Biking Bismarck

Local Enthusiasts Organize Support for Bicycling






There are tremendous bicycling opportunities in Bismarck. Single track trails circle and sometimes infiltrate the city. Multiple routes cross the river between Bismarck and Mandan. Many thin streets with limited motor traffic are friendly to cyclists. There is ample topography for the enthusiast, but enough simple, winding trails for the weekend rider.




On Monday, April 26, a new cycling coalition for Bismarck-Mandan held an organizational meeting. The group will act as an umbrella organization for members to organize races and events and possibly even to coalesce lobbying power. The group will be for riders of all types, from the casual commuters all the way to serious road racers, and triathletes.




"It makes more sense for us to all be together than separate," said Brian Beady, a long-time Bismarck bike rider. "We have more in common than we have different."




Derrick Braaten, a local lawyer and bicycling enthusiast, said Bismarck’s friendliness towards bikes was one of the deciding factors for his decision to move here from Minneapolis.




For commuters, Bismarck is still small enough geographically that most destinations are an easy ten to fifteen minutes away. A bike can be “almost as fast or even faster than a car,” according Brian Beady, a long-time Bismarck rider.




Lance Larson, a self-proclaimed cycling addict, agreed.




“You can get almost every place in just about the same time as driving a car,” he said. “Say you’re going down 7th Street and everyone is stopped at lights.”




“You can roll right up to the front of the line,” Beady added. “There is some good stuff here.”






Safe Travels




It is only getting better. Dale Heinert works for Bismarck as a Design and Construction Engineer. He uses his bicycle as his primary transportation for most of the year. Heinert is working on a “Complete Streets” program that focuses on ideas and renovations to make environmentally-sound streets safe for pedestrians, cyclists, and cars.




“It’s not just a chuck of pavement,” Heinert said.




Some people think bike paths on busy streets would be a good start.




“I think for the most part Bismarck drivers are pretty courteous,” Karen Van Fossan, a Prairie Independent columnist and another commuter who uses her bike more than her car, said. “It makes me feel good about my community. But there are busier streets where I don’t know if I should be on the road or the sidewalk and I’d love to see the city put in some bike paths.”




Van Fossan also noted her concern with the intersection of State and Divide.




“The walk signal is not long enough,” she said. “Especially walking a bike I can’t get across it in time. I would like to see the perspective of pedestrians and bikers taken into account in situations like that.”




“The city is almost divided, traffic-wise, for bicycles,” Beady said, citing south Bismarck as a more difficult place to ride.




“Bike lanes would be nice,” Larson said, but he disagreed with Van Fossan over how friendly Bismarck drivers can be.




“There are a lot of people who are not bike-friendly who are driving cars.”




“There’s a small number of people riding,” Beady said. “Motorists are not too used to cyclists.” But, he added, “sometimes we have cyclists who are not too good at sharing the road either.”






Doing a Good Turn




According to the group, incentives for bicycling can be significant.




People feel “refreshed and invigorated when they’ve ridden their bike to work,” Beady said.




Heinert agrees that bicycling can be therapeutic.




“When you’re on a bike, physically exerting yourself, it just sort of wears away from you,” he said. “A lot of people who don’t ride wouldn’t even think about that.” But for Heinert, the stress is gone “in the first four or five blocks. It’s too easy to drive.”




Beyond the physical and psychological benefits, Larson believes in the economic incentives to bicycling.




“Commuting [by bike] is going to save you a lot of money on gas. It’s just better... for everything.”




As far as their organization goes, Beady is optimistic about their ability to bring people together and promote biking in Bismarck and Mandan.




“It makes more sense for us to all be together than separate. We have more in common than we have different,” he said.