Being An Advocate & Making Progress

Yesterday I attended an event sponsored in part by the League of Michigan Bicyclists.  It was an advocacy day in the State capitol with pre-arranged meetings with State legislators and informational exchanges.  The day begun with a bike ride from a pre-arranged meeting place and ride to the capitol, registration, meeting with other members of your delegation and information about meeting with the legislators and it was off to meetings with them, followed by announcements, awards a lunch and bike tour of the capitol.   I made it to everything except the bike rides, instead meeting up with the group under a tent on the lawn of the Capitol Building.  The day promised rain and true to it's prediction we had sprinkles on and off all morning and early afternoon. I would have really enjoyed the ride and the camaraderie that would have ensued from that, but there will be other times and places for that.   It wouldn't be the first time I've admitted that I'm a fair weather rider.

The real meat of the event was in the meetings with our State Representatives.  From my past history of having served as Township Supervisor I already knew both our current State Representative Gretchen Driskell and the State Senator representing my area Rebecca Warren.  Gretchen and I had served together on several  boards in Washtenaw County when I was Supervisor and she was Mayor of Saline.  As well, I had known Rebecca since she was a State Representative from Ann Arbor and her husband serves on the County Board of Commissioners and we have had opportunities to work together on common goals.  The agenda put forward by the LMB was to make legislators aware of issues high on the list or priorities for LMB and the other participating cycling advocacy groups.  Highlights of the priorities are;

• Protecting vulnerable roadway users by establishing enhanced penalties for injuring or killing cyclists.
• Establishing a standard for safe passing of bicyclists on Michigan roads.
• Revising the right turn hand signal to make an extended right arm legal in Michigan.
• Allowing bicyclists to bypass malfunctioning traffic lights.
• Supporting a new Michigan trails and greenways license plate to fund local trail projects.
• Preventing the Raid on Natural Resources Trust Fund Dollars Available for Trails Projects.
• Adequately funding safe transportation infrastructure that supports multi-modal use.

It was great to be in a position of advocacy and particularly so since I felt a real connection to both legislators.  Senator Warren was instrumental in helping us to secure permitting for phase I of the non motorized path project which was my pet project while Supervisor.  She had been in attendance at our ribbon cutting for the path when it opened, so she was very aware of my passion for the subject matter and Representative Driskell had been in attendance of several transportation meetings where I reported on the progress of our path from it's inception to it's current state.  I thoroughly enjoyed the day and the opportunity for our collective voices to be heard.  A link to the LMB information about the Lucinda Means Bicycle Advocacy Day is here.

Driving home I reflected on my goals for riding in 2013 that I posted here, and realized that I am slowly making progress on this year's goals, almost without thinking.  When creating the list I wanted to take on an advocacy project and this day certainly qualified for that.  I also mulled over wanting to go further and faster and my rides and training are making progress toward those goals.  My mileage per ride is increasing as well as my speed.  My goal is to work toward a 40 mile ride and it's going to happen with a series of 20-25 and 30 mile rides.  Pushing harder gears allows me to gobble up those miles faster.  Pushing myself on hills is like interval training and that will make me stronger and when I am stronger I will be faster.  My last ride averaged 9 MPH over my longest distance yet this year of 23+ miles.  It's a great feeling to challenge yourself physically and mentally like this and the results are rewarding in many ways.  Success feeds on success and right about now I'm feeling pretty successful. 

Considering my frame of mind just a few short weeks ago I find myself very grateful indeed to our loving God who has helped to bring me to the place I currently am. 

Here are some photos of the day in Lansing!

Dinosaur Bones Under Them Thar Waves!

I've been itching for a new adventure and get bored with doing the same routes.  The consequence is that I get further and further from home to find them.  I'd been reading about two rail trails west of home and looking for a good day with an open agenda for the afternoon as I knew the ride out in my vehicle would be over an hour each way and the bike ride would likely be 2-3 hours.  I chose the Falling Water Trail from Jackson, Michigan to Concord, Michigan.  Often rail-trails can be boring, this one was not.  For starters, it was the widest rail trail or any bike trail I've ever seen.  The signage is high quality, points of historical interest are noted with signs and the passing scenery is varied.  There are places where it's wide open with fields, pastures and farms and densely wooded sections with a nice canopy above.  There's a creek that runs alongside the path in certain sections and closer to Concord there is a mill pond that the creek flows through.  And the path traverses a narrow strip of land separating two lakes.

The paved rail bed divides two lakes called Lime Lake.  According to signage at a little picnic stop alongside Lime Lake, they were created when there was dredging done to extract marl used in making cement.  That marl was shipped as far as Detroit, Cement City, Petoskey and Union City. Rail road cars were loaded onto a scow and taken to a parked barge and a large contraption scooped the marl from the lake bottom, loaded it onto the boxcars and those were then hand winched onto the rail for shipping. Among some of the goop that was culled from the lake bottom, dinosaur bones were found!  I'd stopped lakeside for a couple of photos and to read the signs, looked out over the wind blown lake and mulled over giant dinosaurs roaming the area.  I'm glad that was a long time ago and the most wildlife I saw were about a dozen chipmunks, the quick glimpse of a red fox and the white tail of a whitetail deer as it disappeared into the woods.  I must have been gaping around at the sky and missed it crossing the trail.  As hot as it was today I expected to see nothing but birds, ducks and geese.  Wildlife can surprise you at times.  And boy was it a hot one!  Temps climbed up to 90 F.  It may have gotten hotter in Jackson because it's pretty central in the state and far away from the cooling winds off the Great Lakes.

While I might have had a fair amount of free time today, I sure picked the hottest day we've had yet.  We've slingshot-ted straight past spring and into the heat of summer!  But, storms are on the way and we will probably return to seasonal temps in the next couple of days.

I had plenty of hydration and in the little town of Concord I was able to get fresh bottled water and a Gatorade which was just exactly what I needed for the return trip back to the vehicle.  A rest stop to freshen up with a bit of a wash up and running lots of cool water on my arms and wrists made me a new woman.  It came just in the nick of time because I felt myself beginning to get overheated.  In addition to that I had a bit of water that was too warm to drink in my water bottle and since I had plenty of cool drinks to add to it I dumped the remainder over my head and it was enough to soak my hair and shirt collar.  That felt good!  A wet head and shirt top kept me cooled off for a good portion of the return trip.

Although the trail appeared flat as a pancake, when looking over the stats from the ride I found that there was over 280 feet of climbing.  Using the Map My Ride app for my phone, I turn it on when I set out and off when I return and my ride gets mapped online through the app complete with all kinds of stats.   Looking over the route I noticed that there was a significant rise in the latter 2/3's of the ride going outbound and of course that same rise showed up inbound.  I was wondering why I felt so suddenly challenged and attributed it to the heat, but now I know better.  It's funny how the eyes can be deceived like that, it must have been the contour over a large area so it didn't look noticeable. My legs knew it.

A link to the route can be found here  and there are a few photos from the trail below and you can read about the dinosaur comments on one of the signs.  On my next big venture I'll have to go out further to the Kal-Haven trail which takes you from Kalamazoo clear to Lake Michigan.

There's dinosaur bones under them thar waves!

Lime Lake

Trail Head at Concord, Michigan

The Mitten Pedaler

My friend Jim is touring the perimeter of our great State Michigan by bicycle and logging his adventure at the following link Mitten Pedaler.  The photos and journal of his adventure is a worthy read for bicycling adventurers.  His travels take him along side several of the Great Lakes as we are a penninsula state surrounded by fresh water oceans.

Michiganders, celebrate Pure Michigan with Jim!

Peace Jim.