Bike Walk Twin Cities, which is a federally-funded initiative through the Non-Motorized Transportation Pilot Program, is working within the community to reach out to underrepresented groups such as women, and in the coming weeks have a number of pretty awesome educational opportunities for women. There are several Biking with Traffic class opportunities for women, each 1.5 hours long and taught by women who are League of American Bicyclists Certified Instructors.

This event is free to TCBC members. If space permits, non-members may be able to attend as well. If you are either a TCBC member, or an interested non-member, course information is online at Eventbrite. Non-members can contact me for information and space availability.

I also do custom programs for other organizations, groups, events and ride marshalls, etc. etc. Contact me for info on that if you’re interested in such a program.

By Let Ideas Compete, via Creative Commons

The short summary of this: Many more people ride bikes than consider themselves cyclists. This makes a big difference when planning outreach, working on advocacy or community education, or otherwise trying to get attention on non-motorized transportation alternatives. It’s a good bit of what’s involved in the People For Bikes campaign.

To a certain extent, it’s this bikers vs. cyclists, for want of better terminology, that gets into some of the haters who post to online message boards whenever good (or bad) news involving bicycles gets posted on local media websites – as well as the bikes-are-toys-not-transport stuff that oozes into such commentary as well.

But it also reflects a divide among people who really should be united. While someone who rides to work for function may not consider themselves a cyclist, they benefit from the same policies and initiatives the spandex-clad weekend warriors or lifestyle cyclists who spurn cars and count their carbon footprint savings.

A lot of it does come down into the spandex-vs.-not crowd, and also the virulent hatred the haters have for the spandex crowd. The bikers, who do not consider themselves cyclists, look at the spandex and the hate, and the mass generalizations about stop signs and road ownership, and think: That isn’t me. I bike in loose pants, I use sidewalks when I can and like trails, I don’t go fast.

It’s something worth considering, although I don’t know that I would say to the spandex-clad superheroes that they need to relax. But it’s an interesting notion to think upon, and ask: How do you convince bikers that they are cyclists? How do you convince the people who give the community a bad name – the stop sign blowers, regardless of garments, the daredevils, the Critical Massholes – to reach out instead of alienate?

How do we all recognize we’re in this together?

• Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR)

• Governor Jack Markell (D-DE)
• Peter Rogoff, Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration
• Peter Birch and Shannon Guyman, Google

League of American Bicyclists Director Andy Clarke kicked off the proceedings bright and early at 8 AM, clearly freshly caffeinated and excited by having over 700 bicycle advocates and friends of the cycling movement in the house at the Ronald Reagan Building/ITC in Washington DC. He handed it over fairly quickly to Congressman Blumenauer. The Congressman stressed the great strides the bike/pedestrian movement has made in the last 10 years, but also stressed that the need for ongoing involvement and more involved people remains great.

A few highlights from the Congressman from Oregon:

• He presented the plans for bike lane striping on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC, linking the Capitol and White House.

• He touted the introduction of HR4722, the Active Community Transportation Act (or ACT Act!).
• Discussed HR4021, an extension of Safe Routes to Schools that expands funding to high schoolers.
• Discussed HR3271 Green Routes to Work, and stressed that part of building a bicycle- and transit-friendly America is providing citizens with choices as to how they travel to and from their everyday destinations.

A key message is that we aren’t anti-car, but that much of the funding and legislation has tilted the playing field in favor of the car – even though 30% of all car trips are less than 1 mile! Most people say they would bike or walk more if they felt it was safe or that facilities were available to make it possible (like sidewalks in subdivisions).

Governor Jack Markell of Delaware was next up. Among his campaign events was a bicycle ride across Delaware. He’s especially proud that DE went from 31st most friendly state for cyclists to 9th in only a year. One of the components of that was the passage of a Complete Streets bill to encourage developers, landowners, cities, counties and the state to work together to plan communities and roadways to accommodate all users.

He also discussed the teen labor that work in Delaware beach towns over the summer – many from Europe – and the unique safety issues they’ve presented, and how the state has addressed those issues with education.

He capped his part of the presentation with a top 10 list about riding in Delaware:

1. You can brag to friends about riding across the state in a morning.

2. Hills – they’re nice, but they block the view. No issues with that in Delaware!
3. It’s fun to drop the Governor on rides.
4. Scrapple.
5. Punkin Chunkin.
6. It’s easy to outpace chickens on the roadside.
7. All their transit buses have bicycle racks.
8. Politics end on bikes (although he says Republicans have nicer bikes).
9. You can ride through lots of spray irrigation systems on hot days.
10. On windy days, you can draft behind fancy Washington DC lawyers on Route 1.

