New Bern looks to break barriers to biking

Mac Flythe Sr. says that the last time his bicycle shop was as busy as it is now, most of his customers were wearing bellbottoms.

He has run Flythe's Bike Shop on Trent Road since the 1970s, during the bicycle boom. Today, his showroom is holding some bikes from that era.

"We've got some bikes in here that haven't seen the light of day since that time," Flythe said. "With the price of gas being what it is, people are going in the back of their garages and finding their bikes."

The trend to conserve fuel has revived interest in New Bern's long-term bike plan. City residents and officials alike acknowledge that it, too, is due for a tune-up.

Flythe's repair area is so full of resurrected bikes that he now has one-third of his showroom space dedicated to weary 10-speeds waiting for tires or tubes. That space is usually reserved for new bicycles.

"A lot of our business right now is repairs," he said. "We're supposed to get some new bikes shortly, but manufacturers are having a hard time keeping up with the demand for parts for bikes from years ago. I've seen it here. On a pretty day, you can make it to most places in the city in 15 minutes ... so people are deciding to park their cars."

Bill Sadler estimates that he saves at least $30 a week riding his bicycle instead of driving his car.

He lives in River Bend, but often has business in New Bern. One recent afternoon, he biked to the city to take care of a car title and then over to the tax office to do paperwork.

"At $4 a gallon, it doesn't take long until you notice when you are or aren't using gas," Sadler said. "I guess I'm what you call a pretty avid biker; I regularly take a 35-mile ride. But even if I wasn't, now is the time to ride. Unfortunately, New Bern isn't as friendly to bicyclists as we'd like it to be."

New Bern has just a mile and a half of dedicated bike routes - and even those are not "striped" to designate separate lanes for cyclists.

One route begins on River Road at Jack Smith's Creek and another begins on West Street at its intersection with Cypress Street. The third route begins at the intersection of Trent Road and Simmons Street and goes eastward to the intersection of Craven and Pollock streets at City Hall.

In a city survey from 2006, no respondents rated the city's biking conditions as "good." Instead, 68 percent called them "poor" and the remaining answerers said conditions in New Bern are fair at best.

City planner Annette Stone says she knows as well as anyone what New Bern is missing. Stone describes herself a recreational cyclist; she usually tries to take a morning ride before work.

"All you have to do is ride around town a few times to see the worn paths," she said. "They aren't designated bike paths, but that's what people are using them for. There are a good number of people in this city who bike, and when you see those worn paths, you can't pretend they aren't there.

Stone acknowledges that New Bern has "barriers to biking." But she says that it takes more than bike paths and striped lanes to fix the problem.

The answer, she says, begins with residents realizing there are many people in New Bern who are not the "spandex-wearing riders."

"The health benefits are good and the recreational benefits are good," Stone said. "But there are also people who live in New Bern who ride a bike because they have no other choice."

A vehicle-ownership study from 2006 supports that. The study concluded that in some areas of the Duffyfield, Washington Forks and Five Points communities, more than 80 percent of the households have either only one car or none at all.

Sadler says he doesn't expect New Bern to mimic the Triangle, where William B. Umstead Park boasts miles of uninterrupted trails for bike or horseback riding. A bicyclist can make it from most any point on the park trail to downtown Raleigh with little fuss, he said.

Many bicyclists in New Bern say they would be happy just to see the city catch up to its neighbors.

"It's happening all around us," Flythe said. "Jacksonville is getting in the game; Greenville is. To say that New Bern wants to go green by buying hybrid vehicles is really pretty chintzy. If you want to really go green, do something to encourage more bikes."

New Bern joined the Cool Cities Initiative, an environmental-protection plan sponsored by the Sierra Club, in April. The goal of the initiative is to reduce heat-trapping greenhouses gases that cause global warming. As part of the initiative, each supportive mayor is asked to sign the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement.

Stone said she may be able to use that "green" agreement as leverage when she seeks state and federal money for the city's bike plans.

The city prepared a five-chapter Comprehensive Bicycle Plan two years ago. The plan identifies short-term, mid-range and long-term projects, the sum of which would have cost about $14 million at that time.

Stone said the trouble is that none of the projects mentioned in that study has been funded.

She said that striping Trent Road and Trent Boulevard would be a basic, but big, step toward making the city more accommodating of bicyclists. Stone said Trent Road is ideal for striping because it is one of the wider streets in New Bern and would support a separate lane for riders.

It's also a thoroughfare that was consistently mentioned by bicyclists as a location that needs priority.

"I'm not a roadie," said bicyclist Gerry Mackle. "I'd just like to ride my bike around town without fear of a coronary - or worse - on streets like Trent Road. ... It is a very convenient thoroughfare for me - or would be - if it weren't such a hair-raising experience.

"I have finally begun to use my bike for routine things like trips to Harris-Teeter, now that they have a cart corral that I can use as a bike rack," Mackle said. "But it does involve crossing Glenburnie (Road), which is OK, as long as I shop at 5 a.m."

Estimates from 2006 said that striping Trent Road would cost about $18,000, which, Stone acknowledges, "is a lot for paint."

But the city has to start somewhere, both she and the bicyclists said.

"All the people who are screaming about bicyclists being dangerous ought to be at the front of the line to ask for money for some of these projects," Flythe said. "I guarantee you if some of them were funded, everybody - not just cyclists - would be happier."

Nikie Mayo can be reached at (252) 635-5665 or nmayo@freedomenc.com.

Catch Justin Schoenberger's "Man on a Bike" column every Monday at www.newbernsj.com.