Skiatook and the Osage Prairie Trail

Ren Barger and I planned to have a Smart Cycling class (formerly Road1) at the Tulsa HUB on Saturday. I was up at my usual oh-dark-thirty getting a bowl of oatmeal and a cup of coffee. I set the Melitta device atop my coffee cup, filled it with boiling water, and promptly knocked it over as I set the kettle down. Hot coffee went all over the stove top, hissing and spattering when it contacted the still-hot burner. I swore loudly and started cleaning it up, and I managed to burn my finger in the process. It's a nice second-degree burn, too, that doesn't hurt because there's a blister covering the burned away nerve endings.

It was an inauspicious start to the day.

I met Wade at the coffee shop. It's our regular weekend start, sipping coffee and solving the world's problems. We were watching the sparrows feeding on grass seed when my phone rang.

It was Ren. She's been traveling for the last week and hasn't had much rest. Her voice was hoarse, just above a croak. She wanted to know if I could lead the class.

A few days ago, I wrote about being diagnosed with dangerously high blood pressure. The doctor put me on a new medicine to reduce it, and when the pharmacist filled the prescription, she said the stuff may cause dizziness, which is pharmacist-speak for "gravity will no longer apply." And it's true. I've been light headed and dizzy in the mornings, but I spend most of my day sitting in a chair so it hasn't been a problem. That wouldn't be the case when teaching a class, however, and I was reluctant to push my limits in that setting.

So I told Ren I couldn't lead the class. Her disappointment was evident, but she intends to re-schedule it for next week.



These guys met at the coffee shop before leaving on a ride to Claremore. They're competing in the triathlon next weekend and wanted to preview the course.

After Wade left, I ran some errands. At mid-morning, a wave of dizziness crashed over my head. I was driving at the time, just after filling the gas tank and checking the tires. This was worse than any of the earlier dizzy spells, and was aggravated by dehydration and low blood sugar. Yeah, I've started drinking my coffee black and I'd put very little sugar in that oatmeal. My hands were shaking. I pulled into the parking lot at IHOP and went inside for more food.

If this had happened during a class, I might have collapsed. So the decision to avoid teaching was the right one.

Second breakfast consisted of Chicken Florentine Crepes, several glasses of water, and more coffee - still black. Try to find something that's low fat, low cholesterol, and low in sugar at IHOP. We really need nutritional information on restaurant menus.



My hands stopped shaking after the meal. I finished my morning chores, washing and vacuuming the car, and I stopped at a couple of garage sales just for fun. It was a good morning for garage sales. I came home with a user-quality Canon AE-1 Program with a Canon 50mm f1.8 lens and a craptastic off-brand 70-210 zoom. I found a very nice Olympus OM1 with a genuine leather 'never ready' case too. Both cameras seem to work just fine. I gave Wade the Canon AE-1P to play with because he likes that one.



Lyndsay wanted to borrow the car. She had been working as a home health care aide, and wanted to visit her former clients over in Skiatook. I wanted to go along and told her to drop me off at the trailhead for the Osage Prairie Trail. I've ridden the entire length of the trail, though never all at one time, and I wanted to get some photos. I've been through Skiatook many times, but this is the first time I've walked around in town.



There's a very nice coffee shop called The Phoenix just east of the OPT terminus. Mishelle Averill is the managed. I could definitely see an early morning ride departing from Tulsa, going to Skiatook for a hot cuppa, and a return trip to the south.



This truck was parked next to the coffee shop. I just liked the colors.



This Mercedes is for sale. Lyndsay wants one. Fat chance, I say. But again, I like the juxtaposition of colors.



The town has some antique shops too. I found these machines in the back of one and was fascinated by the chain drives. It appears that they can be disassembled without tools, though in all fairness, I have to wonder about their useful life. Without rollers, they'd wear very quickly. The owner said that one of the machines came from an Amish man who used it to make brooms. We couldn't figure out what the other one was.



I found this DeLorean too. All it needs is a mad scientist and a Mr. Fusion machine, and I could re-visit my childhood.

Finally, I ended up at the library where I sank into an armchair and almost fell asleep. Lyndsay arrived shortly afterward and we went home....where I promptly fell asleep.

