Produced almost every Thursday by Velo Cape Breton. E-mailed without cost or obligation to more than 1000 bicycle advocates around the world.

 In this Edition

• A Step Back in Time
• Excerpt from Bicycle Driving Forum  
• Bicycle Test in Grade 4
• December 1, - Deby's DARE Begins
• Help HEAL Cape Breton win the $250,000 Competition
• Off Season?  What's That?
• Winter Cycling Tips
• YikeBike
• A True Story
• A Taste of Louisiana
• The Inheritance
• Financial Planning

COPENHAGEN SOON... 

 

Since 2004, our movement has grown larger and more effective; the number of people riding is growing in almost every community in the province.  But we need more people on bikes more often, and the reasons just keep on growing.  Whether it's obesity, health care, climate change, air quality, energy independence, traffic congestion, economic development or quality of life issues - bicycling has got to be part of the solution.

 

Honestly, do you think that Mr. Harper will be a help or a hindrance?

 

Visionary leadership requires active and engaged citizens to keep the politicians’ feet to the fire. Your efforts have never been needed more to help make this happen.  Call your MP.  Email the Prime Minister with your concerns.  It's never too late to do the right thing.

 

Copenhagen climate summit is crucial.

 

Read WHY here.

 

A STEP BACK IN TIME

 

http://jalopnik.com/5411454/1905-san-francisco-has-always-been-chill

 

One streetcar, a handful of cars, and San Francisco's Market Street before the 1906 fire — all of it set to Air's "La Femme d'Argent." In other words, the best YouTubeclip we've seen all month.

 

Some days, you just ache for a bit more civilized in your civilization, you know?

 

 

BICYCLE TEST IN GRADE 4

by:  Michale Poplawski,  Victoria BC,

 

It's a safe bet that Europeans don't want a voluntary cycling training system for its citizens like we have in North America.

 

E.g., in Germany, children take their bicycling test in the 4th grade, and questions being asked are related to all aspects of traffic operation and law. It's true that their environment includes lots of discriminatory facilities, but the questions are nonetheless overwhelmingly related to operating on what we consider roads.

 

Fourth-graders are probably 1/60th of Germany's population. What percentage of the North American population is taking a driving test of any kind this year, let alone specifically relating to bicycling? And how many 10 year-old North Americans could tell their parents who has right of way at an unmarked intersection?

 

I agree with John that American society might not be able to bring themselves to educate their kids properly, but it should be obvious to everyone that situation is wrong. I think it would be wrong to dismiss the approach of teaching bicycling universally just because the idea wasn't invented here, nor because Europe has a lot of dangerous discriminatory infrastructure, something that they are starting to figure out for themselves.

 

 

TUESDAY DECEMBER 1 - DEBY'S DARE BEGINS

See:  A Dare to Remember,  VCB eNews Vol 7 #2.

 

It's now time to don the running shoes and get going.  Deby Johnston (VCB #429) will start her Dare at the base of Cape Smokey on Tuesday, December 1, World AIDS Day.  She intends to run a Half Marathon (23km) every day for the following 13 days around the Cabot Trail.  Her goal is to raise $3000. for the Stephen Lewis Foundation to help support communities in the 15 African countries that have been hardest hit by HIV/AIDS. Find out more at www.adaretoremember.com

 

The Stephen Lewis Foundation (SLF) supports community-level organizations that are turning the tide of HIV/AIDS in Africa by providing care and support to women, orphans, grandmothers and people living with HIV and AIDS. Visit www.stephenlewisfoundation.org to learn more.

 

Deby's home page here 

 

Thanks for all the support you can give Deby's Dare...  

 

You can follow Deby's progress on the local radio station CJCB online or at 1270am.

 

Way to go Deby!

 

 

HELP HEAL CAPE BRETON WIN THE $250,000 COMPETITION

by:  Lisa MacDougall, Executive Director,  HEAL Cape Breton (Healthy Eating Active Living)

 

HEAL Cape Breton has entered the national AVIVA Community Fund Competition to win $250,000 for three important programs: HEAL Closet (running shoes to folks who need them), HEAL Locker Room (sporting equipment out to the communities to get kids back to playing) and HEAL Food Basket (local agriculture supplementing fresh produce to the foodbanks). 

 

This could be huge for Cape Bretoners - we need everyone to get involved and vote online to get HEAL Cape Breton to the 'national' semi-finals by Nov 29th.  

 

We would really appreciate your help in pushing this idea to the finals.  Be sure to check out our video with link below.

