The idea is simple: Find your home on a map of Springfield. Draw a circle with a 1-mile radius around your home. Try to replace one car trip per week within that circle by riding a bicycle or walking. At an easy riding pace you can travel one mile on a bicycle in about seven minutes. Walking takes about 20 minutes at an easy pace.
For us flabby Americans this apparently sounds like a daunting task. Surely those hearty Dutch on their modern cycle routes routinely travel much farther.
Actually, Andy points out, the Dutch only average about 1.5 miles per day on their bikes.
Well, yes, the Dutch do routinely travel far and wide on their bicycles. But as the numerous videos I’ve linked to demonstrate . . . much of their cycling takes place close to home.
One mile is all it takes to get started. One mile is all it takes to begin making a real difference in your health. One mile is all it takes to begin making a real difference to your pocketbook.
The Lure of the Open Road: Tour the eastern states by bicycle in 1944
Sunday, December 28, 2008
In 1944, a dear friend, Doris Roy, and I undertook an adventurous journey that we dreamed of during countless hikes together over our college holidays. We had been Camp Fire Girls together, loving the out-of-doors, camping and hiking the open road. Our dreams finally developed into a plan to ride bicycles from our home in Buffalo, New York, to Cairo, Illinois, where the Ohio River met the Mississippi. We admired Mark Twain’s adventures, had read his Life on the Mississippi, and sought to follow his path to the Midwest.
We were 21 years old, just graduated from college . . . now, before starting our careers, we decided that the coming summer after graduation would be the ideal time to have our adventure. . . .
Out on the driveway were standing two beautiful new bicycles. Both were blue and their chrome fittings shone like silver in the sun. A previous checkup reported all parts oiled and geared for efficiency. These were our wartime Victory bicycles, lightweight and practical. Thelma’s bicycle had but one speed, and Doris’s had two. But an ordinary bicycle never looked like this! Every extremity was used as a carrier. The usual rack over the rear wheel was extended to hold the weight of a sleeping bag and duffle, and below, saddle bags bulged on either side of the wheels. Strapped to the handlebars was a wicker basket outfitted with oil cloth for protection against inclement weather. These were our bicycles - carnivals on wheels!
Will more walking and bicycling in your daily life increase your personal healthy life span dramatically while cutting your personal health care costs in half?
I don't know the answer to that question, but it sure seems to work on a societal level:
[B]oth rural and urban elderly in the United States miss out on the daily physical exercise they would get from walking or cycling for some local trips. While Americans 65 years of age or older make less than 10% of their trips by walking or cycling, Germans and Dutch who are 75 years of age or older make 48%-55% of all their daily trips by either walking or cycling. That much higher reliance on active transport modes in Europe probably contributes to average healthy life expectancies (i.e. without major disabilities) that are 2.5 to 4.4 years longer than in the United States, in spite of per-capita health expenditures that are only half as high in Europe . . .
More practical for most of us might be IceBike.org's winter tires page--which talks about which kinds of normal bicycle tires are best for winter riding (road tires with an inverted tread pattern seem to work amazingly well), the commercially available studded snow tires for bicycles, and a couple of different ways to make your own studded bicycle tires for snow and/or ice.
Think it's too cold to even consider bicycling? Take a look at the recommendations for cold-weather clothing on IceBike.com. Following them has made my own cold-weather bicycling--and other winter activities outdoors--a lot more comfortable.
Make your own studded winter running/walking shoes
Feeling a little cooped up by the bad weather this winter?
The Screw Shoes web site shows you how to make your own studded walking/running shoes for about $2/pair. I've been using these since the icy weather hit in Missouri this winter and they really do work well.
They're like studded snow tires for your feet!
The only down side over an option like Yak Trax is you can't take them off when you go inside (without taking off your entire shoe, of course).
The upside of screw shoes over Yak Trax is the screw shoes work fine on dry pavement--so they work fine in those cases where the pavement is half dry and half icy or snowy. On dry pavement, the screw shoes have a LOT more rubber on the road than shoes with Yak Trax.
(Though I put less screws in my shoes than the photo shown here--you can optimize yours for whatever conditions you usually face.)
The screws work best in something like a running shoe that has a thicker sole. When you're done for the season you can just remove the screws and proceed--it just leaves a pinhole going partly through your sole.
The Urban Kansas City Community of Cycling is working with a variety of schools and youth groups in urban Kansas City to develop their interest in bicycling.
