15 October - Ride to Work Day

Traffic Speed problem

Phil from the Hills writes:

It is difficult to understand the assertion of the RAC that the majority of roads in WA have speed limits that are suitable when in most cases motor vehicles travel at speeds greater than the posted limit. It is difficult to make a judgement on the effectiveness of current speed limits when so many motorists take little notice of the posted limit, but appear to drive at a speed that they feel comfortable with, irrespective of the posted limit.

In my home area, speeds of around 70kph are common, even though the posted limit is 50kph for most of the roads in the area. If you travel on the highway at the speed limit of 80kph, then you are one of the slowest vehicles on the road.

It is not only speed that is a problem, frequently motorists will drive through a stop sign if they cannot see a possibility of an accident with another motor vehicle. With the frequent situation where the motorist is making a left hand turn and looking to the right, the possibility of hitting a pedestrian crossing the road to the left is high.

Failure to indicate a change of direction in time, if at all, frequently puts pedestrians in a position where they are walking along a road near an intersection and without warning a motor vehicle will turn towards them. In my local area there is no alternative to the right shoulder, footpaths are almost nonexistent.

I am not certain that the limits currently in use for most of our roads are a problem, just the lack of adherence to those limits.

Lance to race in Oz

News reports says that Lance Armstrong has not only thrilled Tour Down Under organisers by confirming he will make his professional comeback in the week-long race, the legend also made it clear yesterday that he would be out to win.

Golden Spokes Bike event 26 October

Join in the Golden Spokes – a cycling event with a difference Have a fun day out! Relax in the beautiful surroundings of Champion Lakes. Bring your family and friends. Take up the challenge of the Open Race or join in one of the Charity Rides planned for the day and help us make a difference.

The Golden Spokes is a charity event organised in conjunction with Cycling WA by Citizen Advocacy South Metropolitan, a charitable community organisation helping people with a disability.

For the first time in WA, the Open Race component of a Charity Ride Event has been sanctioned by the state's governing body Cycling WA as part of the State Road Racing Titles.

The Golden Spokes is aimed to be both a genuine sporting event and a fun day for all, designed to promote a healthy lifestyle, family participation and community involvement.

More Lance

According to the NYT, Don Catlin, a leading antidoping scientist, has reportedly been appointed to head Armstrong’s personal antidoping program. Catlin, the former head of the U.C.L.A. Olympic Analytical Laboratory, is the chief science officer of Anti-Doping Sciences Institute, a testing and consulting company, and also leads an antidoping research organization.
Armstrong has also made major moves toward forming a cycling team for riders under 23, including Taylor Phinney — who has been hailed as the next Lance Armstrong.
The partnership of Catlin and Armstrong, 37, would bring together one of the world’s foremost antidoping experts with an athlete who, despite his accomplishments both on and off the bike, has been dogged by doping suspicions.
The nuances of Armstrong’s antidoping program, which Catlin said would be much more aggressive than any other internal testing programs in cycling, have not yet been determined. He said the program would be focused on gathering and monitoring biological information of Armstrong, who has agreed to be tested at any time. That information will be posted on the Internet and available for public scrutiny. Any variation in those biological markers may indicate doping.
Axel Merckx, son of the five-time Tour de France winner Eddy Merckx, will be the director of the under-23 team, sponsored by the bike company Trek.

Lance can still dance

We don't usually report race results because others do it so much better, but Team Livestrong, which included Lance Armstrong, won the Snowmass 12 hour MTB race, turning a small event into a media spectacle. See the video of an interview with Lance at Snowmass here.

Update on San Francisco story

On 23 August we ran a story about a court case in SF which could see the city go backwards in terms of bikeability, because an argument was made that cyclists increase pollution - which attracted much media attention.

BAY writes:
Apparently the bicycle friendly San Francisco that has many bike lanes across the city has one the best air quality in the country.
and suggests we look at the city commuting data, you will notice how similar it is to the air quality charts.

BAY concludes: Basically when people take the bus or the bike the cities have better air. But I guess facts are secondary in a populistic court case.

Thanks BAY, for the comments and the links to the interesting sites - we should have similar data kept here.
Please keep the contributions coming

Athletes’ Asthma Tied to Sweat Levels

People who suffer from a form of asthma caused by exercise appear to produce less sweat, saliva and tears than people without the problem, according to a report in the latest edition of Chest.

The findings may shed light on a condition known as exercise-induced asthma, which occurs in some people when they exert themselves in cold air.

The researchers, led by Dr Warren Lockette of the Naval Medical Center in San Diego, noted that the low levels of moisture found in cold air appeared to play a role in exercise-induced asthma. As the airways dry out, they become inflamed. Lockette said the condition was fairly common among top athletes.

