dallas county board of supervisors meeting

watch as they discuss a proposal of the iowa state association of counties to require any group ride of as few as ten cyclists to register, get a permit, carry signed waivers of liability, AND show proof of a MINIMUM of $1,000,000 liability insurance for the ride. you'll learn that the dallas county engineer is PRESIDENT of the group that developed this model ordinance, and be further dazzled by the fact that the dallas county attorney is the current president of the state county attorney association. [anyone ever read "the peter principle"?]

there will be eleven of this clips. at present, i have eight completed and posted; the other three will be linked here as the slow process continues.

enjoy, and then write to the board of supervisors and give them your opinion.

$1,000,000+ threat? pt1

$1,000,000+ threat? pt2

$1,000,000+ threat? pt3

$1,000,000+ threat? pt4

$1,000,000+ threat? pt5

$1,000,000+ threat? pt6

$1,000,000+ threat? pt7

$1,000,000+ threat? pt8

$1,000,000+ threat? pt9

$1,000,000+ threat? pt10

$1,000,000+ threat? pt11

.....

please watch these, leave comments either here or on the youtube pages, and them contact the dallas county board of supervisors to give your opinion on this proposal.

remember, as a matter of fact,

you DO own the road.

how to contact the dallas county board of supervisors

you may express your opinion on the board's decision to consider this idiotic proposal to these fine young men [brad golightly, mark hanson, bob ockerman] at this address.

tuesday's mass ride to dallas county board of supervisors meeting

a reminder:

we will be LEAVING from the west side of

the iowa state capitol building

tuesday, june 24, at 800 AM SHARP!!!

There will be media coverage at the ride.

If we want to make a true statement, we need to be there in numbers. Please email me if you are planning on riding; I have some logistical stuff to do depending on the numbers. Lets not let Dallas County start what we can't afford for the rest of the counties to finish!

Thanks!!

Jeff Mertz 515-710-3163

jeff.mertz@studio37designs.com

flash!!!! hy-vee triathlon update!!!

for immediate release:

DEVIL ANNOUNCES ROUTE CHANGE

. . . . .

hey, i'm having fun messing with all the do-gooders, ya know?

so what's the deal NOW?

let me tell you:

heckler's row will be located on

south jordan creek parkway,

south of stagecoach drive,

so that we can watch you going out,

and cause you torment coming back up the 2.0 kilometer-long hill.

i really wasn't going to park it so early in the bike leg; nooooooo.

i'm doing my best to give you a strong northerly headwind, too.

fill the hill IS BACK!!

this just in: in yet ANOTHER route change, this one for the better, we DO have a devil-worthy heckler's hill for this sunday's hy-vee triathlon.
.....
while it's NOT the strategically-placed grand avenue leg-buster from last year, it is much better than the dualthlon route which had caused me to threaten to recommend hammocks along the route. while they won't admit it, i suspect that promise was enough for race officials to fudge the bacteria test results down into acceptable levels.
in any event, a map of the revised-revised bike route is included:
http://www.hy-veetriathlon.com/filemgmt_data/files/bike_course.pdf
i suggest that plenty of cold beverages should be included in your heckler's pack. we will be on fuller road, just west of its intersection with 35th street.
i suggest you bone up on water-borne bacteria, as i'm certain that the bikers will be covered with it. a little mass-contagion hysteria never hurt anyone.
.....
be there early this sunday--
the first wave of amateurs hits the petri dishes at 600 am.

join us to protest stupid rules

we will be meeting at the west side of the iowa state capitol building tuesday morning, june 24, between 730 and 800 am, for an 800 am departure for the ride to adel. to underscore that roads ARE designed and built to be safe for bicycle traffic, we will ride en masse via hickman road and us highway 6 through west des moines, waukee and on into adel:

route details: distance--24 miles. 16mph average = 1.5 hours

--leave the capitol, and head down grand past the governor's mansion up to 42nd;

--north on 42d to University, jog east to 41st, then north on 41st to Hickman;

--west on hickman/highway 6 to adel.

if we fail to act, this could be one of the last rides we can lawfully do like this. don't get me started on what i think about THAT. [million dollar liability coverage...]

WHO: Dallas County Board of Supervisors
WHAT: Proposed Bicycle Event Ordinance
WHY: To show support for bicyclists and learn more about this ordinance
WHEN: June 24th at 9:30 am
WHERE: Adel City Hall, 301 S. 10th Street Adel, IA 50003 (

map)
HOW: Just be there. Drive or ride your bike if you have the time

clear your schedules, and plan to ride with us. you can join us anywhere along the route: hickman and highway 6. cue the "convoy" song... [wince]

iowa: home of bike friendly communities?

does anyone REALLY wonder why des moines was denied "bike friendly community" status?

two words: DALLAS COUNTY

.....

this slime is spreading faster than herpes at an orgy.

coralville? johnston? you're next.

.....

can't they spray to prevent this crap?

ghost bike tributes

click here to read a beautifully written tribute to a fallen cyclist in denver, penned by my old pal and misplaced riding buddy, garrett.

SHE'S NUMBER 1!

via text from syd brown: "I'm the no 1 cat 2. There was a mistake.

They are looking for a leader's jersey for me." 526 pm 6/13/08

WAY TO GO, SYD!!

drive thru funnies

look at all the happy drive-thru customers.

we use pedestrians to keep our drive-thru clean.

why, even a MOOSE can walk right up and order.
cars and drive-thrus are not inherently dangerous. bikes and pedestrians ARE.

fill the hill, 2.0

12 days, and counting...

the prudent devilette will bring a parasol

we liberals are known for our quick fixes

a link back to the radio show? duh; good idea. i'll get to the permanent links after i spend some quality time with my muddy basement. but for now, click here to get to the podcast archives, but to set up a link to listen live, sundays from 600 pm until 700 pm, i will have to have someone set it up during the show. i'm not quite up to that task.

from our listeners: trail riding

6.9--a bikin' squirrel says what?

everyone knows--or should know--the pottorff family.

quick math reveals them to be a six-wheeled commuting family. this shot, taken today, june 4, shows the family on one of MY personal favorite bike paths, 86th street in the northwest metro area. i prefer this bike path to the new trestle to trestle, for example, because when work is being done on THIS multi-use bike path, the city doesn't just close it down, they only close that portion that is being repaired, while creating and posting detour signs. i can't understand WHY the city doesn't do this on ALL the trails.

and for THAT matter, i don't know why they don't do REPAIRS on all the other many bike trails. i don't seem to recall trees blocking 86th street for days and weeks on end, nor do i recall muddy water pooling across it every time it rains.

notice how happy users of this multi-use trail are, and how well they are interacting with our heroes, teri, izzy, and picture-snappin' daddy squirrel.

MPG report: none required.

from listener matt martin, of muscatine: matt was profiled by the muscatine journal during bike to work week. anyone who has done the melon city crit over the years has warmed up or cooled down on the streets of muscatine, and knows what a lovely town it is. these are the streets over which matt commutes as many of 40 weeks a year. he's from washington, d.c., and he has some quite valid and interesting observations about the local bike scene. he's pictured on his fair-weather fixie; his foul-weather fixie has fenders, and is no doubt getting a lot of miles here lately. read here for the full newspaper story. thanks for writing, matt! say hello next year at the melon city crit. i'll be sitting at the hairpin with friends and a cooler full of beer.

a reader/listener known only as "the one" sends in this photo, and claims it is somehow related to his employment, but it raises many more questions than it answers. i don't know where to begin, so i'll end with this: thanks for your submission, one. you must have a fairly interesting job.