paying attention to motorcyclists immediately struck a nerve.
"Why don't we have something like this for bicycles?" he thought.
By the beginning of this year, the Share the Road Initiative was initiative was born and continues to take shape. Safety is a rising concern as more cyclists take to the roads, motivated in part by rising gas prices and people increasingly living in or visiting a vibrant downtown.
"The size of this town is idea, people can still ride around and we still have grocery stores within biking distance," he said.
Tonight the InsideOut Gallery will host the first fundraiser for the initiative, whose goal is a combined effort of signs plus short public service announcements. Billed as a Bicycle Film Night, the 7 p.m. event will showcase short films and a feature length film as well as food and raffles.
Exactly how the money from this and subsequent fundraisers will be used is still being worked out with Traverse City officials, who have supported the idea but have no funding. A tireless promoter committed to the cause, Bean-Larson is discussing with them sign design, size, placement and other issues.
In January, Bean-Larson started researching what other communities had done. Via the Internet, he found a patchwork of Share the Road signs. Although they were inconsistently sized or placed, the signs presented a unifying message: drivers and bicyclists must work together to coexist safely.
He turned to the League of American Cyclists and League of Michigan cyclists but they had no definitive standards for signage, funding, posting and working with local governments.
"There were no standards for this although there had been little communities around the country that had done this," said Bean-Larson who is inventing a process as he goes.
Bean-Larson is also hoping a sponsor or sponsors will step up to help create the PSAs, geared to educate both drivers and bicyclists. Drawing from his decades of experience cycling, Bean-Larson has identified four key danger areas he would like to focus on in the 30-second spots:
-- Car door opening
-- Drivers turning right, crossing in front of cyclists
-- The gauntlet, his name for biking on a narrow road with limited shoulder and overtaking car and oncoming car pass at bicycle
-- Taking the lane, being assertive and knowing rights as a cyclist
For Bean-Larson, the Share the Road Initiative ties into being pro-active to make the community as bicycle friendly as possible. While "Traverse City ain't Portland" — as his Web site noted, comparing it to the community in Oregon — he hopes to bring it closer. Signs, education and even better crossings at key intersections are all part of this concept.
"What we want is the city to start thinking about is not just bicyclists in town as a stone in their shoe but think about ways to promote cycling," he said.
The Share the Road Initiative Bicycle Film Night will be held at 7 p.m. at the InsideOut Gallery in Traverse City. Admission is $12 and the evening will include films, raffles and food. For more information on the initiative, contact Bean-Larson at 342-1546 or see the Web site www.fixedgeargallery.com/articles/sharetheroadinitiative.
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