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 . . .
Kids Activity Pyramid to reach 100,000 MO students this year
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Less screen time and more playtime.
That's the message in MyActivity Pyramid, a guide to physical activity for children ages 6 to 11, developed by University of Missouri Extension health educators.
Regular physical activity is important to overall health, and school-aged children need at least 60 minutes every day, said Steve Ball, MU Extension fitness specialist.
“We really want kids to be active up to several hours a day,” Ball said. “You probably can't be too active as a kid.” . . .
“Any chances we have to be active,” Ball said, “we should be active.” . . .
Some 100,000 elementary-aged students will be introduced to MyActivity Pyramid and MyActivity Log at school this year through FNEP school-based curriculum.
MyActivity Pyramid, N386, and MyActivity Log, N864, are available from MU Extension Publications by calling 800-292-0969 or online at http://muextension.missouri.edu/explore/.
Blue Springs is in the process of installing 18 bike lockers at the city's three commuter parking lots for citizens to rent.
"Our community is changing, its demographics are. We have people who want to have an alternative to driving," said Roscoe Righter, director of parks and recreation. . . .
The concept for the project began about 16 years ago when the city was developing a bike plan for the entire community. The city has recently been doing research and gathering information as it contacted 21 different agencies around the country that use bike lockers.
Righter said this is an environmental issue in addition to being convenient for residents. He said Blue Springs is seeing an influx of people from major cities where there is a significant focus on environmental issues, and their green concerns are being carried over into this city. . . .
The goal is for commuters to be able to ride their bikes from their homes to one of the commuter lots and then catch a bus into downtown Kansas City. Righter said the city knows there is a need for these lockers as several bikes have been chained up consistently in the Missouri 7 commuter lot recently.
Gary Fontenot's bike was one of these. He has been riding his bike to the Missouri 7 commuter lot for the past few months and would previously lock his bike to the fence. Now that the lockers are available, he has rented a locker for the next year and said he catches the bus about three times a week. He said he now rides a better bike to the lot as he is not afraid of it getting stolen anymore.
On October 1st, 2006, riders will enjoy a round trip from McBaine Trail Head to the Save the Katy Bridge Festival at the Boonville Katy Depot and back to McBaine Trail Head. Participants will gather at the McBaine Trail Head between 10:45-11:00. Riders will start the ride at 11:00 am with anticipated 1:15 pm arrival time in Boonville return to McBaine around 4:30 pm. The ride will be 44.6 miles roundtrip.
To shorten the ride, participants may join riders at the Rocheport Trail Head at 12:15 with return time estimated at 3:15 pm. This roundtrip ride would be 27.0 miles. Riders should consider their ability levels and choose a ride start that is doable for them. No riders will be left behind. SAG service will be provided by Chuck’s Bike Shop from Boonville.
All participants must wear helmets.
Participants will have an hour to enjoy the Save the Katy Bridge Festival in Boonville before beginning the return trip. Cool water will be provided at the McBaine, Rocheport, and Boonville Trail Heads.
Please bring signed registration form with you on the day of the ride. To let us known you plan to ride on October 1, also complete an on line registration form at www.savethekatybridge.org. More about the festival and the ride is at the web site.
permanent link to article: "Ride to the Katy Bridge Festival Oct 1st, 2006"
posted by Brent Hugh at
9/24/2006 07:43:00 PM |comment on this article
Bicycle boulevards in Berkeley and Oakland
Will we ever see bicycle boulevards in Missouri, too?
Tour of the Ozarks, coming up September 16th, 2006, in Rolla, is one of the Missouri "Advocacy Rides"--rides that donate a small portion of their proceeds back to support bicycle advocacy in Missouri.
I've ridden a portion of the route and it is a very beautiful area--well worth the trip.
A bicycle excursion to benefit the Diabetes Education Fund (DEF). 12, 25, 50, and 100 mile routes in the Missouri Ozarks including old Route 66, the Mark Twain National Forest, and some of the quietest, most scenic roads in Missouri. The two shorter routes are suitable for any bicyclist, while the two longer routes are challenging, scenic and very rewarding. Fully supported with food, drinks, helpful volunteers, and support vehicles.
