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Elkridge residents try to put brakes on mountain bike course


By Kellie Woodhouse


Elkridge residents Wednesday showed dozens of seasoned mountain bikers that they’re not the only ones who can master the attack position, an alert stance bikers use when they ride through rocky terrain.

Members of Mid-Atlantic Off Road Enthusiasts, a mountain biking advocacy group, and the county’s Department of Recreation and Parks want to built a one-acre mountain bike skills course at Rockburn Branch Park, in Elkridge.

But residents who border the park are concerned about the increased traffic and illegal activity they fear will follow.

The two groups debated the issue at a meeting Wednesday at the department’s headquarters on Oakland Mills Road held by the Recreation and Parks Advisory Board.

MORE members say that course will be a family-oriented area with beginner and immediate level tracks that will allow bikers to improve their skills. The course, they say, will be built and maintained with grants and money from MORE.

“This is a place where you can sit in the shade, see your children working on their bike skills,” said MORE representative Melanie Nystrom, whose two young children are mountain bikers.

But Nystrom and her fellow mountain bikers faced some strong, unexpected opposition from neighbors who aren’t convinced the county has considered the impact the course could have on Rockburn, a park they say is already overburdened with visitors on weekends.

They say park visitors speed down their streets and park on their curbs, and that bikers often use residential yards to illegally access the park after dark.

Elkridge residents also complained that the county did not inform them of the public meeting.

“We definitely feel that this has been swept under the rug. As residents that border that park, nothing was done to try
to let us know what has been proposed,” said Elkridge resident Yvonne Rawleigh, who said she found out about the meeting by chance three days earlier. “We have major issues with the population already in Rockburn Park.”

Parks department Director John Byrd said the county is not required to notify residents of the meeting or even to hold a public meeting on the issue.

“Mountain biking is a serious trend,” Byrd said. “This is an opportunity for us to embrace it.”

Elkridge resident Steven Rawleigh said the park already has issues with illegal drug activity, which he fears will get worse if the skills course is constructed.

Other residents say they are concerned about rainwater run-off increasing watershed at Rockburn Creek.

“My concern is about the process that was used,” said Elkridge resident Katherine Taylor. “The policy decisions behind this project, the cost involved —the intangible and unknown costs — the environment, what benefit there will be to the Howard County residents (and) the draw that this will bring to Rockburn Park.

“I have no doubt that MORE... will make this a state-of-the art facility, it’s just not appropriate for where it’s proposed to be.”

But mountain bikers at the meeting — who outnumbered opponents — said Rockburn Park was the perfect location for such a venue.

North Laurel resident Todd Plunkett, a mountain biker, said he’s “always looking” for places to improve his skills.

“To have the ability to be with my family at the skills park... I can’t even imagine it,” he said excitedly.

Elkridge resident Delos Dupree said he learned to mountain bike on a bumpy trail, without any training. As a result, Dupree said he’s taken many mud dives and suffered several injuries.

“We found out by trial and error, I think it would be a great blessing for the younger generation not to go through the pain and suffering that we had to,” he said.

He also reminded the panel and opponents of the idea behind public parks.

“The Howard County park system is for everybody, it’s not for people who abut next to it,” he said. “Just because you live there, it doesn’t make it your backyard.”

Ellicott City real estate agent and mountain biker Matt Zielinski likened the complaints to some of his clients’.

“They want to buy a house on the golf course, but then they complain when they find golf balls in their backyard,” he said. “It seems like you don’t want to share (Rockburn Park) with anybody else.”

By the end of the meeting, some residents appeared willing to compromise with the bikers, and vice versa.

“This is something that we can do together, instead of trying to be adversarial with each other,” Zielinski said.

The advisory board said it would schedule an additional meeting to discuss the matter.

Comments on the plan can be sent to:
Department of Recreation and Parks
John Byrd, director
7120 Oakland Mills Rd.
Columbia, MD 21046-1621
email: Jbyrd@howardcountymd.gov

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Pedestrian safety ads feature damage to cars, not people


I like the new Street Smart campaign over the last one but Adam Lewis over at Great Greater Washington disagrees "Everyone should follow traffic safety laws, but the idea that it's only the car that gets damaged in a pedestrian accident defies logic." As if it's better to show only the pedestrian getting damaged and imply that a driver of an automobile can simply scape off the carnage like a bug and then be on their merry way,

I seriously doubt that as the results of these ads pedestrians and bicyclists will suddenly feel they are made of stronger stuff then a car but maybe motorists might just get the idea that if they do hit someone they are going to suffer some consequences as well. And maybe that idea might do some good.

But I have to seriously ask why are no stakeholders involved in commenting on this campaign? This cover two metropolitan areas, 81% of the pedestrian fatalities and 78% of the state's population. I would link a little more input would be sought for such a large area.

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Baltimore County budding inventors show off their projects


Necessity is the mother of invention.

"It was raining and I wanted to ride my bike," said Friends School fifth-grader Renee Audette, explaining how she came to invent "Dry With 2 Wheels," a combination of a bicycle, an umbrella and a shower curtain.

