Cycling Tips & Stories

Kansas City Missouri Councilman Russ Johnson, chair of the city's Transportation Committee, bicycled to work Wednesday.

Later that day Mayor Funkhouser & Johnson held a press conference announcing that Kansas City is aiming for Platinum level Bicycle Friendly Community status by 2020.

MoBikeFed Board Member Eric Rogers took this photo, which is Johnson in the city parking garage at his assigned parking spot--with his bike (he's the 2nd district councilman "in district" vs. the other 2nd district councilman who is "at large"--thus the sign).

Earlier this week Representative Talibdin El-Amin bicycled to work from his home in the St. Louis area to work at the Missouri House of Representatives in Jefferson City.

Any other prominent Missourians you know of bicycling to work this week? Let us know--webmaster[at]mobikefed.org

More Bike Week photos here. permanent link to article: "KCMO Councilman Russ Johnson bicycles to work"
posted by Brent Hugh at 5/15/2008 11:14:00 PM |comment on this article

MoBikeFed President Joe Torrisi, who works for the St. Louis School District, along with Mimi Deem, a Compton Drew teacher, developed an interesting program to combat childhood obesity--a middle school bicycle club that rides in Forest Park three times every week:

An area bike shop donated 30 Specialized hybrids, and the Compton-Drew Bike Club was in business. The club has become a fixture at nearby Forest Park, where the students have earned praise from park regulars for their manners and observance of bicycle etiquette while training at least three times a week, weather permitting.

Although riding the park's six-mile loop met the primary objective of exercise, Deem and Torrisi soon realized a larger goal was required to maintain the students' interest.

"We needed a culminating event," said Torrisi, currently the president of the Missouri Bicycle Federation.

And so, in 2002, the first batch of Compton-Drew students hit the trail.

When the year-end rides to Jefferson City on the Katy Trail proved a success, Deem and Torrisi added a 75-mile round-trip fall ride from St. Louis to Principia College in Elsah.

Read all about the Compton Drew Bicycle Club's trip to Jefferson City in the St. Louis Post Dispatch. (Be sure to view the slide show.)

Developing more youth programs to involved children in healthy activities like bicycling--one of the few sports children can pursue for a lifetime--is one of MoBikeFed's goals in its Vision of Active Transportation in Missouri. permanent link to article: "Compton Drew Middle School Bicycle Club rides the Katy Trail"
posted by Brent Hugh at 5/13/2008 09:32:00 PM |comment on this article

Bob Neidinger, an avid cyclist from St. Joseph, is teaming up with a co-worker to ride to work at Atchison High School for Bike to Work Day May 16th. The two teachers are inviting students to join them for the last few miles through Atchison.

The two are cycling "to celebrate National Bike Month and to promote a reduction of the use of fossil fuels."

The best part--students who bicycle in to school are getting extra credit.

Now that's the kind of high school I wanted to go to!

Read more on the Atchison High School web site. permanent link to article: "High school teachers invite students to join them for Bike to Work Day ride"
posted by Brent Hugh at 5/13/2008 06:50:00 PM |comment on this article

Just in time for Bike to Work Day, the St. Louis Suburban Journals have profiled bicycle commuter Kyle Oberle, who works for TrailNet:

Q: What do you find most rewarding about biking all over?

A: It's the whole picture - better for the environment and my health, keeps the streets free from another car and my pocketbook free from my gas tank, makes me more aware of my surrounding and it's really just a lot more fun than hopping into the car. . . .

Bike commuters are invited to join The Great Rivers Greenway District, the YMCA of Greater St. Louis and Trailnet for breakfast at 20 Refueling Stations throughout the region. Breakfast will be served 6:30 - 9:00 a.m. For more information on locations of stations, visit http://trailnet.org/m_latest.php#may and click on "read more" under "May is National Bike Month" and click on the "Bike to Work Day" flier.

BTW, CBS is news is doing a story on Bike to Work Day (May 16th) and filming one of TrailNet's Bike to Work Day refueling stations in Forest Park.

We are hoping for a good crowd so please forward this to your friends and fellow cyclists. Don't Forget: 6:00 AM, Friday, May 16 at the Missouri History Museum Refueling Station.

permanent link to article: "St. Louis bicycle commuter Kyle Oberle profiled"
posted by Brent Hugh at 5/13/2008 06:05:00 PM |comment on this article

Wheel To Weston is a "MoBikeFed Advocacy Event"--one of those great bicycling events around Missouri that donates a small portion of every registration back to MoBikeFed to help promote better bicycling across Missouri.

So we hope you'll consider supporting this event that supports MoBikeFed:

American Diabetes Association "Wheel to Weston" - June 8th

Date: June 8, 2008
Location: KC River Market
For more information call: 1-888-DIABETES or visit the web site.

