Bike Florida

Recently, a 75-year-old cyclist was killed while riding his bike in downtown Tampa. Reportedly he was riding in the crosswalk when a 27-year-old SUV driver made a left turn and hit him.

The incident might have been little noted, just another traffic casuality,  but for the fact that the victim was LeRoy Collins Jr., son of one of Florida’s most progressive governors, a retired admiral in the U.S. Navy, one-time candidate for U.S. Senate and director of the Florida Department of Veteran Affairs.

“The Collins family in Florida is synonymous with public service,” Gov.  Charlie Crist said upon learning of the death. “It’s a tremendous loss, and a great sadness.”

Sadly, Florida is one of the leading states in the nation when it comes bicycle and pedestrian fatalities. Partially that’s because Florida weather is conducive to year-around cycling and walking. But it is unquestionably true that transportation decisions made over the years in the Sunshine State have been heavily weighted in favor of the rapid movement of automobiles, too often at the expense of cyclists and walkers.

Is that likely to change? Perhaps not in the short run. But a number of factors, from rising gasoline costs to Florida’s desire to attract more ecotourism to the trend toward new urbanism-style redevelopment could all have a positive long-term impact on cycling and pedestrian safety.

One positive note in that regard is the recent creation of a statewide Bicycle and Pedestrian Council. The 21-member council, made up of appointees from around the state, was created to advise the Florida Department of Transportation about ways to make the state’s roads and highways more bike-and-pedestrian friendly.

“So many of our citizens enjoy walking and riding their bikes, and many more are taking it up for reasons ranging from improving their health to protecting the environment and saving money,” Volusia County Commissioner Pat Northey, newly appointed to the council, said in a recent newsletter from the East Central-Florida Regional Greenway and Trails Work Group newsletter. “We want to transform our communities into places where it is easy, safe, desirable and common for citizens to bike and walk. We not only want to make Florida a friendlier state for walkers and bikers, but also a national model for bicycle and pedestrian safety.”

Will Tallahassee finally take cycling and walking seriously when it comes to making transportation decisions? Having recently laid to rest a member of one of the state’s most distinguished family of public servants; a man who died while riding his bicycle on decidedly bike-unfriendly urban streets, we can only hope that state leaders are getting the message.

After the death of LeRoy Collins Jr., his son, Ed Collins, told the Tampa Tribune: “In your car, it’s easy to be cocooned. Understand you are not an island on four wheels. Take an extra second to look left or right. There are people around you, not just you.”

That’s a lifesaving message that needs to be conveyed again and again in Florida. Hopefully, the newly created Bicycle and Pedestrian Partnership Council can help spread the word.

Bike Florida’s 2011 Spring Tour, the “Florida’s Eden” tour, will begin and end in Gainesville next year (March 26 through April 1.) And while  the tour offers miles of scenic back country roads and spectacular rail-trails, we’re pretty sure riders are going to want to get off their bikes from time to time to indulge in some of the many attractions, natural and quirky, that make Florida’s Eden a visitor’s delight.

Here’s a list of suggestions to whet your appetite. More will follow in future blogs:

1. Take a stroll down the Micanopy street where Michael J. Fox walked his pig in “Doc Hollywood.”

2. Visit the cracker homestead where Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings wrote the book that prompted her close friend to sue  for libel (In “Cross Creek” Rawlings described a character very much resembling her friend as an “ageless spinster resembling an angry and efficient canary.” Ouch!)

3. Count the gators in Alachua Sink (seriously, bring a calculator). And if you hear a roar out on Paynes Prairie, just be careful, it’ll be mating season.

4. Visit the Butterfly Rainforest at the Florida Museum of Natural History (no joke, it’s simply spectacular).

5. Take the pilgrimage to hallowed ground: The Swamp, home of the three-time national champion Florida Gators (this humbling experience is especially recommended for riders from the Buckeye State).

6. And while you’re there, be sure to read The Tebow Speech. Commit it to memory.

7. Head to downtown Gainesville to the Hippodrome State Theater (where depending on the play of the moment, you will laugh, cry or scream like a little girl).

