Our Blog
Measuring Heart Rate Variability
Jennifer Lewis contributed this thoughtful article to the Nevada Bicycle Coalition Blog: The Importance of Measuring Heart Rate Variability for Cyclists In the sports medicine and biofeedback fields alike, the buzzword is Heart Rate Variability (HRV): the change in...
Thinking Through the Strava Data
Reno is going through this same transformation. #nevadabike
Bicycling Vegas Style
Bridget – from Las Vegas I used to spend the majority of my free time in the gym. I would finish work at 5:00 and go straight there. I generally wouldn’t arrive home until after 8:00. Sadly, I didn’t even enjoy my time there. It was claustrophobic working out...
Improving Cyclists’ Safety With Complete Streets
Cycling is a popular activity in Nevada, with people cycling to work, to school, for exercise, or just for pleasure. However, it is an undeniable fact that, along with pedestrians, cyclists are one of the most vulnerable groups of road users. In 2011,...
A Road Diet for Keystone in Reno (maybe)
The Washoe County Regional Transportation Commission and the City of Reno Traffic Engineer proposed a road diet for Keystone in Reno at the August 28th meeting. The Old Southwest Neighborhood Advisory Board (NAB) had been working on the project for 2 years. The NAB...
Nevada: Quit Smoking and Start Cycling
By now we’re all aware of the negative effects of smoking on our health. Smoking can lead to emphysema, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and many other health problems. Despite this, statistics show that 19.3% of adult Americans are smokers. Even more sobering...
Cycle for Life: Riding a Bike to Keep you Healthy
Contributed by Jennifer KnightPeople start cycling for all sorts of different reason. Maybe it’s the need for a hobby, wanting to get out in the great outdoors, or as a social activity to enjoy with friends and family. While being an enjoyable activity in its own...
Back to human-centric street design! – AB145
Wheelchairs in the bike lanes, Cyclists on the sidewalks, are all symptoms of a car-centric universe that is finally being recognized as the road to poor human health and erosion of community. Let’s take back our streets and return to human-centric design. AB145 – the...
Help get bike friendly legislation passed – AB117
Three bills important to Nevada bicyclists are before the legislature in this 2013 legislative session. If you’re a bicyclist, a quick note to your Assembly Member or Senator, voicing your support, will make a difference when they are deciding how to vote. The first...
Join the Coalition and the Crusade to make Nevada safer for bicyclists
Much of the work of the NBC is about talking to government. That's the path to better bicycling facilities, better laws and better law enforcement. The more members we have, the louder our voice and the more respect we get from government. So join the Nevada Bicycle...
Happy Holidays!
Happy Holidays! Your friends at the Nevada Bicycle Coalition
2012 Bicycle Pedestrian Summit
The 2012 Bicycle Pedestrian Summit is in Las Vegas this year. It is the only event where bicycle advocates from northern and southern Nevada meet. The Nevada Bicycle Coalition will be there in force this year, planning strategy for the year's activities, especially...
How Bicycling Creates Economic Impact
The conventional wisdom assumes that massive transportation projects are far more economically strategic than bike lanes. But the release of two studies from two very different cities - Portland, OR and New York City - reveals that bicyclists and pedestrians may spend...
Bicycle Parade 2011 – a Success!
Our goals for this ride were pretty simple: 1) get some media attention to the new Nevada bicycle-friendly traffic laws and 2) no crashes. Both were accomplished. Here are some links to give you a visual recap of the event. <embed...
3 Sweet Feet Bicycle Celebration Parade
Reno Bike Project is calling it the “3 Sweet Feet Ride”. I’ve been calling it the “Bicycle Awareness Ride”. Whatever you call Saturday’s mass of bicyclists, it’s going to be fun and could be a really important event for the future of Reno & Sparks bicycling. We...
Save the Date – October First – for a Bicycle Parade
Well, I just finished notifying the local hospitals that we’re going to be riding our bicycles en masse from Reno City Hall Plaza to Sparks City Hall and back. They didn’t seem too worried or inclined to staff up their emergency response machinery. Notifying them was...
Let’s have a parade!
The PROBLEM Nevada’s legislature passed two bicycle-friendly laws in the last session that become effective on October 1, 2011. The problem is that very few motorists know about them: AB328 – increases penalties for a motorist who causes a pedestrian or bicyclist...
