86. The State of Cycling in San Antonio

[00:00:00] Bob Rivard: Welcome to big city, small town, the weekly podcast, all about San Antonio and the people who make it go and grow. I'm your host, Bob Rivard. This week's guests are Jeffrey Moore, a senior management analyst with the city's office of emergency management and the founder in 2013 of the SATX social ride held every Tuesday in the city's urban core routinely attracting hundreds of local cyclists for an evening ride and social gathering.

And Mitchell Keel, a city of San Antonio firefighter and avid cyclist who leads a community of riders who track their performance on the Strava app, which you'll learn more about in a minute. Well, Jeff and Mitch, welcome to big city, small town. Thanks for having us here. And a conversation about the state of cycling in San Antonio is another year comes to an end.

And we eagerly await, by the way, the city's comprehensive safe cycling master plan. Which is on the drawing board and which will replace a similar effort completed in 2011, but never fully implemented. We'll talk about that in a little bit, but first let's introduce ourselves to our listeners. 

Jeffrey Moore's Journey with SATX Social Ride
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[00:01:07] Bob Rivard: And Jeff, why don't we start with you and how you came to cycling and creating the S A T X social ride?

[00:01:13] Jeffrey Moore: Sure. Um, I've been cycling all my life, you know, like most. Kids who grew up in the 60s and 70s. I moved downtown around 2000 downtown. I say it's almost Park Terrace So four miles exactly from Maine Plaza and I started riding just by accident one day and I found out it was really a blast I was introduced early on probably 2002 2003 to the bike world group that would ride out on Thursday nights from the bike world on Alamo Heights.

I remember that ride. It's a lot of fun 70 80 90 maybe a hundred riders that would take People through Alamo Heights, through across the dam, through Almas Park, down into town and back. It was a really wild time. Um, that was going on Thursday nights. And, you know, I got more bored than just one night a week.

And I started writing for my house on Wednesdays and Tuesdays. I invited friends and before you know it, it got too big to be hosted at the house. And so, I, I started meeting people at the Pearl on, on Tuesday nights. We started calling it the Tuesday Night Bike Club. At that time, the Pearl was an empty construction site, mostly, with, uh, I think Green Restaurant and maybe Cured were there.

What year was this, Jeff? 2011, 2010 maybe. I think the only development downtown was the 1221 on Broadway. That was about the only New living kind of facility downtown. So riding through downtown back then was like going through an empty movie set at night. You saw more bikes than cars, and that hadn't happened, you know, until recently during the pandemic when it was exactly the same thing.

But 2010, you know, 2011, 2012, downtown was a pretty empty place at night, and it was a paradise for for cyclists. Uh, and that that group. Suzy Night Bike Club. By just word of mouth, people seeing it, it started growing. It was 30 people, it was 60 people, it was 100 people. I think it was 2013, 2014, we changed the name to S A T X, Social Ride, to kind of change it from a club vibe to just a ride.

And we put it on social media, I believe, in 2013, 2014, and then it kind of grew quite a bit. Probably the biggest years was 2018 2019 when we were rolling, we were averaging 200 riders a Tuesday and sometimes that would swell on a really nice evening to over 300 riders. I think 350 was, 370 was our largest group ever and back during those times we had a lot of volunteers and a lot of organizational skills that were going into that.

We were using walkie talkie apps to communicate from front to back, to communicate with uh, The volunteers and the mechanics, we sometimes would even have a SAG vehicle, and we'd take 300 people from, say, Burlington Yard Beer Garden to, uh, St. Mary's. That's on the east side. On the east side of downtown.

That's your, that's your starting point. Starting point. To St. Mary's University and back, so about a 14, 15 mile round trip with that many people. Uh, along with kids in trailers, with dogs in backpacks and trailers, it was, it's kind of a, a rolling show, you know. And people of all different skills. And 

[00:04:10] Bob Rivard: then people would gather at Burleson Yard afterwards for a beer and some social 

[00:04:15] Jeffrey Moore: interaction.

Social interaction is a big part of it. And I found through the years that's a huge part of it is bringing people together. And the stories that they tell, and just the therapeutic value of socializing people that maybe wouldn't socialize in the regular walk of life. But, um Getting people to talk, getting people to interact is just as important as going on that bike ride.

[00:04:34] Bob Rivard: The event has incredible energy. I see it every week. I've been out on my bike in it before, but mostly I see it from my front porch, where everybody's cruising by our street, lighted bikes and lots of conversations going on, some music. Music makes just a lot of energy. It seems to be a really positive thing for people to get out and recreate and network and interact on their bikes in a safe, relatively safe fashion.

