2016 is in the history books

2016 has been a meaningful year for Boise-area cyclists.

We have some sweeet new stretches of Greenbelt - on the south side of the river from Ann Morrison Park to the Riverside Hotel.  And through the new Esther Simplot Park.  I'm happy to see that one in particular - having the construction zone has meant detours for 2 years.

ACHD - the road-building division of government - continues to be generally pretty bike-friendly, adding bike lanes to rebuilt roads wherever feasible.  They decided NOT to add bike lanes on Main and Idaho Streets through Downtown.  Personally, I believe they did the right thing.  There is already pretty good east-west traveling... those roads are one-way which always makes it easier for cyclists to take a lane.  And Bannock has good bike lanes for most of the distance.

Partly as a result of a tragic car/bike crash which seriously injured young Max Wyatt, cyclist safety was thrust into the spotlight.  Jimmy Hallyburton of the Boise Bicycle Project springboarded the incident into a meeting with Governor Otter, who was instrumental in making sure some bicycle safety questions are on every driver's license test in the state.  (And happily, a resilient Max has returned to good functional health.)

On a personal level... December was my worst month, mileage-wise, since January 1994 - almost 23 years!  I only rode 210 miles.  But I rode all 31 days, despite the fact that snow covered the ground, and the roads and bike paths, for the last half of the month.  (And no relief in sight!)  But... I finished the year with 5273 miles... making 2016 the 30th consecutive year I've ridden more than 4000 miles.  (25 of those years I've ridden more than 5000 miles, and 11 have been more than 6000 miles.)