Halftime 2022

At the midpoint of 2022 the numbers don’t lie: I am a long way from where I would like to be. My total of 1,455 miles is my lowest first half total since 2006! Those miles were spread over 48 rides, and that’s a respectable 30.3 miles-per-ride average. But by the end of last June, I had ridden 66 times for a total of 1,945 miles. And down is down. There’s no hiding it.

Should I blame Zwift? Having a good indoor option made me less willing to ride in cold weather early this year. Add my indoor miles to my outdoor miles and the overall total would look much better.

Should I blame Garmin Connect? Going after walking goals has sometimes been an acceptable substitute for riding. But unlike Zwift, Garmin Connect isn’t new. I was going after walking goals in 2021 too, and this year’s numbers aren’t quite as good as last year’s numbers. Whatever time I’m spending on those goals is not enough to explain the cycling dropoff. And Garmin Connect has encouraged me to get at least some outdoor exercise every day. I have a nice streak going: I have done a ride and/or a walk every day since May 1. That’s 61 days in a row … and counting.

With 755 miles in June—my highest total since last August—I feel like I have found some momentum that I can carry into the second half of the year. This July and August should be high-mileage months too. I will need them to be. My weight is coming down nicely but I’m still a few pounds heavier than I was on this date in 2021. I have competition goals in the second half of 2022 and few things will be more beneficial to me than losing weight.

Kewaskum Bridge Update

Calling attention to the poor condition of a bridge on the Eisenbahn State Trail in Kewaskum has brought a swift and positive response from Washington County. The photo above shows one of several repairs to the decking. The ends of these boards appear to have been planed, sanded, and reattached to the base with new screws. Many of the tripping hazards that were so evident on Sunday are now gone altogether or at least greatly reduced. Some remain, however, and this week’s repairs have not addressed the big gaps between boards that could trap a bicycle tire. So, continue to be extra cautious on this bridge. But give credit where it’s due: Washington County recognized the dangers and has begun the steps to remediate them.

Call To Action: Rusco Reconstruction

Here’s an action item that may be of more interest to residents of the Town of West Bend than it is to residents of the City of West Bend. And for my out-of-state readers, I apologize for the ambiguity of the distinction. What you would recognize as a township—unincorporated land where the houses have septic systems instead of municipal water & sewer service—Wisconsin calls a town. On this map, the Town of West Bend is defined by a narrow red border, and the southern terminus of the Eisenbahn State Trail is marked with a red star:

About 5,000 people live in the Town of West Bend. For most of them, there’s no ideal way to get into the city on a bicycle. When your choices are State Highway 33, Paradise Drive, or Rusco Drive, the obvious choice should be Rusco. But the road has been in rough shape for years, and the absence of a paved shoulder makes it an uncomfortable place to share with motor vehicles.

There’s hope. The City of West Bend and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation are developing a plan to reconstruct Rusco in 2023, and they want your input. On the map above, the 1.11-mile project area is shown as a bold black line that connects South Main Street to River Road. The city plans to replace the existing asphalt, not merely to top it off. That’s good. Even better is the city’s plan to add a 2-foot paved shoulder to each side of the road. Traffic lanes will remain 11 feet wide in each direction; the addition of the paved shoulders will not come at the expense of space for motor vehicles. And make no mistake: motorists will benefit from those paved shoulders too. Today, broken pavement at the margins of the road encourages drivers to position their vehicles close to the centerline, increasing the risk of a head-on collision.

So, is that enough? Will 2-foot paved shoulders create an acceptable margin of safety for cyclists on a no-passing road with a 45 mph speed limit? You decide. Send your comments, recommendation, observations, etc., to West Bend city engineer Max Maréchal (cityeng@ci.west-bend.wi.us) and/or to DOT project manager Michael Baird (michael.baird@dot.wi.gov) by next Tuesday, July 5. This section of Rusco Drive has not been improved since 1972. Don’t miss what could be the only chance you will ever have to shape its future.

