June/July 2007
LOCAL GROUP RIDES

  Our area is blessed with many Road-Bike Riding Clubs.  Since our goal is to promote biking as a sport and leisure activity, many of the clubs send us their schedules, which we share on our Web Site. 

http://bikinhville.homestead.com/sitemap.html

If your club would like to share its schedule, please forward it to Doug Depew at

BikeNwalk@comcast.net
.
Your Participation is Important

  Please write a short note to your Alderman and tell them  you support the efforts of the Hendersonville Greenways Committee. Find list at www.hvilletn.org/aldermen.aspx.

   The Hendersonville Greenway Committee, which was re-established as a sub-committee of the Hendersonville Tomor-row Committee, has been in existence for a year.  However, many of the members of the Steering Committee and Advisory Committee have been active since 1999 when the initial Master Plan for Hendersonville was compiled.  Our mission is to promote, advocate, and assist City Leaders in the development for safe corridors for walking and biking for citizens of all ages.  In pursuit of that objective Greenways are the best alternative, assuring the tranquility and recreational benefits of environmentally responsible green space for the greatest number of people. 
For more information and to sign up to receive this newsletter, contact Doug Depew at BikeNwalk@comcast.net

Visit our Web Site at http://bikinhville.homestead.com.  You can find past newsletters there.

BikeNwalk Newsletter is edited, often written, and distributed by Tom Evans (tom@evanscenter.com)

RIDE SAFELY - It's the Law
BOB CLEMENT
"Greenways are a quality of life issue," Clement says. "They improve our neighborhoods and they improve our city. Greenways are a major selling point for recruiting businesses to Nashville. We need more connected communities, more greenways, bikeways and walking paths."         Click to view a YouTube note from Bob.

Many leaders recognize the value that greenways bring to a community.  Does your Alderman understand and have the vision? Does Mayor Foster understand and have the vision?     If you don't know the answer, ASK THEM.  Then ask them what they are doing about it and how does Hendersonville's greenway plans compare to those in other major cities.
WHAT'S IT TAKE TO GET A GREENWAY

Other cities have them, cities smaller than Hendersonville have them, but we here in Hendersonville don’t have a greenway system.
This is not going to get done without the support of families getting involved.  We can’t just leave it to the bikers.
                        Cathy Haley, Stroller Mom
    What's it take? If you are talking about a greenway of the caliber of White House's, it takes about a Million Dollars a Mile when land procurement is necessary.  However, if we are just laying asphalt on donated land or land owned by the City without bridges and security fences, we can probably do it for about a half-million a mile. If we are seeking enhancement funds then the citizens are going to have to put up between 100 thousand to 200 thousand a mile.  
     We have seen proposals by both the City and the County significantly under-estimated this cost.  Most cities with success-ful projects get exploratory grants, hire professional landscape firms to design and budget the project in cooperation with citizen groups such as your Hendersonville Greenways Committee, and then go after their funding.  It minimizes the potential surprise of coming up short.  Even having pursued their project in this manner White House still had the unfortunate circum-stance of having to use money for Phase V of their project on land issues.  So the final segment of their loop is not complete.
     White House came up with their 20% match for their appropriation through Impact Fees on new developments.  We suspect Hendersonville doesn't have the same arrangement.  The City Planners seem to have a better technique -- get the developers to include parks, greenways, and recreation systems. The Durham Farm Development and the Indian Lake Village Development have these amenities in the plans they submitted. Durham Farms has agreed to build a greenway with trail from the southern edge on their property at Drakes Creek Road and Anderson Road to Long Hollow Pike at the northern edge.  Last month we discussed the wonderful plans of Halo Properties for their greenway.  We think the citizens of Hendersonville are very fortunate, if these greenways get built as the developers have committed.  If these projects proceed as planned, Henderson-ville will get the start of its greenway.
     However, the key to any successful greenway system is connectivity.  We still have an important piece of the North/South greenway connecting Veterans Park to Durham Farms unfunded.  We hope the City Planners can exert some more of their magic with Davidson Academy and get them to build that missing section.  We are still looking for ways to connect the eastern terminus of the Halo Greenway with the County's Lower Station Camp Creek Greenway.  That will also allow Hendersonville to connect with planned greenways in Gallatin.  That may take a lot more citizen involvement than we have been able to muster thus far and a commitment via special taxes.
     Members of the Committee routinely receive calls asking why Hendersonville doesn't have a greenway and what can they do.  For a very important start please read the following section.  If you want Greenways to have a priority in the long term plans of the City, then you better make sure you Alderman and the Mayor know.  Don't assume they do.  Often they judge importance by volume.
“Blind Bikers Across America!”…”Blind Bikers Across America!”