Um, I'm curious how you really move that many people around Jeff and you work for the city. I wonder whether or not the bike patrol or other law enforcement worries about the size of your group and whether or not you have to have police on bicycles with you to help 

[00:05:11] Jeffrey Moore: or actually even a parade permit. I think if they wanted to enforce.

The laws that, uh, address things like that, they could have shut us down years ago, um, and I think they've seen that we've done due diligence and to go all the way back, 2012, we did get pulled over for, uh, blocking an intersection one time and that's when we learned the lesson that we need volunteers, especially when we got more than 100 people and we need volunteers to break the group up at lights, uh, and be more conscientious and actually change The not the vibe of the group, but how we operate it, that we're going to ride as traffic.

We're not going to go against traffic. We're not a critical mass ride. We're not out there protesting or anything like that. We're just bringing people together and riding as safely and responsibly as we can. 

[00:05:53] Bob Rivard: And you have how many people follow the S A T X social ride on social media and affiliated with you one way or the other.

[00:06:00] Jeffrey Moore: So our Facebook page has over 17, 000 followers. Our Instagram page has about 5, 000. Wow. That's amazing. 

Mitch Keel's Cycling Background and Commuting
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[00:06:08] Bob Rivard: Mitch, talk about your, uh, background in cycling and, and bring us up to speed on what you're doing these days. But, uh, have you, like Jeff, been a bike rider since you were a kid? 

[00:06:17] Mitchell Keogh: Uh, I guess in, at Texas state, when I was going to school there, that's when I really picked it up.

Oh, there's a, there's a lot of hills over there. Yeah, for sure. So, but now, um, I've got serious in San Antonio about the last two or three years. Um, so I work for the fire department. And I started, that's when I started commuting to the station. So, currently I work at the station at Port San Antonio. So, um, And live where?

We live by Jefferson High School. So, how long of a ride is that? So, it's 10 miles each way. That's pretty substantial every 

[00:06:51] Bob Rivard: morning for a commute. 

[00:06:52] Mitchell Keogh: Yeah. Yeah. And it's, it's really, I think it's the perfect amount for me. Um, just, it's like 45 minutes, get to the station. You feel just kind of invigorated in a way better mood than you would be if you drove there.

[00:07:05] Bob Rivard: Is that a ride down Presa or how do you do that safely? 

[00:07:08] Mitchell Keogh: So I go to Woodlawn and then you can jump on the west side greenways. Okay. And then, so like half of it is on the greenway and then you get to Brazos Street. And go to Frio City and then over by Kennedy High School. So it's, it's not the most scenic, uh, down Frio City is, uh, it's pretty industrial along the railroads.

The roads pretty rough too. What'd you say? The roads pretty rough. It's not too bad really. There's actually a big, um, unprotected bike lane on both sides of Frio City. And so really the whole route does have bike lanes. But they're all unprotected. So yeah, just commuting 10 miles each way. And then I try to do all my errands in town, uh, by bike.

So we live in a pretty convenient location, um, by Jefferson High School. So I'm able to go downtown or, you know, north over to the, like, Broadway area. So pretty much can complete all your errands by bike in San Antonio if you live. In the right area where it's convenient with safe, safer roads and routes.

Mitch, 

The Strava App and Building a Cycling Community
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[00:08:21] Bob Rivard: for people that aren't committed cyclists that are listening, what is the Strava app and, and how do you use that to create community? 

[00:08:28] Mitchell Keogh: Yeah. So it's a, it's a app that a lot of runners and cyclists use. The SATX social ride is on there. I think y'all have. Five thousand members. It's pretty high up there.

It is. Okay. So, um, cause I, I spam it all the time with my commute for cash. 

[00:08:45] Jeffrey Moore: Oh, cool. 

[00:08:46] Mitchell Keogh: Okay. So, so you track, you track your rides, your runs to, you know, kind of keep track of your mileage and you can see other people's routes. That's how I found like the best ways through the city is following avid riders and seeing what the nicest, the most used routes and streets are.

Yeah. So you, um, have the most pleasant, you know, safe experience while you're riding your bike in town. So there's a lot of, you know, performance based people that are on it. Um, a lot of the fast group rides use it, but I created a group on there called Commute for Cash. So it's, um, just trying to target people, trying to encourage them to commute by bike, and also run errands by bike.

All you have to do is join the group, and then you track your rides. And at the end of the month, if you've completed, like this month, it's six rides to qualify. If you qualify for that, everybody's put into a cash raffle. So there's a, there's a cash winner each month. Um, it's a hundred dollars cash. And then starting last month and moving forward, we had, um, the hub market join on and then eight ball coffee.

So we have a, those are both on St. 

[00:10:01] Bob Rivard: Mary's South St. Mary's. Yep. Our South St. Mary's part of the cycling community. 