8. Station yourself outside the Bat Houses, across the street from Lake Alice, just before sunset to watch swarms of night fliers head out to catch their nightly quota of mosquitos.

9. Row, row, row your boat on the Suwannee River, where giant sturgeon have been known to launch themselves out of the water at bass fishermen.

10. Check out the Devil’s Milhopper (yeah, it’s just a big hole in the ground, but nobody can say for sure that the devil isn’t really down there.)

Editor’s note:  Since next spring’s Bike Florida tour will begin and end in Gainesville, I thought I’d post the occasional blog to give folks a feel for the biking scene in our little piece of north Florida paradise. This is a post from my Under the Sun blog (in my day job I’m editorial page editor for The Gainesville Sun) from the 4th of July, 2009: Ron

Independence Day. I decided to celebrate my independence with a 52-mile ride through  the heart of Alachua County. Great day for it; a cool morning breeze held off the heat of the sun. No sign of the previous day’s thunderstorms. Light early morning traffic.

Headed west on 16th Avenue and then north on 34th Street to Millhopper Road.  Millhopper is a beautifully canopied road and very popular with cyclists, especially since the county added a bike lane. The ride west on Millhopper took me past the Devil’s Millhopper, gated subdivisions, the entrance to San Felasco Hammock State Preserve and then up and over I-75 to County Road 241. This is easily one of the
county’s most scenic rural roads; lined on both sides by rolling green pastures and oak stands. And a huge blue sky.

The run into the City of Alachua takes no time at all. Cruised past the Lions Club, where volunteers were making preparations for the day’s celebrations, and the new city hall. Rode through Alachua’s tiny, neat
downtown with its restaurants and shops. And then swung by the city’s park. The Fourth of July festivities had not yet begun, but park was already alive with vendors and volunters setting up hot dog stands and activity booths. The water park was not yet open for the kids, but the skate board area next door was already in use.

Chose the longer route back to Gainesville on U.S. 441; not as pleasant a ride, because of the heavier traffic. The sun was getting hotter now. Stopped at the Desoto Trail picnic area next to the GRU Deerhaven plant for a power bar and Gatorade. And then took the final run into Gainesville. Nearing the city city limits, I was passed by four police cars and one police motorcycle, all of them blaring sirens and moving at top speed. A couple of miles later they were all parked along the road, lights flashing, a couple of cops directing traffic. They seemed to have nabbed an SUV-full of premature partiers. As I passed by, the cops were going through a cooler for incriminating evidence. Somebody’s Independence Day celebration was over early.

Coming into Gainesville I took the 6th Street turnoff and headed downtown. Preparations for Gainesville’s 4th of July celebrations had not yet begun; the downtown plaza was empty save for its usual homeless occupants. Cruised on past and stopped at Starbucks, next to The HIpp, for an iced tea and to read the New York Times. This is my favorite spot in Gainesville to just sit and watch the world pass by. A group of folks from the Hipp seem to convene there every day to do the Times crossword puzzle.

The distance computer on my bike only read 37 miles at this point.  Wanting to pass the 50-mile mark I headed to campus and took three turns around Lake Alice then cycled up past the O-Dome, where the
Jehovah’s Witnesses convention was in full swing. Then back home, where a backyard hammock awaited me under the shade of an oak tree.
Happy 4th of July, Gainesville.

Listen, I know Florida has been getting a black eye lately. With oil from the BP spill creeping ever closer to our west coast beaches people are canceling their vacation plans to The Sunshine State. And that’s a shame, because as is very often the case, the hype of this story far eclipses the reality. Listen, this is still a state worth visiting, and that’s especially true if you happen to like to do your touring on bicycle.

And by the way, here’s Florida’s best kept secret. We’re not all beaches and theme parks. Florida is an eco-tourist’s dream. We are a state of majestic rivers (The Suwanee, The St. Johns, The Withlacoochee, the St. Marks, and that’s just the beginning). We have one of the best state park systems in America. Our rail-trail systems are impressive ever-growing and ever-connecting. Did you know that Florida has the world’s highest concentration of first-magnitude, crystal-clear natural springs? Not many people do. But until you’ve tubed the cool waters of the Ichetucknee you have no real concept of the term “natural wonder.”