Renee, of Cedarcroft, is a student in Lisa Filer's fifth-grade science class, which held its annual Inventors' Fair March 8 on the Charles Street campus.
In hopes of riding in the rain, Renee affixed a black umbrella to the handlebars of her bike and a sheer shower curtain around the outside of the rim of the umbrella.
Why a shower curtain?

"It was the only material I could think of," she said March 4, coming out of her music class to show off her bike as other science students put the finishing touches on their inventions.
...

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Bike UMD - Bike Freindly & Bike clinics


Bike Maryland Bike Symposium
by Beverly M.

John Brandt and I went to the Bike Maryland Bike Symposium yesterday in Annapolis. We were excited to hear that the University of Maryland, Baltimore County also applied for the League of American Bicyclists Bicycle Friendly University Award. Andy Clarke, president of the LAB was the keynote speaker. He reiterated that the key message today is biking for transportation.
...
<a href="http://bikeumd.wordpress.com/2011/02/23/bike-maryland-bike-symposium/">http://bikeumd.wordpress.com/2011/02/23/bike-maryland-bike-symposium/</a>;

Spring Bike Clinics
by Beverly M.

Spring is here! Time to get your bike in shape! Head over to the Campus Bike Shop in Cole Field House for free maintenance clinics.

Spring 2011 Bike Shop Clinics
Fridays, 4pm – FREE
[various topics]
<a href="http://bikeumd.wordpress.com/2011/02/21/spring-bike-clinics/">http://bikeumd.wordpress.com/2011/02/21/spring-bike-clinics/</a>;
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Howard County Police Department Best Practice on Aggressive Driving


Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space reports on one of the presenters at the Bike Maryland Symposium Howard County Chief of Police William McMahon. I will highlight something I would like to see other jurisdictions adopt:

While there is a high standard of evidence required for the police to be able to write a ticket or charge someone with a crime if a police officer did not witness the incident, the Howard County Police Department encourages people to report acts of aggressive driving involving cars, pedestrians, or bicyclists.

They will send a letter to the owner of the vehicle stating that (1) a report was made; (2) concerning the vehicle and a particular illegal act; (3) the consequences from acting in this fashion; and (4) an &quot;apology&quot; if this report was made in error.

They send out over 300 letters each month.

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CARROLL COUNTY POLICE CHARGE BALTO. DEPUTY AFTER ‘ROAD RAGE’ INCIDENT NEAR HAMPSTEAD


— I.V. Staff report

Cyclist admits flipping off officer — two times;
says deputy illegally passed him on Md. Rte. 30

DEPUTY CHARGED WITH ASSAULT; CYCLIST NOT

A Baltimore City Sheriff’s Office deputy has been charged with assault after allegedly pointing his gun at a motorcyclist who made an obscene gesture toward him on Maryland Rte. 30 in Carroll County, the Carroll County Times reported this weekend.

The motorcylist told police the deputy pointed his gun at him after the cyclist had flipped the deputy off — twice.

According to online court records, the deputy, Michael Savage, 38, of the 7900 block of Galloping Circle in Baltimore, is charged with two counts each of first-degree assault, second-degree assault and reckless endangerment, and was released on his own recognizance.

The “road rage” incident occurred just after 5 p.m. Thursday, south of Maryland Rte. 91.

As reported by the Times, the motorcyclist — who was not identified — told investigators he made “an obscene gesture” when Savage’s van “illegally passed him” on the highway and then repeated the gesture as they approached a traffic circle.

Whereupon the deputy “pointed a black handgun at him and made a motion as if the gun had been fired, according to court documents.”

Hampstead (Carroll County) police officers subsequently stopped the van and identified the driver as Savage, according to the Times.

“Savage was wearing his Baltimore Sheriff's Office uniform and carrying a .40-caliber Glock handgun with one round in the chamber and 14 in the magazine, according to court documents,” the Times reported.

“The gun was determined by investigators to be the one Savage had been issued as a sheriff's deputy.

“Savage told police the motorcycle had been driving below the posted speed limit and the driver had motioned him to go around. He denied pointing his weapon at the man.”

Reached by Times Staff Writer Ryan Marshall by telephone Friday, Savage “declined to comment,” Marshall said.

Savage's wife, who was in the van but had not been paying attention, she said, told police she did not see her husband point the gun.


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Mountain Biking Skills Park Community Meeting Wednesday February 23rd 6:30 - 8:30 pm


Howard County Cyclists;
Over a year ago BAHC and MORE (Mid-Atlantic Off-Road Enthusiasts) met with representatives from Howard County Rec &amp; Parks and discussed the possibility of creating a Mountain Bike Skills Park/course at Rockburn Branch Park off Landing Road in Elkridge. After a great deal of hard work by Melanie Nystrom of MORE to gain final administrative and legal approval, MORE and RAP are ready to begin work on final design and construction schedule. A meeting is being held at Race Pace Bicycles on Oakland Mills Rd (off Snowden River) from 6:30- 8:30pm on Wednesday Feb 23rd – details below. The Skills Park is intended to provide a training venue with obstacles and challenges for beginner, intermediate and advance mountain bikers. Present at the meeting will be a consultant from the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) who will discuss trail and obstacle options and design ideas.