 

Please vote for us at  http://www.avivacommunityfund.org/ideas/acf4536.     Pls. note you will have to register your email address and create a password.  It may take a couple of minutes but YOUR VOTE CAN MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE!

 

Please circulate to your respective networks and be sure to cast your vote for HEAL Cape Breton TODAY AND EVERYDAY until Nov 29.  We have set up a "HEAL Cape Breton" page on Facebook as well to promote this important initiative.

 

Please help spread the word and vote, vote, vote to bring that $250,000 to our beautiful Island.  Let's work together to HEAL Cape Breton. 

 

Only three days to vote...   Do it now!  

 

Thank you.

 

OFF-SEASON?  WHAT'S THAT?

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyCNWMRLZGs&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_nfv5ty3II&feature=related 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuxnUZyzs30&NR=1&feature=fvwp

 

 

WINTER RIDING TIPS

source:  RBR eNewsletter.

 

One of the contributors was former pro Davis Phinney. He's still America's winningest road racer with 328 career victories, including 2 stages of the Tour de France. Interestingly, throughout his long career he lived in Boulder, Colorado -- a cycling hotspot that nevertheless has long, cold winters.

 

How did Davis manage to survive his miles during the frigid off-season? One of his chapters in the book is called "Conquer the Cold." Here's a digest of those 12 tips, just in time for tumbling temps throughout the northern hemisphere. 

 

Phinney's Tips for Winter Riding

 

---Ride with a friend or group.  Sharing conversation as well as a draft helps the miles go by. But group rides must be cohesive. Don't let them degenerate into hammerfests. You shouldn't do any hard, fast riding when the temperature is below 50F degrees (10C). Instead, use winter to accumulate base miles.

 

---Don't overdress.  If you're not chilly in the first few minutes, you have probably worn too much and will overheat.

 

---Start with hot drinks in freezing temperatures and use insulated bottles or covers to increase the time before liquids turn to slush.

---Be wary of shaded corners, which may hide ice. 

---Wear light, bright colors to help motorists see you on dim days.

---Install rear reflectors or carry reflective ankle bands for times when dusk catches you a few minutes from home. 

---Carry two tubes.  Patching a tube with freezing fingers isn't easy, should a second flat occur. 

---Don't stop for long, if at all. Resumption of the windchill will make you cold, and you may be unable to shake the shivers for the rest of the ride.

---Ride short on frigid days.  As a rule, you can be fairly comfortable for 90 minutes in subfreezing temperatures. But things may deteriorate quickly after that, particularly if you have raised a sweat. 

---Take time to recover after riding.  Winter takes more out of you. Because of the elements and your lower fitness level, a 50-mile (90-km) winter ride feels like 80 miles (128 km).

---Be extra careful when you've been sick.  Don't try to make up a week of lost training by riding before you're completely well. There is plenty of time to get back on track when spring arrives. 

---Even if you live where winters are mild, you still need to go easy. Use winter for recovery. Don't get caught in the flying-in-January, dead-by-June trap.

 

That's useful advice from a true gentleman of cycling and one that all of us at RBR are pulling for. Ten years ago at age 40 Davis was stricken with Parkinson's disease, rare in such a young and healthy man. It changed his life for sure, but he hasn't let it stop him from riding, coaching and, along with wife Connie Carpenter, raising their son Taylor Phinney, one of the brightest young stars in bike racing.

 

Davis also devotes much of his time to the Davis Phinney Foundation, begun in 2004 to improve the quality of life for Parkinson's victims. About 3 years ago he underwent an innovative form of brain surgery that successfully reduced the tremors caused by the disease. 

 

On the Foundation's website at http://tinyurl.com/yff3z6q you'll find info about organizing a pledge ride. Please think about it as you and your club make event plans for 2010.

 

When you're on the cold road in the months ahead, Davis's tips will help. It's great that he's able to be out there too, riding through another winter.

 

 

 

YIKEBIKE

 

This looks pretty fascinating, although not much of a workout.

 

I guess I'll have to pick one of these up when we are in France next summer since they aren't selling them here.  Check out the video and then the rest of the website. This looks pretty cool.  But the price will need to come down a bit.

 

http://www.yikebike.com/site/home

 

 

A TRUE STORY

 

A lesson that should be taught in all schools... And colleges

 

Back in September, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a social studies school teacher at Robinson High School, did something not to be forgotten. On the first day of school, with the permission of the school superintendent, the principal and the building supervisor, she removed all of the desks out of her classroom.

