On The Record, Vol. 4, No. 1, Ed. 1 Friday, June 15, 2012 Page: 17 of 32
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BIKE RACK CITY
A LOOK AT DENTON'S BIKE CULTURE
BY ASHLEY-CRYSTAL FIRSTLEY
T t's evident in
I the dozens
of cyclists
pedaling miles
eveiy Tuesday
night. It's in
the thousands
ol'< il\ dollars
going toward
a new bike
— plan, or tlie
%iiew "share the
*r l roau arrows
f painted on
D ei^tiOn §tcgets,
and is apparent_
| eveiy time a
mallet strikes a
ball in a game of
bike polo. I )Mrtoir is
home to an emerging
culture of biking, a
culture set to change in the, near
future at both a City-wide and
personalifeyel •
■<.wThat's one^-. think I like about
Denton? is that #e're still in that
transitioning phase, ' said Nathaniel
Lightfoot, a treasurer at the non-
profit community bike shop
Queife'ncia. "If you go to places like
Portland .and Austin, - or Denver,
Jhey have all these infrastructures
ill place but here we actually get to
>cV it com6<aboutjS,w,
Bicycling: A growing trend
TJ3ST alumna Jilliail Jordan said
that 10 years ago, she couldn't
imagine biking becoming such a big
deal in Denton.
"The only people who rode their
other things. The plan outlines
strategies to increase the safety and
convenience of biking in the city.
Some of tne city's surplus money
as .well as funds donated by two
■county ^commissioners, will fund
bikes back then wore /ominuters, the lnsi year of the plan. However,
like [those who] lost tli/irhqlnse or supporters such as Nathaniel
something,''Jordan saift. ^L^^^^Lightfoot are Worried tha/t when it
TJJfT installed two ftfoike repair comes to spending money'on biking
stations on canjpus in the last year, accommodafioqs such as stripejl
and more bik<j racks are popping'uj^ lanes, Dentoh may not live up to its
all over the city* Constrifction of a jyord.
pedestrian bridg^over Loop ®8, to "I hop^ that the city fgoes]
be named ;iIkr. vl\Hiilitf*["/in Ijj■ r^Cing. jj^mngli with fplans and we get a
Jr.. is set to" begin [in Julyt premmg decent amount of infrastructjlresf
safer passage for pedgsftnans and
cyclists, and Quakertown Park is
due to get new paved paths.
In 2011, Denton City Council
unanimously approyed the Safe
Passing ordinance, encouraging
the coexistence of automobiles and
bikers on roads and requiring cars
to maintain a distance of three feet
when passing cyclists.
• A 10-year bike plan using
$192,000 of a budget surplus was
unanimously approved by the city
council in February
According to a bike plan draft
Lightfoot |a|d. "Recently,
done netting but lose bike lauesnK
Denton."
Biking groups
Bicycling is more than just a mode
of transportation for Dentonites.
It's a hobby. It's a Sport. It's
empowerment.
Lightfoot and his friend Eric
<JJphoff founded North Texas Bike
Polo about two years ago.
The group plays at 3 p.m. eveiy
Sunday at Mack Park. Players ride
around a court in circles, steering
from July 2011, the plan calls for their bikes with oUg hand while
new bike lanes, routes and trails, the using the other hand to wield long
establishment of a regional annual polo mallets and strike a small
bicycling event in Denton, among rubber ball. Games can last hours.
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Bottoni, Paul. On The Record, Vol. 4, No. 1, Ed. 1 Friday, June 15, 2012, periodical, June 15, 2012; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth255944/m1/17/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .