Muscle Powered members clean up Linear Park Trail

Acomplishments

Bike Racks
Muscle Powered designed and arranging funding for bicycle racks at many Carson City locations including Western Nevada College, Carson Tahoe Medical Center, the Brewery Arts Center, Comma Coffee, and the community pool. Funders include Muscle Powered members (through annual dues/donations), the Helen Close Foundation, Dr. Colleen Lyons, Dr. Susan MacIlhenny, and Shelly Aldean of the Glenbrook Company.

Safe Routes to School
In 2006 Muscle Powered organized Safe Routes to School pilot programs in two Carson City elementary schools, Seeliger and Mark Twain Elementary. The programs culminated in walk-the-school days at both schools, and in both schools walking programs continue.

Carson City Trails Collaboration
In 2007 Muscle Powered entered into what we hope will be a fruitful collaboration with the Carson City Parks and Recreation Department to implement the City’s recently-adopted Unified Trails Master Plan. Muscle Powered wrote successful grant applications seeking funding to complete bridges on the popular Mexican Ditch Trail, a multi-use trail that runs along the historic Mexican Ditch in Carson City, linking residential neighborhoods to Carson River Park and the BLM-managed Silver Saddle Ranch on the Carson River. Members of the Capital Branch of the American Society of Civil Engineers have also joined the collaborative effort, donating engineering services for surveying, soil testing, and bridge abutment design.

Bike-To-Work Week
In 2006 and 2007 Muscle Powered became a principal organizer of Bike-To-Work Week events in northern Nevada. 2007 events included a corporate, state agency, and school bike commuter challenge.

Carson City Bicycle Route Map and Safe Cycling Guide
With the support of the Nevada Office of Traffic Safety, the Carson City Parks and Recreation Department, and local business sponsors, Muscle Powered designed and published a free bicycle route map for Carson City, with safe cycling tips on the reverse. The 2003 edition of the map proved very popular, with almost all 10,000 copies distributed within three years. In 2007 Muscle Powered updated the map to include new routes and printed another 15,000 copies. Maps are available free at map sponsors, including the Carson City Parks and Recreation office in the Carson City Community Center on East William Street, local bike and outdoor shops, and the city library. The map also is available on this website.

Walk to School Day 2001
In October, 2001, Muscle Powered organized ”Walk our Children to School Day” in Carson City. “It was a great opportunity to spend time with my little boy and enjoy our beautiful northern Nevada fall,” said parent Linda Mercer. Linda and her son Cody, 6, joined 2,150 other Carson City parents and elementary school students from eight schools in walking to school that Tuesday. The Carson City School District Nutrition Program served free breakfasts to all walkers, and local dignitaries including the mayor, city supervisors, and school board took part in the walk. Walkers were encouraged to fill out a survey detailing what they encountered on the walk, and Muscle Powered compiled these surveys and delivered them to Carson City to use in its upcoming Pedestrian Plan for the city.

Carson City Freeway Multi-Use Path
In 1999, Muscle Powered discovered that the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) did not intend to include a multi-use path for bicycles and pedestrians along the right-of-way for a new freeway bypassing Carson City’s downtown, even though the City’s – and Nevada’s - adopted bicycle plans called for the path. We organized a petition drive to request that the path be included in the project, and delivered it, with over 400 signatures, to Nevada Governer Kenny Guinn, who besides being governer is also the chair of the Nevada Transportation Board. In advocating for the path Muscle Powered collaborated with GROW – Gardeners Restoring Our Wayside - a local organization working to ensure that NDOT provides landscaping along the freeway right of way. After an April, 2000 meeting of the State Transportation Board – with an overflow crowd – and a series of negotiations between Carson City and NDOT, NDOT agreed to build the multi-use path as a part of the project. The northern portion of the bypass - and the path – are currently under construction, slated for completion in 2006. Muscle Powered continues to push for a similar path along the southern portion of the route.