Cycling Tips & Stories-MoBikeFed

1000 bicycles at the Republican & Democratic conventions

2008-05-09T08:23:00.000-07:00

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 . . .

Bike to Work Week in Missouri

2008-05-08T19:18:00.001-07:00

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.

Bike more - drive less?

2008-05-07T18:23:00.000-07:00

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.

Bicycle lift

2008-05-05T12:17:00.001-07:00

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.

MO Representative TD El-Amin to bicycle to work--from St. Louis to Jefferson City

2008-05-01T17:17:00.001-07:00

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.

Columbia Bike Walk and Wheel Week to involved almost 5000 this year

2008-04-29T15:49:00.000-07:00

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.

St. Joseph mountain biking trails grow

2008-04-29T15:36:00.001-07:00

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.

Columbia's "Confident City Cycling" classes

2008-04-22T19:05:00.000-07:00

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.

Tandem-riding couple

2008-04-22T19:00:00.000-07:00

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."

St. Louis Riverfront Trail photos

2008-04-21T07:24:00.000-07:00

The St. Louis Riverfront Trail--seen in a different way.

The Compton Drew Middle School Dolphins Bicycle Club

2008-04-20T12:00:00.000-07:00

According to an article in this month's Java Journal:

Students at one school in the St. Louis Public School District not only get a chance to ride their bikes, but learn about the area and themselves. The Dolphins Bicycle Club was started in 2002 by Compton Drew Investigative Learning Center Principal Andrea Walker, physical education instructor, Mimi Deem and Community Education Specialist, Joe Torrisi as a way to combat obesity in middle school students. Now it is about more than just getting into shape. It�s a learning adventure, complete with a yearly bike ride along the Katy Trail.

It�s not just about the riding bikes for these kids. Students take a bicycle education course in which they learn about bike safety and demonstrate that knowledge. They must also meet certain criteria off the bike path, such as regularly attending school, doing well in class and being respectful to their teachers and fellow students.

Many of the students that take part in the program come from less than ideal backgrounds so the club gives them a sense of belonging. It also keeps them out of the trouble they could find themselves in on the city streets. Co-founder Joe Torrisi says this gives kids an opportunity to be exposed to something they normally wouldn't get the chance to experience in the neighborhoods they grew up in. Torrisi observes that every year there are a few kids that join thinking they're going to get a free pass to goof around, but he says every year fewer and fewer troublemakers join the club.

Increasing the number of youth bicycling programs across Missouri is one of the statewide goals in MoBikeFed's Vision of Active Transportation in Missouri.

To find out more about how to set up a school bicycle club or similar youth bicycle program in your school or city, contact MoBikeFed President Joe Torrisi--Joseph.Torrisi [at] slps.org or 314-772-5064.

Reduce your Carbon Emissions to Zero: Choose to Bicycle

2008-04-16T23:10:00.000-07:00

Just in time for Earth Day 2008 . . .

The largest single source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. is road transportation, with over 20% of total emissions.

And the largest source of road transportation greenhouse gas emissions is personal automobile travel.

So how can you realistically reduce your carbon footprint from transportation? If you bicycle already, it's not nearly as hard as you might think.

This graph shows carbon emissions of the various types of transportation choices:

Graphic courtesy Ralph Fertig, Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition

How to make your downtown bike/ped friendly--on a budget

2008-04-08T21:55:00.000-07:00

Missouri Bicycle Federation correspondent and Kansas City Kansas resident Randy Niere writes:

When in Jefferson City in March for the legislature day, it was noted in my presence that Missouri just couldn't afford to complete the streets on local budgets.

I offer you Strawberry Hill, and Downtown KCKS, a very economically depressed area, and its ever increasingly pedestrian and cycling environment.

Minnesota Street runs right through a neighborhood and business center. It also connects rather directly to the nearby interstate freeway. Until recently, most cars drove as though they were still on the freeway, making the area very unpleasant to visit.

With the addition of traffic calming measures, the area is attractive, walkable, bicycleable, and thriving.

(See the complete photo set with captions here.)

Inactive young children face serious health risks later in life

2008-04-04T10:24:00.000-07:00

According to KCTV5:

Young children who don't get much exercise have a greater chance of heart problems, with symptoms showing up as early as the teen years, researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill said. . . .

Robert McMurray said that adolescents with the syndrome were six times more likely to have had low aerobic fitness as children and five times more likely to have low levels of physical activity at the time they joined the study.

Low levels means no vigorous exercise and less than 20 minutes a day of moderate activities such as walking or riding a bike.

"This shows efforts need to begin early in childhood to increase exercise," McMurray said. "Children today live a very sedentary life and are prone to obesity. This is the first study to examine the importance of childhood fitness levels on your metabolism as a teenager. Previously we didn't know if low fitness levels were an influence," said McMurray.