[00:10:06] Mitchell Keogh: Yeah, for sure. They do a lot of rides at hub market and Marty's really involved in the local cycling community. So are they the source of your a hundred dollar a month 

[00:10:16] Bob Rivard: cash prize for 

[00:10:18] Mitchell Keogh: no. So the cash I, I contribute the cash and then a hub market has put in a free tune up each month and then eight ball coffee contributes a gift card.

So 

[00:10:31] Bob Rivard: that's personally, that's, that's generous of you, Mitch. 

[00:10:34] Mitchell Keogh: Yeah. And I just, I feel passionate about it. I've, I've, uh, seen such a big change in myself with commuting and riding my bike around town with just my. You know, just health and wellbeing. So 

[00:10:49] Bob Rivard: yeah, 

[00:10:51] Mitchell Keogh: yeah, for sure. And I think, I mean, I think everybody needs it, you know, like everybody's job is stressful and you know, not everybody's not getting enough physical activity.

So if you're able to, um, hopefully with this group, you know, can convince people to give it a try for a month, you know, do the six rides. And hopefully with that, maybe a lot of the people will be convinced that they can. You know, keep it going moving forward and we can get more people riding on the streets and more people do running errands and commuting instead of just recreational riding on the greenways and then the fast, you know, the fast group rides, um, which are intimidating to a lot of people that don't cycle.

You don't, that's not what you're gonna Go into initially. So that's just the goal of it to try to get more people cycling on the streets. How many people do you have in your group now, Mitch? Right now it's 89. So it's the, not a lot, but it's the fourth month. And then each month we've had more people qualify for the cash raffle.

So just trying to come up and then this month, if you're new and you complete. The objective of the six rides, you get like triple the entries into the raffle. So just trying different things to bring people into it, to incur, you know, if it's, if a, if a cash prize convinces somebody to go out and do six rides.

Throughout the month that then they might be convinced that that's how they want to kind of move forward and take less trips by car And you know cycle more and just be healthier So 

Challenges and Future of Cycling in San Antonio
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[00:12:27] Bob Rivard: well, I'm impressed personally by what both of you are doing and I'm a cyclist myself And I know that even though both of you work in different roles for the city that you're not here representing the city But, um, I mentioned at the outset that, uh, a new master plan is on the horizon.

And I wonder what your thoughts are about that, particularly in the context of the, the fact that the 2011 master plan largely gathered dust on the shelf, it was not an implemented plan. And, um, I think over my years writing a column for the express news and for the Rivard report, and now on the podcast, I've been fairly critical of the city because we've gone through this great Renaissance.

Since Mayor Castro launched the decade of downtown in 2009, and in many ways we've become such a wonderful urban city compared to what we were, but I don't feel like, um, cyclists participated in that to the degree that they should have. We didn't create a network of complete streets, and we didn't build a lot of cycle tracks, which are protected bike lanes versus.

A stripe on a highway that says, as you said earlier, an unprotected bike lane, which is, let's face it, a lot of people, uh, simply will not get on a bike. And ride in those conditions because they're intimidated. And I just wonder what you both think about the state of cycling in general in San Antonio in, uh, in 2024, you know what the good, 

[00:13:51] Jeffrey Moore: bad and ugly.

Yeah, there's a lot to go there. Um, you know, it's all that, uh, there's a lot of development and urbanization and more density being built downtown, which we need, uh, there's a really cool plan for a ballpark here, which has got, you know, very family oriented, uh, Very inviting kind of environment. Looking forward to that.

And we got the Marvel plan, uh, kind of in the southeastern part of the immediate downtown area. So that's going to create a lot of, uh, a lot of development, a lot of, um, redevelopment of the roads, a lot of density, a lot more cars on the roads. Just the amount of also apartments being built just around the Pearl 1000 units coming in.

So it's important that we get our policies in line are planning in line now and kind of stay ahead of that curve. We're already behind it, but but Now's the time it really needs to come together. Bike master plan is going to get adopted. I believe next month by City Council this past year City Council also adopted a complete streets plan, which gives them kind of a transportation department, a framework to look at new development and redesigning streets that it's going to be safer for pedestrians, safer for cyclists, safer for vehicles, drivers as well, and have an environmental component, a lot of other components.

So it's a holistic way of of redoing streets. Thanks. Those have been adopted by the city, finally. I think, I think a safe Complete Streets plan was adopted by the MPO back in 2009. So the city's catching up. The city has kind of a new transportation department and a director as well. And they seem to be continuing on the right foot.

They're pushing this plan out. I think it's timely. It needs to happen. On the bad side of cycling, we lost Le Tap this year, which was a big cycling event. Um, on a good side of that, there's a small group here in town, uh, Chingona Race Productions, that's filling in by creating, uh, Pavelina bike jam during that same time period, you know, a century ride, a metric century, a 40 mile, 20 miles.

