Story Advocate Strikes Again

Over homemade paninis at Jamie's Coffee Mill in Mount Ayr last December, Chris told me he had been advocating for bike trails ever since he arrived in Ringgold County. But it wasn't working. The issue isn't a part of his job, just a passion that he lives daily. He rides his bike or skis to work and his 9-year-old son, Zach, rides his bike every day to school, even through the winter. As we stepped off the curb onto the cobblestone road en route back to the health department office, he pointed up the street. Zach had a recent scare where a truck hit his bike... and it had him spooked from riding this week. He shared that until that day, he had never thought of telling this story to the city council. With his new story chops and little encouragement, he felt ready to try a story approach. Below is an article that ran this morning's front page of the Des Moines register...

Before Chris Doster’s trip to Des Moines for this coming weekend’s bike summit, his road was filled with bumps and curves.

Bump ahead

It was a dark day. Doster’s wife had left to move to Oregon, leaving him with toddler son, Zach. It was 2003, he lived in Kansas and was a drug abuser.

“I remember thinking, ‘If I didn’t have this boy I would just give up and be this junkie for the rest of my life,’ ” said Doster, 38, of Mount Ayr. “But I also clearly remember thinking, ‘I can’t give up on this boy.’ Having a son was a reason to keep me hanging on.

“(After treatment), I got into recovery and I thought, ‘Hey, I’m worth it, too. What am I doing with my body?’ The moment I stopped drinking and drugging, I went for a run. It became a great way to build my body and self-esteem.

“When I’m going on a nice bike ride, swim or run, that is when I feel most at peace in the world. I am happy to be alive. I’ve heard it said the high we get from exercise can be a great substitute for that high that I used to chase. I’ve been accused of being a health nut now.”

Curve ahead

He moved back to Iowa with his son in tow. He had lived in Mount Ayr as a child, but had moved to Johnston and graduated from high school there in 1990.

It was a new road in central Iowa, but with big curves. Could he work part-time, raise his son, keep fit, stay clean and still accomplish his goal of going to college?

He got a job at a restaurant, trained for triathlons and attended Iowa State University for public health, helping with programs in the health promotion lab at a time of non-stop news about childhood obesity.

“I set up games for kids ages 8 to 13 and what I remember is seeing the kids running and smiling, faces getting red. This is the way kids are supposed to be. Active. As a parent, I have to train my kid to be sedentary. They were born to run like puppy dogs.”

With new enthusiasm, he graduated and got a job in public health before moving to his old hometown of Mount Ayr for a smoking cessation job with the Ringgold County Health Department. He used to smoke, too.

Bump

“Here in Ringgold County they weren’t used to people on the highways. There aren’t many trails and parents drive their kids to school,” said Doster, who took long bike rides on the country roads, finding his peace while his son Zach rode a bike one mile to school every day it was above 15 degrees.

“Since you and I grew up, it’s the reverse of what it used to be. A social norm shift has happened. The kids who don’t get dropped off at school are out of the norm. Kids put pressure on their parents to do it because they want to be like all the other kids.”

So Doster and colleagues at the health department approached the Mount Ayr City Council last summer with an idea for a bike lane and “walkability” study so children could safely and easily walk or bike to school on Jefferson and Adams streets in Mount Ayr. The City Council was reluctant, but is still considering the proposal, Doster said.

Then it happened. Zach, 10, was riding his bike home from school this fall. He was stopped at a stop sign on the corner of West Columbus and North Fillmore streets waiting for traffic. A 4x4 truck was turning on to the street where Zach stood but wasn’t looking for him, cutting the corner too sharp. The truck headed right for him.

Zach considered jumping on the pavement and lying flat, hoping he would go under the truck. Just then, the driver saw Zach, slammed on the breaks, and hit Zach’s bike with the truck bumper, dumping Zach on the pavement.

Zach was dazed but only had a scraped shoulder. The driver followed him home and left his name but the injuries weren’t serious and Doster didn’t file a report.

For a while he was scared to ride his bike.

Resume speed

Zach got back up on his bike and all those preaching moments now hit home. His dad always told him to watch for cars because they weren’t watching for him.

Doster got a new jolt, too. The boy who had saved him nearly had a disastrous accident. He is determined to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

He knows a bike lane isn’t the answer to everything, but it might help. At meetings he has encountered parents who say they’d never let their child bike to school “because I’ve seen drivers around here.”

The first step must come from parents, encouraging their children to walk or bike to school, Doster said. More children on bikes make drivers more aware of them.

So Doster is going to Des Moines this weekend for the Bicycle Summit and Expo, where he hopes to learn more about what cities can do to make biking safer.

He’s already ridden enough treacherous roads.