Bishop has been commissioned to write a piece for the Texas Music Educators Association Region 18 Junior High Symphony Orchestra. The piece, “Ride!,” which commemorates Texas native Lance Armstrong's sixth Tour de France victory, will premiere on Nov. 20. . . .
The melody was written to represent Armstrong on his bike, and features a snippet of a French folk song throughout the piece. Bishop said the folk song sounds like children whining at times to represent what he considers the French's false accusations about Armstrong and illegal drugs.
“I get tired of hearing them whine about it. He's kicked your butt for six years. Get over it,” he said. . . .
The opportunity has allowed the composer to bring together two of his passions while addressing something personal. Bishop, who is also a conductor with the Youth Symphony of Kansas City, is a cyclist in the United States Cycling Federation.
One popular way to see this part of the state in fall is along the Katy Trail, the bicycle pathway that stretches 225 miles from Clinton to St. Charles. The trail crosses several wine country towns, including Hermann and Augusta, across the Missouri River.
Alan and Leigh Buehre, who own and operate the H.S. Clay House Bed and Breakfast in Augusta, see plenty of traffic from Katy Trail bicyclists.
October and November are often good times to explore the trail, they said. "I think July and August are so hurried and hot, so once the weather breaks ... it's kind of like your last chance before winter," Leigh Buehre said.
Fall is a busy time for their business, Alan said. "Probably starting Labor Day. People are looking for an escape, plus the fall colors."
Middle school bicycle club rides the Katy Trail & creates healthy habits
Wednesday, October 27, 2004
Joseph Torrisi of Compton Drew Middle School in St. Louis recently sent the following interesting message:
On Monday, May 2, 2005 I will be bringing a school group of 30 middle school students, plus 20 adults to Jefferson City from St. Louis on the Katy Trail. This will be our fourth year for our Annual Katy Trail Adventure.
Compton Drew Middle School is a St. Louis Public School located next to the St. Louis Science Center and across the street from Forest Park.
We started an after-school bicycle club to combat middle school obesity and physical inactivitiy. And to provide inner city students an opportunity to experience the great outdoors from a bicycle seat. It's working.
The bike club cycles three days per week in the fall, have our meetings in the winter, and resume cycling in the spring. This school year, our club has 55 members and growning compared to 10 who made the Katy Trail Adventure in our first year.
We believe we are the only school bike club in the state and the only school group that arrives to visit the capital under our own power. We are very proud of our students accomplishments.
I would like to tell you more about us, and to learn more about the organization. It is time to take our bike club to the next level and involve our students in other opportunities bicycling will provide.
Be sure to come out this Sunday to the Tour de Fat Bicycle Ride and Festival!
Tour de Fat Bicycle Ride & Festival € Sunday, October 24 Registration: 9AM Ride Start: 10 AM Bike Parade: After 11 AM Festival: Noon 6 PM Start: World¹s Fair Pavilion in Forest Park, St. Louis, MO Routes: 14, 28 or 37 miles Terrain: Moderately hilly, some big hills.
Helmets are required on this ride.
Features: Celebrate the end of our cycling season with a ballyhoo of bikes and brews! Enjoy this popular ride through the Park then going west into Clayton, Ladue, Town & Country and University City.
Be sure to wear your zaniest costume and join the Banana Bike Brigade for the bike parade after 11 a.m. around Forest Park to kick-off the Festival which begins at Noon. PRIZES will be awarded for best costumes!
The festival features live bands and other awesome performers including the Handsome Little Devils Jugglers and Cyclecide(http://www.cyclecide.com/) with their Bicycle Merry-Go-Round (see video - http://www.cyclecide.com/images/merrygoround.mpg) and other great bike contraptions. PLUS, great food, local bicycling nonprofits, a chance to WIN a new cruiser bike and of course...Fat Tire Amber Ale along with other selections from New Belgium¹s brew portfolio. Do NOT miss this event!
Bike Ride Fees: $5 Adult, Child (under 13 yrs) FREE
Services by Maplewood Bicycle, Big Shark Bicycle Co., and REI.