He said that the same body mechanism that leads people to produce less sweat and other fluids leads to their having drier airways.

Peds in helmets?

Question: I can see that the statistics show that pedestrians are at risk from head injury. I can also see that the Danish Traffic Safety Board and Danish Cyclists' Union are currently attempting to promote bike helmets. Does the Danish Pedestrians' Union have plans for promoting helmets for pedestrians so we can reduce the number of injuries in traffic? Pedestrians are at a higher risk than cyclists. Wouldn't it be a good idea?

Answer: Hi, Mikael. No, we haven't considered promoting helmets for pedestrians on the street. There are several reasons [choose freely];

1) We haven't even thought about it.

2) People who are injured in solo-accidents usually get injured in their home instead of the traffic. So people should probably wear helmets in the shower, instead.

3) Our primary goal is to get all the different players in traffic to obey the traffic laws so that traffic accidents become, in theory, impossible.

4) It ruins your hairdo.

5) You can't pull your rain hood over the helmet.

6) We risk changing peoples' attitudes and making it look like it isn't that dangerous to hit pedestrians - "But they have helmets on!"

In the big picture you shouldn't expect us to inconvenience pedestrians with this kind of promotion in order to 'save' them from the stupid mistakes made by drivers/riders of vehicles in traffic.

Actually, I think that motorists would stop hitting pedestrians immediately if it became widely known that pedestrians will explode with a large BANG and scratch the paint job on the car.

Best regards,

Dansk Fodgænger Forbund - www.fodtrafik.dk
Mikael le Dous

Nice to see that he is A. rather well informed about helmets and B. able to see the irony. As Wifealiciousness said, "Now there's a man you would enjoy having a beer with."

Indeed.

This is a great site http://www.copenhagenize.com/ check it out

Palin for President

Click here to see why.

Elle slagged for cycling

Thanks to Jim Krynen for this article from the Guardian.
Simon Jenkins writes: The model Elle Macpherson was this week pilloried by the tabloids for bicycling in a London street without a helmet and with her (helmeted) son on her handlebars. "Elle on wheels," cried the Mail. "What the Elle are you doing?" screamed the Mirror with an editorial titled "Elle to pay". Even the Times demanded a response to her behaviour from the gods of health and safety. The answer from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents was a predictable howl: "Illegal and dangerous!"

The truth is the opposite. Macpherson was probably the safest cyclist in London that day. Like the mayor, Boris Johnson, she is signed up (I guess by instinct) to the Wilde-Adams theory of compensatory risk assessment. By not wearing a helmet, she lowers her risk threshold and thus rides more carefully. She commendably cycles rather than drives a car and protects her child, who cannot manage his own risk. The society should give her a medal, not insult her. The press were idiots.

In his analysis of over-regulation of our lives, Jenkins discusses one of our favourite theories, the thesis that stripping people of responsibility for safety makes them take more risks, not fewer. He writes that the world's most celebrated cycling country, the Netherlands, has just 1% helmet use and has the safest cycling record anywhere. It has one third the cycling death rate of Western Australia, which has the most draconian law.

Free Breakfast!

Ride to Work Day October 15th - at last it can be revealed that thanks to local sponsorship from Caffissimo and the Perth Transit Authority, there will be a FREE light breakfast in Perth for all participants. On the day you will be able to collect breakfast from one of FIVE Caffissimo locations

• Australia Place, corner William Street & St George’s Terrace,
• International House, 26 St Georges Terrace, corner of Irwin Street & St George’s Terrace
• 256 St George’s Terrace, just down from the Barracks Arch
• ABC Studios, Royal Street, East Perth
• 595 Beaufort Street, Mount Lawley

The breakfast is a takeaway coffee of your choice, a free bakery product from Bakers Delight and a muesli bar. Some sites will also have fruit and juices. A coffee is guaranteed, but subject to rider numbers, food may run out for late arrivals.

What do you have to do?

First register your ride at http://www.ride2work.com.au/ , then call in and collect a breakfast voucher from reputable bike shops or any Caffissimo location (these should be available by the weekend) You can also print out the voucher from this site and fill in your name and email. On the day just hand it in as you collect your breakfast from one of the five Caffissimo sites.

Swantson Street an accident that has happened

Following the fatal crash between a bus and cyclist in Swanston Street Melbourne last week (see post below) Associate Professor Nicholas Low, director of the Australasian Centre for Governance and Management of Urban Transport at the University of Melbourne, writes an outline of what needs to be done.

Low says: "Crashes such as the one in which a cyclist died are not accidents. They are symptoms of planning failure".