So we've got local groups that are kind of filling in for these losses. So Colovia only happened one time this year. In the past it had been twice a year and it's been wildly successful. It happens in many cities every week, Jeff. Every Sunday, every Sunday in Latin America. And on a much larger footprint than what we've ever tried here.

So we've got, we've got A few things that have, uh, slowed us down. Um, I'm not sure why that seclovia is back down to one time a year. Um, So there's, there's definitely room for improvements. The cycling community tries to bring people together. We have, we do a bike fiesta once a year, right, the week before fiesta to try to bring the different, uh, the road cyclists, the mountain bike riders, and the urban cyclists together.

It's really tough to do because they're separated geographically. Very distinct groups of people and riders. Very distinct, very different people, uh, but fun to get all together. And so we get them together. During Bike Fiesta, Activate SA is a local, uh, non profit that seeks to do a lot of the same things, it seeks, that's, that's right along with us in, in pushing policy, uh, they're pushing, um, cycling and pedestrian ideas to the, uh, bond proposal, you know, the 2020 bond, uh, cycle, they managed to get a lot more funding for, uh, green spaces and trails, things like that, building consensus and bringing cycling groups together.

There's Bike San Antonio. this video. Kind of an advocacy advocacy group for for cyclists. They're starting to kind of form. 

[00:17:21] Bob Rivard: Mitch, you're you're like me. You're married to Erica Ragsdale, who works for the city of San Antonio, well known and respected. And my wife, Monica Mackley, they don't want to be out there on the streets of San Antonio with us on bikes because they don't feel comfortable.

And I can't tell you how many people that I've talked to who have told me I would be on a bike commuting. If there were cycle tracks, if there were protected bike lanes from where I want to go from A to Z, but there aren't, and I'm just not prepared to take the risks that are out there riding in vehicle traffic.

[00:17:54] Mitchell Keogh: Yeah, for sure. Yeah. And it seems it seems really hopeful with the complete streets. Passing with the city and then the new, you know, going to pass the new bike network plan coming up at the beginning of the year. I just really hope that it really, the protected bike lanes are prioritized. Um, because really if you just, whatever the plan is, if it doesn't end with those protected bike lanes forming a network for people to get to places across town.

I don't know if we'll see the, the increase in cyclists that San Antonio could really have because it, as a city, it has so much going for it for cycling. It's pretty flat. Um, the weather, I mean, it hardly ever rains and really, you 

[00:18:40] Bob Rivard: can hack July and August. The winter is a wonderful proposition. 

[00:18:43] Mitchell Keogh: Yeah. And if you, you know, with, with ebikes, you know, you could really commute in the, in the summer.

You could probably not sweat on the way into work. You're going to sweat on the way home for sure. But That's after the workday. So it just has so many things going for it. Um, and it would prove so many different aspects of the city as far as just the health of the citizens. You know, it's the environmental side of it, helping to cool the city, having less cars out there.

And then also, you know, Helping with the affordability really too, because a lot of people now, you know, are having a hard time paying for housing, the, the affordability crisis. So if you're able to live in the urban core and, you know, go from two cars to one car and have an e bike or, you know, some people could go without a car and have a regular bike, or if you had an e cargo bike, you can really.

Do everything you need, um, but you really just need to have that protected network to get the big increase in the number of people out there because like you were saying, so many people aren't just, they're just not going to be comfortable, you know, riding down Flores and you have to take up a whole lane and, you know, just force the cars to go around you in that second lane.

So you got to be a pretty hardy cyclist 

[00:20:04] Bob Rivard: now to And you mentioned South Flores, Mitch, which was a street designated for protected bike lanes and a city councilman, Rebecca Villagran, led the charge to have those eliminated just because of what I thought were incidental and misguided complaints from a few constituents that were opposed to change.

Um, I think one of the, the real challenges, Jeff, as we approach the council vote on a master plan next month. Is that many people in the cycling community I talked to, uh, are at the very least skeptical and probably cynical about the space between a well thought out plan and execution. 

Broadway Bike Lane Controversy
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[00:20:43] Bob Rivard: They don't think public works in the city is dedicated to complete streets.

And they look at what happened with Broadway, lower Broadway. Now I'm talking about where the solution was ultimately to push the bike lanes to adjacent streets and not give bike riders who continue to ride down Broadway and clearly myself, uh, and, um, and then second of all, we had upper Broadway and you had the Texas department of transportation and Bruce bug, a San Antonio businessman and resident, who's the chairman of text dot.

Do the governor's work there and cancel out long held commitments to the city to transfer title of some of those state owned streets, Broadway, Roosevelt, come to mind where major bond projects were passed to turn those streets into complete streets. And now that's, that's, uh, That's not going to happen and it, it creates a feeling in the cycling community that we're, we're a city.

