The Baltimore Sun from Baltimore, Maryland • A2

THE BALTIMORE SUN NEWS SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013 Cycling advocates rank Md. high But missing links, safety concerns remain issues for underserved communities surface trails and paved pathways and new bike lanes to bring residential areas closer to schools, recreational areas, transit hubs and employment centers. At the state level, transportation and parks officials have recruited volunteer and community groups to enhance off-road trails and create new ones. Maps and online services are being upgraded to supply more real-time information to mobile devices. "We're getting close to producing a map of every single trail in Maryland," said Steve Carr, a planner for the Department of Natural Resources.

In its annual survey of states, the League of American Bicyclists ranked Maryland No. 8, up two notches from 201L The state got good grades for legislation, enforcement, policies, education and planning. But infrastructure and funding remain weaknesses, the survey said. A 2009 study commissioned by the state concurred, noting an analysis of trails and major population centers revealed that many communities "remain underserved. Not only do these communities lack trails as a local transportation option, but they are not linked into the larger statewide transportation trails network." The study listed 44 communities, including Westminster, Crofton, Ellicott City, Glen Burnie and Laurel.

In 2010, Gov. Martin O'Malley called a trails summit to establish priorities. The governor then launched the Cycle Mary land program and set aside $10 million for local projects to improve bicycle access to schools and jobs or provide the missing link between trails. Nate Evans, Baltimore's bike and pedestrian planner, said updating the master plan will allow officials to fill in the trail network by looking at the needs of city neighborhoods individually "so we can get input at the grass-roots level of what people will use." The biggest accomplishment during the past 12 months, Evans said, was securing more than $400,000 in state and federal money to expand the city's 40 miles of bike lanes and 39 miles of trails. Those projects include cycle tracks that place a bike lane between the curb and a row of parked cars to provide a margin of safety for riders.

Maryland Avenue, Cathedral Street and Park Avenue could be prime candidates, Evans said. Bicycle advocates say they will continue to make rider safety a priority in their outreach programs and with the General Assembly. A 2012 report by the Alliance for Biking and Walking that ranked the combined pedestrian and cyclist fatality rates for states and cities placed Baltimore 15th out of 51 major cities and the state 39th. Silldorff said the organization will launch a $40,000 safety education effort next spring aimed at young riders and will push for a statewide campaign to educate motorists about sharing the road. State transportation agencies and the Department of Natural Resources are upgrading the online Trail Atlas, an inventory of federal, state, county and municipal routes, Carr said.

"Right now, there are maps by individual agencies. They're all not well labeled and they don't always show what connects to what. We hope to integrate all of that, with standardized symbols and markings, by the end of 2013," Carr said. Elsewhere, the 20-mile Western Maryland Rail Trail will be extended another 4.7 miles from Pearre in Washington County to Little Orleans in Allegany County. The DNR has allocated $300,000 for the design of a mountain bike trail system at Herrington Manor and Swallow Falls state parks with connector trails to Deep Creek State Park and Savage River State Forest and has enlisted the support of volunteer groups such as Garrett Trails and the International Mountain Bike Association to help with the projects.

Locally, members of the Mid-Atlantic Off-road Enthusiasts are working with staff to improve Patapsco Valley State Park's mile-long Valley View trail, which runs on the ridge above the Patapsco River, said state Superintendent Nita Settina Said Settina, "It's not an exaggeration to say that we have transformed the trails from eroding mudslides into rolling, water-shedding, fun trails." candy, thomsonbaltsun.com By Candy Thomson The Baltimore Sun Proponents of pedaling Maryland's streets and trails say they've covered a lot of ground in their efforts to increase bicycling opportunities, but there's also much to do. "I'd give the city a B-plus and the state a said Carol Silldorff, executive director of Bike Maryland, the Baltimore-based cycling advocacy group. "Progress takes time." In Baltimore, where a survey shows bike commuting has increased 50 percent over the past four years, city transportation officials are beginning to connect popular downtown routes and update the 2006 master plan. Bike lanes will be added to Fort Avenue, Guilford Avenue, South Street, Briarcliff Road and Greenwich Avenue. Baltimore County is using a $100,000 state grant to create a "Towson Bike Beltway" to tie retail and government centers with Towson University and Goucher College.

Dedicated bike lanes are expected to make up 75 percent of the route. Howard County is at the halfway point in a one-year effort to develop its first Bicycle Transportation Master Plan. The idea is to incorporate the county's 183 miles of natural Rally protests anti-gay violence Baltimore man who was attacked returns, with backers, to scene of beating By Ian Duncan The Baltimore Sun Activists, public officials and residents gathered Saturday outside an east Baltimore liquor store where a man was severely beaten on Christmas Day to protest violent attacks on gay people Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts told the crowd of about 40 people that his department plans to set up an advisory group to meet monthly to work with gay, lesbian and transgender people. "I want to come together as a community and make sure we connect and do the right things for every part of our community," said Batts, who became commissioner late last year.

"If there's more that we can do, if there's more that I can do, I am here to serve you." Kenni Shaw, 30, who also attended the rally, says he was attacked outside Liquors, on the corner of North Milton Avenue and East Hoffman Street, because he is gay. Activists want the incident treated as a hate crime, but police, who are still investigating, said that at the moment the evidence does not support the classification, which can bring heftier sentences. In a show of support for Shaw, the group gathered at noon on North Gay Street a happy coincidence, said the Rev. Kinji Scott, one or the rally's organizers and walked with him the few blocks to the liquor store. "A lot of people don't speak up," Shaw said.