Will Self's hymn to the Brompton

"It was love at first sight – the first time I saw a Brompton folding bicycle, I fell in love with it. All right, perhaps this is an exaggeration on all fronts: it wasn't the first time I'd seen one, but the first time I'd really noticed it – or her. And it was not so much love – an emotion, I concede, that unless you're seriously perverted, only truly exists between sentient beings – as a kind of lusty covetousness; but, you can take it from me, it was a very strong feeling, and one that has only increased over the years I've either had a Brompton between my thighs, or hefted one in my arms..."

To read the rest of this wonderful article, click here.

Txt more dangerous than drink

Sending a text message on a mobile phone while driving is more dangerous than being drunk or under the influence of drugs, new research has revealed.

A UK study of young drivers aged between 17 and 24 found their chances of being involved in a crash increased significantly if they were writing, reading or even ignoring text messages while behind the wheel.

Texting had the biggest impact on their ability to keep a vehicle in a lane, with their steering skills judged to be 91 per cent worse compared to 35 per cent if they had smoked cannabis.

Their reaction times also slowed by 35 per cent, a much steeper decline than drivers who had reached the legal drink driving limit (12 per cent) or smoked cannabis (21 per cent).

The study, commissioned by UK motoring organisation the Royal Automobile Club Foundation, has sparked calls for new campaigns warning young drivers about the dangers of texting.
Check out the original report of this study at the RAC Foundation or read the story at news.com.au

Love Earth Gathering

I kid you not, the hippies are back.

Where? Esplanade Reserve Perth (near the Convention Centre) on Sat 4 Oct 2008 10am - 4pm

Bring the whole family - for the children there will be face painting (sigh), colouring-in, balloon animals – presumably with eco friendly balloons.
Food and beverages will be available, and you are welcome to bring a picnic.
Speakers will discuss climate change, alternative living, permaculture, and self-sufficiency. Stands and marquees will promote sustainable and healthy living, inspiring artists and musicians will entertain you.

Individuals can make a difference. Learn how. For more info click here or here.

Safe Routes to School

In September, the US Safe Routes to School National Partnership released two interesting reports, prepared for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The first report, Safe Routes to School: Increases Physical Activity and Improves Health, indicates how Safe Routes to School is being institutionalized at select schools, and providing a mechanism to improve student and school health. Four case studies showcase local communities that have successfully incorporated SRTS as a way to improve public health, and have institutionalized SRTS at select schools. Click here to view the report.

The second report is called Safe Routes to School: State Networks Create Policy Change. The project creates state networks that bring together advocacy groups, government agencies, and other leaders to ensure that the SRTS federal program succeeds and to leverage additional resources, remove barriers to walking and bicycling to schools, and to create an institutional framework for generating long-term policy changes that will make it safer and easier for children to walk and bicycle to and from schools. Click here to view the full report and to learn more about how state networks can create policy change.

If you would like a high resolution copy of either report, please contact Brooke Driesse.

Bus kills cyclist in Melbourne CBD

A tourist bus apparently struck and killed a female cyclist in Melbourne this morning. The woman was aged in her 30s, a police spokeswoman said. Paramedics could not revive the woman who died at the scene on the busy Bourke and Swanston streets intersection after the accident occurred about 8am (AEST) Thursday.

Great Escapade 2009

Date: 28 March – 5 April 2009
Distance: 537km

The ride is a fully catered, tent based holiday. There is extensive back up including luggage transport, a licensed cafe under canvas, massage, full medical team, and bicycle repair facilities. You can join the Ride for a 2 days on the Busselton Breakaway Ride.

Pricing
Adult: $995
Youth 17 & under: $750
Child 12 & under: $ 395Infant 5 & under: Free

To find out more, click here.

Great Bike Ride

The Great Bike Ride Presented by the City of Perth is here again and it's time to start putting your team together for another fantastic day out on Sunday 23rd November.

Since this event is really all about riders getting their friends, colleagues and families to raise money (and enjoying a great ride around the river of course) we thought we would give something back to you for all your hard fundraising efforts!!

All you need to do is reach the minimum fundraising target for the category in which you register (individual, team, corporate team or family). Once you reach your allocated target your registration fee will be waived and you will ride for FREE - how easy is that??!

We have made some very exciting changes to The Great Bike Ride Presented by the City of Perth for 2008 so visit our website for more information www.greatbikeride.com.au.

Registrations will open next week.

Fundraise for the three Charities

The Great Bike Ride Presented by the City of Perth is hosted by Rotary Club of Perth and raises vital funds for three charities so that they can make a difference in the lives of those less fortunate than ourselves. The event beneficiaries are: St John of God Foundation Horizon House Project, Heart Foundation and Hope for Children and without their important work there would be many more people of all ages suffering from illness, grief, trauma, pain, helplessness and anguish in the world.

YOU can also make a difference in the lives of people helped by these charities by asking your friends, family and colleagues to sponsor you in the Great Bike Ride Presented by the City of Perth.