Cycling Tips & Stories

The Raytown Bicycle Task force invites you to a Bicycle Ride-Poker Run on Saturday, May 14th, 2005, at 8:00 A.M.

The ride is a Fund Raiser for the Raytown Emergency Assistance Program (REAP).

The ride is a "Poker Run": Riders pick up cards at rest stops. Highest cards win prizes at the end.

Starting Point:

Raytown South
Middle School
8401 E 83rd St, Raytown, MO 64133
(click here for a map to the starting point)

1.5, 3, 16, 25, and 45 mile routes

Donation: $10/person $20/family

Have Fun - Get in shape - Ride with the Mayor - See Raytown!

The 16 mile route goes "park to park" in Raytown with supported rest stops. 25 and 45 mile routes are self-supported after the first 16 miles. Children under 16 only with adult supervision. Helmets are required.

Register on the day of the event at the starting point or pre-register by sending name, address, route preference and check payable to "REAP" to 10908 East 83rd St, Raytown, MO 64138.

For more information, contact Chuck Martin, martinoffroad@yahoo.com, 353-3653.

Rain Date: May 15, 8AM.

Sponsors and donors include the City of Raytown, Bike Stop, Bicycle Shack, HyVee, and others to be announced.
permanent link to article: "Mayor's Tour of Raytown May 14th, 2005"
posted by Brent Hugh at 3/31/2005 10:12:00 PM |comment on this article

Columnist Donald Kaul has an interesting column in this week's Springfield News-Leader:

When a town in his district comes to Monderman for advice, he tells them: Remove the traffic lights and speed signs, erase the center lines dividing the streets, get rid of the speed bumps, bicycle lanes and pedestrian crossings. Oh yes, the sidewalks have to go too.

"All those signs are saying to cars is 'This is your space, and we have organized your behavior so that as long as you behave this way, nothing can happen to you,'" Monderman told The New York Times. "That is the wrong story."

What he believes should replace those rules is the concept of shared space, where drivers and pedestrians and bicycles are equals and depend on mutual courtesy to get along. . . .

He doesn't claim that the system would work everywhere, but it has worked in bustling town squares around Holland and he thinks it will work elsewhere.

It's a romantic concept but, as an American driver, I'm skeptical. Bad driving has become the rule rather than the exception on American roads.

Incidentally, when Monderman says that the system won't work "everywhere" is not saying that it will work in Holland but not in Missouri. In fact it will work very well in the United States--people are people and drivers are drivers wherever you go. (Though Kaul may have a point, too, that Americans are becoming more and more tolerant of worse and worse driving, and little effort is being spent on changing driving behavior.)

But these ideas are meant to applied in places like neighborhoods, downtown areas, city squares, and the like. They are not intended for, and won't work, on high-speed interstates, expressways, and similar places.

More info about Monderman and his ideas here and here. permanent link to article: "Bad drivers and shared living space"
posted by Brent Hugh at 3/27/2005 08:57:00 AM |comment on this article

Barbara Curtis & Pam Culbertson of Warrensburg rode Adventure Cycling's Southern Tier route last January, about 3500 miles of self-supported touring. The ride was a fund raiser for Habitat for Humanity of Johnson County. Here is just one excerpt from their ride journal:

We did one exceptionally difficult day between Comstock and Sanderson--about 90 miles uphill, but the spaces are large with "scope for the imagination" as Anne would say, the roads good and traffic greatly decreased. We also have good shoulder. Between Ingram and Camp Wood we did some incredible climbs. Probably the most difficult of my cycling career which includes some steep stuff in Appalachia!

permanent link to article: "Missouri cyclists ride 3500 miles for Habitat for Humanity"
posted by Brent Hugh at 3/22/2005 04:09:00 PM |comment on this article

According to an article in this month's Bicycling Magazine, the type of power meter currently used by most pro cyclists is becoming more practical for serious amateurs, too:

"I've been racing since 1975," says Andrew Coggan, Ph.D., 46, an internationally recognized exercise physiologist at Washington University in St. Louis. "I started using a power meter in 1999. Since then, my average power for five- and 20-minute efforts has gone up 3 to 5 percent-and I'm at an age where it should be going down 1 percent a year," says Coggan, who wrote the power-based training chapter for USA Cycling's Expert Coaches Manual. "It's given me huge improvements, and it's not like I didn't know how to train before-I'm an exercise physiologist, after all."

permanent link to article: "Pro power meters becoming more practical for the rest of us"
posted by Brent Hugh at 3/21/2005 08:49:00 AM |comment on this article

The Kansas City Bicycle Club has put together a new online ride calendar with information about KCBC's rides and other rides in the Kansas City region.

See the calendar here. permanent link to article: "Kansas City Bicycle Club introduces ride calendar"
posted by Brent Hugh at 3/15/2005 09:40:00 AM |comment on this article

According to an article in today's Joplin Globe:

[Becky] Hettinger, 53, leaves Monday for a two-month biking tour that will take her across the southern tier of the United States. The tour is sponsored by a company called Womantours, which offers "inn-to-inn road bike tours especially for women," according to the company's Web site www.womantours.com.

"It's better than going to the gym," Hettinger said. "I don't like to be inside, I feel like I'm restricted. I like to be outside and get out in the fresh air and there are no bicycle clubs in Joplin or around here, so this is the next best thing."

If you have gone--or are planning--a cross-state, cross-country, or cross-anything-interesting bicycle tour, MoBikeFed Cycling Tips & Stories would love to hear about it.

Email Webmaster@MoBikeFed.org. permanent link to article: "Jane, MO, woman begins cross country tour"
posted by Brent Hugh at 3/13/2005 08:46:00 AM |comment on this article

According to a KC infoZine article, quoting information from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources:

Many analysts are predicting that nationwide gas prices are likely to reach and settle well above the $2 mark throughout the spring and summer driving seasons. This will lead many drivers to seek options to decrease their gasoline usage and lessen the shock of gas price increases. To help motorists take advantage of these cost-saving opportunities, the Department of Natural Resources' Energy Center offers "Saving Green on Gasoline," a publication aimed at encouraging drivers to consider a number of steps that can decrease transportation fuel use.

According a Joplin Globe story, the owner of one tune-up shop said, "My advice to people is to quit driving and start riding bicycles. . . . That's about the best advice I can give."

Bicycling for transportation, running errands, and commuting is not as hard as it is often made out to be--especially if you're already riding your bicycle distances of 10 miles or more for recreational. One bike commuter offers a page of tips and ideas for getting started. permanent link to article: "Gas prices may stay above $2/gallon for spring and summer"
posted by Brent Hugh at 3/12/2005 05:17:00 AM |comment on this article

Route: Clinton, MO to St. Charles, MO, 225 miles on the longest Rails to Trails bicycle trail in the USA.

Character of the ride: I thought of "Sylvan" because most of the trail has trees on at least one side and often both. I also thought about "Dusty" because of the dust from the trail's crushed limestone surface. "Rural" woulddo as well, most of the towns that the trail goes through are extremely small. But since it's so very "Flat" something about "Always pedaling" is winning out in my mind. But; buggy, crowded, windy, rainy, hot, or cold are not under consideration.

Read the rest on BikeKatyTrail.com. permanent link to article: "Katy Trail Ride Report"
posted by Brent Hugh at 3/02/2005 07:46:00 AM |comment on this article