Charm City Approaching Capacity At Historic Park
Celebrate the 150th anniversary of Baltimore’s Druid Hill Park at Charm City.
Baltimore’s Druid Hill Park, site of this weekend’s Champion System MAC doubleheader, is celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2010 and Charm City Cycling (also known as “C3”), the organizers of this weekend’s Charm City Cyclocross, are hoping they can celebrate with 10 racers for every year of the park’s existence. What is certain already is that riders from around the world will be contesting the UCI Elite Races.
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Register your bike(s) – Annapolis
The Annapolis Police Department has announced a new bicycle registration program. When an owner registers a bike, the owner’s name, address, phone number, bike’s serial number, manufacturer and color are recorded in the Police Department’s database. Any resident of Annapolis can register his bike(s). To schedule an appointment, call Cpl. Craig Medley at 410-268-9000, ext. 7225, or e-mail him at cemedley@annapolis.gov. Owners must bring their bike(s) when registering. Neighborhood associations should contact Medley if they wish to hold a communitywide registration.
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Can Exercise Make Kids Smarter?
By John Gideon
When you catch your
breath from the Alliance for Biking & Walking’s retreat and
ProWalk/ProBike you should read the September 15th story in the New York
Times titled “Can Exercise Make Kids Smarter?”
You can find the
story at this url: https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/15/phys-ed-can-exercise-make-kids-smarter/
story at this url: https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/15/phys-ed-can-exercise-make-kids-smarter/
The story, by Gretchen Reynolds, summarizes two recently published studies by the University of
Illinois on “how fitness affects the immature human brain.” One study looked at
the affect of exercise on basal ganglia, “a key part of the brain that aids in
maintaining attention and ‘executive control,’ or the ability to coordinate
actions and thoughts crisply.” The result: fitter kids generally performed
better on treadmill runs. The fitter kids had “significantly larger basal
ganglia.” (After the kids exercised they scanned their brains with MRI
technology.)
Illinois on “how fitness affects the immature human brain.” One study looked at
the affect of exercise on basal ganglia, “a key part of the brain that aids in
maintaining attention and ‘executive control,’ or the ability to coordinate
actions and thoughts crisply.” The result: fitter kids generally performed
better on treadmill runs. The fitter kids had “significantly larger basal
ganglia.” (After the kids exercised they scanned their brains with MRI
technology.)
The second study focused on the
affect of exercise on the hippocampus, “a structure in the brain’s medial
temporal lobes” responsible for complex memory. The study showed that the
fittest kids had “heftier hippocampi.”
affect of exercise on the hippocampus, “a structure in the brain’s medial
temporal lobes” responsible for complex memory. The study showed that the
fittest kids had “heftier hippocampi.”
According
to the story, the two studies together indicate that “If exercise is responsible for
increasing the size of these regions and strengthening the connection between
them, being fit may ‘enhance neurocognition’ in young
people, the authors concluded.”
to the story, the two studies together indicate that “If exercise is responsible for
increasing the size of these regions and strengthening the connection between
them, being fit may ‘enhance neurocognition’ in young
people, the authors concluded.”
The story then goes on to sum up scientific research on
this subject:
this subject:
“Past studies from the University of Illinois
found that ‘just 20 minutes of
walking‘ before a test raised children’s
scores, even if the children were otherwise unfit or overweight, says Charles
Hillman, a professor of kinesiology at the university and the senior author of
many of the recent studies.
But
it’s the neurological impact of sustained aerobic
fitness in young people that is especially compelling.“
And, finally, this conclusion: “But
for now, the takeaway is clear. ‘More aerobic exercise’ for young
people…”
Evite for October 18, 2010 Howard County Bicycle Advocacy Forum
Howard
County Bicycle Advocacy Forum
Monday
October 18, 2010
Hosted by: Bicycling Advocates of
Howard County (BAHC)
The
goal of this Forum is to provide the bicycling community of Howard
County an opportunity to meet and share information with other local
cyclists, local and state officials/planners, and regional advocacy
groups on issues relating to improving bicycling safety and
accessibility in our community.