Peter Rogoff, of the Federal Transit Administration, spoke next.

He talked about how policies and programs have to address the new reality. People want choices as to how they get around. Transit use boomed when gas went up to $4/gallon, and has stayed high even as prices have dropped. Many families have dealt with the recession by downsizing – getting rid of a car and going with only one, or no, car.

Cycling and transit, together, create a powerful combination for many families. They need to work together seamlessly and be a credible option.

Thanks to the Recovery Act, transit spending rose 84% in a single year. This has really helped given that many communities have had funding struggles for transit due to the recession’s impact on property tax revenues and other tax streams.

Administrator Rogoff stressed several things:

• The potential role of bicycles in the First Lady’s campaign against childhood obesity – if kids can ride, they won’t get fat.

• The need to continue investing even though revenues are tight – transit makes jobs reachable, transit creates jobs.
• Bicycles and multi-modal options need to be built-in.

The morning session ended with the Googlers presenting the new Google Maps for Bicycles options, covered separately.

But cycling safety goes beyond those issues. Taking care of YOURSELF is also core to cycling safety, especially on sweltering summer days like the one we’re having today here in Minnesota.

There are a number of considerations:

• Hydration. If you don’t hydrate, you can lose concentration. This can be dangerous. When it’s especially hot, you’re going to sweat more (more on that later), and thus you need to intake more. Plain old water is your friend, as are drinks with electrolytes. I personally like to take sport drink and mix it halvsies with water to make it less sweet, but still get sodium and potassium.
• Nutrition. I can’t tell you how many people trying to use cycling as weight control I’ve seen bonk because they’re trying to dodge taking in calories. You can balance the two and output more than you input, but your body needs glycogen to break into fat stores, which requires a bit of a quick-hit input. You also need, as mentioned, potassium and sodium. Water and low-calorie ‘sports drink’ alone may not be sufficient. When you bonk, this can be unsafe.<.li>
• Sunscreen. Look, skin cancer is no fun. I spent part of last weekend just wincing watching people ride by shirtless, and it was clear that the chest on display hadn’t seen sun in YEARS and if you held a piece of white printer paper up next to it, it’d blend. This just yells ‘ouch.’ Sunburn can raise your body temperature, and is skin damage. A generic sport sunscreen, reapplied regularly, is a fine thing.
• Moderation. Maybe the day with a 101 heat index isn’t a good day to do hill repeats. Moving your workout to dawn and dusk, outside the day’s heat and most direct sun, is a good start. Consider easier workouts, as hot weather can stress the heart, create air quality issues that stress the lungs, and stress your body’s ability to regulate temperature. Sweat is the body’s way of reducing temperature – you sweat, it evaporates on your skin, you cool. But if heat index is greater than standard body temperature, the evaporation step may be missing. Be aware of your body’s response to heat!

There are other considerations for heat, as well. Check your tire pressure, as temperature changes can impact the inflation of your tires. Beware of pavement tar strips intended to fix cracks, as they are treacherous when hot. Find a shady route. Or consider cross-training: A pool workout can build your upper-body core, all while being in delightful and refreshing water.

Being well is a first step to being safe. Never undervalue your own health in the safety equation!

Factors cited that create anger include running red lights, texting and e-mailing while driving, putting on makeup, eating, or talking on a cell phone.

One thing worth noting is that per the study methodology, the telephone surveys were performed between January and March 2009. This winter’s road conditions would have been enough to provike road rage in anyone. Still, it’s a fine reminder to cyclists that distracted drivers are a hazard to all around them, and cyclists need to be even more aware of them than even others in automobiles.

We have another fine example of this genre over at the Strib again. The comments, especially, contain a fine run of the usual: Get on the sidewalks, what of the nice trails we paid for so you would get out of our way, you only obey laws when you feel like it, roads are less safe than trails. More haters on parade, egged on by even reasonable comments from people who know their bicycle laws.

I’ve written about this all before – Toys, Letters & the Bullying Response being the most notable case. As Bob Mionske has said, even if every cyclist stopped at every stop sign (which is a good plan, mind you), you’d still get the misguided squawking about bicycles not belonging on roads.

As bicycle advocates, we’ve got miles and years to go before we reach full acceptance.

There are four sessions offered this summer, plus one women’s-only course. The Velo says a few spaces are still available for May’s classes!

Track racing is fun, teaches you handling, balance, and pedal form, and is a fun option for experienced road riders wanting to try something different.

The League of American Bicyclists ABC QuickCheck, as taught in Bike Ed courses, is a good checklist to execute each and every time you take the bike out for a ride.

Taking good care of your ride makes for a more pleasant bicycling experience for you and for anyone you might choose as a riding companion.