“The best answer is for different types of road user to understand each other better.
“Most adult cyclists know what it is like to drive a car, but relatively few motorists ride bicycles in traffic, and so don’t know the issues cyclists face.
“There should definitely be more information on the needs of other road users when people learn to drive, and practical experience would be even better.
“When people try cycling, they nearly always say it changes the way they treat other road users when they get back in their cars.”
The study also found that large vehicles, such as buses and trucks, passed considerably closer when overtaking cyclists than cars.
The average car passed 1.33 metres (4.4 feet) away from the bicycle, whereas the average truck got 19 centimetres (7.5 inches) closer and the average bus 23 centimetres (9 inches) closer. . . .
Drivers pass closer when overtaking cyclists wearing helmets than when overtaking bare-headed cyclists, increasing the risk of a collision, the research has found.
Dr Ian Walker, a traffic psychologist from the University of Bath, used a bicycle fitted with a computer and an ultrasonic distance sensor to record data from over 2,500 overtaking motorists in Salisbury and Bristol. . . .
He found that drivers were as much as twice as likely to get particularly close to the bicycle when he was wearing the helmet.
Across the board, drivers passed an average of 8.5 cm (3 1/3 inches) closer with the helmet than without
The research has been accepted for publication in the journal Accident Analysis & Prevention.
“This study shows that when drivers overtake a cyclist, the margin for error they leave is affected by the cyclist’s appearance,” said Dr Walker, from the University’s Department of Psychology.
“By leaving the cyclist less room, drivers reduce the safety margin that cyclists need to deal with obstacles in the road, such as drain covers and potholes, as well as the margin for error in their own judgements.
As triathletes, we’ve all grown used to getting mocked on a pretty regular basis. We get mocked by schoolchildren yelling “go faster!” out the window of their school buses as they pass us out on our bikes. We get mocked by the locals in the towns we race in on Sunday mornings, who look at us incredulously through the dirty windows of a Dunkin Donuts at 6 a.m. as if we’d just landed from another planet (nevermind that they’re the ones sitting in a Dunkin Donuts at 6 o’clock on a Sunday morning). We even get mocked by our own loved ones, who sometimes find our behavior a little eccentric (for example, I don’t think it’s all that crazy to run the 5 miles from a wedding to the reception in order to squeeze in a workout).
But I think it’s fair to say that nothing mocks us as regularly, or as effectively, as the Weather. The Weather takes it as a personal insult that we try to plan a regular workout schedule without taking it into account. As a result, it will do everything in its power to make us pay a price. This is why, if your schedule calls for a hard bike ride on Wednesday morning before work, the Weather will see to it that Wednesday dawns with a sky right out of a Van Gogh painting, with swirling winds and freezing temperatures and hailstones the size of freewheels. And then, of course, 10:00 rolls around, and you out your office window, past the bottle of Comtrex on your desk, and see nothing but blue sky and sunshine. You can almost hear the Weather chuckling in the distance.
Several interesting services have appeared recently that use a Google Maps interface to allow you to draw bicycle routes and then get various stats, store them, search for routes, etc.
RouteSlip--some nice features & will make an elevation map for your route. Allows a certain amount of route editing which some others don't. See MO routes here.
Wayfaring--not bicycle-specific but allows tagging and has other features good for bicycling
GMap-PedometerUseful and easy for plotting a route but doesn't allow them to be aggregated or searched as most other services do.
RouteSaver - created by St. Louis cyclist Dave Ploch, this is be the best of the bunch in many ways. You can save routes, make route sheets, import and export GPS data, generate elevation profiles, view topographical maps and several other useful types of maps, edit the routes in a rudimentary way, and do many other useful things.
My first brand-new bicycle was a girl-style, metallic-green Schwinn with three speeds, silver fenders and a wide leather seat.
All my bikes before the Schwinn were bought used, probably because my parents figured I’d fall over a lot and scratch the frames. Besides, most of those were baby bikes built for little girls.
The Schwinn was a real bike with fancy gears and big tires.
