This was a beautiful weekend and I was need a nice long ride to relive some work stress from this past couple of weeks. Luckily I had an invitation to ride this weekend with a co-worker and her husband in my inbox Friday. I jumped at the chance for a Saturday afternoon ride. The weather was excellent - temp in the high 70's, wind about 10-12 mph and barely a cloud in the sky. We met at Panther Creek Park and rode a nice circuit on the country roads. I have no idea where we were, but it was very nice.

This weekend's Mileage: 17.3 miles
2007 Year to Date Mileage: 64.3 miles

Owensboro Biking in the News

There has been a rash of articles in the M-I about biking lately, which is good. Their was a feature on OPD's bike patrol officer training, a decline in bike registrations with the OPD, and the hotly debated bike lanes proposal. on 10 April 07, the a forum on the City Connections proposal to stripe 30 miles of bike lanes was cancelled so the City Commission "can consider how to proceed". Now, City Connections will be discuss at the next city commission general work session, scheduled for 8 May.

According to the 18 April edition of the M-I, the city Community Development Department was going to present a revised plan for bike lanes along Owensboro roads by June after contacting and soliciting feedback from residents along the proposed routes. However, 3 days later it was reported that the City Engineer, Joe Schepers, will specify a policy for where bike lanes can be placed on city streets. He may recommend that lanes only be included on collector or arterial streets that are wider and busier. This would be similar to steps Louisville and Lexington have taken when adding their bike lanes. It will be interesting to see how the City Connections plan changes. Hopefully the M-I will continue to provide awesome reporting on this issue. Stay tuned!

Quality Bikes sponsors rec rides for proposed bikes lanes

Friday's M-I reported that the local bike shop (LBS) - Quality Bikes - was going to sponsor recreational bike rides to explore the proposed bike lanes on Owensboro city streets. The rides will take place Wednesday nights at 5:30pm and will leave from Quality Bikes new location at 301 E. 18th St. (corner of 18th and JR Miller). In the event of rain, the rides will be cancelled. You can call the bike shop for more info - 691-9460.

No rides this weekend - it's too darn cold!

Back in the (sore) saddle

I hadn't been biking for a week and was starting to miss it. I'm a little sore from whitewater rafting this weekend on the New River in West Virginia. However, it was 75 degrees when I got off of work and had to go for a quick ride. I took the Trek 1200 out for my normal route down Griffith to the West Trail of the Greenbelt. There were some other bikers and walkers enjoying the wonderful afternoon.


Today's Mileage: 10 miles
2007 Year to Date Mileage: 47.0 miles