A SEMissourian article details the problem and some solutions to Missouri's childhood obesity epidemic:
In the past 20 years, the number of overweight Missouri schoolchildren has more than doubled. One-third of the students enrolled in Missouri public schools in 2003 were overweight.
That growing girth on children has many health officials alarmed because the statistics show that Missouri's percentage of overweight children exceeds the national average. . . .
James McGee makes exercise part of his family's day. He bikes to his job and walks home with daughter Christina after school. "That's just always the way we were," he said. For his family, it's not a matter of trying to add exercise, it's part of their life.
Social norms have to change in order for children and adults to add exercise to their daily lifestyle, said Ross Brownson, a professor of epidemiology at St. Louis University's School of Public Health. "Some of it's about the access people have to physical activity."
Trekking for the Troups on the Katy Trail Saturday October 23rd, 2004
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
"Trekking for the Troups" will be held at the North Jefferson City Katy Trailhead on Saturday, October 23rd, 2004. According to a Jefferson City News Tribune article:
The event will recognize more than 7,000 Missouri National Guardsmen and women and more than 2,000 Missouri Reservists who have deployed in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Noble Eagle.
Individuals can ride bikes, walk with families and friends or run in honor of the veterans.
I had some unusual fun with my bicycle a few months back when a friend, who knows I have a car, called begging me to get his girl friend a jump start of her Toyota.
They live not too far from me, and after I agreed I realized it would be simplest to use the compact jumpstarter battery with built-in mini jumper cables that I have on hand because my car, gathering dust while I bike everywhere, tends to need this jumpstarter therapy itself. The owner's manual for this 1994 Ford vehicle breezily suggests "you must run your new Ford at least every three days or the battery may run down..." and I often let the Ford rust in peace for more likely three WEEKS at a time.
Stanley took his own tumble in the water jump and thought he'd sprained his ankle, but later, after 25 years of serious running, he had to hang up his shoes after his doctor discovered he'd actually broken it that day. Now he's a cyclist, sometimes pedaling 50 miles on a weekend. . . .
Rollin Stanley has bold plans for St. Louis. If he had his way, downtown's one-way streets would be eliminated, buildings would have to retrofit their basements to include showers for bicyclists, and bike lanes would meander alongside major thoroughfares. Stanley envisions a pedestrian paradise where workers, residents and visitors can window-shop and run errands. He also wants more teeth put in Missouri's planning and zoning laws; currently, his department isn't required by law to examine, approve -- or see -- any proposed deviation from the zoning guidelines and comprehensive land-use plan.
New email group for self-contained bicycle camping
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
Nick recently announced a new email group, KCBaggers, for people interested in self-contained bicycle camping:
I have started this group to give self contained bicycle campers (baggers) a place to meet and discuss. My goal is to do some riding, camping, learn some routes around KC, train for RAGBRAI next year, and have some fun. You don't have to be a bagger to join or discuss, hopefully this will just be an outlet for those not so worried about how fast they look or who is watching...
[D]ue to the importance of this event, security has been tightened across campus.
For a lowly freshman such as myself, this doesn't provide that much of an issue. I am not bothered by the extra security-for I can still park by Mallinckrodt, the A.C., and several other high profile campus buildings. Why is this, you ask? Because, my fellow students, the day they rope off the bike racks is the day the terrorists have finally won.
Now, researchers report that healthy men who burned off at least 1,000 calories during one or two weekly bursts of activity were 60 percent less likely to die over a 10-year period than sedentary men, who expended less than 500 extra calories per week.
"Physical activity is good for health -- anything is better than none," study author Dr. I-Min Lee of Harvard University in Boston, told Reuters Health. "If healthy, and all you can do is one to two bouts a week of activity, go for it."
The longevity benefit of occasional exercise did not extend to those who had underlying health problems like obesity, smoking, or hypertension.
However those with these underlying health problems who exercise 4 to 5 times a week or more do live longer.
