FORT WORTH -- Mayor Betsy Price put the cap on her first full season of "rolling town halls" Friday night, leading about 100 riders on a ride from downtown to a historic north-side cemetery and back.
The rides -- more than 50 so far -- are part of a push by Price to engage with the public and spread the good word about the benefits of physical fitness.Along the way, Price has heard a mouthful from the citizens. And some of what they've had to say has worked its way into city policy."If you're stupid enough to put on Spandex and go out in public, people'll talk to you," said Price, a longtime cyclist.Trash, animal control, and the city's natural gas revenues are top topics.After two riders wondered why apartments don't recycle, the idea made it into an ordinance due to take effect in 2014.Last week's mayor's ride went off with a tour at the city's crowded animal control center.The city put out information about migrating egrets after riders raised concerns about the birds.The city is also touting the potential benefits of dredging Lake Worth using money from gas leases."One of the most common questions I get is where the gas money goes," Price said.Spotting the flawsAnd of course, when you're riding the city on a bike, it's easier to see certain flaws."You do see the potholes," said Price, who broke her collarbone and suffered a concussion this summer when she hit a rut on the Trinity Trail and spilled.Above all, Price said, it's been "interesting to have a whole group of people I don't know," who may not be interested in city affairs or vote in municipal elections.Price's rolling town halls have also helped Fort Worth's budding bike culture build steam.Members of the Fort Worth Night Riders, a 3-year-old group that runs Wednesday and Sunday rides from the Chat Room bar on the near south side, took the lead in last night's 5-mile ride from the T&P Tavern to Pioneers Rest Cemetery, where members of Historic Fort Worth staged a re-enactment.More of a road riderMark Troxler, 29, a retired ballet dancer and a Night Riders co-founder, says he's starting to see more riders who try both fitness-oriented tours like the mayor's and social affairs like the Night Riders', where bluejeans are de rigueur, layovers at a pub or two are typical and where the only rules are lights on the bikes and stops at all the lights."She's always been more of a road rider, we've always been more of a social group," Troxler said. "I think there's starting to be a crossover between her style of riding and our style of riding."More rides continue to surface, like the new Bike Friendly Mid Cities, which rolls from a coffee shop at 9101 Grapevine Highway on Monday nights and goes 15-20 miles, with dinner built in.Eric Welborn, 30, a civilian detention officer for the city of Bedford and co-founder of the group, which said on its Facebook page that it had a high of 11 riders at this week's tour, said he's trying to build a Northeast Tarrant County ride like the Fort Worth Night Riders'."There's nothing in this area that is really a social ride," said Welborn, who regularly rolls out with Fort Worth rides.Changes comingPrice's rides will undergo a makeover for next year's series beginning in the spring, moving out of the central city and off of the Trinity Trails more often, and into neighborhoods, where they'll be shorter and designed to attract more casual riders.Instead of weekly rides on Wednesdays, they'll go to twice a month. While this year's rides have ranged from 12 to 25 miles, next year's may be six to 10. The mayor's rides typically draw at least 30 people, and have attracted as many as 300."We think it'll be a better format for a wider variety of people," said MaryAnn Means, the city's deputy chief of staff.Several other groups in the area already do regular tours that draw fitness riders. The mayor's recast rides "will fill a niche," she said.Price will still maintain her longtime tradition, started when she was county tax assessor-collector, of riding every day during the Tour de France.She regularly appears before children, stressing bike safety and the use of helmets, and helping put a charge into Bike Fort Worth, the city's bike transportation plan.And also likely coming up in the next six months is a city advisory committee to look into bicycling and pedestrian-friendly initiatives, said Julia McCleeary, the senior planner who oversees Bike Fort Worth.There's no money in the tight city budget for bike lanes to add to the city's existing 20 miles of lanes. What's being done now is largely by developers or money from previous bond programs. A federal stimulus grant in 2010 paid for 6.4 miles of lanes, and the near south side paid for bike lanes on Main Street and Jennings and Magnolia avenues.But Price says pedestrian-friendly features like sidewalks and bike lanes will be potential items in the city's next bond program, which will go before voters next year or in 2014."We never want to constrain traffic and transportation, but we simply have to look at the ability to put in bike lanes," she said.Fitness firstAlso in keeping with her fitness narrative, the city rolled out FitWorth this fall, an eight-week challenge to Fort Worth schoolchildren to combat childhood obesity. The city estimates 26,000 children have signed up, five times the city's goal.This fall, Price will launch monthly "walking town halls."She's also serving as a mentor to Steer Fort Worth, a young leaders organization the mayor launched because of the dearth of voters younger than 40 who voted in last year's city elections. Pedestrian-friendly initiatives, such as a bike share program being launched by the T, and a program that will overhaul the cafeteria menu in an elementary school are two of Steer Fort Worth's initiatives.The fitness narrative is also making its way into employee wellness initiatives at the city, where increasing healthcare costs forced the city to raise insurance premiums 8 percent for next year.After the holidays, the city will roll out "Fit 15," encouraging city employees to engage in 15 minutes of exercise away from their offices.Price also foresees the city building more incentives into the city's health plan. "We've got to lead by example. It reduces our costs and makes [employees] more productive," she said.Fort Worth's mayors have often taken on overarching themes, sometimes because of interests and others because of circumstances. Mayor Mike Moncrief's was combating homelessness; Mayor Kenneth Barr's, mental health; Mayor Kay Granger's, gangs.Biking and fitness were natural for Price."I'm never going to be skinny in my life," she said. "But I can be fit."Scott Nishimura, 817-390-7808Twitter: @JScottNishimuraHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
