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Email from Bill Weller, Advocacy Director June 22,2023
Hi All,
On Tuesday, June 20th DelDOT held a public meeting to share their current plans for bike-related paths & trails in the Lewes & Rehoboth Beach area of SR-1/Coastal Hwy, under the goal to create alternate routes for bikes to avoid SR-1. At the meeting DelDOT asked for inputs from the public on their plans, especially those projects which have more than one option being considered. In this email I'll share how to view the projects and how to provide your inputs. You, our cycling membership, have a lot of experience and I know there are opinions you'd love to share with DelDOT. Below is the way to share those views with them!
Project Summaries for:
URL: https://publicinput.com/sr1bikewaystudy#1
Survey and a pre-formatted comment form:
https://publicinput.com/sr1bikewaystudy#2
Submitting comments via email:
sr1bikewaystudy@PublicInput.com
Thanx for helping DelDOT make better biking decisions in this area!
Best regards,
Bill W
Mike documents the build process yearly with photos, lessons learned, design insights, etc. Mike will be happy to share his reports by email through is website. Here's his most current report.
Inside look of the 2023 Mike Bikes By Mike Schultz
After this week the drive sides and non drive sides will be bonded together and all the internals will be hidden.
The photos show all the parts of the front triangle. The rear triangle is at a similar stage of completion and will remain in a press for one month to maintain the S shape bending.
This particular bike (of six) is bamboo and walnut. It is one of four road bikes. Two will be gravel bikes with a heavier construction and different shape.
The road bikes will be lighter and more streamlined than last year's, comparable to a carbon fiber frame. The "lugwork" is also a new feature, added strength at the corners while allowing a lightweight taper through the centers. All metal components are aluminum which I fabricate in the shop.
Like most of you, I join cycling clubs for fitness and a healthy social activity but I'm also doing field testing and gathering feedback and tips from cycling enthusiasts like you. The goal is to build a better bike. Bikes that will last generations, that combine art and engineering, that will appreciate in value like a Stradivarius or a Martin guitar, that draw carbon from the atmosphere not add to it.
A bamboo industry is blooming in the USA and hopefully I won't have to rely on imports in the future. This is visionary.
It ain't just another bike, Mike Euilly5 bikes of Lewes, Delaware, USA
This year's Sussex Cyclists/DelDot Bike Safety checkpoints will run from June through August at various locations around Lewes and Rehoboth Beach. Each checkpoint will be posted separately on the Sussex Cyclists calendar for volunteers to register. The full schedule from DelDot may be viewed here.
We're always looking for volunteers! No special skills are required. Activities may include distributing bicycle safety literature, making minor adjustments to bicycles, installing lights or reflective tape and giving out helmets.
Local Artist, Renata Price will be showing her oil paintings at the Camp Rehoboth Gallery during the month of July. The show will be open during regular Camp Rehoboth hours starting on July 5 and will run through the end of the month. There will be an artist’s reception at the gallery on July 22 from 4 to 6 p.m. This is Renata’s first one woman show. It is entitled, “The Beauty Around Us through Color, Shape and Shadow". She will be applying her traditional “Old Masters” style to a variety of subjects. Renata Price lives in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Her work has been exhibited throughout the area. She trained at the Art League of Alexandria Virginia and has made good use of the many training opportunities online. Art has been a lifelong passion of Renata’s as she was raised in a home adorned with the works of her artist mother and grandmother. Her work is very detail oriented reflecting her background as an engineer. She is also fascinated by complex shadows and reflections which are often a central characteristic of her work. Her goal is for her paintings to be hyper-realistic reflecting scenes as she thinks they would be in a more perfect world. She draws inspiration from a variety of sources and does not turn away from any interesting subject. You can see Renata’s new works for the show on her website at https://www.renataprice.com/page-3/. She can be reached at email: renataprice@me.com.
Email from Bill Weller, Advocacy Director June 16,2023
There is a lot of bikeway & trails news to share. Here is my summary from the two DelDOT meetings I attended this week that related to our trails and my subsequent discussions. The two meetings were the Five Points Working Group Annual Report meeting and the joint Lewes Bike Plan and Georgetown Lewes Trail update. The highlights are:
Georgetown Lewes Trail
Lewes Bike Plan
Separate from these meetings I've learned that the start of construction for the expansion of the Junction & Breakwater Trail around the Wolfe Neck Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility has been delayed for at least another 18 months due to complications at the site. A little bit of the history can be found in this article in the Cape Gazette: https://www.capegazette.com/article/dnrec-completes-design-new-trail-wolfe-neck-area-trail/200625
Last, the bike detour on SR-1 around the SR-16 intersection overpass construction won’t come down until the overpass construction is complete (~1.5 to 2 more years). This is part of Bicycle Route 1 and makes it a longer ride from the south to get to places like Prime Hook National Refuge, Slaughter Beach, etc.
I'll miss the DelDOT meeting next week on the SR-1 Low Stress Bikeway Study on Tuesday, June 20 as I'll be out of town. I hope many of you can still attend and provide input from the perspective of cyclists! The details are at: https://deldot.gov/About/publicevents/workshops/index.shtml?dc=workshop&id=17083
Remember the sunblock and/or sun sleeves. Safe riding everyone!