Study authors speculate that the protective effect of exercise in people with an underlying health problem (obesity, smoking, high blood pressure) only lasts a day or two, making more frequent exercise important for these people.
permanent link to article: "Even twice weekly exercise benefits health"
posted by Brent Hugh at
10/10/2004 05:48:00 PM |comment on this article
Lance Armstrong's Tour of Hope arrives in Washington
These days, that means threading himself in and out of a 3,500-mile, eight-day relay race across America by 20 cyclists dubbed the ''Tour of Hope'' and sponsored by Bristol-Myers Squibb. Each rider's life, like Armstrong's, has been touched by cancer. The ride began at midnight in Los Angeles on Sept. 30 with a few hundred people lining the street in darkness. . . .
Ranking his favorite moment along the way so far was easy. It was when Las Vegas officials closed off The Strip to make way for him and the pack of ''Tour of Hope'' cyclists.
''I've ridden down streets all over the world and they close down the streets and there's a lot of people there cheering,'' he said. ''But these people would never have that opportunity. So, to see their faces, to turn around and look at them as they realize, 'Oh my God, this is happening to me,' is really powerful.''
With dark coming as early as five, lights are especially important; you're invisible without them, and you must be visible to be safe.
You may just want to walk on days when roads aren't clear. Fortunately, this is usually only right after a big storm.
don't dress too warmly; dress in thin layers you can easily remove, jackets with zippers you can adjust, etc. If you're a little cold when you leave the house you may be about the right temperature after riding a few minutes.
underwear made out of "wicking" material (not cotton) helps draw moisture away from your skin
With dark coming as early as five, lights are especially important; you're invisible without them, and you must be visible to be safe.
You may just want to walk on days when roads aren't clear. Fortunately, this is usually only right after a big storm.
don't dress too warmly; dress in thin layers you can easily remove, jackets with zippers you can adjust, etc. If you're a little cold when you leave the house you may be about the right temperature after riding a few minutes.
underwear made out of "wicking" material (not cotton) helps draw moisture away from your skin
Doug Havach of the Greater Kanas City Bicycle Federation sent the following report:
Having just spent a few days visiting the University of Toronto, I can confirm that Toronto is a very bicycle-friendly city. It is commonplace and unremarkable to see bicyclists riding on the streets along with the other vehicular traffic. There are so many bicyclists passing, all day long and after dark, that one or more is nearly always in your field of vision.
Most riders seem to take a very utilitarian approach. A bicycle is a tool, like a pair of scissors or a wristwatch; it is a useful transportation device. Very few riders wear helmets or make any clothing concessions to their chosen mode of transportation. Most of the bikes are either newer hybrids with mountain bike tires and 26" wheels, or older steel roadies with 27"/700C wheels. Almost all of the bikes have fenders and flat handlebars, and the cheapest plastic saddles are used. Some of the bikes are obviously a poor fit for the riders, and I see many with under-inflated tires. Most of the bikes are very dirty and have poorly maintained moving parts.
There are adult cyclists of all ages and shapes and dress. I don't see very many children either walking or riding in the vicinity of the U of T campus.
The parking accommodations for bicycles are pervasive. Unique post-and-ring devices are cemented into sidewalks all over the city, and these are in constant use. They are very well-designed: the wheel-ring motif indicates the purpose, the configuration gives many options for locking, and the shape blends visually with bicycle wheels.
It is common to see abandoned hybrid bikes that are missing the seatpost and saddle, evidently because a quick-release seatpost facilitates theft. I don't see any tire pumps or flat repair kits attached to bikes, probably because they would be stolen, too.
In the three days I was there, I see only one "recreational rider" with a racing style road bike and specific "cycling" apparel. Perhaps some of the bike commuters keep a special road bike tucked away at home for recreational use.
There are plenty of cars and trucks and SUVs on the Toronto streets, but the motorized drivers are constantly and routinely seeing and passing bicyclists. It's apparent to me that the more vehicular bicyclists there are on the streets, the safer it is to ride a bicycle.
Probably the most effective thing we can do to make our local streets safer for bicycling is ride our bicycles as often as possible. Every individual decision we make to ride a bicycle contributes to the cumulative effect of a more bicycle-friendly community.