I could stop myself by using hand brakes, not pedals. If I wanted, I could even pedal backward while going downhill. Better yet, the Schwinn purred. When I shifted gears, the chain moved and the bike clicked and I felt in charge of my own destiny.
Why bicyclists need lights--at dusk, at night, in front, in back
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Jay Henning, a Kansas City area bicyclist, was kind enough to share his story about why bicyclists need lights front AND rear:
Hey all, thought I'd share this in light of Ben's posting.
I was almost taken out by a pickup truck when pedaling home from the Moose Thursday about 10 pm. I was pedaling up Delmar behind SM East and the PV pool. The truck was the second of three vehicles in the opposing lane as I neared 77th Street and he suddenly turned left in front of me.
We didn't make contact, but a few inches more and I would have gone through his passenger window. The street is well lit there, but he apparently didn't see me. And honestly, it was as much my fault as my headlight batteries were dead. He was also nice enough to stop and make sure I was ok before taking off. I guess not all drivers of big pickups are jerks.
The point of my rambling is that even though we can see in front of us, we're practically invisible to cars and need lights at BOTH ends of our bikes to get their attention. This is especially true at dusk, not just when it's totally dark. Now that daylight is getting shorter, break out your lights sooner than later, even if it's just a little flasher on the front. That should tide you over until Mike Mullen lights up the roadways....
Research-based Interactive Programs Teach Children Critical Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Skills.
Eugene, OR- HealthComm Interactive, Inc. announces release of two multimedia CD-ROM programs, Walk Smart and Bike Smart. Both programs are designed for children in grades K-3 and were produced, with support from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, by the Oregon Center for Applied Science. Using animations and video demonstrations, these self-paced programs are fun and engaging. They teach children the basic skills and knowledge they need to be safe as pedestrians and on their bicycles.
Concerned parents, educators and safety officials were directly involved in the design and evaluation of Walk Smart and Bike Smart. Pedestrian/motor vehicle accidents are the most common cause of death from trauma for children 5-9 years old. These accidents most often occur while the child is walking along, playing in, or crossing the street. Non-fatal bicycle accidents represent one of the most common causes of serious brain injury in children--with more than 138,000 children under the age of 14 sustaining bicycle-related head injuries each year.
"What differentiates the Walk Smart and Bike Smart programs from traditional safety curricula are their emphasis on breaking down complex skills such as street crossing into component parts: responding to signals, discriminating dangerous vehicles, and understanding traffic distance", noted Ann Glang Ph.D., Principal Investigator. "The program then teaches each of these skills to mastery before integrating them into the more complex task of walking safely across a busy street. Pre-teaching the component skills involved in a complex response is a critical feature of effective instructional programs".
Both programs were thoroughly evaluated in studies involving several hundred children. The studies demonstrated that after children used the program, most did a significantly better job of identifying hazardous situations than they had prior to using the program. The studies also demonstrated that even children with no computer or reading skills were able to use the programs.
Detailed information, including research evaluation reports and program sample clips are available at http://childsafety.hcimarketplace.com. Each program costs $19.95. They are available directly from HealthComm Interactive through the website or by calling 866 846-4880 Toll-free.
This dangerous situation happens most often near the spring and fall equinoxes, when the sun rises and directly to the east and west, and thus is lined up with east/west streets at sunrise and sunset.
So in this situation there is nothing the motorist can do. Or is there?
Putting a little common sense together with accepted traffic law we come up with these solutions:
* Slow down. Do not overdrive your sight distance. This may mean slowing well below the posted speed. It is against the law to drive at speeds in excess of road conditions. Use the same precautions and care as driving in other hazardous conditions, like fog or rain. If you can't see, don't drive.
* Keep your windshield clean. A dirty windshield makes the sun's glare many times worse.
* Turn headlights on so oncoming motorists can see you as they're driving toward the sun.
* When the sun is low in the sky, anticipate and prepare for points where the sun may come out from behind trees, buildings, or hills and interfere with your vision. Remember that you can always put your hand up to shade your eyes--uh, unless your trying to juggle your cell phone and a cup of coffee as you drive. Maybe you'd better drive now and talk, eat, and drink later.