The Kansas City Tour de Cure is a one day cycling fund-raising event. In 2007 the Wheel to Weston/Tour de Cure attracted over 300 cyclists and raised $100,000. Contributions to the American Diabetes Association benefit diabetes research, information programs, and advocacy efforts.

Start line and registration will be in the parking lot across from the River Market Cyclery, 315 E 3rd Street.

Route: The 100-mile, 70-mile and 35-mile routes are very well supported. While the two longer routes are for the more experienced rider, our 35-mile route is made to accommodate all riders.

Rest Stops are complete with toilets, water, and an assortment of fruit and snacks.

Lunch: Once you arrive in Weston, you will enjoy a great lunch and entertainment for all.

Fitness Festival/Post Event Party: Please enjoy our live entertainment, massage therapists, lunch and much, much more at the finish line in Weston, MO.

The Tour de Cure/Wheel to Weston would not be a successful event without all the efforts of this years Tour Committee Members, and our day of event volunteers. A lot of work is done year-round to assure that this event is a success, and that there is money raised for the over 21 million Americans living with diabetes.

Help the American Diabetes Association to fulfill our mission: to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes. Register as a rider or make a team today. Together we all will make a difference.

Special Thanks to: Tour de Cure/Wheel to Weston Planning Committee, Ham Radio Operators, River Market Cyclery, City of Weston, City of Atchison, City of Leavenworth, Seals Photography, all the local communities who help host the event and our dedicated riders, volunteers and sponsors.

2008 Official Bike Stores: Bike America, Bikes Source, Bike Stop, TREK Bicycle Store of Kansas City, and The Wheel Cyclery

permanent link to article: "KC: Wheel to Weston June 8th"
posted by Brent Hugh at 5/13/2008 12:50:00 PM |comment on this article

At the National Bike Summit, we heard David A. Jones, CEO of Humana, talk about the new and very successful bicycle loaner program at Humana's headquarters in Louisville.

Now they're taking it on the road to the Democratic and Republican National Conventions:

Humana, a Fortune 500 health insurer, will be providing 1,000 bicycles to the cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis for community use during the Republican National Convention, and then leaving 75 behind for what it hopes will become a permanent bike-sharing initiative. . . .

To use a Freewheelin cycle, participants would register with credit cards to ensure that they don't make off with the bikes, which otherwise are expected to be free to use. . . .

Humana also is making 1,000 bicycles available to Denver during the Democratic National Convention . . .

Since late August, Humana has been running a Freewheelin program for its employees at its headquarters in Louisville, Ky.

So Freewheelin is working in Louisville . . . why not in St. Louis, Kansas City, Columbia, Springfield, or St. Joseph?

I know some people across the state are working towards it . . . permanent link to article: "1000 bicycles at the Republican & Democratic conventions"
posted by Brent Hugh at 5/09/2008 08:23:00 AM |comment on this article

Bike Month and Bike to Work Week activities have grown increasingly popular in Missouri in the past few years.

There is no better reason to get your bike out and go for a ride!

Columbia
Columbia's Bike Walk and Wheel Week attracted around 5000 participants and wraps up May 10th. It has received a lot of great press coverage.

Springfield
Ozark Greenways invites participants to join Bike, Bus, and Walk Week May 12-16 (Springfield News-Leader coverage).

St. Louis
TrailNet is delivering a full slate of Bike Month activities, including Bike to Work Day May 16th with twenty refueling stations, a Bike to Work Day proclamation from the Mayor, Bike Mentors, and the Drive Your Bike Challenge.

Kansas City
The Kansas City metro area will have over 60 events in this year's Bike Week. The flagship event is the Car-Free Challenge, which challenges participants to take more trips by walking, bicycling, transit, or carpooling. The Car Free Challenge has a goal of 1000 participants this year. So far registration is just below 700--but there is still time to join.

If your city or club is having a bike month activity, please be sure to list it on MoBikeFed's event calendar and send Bike Month event listing in to the League of American Bicyclists.

Bring Bike Month activities to communities around Missouri that are currently un-served by Bike Month is one of the goals in MoBikeFed's Vision of Active Transportation in Missouri. Bike Month activities are one of the best proven ways to interest more Missourians in bicycling and an active lifestyle.

If you live in a community with no Bike Month or Bike to Work Week events you are welcome to join the Car Free Challenge--web site created by MoBikeFed Board Member Eric Rogers. permanent link to article: "Bike to Work Week in Missouri"
posted by Brent Hugh at 5/08/2008 07:18:00 PM |comment on this article

Normally we don't post anything that smacks of product endorsement or advertisement . . . but maybe just this once. Just because it's Bike Month. And because this is really, really good (unless you happen to be an SUV owner, I suppose):

View online here.

permanent link to article: "Bike more - drive less?"
posted by Brent Hugh at 5/07/2008 06:23:00 PM |comment on this article

This definitely falls in the category "must see to believe".