INCOG Bicycling Advisory Group Meeting

"We're gettin' the band back together, man."

Yesterday, we had the first meeting of the new Indian Nations Council of Governments bicycle advisory group. Since this was the preliminary meeting, it included introductions and a brief discussion of goals and brought us up to date about on-going projects. This group may be meeting once a month, so there should be more to report shortly.

INCOG BAG Meeting

17JAN2008 1130A

Members

Ed Wagner

Monica Barczak

Josh Gifford

David Darcey

Chris Zenthoefer (not present)

Tom Brown

Lisa Frankenberger

Patrick Fox

Mark Brown (not present)

Glen Sams (not present)

The Big Picture

The subcommittee is composed of people with diverse backgrounds in cycling. There are current and former racers, tourists, and commuters representing a variety of occupations.

We share a common goal – to get more people on their bikes in the Tulsa region – and we realize that the vast majority of existing cyclists are recreational riders rather than transportation cyclists. However, it's critical to recognize the impact of infrastructure, particularly traffic lights and bridges, when it comes to transportation riders. For a recreational cyclist, a road or bridge closure is a nuisance, but easily avoided. For a transportation cyclist, it can represent a major problem if it prevents riding to a destination like work. As the plan evolves, it must encompass the needs of all cyclists.

Naturally, we embrace the traditional five E's of bicycling advocacy: Education, Engineering, Enforcement, Encouragement, and Evaluation. We support the development of a comprehensive master bicycling plan, that includes elements from Complete Streets and Safe Routes to School.

The Nagging Little Details

It's easy to get bogged down in discussions about plan details. A perfect illustration: Patrick showed the group one of Portland's blue bike boxes, and we were sidetracked for a few minutes talking about it. Anyone familiar with the email advocacy groups will be aware of what I've called how-many-bicycling-advocates-can-dance-on-the-head-of-a-pin arguments. The people involved care passionately about their positions, but to the vast majority of readers, the discussion is a waste of time. Unfortunately, I'm one of those people who bite hard on such arguments.

(As an aside, be aware that I use the word 'argument' in its primary definition, a reasoned discussion. If I want the other kind of argument, the knock-down-drag-out kind, I need only say the wrong thing to my spouse.)

Monica yanked us back from that fruitless pursuit and I thanked her for it. For the present, we need to focus on that big picture up above and use it to set our goals, then develop a plan to reach those goals. The plan is a series of steps, some interlinked and some independent, almost like a road map. And the nagging little details are the individual steps necessary to achieve those goals.

Some of those steps may include:

Public service announcements modeling safe and proper bicycle use, both from a cyclist's viewpoint and that of a motorist.

Funding for BikeEd in an effort to reach school children, adult cyclists, and motorists.

Include knowledgeable cyclists in street planning as a normal part of the process.

Efforts to change building codes to incorporate bicycle parking.

Encouraging employers to promote bicycle commuting.

Promoting Bike To Work events.

Comprehensive Bicycling Master Plan, a larger document that includes the Trails Master Plan and much more.

Most of that list is nothing new, but they are popular efforts that have met with some success. As always, the devil is in the details. Another way to phrase that is the large print giveth and the small print taketh away. A plan can have glowing, laudable goals, yet if it lacks supporting details, it will never come to fruition.

Trail Projects and Updates

The locally infamous 'FEMA' bridge project over Little Haikey Creek should start moving dirt this month. The bridge was backordered. It's a pre-fabricated construction.

The Mingo Valley Trail is in negotiations with ODOT over bridge placement at 71^st Street.

The Osage Prairie Trail Extension is looking for funding to continue trail construction north of Skiatook. Ultimately, the plan is to extend it to Barnsdahl, or if possible, Pawhuska.

The River Park Trail will be re-located west of the Creek Nation Casino, possibly funded by the Creek Nation. An astounding information tidbit – the new dual trail costs $290 per linear foot!

2007 Enhancement Grant Awards

South River Parks Extension

Fry Ditch Creek Trail (Bixby)

Mingo Valley (Admiral to I-244)

Osage Trail Trailhead (Skiatook)

Sand Springs, Visual Detection

A word about Sand Springs – the city is looking to attain LAB Bicycle Friendly City status.