One of their most interesting projects is working with Scuola Vita Nuova to take a groups of middle schoolers on the Katy Trail ride in June:
The Wheels Can Take Me Places Project begins this January. It is designed to connect students to the outside environment and the surrounding community. By taking part in the program, students will gain strong and lasting connections to the living world and the larger community through service projects and outdoor experiences. We believe this foundation created between the land and the students will help make their urban neighborhoods healthy and sustainable. The Wheels Can Take Me Places Project is sponsored by Scuola Vita Nuova Charter School, The Urban Kansas City Community of Cyclists and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources-Division of State Parks.
During the project, students will participate in overnight camping and biking experiences that will prepare them for a culminating, week-long, 225-mile bike ride on the Katy Trail State Park from Clinton, Missouri to St. Charles, Missouri in June 2009.
The Urban Kansas City Community of Cycling is partnering with MoBikeFed to involve the students in bicycle advocacy, and there is the possibility the students may visit Jefferson City February 24th for for Bicycle Day at the Capitol 2009.
To pay for [road] infrastructure and services, governments collect revenue from a variety of [motor-vehicle user] taxes and fees. The basic objective of this paper is to compare these government expenditures with the corresponding user tax and fee payments in the U.S.
The analysis indicates that in the U.S. current tax and fee payments to the government by motor-vehicle users fall short of government expenditures related to motor-vehicle use by approximately 20-70 cents per gallon of all motor fuel. (Note that in this accounting we include only government expenditures; we do not include any "external" costs of motor-vehicle use.)
That implied subsidy of 20 to 70 cents a gallon -- which excludes social and environmental costs such as climate damage and uncompensated crash costs, which Delucchi has tallied elsewhere -- equates to 7 to 25 percent of the current price of gasoline. On a dollar basis, U.S. drivers are underpaying local, state and national governments by $40 to $105 billion a year.
Delucchi's conclusion, "motor-vehicle users in the U.S. -- unlike users in most European countries -- do not 'pay their way'," will come as no surprise to many of us. Still, putting the Delucchi seal of approval on the "subsidies for traffic" thesis is a watershed event. Dismantling those subsidies may have just gotten a little easier.
One consequence of this automobile subsidy is that single-occupant motor vehicle travel is encouraged--because users don't have to pay the full cost of their travel--while other modes, like transit, walking, and bicycling, get short shrift because they don't receive a subsidy nearly as large as motor vehicle travel does.
In short--people choose to drive more than they otherwise would, because they don't have to pay the full cost of it.
On January 1st 2009, the Bicycle Commuter federal tax benefit will go into effect. It's a simple, program that begins to put cyclists on the same footing as people who get similar tax breaks for commuting by transit or private automobile (parking fees), who have been receiving tax benefits for years.
Bicycle commuters will now be eligible to deduct $20 pretax per month from their paychecks to cover bicycling related expenses. Employers also receive tax benefits because they do't have to pay payroll taxes on the pre-tax funds deducted from employees' paychecks. . . .
Benefits to Employees You finally get a chance to participate in pre-tax benefit for bicycling. It's about time! While the $20 isn't as much as your driving and transiting coworkers are eligible for, it's a good start. And because this is a pretax benefit, you'll save about 40% on every dollar that you use through this program by not paying taxes. And in some cases your employer may even provide some portion of the cash benefit themselves.
Benefits to Employers You finally get to offer a pretax benefit for your employees who bike to work. And you'll save about 10% on every dollar that your employees deduct through this program because you won't have to pay payroll taxes.
What's Covered? The intent of the legislation is to allow employees to use up to $20 a month in pre-tax dollars deducted from their paychecks to cover expenses related to an employee's bike commuting such as bike parking facilities, shower facilities, and maintenance, including tubes, tires, and other gear.
Custom messenger bag, backpack, and gearbag makes a great gift & supports MoBikeFed
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Thanks to a partnership with Missouri-based company DogfishUSA, we're able to offer a great holiday gift--custom messenger bags, gearbags and backpacks (order here).
Last time this offer was available we ordered a backback for my son Jonathan to use for his schoolbooks. I have to say I was impressed with the quality--it's exactly the same (or even better) quality than what you might buy at the store for the same price.
But it also includes the customized MoBikeFed logo--and a portion of the proceeds go to support MoBikeFed.
One of our goals in the MoBikeFed Vision of Active Transportation in Missouri is to encourage many more Missouri communities to start "Sunday Parkways" or "Ciclovia" programs--where blocks of a street are closed to motorized traffic and a big bicycling, walking, skating, outdoors party takes place.
It really does work and it's a lot of fun!
Here is a report from Ralph Mitchell of the Kentucky Bicycle and Bikeways Commission about how it's working in small towns around Kentucky:
In Paducah, Kentucky--with population well under 200,000--Second Sunday events (originally called Bikes On Broadway) took place not just one Sunday but on Sundays August 10, September 7 and October 12, 2008.
