Missing The Old Trailbridge

I was cycling across the Gandy Bridge this morning and gazed at the old Friendship Trailbridge, which was closed three years ago due to structural issues such as concrete pieces falling.

The old Trailbridge was an amazing resource, offering incredible access to the body of water that ties our region together.

I still cross the Bay on my bicycle, using the shoulder of the current Gandy Bridge. But the vast majority of users of the old Trailbridge don't bike the Gandy Bridge shoulders and I'm saddened this region's political leaders didn't see the value of restoring the Trailbridge.

TBARTA Has A Bike Lock-up Area -- Finally

For years, I found it ironic that a regional Tampa Bay transportation agency called TBARTA never had a bike rack in front of its building. That's because I consider bicycling great transportation and just wish the people who work at regional transportation planning would join me in telling our elected leaders to fund bicycle transportation projects like regional paved trail systems and bike lanes that form a network.

TBARTA is the same agency that at the start didn't show bicycles in its materials or slide shows and didn't have bicycles as part of a rendering showing downtown Tampa transportation center to a Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee.

I remember about three or four years ago Karen Kress, the super bicycle lady of the Tampa Downtown Partnership, spoke to the TBARTA board about an issue and ended her chat with a suggestion that the transportation agency have a bike rack in front of its building.

For years, this agency located at the USF campus off Fowler Avenue never had a bike rack.

Even my emails didn't spark TBARTA to have a bike rack.

But I am a member of the Hillsborough/Tampa Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee and a few months I made a motion that our BPAC Chair Jim Shirk send a BPAC letter to TBARTA asking for a bike rack.

So just two days ago at our December BPAC meeting I saw a surprise -- a letter from TBARTA saying it has a bike rack.

I stopped by the TBARTA building at the USF Connect building Thursday and didn't see a bike rack out front but there were these bike lock-up hoops behind the building.

And because this is Tampa, you take what you can -- even if the bike lock-up area is behind the buulding and not in front.

Chainwheel Drive Donates Bikes For Kids Next Week

SWFBUD stores are always doing good deads.

Take Chainwheel Drive in Clearwater and Palm Harbor, for example.

Dottie Jessup tells me Chainwheel Driuve is involved in a holiday bicycle donation for kids and that on Wednesday, December 21, at 5:30 pm Jim Dodson Law and Chainwheel Drive will present the bikes to the kids who have been chosen to receive their first bikes.

The presentation will take place at Chainwheel Drive in Clearwater.

"We can't wait to see the kids faces when they come into our bike shop and see their bikes lined up all in a row with big red bows on each one," Dottie says.

Well done Chainwheel Drive.

Florida DOT Removes Inflammatory Video From Its seetheblindspots.org Web site

Well, that didn't take long -- the Florida Department of Transportation has removed a graphic and inflammatory video from its so-called pedestrian-bicyclist safety campaign web site created by the Troy Dunn advertisement company less than a month after the DOT issued a press release about the safety campaign.

Months ago, SWFBUD warned the DOT that the Troy Dunn advertisement company's content was inflammatory and distorted because it blamed only pedestrians and bicyclists for getting hit and killed by motorists, but failed to hold motorists accountable for their actions.

SWFBUD believes bicyclists MUST be educated about safely riding their vehicles on roads. But we also believe motorists must be held accountable, too -- something the local DOT safety staffers and the Troy Dunn advertisement company failed to accomplish in its safety campaign.

The web site originally showed a highly graphic video on its home page that showed images collected off the internet of motorists smashing into pedestrians, with the pedestrians going flying. The scenes show pedestrians walking in front of cars and getting smashed, but I guess the Troy Dunn advertisement company couldn't find the videos of the two car drivers racing down Fletcher Avenue in Tampa and killing bicyclist Robert Niedbalec who was pedaling in a bike lane in February or the red-light-running driver who killed bicyclist Diane Vega at Spruce and Himes on Oct. 1, 2010.

The DOT wanted something attention-grabbing in the campaign because, according to the DOT PR spokeswoman, the conventional Share the Road messages are too "vanilla."

Apparently, the graphic video hatched by the Troy Dunn advertisement company was too inappopriate for the DOT.

So, the web site shows another video on its home page showing elephants and tanks on a downtown street, scaring pedestrians and a bicyclist.

SWFBUD also opposes that video because it reinforces the stereotype that roads are only for cars at a time when we are working to show the public that the roads are for everyone -- not just cars but for bicylists and pedestrians, too.

In previous St. Pete Times stories on this DOT bicycle-ped campaign, Florida Bicycle Association Executive Director Tim Bustos expressed his concerns about this DOT campaign. Andy Clarke, executive director of the League of American Bicyclists, also opposes this inflammatory DOT-Dunn campaign that does little to instruct people on how we all as motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians can safely co-exist on local roads.

The local DOT safety staffers in Tampa did not consult with the local Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee or the Florida Bicycle Association about presenting safety content in this campaign.

The local DOT safety staffers believe pedestrians and bicyclists cause their accidents and they're the ones who need to be addressed in a campaign.

Without contacting the Florida Bicycle Association, the DOT-Dunn campaign stated this on its web site: "According to a published guide from the Florida Bicycle Association, bicyclists are at fault in seventy percent of all police-reported crashes because they violated traffic rules."

FBA's Bustos said the DOT-Dunn web site distorted the information.

