When The Great Vision Iowa Debate was on, way back in 2008, Max Weaver was praised and the city council was patted mightily on the back for coming up with a “compromise” which would cut costs and still allow the fair city of Mason City to collect the coin and improve the place.  Everything always looks better when one believes they had something to do with it doesn’t it?  Weaver called it Plan B, and since the council themselves came up with the idea, they went right ahead and approved Plan B unanimously. 

Normally, I would treat this as my dog treats trees, by pissing on it and walking away, but there was something in Plan B that caught my eye: “6. Bike trails, paths, Willow Creek development removed from project.” (Globe Gazette 10/10/2008). 

Always the first to go isn’t it?  Actually, it was sixth.  Still, nobody seemed to mind. 

Just as nobody seemed to mind when a young man last month limped around after staying home for a week from school.  When I asked him what was wrong, he told me he had been riding his bike to school and a car hit him. 

Same as nobody seemed to mind when a young lady was riding her bike home from the swimming pool and was clipped by the mirror of a minivan.  After that she needed skin grafts to replace the skin the pavement, and the woman in the minivan had taken from her. 

One could go on and on, and I imagine if you’re reading this blog right now you’re a bit of a bike enthusiast, therefore you know someone who has experienced something similar or have experienced something similar yourself.  I shudder to think of the numbers of cyclists, young and old, who have been in those kinds of accidents that nobody, other than those involved, knows about.  I bet if all of those kinds of accidents were reported it would be staggering to know how dangerous our streets are, for motorists and cyclists alike. 

When I was a kid it was tough to find a spot on the bike rack to lock my Robinson BMX bike because it was always full.  Every kid rode their bike to school if they didn’t ride the bus or walk.  Now, instead of a full bike rack we have a clogged entrances and exits in front of schools, with SUVs and minivans backed up all the way down the street and angry parents idling away waiting to drive their kids the few blocks back home every day.  A parent needs to show up at least 30 minutes before the final bell rings to get a “good spot”. 

 

It’s no wonder parents are picking their kids up from school every day; there isn’t a safe way for a kid to get to school!  For example, look for a sidewalk around Mason City High School, or John Adams.  There is only one, on one side of the road.  But as any good cyclist knows, sidewalks aren’t all that safe anyways, but that still doesn’t help anyone because Mason City doesn’t have a single bike line or sharrows anywhere in the entire town.  Nobody really seems to mind though. 

On the other side of the coin, there are progressive, growing cities around us developing their bicycle infrastructure and being recognized and praised for their work, like West Des Moines, Iowa City, Ames, and Cedar Falls.  Cities like that are bringing in new businesses and young families like Mason City is building retirement homes.  There’s more.  Cities throughout the country are working overtime to encourage people to ride bicycles and they’re being rewarded for their work in the form of, well, young people actually living there. 

I realize I’m no city planner, I also realize I’m little late to be entering The Great Vision Iowa Debate, but maybe with our new council members and new mayor, we can start to look at these things a little differently.  Then maybe kids will be able to ride their bikes to school without being nearly killed.  Then maybe more than two young people will want to live here.  Then maybe someone will mind. 

Now go ride your bike. 

-Henry Thompson, Jr.