That's all talking and no 

[00:21:43] Jeffrey Moore: action. Definitely a feeling of helplessness. Uh, broadway was, um, I mean, that was a great example of the biggest example of it for sure. I think in the bond wording, it was definitely a complete street. Complete street. Uh, we're going to look at, uh, bike lanes and that's historically probably the most, one of the most cycled areas of san Antonio.

It's a, yeah. Awesome way to get north to south, um, on that eastern part of downtown. 

Cycling History in San Antonio
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[00:22:07] Jeffrey Moore: There's history of, of biking there since before cars were around, late 1800s. There was even, um, in Lyons Field in the early 1900s, they had a, um, horse track that on the weekends they would convert to a cycle velodrome.

And people would come out with bleachers and watch cyclists, so the Where was that? Back when Broadway was Water Street. It was Water, uh, yeah, Water Street, yeah. 

Social Media and Cyclist Advocacy
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[00:22:30] Jeffrey Moore: So, so, uh, yeah, those major setbacks, and it does You know, I don't know where the blame, if it all falls, public works, transportation at that time, uh, definitely the interference from the state of Texas is not going to go away anytime soon, uh, but I think going forward, um, you know, one of the benefits of social media is we, we do communicate ideas a lot better with, with specific groups and cyclists are a lot more informed and network together now.

At least online than any other time before, um, it's still hard to get everybody together at the same table or in the same group, but we can get ideas out to people and it's still hard to get people to commit to going to meetings and talking and showing up or even sending emails, but we have the ability to do that better than any other time before.

And if we can get, you know, more horsepower of cyclists, cycling power of, um, to engage in the process, I think we can, we can make things happen that, um, Kind of failed to happen. We might not we're not gonna be able to say Broadway for a while I don't think I think and you're talking about north of the pearl.

It's out just south of the pearl. Oh what they So that was supposed to be complete streets. Yeah north of the pearl That was an area that the state had kind of in deed cut in words gave back to the city and the city had plans to And not just our city, but the city of 

[00:23:50] Bob Rivard: Alamo Heights too. And so there was some, there was some thoughtful coordination going on there that would have made it much easier for people in that municipality to cycle safely downtown 

[00:24:00] Jeffrey Moore: and provide connectivity, which connectivity is always one of our challenges here.

We have some great sections here and there and just. Connecting all those dots. 

[00:24:09] Bob Rivard: I think there's a mindset change that needs to occur. A cultural change to Jeff. 

Challenges of Urban Cycling
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[00:24:14] Bob Rivard: We're here in the Ram building in geekdom and we're a bookended by, um, main Avenue and, uh, and Soledad and main Avenue now from, from, uh, main Plaza, uh, for a.

A couple blocks north has a straight bike lane, the ride share that picking up Chick fil A, uh, every, every minute, every hour completely blocks the bike lane and forces commuters like me to go outside the bike lane into the traffic, uh, antagonize and infuriate vehicle drivers who don't think I should be on the road and people and, uh, that in turn causes me to go over to the sidewalk, which is, yeah, Illegal in San Antonio, although I see plenty of my friends in the bike patrol on the same sidewalks downtown.

Uh, and, and we have that hit and miss, you know, HEB did a fantastic job of building a cycle track adjacent to their corporate headquarters, uh, between Arsenal and, um, Cesar Chavez on South Flores. And it's this magnificent thing. And then at the light, you're spit out. Into South Florida is 

[00:25:22] Jeffrey Moore: very rightly 

[00:25:23] Bob Rivard: right into traffic without even a striped lane.

If you're smart, you stay on the sidewalk because if you try to go from that cycle track into traffic, you're putting your life at risk. And that's why a lot of people simply will not get on a bicycle in the urban core and do that sort of thing. Those of us that are more skilled or schooled or reckless, we do that.

And we know those, we know those. Individual sort of anachronisms that you've got to deal with, but it doesn't make for safe cycling in the city. 

Vision Zero and Leadership
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[00:25:52] Bob Rivard: And, and, um, I wanted to ask you about Councilman Shirley Gonzalez, who more than a decade ago really was the catalyst for us becoming a vision zero city. But in fact, our numbers have grown worse for pedestrian and cycling fatalities and and collisions in that time period off and on.

Not not a perfect thing. We've had years where we've done better, but we're not where we want to be. Let's put it that way. Sure, 

[00:26:19] Jeffrey Moore: sure. The city did, I believe, adopt a new version of Vision Zero just recently, just a couple months ago. I'm not sure what the changes are in that, but definitely recommitted to it.

We don't have a champion like Shirley Gonzalez, you know, she was the heavy hitter for cycling, uh, on city council. There's no one person or, or even minor lifters. 

