Show Me The Good Stuff

Lots of good things happened in 2017 in Anne Arundel County. The great volunteers associated with BikeAAA, the Anne Arundel Bicycle Advisory Commission, the Bacon Ridge Project, M.O.R.E. and Bike Maryland are killing it as usual. Anne Arundel County hired their first-ever County Bicycle / Pedestrian Transportation Planner. The County is poised for greatness due to the efforts of some great people doing great things.

Some of the things, I'd like highlight: 

• Anne Arundel county's first County Bicycle / Pedestrian Transportation Planner
• Anne Arundel Medical Center was named the county's FIRST Bike Friendly Business
• More Bike Lanes on County Roads - went from one road with markings to five roads
• Construction funding was secured for the WB&A Trail Bridge over the Patuxent
• Increased funding for the Broadneck Trail
• Increased funding for the South Shore Trail
• Construction started in support of the next phase of the South Shore Trail 
• Additional Shared Use Paths along MD175 next to Fort Meade
• Fort Meade fixed the lingering problem with the Pepper Road Bicycle Gate
• Yep - Fort Meade has a gate just for bicycles
• Fort Meade increased the days and hours for folks to get Pepper Road Gate access cards
• New County Policy for adding bike lanes to County roads with wide shouldered roads
• BikeAAA worked with Annapolis to add more bike parking to downtown Annapolis
• Lifeline 100 grew again this year - more riders, more money raised, more fun

Bacon Ridge - Bacon Ridge - Bacon Ridge. Some of you know I'm not allowed to ride in the woods due certain issues between me and an unnamed tree at Patapsco State Park. My spousal unit banned me from Mountain Biking. So if anyone asks - I heard this from a friend. 

Now Bacon Ridge is an excellent area to ride and the volunteers have done an excellent job. They've laid out some excellent routes and the built some awesome trails. If you've not been there for a trail building day go on out and give it a whirl. Doesn't matter if you're a roadie - they'll hug and grab your butt like a regular Mountain Biker ;)  

Bacon Ridge built more trail in 2017 AND laid out the route for 11 more miles of proposed trail. Want to help fund Bacon Ridge just drop by M.O.R.E.'s Bacon Ridge Donation Page. 

Lastly, Bike Maryland was instrumental in pushing forward bike friendly legislation in 2017 and they're leading the charge in 2018. They'll need all our help to make this a successful legislative season.