* Remember that you share the road with pedestrians, motorcyclists, mopeds, and bicyclists. With glare in your eyes you may still be able to make out a large automobile. But could you see a pedestrian or bicyclist in your path? If not, slow down until your speed corresponds with your ability to see ahead. That is what the lawin every state says you must do.
* Beware of bearing right off the roadway into the shoulder or sidewalk, as bicyclists or pedestrians may be operating there.
* If possible, change your driving route. Use north-south streets until you find an east-west road with lots of trees or taller buildings.
Bicyclists can:
* Avoid riding in this situation when possible. Consider getting off your bike and walking (off of the roadway, if possible) for a short while to get past a dangerous stretch. (Remember that the danger happens only for a relatively short while and in certain specific situations.) * Use your situational awareness. Watch traffic carefully in this situation and be prepared to react. Be careful of traffic coming from behind if the sun is in your eyes, and of traffic turning into your path when the sun is at your back. * Remember that, because of glare from windshield glass, the motorist will be more blinded than you. In a situation where you have reasonable visibility the motorist may be having a much worse time. * Normally effective cycling instructors teach bicyclists to avoid hugging the curb--and with good reason. But one time to (with caution and care) stay as far to the right as possible is these relatively rare situations where motorists may come up behind you and not be able to see you--when coming over the crest of a hill or into the glare of the sun.
LIGHTS AND REFLECTORS — The number of bicycle-auto crashes rises dramatically between sunset and sunrise. Almost all such crashes can be prevented with proper bicycle lights and reflectors. You must have the following lights and reflectors when riding your bicycle from ½ hour after sunset until ½ hour before sunrise:
1. A WHITE LIGHT on the front of your bicycle or carried by you that other drivers can see from 500 feet.
2. A REAR RED REFLECTOR, at least two square inches, or a REAR RED LIGHT that drivers can see when reflected by their vehicles’ low beam headlights at 600 feet.
3. REFLECTIVE MATERIAL OR LIGHTS on the pedals, crank arms, shoes, or lower legs that drivers can see when reflected by their vehicles’ low beam headlights at 200 feet.
4. REFLECTIVE MATERIAL AND/OR LIGHTS ON EACH SIDE OF THE BICYCLE or bicyclist that drivers can see when reflected by their vehicles’ low beam headlights at 300 feet. . . .
But I can see just fine. I don't need lights, especially not a front light!
The primary purpose of a bicycle headlight is not so that you can see. It is so that OTHERS can see YOU.
If you are bicycling at night without lights, your eyes dark adapt. Then you can see quite well in dim conditions.
But the motorist is seeing with the aid of bright headlights at all times. The motorist's eyes are not dark-adapted.
The result is, you, the unlighted bicyclist, can see the motorist just fine.
Stop. Stop and yield to cross traffic before entering a road from a driveway or sidewalk. Stop at stop signs. Stop when you have the red at traffic signals. Motorists follow these rules because they make the streets safe and predictable for everyone--you should, too. Be predictable and visible. Good drivers don't weave all over the road--neither should you. Ride with traffic, never against it. Cycling against traffic is 5-20 times more dangerous than cycling with traffic. Use arm signals. If you communicate with motorists they will cooperate with you. Check traffic before merging or turning--just as car drivers do. Wear a helmet. Your helmet is a lot like your seat belt in your car--wear it all the time as "insurance," but then drive so safely that you never need that insurance. Lights on at dusk. Motorists try to avoid hitting a cyclist they can see, but an unlighted bicycle at night is nearly invisible to motorists.
Bicycling is a safe, fun, fast, healthy, and enjoyable way to get where you're going. If you "drive your bike" as experienced bicyclists do, it is no more dangerous than driving your car--and has a lot of benefits that driving your car doesn't have.
of the Ozarks, coming up September 16th, 2006, in Rolla, is one of the Missouri "Advocacy Rides"--rides that donate a small portion of their proceeds back to support bicycle advocacy in Missouri.
