Missouri Bicycling, Walking, Running, and Trails News

America's kids are more inactive than ever--Walking can make a healthy difference from the Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation. A quote:

According to Fenton, it is not just American children and adolescents who are inactive. Fenton says that adults in the United States are more sedentary than ever as well.

"Americans are less active than they ever have been," he said. "Twenty-five percent of our population is essentially sedentary 55 percent are only sporadically active and only about 10 percent of the population exercises regularly."

This lack of exercise is killing us, say researchers at the CDC and the American College of Sports Medicine. According to a joint statement they issued this year, approximately 250,000 deaths a year in the United States can be attributed to physical inactivity.

Mike Hendricks, the "Bike Guy" at the Kansas City Star, recently wrote:

Have you, too, been resting on your russets lately?

Well, it's spring, boyo. Time for planting potatoes, not resembling one.

You and I need to get with it, pronto, and something's coming up that just might coax us off the couch.

Kansas City's first-ever Bicycle and Pedestrian Commuter Challenge. . . .

[T]he folks at the Mid-America Regional Council deserve praise for coming up with the idea, which is this:

For one week in May, Kansas Citians are asked to walk or ride their bikes to work.

The reason I'm telling you now is so you can get in shape. The week is May 19-23, and it will be here before you know it.

You can walk and bike to work in teams of three or more or do it on your own. You can even ride the bus for part of the trek.

Read the rest of Mike's entertaining column or visit the Bike/Ped Commuter Challenge Web Site for more information.

Kids Across America's "Great Bike Challenge" is a fund raiser for KAA. Cyclists can ride the "long distance loop from Branson – Memphis – Branson, cycling about 500-600 miles in 7 days OR half of loop from Branson – Memphis, cycling 250 miles in 3 days." The ride leaves from Branson on April 26th, 2003.

KAA also sponsors the Ozarks 100, a day trip with rides of various lengths, in Ozark, MO, on May 31st, 2003.

According to the web site, KAA is a "is a sports camp committed to reaching the inner city youth of our nation with the love and power of Jesus." KAA is located in Branson, MO.

Brent Hugh recently wrote an article for Kansas City infoZine criticizing statements made by a Leawood police supervisor in a Kansas City Star article:

A Leawood police supervisor recently told the Kansas City Star that people speeding on a residential street, scaring pedestrians who must walk in the street because the city has not provided a sidewalk, is "not a big problem". . . .

Hogard said because there are no sidewalks, residents walk in the street.

"When standing three or four feet from (a car), it's going to seem like it's flying by," Hogard said.

The road in question is a narrow, residential street where, because the city has failed to provide a sidewalk, pedestrians must share the roadway with motor vehicles. In such a situation, a vehicle going over 30 miles per hour does not just "seem like it's flying by." It is, in fact, moving at a dangerously fast speed. . . .

Pedestrians are among our most vulnerable road users, and, as such, demand the greatest degree of protection and consideration, not the greatest degree of intimidation, harassment, and discouragement.

It is not too much to ask that motorists strictly obey the posted speed limit in order to make an entire street more pedestrian-friendly.

And it is certainly not in the public interest to dismiss a serious situation in which most vehicle drivers are unlawfully breaking posted speed limits--many by five to ten miles per hour--as "not a big problem."

UMKC student Pei Chen was struck by an automobile as she crossed the street in a crosswalk in a school zone, by a driver who was speeding and improperly changing lanes to pass other drivers who had stopped to allow her to cross. Chen died about two weeks later. The driver was charged with a misdemeanor.

Chen's death has lead to quite a bit of discussion in local media outlets. Here are some of the latest letters and comments about the situation:

• The recent death of University of Missouri-Kansas City student Pei Chen in a crosswalk, near a school zone, suggests that Kansas City drivers need to slow down. --Brent Hugh, in a KCStar letter
  
  
• What a tragic and senseless loss for her family and the community.
  
  Yet it is even more amazing that we do not have more injuries and deaths because of drivers ignorant of or disobeying crosswalk laws. [She goes on to list many examples of drivers flagrantly violating laws relating to crosswalks.]
  
  If we are going to prevent injuries and deaths in the crosswalks of Kansas City, and be a pedestrian friendly city, let us educate the driving public about the laws and the dangers of speeding through crosswalks. Maybe people don't know they are supposed to stop for pedestrians at a crosswalk. This seems like a good time to educate them. Maybe we can save a few lives. --Suellen Dice, KCStar article
  
  
• Mike Hendricks' column about the University of Missouri-Kansas City student who was recently fatally hit by a car was sad but true. . . . If you don't want to worry about "slamming on your brakes" at an intersection, just slow down. --Terry Clevenger, KCStar letter to the editor
  
  
• At one time, a red traffic light meant stop. As I drive around this great metropolitan area it is clear that red traffic lights now mean hurry up and get through the intersection. . . .
  
  During the last quarter of 2002, I had no less than six close calls -- one as a pedestrian. Each driver was either hurrying to clear a red light, talking on a cell phone or both. It was only through defensive driving (and walking) that I was not hit. . . . --Jim Caccamo, KCStar article