Bicyclists take to Henderson’s bike trails for annual Crazy Spokes ride
Henderson’s Crazy Spokes cycling event suffered a blowback Saturday morning — the wind.
The city’s annual bicycle ride beginning from the Henderson Events Plaza drew 45 participants this year, compared with 160 in the first two years, said Chuck Ashby, the city’s outdoor recreation director.
“Today’s kind of tough with the wind,” acknowledged Scott Jarvis, the city’s bicycle program manager.
“Watching most of the newscasts this morning, the wind, the allergies, they are encouraging people to stay inside,” he said. “So I think that sort of dampened our attendance a little bit.”
The event featured a 15-mile guided bike ride, as well as a 5.5-mile family ride. Both rides are noncompetitive, Jarvis said, and merely a way to encourage residents to get outside and learn to traverse a portion of the city’s 180 miles of trails.
“It’s really not about the time, it’s about the experience,” he said. “Take a buddy, ride and talk, and you’d be amazed how easy it is to go 15 miles.”
Participants pedaled to a turnaround point, where they were able to rest and sip on water bottles. Bicyclists complained about fighting winds on the way in, but after the break, they set off again.
A little wind couldn’t keep Laurie Teravest from hopping on her bike for her third Crazy Spokes race.
The 59-year-old avid cyclist said she didn’t mind the wind, which gusted at speeds of over 20 mph during the race.
“It’s fun,” Teravest said with a chuckle. “It was just kind of blowy, kind of gusty.”
Contact Brooke Wanser at bwanser@reviewjournal.com. Follow @Bwanser_LVRJ on Twitter.
BIKE LOVER
Four years ago, the city of Henderson decided to become a bicycle-friendly city. With a background in engineering design and a passion for biking, Scott Jarvis fit the bill as a bicycle program manager.
"I was just lucky enough to be the best person in the right time and the right place," he said.
Jarvis, who led the family ride in Saturday's Crazy Spokes event, helps to design and engineer the roadways in the city to be more bike-friendly.
This includes widening sidewalks for pedestrians and changing the width of travel lanes to slow down cars a little, he said. "But we're also adding in buffered bike lanes to give cyclists more of an opportunity to get out there and experience our great city."