The original journal article is here. Conclusion: "Low levels of childhood physical activity and aerobic fitness are associated with the presence of the metabolic syndrome in adolescents. Thus, efforts need to begin early in childhood to increase exercise."

Safe Routes to School (SRTS) is a program that has been successful in encouraging far more children to get their daily exercise by walking or bicycling to school. That is one reason MoBikeFed supports programs like SRTS in its Vision of Active Transportation in Missouri.

Insurance company commercial features (?) bicycling . . .

2008-04-03T10:36:00.000-07:00

Hmm . . . does this commercial make you want to switch to a different insurance company, saving a small amount of money, or does it make you want to ditch your car and insurance company altogether and bike to work so you can save a lot of money while also developing a nice set of legs?

How to bicycle safely in traffic--

2008-04-03T09:01:00.000-07:00

This video shows League of American Bicyclists certified traffic cycling instructors demonstrating how bicyclists make normal vehicular maneuvers including lane control, lane sharing, left and right turns, through movements and a freeway ramp crossing. These skills are taught by the League of American Bicyclists' Bike Ed program.

* Find out more about Bike Ed in Missouri

If you watch the video and think "I could never do that--I'll get run over!" take heart--I used to think the same thing.

Now I do all my riding exactly as shown in the video--and what do you know, it really works. I have far less conflict with automobile drivers and far less 'close calls' or scary moments on the road.

Some tips:

* Start out by practicing these techniques on low-traffic neighborhood streets.

* Once you feel comfortable, try them on more complex streets (say, 4-lane roads with left or right turn lanes) but find low-traffic roads to practice on or do it at low-traffic times of day--say, early Sunday morning.

* Take a class--it's a lot of fun and even if you've been bicycling for years, you'll learn more than you think.

* Bicycling Street Smarts is a very useful (and free) online booklet that summarizes how to bicycle safely.

Touring Europe by bicycle

2008-04-01T07:15:00.000-07:00

Sue Gerard writes in today's Columbia Tribune about touring Europe by bicycle . . . a few years back:

We learned the importance of each person having our printed itinerary and some kind of identification. When our group became separated on the road, police located Mike and Patrick on Brighton�s beach, saying, "It wasn�t hard to find an American cyclist in a bright red hat!"

And we learned about hostel plumbing. "The toilet won�t flush," Jean said. "This one, won�t either," I answered. When I reported that to the "warden," he came without a word. He gave each chain a quick yank and they both worked perfectly. He smiled, put his hand on my shoulder and asked, gently, "Now, would you like me to wipe you up, Luv?"

Thus began a 69-day experience that enhanced all our lives.

Family Bicycles opens in Kansas City

2008-03-27T06:54:00.001-07:00

One of three bicycle shops to open in the Kansas City area in just one week this spring, Family Bicycles caters to a slightly different audience than many bicycle shops in the area, according to a recent KC Community News article.

Family Bicycles has an interesting selection of bicycles that are not found as often in Missouri bicycle shops (folding bikes, for instance) and have been great supporters of local advocacy efforts, even before they opened for business.

Theresa Van Ackeren wants people to experience Kansas City from a different driver�s seat � that of a bicycle.

�It�s part of the whole philosophy of �stop and smell the roses,�� Van Ackeren said. �When you�re on a bike and going slower, you tend to look around and see things you don�t typically see from the hermetically sealed confines of a car. You come in contact with more people and hear the sounds of the city.�

Van Ackeren quit her day job in 2007. After working on a business plan during the summer and fall, Van Ackeren opened Family Bicycles, 7140 Wornall Road, on March 1.

Van Ackeren said she weighed location heavily.

�Frankly, it�s close to my home, and it�s close to a large population of people who appreciate cycling,� Van Ackeren said. �It�s close to the Trolley Track Trail, one of the few trails in Kansas City, and that was important to me as well. This is not a huge cycling area but it�s beginning to show popularity in Kansas City.�

Van Ackeren lived in Lee�s Summit for 11 years before relocating to Brookside in 2001, when she got back into the habit of cycling short distances.

�I�m a big proponent of using your bike instead of a car for short trips, like to the grocery store,� she said. �I�m somewhat of an environmentalist but I also support it for the physical fitness aspect, for getting people outside and enjoying the fresh air.

�I plan to ride to work everyday.�

Family Bicycles targets three types of customers, Van Ackeren said: people who have not ridden in a long time; people who ride infrequently and want to increase their number of rides; and people who use bikes to commute.

Paul Dorn's Bike Commute Tips blog recently covered Family Bicycles and the recent progress in the Kansas City area.