SWFBUD, like most bicycle organizations, believes it's split about 50-50 between bicyclists and motorists regarding who causes accidents. The local DOT pays for a local agency to run pedestrian and bicyclist safety programs and SWFBUD supports that -- but how come there is no DOT initiative to also educate motorists on how they need to share the road with bicyclists and pedestrians? There are WalkWise and BikeSmart programs but what about a program to make motorists smarter or wiser about driving in a world where roads are for everyone?

Hanging With Pedal America Today

I spent today working with the Pedal America TV show crew, who are visiting Tampa Bay for a PBS episode on the local bicycling scene. They biked on the Pinellas Trail and Gulf Blvd in Pinellas Cointy and spent Saturday with the Seminole Heights Bicycle Club for an urban ride and a bicycle-theme art show.

Pedal America is led by host Ira David, a wonderful friend I met 2 1/2 years ago at the National Bicycle Leaders Conference in 2009 in Monterrey, Calif. Ira David worked to draw the sponsors necessary to finance a series of eight shows on towns across the country from Napa Valley to Savannah to Chicago to central Pennsylvania.

And this week he and his terrific can-do crew have been wonderful. Ira David's right-hand lady is producer Stephanie Rabiola, and his crew include camera whizes Peter and Andrew, super soundman Will and all-around tech Eric who went to the Lightning-Devils game tonight in Tampa.

Tampa Bay is a diverse bicycle scene, and they hit the highlights such as the Pinellas Trail. The Pedal America crew put together the cool video camera that was on a tripod mounted on a trailer pulled by veteran cameraman Peter for shots along Riverwalk in downtown Tampa today.




Putting together a TV show like Pedal America requires skill, enthusiasm, high technical standards and patience. My pal and show host Ira David and cameraman Peter showed all those qualities.


There's camera guru Peter from Wyoming, who biked his video rig on a trailer.


There's Ira David pedaling along Riverwalk in Tampa. He's a wonderful spirit who is using his TV show to show that bicycling is for all.


My pal Ira David saw the disappearing bike lane on Cross Creek Blvd and wondered, "gee, this doesn't look right." The city of Tampa and Hillsborough County has blown off this pathetic example of bicycle infrastructure, but now it's going national on Ira David's Pedal America show. As Tampa bicycle man Jim Shirk put it, sometimes you have to shame local government into addressing bicycle concerns.

Seminole Heights Bicycle Club Celebrates Cycling and Arts With Pedal America TV Show In Town

Of all the wonderful scenes that played out today as the Seminole Heights Bicycle Club hosted a 12-mile bike ride to Hyde Park Village and back and a local bicycle art show as the Pedal America TV show came to film the SHBC, I recall one terrific anecdote.

Our group of 35 diverse cyclists pedaling everything from road bikes to mountain bikes to fixed gears to tandems was heading south on Tampa Street a few miles north of downtown Tampa and a group of about a half-dozen young men were on the sidewalk. We rung our bikes bells and said hey and the guys reached out to give us high fives.

And there it was for all to see. The essence of bicycling is about making connections -- with one's neighbors, local businesses and even people you never knew until they shared high fives with you on a bike ride.

Pedal America, a new PBS TV show that will run a segment on the SHBC in May 2012, came along for our 12-mile ride to Hyde Park Village and back.

And then we returned to Seminole Heights, we had a wonderful art show that exhibited paintings, photos and even furniture with a bicycle theme.

I want to thank Rodney at Indigo Coffee who gave use free water at Hyde Park Village; Anthony and Elke at Reservations in Seminole Heights who donated a great big bowl of pasta salad; Veronica at The Independent who gave us a hummus dish; and the good folks at Publix who gave use a big box of granola bark packed with delicious raisens and nuts.

Let's go for the ride today!

Here's Tanja Vidovic, who rode with her daughter Kalina. Tanja did amazing paintings featuring bicyclist subjects for today's art show.


There's Ira David Levy, host of Pedal America, chatting with Nanette before today's ride.


Doug, the ride leader, addresses the crowd.


Bicyclists gather for our ride.


We're cycling south on Tampa Street passing through the MLK Blvd. intersection.


There's Jared biking in the bike lane.


We took the lane on Kennedy on the way to the University of Tampa because the lane was too narrow.


Biking to Hyde Park Village.


There's Rodney of Indigo Coffee. whoo gave us free water, with Pedal America's Ira David Levy and Stephanie.


The wall of bicycle art and photos.


Tanja talks with the Pedal America crew about her paintings.


Bridget did a great job pulling the art show together at her cottage.


Tanja does her painting.


Another Tanja painting.


Sitting at the cool bicycle table.


Bridget dod a wonderful job arranging the art show.


Here's a cool painting done by Tanja.


Tanja did live bicycle art.

Welcome Pedal America To Seminole Heights

Pedal America, the new PBS TV show on bicycling and community, came to Tampa Wednesday night and it was my pleasure to show the show's host -- my friend Ira David Levy -- to the places they want to film bicyclists such as along the Pinellas Trail and along Guld Blvd.

Pedal America is also filming the Seminole Heights Bicycle Club on Saturday and I showed them the bike route we will be taking through downtown Tampa and to Hyde Park Village and back to Seminole Heights and also we stopped by The Cottage at 5801 Ninth Street where we are holding a bicycle art show from 11 am to 1 pm in Seminole Heights.

We also stopped by Velo Champ bike store in Seminole Heights where Jordan Miller talked with Ira David, producer Stephanie and Peter about using camera equipment on a bicycle.


Here's cameraman Andrew at the famed Hurricane restaurant on the Gulf of Mexico. Ira David's crew will be documenting the Hurricane.


Ira David is also doing a segment on Ralph, who runs the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary at Mile Marker 13 on Gulf Blvd.