Swing by the Greenbelt Bike Crawl on Saturday by the 36th St. pedestrian bridge

Map of Greenbelt Bike Crawl location (click to enlarge)

Hi all,

I want to encourage cyclists of all kinds, families and kids to swing by the first-ever Greenbelt Bike Crawl on Saturday from noon to 3 p.m. to visit with the who's who of the Boise bicycle community, pick up some free swag, learn about local bike clubs, safe routes to schools and maybe even get a free helmet!

I'll be there representing ProHelmet, a nonprofit group that promotes helmet safety. St. Luke's Children's Hospital has donated more than 50 helmets for the event. I hope that I'm able to give all of them away to kids and adults who don't have one of their own.

Our motto at ProHelmet is that you've got only one brain. No one ever plans on having an accident when cycling or roller-blading on the Greenbelt, but accidents can happen in the blink of an eye. If you're not wearing a helmet, you could be knocked unconscious, suffer severe head injuries or worse. Look at what happened to Poor Jimmy!

We have almost 10 different bike groups that will be participating in the Greenbelt Bike Crawl. Everyone will be set up between the new 36th Street pedestrian bridge and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Ada County (610 E. 42nd St.) on the Garden City side of the Greenbelt. (Boise Parks & Rec doesn't allow bike events on their portion of the Greenbelt; Garden City was gracious enough to allow us to hold the event on their turf).

Other groups participating Saturday include:

• Boise Bicycle Project - our community's favorite nonprofit according to the latest Boise Weekly Best of Boise survey. BBP will help folks with bike maintenance tips on Saturday.
• SWIMBA - the Southwest Idaho Mountain Biking Association, the top mountain bike advocacy group in Boise. They're a great resource for learning how to mountain bike, discovering great trails, building new trails and protecting our access to trails.
• Treasure Valley Cycling Alliance - a group that assists commuters and road cyclists in the Treasure Valley.
• YMCA Safe Routes to Schools program - Looking for the best route for your kids to walk or bike to school? These folks can help you out.
• Look! Save a Life! - a group that advocates safe cycling and provides tips for riders on how to avoid getting into an accident on our busy streets and sidewalks.
• Idaho Transportation Department Bicycle and Pedestrian Program - Meet the great folks at ITD who assist communities with new pathway projects and safe routes to schools. ITD is one of the few agencies that finances some of these projects.
• Boise State University Cycling Learning Center - This is a relatively new campus-based service focusing on developing healthy and sustainable lifestyles by promoting the use of bicycles and multimodal transportation options.
• Boys and Girls Clubs of Ada County - The club facility at 610 E. 42nd Street in Garden City is a great place for boys and girls to hang out after school, play games, do homework and learn about ways to realize their full potential in life. The club teaches kids respect for others and good clean fun. I'm hoping to give away a lot of bike helmets to these kids on Saturday.
• Cycling Sistas - This is a group of female cyclists from the Boise area who are cancer survivors. Great way to meet people who have suffered the same plight for inspiration. The Cycling Sistas are looking to add more members.

The weather on Saturday is supposed to be sunny, so grab the kids, ride over to the Greenbelt and learn about all of these great cycling resources in Boise! You won't go away empty-handed, that's for sure. You might even learn something!

Hope to see you at the Greenbelt Bike Crawl. If you've got any questions, please give me a call at 208-484-0295 or send an email: sstuebner@cableone.net.

- SS

New Greenbelt bridge in Boise is a winner!

My GPS tracks from riding the loops yesterday. (Click on map to enlarge)

Boise Mayor David Bieter and Garden City Mayor John Evans cut the ribbon

Hi all,

I've been watching the construction of the new Greenbelt bridge near Veterans Memorial Park all winter long, so it was cool to attend the bridge dedication yesterday and finally get a chance to use the bridge!

I shot some video of the mayor's speech and helmet cam video of a new 3-mile Figure 8 loop that one can do thanks to the new bridge (see above).

The new $750,000 bridge -- built with federal stimulus money -- spans the Boise River between Pleasanton Avenue on the Boise side of the river and 36th Street on the Garden City side. It will be a key aspect of the Ray Neef Whitewater Park when that becomes reality in the near future.

I live near Veterans Park (one of Boise's largest parks), so I often go jogging on the Greenbelt between Veterans Memorial Parkway Bridge and the Main Street Bridge near the Double Tree-Riverside Hotel. The loop is 3 miles long from bridge to bridge, but if you start in Veterans Park, it adds about a half-mile to the run. You can lengthen the workout by doing a second loop around Veterans Pond, which is 1.2 miles long.

