Health

By Mary Therese Biebel mbiebel@timesleader.com
Features Writer
Mary Therese Biebel on Facebook   |   @TLTLMaryTBiebel on Twitter

Let’s say it’s rush hour in Philadelphia and the roads and streets are crowded with cars. Alex Doty has “three or three and a half miles” between his home and his job, so what’s the quickest way for him to get from Point A to Point B? • Pedal power. • “Riding my bicycle to work is a part of the day I look forward to,” Doty said. “I don’t know a lot of people who say that about their commutes. • “I feel that I’m being very efficient because I get to combine exercise time with the time I’m commuting. It’s time to decompress. The other thing I love is that during rush hour, I’m getting to work the fastest way possible.”

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Alex Doty’s daily 3 1/2 -mile bike commute from West Philadelphia to center city includes the new South Street Bridge bike lanes. Doty will be in Wilkes-Barre tonight to speak on ‘Building a Bicycle Culture in Our Community.’

SUBMITTED PHOTO

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Sam Leavy Jr. and Mia Kratz get a ride in a bicycle kiddie carrier from their Aunt Terri Emel along Third Street in Kingston. Cycling advocates want to make streetscapes more inviting for cyclists and pedestrians of all ages.

AIMEE DILGER FILE PHOTO/THE TIMES LEADER

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IF YOU GO

Who: Alex Doty

What: ‘Building a Bicycle Culture in Our Community’

When: 7 tonight

Where: Genetti Hotel and Conference Center, 77 E. Market St., Wilkes-Barre

Admission: Free

More info: 823-2191, ext. 140

WHERE TO BIKE IN LUZERNE COUNTY

Those who wish to use two wheels instead of four to navigate Luzerne County have plenty of options. Here’s a list of popular trails:

• Back Mountain Trail, Luzerne: Trailhead at top of Parry Street. Park at Knights of Columbus Hall.

• Back Mountain Trail, Trucksville: Trailhead at Carverton Road and Route 309. Park at Trucksville Municipal Building.

• Hazleton Rail Trail, Hazle Township: Trailhead at state routes 93 and 424.

• Mocanaqua Loop Hiking Trails, Shickshinny: Trailhead at Route 11 to across the Shickshinny Bridge (Route 239).

• Moon Lake County Park: Trailhead on Route 29.

• Susquehanna River Levee Trail: Paved surface along the river with historical signage. The trail has several trailheads, including in Edwardsville, adjacent to Kmart off Route 11, in Kingston at the Kingston Recreation Center on Third Avenue, off Route 11 by the Midway Shopping Center in Wyoming, at Willow Street Park in South Wilkes-Barre and off Delaney street in the Breslau section of Hanover Township.

Source: www.tournepa.com

Doty, executive director of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, will give a talk on “Building a Bicycle Culture in Our Community” at 7 tonight at the Genetti Hotel and Conference Center in Wilkes-Barre.

The downtown hotel already contributes to the local bicycle culture by keeping a fleet of 17 “Bike Share” bicycles on hand to be loaned for free to interested riders during the warmer months.

From April to October, coordinator Sam Wagner said, the bikes were loaned out 220 times.

“We had a lot of repeat visitors,” he said, explaining long-term hotel guests used them to explore the area and local residents used them for recreation and, in some cases, even to travel to their jobs.

There’s no denying cycling is good exercise and much cheaper than buying gasoline for a car. And the simple remedy if you feel overly perspired afterward, Doty said, is to carry an extra shirt.

So why don’t more people bring out their bikes?

Safety can be a worry, and Doty admits, “I’ve had some close calls.”

But, he hastens to add, “I’ve had close calls on my bike and with motorists while I’m walking and with buses or trolleys that I’ve been on and at times when I’m driving around in a car. The street is a dangerous place to be. We tend to severely underestimate that danger when we get into a car and to severely overestimate that danger when we ride a bike.”

The more people who cycle and the more people who walk, he said, the more aware motorists will become of cyclists and walkers on the streetscape. They will expect them to be there and they will be less likely to hit them.

“There’s a hard-core group of enthusiasts who will bike no matter what,” Doty said. “There’s a much larger group of people who need facilities that are more inviting. In many places we can design or revamp our streets to make them more inviting.

“This is where bikes and pedestrians belong,” he said. “We all belong on our streetscapes.”

Tonight at Genetti’s Doty will talk about the success in Philadelphia, which has seen the percentage of people who bike to work grow by 151 percent since 2000. The city also has seen an increase in helmet use and female ridership and a decrease in sidewalk riding.

If you attend tonight’s event, you’ll learn how to get involved with Luzerne County Bikes, a local effort to make streets safer for cyclists, pedestrians and motorists, said spokeswoman Carol Hussa, who recently rode a Bike Share bike herself.

It had been 40 years since her last endeavor, Hussa said. “It’s true, what they say. You never forget how. After that initial feeling of ‘Hey, I’m on a bike,’ you’re all right.”

Doty’s presentation is sponsored by Around Town Bikes, Live Well Luzerne County, Wilkes-Barre Bike Share at the Genetti Hotel and the Wilkes-Barre Family YMCA’s ACHIEVE initiative. Trail organizations, Wilkes-Barre Bike Share, BikeWB.org and other groups will be on hand with displays, information and resources.