   That’s what we shouted during the Helen Keller Parade in Tuscumbia, Alabama.  Eight blind people and their tandem captains rode from Leiper’s Fork TN down to Tuscumbia on tandem bicycles. For many, blind and sighted alike, it was the thrill of a lifetime. I had the wonderful chance to captain tandems carrying Melissa, Timmy and Alicia at various times.
    Melissa is a lovely woman from Nebraska. She and her brother were blind from birth and share an apartment. She has a degree in psychology and her brother is a computer programmer.  Melissa owned a tandem which her parents took her on once in awhile, but she never got the chance to ride more than 10 miles. With BBAA she got to ride 100 miles over two days. Melissa proved an excellent stoker with a quick wit and a sweet personality.
    Timmy attends the TN School for the Blind. He didn’t really have tandem skills, but he and I learned from each other. We had a fun conversation as we rode. The best part was taking him to a small waterfall. It was 90 degrees and I put my head under a few of the several cascading lines of water. It was the best feeling. I told Timmy he had to try it. He resisted, but eventually he put his head under. After that I couldn’t get him out again!
     I did not get to ride more than an hour with Alicia, but she was a little powerhouse. She didn’t like to bike more than a ½ hour at a time, but when she was on, she pedaled... hard! My miles with her went by quite quickly.
    While on the ride, I felt quite safe. We stayed completely on the Natchez Trace Parkway. Most of the vehicles we saw were with our own group.
      Any time on a bike is fun for me, and this was no exception. Actually it was awesome! Here I was, fully sagged and sup-ported and I got to ride with wonderful riding companions. Yet, non-riding volunteers treated us as if we were doing something special. At the end I even got a certificate and medal… for going on a bike ride! This is a special event. Charity rides like the MS150 are fine.  You raise money for charity, and then you go on a bike ride. But with Blind Bikers Across America, the bike riding is the charity. I am definitely doing this again next year. I got to do something good and have a blast at the same time… must be a sin, but I loved it.
     The bike ride is run and sponsored by Christian Record Services, an outreach of the 7th Day Adventist Church. I like many other tandem captains and riders, worship with other denominations. This posed no problem whatsoever. The group running the bike ride is dedicated, compassionate and a great group of people.
. . . Andrew Getter
   Dr. Hobbs championed the greenway in White House based on his experience in Missouri.  He said,
   Many bikers and pedestrians have had an opportunity to visit the greenway in White House and have wondered how a town of less than 10,000 people con-structed such a facility when Hendersonville, a city of over 60,000, seems to be unable to match it.  To answer that question we called Dr. Billy Hobbs, past Mayor and champion of the White House Greenway. 
    The White House Greenway Project was initiated around 1997 and completed in 2004 using a FHA Direct Appropriation of $3.2 Million and $150 Thousand Enhancement Grant.  White House provided and additional 20% matching funds which they derived from Impact Fees. Dr. Hobbs said Senator Bob Clement was responsible for their appropriation.  The Senator had experienced the greenways of Virginia and took a real interest in the White House project.  Dr. Hobbs and White House engaged the engineering firm of Lose and Associates who worked directly with the aides and chief of staff of Senator Clement.  4.7 Miles of an eventual 6.6 miles of greenway has been completed.
WHITE HOUSE GREENWAY
     He said the Tim Ellis, Director - White House’s Parks Board, was the chief architect of the project.
      Tim Ellis,now Director of Parks and Recreation for Good-lettsville, said that the greenway resulted from their Green-ways Master Plan, which  they initiated in 1997 and completed
“I was greatly impressed when I visited 160 miles of Greenways in Missouri.  I could see how Greenways added significantly to values in a community and wanted that amenity for White House.” 
“Don’t under-estimate the impact of this erroneous perception, especially your project requires legal action to acquire the land.  Start using your newsletter to educate citizens about Real Estate studies that prove the economic benefits of Greenways.”
  Tim said that almost all Federal Grant money is now funneled thought the State. 
     When he asked me if we had done that, I said I didn’t know.  I said the Hendersonville Greenways Committee has approached Mayor Scott Foster on numerous occasions about establishing a Greenways Coordinator on City Staff, that it was possible to get a grant to pay the salary of that job, and that we had the support of Senator Diane Black and past Director Joyce Hoyle as Advisors on our Committee, but we failed to make any progress.
      I told Tim that Hendersonville had lost their Transportation Enhancement money last year because of the absence of follow-though, but Mayor Foster was able recover it. I said that I am again concerned, because the City hadn’t acted on its Grant, because Governor Bredesen was retracting transportation funding, and because the 2003 budget for Phase II was only $781M for 2.6 miles.  Based on the White House experience with their greenways and Hendersonville experience with Phase I of its greenway that amount seemed woefully insufficient.
      Lastly, I asked Tim now that he is Director of Parks and Recreation for Goodlettsville, is he promoting Greenways for Goodlettsville.  He said, “Absolutely.”  In the next issue of the newsletter he would like share his plans.

