With cool morning temperatures, Saturday morning's weather was perfect for the 14th annual Missouri River Festival of the Arts Festival Bike Tour. With 160 riders, this year's bike tour brought in a record number of participants. Riders hailed from as far away as Kansas and Arkansas.
“This ride brings in serious bike riders, bike riders who like to race, long time bike riders, new comers, and the gentle slow bike riders” said Danny Kammerich, event organizer. . . .
The main ride consisted of 42-miles from Boonville through Prairie Home and Wooldridge and back to Thespian Hall. An optional 10-mile “Lupus Loop” of included a stint down Hwy P - a directional map reminder riders that “P” is for “pain” - to the Missouri River town of Lupus.
Not only was I surprised by the sheer number of people on the ride, but the different kinds of people who were riding. There were a lot of young kids (and I mean really young) who already knew how to handle a bike. There were older people on slow bikes, younger people on fast bikes and others on fun, silly bikes. People were riding mountain bikes, road bikes, recumbent bikes and tandem bikes. The great thing about the Moonlight Ramble is that it doesn’t matter how old you are or what kind of bike you ride, and it doesn’t matter if you’re a novice or an experienced cyclist. It’s about more than that -- it’s about being part of something bigger than you are. It’s about riding with other cyclists and catching enthusiasm for the sport.
Whose behavior changes, the motorist’s or that of the people walking and bicycling? It seems unlikely that people walking or bicycling obey traffic laws more or defer to motorists more in societies or time periods with greater walking and bicycling. Indeed it seems less likely, and hence unable to explain the observed results. Adaptation in motorist behavior seems more plausible and other discussions support that view. Todd reported three studies showing "motorists in the United States and abroad drive more slowly when they see many pedestrians in the street and faster when they see few".27 In addition, motorists in communities or time periods with greater walking and bicycling are themselves more likely to occasionally walk or bicycle and hence may give greater consideration to people walking and bicycling. Accordingly, the most plausible explanation for the improving safety of people walking and bicycling as their numbers increase is behavior modification by motorists when they expect or experience people walking and bicycling. . . .
Another question arises about laws governing the interaction between motorists and vulnerable road users. For example, in the United States, if a motorist strikes a person walking between intersections, the motorist is unlikely to face criminal charges.27 Yet if motorist behavior largely controls the number of collisions, laws should be revised to reflect this finding.
So--want to increase bicycle safety in your community?
Only a few years ago Elise Hickman didn’t know if riding a bicycle was for her.
She was afraid she would lose her balance and fall, her parents said. Elise, 10, said riding a bicycle with training wheels was “really tippy,” so she didn’t ride much.
Now, about five years later, Elise and her father, Michael Hickman, zip around the Kansas City area at about 16 miles an hour on their bicycle built for two, or tandem bicycle, several times a week. The Overland Park pair ride with the Prairie Village Yacht Club twice a week and also ride at the Indian Creek trail.
The father-daughter hobby started slowly. Hickman said he started riding for exercise when Elise was just learning to ride a bicycle. Two years ago, the duo borrowed a friend’s tandem to give it a try. Tandem bikes can cost more than $2,000, so Hickman said he wanted to make sure he and his daughter could commit to the hobby.
“We got on it and she loved it,” he said. “So we decided to come out for a group ride, and she loved it even more.”
Driving is getting more dangerous, but safer vehicles are offsetting the risky behaviors, according to a study of 20 years of traffic data. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says that between 1985 and 2004, the death rates per vehicle and per mile went down. . . .
Institute president Adrian Lund says that during the 1990s driving got more dangerous because of lack of interest in DWI laws, raising of speed limits, and enforcement of safety belt rules. . . . But safer vehicle designs have offset the bad driving, saving an estimated 5,200 lives in 2004 alone. The full study will be released later this year, and will detail the effect of the introduction of SUVs on death rates. I'm guessing the news won't be good.
The world now has more overweight people than hungry ones and governments should design economic strategies to influence national diets, a conference of international experts have heard. ADVERTISEMENT
The transition from a starving world to an obese one had happened with dramatic speed, US professor Barry Popkin told the annual conference of the International Association of Agricultural Economists on Monday.