With the new bridge in place, now walkers, bikers and runners can do a 3-mile Figure 8 loop from the Vets Parkway bridge and Main Street bridges, crossing the river half way to add diversity to the views and the workout.

If you want to add mileage to the workout, you can simply do another lap on one part of the Figure 8 or another. The loop from the new Greenbelt bridge to the Main Street is 1.2 miles long. It's 1.8 miles to go from the Greenbelt Bridge to Vets Parkway bridge and back. Pick your pain or pick your pleasure.

As Boise Mayor David Bieter pointed out yesterday, the new Greenbelt bridge also opens up new commuting possibilities for Garden City and Boise residents. From the Garden City side, it'll be much nicer to take the bridge across the river and ride quiet side streets into downtown or wherever their destination may be vs. taking the Main Street bridge or Vets Park bridge.

The Greenbelt bridge also creates safer routes to schools for Anser Charter School kids and Whittier Elementary School kids. That's big.

For river people, the bridge creates a direct route to Idaho River Sports on Pleasanton for Garden City residents. I saw IRS owners Jo Cassin and Stan Kolby at the dedication yesterday. And it also provides an easier way for Boise residents to reach Maravia and Cascade Outfitters on the Garden City side near 45th Street and the Boise River.

Quinn's Pond, directly adjacent to the bridge, is one of our favorite swimming holes in the summer. The bridge will probably make the pond even MORE popular than before. Oh well.

Anyway, check out the maps and the video, and try out the new loops! Make a note of the location of things, and you'll end up using the bridge for bike commuting around town as well.

If you think back to the construction of our many Greenbelt pedestrian bridges over the last 20+ years, you realize how every single one of them is a treasure. They all add more access and opportunities to our stellar Greenbelt pathway system and become a community asset.

Thanks to the City of Boise and the City of Garden City and President Obama for making this happen!

Have fun!

-- SS

Eagle Greenbelt bypass for bikers

(Click on map to magnify)

Hi all,

I'm sure a few of you cyclists and mountain bikers out there have been a bit frustrated with the closure along Riverside Village to bikes, making it difficult, if not seemingly impossible to travel from Eagle Road to Glenwood Bridge on the north side of the river. The goal of extending the Greenbelt from Lucky Peak to Eagle Island Park has been the goal for 25+ years, and the Riverside Village closure impedes reaching that goal.

I've been keeping track of Greenbelt additions and improvements for a long time -- over 20 years -- so I was pretty psyched to learn last year that Eagle had built a significant amount of pathway to join the paths between Eagle's jurisdiction and Garden City. The bike closure in Riverside Village is a problem, and it should be fixed in the long-term one way or another.

But in the meantime, we need to know how to get through without riding on State Street.
I went out there on Sunday and found a way through.

It's best to start from Eagle Road, behind Bardenay or the Hilton Inn. The path does extend to the west from that point for 1.7 miles, and a new underpass is under construction underneath Eagle Road. That's a cool thing. But right now, the west trail is a trail to no where unless you live out in that direction.

So, starting from behind Bardenay, you ride east toward Boise on the north side of the river. The trail starts out as a paved trail and gives way to dirt in less than a mile. No matter, it's easily rideable on a mountain bike or cross bike. Continue east for three miles. Inside a new subdivision, the trail turns into a paved surface again, and then you come to a Y-junction.

Go straight and you'll pop out onto Sultana Drive. (If you go right, you'll end up at the bike dismount zone in Riverside Village.) Follow Sultana a block, turn left on Ulmer, and follow that to a paved pathway behind Stoneham. You'll follow the path for a short bit, it ends, and then you dump out on Stoneham. Go east on Stoneham to Arney Lane. Turn right, and now you're on a main paved road (with a good shoulder) that connects to Riverside Drive. Turn left at Riverside, and follow that to the fishing pond next to Glenwood.

Here, you can either follow the dirt path around the pond to Glenwood Blvd., ride up to Glenwood (don't take the underpass; this is another trail to no where), turn right, cross the river bridge, and then turn left to pick up the main Greenbelt near Les Boise Park. Now you're home-free on the multiuse pathway all the way to Lucky Peak.

I applaud the bicyclists that banded together to protest Garden City's new ordinance that bans bikes in Riverside Village. This should be changed someday, but we'll have to wait for a new group of elected officials who would support making the change. The other alternative is to have Riverside Village and Garden City apply for a federal grant to build a pedestrian bridge across the Boise River at the beginning of Riverside Village property (approaching from the west), and connect to the paved trail on the south side of the river.

But in the meantime, there is a way for cyclists to get through without going on State Street. That's a start. - SS