Riding a bike is lifetime thrill

2008-03-23T08:23:00.000-07:00

Karta Purkh Khalsa at Bicycle Day at the Capitol 2008
Photo courtesy Randy Niere

MoBikeFed member Karta Purkh S. Khalsa recently had an "As I See It" column in the Kansas City Star:

H.G. Wells once said he would "never despair for the human race as long as he saw adults on bicycles." Each time I ride, I feel better about myself for numerous reasons. I'm improving my own health for one.

For another, by not driving my trusty, rusty, dusty car, so I�m not polluting anybody's air. And so forth as you�ve heard from far smarter fellows than myself.

The way in which I move my overage, overweight body on a bike has not changed for more than a century since the bicycle was invented. . . .

The growing bicycling community proves it to be a serious mode of transportation, a serious vehicle for recreation, a serious vehicle for competition and a very serious object for debate about it's place in transportation planning. . . .

Just don't try and talk me out of riding my bike � 50 years, a few spills, stolen bikes, long grinding hills and the laughter of onlookers hasn't persuaded me to get off my saddle (bicycle seat) so you probably won't.

Teaching children with disabilities to ride a bicycle

2008-03-20T09:44:00.000-07:00

A Kansas City Star video shows how:

Children with disabilities learn to ride conventional bikes without training wheels at a week long camp at Johnson County Community College.

Many Bike Ed classes upcoming in Missouri

2008-02-20T09:22:00.000-08:00

A large number of Bicycle Education classes are scheduled over this summer--maybe the most we've ever had in Missouri.

Many are sponsored by the GetAbout Columbia project/non-motorized pilot project.

See the complete list here.

Why take a Bike Ed Class?

One very experienced cyclist wrote this after taking the Bike Ed class:

I found that after taking Road I, I experienced far fewer conflicts on the roads.

After riding for years I decided to sit in on the course and learned that I a) rode too close to parked cars b) did not move left enough at intersections to avoid right hooks, or close calls c) was uncomfortable about my maneuvers to get into the position to make left hand turns d) did not operate my brakes efficiently.

All of these things were subtle, but once I began to practice my newly learned skills, the negative experiences dissipated greatly.

Zero emissions lawn service starts in Columbia

2008-02-19T18:38:00.000-08:00

Columbia bicyclist & League Cycling Instructor Robert Johnson & his wife are starting a "zero emissions lawn service". They will transport their reel lawn mowers and manual clippers to jobs by bicycle:

Conservation and hard work are two principles that guides The Green Team every day. We believe that our modern society absolutely depends on oil. We also believe that oil is a resource that should not be wasted. We believe that people want to do something great for the environment but most people cannot pay more money for it.

Lawn Mowers and other small engines are terrible for the environment because they lack the modern emissions controls like catalytic converters. According to research running a lawn mower for 1 hour is equal to driving a car 100 miles! Small engines also emit a huge amount of chemicals in their exhaust that are harmful to people�s health.

One significant pollutant from mowers is polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or PAH�s. While these cancer causing chemicals can also be found in automobile exhaust they are typically reduced by an automobiles catalytic converter.

How to Start a Bicycle Community

2008-02-19T18:30:00.000-08:00

From a presentation given at the Missouri Trails Summit, Nov 2007.

Why start/encourage/nurture user groups?

The virtuous cycles

Better accommodations (trails, routes, bike lanes, etc.) encourage more users

More users build political/community support for more/better accommodations

These better accommodations encourage yet more users, building more community support, etc.

More people bicycling & walking greatly increases safety of bicyclists & pedestrians--the single greatest factor increasing bike/ped safety (a 100% increase in bicycling & walking leads to only 25% increase in injuries/fatalities)

Greater safety/social acceptance leads to more users

In Missouri we have been following the 'vicious' version of this cycle for about the past 50 years. Examples: Percentage of children walking/biking to school has dropped from 66% to 10% in about 30 years. The amount of walking and bicycling in Missouri is less than half the national average. Yet MO's bicycle/pedestrian injury/fatality rate (expressed as a percentage of all traffic injuries) is at or above the national average.

Encouraging user groups is a relatively easy, inexpensive way to jump-start the virtuous cycle.

Clubs & Group Rides educate bicyclists

Safety skills are learned from other group members

Clubs/rides can include organized traffic skills education and practice

Education is the 2nd most effective way to improve bicycle safety

Why do people participate in group rides?

Bicyclists like to ride--it's fun!

Social aspect--people like to ride in groups with their friends, more fun than riding alone

Bicycling consists of many skills--these are learned from other members of the group

Training/racing--riding in a group encourages regular participation, challenges riders to build fitness to stay with faster riders

Don't forget food/beer/sociality etc. afterwards--an important aspect of many long-standing rides

Accommodate all levels of users

Rides are usually rated (slow, medium, fast; A B C; "welcome ride" etc.)