"The reality is that globally far more obesity than undernutrition exists," Popkin said, adding that while hunger was slowly declining, obesity was rapidly spreading. . . .
University of Minnesota professor Benjamin Senauer used a comparative study of lifestyles in the United States and Japan to show how the costs of food and transport play a role in the problem.
Japan has one of the world's lowest rates of obesity and the US one of the highest.
"The average Japanese household spends almost a quarter of its income on food compared to under 14 percent in the US," Senauer said.
While a direct tax on food in the US to reduce obesity would not be politically acceptable, agricultural subsidies which resulted in cheap food could be reduced.
But other factors such as exercise also played an important role and again economic influences were involved, he said.
"Japanese cities are based on efficient public transport -- and walking. The average American commutes to work, drives to the supermarket and does as little walking as possible."
The average Japanese man walks four miles (6.4 kilometres) a day while almost a quarter of US adults may only walk between 1,000 and 3,000 steps a day, Senauer said.
Based on the principles taught in the League of American Bicyclists Bike Ed program.
Cycling with friends, traveling rapidly and safely with confidence in your companions, is a joy. However, there is a certain cycling etiquette, or Rules of the Road, of which you should be aware whenever cycling in a group.
Ride Leaders-Please take the initiative to educate your riders about and continually remind them of the rules of the road. It takes only a minute or two to emphasize one or two of these points at each ride. Educated riders are safer and have fewer conflicts among themselves and with motorists.
Getting along with other bicyclists
1. Be Predictable ? Group riding requires even more attention to predictability than riding alone. Other riders expect you to continue straight ahead at a constant speed unless you indicate differently. Being predictable will make motorists happier and keep you safer.
2. Use Signals ? Use hand and verbal signals to communicate with members of the group and with other traffic. Use hand signals for turning and stopping. Extend left arm for left turn and right arm for right turn. Put left hand down at the side with fingers slightly spread for STOP. When moving left to avoid an obstacle such as a parked car or debris signal by extending your arm to the left to tell cars and cyclists behind you that are moving left.
3. Give Warnings ? Warn cyclists behind you well in advance of changes in your direction or speed. To notify the group of change in path, the lead rider should call out "left turn" or "right turn" in addition to hand signals.
4. Change Positions Correctly ? Generally, slower traffic stays right, so as a rule pass other cyclists on their left. Say "on your left" to warn the cyclist ahead that you are passing. If you are approaching someone on the right or need to pass someone on the right, say "on your right" clearly since this is an unusual maneuver.
5. Announce Hazards ? When riding in a group, most of the cyclists do not have a good view of the road surface ahead, so it is important to announce holes, glass, gravel, grates, and other hazards. The leader (or rider in front of a group) should indicate road hazards by pointing down to the left or right and call by "hole", "bump", "road kill", etc. where required for safety.
Getting along with motorists
1. Watch For Traffic Coming From The Rear ? Since those in front cannot see traffic approaching from the rear, it is the responsibility the riders in the back to inform the others by calling out "car back". Around curves, on narrow roads, or when riding double (side-by-side) it is helpful if those up front call out "car up" to those in the back. When you hear "car back" move right to become a single file line. Be courteous to motorists.
2. Watch Out At Intersections ? When approaching intersections that require vehicles to yield or stop, the lead rider will say "slowing" or "stopping" to those behind of the change in speed. Do NOT say "clear" to indicate no crossing traffic. This is a dangerous practice that should be abandoned. Each cyclist is responsible for verifying that the way is indeed clear. 3. Leave A Gap For Cars ? When riding up hills or on narrow roads where you are impeding faster traffic, leave a gap for cars between every three to four bicycles. That way a motorist can take advantage of shorter passing intervals and eventually move piecemeal around the entire group
4. Move Off The Road When You Stop ? Whether you are stopping because of mechanical problems or to regroup with your companions, or just shooting the breeze with someone you haven't seen in a while, move well off the road so you don't interfere with traffic (both cars AND other cyclists). When you start up again, each cyclist should look for and yield to traffic.
