It’s time again for the annual Wildlife 100 sponsored by Wildlife Cycles on Orcas Island! Come one come all and help support Orcas Rec!
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Beth and I were featured today on one of my favourite blogs, The Path Less Pedaled! Driving back to town from the ferry landing today, I saw these guys on the road. Four in all, one of which had medium sized panniers, backpack, and one of those green three or four burner Coleman stoves bungied to his rear rack… ouch! They must have been going to Moran State Park, another fifteen minutes by car and up a long steep grade… even by car standards. Clearly they didn’t know what they were getting into, and all this on a day when the temperature index was almost 80 F. I can’t imagine they had to much fun biking. Anyone call for a chiropractor?! Letter I sent today to the Bicycle Alliance of Washington: “Greetings from Beautiful Orcas Island! I am writing to ask for help and guidance on how to start bicycle activism in my community. I am a novice cyclist living on Orcas Island which is a regular cycle tourist destination and home to many other cyclists. As many know Orcas Island attracts cyclists from all over the world because it is part of the beautiful San Juan Islands, is the largest of these islands, gives incredible views of the San Juans from atop of Mt Constitution, because it’s many inns, B&Bs, and camping in Moran State Park, and because of it’s proximity of other popular San Juan Islands to tour. What many others may also know is that Orcas Island is a very bicycle unfriendly island with narrow and rough roads, heavy traffic (during the spring and summer months especially), and general contempt for cyclist which is mostly caused by a misunderstanding of cyclists by many in the community and the fact that cyclists often have no where to go when faced with approaching motorists.
A couple of years ago in talking with county road planners I was surprised to find out that not only does Orcas plan not to widen the local roads (thereby creating a de facto bike lane) to relieve congestion and make biking on the roads here safer but they also plan to narrow some of the roads. I was told by an Orcas road planner that their research suggests that traffic tends to slow down when roads get narrower and speed up when they are widened. In my opinion this is a dangerous plan and this “research” I fear was done without thinking about bikers or any population increase. As both a biker and a professional driver, I see over and over again, extremely hazardous situations which at times leaves me very socked that there are not more accidents involving bicycles versus autos or more fatalities on the island caused by what I see as the county’s narrow vision. As a volunteer EMT and firefighter I have had the chance to speak to many others I serve with who also agree that Orcas Island is a very dangerous place to bike. During the summer time this danger is compounded by the fact that the island’s population swells nearly five times that of its year around population and add to that that the many tourists who only bike a couple times a year, don’t know the rules of the road, and who then come to Orcas Island an place often unfamiliar to newcomers putting them at an even greater risk. I’ve seen my share of close calls and locals (and visitors) with aggressive attitudes toward tourists and bikers. Again, I believe the main culprit is the misunderstanding and frustration caused by these road conditions.
I would like help and guidance to start some sort of program/legislation to get the county to add bicycle lanes to over 25 miles of road on Orcas Island.“
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