Here's a thread I think you'll find interesting.
A guy from Illinois contacted me through BikeMorgantown.com about bicycle-vacationing in Morgantown. He was attracted by the website and the work we've done. Now, he wants us to show him examples of intersections that we've made bicycle friendly safe routes to schools. Working on a reply...
Frank
Begin forwarded message:
From: Frank Gmeindl fgmeindl@gmail.com Date: July 17, 2012 2:09:50 PM EDT To: Terrence Moore tmoore@cityofmorgantown.org Cc: Damien Davis ddavis@cityofmorgantown.org, Jeff Mikorski jmikorski@cityofmorgantown.org, Christiaan Abildso christiaan.abildso@mail.wvu.edu Subject: Re: Question about Bike Trails
Terrence,
Ha! But then, he issued me this challenge. Not sure how to respond. While Safe Routes to School is our top priority, I wish I could show him some progress.
Frank
From: Matthew Boggs mistergadgett@gmail.com Date: July 17, 2012 2:00:26 PM EDT To: Frank Gmeindl fgmeindl@gmail.com Subject: Re: Question about Bike Trails
Hi Frank,
Thanks for the quick reply and great info!! We are excited to hear our road bikes should handle the nice rail trail system there. Can't wait to get pedaling there!
We live in a town about half the size of Morgantown which is trying to take some steps to making the community more cycling friendly so we will be looking for ideas to take back home as well regarding making intersections safer for cyclists, especially children who elect to bike to school from nearby neighborhoods. Do you know of some good intersections in town we should check out for ideas to take back to our City Council? Possibly examples of signage, crosswalk markers, special stoplight programming, etc, with cyclists in mind.
Thanks again!
-matt Rubber Side Down
Frank
On Jul 17, 2012, at 1:52 PM, Terrence Moore wrote:
Cool! Thanks for sharing!!
Terrence
Terrence R. Moore, ICMA-CM City Manager City of Morgantown 389 Spruce Street Morgantown, West Virginia 26505 PH: (304) 284-7405 CELL: (304)288-2770 Email: tmoore@cityofmorgantown.org
----- Original Message ----- From: "Frank Gmeindl" fgmeindl@gmail.com To: "Jeff Mikorski" jmikorski@cityofmorgantown.org Cc: "Damien Davis" ddavis@cityofmorgantown.org, "Terrence Moore" tmoore@cityofmorgantown.org Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2012 1:24:42 PM Subject: Fwd: Question about Bike Trails
Jeff,
BikeMorgantown.com seems to be an effective tourist outreach tool. It attracted Matt Boggs and his group from Illiinois.
Frank
Begin forwarded message:
From: Frank Gmeindl < fgmeindl@gmail.com >
Date: July 17, 2012 1:22:39 PM EDT
To: Matthew Boggs < mistergadgett@gmail.com >
Cc: monbikeclub@googlegroups.com , CRcyclists@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: Question about Bike Trails
Hi Matt!
I ride 700x 23 GP 4000's on the crushed limestone sections of the rail trail with no problem. The Monongahela River Trail, Caperton Trail and Deckers Creek Trail as well as the trail all the way to Shinnston WV is fine for our tires. The crushed limestone is small and well-packed; a little slower rolling than asphalt and a bit dustier on dry days. Approximately 10 miles of the trail within the City are asphalt and several miles of the trail in and near Fairmont are asphalt.
We also have great road rides around here that I'd be glad to show you.
Other bike related items:
Morgantown has 2 excellent bike shops: Wamsley Cycles, http://www.wamsleycycles.com/ located right on the trail and Pathfinder, http://www.pathfinderwv.com/ located right in the heart of downtown.
The local bicycles clubs, Monongalia Bicycle Club and Country Roads cyclists have regularly scheduled rides. See the Monongalia Bicycle Club calendar at https://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=64i6hoaouqrdmetaeu7o1en6a0@group.c... and the Country Roads Cyclists' ride list at http://www.crcyclists.org/CurrentRideSch.html .
Both clubs have Google groups that list races and impromptu rides. See https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/monbikeclub for the Monongalia Bicycle Clubs group and https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en&fromgroups#!forum/CRcyclists for the Country Roads Cyclists google group. The google groups sometimes have post ride reports that might provide you more specific insights into the rides.
Morgantown offers some great eats for bicyclists including Terra Cafe, Black Bear Burritos, Chaan Thai, Mother India, Sargasso ($$), Kenyan Cafe, Puglioni's, Rio Grande, Mountain State Brewery, Morgantown Brewing Co.
I'm copying this message to the monbikeclub and the CRC so members can share with you other opportunities of which they may know.
Frank D. Gmeindl Chairman, Morgantown Municipal Bicycle Board LCI #1703 491 WilsonAvenue Morgantown, WV 26501 304-376-0446 Cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles
On Jul 17, 2012, at 10:13 AM, Matthew Boggs wrote:
Hi,
We will be coming to Morgantown for a biking vacation from Illinois in a few weeks. I see that Morgantown has a lot of constructed bike paths of which most is defined as "crushed limestone". We were planning to bring road bikes but were not sure how they would do on the crushed limestone part of the trail system. Currently have Conti 4000S 700x23 tires installed.
Do you think using road tires on the crushed limestone part of the trails is a bad idea? Do you have any advice on how to make a road bike more suitable for the crushed limestone part of the trail system, if possible? PS> We are very excited about coming to bike in Morgantown. We have been looking at the bikemorgantown.com website and have been impressed with the momentum cycling has gotten in Morgantown. We will be in town August 9-12 and staying in the downtown area. Can you recommend any other bike related items special to Morgantown you feel we should checkout while in town?
Thanks!
-matt