5. Ride One or Two Across ? Ride single file or double file as appropriate to the roadway and traffic conditions and where allowed by law. Most state vehicle codes permit narrow vehicles such as bicycles to ride double file within the lane. Even where riding double is legal, courtesy dictates that you single up when cars are trying to pass you.
Bicyclists-How to avoid being hit by a turning truck
Be aware that trucks swing to the left to prepare for a right turn.
Be aware that the preparation for a right turn may take the truck partly or completely in to the left lane.
Don't enter the BLIND SPOT spot to the right side of the truck.
Stay behind the truck and give it room.
When a large vehicle makes a turn at a street corner, the long distance between front and rear wheels means that the rear wheels will "off-track" and run closer to the curb than the front of the truck does.
Because of this, trucks will swing left in preparation for a right turn.
When the truck swings left you might be tempted to enter BLIND SPOT to the right side of the truck. Don't! This is very dangerous.
If the truck is stopped at an intersection, the driver may have started to swing left in preparation for a right turn. So NEVER filter up alongside stopped trucks at intersections.
A skilled truck driver knows just how the wheels must track in order to make a safe turn with the rear wheels just clearing the curb at the corner.
If you are in the BLIND SPOT you will be squeezed between the rear of the truck and the curb with nowhere to go. If you are knocked over by the curb or caught by the moving parts along the side of the truck you can be crushed almost instantly.
If you are in the BLIND SPOT, the driver will have no idea this is happening to you.
This is how two recently bicycle fatalities have happened in Missouri.
On Missouri's narrow roads, trucks must move far to the left to prepare for a right turn. So what appears to you to be a truck moving into the left lane is oftentimes a preparation for a right turn by the truck.
Do NOT move to the side of a truck in this situation!
Note on the responsibilities of heavy truck drivers and trucking companies: Today in the U.S. heavy trucks have huge blind spots. With modern technology this is just ridiculous--inexpensive video cameras can solve the problem completely. Heavy trucks should not be allowed to plow people over with the excuse "I couldn't see". They need to figure out HOW to see and with today's technology, it can be done.
As with many issues with roadway safety, there are precautions to be taken by all road users. But ultimate responsibility for this situation must be taken by trucking companies to design and use trucks that allow drivers to see what they are driving over.
Bonking is something you'd never want to do on purpose. Or would you?
Believe it or not, one highly respected exercise scientist has suggested that it may be beneficial to bonk regularly in training. Her name is Bente Klarlund Pedersen, Ph.D., and she's a researcher at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Klarlund recently explained her rationale for "intentional bonking" in a lecture entitled "Signaling the Muscles to Adapt: Train Low, Compete High?" which was delivered at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine.
In this provocative lecture, Pedersen made the case that athletes -- and especially endurance athletes -- stand to gain greater fitness by performing some of their workouts in a glycogen-depleted state than by trying to perform all of their workouts in a glycogen-replete state.
A friend at his workplace participated in Ironman triathlons - running, biking and swimming extreme distances. He invited Duane to ride with him regularly.
"There's a group of those guys that I've met now," he said. "That was over a year ago. And I started doing the cycling."
He started biking an hour each day, and the pounds began to melt away.
"The cycling is what started to improve my fitness level. The other things seemed to support my health, but I started the cycling, and there was a gradual buildup."
He started in May 2005. By August 2005, he did his first 100-mile ride - about six hours on the bike. The ride went from the Arch to the Grafton Ferry in St. Charles County, then to Alton, then back to the Arch and finally to Forest Park.
Now he regularly participates in "century" rides, those of 100 miles. And he has dropped to 185 pounds, a weight he has maintained for a year.
The League of American Bicyclists has an excellent succinct summary of the responsibilities of motorist and bicyclists to share the road:
Sharing the Road: Cyclists
The same laws that apply to motorists apply to cyclists Obey all traffic control devices Use hand signals to indicate stops and turns other users Always Wear a Properly Fitting Helmet Ride on the Right Ride Predictably Be Visible
Sharing the Road: Motorists
Drive Cautiously Yield to Cyclists Be Considerate Pass with Care Watch for Children
Cycling with friends, traveling rapidly and safely with confidence in your companions, is a joy. However, there is a certain cycling etiquette, or Rules of the Road, of which you should be aware whenever cycling in a group. 