Please pass this to all Clubs and any mountain bikers you know. MORE and the County will be sharing the significant cost of building this facility and it is in our interest to ensure that cycling community inputs are provided to them. Whether you can attend or not please consider donating to MORE’s fund to defray the design and materials cost for the Skills Park. A Donate button is on the MORE Rockburn site:
<a href="http://www.more-mtb.org/index.php?page=RockburnSkillsArea">http://www.more-mtb.org/index.php?page=RockburnSkillsArea</a>;

Much of the actual construction will be done by MORE volunteers, so when a schedule has firmed up I’ll be putting more word out on when and how to volunteer.

Jack


Jack Guarneri

President Bicycling Advocates of Howard County

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Baltimore County intersections that flunk the test


When you talk about intersections that have a failing grade in the Level Of Service (it takes more then one cycle of the light to get all waiting traffic through.) Is the problem really that of not enough capacity for single occupancy vehicles or not enough travel options?

In particular the following highlights Harford Road and Putty Hill Avenue $1 million widening project makes no mention of bicycle improvements. Traditionally in Maryland intersections rarely get bicycle improvements unless there is already mid-block bicycle improvements. I seriously have to question this unstated policy on several grounds:

1) State law says in part: &quot;best engineering practices regarding the needs of bicycle riders and pedestrians shall be employed in all phases of transportation planning, including highway design, construction, reconstruction, and repair as well as expansion and improvement of other transportation facilities;&quot; It does not exclude intersection only projects.

2) AASHTO has best engineering practices for both intersections as well as mid-block for the needs of bicyclists.

3) Personally I like having a place to ride/wait to the left of right turning traffic and a separate lane after the light to get up to speed and gracefully and cooperatively merge with traffic when it's a more spaced out then trying to hold my own in accelerating with densely packed 200 horsepower killing machines that have been trained to &quot;need&quot; making it through the light as fast as possible.

4) A standard capacity adding treatment for intersections is the &quot;Lexis Lane&quot;. This puts a short additional lane on the right just before and just after the intersection that allows motorists to jump the queue. Let me emphasize that this is in no way bicycle friendly, mixing the most heavy footed motorists with bicyclists, not good at all.

5) I will strongly assert that congested roads have a degree of bike friendliness to them and adding short spurts of high speed car travel negatively impacts on the needs of bicyclists in violation of State law. And typical capacity improvements at intersections are NOT neutral for bicyclists. It is not going from no bicycle accommodations to no bicycle accommodations it is going from bicyclists mixing with slow speed motorists to bicycles mixing with high speed impatient motorists.

6) I will strongly recommend bicycle &quot;pocket lanes&quot; to the left of right turn only lanes and at least a bicycle friendly shoulder after the intersection. And strongly oppose &quot;Lexis Lanes&quot; on roads that cyclists typically use (no viable well used alternative bicycling route exists.)

I will double check with Baltimore County to see if an alert is in order, in the meantime keep a watchful eye out for other intersection &quot;improvements&quot; and make sure the needs of bicyclists are meet.

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Police search for help in fatal hit-and-run


From Baltimore Sun:

imageBaltimore County police are asking for help in locating a car and a suspect in one of two fatal hit-and-run accidents that occurred over the weekend.

One claimed the life of Cindy Feldstein, who worked as an assistant to the state's chief medical examiner. The other claimed the life of Jason Cheslik, who was hit by a van on Hazelwood Avenue about a mile from his Overlea home. He accident occurred shortly after 2 a.m. Sunday.

Here is a picture from the police of a van believed to be similar to the one involved in the accident. Police say they do not know the color of the van.

Here are some more details from police:

The Baltimore County Police Department is asking for the public’s assistance in locating the driver of a vehicle involved in a fatal hit-and-run accident that occurred at Hazelwood Avenue and Emelia Avenue, 21206 on February 13.

At approximately 2:04 a.m., pedestrian Jason Cheslik, 29, walked out between two parked cars on Hazelwood Avenue and was struck by a passing vehicle. The driver of that vehicle failed to stop after the accident and continued east on Hazelwood Avenue. Mr. Cheslik was transported to Franklin Square Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.  

At this time, police have no information about the driver of the suspect vehicle. However, the suspect vehicle is described as a 2004 to 2008 Ford Econoline. The color of the vehicle is unknown. The Econoline may have damage to the front end and the left headlight areas. A photograph of a similar vehicle is attached.  

Anyone with information about the driver’s identification or location of the vehicle is asked to call Baltimore County Police at 410-307-2020 or Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7-LOCKUP (1-866-756-2587). To text a message to Metro Crime Stoppers, send to "CRIMES" (274637), then enter the message starting with "MCS," or e-mail a tip to www.metrocrimestoppers.org. Those contacting Metro Crime Stoppers can remain anonymous and might be eligible for a cash reward of up to $2,000.

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