AL & AC

It was at the bike rack in front of a Whole Foods in New Orleans in the early '90s when I met Alex Chilton. I was locking up and he unlocking his bike when we exchanged simple words and an introduction. He lived in the neighborhood and was "making groceries"- as they say there, which is an adaptation from the French "fais marcher." That was right around the time he was actively unraveling his myth with the release of "Clichés".

That's all. A sliver of a memory and now he's gone.

Kudos to local bike organization

Congrats to the Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota (BikeMN) for the $15,000 Recreational Equipment Inc./Bicycle Friendly Community (REI/BFC) grant they were awarded at the National Bike Summit in Washington D.C. last week. BikeMN's proposal stated that they "will help boost BFC-related program efforts in Minneapolis—currently a Silver BFC—and communities surrounding it, helping to make the Twin Cities Metro Area better for bicycling through complementary planning, infrastructure improvements, and promotion efforts." Heckuva job!

A cycle path of one's own

The promotion of bicycling has often focused on the commuter or the recreational rider or the safety of the young and occasional riders. Through all this advocacy, the disparity in inclination to ride based on gender is rarely noticed. On the other hand, Alan Hoffman, a transit consultant, identifies successful transit systems by the frequency of women riders. He considers women the indicator species on whether transit operators and designers have constructed and maintain a system that is safe and convenient.

A Fall 2009 Scientific American article sums up some of the challenges bike advocates face when they addresses issues of increasing bike ridership in the U.S. Some researchers believe a key element, as it is with transit systems, is making it comfortable, safe and convenient for women. An illuminating viewpoint in that article comes from John Pucher at Rutgers who states that when cities construct bike trails "...they are almost always along rivers and parks rather than along routes leading “to the supermarket, the school, the day care center...” (where presumably women would be more apt to use them.)

The appearance of cycle paths, such as in New York City, Portland, OR and Cambridge, MA, that provide physically separated bicycle ways on city streets, is a welcome shift that may make biking more attractive to women riders.

The velocity of place

As most places in the US are not built to support active lifestyles for all ages, communities that choose the benefits of active living must intentionally retrofit their infrastructure and implement the appropriate programs. Although a community's decision to promote active living is often in the political arena, it is only effective when it is a collaboration of many community actors and has strong backing in broad segments of the community and departments of government. It really does represent, I believe, a conscious community choice to launch into a new realm. It's as if a community is gaining velocity to jump to a higher collective energy level. This has obvious ramifications in community health and regional competitiveness.

Richard Florida writes: "The economy is different now. It no longer revolves around simply making and moving things. Instead, it depends on generating and transporting ideas. The places that thrive today are those with the highest velocity of ideas, the highest density of talented and creative people, the highest rate of metabolism. Velocity and density are not words that many people use when describing the suburbs. The economy is driven by key urban areas; a different geography is required."

It is clear that the different geography required is one in which we can actively participate in; spaces that makes us feel alive and allow us to creatively engage in moving, playing, thinking, socializing and many more "ing"s than I can post here. Each community that chooses to support active living suddenly jumps ahead of its peers in the civic sweepstakes to attract new residents, businesses, investment, etc. and reaches that higher level of metabolism.

I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride it now

By definition, a pop song is one that can be sung joyously while riding a bicycle.

The picture says it all

If you were trying to convince somebody to walk or bike more, and could speak in hyper-linked boxes, your conversation might look something like this.

Treadmill Fun

Warning: This is not safe for a giggle-free work place. We don't recommend trying this at home...

Inspired Bicycles

This video clip doesn't inspire me to ride my bike in a similar fashion. I'm simply slackjawed at Danny MacAskill's skills.

Your Cadillac ain't hipper than my bus stop

It is a truism that every transit trip begins and ends with a walking trip. The catchment area of a single transit stop is generally considered to be a 1/4 mile radius around the station, though light rail stations may attract riders up to a 1/2 mile distant, which is about a ten-minute walk. (That's on the origin- primarily residential- part of the trip. The destination- or employment- part of the trip usually involves less walking because of the density of employment centers that transit routes usually serve.) So daily transit riders are walkers.

That said, I'm excited about the bus rapid transit stop that is popping up about a mile from my house at the intersection of 46th St. and I-35W in South Minneapolis. It's a rather sleek affair, equipped with bike racks naturally.

Handmade Bike Show in Richmond VA

The North American Handmade Bike Show was last weekend and it brought exhibitors from all across the US. The bikes were beautiful and appear to have been a low-scale production high-artisan craft efforts. The bamboo bikes got my attention.

Coke adds Active Living

Yesterday, I was surprised to see a Coca Cola can emblazoned with "Active Living Sponsor". Immediately I was excited that anything with AL on it was receiving that much exposure. But I was also suspicious. Is the corporation simply promoting active lifestyles to promote some good will and forestall efforts by legislatures across the country from passing added taxes on sodas?

The Coke website mentions several initiatives they're involved in, but they don't mention amount of financial support beyond $2.5 million to U.S. national parks over 5 years, a paltry sum for a company that earns about $6 billion per year. I wish the company would contribute substantial sums if they were promoting themselves as sponsors. But it's just a reality that cash-starved AL programs are willing to accept any amount of assistance and Coke is filling a void. And it is a more productive response than alarmist rhetoric.

Dance Me to the End of Life

The arts can be an inspiring way to promote movement and improve the quality of life for aging individuals. Dance, especially, has benefits beyond the simple joy of moving. With changing demographics that indicate that in many areas the population of residents over the age of 65 will double in size, all forms of exercise will result in beneficial outcomes.

The Kairos Dance Theater shows us how it's done:

Dancing Heart - The Power to Nurture and Heal from Kairos Dance on Vimeo.