New/developing riders are often underserved; transition from "ordinary person" to "skilled group rider"

Examples of good welcome rides: Longview Lake; Turtles; Bicycle Fun Club

Starting a regular ride

Look for "hole in the market"--an underserved:

type (road, trail, mountain biking)

time/day

speed (slow, medium, fast, welcome)

Seasonal or all year?

Increase mileage as year progresses?

Set time or changeable (7-8-9AM depending on season)

Goal or reason (ride to breakfast?)

Set route or show-n-go?

If you don't bicycle regularly you don't know how to choose a good route. Talk to avid cyclists, bike shops, other ride leaders. Different levels of users will prefer different routes.

Need about two "anchors"--people who will commit to be there all or most weeks and serve as ride leaders

Please regularly emphasize traffic safety instruction and safe group ride techniques

http://mobikefed.org/2006/08/safe-and-courteous-group-riding.php

Attracting riders

Regular calendar listings in local newspapers, TV, newsletters

Flyers in local bike shops, restaurants, grocery stores, coffee shops. 1/4 page or business card good.

Riders will want to know time/day, distance, typical average speed, other characteristics

Ride email list invaluable--announcement 1-2 days before each ride; ride wrapup after (yahoogroups.com)

Have consistent time/place--and patience!

Starting an organization?

Instead of a starting a new organization, how about starting a new ride/event

Then the organization can grow out of the event (rides attract people; meetings don't)

If regular rides already exist, but no club, how about helping the rides organize into a club

If a club already exists, how about starting a new ride or event associated with that club rather than starting a whole new organization ("unite and conquer; divide and be conquered")

Local bike shops are usually focal points for area rides and/or clubs

One advantage of club--ride/event insurance (from BikeLeague.org)

If incorporating, sample bylaws & 501c3 apps at Thunderheadalliance.org

User groups and advocacy

User groups (clubs) exist for rides, races, and sociality

It is rare for a bike club to have a sustained interest in advocacy

Suggest a separate advocacy organization which then enlists area clubs as allies OR a separate advocacy committee (semi-independent; own budget) within bike club

How to find existing clubs, bike shops, rides, events

http://mobikefed.org/moclubs.php (151 bicycling, walking, running, trails organizations)

http://mobikefed.org/mobikeshops.php (133 bicycle shops/businesses in "greater Missouri")

http://mobikefed.org/calendar (please list new events here!)

Dr. Brent D. Hugh

Executive Director

Missouri Bicycle Federation, Inc.

MoBikeFed.org

Director[at]MoBikeFed.org

816-695-6736

How to start a bicycle club

2008-02-19T18:19:00.000-08:00

How to start a bicycle club:

One way to get yourself and other cycling more often is to form a bike club � having others to help plan the rides and peer pressure both help to get people out on to the roads. Bicycle clubs provide members information on new places to ride, a body of like-minded people to ride with, a source of answers to cycling (and life) questions and a united front to help promote bicycling. There are no rules or magic wand for starting a bike club. Forming a club is often an effort in community organizing, and community organizing is a effort in educating / marketing (i.e. "join the club to ride more often," "join the club for comradery," "join the club to see new places," "join the club to learn how to ride better," "join the club to share your knowledge and experience with others," etc.)

Outdoors exercise important for health

2008-02-18T06:33:00.000-08:00

According to a St. Louis Post-Dispatch article:

We do have health clubs. And winter kicks off the mall-walking season. But some suspect we need more than just physical exercise to stay healthy. We need the emotional healing benefits of green exercise.

Also known as eco-therapy, green exercise simply means doing something, almost anything, outside. You won't necessarily burn more calories in nature's green gym. But you can get substantial mental health benefits � reduced stress, depression and anger and enhanced mood and self-esteem � simply by seeking out the natural world, according to growing evidence from researchers in the United States, Scandinavia and Britain. . . .

Or green exercise could mean sitting in a park, biking to work, walking, fishing or digging in the dirt. The stress-reduction benefits of healing gardens in hospitals (which we could now call "green care") date to the Middle Ages. And some say our modern hospitals, which focus on treating disease, have abandoned the healing properties that the connection to nature can bring. . . .

"Clearly nature delivers important health benefits if we reorganize lifestyles and behaviors," Pretty recently wrote in a commentary published in New Scientist.

The biggest challenge, Pretty said, is redesigning cities to get people to walk more during normal working days. "Fifty years ago, an average adult ran the equivalent of a marathon a week more than an average adult does today � and that was not running, just walking, cycling, being more active in the home," said Pretty, author of "The Earth Only Endures: Reconnecting With Nature and Our Place in It" . . .