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“Get down and meet with the people responsible distributing this money.  Get your foot in the door.  Give them a face to which to relate.”
  When I asked Tim if White House will complete their greenway, he wasn’t sure.  The primary road-blocks to the final leg are money and motivation.  The rumor that a land owner on the trail was blocking com-pletion is not true.  Funding opportunities are not as promising.  Direct Appropria-tions are virtual non-existent.  Also, the City doesn’t have the champions promoting greenways.
in 1998. The project was done in five phases: Phase I was 1.5 miles ($824M), Phase II was 1.3 miles ($594M), Phase III was 1.03 miles ($545M), Phase IV was 0.9 miles ($481M), and Phase V was 1.9 miles ($1230M).  Phase V, which completes the loop around the City from 31W to the Community Park, has not been completed because money for it had to be used for land acquisition, which was not in their 1998 Budget for the project.  When the project was completed to Phase IV, Tim said they had spent around $4.1 Million.  That is about $1 Million/mile in 2004 dollars.
   Tim said their biggest hurdle to overcome in their project was appropriating the right-of-way.  He was able to get city officials and citizens on board but ran in to trouble with land owners who mistakenly thought the greenways would lower property values or increase crime.  He advises,
     The Trail Head for the greenway is east of the city on Route 31W with ample car parking space for those who want bring bicycles or just begin a four mile walk.  With trails in excess of 10-feet in width they are safe for shared use by all kinds of traffic, from senior out for some light exercise, moms pushing baby carriages, youngsters on bikes on their way to school or the Sonic hamburger drive through, and advanced riders on road bikes.  You will see them all somewhere along the trail.
The trail passes both under under two roads aside a small creek and over a couple of ravines.  The terrain is not flat and passes through some scenic countryside thereby providing a healthy challenge for those the want to combine their cardio-vascular workout with nature enjoyment.  Lately, we have seen a few "Watch for Snakes" signs, although we have never seen one, but we have seen lots of deer and an occasional wild turkey.
    If you wonder why all the interest in greenways, take a ride up to White House and check it out.  Nearly all the residents are proud of it and will brag on it.  Almost anybody who has experienced a greenway will tell you this idea is a "no-brainer." Only Cities without long term vision do not have greenways somewhere in their parks and recreational plans.
. . . Tom Evans
Fund Raising Ride for Multiple Sclerosis

