Information

The West Dowling Road extension project is currently taking comments.

At first glance, the schematics for the project look pretty good for bicyclists

and pedestrians. There is a 6 foot wide shoulder and a multi-use path.

The shoulder however WILL NOT be striped as a bike lane if DOT gets its way.

DOT is asserting that they will not paint bike lanes unless the Municipality

agrees to maintain the on-road bike lane painted striping and markings.

However, DOT has no such requirements for the other on-road stripings for

the motor vehicle lanes. This is a DOT project and a DOT maintained road.

Federal Department of Transportation policy set out by

Secretary LaHood that requires state DOTs to treat bicycle and pedestrian

transportation equal with motor vehicle transportation.

You can learn more about the project here and
http://www.dowlhkm.com/projects/wdowlingroad/home.htm

Submit your comments here. They can be brief. Just let them know they need to

include bike lanes. DOT has already stated that they haven’t heard from many

folks on this project. Lets change that!

http://www.dowlhkm.com/projects/wdowlingroad/Comments.htm .

Bicycle Commuters of Anchorage

{Note: Original message has been slightly edited by the ABC to be more informational in nature}

Just a reminder that next weekend is the Arctic Bike Club’s Annual Bike Swap.

It is at the AT&T Sports Complex behind Alaska Club South, in the building immediately north of the O’Malley Sports Center Hockey Rink (between the Hockey Rink and Alaska Club).

Addresss: 11051 O’Malley Centre Drive, Anchorage, AK

Arctic Bike Club 2010 Bike Swap

Alaska Randonneurs,

Rando-Info night will be at the Anchorage REI this Tuesday, 4/6 at 6:00PM.
http://www.rei.com/event/3777/session/4448

Bob Voris (PBP ancien ‘99) and I will introduce you to the basics of riding brevets. If you’re new to randonneuring, Rando Info Night will help get you started. We’ll cover all the basics, such as: Rules, French Words, History, Riding Styles, Contrôles, Brevet Cards, Equipment, Nutrition, Training, and more. There will be plenty of time for questions too.

The Kenai 200K brevet is coming right up. It’s a wonderful course, a great season-opener, and the flattest one on the calendar. It’s early in the season for Alaska riders, but if you can ride 100K at this point, you most likely can roll for 200K.

If you’ve never made the effort to ride the Kenai roads, you’re really missing out. The course is stunningly scenic and varied, and the roads are very low traffic; at least until the fish start running in July. If you’re aiming to ride the Clean-Air, the Eklutna Challenge, the Fireweed, etc. come join us for some high-quality training miles. Last year’s brevet attracted riders from Homer, the Mat Valley, and Anchorage, as well as local Kenai riders.

All the ride information for the Kenai 200K brevet, including links to the course map, cue-sheet, start time/location, etc., may be found at:
http://sites.google.com/site/alaskarandonneurs/Home/north-kenai-peninsula-200k-brevet

Last spring, the Redoubt Reporter did two nice articles about our Peninsula rides. Check ‘em out:
http://redoubtreporter.wordpress.com/2009/04/29/letting-it-ride-—-

this year’s 2010 brevet schedule. We’ve got more rides than ever this year! Remember, August 2011 is PBP.

RUSA’s advice to those aspiring to do PBP in 2011: Ride an full Super Randonneur (200, 300, 400, 600) series in 2010 if you can, or a part of one. It’s good training and will provide a fitness baseline for 2010 upon which you can build on in 2011. Try not to stress out, just do your rides, have fun with them and relax. Or, as the French might say, “Gardez vôtre sang-froid”.

4/17/10 Kenai 200K
5/1/10 Homer “End-of-the-Road” 200K
5/16/10 Matanuska Valley 200K
5/22/10 Anchorage/Palmer/Anchorage 300K
5/29/10 Denali Hwy 200K/300K (in conjunction w/ Alaska Endurance Association’s “Denali Classic”)
6/5/10 Anch/Seward/Anch 200K/400K
6/13/10 Bread & Water populaire 100K
6/19/10 Gakona/Delta Junction/Tok 200K/400K/600K
7/17/10 Denali Dirt Road Randonnée 200K/300K
8/7/10 “PBP” Nord populaire 100K
8/28/10 “PBP” Sud populaire 100K
9/11/10 Glennallen/Chitna/Glennallen 200K
9/18/10 Chugiak/Talkeetna/Chugiak 300K

Here’s the link to the Brevet Calendar on the website:
http://sites.google.com/site/alaskarandonneurs/Home/2010-brevet-schedule

And, we’re having 2 “Rando-Info” nights at REI:
4/13 6:00PM
5/11 6:00PM

Kevin Turinsky
RUSA RBA - Alaska
907-317-6030
http://alaskarandonneurs.blogspot.com/
http://sites.google.com/site/alaskarandonneurs/Home
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=60334356017&ref=ts
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