Date
& Time:
Monday, October 18, 2010
-
Check-in/Registration
(and free pizza/soft drinks) begins at 5:30pm -
Presentations/Discussion
from 6 – 9pm
-
The
Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Building 1, Parsons
Auditorium (Address: 11000 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD 20723) -
Rt
29 South from Columbia, Exit 15 (Johns Hopkins Road) West, enter APL
at second entrance (past Pond through pillared gate), Building 1
Lobby is at end of entrance Road. -
All
parking lots available after 5pm (do
not park in gated Visitor
Parking)
Tentative
Agenda:
-
Welcome/Introduction
– Bill Kelly VP BAHC /Forum Moderator -
Local
Bicycle Advocacy – Jack Guarneri, President BAHC -
DNR
Trails Summit/HC Trail Connectivity – John Wilson, DNR Trails
Coordinator -
Road
improvements and Plans – Mark DeLuca, Deputy HC Public Works
Director -
SHA
Regional Planning for HC – John Concannon, District 7 State
Traffic Engineer -
Bike/Ped
Survey and Future Bike/Ped Master Plan – Brian Muldoon, HC
Transportation -
Bicycling
Law/Legislative Agenda – Carol Silldorff, One Less Car -
Law
Enforcement – Chief of Police McMahon/Capt McKissick, HCPD -
Fairfax
Advocates for Better Biking (FABB) Activities – Fionnuala Quinn,
FABB -
Regional
issues on Bike Accessibility and Connectivity – Stephanie
Yanovitz, Baltimore Metro Council -
Road
Ahead/Wrap-Up – Bill Kelly VP BAHC /Forum Moderator
Join
Us:
-
The
Bicycling Advocates of Howard County was founded in 2008 as an
advocacy coalition by the APL Cycling Club, the Glenelg Gang (of
Baltimore Bicycle Club), the Howard County Cycling Club and the
Mid-Maryland Triathlon Club. BAHC is now a §501(c)4 tax-exempt
organization. You can get on our listserve by joining Friends of
BAHC on yahoo groups:
(https://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/FriendsofBAHC/)
Make sure you include the link for the the evite:
https://www.evite.com/app/publicUrl/GONPWZHBHUQKSAFZDFLX/HoCoBikeForum
so
we can get a good headcount.
Transformation of a city from cars to people in the streets [video]
Bmore Fixed presents Halloween the Alley Cat
Bmore Fixed presents Halloween the Alley Cat. A checkpoint race on the streets of Baltimore on Sunday October 31st. Great sponsors so come out and win some cool stuff! wear a costume… win a prize, crash your bike… win a prize, race on a bmx… win a prize, plus many other ways to win! There are still a few things… in the works so stay tuned for sponsor updates, start location, and after party info here or at www.bmorefixed.blogspot.com .
If you’d like to help out the race in any way or don’t want to race but still want to be involved, hit me up here or send me an email at bmorefixed"at"gmail.com . Invite your friends, the more the merrier!
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London’s Do-It-Yourself Approach to Safer Streets
by Elizabeth Press
In the UK, the non-profit Sustrans is pioneering a community-based method to reclaim streets from high-speed traffic and make neighborhoods safer and more sociable places.
Called "DIY Streets," the program brings neighbors together to help them redesign their streets in a way that puts people, safety, and streetlife first. So far, individual streets have benefited from DIY redesigns in 11 communities in England and Wales. Recently Streetfilms got a walk through of one successful DIY project — on Clapton Terrace in London. With the people who made it happen as our guides, we saw how planners and neighbors collaborated to transform a place where speeding used to rule into a local street with calm traffic and safe space to socialize.
Can the DIY model work on a bigger scale than an individual street? We’re about to find out: Residents of the London Borough of Haringey will soon be working with Sustrans on the first neighborhood-wide DIY project.
[Watch the video.]
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Public Policies for Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety and Mobility
[B’ Spokes: This paints a different and more accurate picture of Maryland’s polices then the LAB’s rating. A bit more detail in the document on modal policies and of special interest for us is funding polices.]
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Complete Streets Policy Analysis Ratings Descriptions (Sponsored by FHWA)
Since Complete Streets policies are adopted in so many different forms, it is important to note that different policy types will be strong in different areas. A resolution, for example, is more likely to get a strong ranking for purpose and vision than a state law, which would be expected to do better in the Policy Reach category. Therefore, policies should be compared to their own policy type. Note that this evaluation is based entirely on the language contained in the policy document.
Maryland:
Users with Disabilities No Mention
Older Adults No Mention
Policy Reach, How far does the policy reach in affecting road planning and construction decisions? Is it likely to be implemented?
Average – Average policies usually affect only roads controlled by the policy-making agency, though occasionally cover private roadways as well. They are often explicitly linked to other procedures and documents and feature next steps and goals more frequently. They tend to use stronger prescriptive language.
Purpose & Vision, Does the policy express a clear purpose and vision for the transportation system?
Average – Average policies always acknowledge the need for Complete Streets networks and for balancing a variety of user needs, occasionally making extensive notes on one or the other. They occasionally list specific outcomes.
Coverage, What roads and what types of projects does the policy cover, and are exceptions clear and specific?
Extensive, Extensive policies usually cover a variety of road projects beyond new construction and reconstruction, including repaving and retrofit projects. They frequently specify allowable exceptions, of which there are generally three or fewer.
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You too can be a pedestrian safety expert
EIGHT-PART WEBINAR: "Designing for Pedestrian Safety" series (continued from previous edition)
Schedule:
* Part 5: "Interchanges and Roundabouts"
Presenters: Fred Ranck, FHWA Resource Center Safety and Hillary Isebrands, FHWA Resource Center Safety
Date: September 27, 2:00 p.m. EDT
* Part 6: Signalized Intersections
Presenters: Michael Moule, Livable Streets, Inc. and Fred Ranck, FHWA Resource Center Safety
Date: October 5, 2:00 p.m. EDT
Continue reading “You too can be a pedestrian safety expert”