Be Seen… with Monkey Lights
Every once in a blue moon, a person gets some useful insight into how they are perceived in this world. Years ago in college, I was a volunteer for the Off Campus Student Association. Their Executive Director gave me this insight. He said, “Terry, I call on you at the...
Cause of Bicycle Crashes
About 50% of all bicycle crashes involve falls, often caused by road surface hazards, like potholes, loose gravel, cattle guards, storm grates, etc. Another 33% involve animals, other bikes or something besides a motor vehicle. Only 17% of bicycle crashes involve...
Ignorance versus Malice
One of my favorite sayings is, “Never attribute to malice what can be explained by stupidity or ignorance.” This moral came to mind recently on a bicycle ride with some friends. My wife and I were riding in the neighborhood with a new rider, one with a family where...
Buses and Bikes, Oh my!
Light rail is coming to Reno! Well, almost light rail. This is light rail on rubber wheels and paved roads. Kind of “light-rail-lite”. The Washoe Country RTC is introducing an express bus service between the downtown 4th Street station and Meadowood Mall, named “RTC...
Crossing the Yellow Line for a Bale of Hay
NCWV wrote: This law sounds awful. It is difficult to enforce and in some instances could be dangerous. What about areas where the bicyclists are riding up a two lane road where there is no bike lane going a lot slower than the other traffic. Is a car supposed to...
Hard to Stay in the Bike Lane
Bike lanes are great for bicyclists and that's were I feel the safest. But it can be frustrating when the bike lane is full of debree, construction signs and parked cars. Not to mention being surprised by a Vespa going twice my speed. This is an amusing video sure,...
Semi-Safety?
The Reno media is all abuzz about the collision of a gravel truck with an Amtrak train in Fernley. In the first adrenaline rush, reporters slammed the trucking company for its safety record. Later they reported that this trucking company averaged a failure rate of 4%...
3 Foot Passing Rule becomes law in Nevada
The 3 Foot Passing Bill, SB248, was passed by the Legislature, signed by the Governor and will become the law in Nevada on October 1, 2011. It’s pretty simple really. Motorists must pass a bicyclist no closer than 3 feet. Here’s the language in the bill: Legislative...
A Vulnerable Roadway Users Bill for Nevada
Bike Advocacy Corner Members of MusclePower, the Nevada Bicycle Advisory Board and the Nevada Bicycle Coalition met and sorted through all of the potential pro-bicyclist legislation that could be requested this legislative session. A child helmet bill, the Idaho stop...
A Weekend Warning to Roadies
Reno police will be making an effort to enforce bicycle related traffic rules this weekend, as part of a $36,000 grant from the NV Department of Public Safety, so you would be wise to stay within the law. Here is a link to the laws for Nevada - http://www.bicyclen...
Five Weeks of Bike Lane Snow…and counting
Five weeks and the snow is still piled up everywhere. If you live in Minnesota, this may sound like a wimpy complaint but for Reno, it’s a long time. And the bicycling in Reno is somewhere between dangerous and impossible, assuming of course that you don’t mind...
Let It Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow…
Looking at all of this snow got me search the Web for ideas for winter bicycling. I found this on the NPR.org site to share with you, from a 2007 blog posting by Jill Horner. Look out for those moose holes. - Terry Jill Homer of Juneau, Alaska, is training to ride 350...
Mandeville Canyon Lessons Learned
“…to teach them a lesson”. That was Dr. Christopher Thompson’s motivation for purposely injuring 2 bicyclists on July 4, 2008 on Mandeville Canyon Road in Brentwood, near Los Angeles. In November a jury convicted him of mayhem, assault with a deadly weapon, battery...
Bicyclists Get New Turn Signals
AB247 becomes Nevada law on October 1, 2009. Here’s the gist of it: Legislative Counsel’s Digest: Existing [Nevada] law provides that every person riding a bicycle upon a roadway is generally subject to the provisions of chapter 484 of NRS which apply to drivers of...
Who ya’ gonna call to clean up?
Today's question: "Do I ride through this sand and glass along the curb or pull out into the traffic in the hope of avoiding a flat tire or a nasty fall?" Here is a list of contacts for street sweeping at each of the local jurisdictions in northern Nevada: City of...
The Bike Bill – so far…
The so called “Bike Bill” made it out of the NV Assembly Transportation Committee and now moves on to the Senate Energy, Infrastructure and Transportation Committee, thanks to the efforts of Assemblyman David Bobzien. The Nevada Bicycle Coalition authored the bill to...
