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Who is this Bob Moore and what does he have to do with the Moonlight Madness ride.

I wrote this for Baltimore Brew but too late for the deadline:

Bob got reintroduced to the joys of bicycling by taking a class at AACC late in life. For him it was like discovering the fountain of youth and all the joys that life has to offer. For those of us who road with him you you could almost see a little boy emerge as he rode. After retiring he embarked on a cross country bike tour with not much more then a map and some camping supplies. For Bob life was a never ending adventure with something new and exciting around every corner. He considered everyone his freind, even the cars that honked at him, nothing could spoil the joy he experienced while cycling.

Bob clearly understood how to make the advocacy triangle work by connecting people, government and advocacy organizations together. I believe his most successful endeavor was the Gwynns Falls Trail, he was on the trail council and was influential in getting funding for the trail to be built, he lead regular rides on the trail through the BBC and helped start the first Tour dem Parks, Hon ride with Penny, all to promote the trail and cycling.

He brought the same energy to BYH and started the Moonlight Madness Rides to promote the Hostel and cycling in the City. There is not a spot in Maryland where you could drop Bob off and he could not find a bike route to the nearest scenic opportunity and the City was no different, from a bicycle there is something to see around every corner, something you are most likely to miss from the confines of a car. This is the spirit of Bob Moore, to live life with joy and not to miss the beauty it has to offer while making a freind or two or three along the way. And this is the spirit that lives on in the Moon Light Madness Ride.
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Design Conversation #23: (Bike) Parking

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Design Conversation #23: Parking

August 18, 2010 in Design Conversations by Fred Scharmen

Please join us for Design Conversation #23: Parking Wednesday evening, Sept 1st at the Windup Space.
Panelists for Design Conversation 23 include:
* Greg Hinchcliffe, Chair, Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Committee (giving a presentation on bike parking)
* Shannon Sanders McDonald, author of ‘The Parking Garage’
* Klaus Philipsen, AIA
Wednesday Sept. 1st […]

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Diabetes linked to obesity driving up hospital costs

Diabetes linked to obesity driving up hospital costs
By Arielle Levin Becker
People with diabetes make up less than 8 percent of the population, but they represented nearly 20 percent of U.S. hospitalizations in 2008, according to a new report by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
While the bulk of hospitalizations involving diabetics occurred for other conditions, the report noted that because diabetes increases the amount of time patients spend in the hospital, it increases the costs whether the patient is there because of diabetes or another condition.
The report says that the cost of caring for diabetics accounted for 23 percent of the money hospitals spent treating all conditions that year.
"The numbers, I think, tell the story," said Dr. Emmanuel Javier, medical director of the Diabetes Care Center at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford. "The problem is diabetes is just increasing in incidence here, and obviously we’re going to spend a lot more money on diabetes as a society."
An estimated 90 to 95 percent of diabetes cases are type 2 diabetes, a condition linked to obesity that can, in many cases, be delayed or prevented. It used to be known as adult-onset diabetes, but increasingly has been found in children and teenagers.
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But better managing the disease in patients who already have it could make a significant dent in complications, deaths and health care costs, the report said. A 10 percent drop in the number of diabetic patients failing to meet goals in three key indicators – blood pressure, HDL cholesterol and hemoglobin A1C – could lead to 48,000 fewer diabetes-related complications, 9,700 fewer deaths, and more than $39 billion in savings in 2031.
A 50 percent drop in uncontrolled diabetes, meanwhile, could produce 239,000 fewer complications, 48,700 fewer deaths, and save $196.5 billion.
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New Evidence Links Sprawl to Parking Minimums

from Streetsblog Capitol Hill by Angie Schmitt
New evidence connecting minimum parking requirements and sprawl is bolstering the argument for an overhaul of government policies related to much space we devote to the storage of cars.
A team of economists from the University of Munich recently released a study examining the effects of mandatory parking minimums on development in urban and suburban Los Angeles. The team found that parking minimums "significantly increase" the amount of land devoted to parking, to the detriment of water quality, pedestrian safety and non-automotive modes of transportation.
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ANNAPOLIS AREA Man hit, robbed

A 66-year-old Boxwood Court resident told police he was robbed on his way home from the grocery store on Sunday, police said.

The victim, who did not report the incident until Monday evening, said he was riding a bicycle home from Shopper’s Food Warehouse around 4:30 p.m. Sunday when two men came up from behind and struck him with a large piece of wood, knocking him off the bike.

The two stole the victim’s bike, $150 in cash and his groceries.

The victim did not report the crime until Monday, when he started to feel pain from the blow. The city Fire Department was called and took him to Anne Arundel Medical Center. He was released from the hospital Tuesday.
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Safety Reminder from Annapolis Police and County Schools

Monday August 23th Marks the Beginning of New School Year

Anne Arundel County Schools begin the new school year on Monday, August 23, 2010. Parents, students and drivers should take extra precautions during this period.

