St. Louis cyclists to ride 770 miles through 7 countries in 7 days
Friday, March 30, 2007
The Tour de France starts this year in London on the 7th day of the 7th month of the 7th year (07/07/07). To mark this event three riders from St Louis will ride 770 miles through 7 countries in 7 days visiting 7 cities which have previously hosted the Grand Depart, to arrive in London for the Prologue on 07/07/07. Not surprisingly we are calling this the allsevens Tour.
This event is being organized in coordination with World Bicycle Relief (operated out of SRAM in Chicago) to raise funds to supply bicycles to heath workers in Zambia.
In 1997 Eric Baxter bicycled from Florida to Alaska. Here is the story of the last leg:
It was September - the sixth month of a Florida to Alaska bicycle trip I had planned to complete in four-months. I had misjudged the time it would take and was now in a race against the approaching winter. If not for a little known at the time weather phenominon called El Nino this final Dalton Highway stretch of my trip would not even have been possible.
The Dalton Highway was the last stretch of a very long journey. After having ridden a bicycle some 6700 miles across the North American continent another 414 miles should be a piece of cake - right? Well, actually I knew better - and as I prepared to make that final trek from Fairbanks I anxiously anticipated what the infamous Dalton Highway would be like. . .
And what a long hard road it would be. It's a stark contrast to any road I've ever been on in my life. It was not so much a road as it was a humongous trail of dirt, mud, and rocks. And not just little rocks either - there was a good deal of softball size stones and, unbelievably, some even larger. If anything, the Dalton highway is a slave to the terrain - the natural lay of the land. Not much altering was done to the surface it was not graded near as thoroughly as a regular highway would have been and consequently has some pretty steep spots with 12% grades and crazy twists and turns at spots. Often the road seemed to go straight up and straight down. And it seemed to go straight up and straight down while at the same time going what seemed like 180 degree turns - around mountains, around hills.
Ten years ago, Ralph Pfremmer was a different man. He worked long hours, drank with his buddies, smoked cigarettes and wouldn't dream of getting off the couch to exercise.
Today, Pfremmer is 40 pounds lighter and a competitive cyclist. He doesn't smoke, rarely drinks and actually gets to bed at a decent hour.
The transformation led not only to a healthier, happier father and husband, but a more successful, confident businessman as well.
"I think that people who used to know me would be surprised to see me now," he says. "I'm such a completely different person."
From the movie Quicksilver: permanent link to article: "Bike Dancing"
posted by Brent Hugh at
3/26/2007 04:09:00 PM |comment on this article
Missouri bicycle lawyers
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Have you had a collision, crash, injury, or incident relating to your bicycle and need legal advice and help?
These lawyers have indicated an interest in working with bicyclists in this situation.
R. Denise Henning The Henning Law Firm, P.C. 1044 Main, Suite 500 Kansas City, MO 64105 phone (816) 221-8442 fax (816)221-8449 denise[at]henninglawpc.com http://www.henninglawpc.com/
Michael B. Katz Suite 502 222 South Central St Louis, MO 63105-3509 Map & Directions Phone: (314) 726-0777 Fax: (314) 726-0032 Email: katz[AT]molawyers.com
Frank F. Sallee Sallee Law Firm
KC Office: 4739 Belleview, Ste 304 Kansas City, MO 64112-1364 816 753-1500 FAX 753-1686
Camdenton Office: 573-346-7430
Email: fsallee[AT]salleelawfirm.com
The following out-of-state attorneys advertise themselves as specializing in or being interested in bicycle matters:
You may also benefit from discussing your issues on an online forum like The Attorneys Forum (specifically, see their Accident and Injuries Discussion Forum). (However, do be careful about revealing any specifics of your case that might be used against you later.)
Notes: This listing is not an endorsement or recommendation of these lawyers, but simply a listing of attorneys who have expressed an interest in bicycle-related matters.
You may wish to have initial consultations with several lawyers, perhaps simply by phone or email, before finding the one that is the best fit for your particular situation.
If there is not a lawyer in your immediate area, it may be possible to arrange a consultation arrangement between your local lawyer and one of the bicycle lawyers.
If you are a lawyer in the greater Missouri area and would like to be listed here, please email webmaster[at]mobikefed.org.
Just 15 minutes a day of kicking around a ball or swimming might be enough to keep children from becoming obese, British and U.S. researchers said on Monday.
A study of 5,500 children who agreed to wear a motion sensor device showed that those who exercised more were less likely to be obese -- and that short bursts of intense activity seemed to be the most helpful.
Children who did 15 minutes a day of moderate exercise -- equivalent to a brisk walk -- were 50 percent less likely than inactive children to be obese, the researchers reported in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS Medicine.
"Our data suggest that higher intensity physical activity may be more important than total activity," Andy Ness of the University of Bristol and colleagues wrote. . . .
The less the children exercised, the more likely they were to be obese, the study found.
"These associations suggest even a modest increase of 15 minutes moderate and vigorous physical activity might result in an important reduction in the prevalence of overweight and obesity," the researchers wrote.
The idea for a courier service on bikes had been in the back of Beckham’s mind two years before the annual MU New Venture idea competition, but he said he never thought he would actually go through with it.
“I never saw myself as an entrepreneur,” he said, “but the opinions of the judges at the competition convinced me this was a doable thing.” . . .
The men see their business as a benefit to clients because it’s both time- and cost-effective.
“It saves businesses time because they don’t have to waste it by going out and mailing things themselves, and money because our service is much cheaper than other courier services,” Tinsley said. . . .
The business has seen a “snowball effect,” as Tinsley puts it, as more and more people get acquainted with it.
We don't own a car, so we walk everywhere, including to and from work. We use the bus or ferry if we want to go farther afield. This has had a profound effect on how we interact with people. We realize now that the cocoons of our cars kept us well insulated from the people around us. Our genuine interactions were with family and coworkers, the only people who saw us stripped of the metal that clothed and protected us. Our neighbors, we discovered, were virtually strangers.
Sabra_condo Now, we stand face-to-face with people in our building’s elevators, at our corner hangouts, and on the sidewalks. We chitchat and pet our neighbors’ dogs. We exchange “good mornings” with the people we pass everyday on our way to work. We’ve developed friendships with several proprietors and servers at our favorite restaurants.
A restaurateur recently called out to us and said, “We’ve missed you.” Our neighborhood grocer loves to talk to us, because he finds our change in lifestyle quite intriguing. “What do you think? Are you still happy with your decision?” Our local video store proprietor has very decided ideas about what we should and shouldn’t rent -– he’ll actually pull DVD’s from under the counter and say, “Here -– I was saving these for you.” Instead of feeling anonymous in the big city, we’ve grown to feel welcomed and wanted, and we’ve become friendlier, too. We’ve discovered that most people, whatever their walk of life, are pretty darn nice.
The nation's schools, under fire for unhealthy school lunches, well-stocked vending machines and phys ed cuts, may actually do a better job than parents in keeping children fit and trim. A study found that 5- and 6-year-olds gained more weight over the summer than during the school year, casting doubt on the assumption that kids are more active during summer vacation.
The findings don't reveal what's behind the out-of-school weight gain, but the researchers speculate it's because the summer months lack the structure of the school year with all its activities and daily comings and goings. . . .
Overall, she said the findings point to the need for parents to become actively involved in encouraging their kids to develop healthy habits even as the push continues for schools to focus more on those same goals. . . .
Chockley said parents need to make time for regular family bike rides, walks, hikes or other types of exercise during the summer and beyond to help their kids develop good habits.
you had a collision, crash, injury, or incident relating to your bicycle and need legal advice and help?
