Post Office Box 104871
Jefferson City, MO 65110-4871
MoBikeFed is a 501(c)(4) non-profit corporation
Webmaster email: webmaster @ mobikefed
.org
BikeMO--MoBikeFed's Fall Foliage Bicycle Ride Join us October 18th for BikeMO, the ride that supports bicycle advocacy in Missouri. Beautiful mid-Missouri roads, beautiful fall weather, beautiful fall leaves . . .
The wheels on the bus might not be going round and round anymore.
In fact, there might not be wheels at all for some Shawnee pupils.
On Monday, the Shawnee City Council directed city staff to apply for state funding to implement a “walking school bus” initiative in two elementary schools for the 2007-08 school year.
A walking school bus essentially is a group of children walking together to school with one or more adults leading them along a designated safe route.
As far as the city staff can tell, Shawnee would be the first in Kansas to implement such a program.
Although [Conservation Areas] are best known for hunting, fishing, birding and nature photography, they also have more than 700 miles of hiking, biking and equestrian trails. With National Trails Day coming up June 3, now is a great time to discover these little-known recreational assets. The Conservation Department plans to release a new guide in June to help Missourians discover these hidden gems.
The wheels on the bus might not be going round and round anymore.
In fact, there might not be wheels at all for some Shawnee pupils.
On Monday, the Shawnee City Council directed city staff to apply for state funding to implement a “walking school bus” initiative in two elementary schools for the 2007-08 school year.
A walking school bus essentially is a group of children walking together to school with one or more adults leading them along a designated safe route.
As far as the city staff can tell, Shawnee would be the first in Kansas to implement such a program.
MBF member George Ratermann sent along this bicycle mileage log he put together. It is an Excel spreadsheet that helps you keep track of your daily mileage and totals. It tracks miles and hours ridden by day, week, month and year. It also gives average miles per hour for each ride.
"We'll be very active. We won't be able to cover 40 or 50 miles a night, but we're going to be able to get to places a lot quicker sometimes while patrol cars are on other side of town," Officer Jackie Wilson says.
Jackson police point out the only thing they might burn on these bikes, will be rubber.
"Another thing is savings on gas. With the cost of fuel going up, we're not going to be riding around in patrol cars burning up gasoline," Lt. Rodney Barnes says.
Only two police officers plan on making the transition to bikes at this time. That follows an extensive training program with the International Police Mountain Bike Association.
The Ride of Silence took place May 17th in five Missouri locations and hundreds of other locations across the U.S. and the world.
The ride is commemorate those who have been injured or killed on the roadways and to inspire us to find ways to make the roadways safer for all users.
On road bicycling is really a relatively safe activity. Nevertheless it could be far safer still with some pretty simple changes to our laws, attitudes, policies, and roads.
After she's worked a busy week as a nurse practitioner at a children's clinic in Kansas City, Pam Western enjoys hitting the trail with her husband, David, and rolling up the miles cycling. They've ridden Missouri's Katy Trail and the Wabash Trace in Iowa, and they recently discovered the Frisco Highline Trail running between Springfield and Bolivar.
It's possible to make the ride in a few hours or do a round trip in a day — but she and her husband take a more leisurely pace.
During their first visit in late April, they stayed at Ridgerunners Rest Stop, a hunting lodge near Walnut Grove that during the non-hunting months caters to trail users.
It was a convenient headquarters for rides to Springfield and Bolivar.
"We really enjoyed it," the Overland Park., Kan., resident said. The trail uses a section of the old Frisco Railway line between Kansas City and Springfield. "That section just north of Ridgerunners that follows the creek and up to La Petite Gemme Prairie is very pretty."
In honor of National Bike to Work Day, breakfast will be served to bicycle commuters between 6:30 and 9:30 a.m. Friday at three locations in St. Louis and Clayton.
Companion Baking is providing the food for the refueling stations, at Memorial Park on South Meramec Avenue in Clayton, Missouri Botanical Garden on Shaw Boulevard, and the Missouri History Museum on Lindell Boulevard.
Free showers will be available at The Clayton Center, and coupons for showers will handed out for St. Louis Workout in the Central West End and all YMCA locations.
More than 200 bicycle commuters are expected to participate.
In Kansas City is the Bike-In Movie:
Friday’s Bike-In Movie Feature
“Boys of Baraka” Showtime: 8:00 PM (This is a change from what is posted on the Bridging The Gap website.)
30 Discounted Tickets ($5 each) are available to the first folks to respond to this email. Maximum two tickets per person.
In the text of your email, please list your name and the number of tickets you would like and send it to deb@bridgingthegap.org
RIDE FROM SUNFRESH PARKING LOT IN WESTPORT - 7:00 PM Please note this change in time and help us spread the word!
All cyclists are encouraged to wear a helmet and bring your lights (front and rear)!
