Bicycle Board Members,

What do you think of my sending the attached letter to the Dominion Post?  I’m going to ask them to make it a separate column but it might end up just being a letter to the editor.

I’d like to send it before the end of the week so I’d appreciate your earliest reply.

Trail Closure Diverts Bikes to Boulevard

Now that MUB has closed the Rail Trail more bicycles are using Beechurst, Mon Blvd. and Don Knotts Blvd.

The law gives bicyclists the same right to the road as motorists.  It also requires us to obey the same rules.  If bicyclists drive their bicycles as vehicles and motorists treat cyclists as drivers of vehicles, everyone should fare well.

The law also requires drivers to give safe space when passing:  at least 3 feet; more when the motor vehicle is going much faster than the bicycle, for example climbing the hill on Mon Blvd.

The City is negotiating with WVDOH to install a bike climbing lane on the east shoulder of Mon. Blvd. between Eighth St. and Evansdale Dr.  but we won’t see that for a while.

Please treat bicyclists as drivers of vehicles but remember some may be going a bit slower with the spare tire they picked up over the winter.

Frank Gmeindl

League of American Bicyclists Certified Instructor

Chairman, Morgantown Municipal Bicycle Board