The city closed 17 blocks of Broadway to motor vehicle traffic from 1pm to 6pm in August, and from 1pm till 4:30pm in September and October. One church on Broadway had 5 o'clock Sunday evening services so that change was to accommodate them.
The city maintenance workers loaded barricades and the organizers had volunteers that erected and staffed them at all the intersections.
By the October 12 Sunday, many of the intersections had "attractions" free balloons, bottled water, music, a working grill with free hotdogs, etc.
The small town of London Kentucky took part in the Second Sunday as well with much the same results. The organizers in London closed part of the main street to motor vehicle traffic and had several events taking place.
Both towns plan to continue the October tradition; however, Paducah will make the event monthly at least August through October.
Events were also held in Lexington but I can't tell you much about them as I've not heard back from my contacts.
Based on reports of successful events in the rest of the state, local officials in Boone, Kenton and Campbell Counties are beginning to contact me and others to arrange something for next year.
Lois Moss of Cleveland, OH, adds:
I have participated in Walk+Roll Cleveland, Walk+Roll Lakewood, Sunday Parkways in Portland, Summer Streets in NYC and Streetlife in Munich. I've also seen lots of great videos of other cities and you get a good ideas from videos. If you have 3 minutes, there is a video of Walk+Roll Lakewood.
Based on what I've seen, the population density is not nearly as important as community buy-in and community involvement. It is very important to get the municipal government on board early, especially if there is any chance they will cover the cost of security and traffic officers. Once the municipal government is on board, start getting involvement from block clubs, hospitals, schools, senior centers, churches, local media, Kiwanis, businesses on the route, health clubs, dance schools, etc, etc. We found that once a few community groups started promoting the event, the buzz grew on its own.
I'm thrilled to see this concept spreading across the US and Canada! Looking forward to hearing the report from my neighboring state, Kentucky, and trying to nudge things forward in Ohio using them as an example.
Walt and Dave, innovative bicyclists, saw the serious bicyclist’s need for a device that would measure two things: miles per hour and cadence, to monitor the speed and regularity of pedaling. Walt and Dave set out to create a device they called "The Pacemeter." . . .
Walt and Dave planned for their Pacemeter to have two dials, a speedometer and a tachometer to register the rate and rhythm of pedaling. A glance at the handlebars would help the rider get "more miles for less muscle."
They refined the device until it weighed a mere nine ounces.
One morning, Walt received a call from a California fellow who was vying for the Henry Kremer prize - $87,000 for the first person in the world to invent a successful plane propelled by human power. It had to take off, clear a 10-foot pylon, fly a half-mile, turn around, return and land safely. Paul MacCready explained they were working on a human-powered plane and thought the Pacemeter could help them. They flew many unsuccessful trials, always improving the design and reducing the weight to attempt to earn the Kremer prize. A bicycle racer who weighed twice as much as the plane was set to try again in MacCready’s "Gossamer Condor," a flimsy, 70-pound bird with a 96-foot wingspread. At 7:37 a.m. on Aug. 23, 1977, like a silent movie, the Gossamer Condor moved forward and lifted upward. It now hangs in the Smithsonian with the Pacemeter attached.
Two Centralia residents say they’ve found a novel way to stay fit and conserve energy at the same time. They’ve hooked up a solar panel to the side of their garage and use the sun’s energy to charge batteries powering electric motors on their three-wheel bikes.
But that’s not the half of it. Earl and Maxine Lincoln are 88 and 89, respectively, and have battled a laundry list of ailments. Maxine suffers from hardening of the arteries and has had quintuple bypass surgery. Earl has a vitamin B-12 deficiency that causes neuropathy in his hands and feet. Both have surgically reconstructed knees. . .
The bike riding began about two years ago after the Lincolns’ son hooked up a motor to his mother’s three-wheeler. She tends to get winded quickly because of a weak heart, and the motor powered by 12-volt car batteries made it easier for her to ride uphill.
She started taking mile-long trips - to shop at the C&R grocery store and meet regularly with a women’s group at Middletown Christian Church.
Feeling a little cooped up by the bad weather this winter?
The Urban Kansas City Community of Cycling is working with a variety of schools and youth groups in urban Kansas City to develop their interest in bicycling.
One of our goals in the MoBikeFed Vision of Active Transportation in Missouri is to encourage many more Missouri communities to start "Sunday Parkways" or "Ciclovia" programs--where blocks of a street are closed to motorized traffic and a big bicycling, walking, skating, outdoors party takes place.
