| In our view: Common sense is the best reason to applaud helmet law
If you have wheels under you, better have a helmet over you. That’s the message from the Vancouver City Council, which on Monday passed a law requiring helmets on riders of bicycles, skateboards, roller skates, roller blades, scooters and unicycles on public streets, sidewalks and trails. The helmet law is the first in Clark County but is similar to regulations in Seattle, Spokane and Tacoma. We hope Clark County commissioners and other cities in the county follow suit. Both supporters and opponents of the helmet law are able to debate this topic ad infinitum, and anecdotal references often cloud their arguments, but our preference is to rely on basic common sense. It just stands to reason that riders of these wheeled implements should be required to wear helmets in public places for reasons of public safety.
Cyclists get back to basics: Fixed-gear bicycle riders take simplicity ...
Some ride them to train, some ride them for the thrill and some ride them just for the bragging rights, but whatever the reason, many local cyclists are ditching their derailleurs to ride fixed-gear bicycles. Fixed-gear bikes, or "fixies," are as basic as a bike gets -- a frame, two wheels, one gear and often times, no brakes. The defining feature of a fixie is its lack of a freewheel, the mechanism that allows the rider of a normal bike to stop pedaling and coast. On a fixed-gear, there is no such thing as coasting. The chain of a fixed-gear directly connects the pedals to the back wheel. So if the wheel is moving, so are the pedals. And for fixed-gear riders, this is both the allure and the advantage. "It's a different style of riding," said Winston Sauber, a Humboldt State University student who rides a fixed-gear to and from classes every day.
STATEHOUSE: Rep. Jones pushes Internet safety policies for public ...
BOSTON — You can lock the doors and windows, hold their hand at the mall and buy training wheels for bicycles. But a major danger facing kids today is right above the keyboard. "The Internet is one of the biggest risks we have for kids safety right now," said Lawrence Lt. Sean Burke, who is president of a national school safety group. And, a North of Boston lawmaker wants to make sure the time kids spend on school computers is safer. Rep. Bradley H. Jones Jr., R-North Reading, is pushing legislation to require every school district to have a policy for making the Internet safe for minors and make the policy known to parents and legal guardians. "It's important that any parent be able to know what (the school system's) policy is, and even if there is no policy in particular," Jones said.
Before RAGBRAI there was the Fort Madison Cycling Club
Dun Auge is a serious bicyclist. He participates in most of the organized rides anywhere within 25 or 30 miles of Fort Madison and in between he can usually be seen pedaling around town solo or with friends.Recently Don loaded his bicycle in the back of his pickup truck and traveled to central Missouri to tour a good part of the Katy Trail State Park, one of the premier bicycling spots in the country. This park is only a few dozen feet wide, but follows the abandoned right-of-way of M-K-T railroad for 225 miles across scenic Missouri.Don did not realize it, but going to Missouri to bicycle he was following a program first established here back in the late 19th century by the 100 members or so of the old Fort Madison Cycling Club.Anyone who owned a "wheel" - as bicycles were called in those days - was considered a person of distinction, for at that time even an ordinary bicycle like the Crescent cost a whopping $45.
The changing cycle
India may be the second largest producer of bicycles in the world but precious little has been done to promote the cause of cycling in the country. Shveta Pathak reports that the cycle industry is today churning out beauties that could easily make a style statement but the road ahead is rough for the two-wheeled bikes. And, the status-conscious still refuse to adopt them as a mode of transport. DO you remember the tinkle of the bell as daakiya Rajesh Khanna delivers the post in the song Daakiya daak laya? Or, the very urbane Aamir Khan making your breath stop for a while as he competes for the famous race in Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander? If you do, you mustnt have forgotten the spirit lent to these moments by the good old bicycle. India is the largest cycle manufacturer in the world after China.
A Personal Rememberance by John Allen, League Board Member
In 1972, I was halfway home with a flat tire and walked into a bike shop that was just closing. Sheldon stayed late to fix it. That's how I first met him. There were 46 bicycles in or around his house "with a few shared wheels", by his recent count, mostly in his basement. He didn't buy bicycles off the shelf -- as a challenge to his mechanical ingenuity, and a way to spend less money and spend more time doing what he liked to do, he cobbled up customized bicycles from parts he acquired mostly through special deals, barter or secondhand, to suit himself or someone in his family. He often came up with a something unique, clever and useful. You may read about his bicycles on his Web site. He had an eye for style, but also, one or two rusty clunkers hung out by the back door getting rustier, for the quick ride to the convenience store, and several old hulks of bikes lived under the front porch.
City's two-wheel transformation
London is likely to become one of the most cycle-friendly places in the world, with a series of two-wheeler superhighways cutting a swath through traffic and congestion. Plans for the super-cycleways will be unveiled next week as part of an initiative to stimulate a 400% increase in the number of people pedalling round the capital by 2025. At a cost of £400m, the 12 routes are intended to be the motorways of cycling and are likely to be emulated by other cities across the UK. Londoners without bikes will be able to use one of the city's free bicycles. "We want nothing short of a cycling transformation in London," said the mayor, Ken Livingstone. "We are announcing the biggest investment in cycling in London's history, which will mean that thousands more Londoners can cycle in confidence, on routes that take them quickly and safely to where they want to go." The cycle scheme is one of several environmental announcements expected in the capital over the coming weeks, including a decision on plans for a £25-a-day congestion charge on the highest-polluting vehicles and a proposal to re-fit 900 civic buildings across the capital to make them more energy-efficient.
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