    The Jack and Back is the premiere fund-raising ride in Middle Tennessee.  Scheduled for October 6'th and 7'th the tour starts in Franklin, TN at Page High School and finishes at Motlow State Community College in Lynchburg, TN.  This two day event covers 150 miles through beautiful and scenic roads of Tennessee’s countryside with a touch of fall colors.  This tour is fully supported with rest stops every 6 - 10 miles stocked with food, drink and restrooms and with SAG wagons with bike mechanics and medical personnel.
     At Motlow State riders can enjoy a massage, a hot shower, set-up a campsite, and then catch the bus for a tour of the Jack Daniel’s distillery. In the evening they enjoy a magnificent sunset during the program in the pavilion on the hill while feasting on all of the Jack Daniel’s bar-b-que and catfish that they can eat and some of that libation that made Lynchburg famous.
    After a night of partying on the hill, riders wake up the next morning to a full-catered breakfast provided by Miss Mary Bobo’s Boarding House before heading back to Franklin, TN and the finish line celebration!
    The event collects funds for the National Muscular Sclerosis Society and in addition to a $35 entrance fee each rider is required to deliver $300 in donations.  Dr. Phil Vickery is soliciting riders and corporate sponsorship for a FOGBEE team for this year's tour.  Interested in joining the FOGBEES for this worthwhile event?  Contact Phil at BikeNwalk@comcast.net
   Although most bicycle injuries occur to boys aged 10-14 years, almost 70% of bicycle deaths involve adults.  Collisions involving motor vehicles account for 90% of all bicycle-related deaths and 10% of nonfatal injuries. Officials found the responsibility being the bicyclist in half the cases, the motorist in about one third, and both in the remaining.  Younger cyclists who are not familiar with rules of the road are far more likely to cause and be involved in a serious accident. Almost 40% of bicycle-motor vehicle crashes occurred during low-light conditions when motorists had trouble seeing cyclists.  More than half of bicycle deaths occur on major roads; one third of deaths occur at an intersection.  One third of bicyclist fatalities occur on roads with speed limits of 55 mph or higher.
   The majority of bicycle deaths are caused by head injuries. The best insurance for a rider to prevent injury and death is to wear a helmet. Unfortunately, many riders disregard this recommendation.  Mandatory use of helmets has proven to reduce severe injuries by almost 85% in addition to cutting the number of bicycle-related fatalities.  98% of bicyclists killed in 1998 were reportedly not wearing a protective helmet.
   Investment in safety equipment such as protective clothing and a helmet can prevent a significant number of injuries. Other considerations are: wear reflective clothing and use lights for nighttime or low-visibility conditions, select the proper bicycle and keep it in good repair.
   Cyclist should never use public road until they have achieved the proper level of experience, skill, and learned the rules of the road. They should avoid use of major roads and sidewalks. Cyclists must follow the same rules as motorists. They should ride in single file with traffic, not against it and use correct hand signals before turning.  Nearly one-third of bicycle crashes occur when a bicyclist is riding against oncoming traffic.
   Many people assume bicycle riding on sidewalks is safer than on roads. However, the risk of injury increases significantly if you ride on sidewalks.  This may be due to the presence of pedestrians and stationary objects (parking meters, for example) lining sidewalks as well as a preference by inexperienced bicyclists to use sidewalks for bicycle travel.
   Lastly, a cyclist must remain EXTREMELY aware of surroundings: opening car doors, sewer grating, debris on roads, uneven surfaces, poorly lit areas.  They should announce their presence ("On your left") on bike and walking trails as you come up behind and pass pedestrians and other riders.
    With more than 100 million bicycle owners, the popularity of bicycling has reached an all-time high and that has resulted in nearly 580,000 visits to Emergency Departments due to injuries resulting from common abrasions, cuts, and bruises to broken bones, internal injuries, head trauma, and even death.  In 1998 bicycling accounted for the largest number of sport-related injuries in Emergency Departments among middle-aged people. Almost 800 bicyclists die annually, and 20,000 are admitted to hospitals. From a statistical standpoint, bicycle riding has a higher death rate per trip or per mile of travel than being a passenger in an automobile. The most common cause of bicycle crashes is due to falls or collisions with stationary objects.
    The Kids Triathlon is fast approaching [August 4'th at Sumner County YMCA] and ACME Multisports and Biker’s Choice are donating bikes. This race will be the State Championship for the kids USAT in TN. and organizers are expecting about 200-250 kids this year. They already have a bunch of kids signed up for the race and are doing the training series again this year, although it will only be four weeks instead of six like we had last year.
   David Hardin thanks all volunteers working to make Kids Triathlon a success, he says, "I still think that's the most rewarding event going for the community." Again Bikers Choice will do free safety checks for kids and their bikes,  No certificate necessary, just bring in the bike and they'll do a free check with a 24-hour or less turn around.
   With the motivation that the Triathlon generates David also believes this Kids Triathlon could be the perfect catalyst for the Safe Routes to School Program.  Interested parties could set up a program for Hendersonville by contacting Diane Benedic, Safe Routes to School Coordinator, TDOT.      
Watch this Important Video
Notes Regarding Kids' Triathalon
      Northern Middle Tennessee is a remarkable place to bike.  Most of the roads are well maintained and run through some of the most pristine and historic areas of the country.  Nature has provided the Highland Ridge with a countless number of small streams, hollows, and knobs.  An early morning ride with the rising sun can be intoxicating.  Deer and wild turkey along the road, the sweet smell in the cool air of wild flowers blowing on your face, and the quiet solitude of the only sound being the the birds and breeze passing your ears, make it a struggle to limit any trip to under sixty miles. 
    Along the Ridge some of the little towns seem lost in a time when life was much simpler.  For example, a favorite destination is the Thomas Drug Store in Cross Plains, where we can still sit at a soda fountain that many of us old timers still remember from our childhood. As we tour, we pass dozens of other bikers on the popular routes.  It's no wonder that biking has become very popular in our community. 
     However, don't sit too long and think about getting on a bike and up onto the Ridge.  Housing developments are springing up along most of our once-secluded routes.  To help you plan your excursions, we are gathering up the maps of Bikers Choice and the FOGBEES and putting them on the Greenways Web site.  Bikers' Choice has been providing rides for many years and has put together forty-four maps which it has graciously agreed to share.  Most of these rides are on county roads in Sumner and Robertson Counties.  In addition to county rides the FOGBEES do many in-town rides, but haven't documented anything as of yet.  So this project has just commenced.  "Stay tuned."  In the meantime you can find some safe routes at Hendersonville Bike Routes.  Also click here to a great Web Site with neighboring county routes.
      Bruce Day is our premiere Tour Guide.  Hardly a back road in the State of Tennessee has not felt the tires of his bike.  He puts together Spring and Fall Tours, not to mention his recent GRITS-2007 - a thousand mile ride from Charleston, South Carolina to Hendersonville.  Talk about being intoxicated!  The FOGBEES plan to use his expertise to load up the bikes and tour many of the nearby counties.  The bike carriers on our cars and vans have lots of empty slots.   We would enjoy the company.
Bike Routes in and around Hendersonville
For more information about Blind Bikers and how it is done read about Samantha Gilley's 400 mile ride across Tennessee.