2.2 billion and Nevada is a no show
Nevada bicycle facilities are not on the list of economic stimulus projects.
New Interstate Road Map Takes Shape for Bicyclists
A new interstate road map especially meant for bicyclists has been produced by a coalition of groups, including the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and the Adventure Cycling Association, which chose routes and established a route...
2008 Year in Review
Here’s what happened in northern Nevada bicycle advocacy in 2008.
Verdi’s Rude Bicyclists
Verdi CAB Meeting Motorists live in a world with very well defined rules. Two motorists can confidently approach each other with a closing speed of 150 mph and think nothing of missing each other by only a couple of feet. When a motorist encounters a pack of...
Mayberry: Change is a Challenge
Four things need to happen to make Mayberry’s 3 lane design a success: RTC needs to finish the paint and signage. Some curbs need to be painted red around Roy Gomm Elementary School and a few signs need to be installed. The flashing caution sign near Edgewater needs...
Success! But is it temporary?
Roger Jacobson, head of Kiwanis Childrens Bicycle Program, rides a new bike lane on MayberryBicyclists can't help but be pleased with themselves, the City of Reno and the RTC when they cruise in the new bike lanes on Mayberry Drive. Not only are there bike lanes but...
Mayberry Bike Lanes
Reno's most popular bike route is about to get a makeover. Mayberry Drive is by far the most popular bicycle route in the Washoe Valley. Hundreds of bicyclists use it every week, both to commute to and from work and shopping and for recreational rides to lovely Verdi....
Yin, Yang and how not to get hit by a car
Canadian Share the Road Front Originally uploaded by Terry McAfee I just got back from a week long birthday celebration in the wine country of British Columbia, Canada. It’s a wonderful place to celebrate, by the way. While on the way to a lavender farm, this Share...
The Fourth Street Commute
Lately, I bicycle a different route to work each day. I’m surveying the streets to help revise the RTC bike map of existing bike lanes. My morning commute starts before 7:00. The air is cool and the motorists are calm. This morning I found myself exploring Fourth...
Parkin’ bikes on the river
Ridin' your bike to the river to listen to some strummin' gui-tar and not having to worry about your front tire going missing...that's what summer in Reno means to me. The Reno Bike Project and the Nevada Bike Coalition were in West Street Plaza (Brick Park) last...
Free Bike Valet comes to downtown Reno!
Bikes get the valet treatment in downtown Reno this summer with the Nevada Bike Coalition and Reno Bike Project "Bike Valet" at Rollin' on the River every Friday at Wingfield Park. We'll have a safe, convenient and FREE bike corral in West Street Plaza Fridays from...
Bike to Work Day- 5/16/08
Well geeze, if you don't know that Friday May 16th is Bike to Work Day...you must be OK with the rising price of fuel and the growing expanse of your waistline. These things are not so hot in my book, so I'll be down at Papa Wheelies Friday morning , the only place in...
Goodbye Salomon, Hello Schwinn.
Wow, long time no post. But ski season is dwindling away (sniff sniff) and I can almost take the toe warmers off my cycling shoes, so its time for some bikeblogging. Now, I don't try to hide the sad fact that I'm a fair weather commuter. There are no fenders on my...
TBS is in the HOUSE!!!
Booyah! We are pleased to announce the addition of our newest member, Team Bacon Strip. Dubbed "a gaggle of dirty hippy mountain bikers" by the Minx herself, TBS has joined with NBC because, well, they do have real jobs, to which they ride at least a few times a week,...
SUCCESS!!!
At first glance one would think a room filled with top ranking law enforcement and disgruntled cyclists would quickly erupt into hysteria, but thanks to the cooperation and good intentions of everyone involved, tonight's meeting with "the chiefs" to discuss the...
Cyclist vs. Car Bias?
Are Bicyclists getting a fair shake from the police? Darren Seltzer thinks maybe not. Darren Seltzer wrote: Hello All. This email is merely a rant, there is no 'timely'/critical information, so you can delete now, or read on if you would like to know more. I was...
Level the playing field
From Bike Coalitio... In Nevada, I frequently hear that cyclists "have all of the rights and responsibilities of a motorist", with a few exceptions. This is a blessing and a curse. When two motorists crash together, one gets a "failure to yield" citation and his...
Welcome!
Welcome to the Nevada Bicycling Coalition website. We just got up and running, so look around, see what you think, and let us know how we can improve. Have fun!