New bike route map offered (Des Moines, Iowa)

The bicycling season is here and you would be hard-pressed these days not to notice.

Bikers say momentum has been achieved.

The state legislature last session even outlawed random garbage-tossing and swerving at bicyclists.

Citizens are rising up, too.

Carl Voss thought the city needed an update to its 2005 metro trails map, so his non-profit Des Moines Bicycle Collective took it on.

They will pass out copies of the map (and make it available to print out online at dsmbikecollective.org) the day of the Mayor's Annual Bike Ride For Trails on Saturday. (Register at dmparks.org).

"So many new people want to get on the trails. People go buy a new bike and ask the bike shops, 'Now, where can I get on a trail?'" said Carl Voss of the Bike Collective.

It took extreme wizardry to relate the directions. Now the updated map of nine central Iowa counties leaves no doubt. It includes multi-use paved trails, mountain bike trails, bike lanes, even access points for river paddlers on the new Des Moines River water trails.

Bike To Work
Exhibit B in bike mania is this tidbit: The 8th Annual Bike to Work Week (May 17-21) has expanded to an entire month of activities in Des Moines. (Register at bikeiowa.com).

This all started as a single day in 2003 with a few hundred registered. Last year, 2,400 registered across the state. Sixty-five percent were from the Des Moines area.

Tina Hadden, a program coordinator with Bike To Work Week, says the event was unnecessarily limiting itself to people who only bike to work. Many bike to the store or church or work at home or are retired and bike recreationally.

"This allowed us to register those people who use their bikes but don't bike to work," she said.

You can prepare for the events by attending one of the remaining Confident Cycling courses - 9-11 a.m. April 17 at the Outdoor Recreation Center in Ankeny and 9-11 a.m. April 24 at the Raccoon River Nature Lodge in West Des Moines.

Events kick off May 1 on a ride to the opening day of the Downtown Farmer's Market and end on May 31 with a Metro Trail Ride.

In between are happy hour meetings every Friday of the month, breakfasts, picnics and contests, the highlight is Bike To Work Day, held across Iowa on May 21.

New events are planned in Des Moines, including a women-only Wheels and Heels fashion show and wine tasting at Jasper Winery May 11.

Events for biking to school and church and staging locations for work commuters are also planned.

The effort is all about visibility for an activity organizers are touting as healthy, green and in need of more evidence that money for bike lanes and trails is in demand.

"We just want to get you out on your bikes," Hadden said. "And we want our bikers to be treated well. Bikers fare best when they act and look like a vehicle. And we want vehicles to be treating bikers with respect."

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