Headlines

Headlines are quick hits from media outlets from Missouri and around the world. Follow the headline link for the full story. The source of this headline says:

Sparkling streams, hills and hollows, shady rivers, mountain views, waterfalls, swimming holes, historic sites, bustling cities – the Arkansas High Country Route has it all. An Arkansawyer might tell you, “That route don’t go no where — It just runs around everywhere!” Indeed, this route is designed to connect many of the interesting places in west-central and northwest Arkansas.

The route is comprised of three large adjacent loops: the South Loop, the Central Loop, and the Northwest Loop. The South Loop, on map section 1, begins and ends in Little Rock. The Northwest and Central Loops, on map section 2, begin and end in Bentonville and Russellville, respectively. A cyclist can choose to ride one or more of the loops, or ride the perimeter of all the loops – it’s up to you.

An additional choice on the South Loop features two singletrack options, using the entire Lake Ouachita Vista Trail (LOViT), and the southern portion of the Womble Trail. Both are International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA) EPIC trails.

Since the routing on the three loops is roughly 50% gravel and 50% pavement, and the climbs/descents can reach gradients between 17 - 21%, choose your bike carefully. Riders who are in a hurry will choose a race geometry gravel bike. Those who choose comfort over speed will elect for full suspension or fat tires to pad the ride. Much of the gravel roads are easily ridden, but there are sections with washboards and cathead boulders. A minimum of 37mm tires with some tread is highly recommended. A wide variety of road conditions exist.

Link: 

New 1171-mile Arkansas High Country Bicycle Route announced - Rivaling Missouri's Katy/Rock Island/Butterfield systems 1079 miles, but the Butterfield mileage will soon be increased by 260 miles . . . | Adventure Cycling Association

Headlines are quick hits from media outlets from Missouri and around the world. Follow the headline link for the full story. The source of this headline says:

Interstates 35 and 70 were built through Kansas City as part of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956, and were also tied to midcentury "urban renewal" efforts. 

"Where we put highways and where we tore down buildings was all about: We're going to create a city for another generation, but really we just killed it for a generation," says Staub. He’s chair of Kansas City's Parking and Transportation Commission and vice president of the River Market Community Association....

According to a recent study by the Mid-America Regional Council, a lot of Kansas City residents are interested in making downtown more walkable and reconnecting the Central Business District to the River Market and Columbus Park, which also need to be reconnected to each other.

Staub says those areas have been "strangled by the freeway," which he sees as preventing "natural synergies between the neighborhoods."

Link: 

Kansas City looking at removing downtown freeway to improve walkability, connectivity | KCUR

Headlines are quick hits from media outlets from Missouri and around the world. Follow the headline link for the full story. The source of this headline says:

As a retired pro, I thought it was time to rewrite the rules. I first wrote this a few months ago, but I thought it should live here where more people could find it and share it. Thanks to good friend and riding partner Michael Muhney for help demonstrating the do's and don'ts! Share this with someone you see breaking the rules.

Link: 

Just in time for Bike Month: Phil Gaimon's NEW RULES OF CYCLING - the Philuminati - with demonstrations by TV star Michael Muhney - YouTube

https://cyclingtips.com/2017/03/commentary-forget-velominatis-rules-your...

The "Rules" cover everything from what to wear to how to tan:

* Tan lines should be cultivated and kept razor sharp.
* Saddles, bars, and tires shall be carefully matched.
* The correct number of bikes to own is n+1.
* Know what to wear.

The Rules started as something of a spoof of the culture of bicycle racing and hard-core road riding. But since being published online, they have taken on something of a toxic veneer.

We like Phil Gaimon's NEW RULES a lot better. Take a look at them here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnhYPZUpe5c

Rule #1: Everyone riding a bike and being safe and having fun is doing it right.

Rule #2: Wear whatever the **** you want.

Rule #3: Nothing on your bike has to match. Cycling is already expensive, complicated, elitist, and often sexist and racist. Don’t make it harder because someone’s tires aren’t the same brand.

Headlines are quick hits from media outlets from Missouri and around the world. Follow the headline link for the full story. The source of this headline says:

The idea is to help bicyclists and drivers feel more comfortable sharing the roads.

The nearly $350,000 project will add lanes on roads like Switzer and Lamar south of Interstate 435 over the next few months. In total, the city hopes to add close to 70 miles of new bike lanes.

The city says about 80 percent of the $350,000 comes from federal funding sources.

Link: 

Overland Park adding 70 miles of bike lanes to roads | KSHB

For a useful list of suggestions for communities getting started with planning for bicycling, look here:

https://mobikefed.org/content/2015/02/our-vision-biking-walking-and-trai...

Headlines are quick hits from media outlets from Missouri and around the world. Follow the headline link for the full story. The source of this headline says:

The World Health Organization characterizes traffic deaths as a preventable health epidemic. Despite the scale of the problem, this issue has not led to a concerted call to action. Why not? The field of media studies offers potential insight. Not only does media coverage help determine which issues merit attention, coverage also shapes how issues are framed. The aim of this paper is to examine local news coverage of vehicle crashes involving someone walking or biking. To that end, this paper used content analysis of 200 local news articles to answer the research questions: (1) How do articles apportion blame between vulnerable road users (VRUs) and drivers?; (2) To what extent do articles frame crashes as a public health issue? The results reveal that local news coverage tends to shift blame toward VRUs and away from drivers. Coverage almost always treats crashes as isolated incidents, obscuring the public health nature of the problem. This pattern of coverage likely contributes to the limited public outcry about pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities. Journalists can counteract these patterns by subtly altering their coverage. Planners can assist these efforts by making their expertise readily available to journalists.

Link: 

How Media Habits in Bicyclist and Pedestrian Crash Reporting Blunt our Response - and How We Can Change That - Transportation Research Board