Sidewalks in Business Districts

Here's the question:
It's not ok to ride on sidewalks in a "business district"
But what defines a business district?

One experienced cyclist claims that means "downtown".

But recently I heard from another authoritative source that it means this:
if there are more businesses than residences on a block, that's a business district.

A lot of experienced cyclists will avoid sidewalks anyway.
If you want to go 20 mph, you should too.

But if you're a beginning cyclist and/or unsure of yourself and going slowly,
I think it's ok to be on the sidewalks sometimes.
Just slow WAAAY down at intersections, take time to look ALL ways,
and please don't terrify the pedestrians. Get off your bike and walk past them, if necessary.

By the way, there are people out there who teach how to bicycle in traffic.
The League of American Bicyclists maintains a list of Minnesota instructors:bikeleague.org
(The link will take you away from this blog.)





Have fun and stay safe!

Smart Trips, Power Trips

Hey, there's a (sort of) new organization in town, called Smart Trips.
www.smart-trips.org (don't forget the dash between smart and trips.)

It's the result of a merger between the St Paul and Midway TMOs.

Smart Trips is concentrating its efforts on residents in the Summit-University area right now,
trying to help people explore transit options, encouraging bicycling, busing, car pooling, that sort of thing. They also "offer employers consulting services to identify, develop, and support a variety of employee transportation options."

Check it out in your spare time!

And while we're talking about trips,
how about those power trips?

Not the big-head kind,
no, I'm talking about trips where you power yourself to your destination.
Think about it.
There used to be "riding" a horse.
Then there was "motoring" but hmmm, not so attractive a term, so that became "driving" a car.
Nowadays you might hear people talk about "driving" a bicycle.
That's ok, sometimes that means following the road rules just like a car.

But I think "powering" is good.
It takes muscle power and brain power to safely operate a bicycle.
And "powering" sounds, hey, powerful.

I think I'll be powering around town tomorrow, how about you?

Finally scheduled?

Word is (perhaps) oral arguments are scheduled for State of MN v. Stephan Orsak for July 23.
My, the wheels of justice are slow...

As a reminder, the airport incident happened Sept 7, 2006.
Initial trial was July 16-19, 2007. (Stephan found NOT guilty of all counts but one.)
Appeal date July 23, 2008? a little bit over one year later. (Stephan appealing the one count.)
Reportedly this is open to the public. See you there?