For Drivers
Maryland law requires drivers to stop for school buses when the driver uses the flashing red lights. Drivers may not be able to see everyone who got off of the bus so proceed slowly until you are clear of the bus and pedestrians. The law also requires drivers to yield (stop) for pedestrians who are in a crosswalk. Failure to obey these laws may result in a citation but may also lead to an injury which could have been prevented.

For Parents
If your child is riding to school in a bus or car please be sure to have him or her use a seatbelt. (see note below) If using a car, all children under 13 years of age should ride in the rear seat. If you must drive more children than can fit in the rear seat (when carpooling, for example), move the front-seat passenger’s seat as far back as possible and have the child ride in a booster seat if the seat belts do not fit properly without it.

If your child is riding a bike to school, your child should always wear a bicycle helmet, ride in the same direction as auto traffic, use appropriate hand signals and respect traffic lights and stop signs. Make sure to educate your child about the rules of the road and make them wear bright colors to increase visibility.

Finally, for those students who are walking to school, parents should walk the route to make sure your child’s walk is a safe route with well-trained adult crossing guards at every intersection. Parents should be realistic about your child’s pedestrian skills. Because small children are impulsive and less cautious around traffic, carefully consider whether or not your child is ready to walk to school without adult supervision. Children should wear bright colored clothing to make your child more visible to drivers. And finally, in neighborhoods with higher levels of traffic, consider starting a “walking school bus,” in which an adult accompanies a group of neighborhood children walking to school.

We can have a safe school year if we follow these simple rules.
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Back-to-School Equals Backed Up Traffic

[B’ Spokes: Remember half of all school children are driven to school by personal automobile so designing roads so kids can’t bike or walk to school and can only be driven isn’t work out so well for those of you who do drive. Maybe we should tax kids for road improvement "they" need. In the mean time have fun sitting in car centric traffic because there are too many cars on the road. ]
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* By: Kimberly Brown – ABC

Its bad enough Baltimore ranked #16 last year in the nation for worst congestion (up from #21 in 2006). However, as class will soon be in session, expect tens of thousands of additional cars on the roads, plus increased bicycle and pedestian traffic as well. Those factors could add as much as an extra 30 minutes to your commute. Here’s a few tips to make your back-to-school commute safer and easier:

– Try to leave for work before the height of rush hour. You might be waking up earlier, but it could equal less minutes sitting behind the wheel. Adjust your route to avoid schools and high congestion areas.

– Keep those speeds down through school zones! Nearly one million kids will be returning to classes in Maryland and some of them may not have the best traffic safety awareness. Remember that the speed limit is usually 25 miles per hour near schools and police are serious about enforcing it. Parents, make sure your child also knows the rules of the road.

– Pack your patience! Spending an extra 30 minutes (that’s one-way, mind you) on your daily ride, is no one’s idea of fun. We live in a highly populated region and some people travel long distances to get to work. To "rush" during rush-hour could be an oxymoron.

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Texas DOT (s/b) found Guilty of ‘Reckless rumble striping’

For me the whole issue of the Reed Bates case is the rumble strip. Rumble strips basically say "decide now and forever hold your peace about what side of the rumble strip you are going to ride on." Reed may have decided badly but that’s the whole problem, once you decide you are stuck with it. While I have never driven the road that Mr. Bates was arrested on but I can say that the presence of a rumble strip has caused me to abandon the shoulder I normally would have normally ridden on for the travel way even though 99% of the shoulder was rideable.
Rumble strips change the decision process to a lesser of two evils based on best guess on a wide verity of criteria over a long stretch of time and distance. No mater what option you decide, too often there will be a down side to that choice. Without the rumble strip you can react to conditions then present, with a rumble strip you have to guess about conditions down the road. So essentially Reed was convicted for having too few options over a long stretch of time and distance and a defective crystal ball that did not accurately foretell future conditions.
Rumble strips are so bad even LAB ( https://www.bikeleague.org ) has an alert out on their home page about them, and I quote:
"For example, has roadway safety been improved if cyclists are all but forced to ride in the travel lane of a high-speed rural roadway because the shoulder has been rendered useless by rumble strips?"
And here we have such a case yet Andy Clark calls this road with rumble strips a "perfectly rideable shoulder"
Unbelievable.
Please join with me in asking LAB to be consistent in supporting rumble strip free (or at least with gaps ) shoulders wherever cyclists are allowed. email: bikeleague@bikeleague.org

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Ben Sollee “Ditch the Van” Bike Tour

By bicycles and bike trailers, rising star pop/folk musician Ben Sollee will deliver his genre-bending cello and vocal act and community message from San Diego to hometown Kentucky. Two shows are booked at Biller’s Bikes SUN Stage in Havre de Grace, MD. The tour includes intimate club venues, as well as large halls and festivals, in MD, PA and Washington, DC.

See https://www.bensollee.com/tour.html for Ben Sollee Ditch the Van bike tour dates. See https://www.billersbikes.com/events.html for Havre de Grace ticket info.
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