November 30/09 19:40 pm - Cycling (in the) News

Posted by Editoress on 11/30/09
 

'76 Olympic cyclist to carry torch in Falls
Olympic cyclist Gord Singleton has been named the Vancouver 2010 community torchbearer for Niagara Falls.
Read more at Welland Tribune


Of bikes and the city
Amsterdam is known as "The Bike City," but Toronto remains a long way from earning any such designation. The evidence for that is painfully apparent, from city hall to the city's streets.

City hall recently spent $10,000 on an in-house program that involved buying 10 high-end Dutch bicycles for environmentally conscious municipal workers to use during the day instead of a car. The program was launched in June, but the bikes have been used by city employees just 28 times since then. This from a city workforce large enough to represent Canada's sixth largest government.
Read more at Toronto Star


There are many ways to get your winter cycling fix
How do you deal with your bicycle during winter?
Denial works for some. The Niagara Freewheelers Bicycle Touring Club, which officially entered hibernation Nov. 1, has a gnarly nucleus of riders who stay in touch and ride all winter long -- studded tires, balaclavas, snowmobile mitts and all.
The hardy racers of the St. Catharines Cycling Club, boney knees knocking inside fleece-lined tights, can be seen on Niagara roads December to March, as long as there isn't ice. Their website lists a 1 p. m. New Year's Day ride Jan. 1.
Read more at The Standard


Squamish dominates Cycling BC Awards
From racing and coaching to volunteering, Cycling BC honoured all facets of Squamish mountain biking at its annual Awards Night at Vancouver’s Heritage Hall on Friday (Nov. 20).
Team Squamish members Miranda Miller, Mo Lawrence and Lauren Rosser received racing awards while Team BC downhill coach Dave Hord and co-ordinator Tamsin Miller were also recognized as 40 total awards were dished out.
Read more at Squamish Chief

I'm finally riding high
When I'm riding my bike, I feel like a superstar. Nothing exhilarates me like wheeling around town, my jacket billowing in a flash of golden Gore-Tex, puddle water streaking off my tires.
In these pedal-powered moments, I often feel amazed that I'm on a bike at all. Growing up in Vancouver, I always admired my city's legions of two-wheeling environmentalists and healthy lifestylers, but I assumed I could never do what they did.
Read more at The Globe and Mail


How to conquer bikephopia
A new study suggests women fear cycling in infrastrucutre-poor cities like Toronto. I'm trying to get over it
My bike is going to kill me. That was all I could think about as I rolled the thing out of my apartment and made those initial awkward pedal pushes in my first ride around downtown Toronto.
But gliding along Queen St., with no angry cars honking or getting too close to my wheels, I figured I might actually get home alive. If I could just remember the road rules.
Read more at The Toronto Star


Call for new bike lane penalties
Bicycling in Toronto is a dangerous endeavour, the Toronto Police board was told yesterday. And riders want the cops to help make it safer.
Read more at Toronto Sun


Tour of Missouri Race Planned for 2010 Despite Uncertainties About Financing
Organizers of the annual Tour of Missouri professional bicycle race have asked for applications from cities that would like to be on next year’s race route -- even though there are some questions that there will be a race next year for the route.
Read more at KC Tribune


Cooke's tour helps champion prepare
HAD Alberto Contador or Lance Armstrong slipped into Geelong this week to scope out the course for next year's road world championships, there would have been fanfare and plenty of it. It says much about the gender imbalance in professional cycling, and sport generally, that when Nicole Cooke hit the Victorian roads there was not even a hint of hype.
Read more at WA Today


A winter bicycling primer
Is winter time in Wisconsin time to put away the bicycle? Not necessarily. “So many of us in Wisconsin feel such cabin fever during these long winter months,” says Amanda White with the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin. “If you bike to work or go for a quick bike in the evenings, it’s a great way to get a little fresh air and a little exercise.” Exercise that can help us during a time of year when it’s common to pack on a few extra pounds.
Read more at WRN


The long and grinding road
Sean Kelly reached the top of world cycling with grit, determination and plenty of talent . Now he's helping Ireland's next generation of bike racers on the tough route to the top
Read more at The Independent


Excess exercise after 45 leads to arthritis
Too much exercise can cause arthritis in middle-aged people, according to a new study.

The research led by University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) has shown that middle-aged men and women who engage in high levels of physical activity may be unknowingly causing damage to their knees.

The study involving 236 asymptomatic participants, aged 45 to 55 has shown that running and jumping are bad for people in middle age, while swimming and cycling are much better as they do not put so much pressure on bones and joints.
Read more at ZeeNews.com


Beware, iPod zombie cyclists are on the rise
WATCH out for the iPod zombies. Cyclists distracted by music blaring in their ears have become the latest menace on roads.

The fashion for cyclists to wear earphones on crowded city streets is being held partly responsible for the recent upsurge in cycling injuries and deaths, as well as collisions with pedestrians.
Read more at Times


Drunk cyclist gets 15 year cycling ban… it applies to skateboards too
A German student who was breathalyzed at over three time the German limit for alcohol has been banned from using a bicycle, skateboard or any other licence-free vehicle on the public roads, for 15 years.
Read more at Road


Better Bikeways: Getting Rolling with Improved Signage
Better Bikeways miniseries, Los Angeles designer Joseph Prichard explains how signage can help cyclists.
That Los Angeles is a car town is an idea few Angelenos would dispute; for many, the act of driving defines the city. As the British architecture critic Reyner Banham once said “I learned to drive in order to read Los Angeles in the original.” While such a comment is not without warrant, a strictly auto-centric understanding of L.A. leaves out a lot.
Read more at GOOD blogs

A modest proposal for bike/car coexistence
LAST MONDAY'S column - suggesting a long list of bicycle-compliance rules - jammed a stick into a bee hive. Bikers furiously buzzed around looking for my flesh, while the bike-abused public cheered me on.

Bikers filled the air with flak about bad drivers, even bad pedestrians. True, but irrelevant. Someone else's bad behavior doesn't justify your own.
Read more at Philly.com