"I made it through this situation and I wanted to use my voice." On Saturday the whites of Shaw's eyes were still reddened from the beating, which, according to a picture he posted to the photo-sharing site Instagram, left his face badly swollen. The attack on Shaw has attracted the attention of gay-rights activists, community leaders and public officials, who mounted steps outside the store and stood under its yellow awning to deliver speeches decrying violence. In an interview, Batts said whether to handle the case as a hate crime will rest with the state's attorney's office. "We do the part of gathering evidence," he said. Scott, a gay Baptist preacher, said in an interview that he is generally happy with how police have handled the case so far.

He plans to meet with officers privately to push for the hate crime classification. But, he added, the rally served a broader purpose: KARL MERTON FERRONBALTIMORE SUN PHOTOS Showing signs of the violence of his beating, Kenni Shaw looks on during the rally outside Liquors. attack that a group of five men rained down blows on his head as he left the liquor store. In the past, he said, he has been subjected to verbal abuse in his neighborhood. Representatives from the National Black Justice Coalition, a civil rights organization that campaigns against homophobia, said the group had brought Shaw's case to the attention of the U.S.

Department of Justice as an example of the "crisis of violence" affecting black gay people. Other activists and officials also joined the rally, including local NAACP head Tessa Hill-Aston, City Councilmen Carl Stokes and Nick Mosby, and Kevin D. Cleary, a mayoral aide who works with the gay community. Carrie Evans, the executive director of Equality Maryland, which campaigned for the state's new same-sex marriage law, compared that legislative victory with the more basic problems many gay people still face in their day-to-day lives. "What happened to Mr.

Shaw just shows how much we have to do on the ground," she said. iduncanbaltsun.com twitter.comiduncan "I want to come together as a community and make sure we connect and do the right things for every part of our community," said Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts. showing gay blacks that they can stand up and talk about crime. "In our community in the past we've had people beat, raped and murdered, but we've not had much action in terms of violence against black gay men," Scott said.

"You have Kenni Shaw who is willing to stand up when most people are quiet and afraid." Shaw, a cosmetologist and hair stylist, told The Baltimore Sun shortly after the Geocaching Maryland for coins, for fun and for health sale for $10 and ramped up his geocaching. He found 2,740 geocaches in 2012 alone. He attributes half of his weight loss to the gastric bypass surgery, half to his hobby. "I'm a legend among geocachers now," Culp said with a laugh. "He's a legend," confirmed Jim Copen-haver, his geocaching colleague from York, Pa Geocachers have nicknames: Culp is known as Papa Snapdragon, Copenhaver as Geo Jimbo, and Copenhaver's wife, Pam, goes by GoGo Granny.

They, a newbie named Levi Myers and about 370 other geocachers registered for the Discovering Maryland Geotrail yesterday, according to Chuck Sporer, a volunteer with the Maryland Geocaching Society. More geocachers are expected to find the statewide scavenger hunt online. The last trail had several thousand participants, according to the Maryland Municipal League, and nearly 500 geocachers found every treasure on it. drodricksbaltsun.com High-tech scavenger says the hunt 'changed my life' By Dan Rodricks The Baltimore Sun PERRYVTLLE A year ago, Ray Culp weighed 406 pounds and the outlook for his health was grim; he needed a walker and an oxygen supply to get around. Today, his weight is down to 270, and he cites two reasons for the vast improvement in his health: He had gastric bypass surgery and his geocache count hit 4,240.

The latter refers to the number of "treasures" the 62 -year-old Culp has found while hiking and participating in high-tech scavenger hunts known by a few million hobbyists around the world as geocaching (pronounced "geo With a walking staff in one hand and smartphone in the other, Culp has located hundreds of "geocaches," using a global positioning app as his guide. That means he walked a lot, and much more than he used to. "It has been life-changing," Culp said Saturday at Perryville's town hall, as he and dozens of cheerful geocachers registered for a new trail designed and promoted as a way to lure trekkers into Maryland's small towns. Dozens of other hobbyists registered for the trail in Greenbelt and Hancock. Forty geocaches small, waterproof containers full of assorted trinkets have been hidden in or near towns across the state, their coordinates posted on the Internet.

For those who register to participate, the treasures show up on hand-held GPS devices and smartphones as colorful dots. The goal is to hike to a spot, find the geocache under a log, maybe, or inside a dead tree and record the "secret code" on the lid of each one. Some people take an item from the geocache and leave another behind. Hundreds of hobbyists are expected to take part in the Discovering Maryland Geo trail, the second of its land staged by the Maryland Municipal League. The first one, established in 2009, had more than 30,000 "finds," according to Paula Chase-Hyman, the league's member relations manager.

The first 200 people who find and record at least half of the new Maryland geocaches get a "geocoin," prized by the hobbyists. Some geocachers do it for the modest rewards. Some do it for the simple challenge and pleasure. And many do it to enjoy the outdoors and stay active in Culp's case, to stay alive. "I shined a seat with my rear end for too many years," Culp said, referring to the sedentary job he had as a driver's license examiner near his home in Red Lion, Pa "I was in really bad shape.

I had emphysema. I was short of breath all the time. I had an irregular heart rhythm." He had the gastric bypass surgery last January. "But my doctor told me the surgery alone would not make me healthy." So Culp bought a walking staff at a yard.