 

When the first period kids entered the room they discovered that there were no desks.

 

'Ms. Cothren, where're our desks?'

 

She replied, 'You can't have a desk until you tell me how you earn the right to sit at a desk.'

 

They thought, 'Well, maybe it's our grades.'

 

'No,' she said.

 

'Maybe it's our behaviour.'

 

She told them, 'No, it's not even your behaviour.'

 

And so, they came and went, the first period, second period, third period. Still no desks in the classroom.

 

By early afternoon television news crews had started gathering in Ms. Cothren's classroom to report about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of her room.

 

The final period of the day came and as the puzzled students found seats on the floor of the deskless classroom, Martha Cothren said, 'Throughout the day no one has been able to tell me just what he/she has done to earn the right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in this classroom. Now I am going to tell you.'

 

At this point, Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it. Twenty-seven (27) War Veterans, all in uniforms, walked into that classroom, each one carrying a school desk. The Vets began placing the school desks in rows, and then they would walk over and stand alongside the wall... By the time the last soldier had set the final desk in place those kids started to understand, perhaps for the first time in their lives, just how the right to sit at those desks had been earned.

 

Martha said, 'You didn't earn the right to sit at these desks. These heroes did it for you. They placed the desks here for you. Now, it's up to you to sit in them. It is your responsibility to learn, to be good students, to be good citizens. They paid the price so that you could have the freedom to get an education. Don't ever forget it.'

 

By the way, this is a true story.

 

Please consider passing this along so others won't forget that the freedoms we have in this great country were earned by War Veterans.

 

 

A TASTE OF LOUISIANA

at the Bicycle Friendly Bras D'Or Lakes Inn in St. Peters BICYCLE FRIENDLY  BRAS D'OR LAKES INN

 

Saturday, November 28, 2009

$65 per person plus HST

Reservations: 902 535-2200 / info@brasdorlakesinn.com

www.brasdorlakesinn.com

 

First Course

Corn and Snow Crab Bisque

Thick and creamy soup garnished with

a savory crab and cheddar crostini.

 

Second Course

Creole-Style Tomato and Watermelon Salad

Select greens, ripe tomatoes, juicy watermelon,

sweet red onions, goat cheese and spiced pecans

lightly dressed in a sherry vinaigrette.

 

Third Course

Cajun Shrimp

Sun dried tomato and leek grits topped with julienne vegetables,

surrounded by tender shrimp and marinated okra

drizzled with a Cajun spice cream sauce.

 

Fourth Course

Grilled Day Boat Halibut

Halibut fillet accompanied by black bean sauce,

mango papaya relish and a mixed mushroom risotto.

 

Fifth Course

Banana Foster Bread Pudding

A luscious combination of two desserts

served with crème anglaise and bourbon

 

 

 

 

THE INHERITANCE 

 

A man returns home a day early from a long weekend of golf. It's after midnight. While en route home, he asks the cabbie if he would be a witness.

 

The man suspects his wife is having an affair and he wants to catch her in the act. For $100, the cabbie agrees...

 

Quietly arriving home, the husband and cabbie tip toe into the bedroom. The husband switches on the lights, yanks the blanket back and here is his wife in bed with another man!

 

The husband puts a gun to the naked man's head. The wife shouts, 'Don't do it! I lied when I told you I inherited money.'

 

HE paid for the Corvette I gave you.

HE paid for our new cabin cruiser.

HE paid for your season baseball tickets.

HE paid for our house at the lake.

HE paid for our country club membership, and HE even pays the monthly rent!'

 

Shaking his head from side-to-side, the husband lowers the gun.

 

He looks over at the cabbie and says, 'What would you do?'

 

The cabbie replies, 'I'd cover him with that blanket before he catches the swine flu virus'.

 

 

 

 

FINANCIAL PLANNING

 

Dan was a single guy living at home with his father and working in the family business. 

  

When he found out he was going to inherit a fortune when his sickly father died, he decided he needed to find a wife with whom to share his fortune. 

  

One evening, at an investment meeting, he spotted the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.  Her natural beauty took his breath away. 

  

"I may look like just an ordinary guy," he said to her, "but in just a few years, my father will die and I will inherit $200 million." 

  

Impressed, the woman asked for his business card and three days later, she became his stepmother. 

Women are so much better at financial planning than men.  

 

 

 

________________

Jacques Cote

Editor, Velo Cape Breton eNewsletter