[00:26:38] Bob Rivard: And she and her husband left the state and opened a bicycle shop in Durango, Colorado. It's good to hear. I didn't know that. Well, I went cycling in August and September.

I wanted to do high altitude cycling in Colorado and I needed something and I stopped in this, uh, Bike shop in Durango. And the people said, Oh yeah, you're from San Antonio. Our owners are from San Antonio. And five minutes later, I was on the phone with Shirley, 

[00:27:00] Mitchell Keogh: a 

[00:27:01] Bob Rivard: small world, but to a 

[00:27:02] Mitchell Keogh: great cycling city, but it 

[00:27:05] Bob Rivard: really is terrific.

And, and, um, they just sort of gave up and said, you know, if we can't make San Antonio a safe cycling city, or husband's a very active cyclist, we'll, we'll go to where it is valued. And they were a family on, on two wheels, uh, kids and all. Yep. They, they, uh, the kids all were in the, whatever the back of those vehicles that bikes pull are called bike 

[00:27:28] Jeffrey Moore: strollers.

Definitely miss her and her, um, leadership in all the, that realm of, of, uh, the MPO, the, um, what was it? The bicycle. Group and the pedestrian group as well. She chaired both of those groups. Yeah, I don't I don't know how we refill leadership Political leadership like that. The mayor's been on our side without a doubt But he lives 

[00:27:50] Bob Rivard: in the suburbs and drives to work and back and forth and I'm not criticizing him for that But there's nobody that I know on council that has personal experience Riding regularly.

Yeah 

[00:27:59] Mitchell Keogh: feeling how it is to cycle Throughout the city, the, you know, with the high speed limits and the big vehicles. So yeah, that's one thing they could do is a really quick fix, which it's, I'm sure it's more difficult than just saying it with text dot and the different street owners, but just lowering the speed limits to 20 miles an hour for the whole urban core and, and, and they have to enforce it, but.

That's really a big factor with your comfort on a cycle is just the speed of the vehicles coming around you. So it's something they could really, you know, change very quickly, and it could make a big difference it and that would get a bigger percentage of people out there, but it's still not a protected lane where you're going to have a major step 

[00:28:42] Bob Rivard: forward, 

[00:28:43] Mitchell Keogh: though.

Cycling Safety and Etiquette
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[00:28:44] Bob Rivard: Well, what would be your respective advice to people that are either? Hardcore cyclists or casual cyclists, people that are would like to commute, should they show up at city council for this master plan boat? Is that really an effective way to make your voice heard? Just going to a public hearing or are there other ways to contact your representative and express your 

[00:29:06] Jeffrey Moore: support?

Absolutely. Contact the city council member of your respective area. But there's also, uh, there's bike San Antonio, which is kind of like our, uh, bike. Advocacy group that's still kind of forming here in San Antonio. There's activate, I say, which are the heavy hitters. They're more policy driven. They need to help.

They need the support. Join a bicycle group in a bicycle club, but definitely contact city council. I think that's where you know, you're gonna get 

[00:29:28] Bob Rivard: most of your bang for your buck. There is safety in numbers, Jeff. And so I would suggest that people that are perhaps not hardcore cyclists come out to something like the social ride where the sheer massive Of people is, you know, in the main, a virtual guarantee that you're going to start and finish safely.

[00:29:47] Jeffrey Moore: I'm not going to go that far to say you're guaranteed. In the main, I mean, yeah, 

[00:29:51] Bob Rivard: for 

[00:29:51] Jeffrey Moore: sure, for sure. 

[00:29:52] Bob Rivard: You know, you can't prevent a reckless driver from being a reckless driver, but I was thinking actually reckless 

[00:29:57] Jeffrey Moore: bicycle riders, right? And there's also reckless which happened a lot more often than they were.

Yeah. In a big group, we're kind of intimidating to most drivers. They'll. They don't really affect us, you know, so much. 

[00:30:10] Mitchell Keogh: And that's a great way to ease into it. If you're unsure, if you're not real comfortable riding in the city to come down and ride with the social ride, just the numbers and everybody's so friendly and welcoming that it's a good way to.

Introduce yourself to urban riding if you're not comfortable and networking 

[00:30:29] Jeffrey Moore: with other groups as well, you know, if you want to, there's mountain bike riders with us. There's cruisers, family riders, people with their kids. So you can see a little bit of everything and network with a little bit of everything.

Yeah, 

[00:30:41] Mitchell Keogh: for sure. 

[00:30:41] Jeffrey Moore: People that 

[00:30:42] Bob Rivard: are You know, 100 percent vehicle occupants often rail against cyclists for running red lights or riding in ways they consider reckless. They don't necessarily have the same criticism of vehicles that constantly pour through a red light that had just been yellow and now it's red or don't use their turn signals or obey other vehicle traffic ordinances and laws.