Thank You to All Who Rode or Volunteered for Wheels For Meals on Saturday, June 3, 2023
Our second annual joint fundraising event ride co-sponsored with Meals On Wheels Lewes-Rehoboth was an another success with 115 registrants participating without incident in a safe and enjoyable ride that included five routes 10 mile "family friendly", 15 mile, 40 mile and the Sussex Metric and Sussex Century distances.
Thank you to the 37 Sussex Cyclists Riders and 33 Club Volunteers (flyer distribution, route marking, truck loading and unloading and “day of” support) whose participation made it a success
Mike Savage
Captain, Team Sussex Cyclists
Bill Gorodetzer
Chair, Wheels For Meals 2023
The newly formed SUSSEX CYCLISTS SOCIAL COMMITTEE met on May 16 and June 7. The committee includes John Kurpjuweit, Allen Segal, Diane Daly, Heidi Lerch, and Denny Shook.
Planning began for the upcoming Club Picnic and Paddle on Aug 16, and a 20 Year Anniversary Dinner in October. Several also fun events were also discussed. They meet again at the end of June.
Thanks for your hard work. We're all looking forward to more fun without helmets!
Group pic of the participants who rode from Sussex County and New Castle County to Dover. For additional pics taken at Legislative Mall that I received from John Fiori at DelDOT click on https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjADgHv.
Thank you to the 14 riders who rode on May 10th and my hope that many others will join us next year for the 2024 Legislators ride on May 8th. Kudos to co-ride leader Jim Wagner for coordinating riders starting from Milford and sweeping on our ride to Dover.
We rode as one group - Milton and Milford riders- on the way up to Dover at an average moving speed of 15.2 mph per my Garmin 1030 - spot on to our 15+/- mph target.
Our efforts and numbers (exceeding for the first time the North Group who rode from New Castle County to Dover) were recognized by the event organizers, in remarks from both Delaware State Senator David Sokola, President Pro Tempore (who was the Prime Sponsor of the Delaware Bicycle Friendly Act) and John Bare (a former competitive cyclist, Bicycle Friendly State Coordinator and Board Member of Bike Delaware). Both rode with the North Group. For the return leg, we agreed to split into different ride groups, based on ride speed (20 to 14.6 mph was reported). Total distances were 73+/- miles round trip from Milton and 48+/- miles round trip from Milford. The distance was long for an early spring ride but it was another safe and enjoyable ride for all who participated!
Here’s the link to additional pics taken at Legislative Mall that I received from John Fiori at DelDOT: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjADgHv Bill bgorodetzer@yahoo.com
SAVE THE DATE - Wednesday, May 8, 2024 - Annual Legislators Ride
Club Members Renata Price, Eddie Gross, and David Levy participated as Team Sussex Cyclists in the five-day Israel Ride riding from Jerusalem to Eilat for a combined 874 miles and 39,794 feet of climb to raise money for two important organizations promoting environmental protection in Israel, throughout the Middle East and the United States.
With the generosity of friends and family, their pedaling supporting crucial work towards a more sustainable, equitable, and peaceful world for all has raised money to support The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies located in southern Israel and Hazon, the largest faith-based environmental organization in the U.S.
They raised $16,698 (exceeding their goal of $12,600),- the 12th highest among 25 teams. All 192 riders, virtual riders and fundraising participants raised a total of $1,063,716 exceeding the 2022 Israel Ride goal of $1,000,000.
Thank you for your support.
Renata, Eddie, and David
Interested in participating in the 2023 Israel Ride (October 24-30)? (Click here)
Check out this series of observations and photos from Sussex Cyclists member and assistant Club Ride Leader Mike Schultz.
Each weekly post usually tells a story about how he spent the days in his (way out-of-area) rides in Thailand. Read about his bike rides, cycling companions and thoughts about the food and people he's met.
Mike left for Thailand in mid-January and we look forward to him collecting many safe and enjoyable miles while he's not a flatlander any more. When he returns in early April , we look forward to him telling us "all" about his adventures in a far away land and on a commercial bicycle he wouldn't be caught riding on one of our Club Group Rides!
Mike's message from Thailand: Good luck to all in Sussex and keep riding.
1/20/23 - In the Beginning
Totally settled in here at a guesthouse on the beach with all amenities 300 dollars a month. Luxury for me. The second hand Richert bicycle I bought from an overweight Dutchman for 100 dollars needed work but it may serve well. [See right panel for Mike's self described opinion - "My trusty, rusty, crappy Richart junk bike. How I miss my bamboo."
I've been going out on group rides with Jomtien Cycling Club 3-4 times a week. Brutal! We leave town in darkness 6:15 am sharp and make our way into the surrounding hills. The obstacles are quite surprising, packs of wandering feral dogs, water buffaloes, mendicant monks, tuk-tuks, street vendors, maybe an elephant or two.........Read More from Mike
[Editors Note: The 13th and final installment (4/3/23) of Mike's adventure is now posted - welcome home, Mike!]
Mike’s first ride on his wooden frame eBike (taken during a Monday Group Paved Trail/Road Ride
from Dewey Beer-Harbeson, Summer 2022 )
Mike’s “Thai” Bike he acquired soon after arriving in Thailand for $100 (January 2023)
["My trusty, rusty, crappy Richart junk bike.
How I miss my bamboo."]
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