Look both ways

George,

Kid biking is largely non-existent due to the advent of ubiquitous competing interests, parental fears of motor traffic and crime, and mandatory helmet laws.

I did ghost write a grant on behalf of the CH Police Dept to NCDOT and won $2700 for the purchase of 17 bikes from the Clean Machine that were given to the schools for education purposes. They were used for classes when a friend teacher was a motivated instructor. I don't know of their disposition anymore. Nobody thanked me for that effort, not even the police who garnered positive press, so it is another example of unrequited love. I do think showing the 10 minute video Drive Your Bike on the humantransport.org would be simple and valuable.

If you come up with an example of how I've belittled someone I'll take your comment into consideration.

I've said alot about bike lanes covering many issues, so for you or anyone else to say you don't agree with me on bike lanes is not instructional. For example, do you not agree with me that they inherently collect debris?

http://www.humantransport.org/bicycledriving/library/Debris.pdf

and

http://www.humantransport.org/bicycledriving/library/carystripes/carystr...

Wayne

Wayne--

What makes you say kid biking has become almost non-existant?

Kid biking may have become non-existant at YOUR house--but it was my boys main mode of transport for years--their friends as well. In fact--my college kid still often chooses to bike when he's home.

And my guys always wear their helmets--and I NEVER had to nag. They have an uncle with permanent brain damage caused by a bicycle accident when he was 12 (back before bicycle helmets were readily available.)

melanie

Melanie,

It's great that your kids are biking, but as a population kid's biking is way down. Further, your kids may want/like to wear helmets but that is the rarity.

Regards,
Wayne

George C, Joan, and Marc,
You have expressed great enthusiasm (above) with the idea of my getting bike riding education in the public schools. To be perfectly honest, I am not at all optimistic that public schools, having eliminated PE and recess, will find bike riding education a priority (unless of course, standardized tests begin to include multiple choice questions on the subject... but I digress... (Don't get me started...)

I do know an independent school that offers a semester-long bike riding class to middle schoolers and I will connect the teacher with Wayne. That's about it for me and working towards teaching bike ed in the schools.

However, please do feel free to bring your children to the community bike riding education class that I am pulling together, referenced above (8:13 a.m. 2/25).

Safe cycling to all,
Laura

Talk about bad times for pedestrians... there's just been an incident right on campus, at the Pit. A person (allegedly a man) drove a car (reportedly a silver Jeep Cherokee) through the Pit around 11:30 or 11:45 am today. He hit several people and -- reportedly -- accelerated!

The area in front of Lenoir Hall is not partitioned off with yellow police tape and the police are out there talking to people. I don't know how many victims there were or how badly people were hurt. There's now a rumor running around that they already caught the guy.

This is freaky and scary. If I hear more news, I will post it.

WRAL has a link:
http://www.wral.com/news/7651436/detail.html

There was just a helicopter in the skies above campus. I wonder if it was the news folks.

It has been a really bad 6 weeks for campus.

The DTH was on the scene of the latest car-n-pedestrian incident and has this report.

I was riding my bike over to the Pit for a cup-of-joe when I stumbled on the incident. From the eyewitnesses I spoke with, a youngish looking guy - some said with short black hair - driving a silver Jeep slowly approached the Pit from the UL side of Lenoir. The Jeep turned left towards the crowded Pit (which is usually pretty active @ noon), the driver rev'd his engine and drove quickly in front of Lenoir.

Several folk manning two different tables in the Pit, told me that from the Jeep turning at the UL to driving out between Davis Library/Lenoir took between 10-20 seconds at most. The driver didn't honk his horn - just rev'd the engine and went.

Witnesses told me that 50 to 100 folk all went running right and left out of the Jeep's path. None of them saw a secondary injury caused by trampling, etc.

I rode up as several ambulances were pulling out.

There was a calm crowd gathered behind a taped off area in front of Lenoir. Students were either on their cells, most seeming to be telling others about the incident, or talking with each other. I didn't sense any panic - and folk I spoke with chalked the incident up to some (as one put it) "crazy" person.

According to the Pit witnesses and others I spoke with, between 7 and 10 folk were hurt. Officers on the scene told me 5 were sent to the hospital, with two more serious than the others. One young woman told me that she saw a female student stuck - get knocked heavily down to the bricks - who seemed to have a fairly serious cut on the head. The other more serious injury appeared to be an older guy ("about your age" - [I'm 44]) that appeared to be pulled along with the Jeep long enough to get a roadrash.

The campus and town police responded quickly and had the incident well-in-hand. While I was standing there, I heard that the perp was caught.

Crazy, crazy, crazy.

I'm sure we'll hear more from the real media.

Laura,
I acknowledge your concerns about high stakes testing. I fear it's only a matter of time before PE is included (science is now being added to the EOG's, currently in field testing). If the scope of the CHCCS nutrition (and physical activity) policy is any indication, brace yourself.

I'll keep an eye out for the bike education class you're organizing and look forward to a component for children. Please post when you have specifics.

Marc

Marc,
Thanks for expressing your interest in the bike ed class. It turns out that the minimum age student is 15 if a parent or legal guardian is present at all times, otherwise the minimum age is 18. I hope your kids fit in that range!

My email address below is "in code" to confuse gooogleese.

Here is the info so far for the course. I ran an ad similar to the one below in the Weaver Street Market newsletter, which will come out the first of April. I will also post the info in several other places and put up a few posters. I have secured the Carrboro Century Center for May 6 and 20. I am looking for a place nearby for May 13.

Minimum class size is 5 students; maximum is 10. Since the cost is dependent on the number of participants, I hope we will find 10 people to keep the course accessible to folks. Invite your friends!

Bike riding education course. Learn skills for maneuvering in-town road conditions-- wide and narrow lanes, 2, 3, 4 lanes, right and left turn lanes, road hazards. 9 hours alternates lecture with riding on the street. Course is offered by the League of American Bicyclists. Students will receive a course textbook. They should bring a bicycle, helmet, clothes to ride in, water bottle and pen/pencil to each class.

Time: Saturdays, May 6, 13, 20, from 9-12 noon in Carrboro. Contact laura at butter1234flites dot com (with no numbers) for cost, location, and registration/deposit information. Please note "bike ed" in the email subject line.

Laura

The dates and time for the bike riding education course posted above have changed to:

Monday, Wednesday and Friday, May 22, 24, and 26, from 4:45 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. It will still be held in Carrboro.

The following site has cost details. Look for "2006 session" near the end of the page.

http://brucewr.home.mindspring.com/ec/road1.html

You can also contact me at
laura at butter1234flites dot com (with no numbers)

We are hoping to fill the course with 10 participants. Please pass this course offering on to folks who may be interested. Thanks.

happy spring cycling!

Laura

Additional resource: This link from the bike ed instructor's website connects to an amazing array of Triangle specific practical tips on how to ride in traffic...

http://brucewr.home.mindspring.com/ec/links.html

Laura