But what about. Reckless versus safe cycling. We've all seen the people that ride at night without lights that ride against traffic that ride recklessly and weave in and out. But on the other hand, I can say as a cyclist that I'll pause at a stop sign, but if there's no traffic, I go through it. I'll stop at a red light, but if there's no traffic, I'll go through it.

If it comes down to a question of safety, I'll jump on a sidewalk, even if it's against the ordinance. And I consider myself a, um, a legal rider, a safe rider, practicing, you know, safe cycling, but, uh, I also don't operate like I'm behind the wheel of a 2, 000 pound 

[00:31:45] Jeffrey Moore: vehicle. And you're not, you're not behind the wheel of a 2, 000 pound vehicle that could cause Major death and damage and and as a cyclist, you're more aware of your vulnerabilities and you you have to ride that way.

And that's part of, uh, if you need to jump on the sidewalk, if you need to run a light, if you need to run a stop sign and it's safe to do so, then you can do it as a group ride. We do stop at lights and we do break the group up when the light changes. That's one of our biggest challenges is rolling through an intersection with Over 100 people, the lights going to change and part of the group is going to get left behind.

So we have to manage that and we want to stress to our riders to to pay attention to the rules to ride as traffic like you should. Um, and we also treat stop signs like the Idaho stop like we talked about earlier. We're going to stop, look at it, call it out and we're going to ride through as a group.

[00:32:35] Bob Rivard: You just mentioned Jeff Idaho. There are states and cities that have passed separate laws or ordinances acknowledging cyclists. Can operate by a different standard than a vehicle operator 

[00:32:46] Jeffrey Moore: for a stop signs. Yeah, they treat it as a yield sign. Like Mitch would say, but that hasn't happened here in Texas.

It's certainly not in San Antonio. I don't think there's a chance of it happening anytime soon, especially in Texas, not on the table in Texas at all. And you, and you're right, people in vehicles, they see one rider blazed through a busy intersection and they kind of. paint the whole community that way.

But by and large, cyclists know their vulnerabilities out on the road and they're, they're riding with their head on a swivel and they're looking around and very aware of what's going on around them. And they're not going to take chances and do like that. There's some do, you know, but it's a, it's a minority.

It's a very small number of cyclists that do that. Just like it's a very small number of vehicle drivers that do that. Drive recklessly or, you know, have road rage incidents and things like that. 

Greenway Trails and E-Bikes
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[00:33:34] Bob Rivard: When I'm riding alone and I live down in, in South town, I often limit myself on a daily ride, particularly if it's an evening ride or a rush hour ride to riding on the, the, uh, river on the mission trails, the mission reach and, uh, there and back.

And you can still get a 20, 20 mile ride in, uh, a workout. But I've often thought over the course of the years, since we've, um, Engaged in the San Antonio river improvements project. That, um, bicycles and pedestrians don't necessarily mix the way city engineers, traffic engineers thought. Uh, they're not bike riders, and so they don't realize cyclists can be incredibly intimidated to people walking a dog, pushing a stroller with a child, older people.

I've kind of reached the point where I believe the museum reach should outlaw. Two wheel vehicles, particularly with the preponderance of electric vehicles for bike share, where you have a lot of people who weren't cyclists before they were electrified. They're now on them. They can go 15 or 20 miles an hour.

They have no idea what they're doing. They don't have safety protocols in place. They don't call out and they can't stop the way they think they can stop. But even on the blue star, well, South town going down to What we call the eagle land reach now of the, of the river. There's a quarter mile called walk your Bike, which nobody pays any attention to, and clearly was created by people that didn't cycle.

And people do tend to whiz by you and not call out and it's very intimidating. And you mentioned no enforcement, Mitch. There's never any enforcement on the river that I see. Occasionally I'll see a bike patrol, uh, on there. Trail 

[00:35:12] Mitchell Keogh: stewards farther south or, yeah. But, uh, 

[00:35:15] Bob Rivard: but I don't see people, um, getting.

You know, you'll see lots of scooters. They're not supposed to be there. Although I guess if you're a scooter rider, you could say, why do e bikes get to go and scooters don't I've literally on the mission reach scene motorcyclists on the trail, um, and call that in, but, uh, there's not much you can do about it.

And, uh, it's, it's not always the safest. A path that it should be, that it was intended to be. 

[00:35:41] Mitchell Keogh: Yeah, for sure. And e bikes, I mean, if you have an e bike, you're more at a street level speed, you know, going 15 to 20 miles an hour where. You know, you could be out there with the cars, but, um, just going back to people not feeling comfortable even on an e bike when you're traveling at similar speeds as the car.

