SWFBUD Meets With County Commissioner Mark Sharpe About Keeping The Parks Open 7 Days A Week

This afternoon, I, along with Carrollwood Bicycle Emporium owner Brian Eckman and Oliver's Cycle Sports owner Randy Myhre, met with Hillsborough County Commissioner Marke Sharpe to discuss ways to keep the county's parks open seven days a week. Sharpe invited SWFBUD to his office after Brian and I spoke at a county budget public hearing last month. The county's proposed budget calls for the county's parks to be closed two days a week.

Commissioner Sharpe said he is a strong advocate of cycling and will work to keep the parks open seven days a week.

Here is Brian and Randy talking with Commissioner Sharpe, who is seated in the center.


I got a big kick out of this. As a former government news reporter who worked at newspapers around the country for more than 20 years, I covered thousands of meetings at all levels of governments and have visited literally hundreds of government buildings around the country.

I have never seen a special structure built outside a government building just for smokers.

Except here in Hillsborough County, where a this bus-stop-like smoking covered area was built for $65,000 with your tax dollars. Thank you, Commissioner Jim Norman, who made it happen. You'll notice that my bike is locked at an uncovered bike rack.

E-card Offers Cheery Bicycle Helmet Message

Need to send an e-card to folks to cheer them up? May I suggest this one that was showed to me by master blogger Jeff Houck.

Thank God Local Libraries Show Pez Candy Dispenser Collections

I live in Hillsborough County in Florida, a semi-rednecky, monster-truck sorta county that includes Tampa. A few years ago, a county commissioner by the name of Ronda Storms thought it was vital to protect me and the rest of Hillsborough County from "gay pride displays" after someone complained to her about a local library display that showed books with gay themes.

So I was happy to see all library displays in the Tampa Bay area are now extremely morally safe. Like this one I saw today at the Dunedin Library when I made a quick a bike ride to Dunedin.

It's a Pez candy dispenser collection under glass at the library. I wonder what would happen at the Dunedin Library if two Pez candy dispenser characters of the same gender were engaging in intimate activities in the display? Hmmm, makes one ponder.

Saratoga Springs Principal Behind The Times When It Comes To Bicycling To School

My cycling pal Jack "Ghost Rider" Sweeney posted this pathetic story via the Seattle P-I Web site -- sad that this type of mentality is still out there:


School officials in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., reprimanded a mother and her 12-year-old son for riding their bicycles to school on national Bike to Work day and confiscated the boy's bike, according to a story in The Saratogian.

Janette Kaddo Marino and her son, Adam, 12, pedaled the seven miles from their home to Maple Avenue Middle School.

"After they arrived, mother and son were approached first by school security and then school administrators, who informed Marino that students are not permitted to ride their bikes to school," the story said. "School officials took her son's bike and stored it in the boiler room. They told her she would have to return with a car to retrieve the bike later in the day."

It's a matter of safety, Principal Stuart Byrne told the paper.

"I would be a nervous wreck every day if kids were riding to school," he said. "Traffic isn't bumper to bumper, but it's non-stop."

Byrne said he also worries about children traveling unsupervised through the community.

The Saratoga Springs school district did not apply for any of the $2 million that the New York State Department of Transportation awarded through its Safe Routes to School program, which awards money to districts to improve pedestrian and bicycle access.

"I personally encouraged them to apply, but I was told that the school board policy considered it unsafe to walk or bike, and the policy is only to bus (kids to and from school)," Raj Malhotra, the DOT's program coordinator for the Capital Region, told the paper.

Rocky Makes Daring Late-Afternoon Catfood Run At Next-door Porch

Back home after cycling to Lakeland, I caught a glimpse at a visitor at my next-door neighbor's porch.

Rocky Racoon makes a late-afternoon food run to raid the cat food on the porch.


One pissed-off cat doesn't appreciate Rocky munching his cat food next door.

Chihuahua Travels In Style

I cycled to downtown Lakeland today and was impressed with the cool eateries and stores in the business district.

While in downtown, the Bicycle Stories girlfriend and I met this cute fella, who travels in the handlebar bag of his pedaling owner.

Bicycling Amid The Giant Grandfather Oaks Of Seminole Heights

The Seminole Heights Bicycle Club's easy family ride drew 10 cyclists Saturday morning who enjoyed the neighborhood's beautiful leafy ambiance.