Bicycle Douglas County
11/14/05 Minutes
Announcements: This past Sept. Judy Siel, Chair BDC met with Douglas County engineers and design consultant about plans for the redesign of 2 intersections- Highlands Ranch Parkway & Broadway and Highlands Ranch Parkway & University. BDC wants to maintain/improve the safety for cyclists when these intersections are revamped. This process may take ~2 years.
Bill Dailey: Natural Resource Manager for Highlands Ranch Metro Dist.
HRMD has a contact with CDOT to maintain the Centennial trail between Quebec & Santa Fe. This includes mowing, repair of eroded areas adjacent to the trail, snow removal within one day of the storm, trail sweeping, weed control adjacent to the trail & minor tree and shrub pruning. HRMD recently completed the annual inventory of trails within Highlands Ranch. Along the Centennial Trail (5.8 miles) owned by CDOT ~ 5% is classified as fair to poor (horizontal cracks >1/2” and vertical separation of the panel). These conditions result in safety hazards for pedestrians and bicyclists. HRMD feels that these segments for in poor condition and a safety liability to CDOT. HRMD would be willing to oversee the contract for concrete replacement on this trail, if CDOT provides the funding. A letter to the CDOT Maintenance supervisor was written in Oct. Bill is requesting that Bicycle Douglas County write a letter to CDOT requesting repairs. Judy Siel will be writing a letter to CDOT in support of repairing the trail with panel replacements and not just asphalt patches.
“Winter maintenance tips to keep your bike rolling”
Having a work-stand is a very helpful device when doing cleaning and maintenance at home.
In the winter inflating your tires on road bikes ~10 psi less will help get more rubber on the road when so much debris is present and improve safety on cornering. Checking each tires closely for cracks that may have small gravel or glass and then removing them before you ride will reduce flats. Ride with gloves on and then when you ride through a patch of gravel or glass put light pressure on each tire while riding will help remove most of the debris ASAP.
After your ride it is important to clean your bike, especially in CO were mag. chloride is used on the roads in the winter and is very corrosive to bikes. Starting with the wheels and tires, clean with soapy water and sponge-remove brake grime from the rims. Clean the frame and then wipe on (not spray) car wax or Armor All helps protect the finish and keeps it slick so grit won’t stick on your next ride. Clean brake pads with soapy water and toothbrush. Disc brakes can be cleaned with rubbing alcohol.
If your ride in the rain, hanging bike from a wheel or upside down will help drain water out of the frame. Tri-Flow is the best for lubing the cables when the bike is upside down, put 5-6 drops next to the housing and let gravity help it flow down to the shifters. Sliding the housing off and then drip some Tri-Flow can lube the cable near the rear derailleur and rubbing it on the cable will improve shifting. Lube pivots points on each derailleur and wipe off all excess. Don’t lube brake pivots.
Pedals need to be cleaned with soapy water and brush, especially mtn. bike style pedals. Lube the metal spring inside the pedals. LOOK pedals don’t need lube, but the cleat on your shoe-lube with a silicone lube.
Chains should not be over-lubricated. Clean with a dry rag and then use a dry lube that you can drop one drop on each link. Run the chain around several time and then wipe off any excess. If it is really dirty you can use a citrus solvent with a chain cleaning tool or remove and soak. Be sure to remove all the solvents with soapy water and then dry before re-applying lube such as Pro Link or Finish Line. Ed did not recommend White Lightening, since it comes off as soon as it gets wet and becomes gunky in cold conditions.
Winter tires such as Continental: Grand Pre 4 Season or Gatorskin are good choice for road bikes. Make sure you have the bike on the ground whenever you put your wheels back into the dropouts (to use the weight of the bike to seat the wheels all the way into proper position).
Bike Denver is trying to secure Thunderhead Training in Denver in ’06. They want to know is there are any members that want to participate in this training. Cost is $250 for the first person and $150 for other members of our group. Details of what the training includes were not available by our meeting.
Ace Hardware Safety Fair 10/8/05: Bernie Weil & Janet Slate gave a report of their time manning BDC booth and talking with people about safety.
Issues & Concerns: Expansion cracks in the concrete roadways in northern Douglas County have caused many bicycle crashes. Whenever you need to cross lanes make a deliberate direction change >30 degrees to avoid your wheel dropping into these cracks. It you are involved in a crash, law enforcement agencies are now required to accept a crash report from bicyclists, even if no cars are involved (but you must request that they fill one out). Judy will be doing some research to see if one can fill out the paperwork at a later time at the sheriff’s office.
Feel free to contact BDC at any time if there are any bike issue or concerns that we can help you resolve or get involved in researching.