So they're taking that route, you know, with the pedestrians along the river. So, yeah, just hopefully with that new plan, putting. You know, more infrastructure where people can feel comfortable riding e bikes around and not mixing with the pedestrians, you know, I've seen quite a few accidents on the northern greenways like Salado and Leon Creek, where you have cycles that are going, you know, 18 20 miles an hour.

It's too fast and you have families walking. So it's They're out there because they don't have a great space for them to ride. So that's why you're getting the mix with pedestrians. So 

[00:36:44] Bob Rivard: I think people misunderstand the Howard Peak Greenway trail system. It's a incredible addition to our city, more than 100 miles.

But it really does underscore the fact that cyclists, particularly road bikes. Road cyclists who are going fast, who are macho, who are competitive and pedestrians don't mix, uh, not very well. And I've always found the trails to be a place not to go fast. It's just, it's not suited for fast cycling unless you're going to infringe on the rights of other people.

And some people are willing to do that, unfortunately, but, um, it brings to my mind, I think, uh, Jeff, that. The, the new master plan should say we've now had those trails and we've had the, the improved river improvement project for more than a decade. Perhaps it's time to look at what works and doesn't work and the fact that the city does not actively patrol.

Those places, it will respond to a report, but that's very different than being out there and being seen and people realizing, hey, if I break the rules, there might be a consequence right now. There's an attitude among rule breakers of there's no consequence you can do. You can get away with anything out here.

And I just wonder whether the master plan will take into account off street cycling that needs to be more closely examined our city to make it Better for everyone involved. 

[00:38:06] Jeffrey Moore: Yeah, I don't know if the master plan addresses the greenway system. I do know that the that parks and some of the other agencies River Authority are looking at areas where they may double the actual trail itself and have one, you know, in particularly congested areas.

Bikes go this way. Pedestrians go this way. But that's gonna be in very limited areas and, you know, the congested areas around Leon, uh, Creek Trailway system, you know, up in that area, it's not, it's not an answer for all of it, but it just comes down to etiquette and personal accountability. And maybe enforcement is, is what that's going to take.

You know, uh, there's signs around now that, that give you that bike seal to pedestrians, kids, dogs, things like that. There's speed limit signs out. They weren't out there before. I think continue to get worse. And there's, yeah. E bikes and motorized vehicles out there that, uh, are riding with impunity, so.

Advocacy and Community Involvement
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[00:38:59] Bob Rivard: Well, we need, uh, we need cycling advocates to have a stronger voice at city hall, a seat at every table and, and to be part of, uh, part of every major, um, transportation decision, I think going forward, and I hope what we can do is, is have you guys and other cycling advocates back on the podcast after the master plan is out and people have had a chance to, uh, yeah.

To hear about it, to read about it, to digest it and, and see, um, see how it settles in on changing cycling, safe cycling in the city 

[00:39:31] Mitchell Keogh: going 

[00:39:32] Bob Rivard: forward, but thanks for coming on to big city, small town, both of you guys. 

Conclusion and How to Get Involved
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[00:39:35] Bob Rivard: And before we leave, just, um, each of you tell our listeners again how they can participate in your particular.

Mitch, go first. 

[00:39:45] Mitchell Keogh: Uh, my group is called Commute for Cash on Strava. So you do have to have Strava if you don't have that app, but it's super easy to use. You just track your rides. Um, so if you are interested in commuting or running errands by bike, it's a great way to get into that with a cash and prize incentive for you.

And all you do is just join the Commute for Cash group and log your rides and then you'll be in a cash raffle, so you'll be getting paid to commute by bike. And 

[00:40:15] Bob Rivard: taking 100 out of your pocket, that's very generous of you. 

[00:40:18] Mitchell Keogh: Yeah. 

[00:40:20] Jeffrey Moore: Jeff? Yeah, so it's, uh, my group is SATX Social Ride. Uh, we're on Instagram, we're on Facebook as well.

We post events each week. We have a bike fiesta. The week before Fiesta, we have a couple other big events. Uh, we do charity rides, we do themed rides. Uh, open to everybody, encouraging group. Jeff, 

[00:40:40] Bob Rivard: if someone wants to ride, uh, the SATX social ride, um, what time do you start? 

[00:40:45] Jeffrey Moore: Where should they park? We post the rides each week on social media.

We change it up around downtown. Usually, uh, it's either at, uh, Brewery, or Burleson Yard Beer Garden, or the Hub Market, or McIntyre's, or somewhere like that, that has ample parking in and around those facilities. Free parking. Free parking, yeah. And it's uh, encouraging, open to everybody, read the details, sometimes we'll go on some longer rides, sometimes shorter rides, sometimes they're family slow rolls, sometimes they're little athletic hill rides.

[00:41:14] Bob Rivard: Alright, we'll see both of you out there on the safe streets. Thanks for coming on to Big City Small Town.