******************** MOVIE SYNOPSIS ************************
On September 12, 2002 twenty "at risk" 12-year-old boys from the tough streets of inner-city Baltimore left home to attend the 7th and 8th grade at Baraka, an experimental boarding school located in Kenya, East Africa. Here, faced with a strict academic and disciplinary program as well as the freedom to be normal teenage boys, these brave kids began the daunting journey towards putting their lives on a fresh path.
"The Boys of Baraka" focuses on four boys: Devon, Montrey, Richard and his brother Romesh. Their humor and explicit truthfulness give intimate insight into their optimistic plans, despite the tremendous obstacles they face both at home and in school. Through extensive time with the boys in Baltimore and in Africa, the film captures the kids' amazing journey and how they fare when they are forced to return the difficult realities of their city.
"The Boys of Baraka" zeros in on kids that society has given up on - - boys with every disadvantage, but who refuse to be cast off as "throw-aways."
Next week is national Bike to Work Week, and some towns do it up big.
Chicago, for instance. Mayor Richard Daley does more than merely sign a proclamation. He actively promotes the event, and not just for one week either.
Daley’s Bike Chicago campaign covers 100 events spread over five months. It gets bigger every year.
Meanwhile, here in KC, we’re still waiting for Bike to Work Week to take off.
Oh well, maybe 2006 will be the year, thanks to the new person in charge.
The basis for compensation in traffic accidents is fault liability. However, if an accident involves a motor vehicle (car or motor bike) and a non-motorised road user (pedestrian or cyclist) risk liability applies. This means that the driver is liable unless he can prove force majeure. If the pedestrian or cyclist is younger than 14 years of age, the driver is 100% liable. If the pedestrian or cyclists is over 14 years of age, the driver is 50% liable. The amount of the compensation for the remaining 50% is dependent on the degree of fault of all the parties involved.
Ride of Silence rolls at five locations in Missouri May 17th, 2006
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Missouri Bicyclists,
Just a reminder that the Ride of Silence is 7:00PM May 17th, 2006, at five Missouri locations: Farmington, Kansas City, St. Joseph, Springfield, and St. Louis.
The Ride of Silence is a powerful and respectful way for us to speak up for bicyclists rights and safer accommodations for bicyclists and pedestrians on Missouri's roads.
We know that Missourians bicycle and walk at about half the national average.
It doesn't take a genius to see why--the conditions of our transportation system and the attitudes of our citizens and public officials and that much more unfriendly to bicycling and walking.
Things are now changing for the better in Missouri in many ways, great and small. Participating in the Ride of Silence is one good way to speak up, let your voice be heard, and make certain that things keep moving in the right direction in Missouri.
"Everybody should be discussing it: Why isn't the richest country in the world the healthiest country in the world?" asks study co-author Dr. Michael Marmot, an epidemiologist at University College London in England.
The study, based on government statistics in both countries, adds context to the already-known fact that the United States spends more on health care than any other industrialized nation, yet trails in rankings of life expectancy. . . .
Differences in exercise might partly explain the gap, he suggested. One of the study's authors, Jim Smith, said the English exercise somewhat more than Americans.
Craig says bikes afford officers some advantages over patrol cars. "You can smell what’s going on, you can hear what’s going on and you’re more approachable," he says, "and you’re still more stealthy, too."
For example, he says, an officer on a bike can hear a disturbance and smell marijuana. And some people are more apt to trust an officer on a bicycle. "In a patrol car, you’ve got the windows up, and with a bike, I can stop at anywhere, at anyplace or any time," Craig says. "We get a lot of good comments from the people in the subdivisions because we’re so visual."
During last week’s certification class at the Hearnes Center, officers practiced traversing an obstacle course of orange cones and working on skills such as dismounting in a hurry while chasing a suspect and using the bicycle as a shield.
In 1969, Christian College offered its first bicycle class for one hour’s physical education credit. In 1970, ’71 and ’72 , I planned and led 45-day bicycle tours in Europe. The dean asked whether I could plan and budget the tours, overnights, meals, mechanics and special events; I had done that for our family previously. I charged a $50 emergency fee for each student, and in three trips, all of the emergency fees were returned unused. A few nonstudents in each trip paid the college an extra $15 fee.
To ensure a place to stay each night, I planned overnights to be in youth hostels, cooking our breakfasts in the "members’ kitchens." Students bought their noon meals. Evening meals were reserved ahead for the hostel dining rooms so that we’d get to know people from various parts of the world.
In three tours and with 30 students, we had one near-calamity: One student forgot which side of the road to use in England and dumped her luggage in the street as a driver saved her by bouncing his vehicle over a curb. I saw this happen and went to the crying, frightened girl at once. She was not injured. I hugged her in the middle of the street, and she whispered, "Mrs. G., I’m wetting my pants." No harm done!
KCStar's Mike Hendricks writes about Kansas City's Bike to Work Week 2006:
Just a reminder that the Ride of Silence is 7:00PM May 17th, 2006, at five Missouri locations: Farmington, Kansas City, St. Joseph, Springfield, and St. Louis.