That Confounded Bridge

Last April I told you about repairs to a bridge on the Eisenbahn State Trail north of downtown Kewaskum. Here’s what the bridge looked like just after the new decking was installed:

I wasn’t happy with the repairs, and these were my complaints:

• As they wear out, the new boards that run in the same direction as trail traffic—not at a 90-degree angle to it—will pop up not on the edges of the trail, but within the path of trail users, presenting a tripping hazard for walkers and a potential over-the-bars danger for bike riders.
• Expansion and contraction of the boards will cause gaps wide enough to trap a bike tire.

A little more than one year later, those safety issues are a reality. Let’s look at some photos of the bridge as it appeared on Sunday afternoon.

This picture shows board ends that project an inch or more from their original positions. There are many boards in this condition. It’s not hard to imagine someone tripping, or a baby stroller coming to a jarring halt.

At least one board behaves like a see-saw: applying weight to one end of the board will lift the other end completely out of its intended position.

And we’re already seeing big gaps between the boards. This one is more than an inch wide, large enough to trap some commonly-used bike tires.

Of all the bridges on the Eisenbahn, only this bridge has decking that runs in the same direction as trail traffic. Bridges in Fond du Lac County have decking at 45 degrees … still not great, because it allows some board ends to pop up in the middle of the trail. All other Washington County bridges have decking at 90 degrees. That’s the right way! Board ends will pop up on the edges of the trail, safely out of the high-traffic middle. And gaps between the boards won’t trap tires even as they widen over time.

Washington County, fix this bridge. It is a disaster waiting to happen.

Washington County’s Bike Plan: D.O.A.

Let’s be honest: the Washington County Bikeway and Trail Network Plan was dead on arrival. Despite approval by a 25-1 vote on June 12, 2019, and despite what appeared to be the support of the county’s professional staff, the plan has not taken a single step forward. I feel confident that it never will.

As noted in the plan, implementation was expected to take 30-40 years. Am I simply being impatient by expecting some progress after only three years? No. The plan recommended that county staff immediately develop a five-year strategic action plan to break that 30- to 40-year goal into more manageable blocks. The initial five-year strategic action plan was expected to “focus on specific actions each year.” We should be three years into the first block, with some accomplishments already behind us. But no five-year plan was ever developed. The county staff member who organized the original planning process has moved on to other projects that have nothing to do with bike infrastructure. And a high-ranking county employee with whom I spoke last Friday confirmed that the plan is “not a priority” and just like “20 other things we’re not doing.”

The cornerstones of the plan were new bike paths that would have functioned like the Eisenbahn State Trail: infrastructure completely separate from motor vehicles. Construction alone would have been prohibitively expensive and land acquisition—you can forget about using the power of eminent domain or trying to string together a network of easements—would have been next to impossible.

So, what about on-road routes, which also were part of the plan? No, you won’t be getting those either. Signs and paint cost money … not as much as miles of new asphalt, but still. The county has no appetite for new expenses. In recent years the county has convinced municipalities like West Bend and Newburg to take over the maintenance of sections of road that the county then has deleted from its highway system. You’re not going to see new bicycle accommodations on a network of roads that is shrinking even for motor vehicles.

With a total cost estimated at $90M, the plan was far too ambitious even before we learned about COVID-19, hyperinflation, and a falling stock market. And the county’s expectation that local governments would share the cost was laughable. But the biggest joke is on Washington County residents, whose government—always eager to tell us how fiscally responsible it is—blew a $90,000 grant on the development of a plan that it will never implement.

A Bolt Out Of The Shoe

One of the supposedly inevitable rites of passage for a road cyclist is tipping over at an intersection after failing to unclip from the pedals. This had never happened to me … until Monday. And yes, it’s as humiliating as everyone says. But I have a really good excuse.

First, I was legally stopped on Indiana Avenue, waiting for the traffic signal to allow me to cross Washington Street. So, for all of those who say cyclists never obey traffic laws, I say, “Bite me.” Now, back to our story …

My Shimano SPD pedals are set for very light tension. It doesn’t take much force to clip out. And as I was falling unceremoniously to the street, I couldn’t understand what had gone wrong. Can you imagine how many thousands of times I have clipped out over the years? Anyway, I quickly dusted myself off and got going again, but one city block later I still couldn’t clip back in. I stopped and looked at the pedal, but I found nothing wrong. I then looked at the bottom of my shoe and the problem became obvious: one of the two bolts was missing.