Let's just say it's in Norway and helps you get up hills. On your bicycle. The rest, you'll have to see for yourself. permanent link to article: "Bicycle lift"
posted by Brent Hugh at 5/05/2008 12:17:00 PM |comment on this article

According to a post on the St. Louis Post Dispatch's Political Fix blog:

State Rep. T.D. El-Amin will take an alternative method to work later this month, part of a pedal push to raise cancer awareness. . . .

El-Amin, who will be accompanied by an older brother, will leave from Creve Coeur Lake Park on May 10 and arrive on May 12 at the Capitol, where they will be greeted by representatives of the Siteman Cancer Center, on hand to distribute information on cancer prevention.

El-Amin's brother died of cancer last year.

El-Amin received an award from MoBikeFed during this year's Bicycle Day at the Capitol. He is an avid bicyclist and a great example of a legislator who practices what he preaches. Visitors to his Jefferson City office are likely to find his bike parked in a corner of his office--he bicycles to work most days. permanent link to article: "MO Representative TD El-Amin to bicycle to work--from St. Louis to Jefferson City"
posted by Brent Hugh at 5/01/2008 05:17:00 PM |comment on this article

Columbia's Bike Walk and Wheel Week is one of the most successful "Bike Month" programs in Missouri, with almost 5000 participants this year.

Bike Walk and Wheel Week 2008 runs May 3-10. More information on the GetAboutColumbia.com web site.

An article in the Columbia Missourian talks about how Judy Knudson, one of the founders of Bike Walk and Wheel Week, got involved with bicycling:

After six months of trying to quit, Knudson said she started gaining a little weight, so she decided to do something about it.

“One day I said to my husband, ‘Let’s go out and ride, I need some exercise,’” Knudson said. “I went two miles and had to stop because I could not go any further, and that really scared me.”

So she started to bike almost every day, with the goal of at least equaling her previous ride and adding five minutes to that. The shift in her lifestyle was something no one could have predicted from a person who never played any sports.

“I knew nothing about biking, biking stores or any equipment then,” Knudson said. “I was the kid in phys ed who always covered up my head when they threw the ball at me.”

Now Knudson is preparing to leave for New York City to ride in the Five Boro Bike Tour, which takes place Sunday.

permanent link to article: "Columbia Bike Walk and Wheel Week to involved almost 5000 this year"
posted by Brent Hugh at 4/29/2008 03:49:00 PM |comment on this article

According to an article in the St. Joseph News-Press:

St. Joseph’s mountain bike trails grow miles longer every year, due to volunteers with a passion for pedaling.

“For the number of people we have riding here,” said Lancen Milhouse, 30, an engineer at Boehringer Ingleheim Vetmedica who has been riding for 12 years, “a very high percentage do trail work.”

An estimated “hundreds” of hours of work have gone into clearing wooded areas off the city’s Parkway in the past few years. Chain saws, pruners, industrial weedwhackers, rakes and leaf blowers are used to make paths through thickets along the Parkway. The occasional poison ivy breakout and slithering reptile are hazards of the work, but the payoff is an intense ride.

MoBikeFed has a list of links to trails and trail maps from across the state, including the St. Joseph area mountain biking trails. permanent link to article: "St. Joseph mountain biking trails grow"
posted by Brent Hugh at 4/29/2008 03:36:00 PM |comment on this article

KOMU covered the recent Confident City Cycling classes in Missouri:

With the skyrocketing gas prices, Pednet officials are hoping to get more people out of their cars and onto bikes.

A group of cyclists, including Mayor Hindman and his wife, prepared for their final session of "Confident City Cycling," aimed at teaching people safe riding around town.

The program includes a written portion and hands-on riding experience throughout the area in hopes of teaching cyclists to avoid accidents.

Bike Ed classes are among the best ways to improve your safety and confidence in bicycling.

Even experienced cyclists can learn an amazing amount from taking the classes. The majority of the MOBikeFed Board has taken Bike Ed classes.

The complete list of Bike Ed classes in Missouri is here. permanent link to article: "Columbia's "Confident City Cycling" classes"
posted by Brent Hugh at 4/22/2008 07:05:00 PM |comment on this article

The North County Journal has and article today about tandem-riding couple Russell and Jackie Waltz:

Russell and Jackie Waltz may be a familiar sight as they pedal around town on their bright-purple bicycle built for two. The Waltzes have bicycled together since they were married about 10 years ago.

Most times the Florissant couple is accompanied by Titan, their 5-year-old brown tabby cat. . . .

[T]he Waltzes agree that a bicycle built for two is good for keeping fit. They also say it's very good for a marriage.

"The divorce rate is one to two percent among tandem couples," Russell said, "because you have to talk."

"You can be mad," Jackie added, "but in three blocks you're already laughing about something."

permanent link to article: "Tandem-riding couple"
posted by Brent Hugh at 4/22/2008 07:00:00 PM |comment on this article