Here’s the thing. Next spring (March 26-April 1) the annual Bike Florida tour begins and ends in Gainesville, a college town (home to the Florida Gators) located close to the geographic epicenter of north Florida. The Atlantic is about an hour and a half in one direction, the Gulf of Mexico about the same in the other. If you want to know what our region is all about check out www.FloridasEden.org. You will learn about a region of blue lakes, sparkling springs, charming small towns, mossy oak forests, extremely bikeable back country roads, winding creeks and mysterious rivers. (Did I mention the Florida Gators? Listen, if football isn’t your thing, wait until you get a load of the real gators who live around here. Alachua Sink, just south of town, is loaded with gators of the reptile variety.)

If you come ride with us next spring we will show you Paynes Prairie where (and I’m not making this up) the buffalo still roam. You can visit the cracker home of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, author of “The Yearling.” Come see Micanopy, a town that looks like it still dwells in the 19th century (where they filmed “Doc Holiday”). Paddle your own canoe down twisty Prairie Creek. And if you like vanishing acts, we’ll take you to a spot where the Santa Fe River disappears. Fancy the quirky social life of a college town? Wait till you see downtown Gainesville after midnight.

And that’s just the beginning. In future posts I’ll tell you more about this slice of Florida set apart from both beaches and theme parks. Florida’s Eden. It’s got a nice ring to it, don’t you think?

A lazy day on Alachua Sink

Memo to self: Pack a rain jacket.
I thought of that today when I left the office at about 5: 30 p.m. and headed to the bike rack for my 5-and-a-half-mile cycle commute home. There was a steady rain; nothing especially threatening, but still, wet.

On the other hand, it wasn’t a cold rain; you don’t get cold rains in north Florida in May. Riding in the rain isn’t especially unpleasant at this time of the year. And I’ve learned from experience that that stuff wipes right off when I get home. On the whole, a minor inconvenience.

Listen, I have to tell you that when I began to cycle-commute to my job at the Gainesville Sun, nearly five years ago, it changed my life. I calmed down. I began to take more notice of what was going on around me (always a plus for a journalist). I found that I was able to write entire editorials and columns in my head as I cruised through neighborhoods and cut across the campus of the University of Florida every day. Gainesville has earned the silver rating from the League of American Bicyclists; so it’s the most bike friendly city in Florida.

And it helps that I work for a company that provides showers and lockers for its employees. My routine is to take a week’s worth of clothing and towels to the office on Saturday morning and then pack the stuff I wore each day home with me. Very often that’s the only time I’ll use the car all week.  I don’t especially enjoy driving, so it’s all good. Even when it rains.

I only mention this because May is Bike to Work Month, and if you’ve never tried cycle-commuting, I highly recommend it. “Although more than half of the U.S. population lives within five miles of their workplace, lack of knowledge and incentive has deterred many from commuting by bike,” says an e-mail from the League of American Bicyclists. “Biking to work is fun, builds morale, encourages camaraderie and is a great way to get active in your community. Additionally, employers who promote biking to work have more active employees that are more alert, healthy and productive. Biking reduces your carbon footprint, reduces traffic congestion and saves money.”

Yes, and it’s fun. I highly recommend it. I love circling Lake Alice, on UF’s campus, in the morning when fog is still hanging over its surface. Sometimes on my way home I’ll swing by downtown,  have an iced tea at Starbucks and do a little people watching. It’s a great way to unwind. In the winter months I’ll sometimes do a little detour past a small dairy field where thousands of sandhill cranes wait out the cold weather before migrating north again.

Oh yeah, and I’ve saved thousands of dollars on gasoline. So what’s a little rain on the occasional ride home? If I could just remember to pack that rain jacket.

Ron Cunningham is editorial page editor for The Gainesville Sun