With only one bolt to hold it, the cleat was badly misaligned. The twisting motion I used to try to unclip had caused the shoe to pivot on the cleat, while the cleat itself had remained aligned and engaged with the pedal. I used my multitool to loosen, realign, and then retighten the cleat, then I headed for home to complete the repair. I have spare bolts, so it took only a few seconds to make everything right again.

But what a weird and unexpected incident. Late Wednesday night I found the original bolt—stepped on it with a bare foot, thank you very much—lying on the floor near my downstairs bathroom. So, now I know not only where the failure occurred but also when: it was right before Monday’s ride. I was 70 minutes into the ride before I knew (too late) that I had a problem. What I still don’t know is why. The bolt shows no signs of damage, so my best guess is that it simply worked itself loose over time. That’s one more thing to check before each ride, I suppose.

Common Council Approves Safety Grant Application

On Monday the Common Council of the City of West Bend passed a resolution that will provide funding for a new study of the safety issues facing bicyclists, pedestrians, and electric scooter riders. The resolution was a critical component of the city’s application for a grant that will fund 80 percent of the $250,000 study, which will be conducted by an outside consultant. According to the resolution, the study “will use data-driven methodology to prioritize safety infrastructure improvements for multimodal transportation throughout the community. It will identify high-risk locations and offer recommendations for safer pathways, crossings, and intersections for multimodal transportation.”

The resolution had strong support from new police chief Tim Dehring and city engineer Max Maréchal, who, in a June 3 letter to the Common Council, wrote, “Together, our respective departments request your consideration for helping to fund a citywide Safety Study for Pedestrians, Bicycles and Electric Scooters to examine crossings of state highways, main arterial roads, our historic downtown, and other high-traffic volume roads. There are areas in the city that lack connectivity but could be interconnected through future improvement projects as identified in this study. In addition, this study will facilitate economic development by increasing bicycle, pedestrian, and electric scooter traffic throughout the City of West Bend—particularly in the historic downtown district. This evaluation of our existing roads and routes will help our team prioritize projects and offer safer pathways, crossings and intersections for multimodal transportation.”

Fifty For Father’s Day

Friday was my birthday and today was Father’s Day, so my kids and I got together yesterday as a compromise to both occasions. That left me free to ride my bike today. I banged out 50 miles in 3 hours to complete my first 200-mile week of 2022. I hope to repeat that performance in the week to come, as the weather forecast is very much to my liking.

At Long Last: 1,000 Miles In 2022

Cold weather was NOT a problem on today's 44-mile ride!

Today I reached 1,000 outdoor cycling miles, year-to-date. That’s very late for me, and the trend isn’t good. Here are the dates on which I have reached that milestone:

2022-06-14

2021-05-26

2020-05-22

2019-05-18

2018-05-07

2017-04-28

2016-04-24

2015-04-11

2014-05-08

2013-05-13

2012-04-14

2011-05-16

2010-04-29

2009-05-12

2008-05-22

2007-05-28

2006-06-14

2005-06-22

2004-09-04

Now that I have Zwift, there’s very little incentive to ride in cold weather. I think April 11 has a firm grip on my personal record.

Bye-Bye, Red Bull

News doesn’t have to be surprising to be disappointing. For months it was clear that the UCI was going to drop Red Bull.tv in favor of another broadcaster for its Mountain Bike World Cup series. The official announcement is now out, and you have to love the irony of not even being able to see the self-congratulatory video from Eurosport:

Red Bull.tv has provided excellent coverage of the series, reaching a worldwide audience with broadcasts in multiple languages … for free. Now the series is going to be yet another subscriber-only deal. There’s almost no free-to-view cycling anymore and it’s getting much harder to beat geographic restrictions. Meanwhile, the biggest sport in the world, soccer, is available for free every weekend to Americans who have 3 hours to blow on a 0-0 tie. Meanwhile, the biggest sport in America, NFL and college football, is available for free around the clock every autumn.

With each new broadcasting deal, the UCI says it is growing its market. Nonsense. You don’t make a sport more popular by making it harder to access. The only thing the UCI is growing is its bank account.