Whenever I’m asked about the origin of Routearrows, I return to that day in May, 1983. It was late in the evening, yet warm, and I was standing beside my Toyota pickup on the side of lonely road, bleary eyed, with gluey fingers. Unless you’ve heard it before this probably needs a little further explanation. While attending UC Davis, I had joined the Davis Bike Club which allowed me a wonderful outlet and testing ground for a growing penchant for routes and maps and cajoling other cyclists into trying these routes that I hoped would highlight the best cycling this central California agricultural area had to offer. Before leaving Davis, I published the first of three cycling guide books, “The Cyclists Route Atlas: A Guide to Delta, Farm and Wine Country.” I really enjoyed describing the many wonderful possibilities and adventures available within easy access to the Davis cycling community. The bike club has a signature event, the Davis Double Century, which was one of the original 200 mile events or “DC’s” as we called them. The first Davis “DC” was a very simple affair. In 1969, the wife of the town’s main bike shop owner and devoted supporter of the bike club drove her van loaded with chips, candy and sodas while about 20 club riders followed behind. They traveled north up the Sacramento Valley on quiet back roads and when the van odometer hit 100 miles, they turned around and rode the same roads back to Davis. If I remember the story correctly, it took about 20 hours for the group to complete together.
While at UC Davis, I really loved being caught up with the then 12 year old event; the planning, the mapping, the route prep the days before, and especially riding in the event itself. Being “Route Director” allowed me that luxury of both being involved in all the organizing and getting to ride 200 miles! One of the issues the event faced back then was how to safely deal with all the riders that would finish well after dark, some of which would come very close to the “200 miles in 24 hours” deadline. Lighting systems were marginal at best back then, and it was understandably difficult to see the small white painted arrows at night, so having exhausted, incoherent riders wander off into the surrounding farmlands was a yearly occurrence. One of the bike club members worked for the highway department, Cal Trans, and procured a remainder of a yellow reflective foil center line tape. This 4” wide heavy foil tape was used by Cal Trans for temporary road centerline restriping instead of paint. There wasn’t much left on the roll so I cut it in thirds, just over one inch wide and then cut that into short strips which I used to make little “night arrows’ on the last 50 miles of the 200 mile route. I remember that first year using the stuff, standing on the side of the road, late in evening, exhausted, road weary from over 12 hours of route marking, sweeping gravel, filling potholes etc., scissors in hand - cutting the very thick and very sticky foil tape, getting it stuck to my fingers, my pants, the scissors gumming up, thinking “it sure would be great to have pre-made arrows I could just unroll and stick to the road.” We had enough foil tape to use for that year and the next two, but that little idea moment, that vision somewhere in Yolo Co. on Hwy 16 was the original seed of Routearrows.com.
Jump ahead to late 2006 and I’ve finally decided to give this wacky idea a real push and see if it can fly. The main design parameters included 1) high visibility, 2) unique shape, 3) short lifespan and 4) easy installation. I didn’t have the current shape/size in mind at first; I give credit for that to the manufacturer of Routearrows. The first prototype Routearrows were made from bright colored 8 1⁄2 by 11 paper that I cut with a utility knife in a simple jig I made from scraps of a Formica countertop. I would put about 10 pieces of paper in the little frame, cut them into the big arrow shape with the knife, then remove the scraps, stack the arrows then repeat about 100 more times. The next trick was getting these things to stick to the street. I devised a cardboard box with a wire platform in it. This would usually keep the arrows from sticking to the bottom of the box after repeated usage, hopefully confine the overspray and keep the arrow from blowing away in the wind. I bought cans of a spray adhesive, placed an arrow in the box, sprayed the glue on it, waited a moment for it to get tacky then lifted them out, placed them on the road, and pressed them down with a few stomps of my foot. It worked! Darned slow, but it did work.
The first event to use this fledgling route marking method was the Sequoia Century. I approached the event organizers, the Western Wheelers Bike Club, and they agreed to let me give it a try on their event. That was a very courageous step, one I’m still amazed at. They were also one of the first ones to use the product in its current die-cut roll form. Ok, the basic concept worked, paper arrows for route marking, but this cumbersome method left a heck of a lot to be desired. I knew I would never be able to sell this product with all the hassles it entailed. According to criteria # 4, it needs to be easy to use! I had to find someone who could make that happen. The first call was to the manufacturer of the bright paper I bought at the office supply store. The second call I made was to an associate of his, a company that makes die-cut labels. The wonderful owner, who listened to my crazy product idea, helped refine the concept into its current form and after just a few phone calls we were in business. Now I needed a place to sell this unknown, novel product, like a store! Hey, this sounds like a job for the Internet! With the help of another wonderful person, my then personal trainer and enthusiast of technology, we set up a website and the first official sale was on March 20th 2007. Sales and interest have grown steadily since then, and I hope that one day soon, Routearrows.com will be the first and best choice for route marking everything from cycling events, running events, walkathons, conventions, emergency and construction work and any other place a bright, highly visible, economical and easy to use temporary marking method is needed.
