Sorry for the hiatus

Okay, okay, I know; it's been a couple months since my last entry. The reasons are many and lame. With the new year came a new schedule (which seemed to change almost daily), not to mention at staying in a warm, cozy bed seemed to be a better option than peddling 10 miles in the cold, dark morning air. Then there was March, which seemed to become more of a lion as the month went along. We had several major thunderstorms roll through and, quite frankly, I'd just as soon not die by drowning in a torrential downpour. Oh, and windy?!?! If someone went out kite surfing, I would half expect them to end up in Oz before the day was over. The prospect of riding 10 miles into a 20+ MPH headwind when your average speed in only 15 MPH makes my legs hurt just thinking about it.

The fact is, I needed a break, if only to keep from turning stale. There is such thing as too much of a good thing. A common complaint among bicyclists is reaching a plateau. That is, you ride and ride, but you don't see any real changes. In fact, it can often be that you regress. That is when you should take a break and try something different for a while. This is one of the reason many bicyclist often take up running and/or swimming. The technical term is cross-training, but I simply call it breaking out of a rut.

The problem comes in knowing how long is too long of a break. The old adage "if you don't use it, you'll lose it" applies. Don't get me wrong, it's perfectly okay to stop commuting for a month or two (or more, if needed), but soon what was a regular routine before the break becomes a chore when you pick it back up. One way to ease back into the old routine is to slowly build it back up. Take a ride around the neighborhood once or twice a week. Nothing requiring great effort, or even your normal riding clothes. Just explore some of the side streets that you passed along the way before. Get some fresh air. Ride down to the beach or the local park. Better yet, head on over to the local bike shop and test ride a few bikes, even if you're not in the market to buy one yet. If you're currently riding a commuting bike, try a road bike or a mountain bike. Heck, take the top-of-the-line road bike out for a quick spin and see how it feels.

As for me, I am planning on commuting again starting this month. During Spring Break last month, I rode to work on Thursday to conduct a workshop for a couple new employees. I swapped weekends with another librarian this weekend and rode to work today. Both rides felt great, and reminded me of why I love to ride. Tomorrow should bring some scattered thunderstorms, but I may still ride.

Active Transportation Leads to Leaner Nations

File this under "Well, duh". Apparently, countries that have higher rates of bicycling, walking and mass transit usage are populated by leaner people.

Study: Leaner nations bike, walk, use mass transit
By DUNCAN MANSFIELD

Jim Richards is no kid, but he loves to ride his bike. At 51, he has become a cycling commuter, pedaling 11 miles from his home in the suburbs to his job in downtown Knoxville.

"It really doesn't take that much longer" than driving, he insists.

And he gets 40 minutes of exercise twice a day without going to the gym, which he attributes to a 20-pound weight loss.

New research illustrates the health benefits of regular biking, walking or taking public transportation to work, school or shopping. Researchers found a link between "active transportation" and less obesity in 17 industrialized countries across Europe, North America and Australia.

"Countries with the highest levels of active transportation generally had the lowest obesity rates," authors David Bassett of the University of Tennessee and John Pucher of Rutgers University conclude.

Americans, with the highest rate of obesity, were the least likely to walk, cycle or take mass transit, according to the study in a recent issue of the Journal of Physical Activity and Health. The study relied on each country's own travel and health data.

Only 12 percent use active transportation in the United States - 9 percent walk, 1 percent ride a bike and 2 percent take a bus or train - while a quarter to a third are obese, the study said.

By comparison, 67 percent of commuters in Latvia, 62 percent in Sweden and 52 percent in the Netherlands either walk, bike or use mass transit. Latvia's obesity rate is 14 percent, the Netherlands' is 11 percent and Sweden's is 9 percent.

A similar pattern was found in Canada (19 percent active transportation, 23 percent obese) and Australia (14 percent active transportation, 21 percent obese).

Overall, Bassett said, "Europeans walk three times as far and cycle five times as far as Americans."

The authors say it's more than lifestyle choices that lead Americans to use their cars more. Europe's compact, dense layout and infrastructure are more conducive to getting around without a car.

Europeans on average walk 237 miles and cycle 116 miles per year; U.S. residents walk 87 miles and bike 24 miles. Bassett and Pucher calculated that translates into burning off 5 to 9 pounds of fat annually for Europeans compared to only 2 pounds for Americans.

While the analysis doesn't prove that transportation keeps obesity levels down "they make an excellent case," said Susan Handy, who heads the Sustainable Transportation Center at the University of California at Davis.

"The question, then, is what do we do?" said Handy, who was not involved in the study. "How do we get more people walking and bicycling in the U.S.?"

Anne Lusk, a research fellow at Harvard School of Public Health, said the study's results make sense.

"What I found most exciting about this excellent research is the applicability," she said. "The issue then becomes should we improve our transit, walking or bicycling opportunities simultaneously or should we focus on one of the three?"

Lusk said her first choice is bicycles - and not just because of global warming, fluctuating gas prices or the economic downturn. When Dutch researchers asked people to match emotions with various forms of travel, she said, "The greatest emotion was joy for bicycling."

Richards rekindled his love affair with a two-wheeler a few years ago while visiting bike-friendly Sweden.

Back home, he has a couple of things going for him. Richards lives in a medium-size Southern city where police officers can be found patroling on bikes and the mayor sometimes cycles to city hall.

The car is still king here, like most places in the United States, but Knoxville has developed a 41-mile greenway system that keeps Richards mostly on paved trails and off city streets.

He also works for an environmentally conscious employer. The country store-themed Mast General Stores of Valle Crucis, N.C., pays Richards and his co-workers $4 a day to ride, walk or catch a bus rather drive than their car.

After a year, his annual checkup shows the results: his heart rate, blood pressure and cholesterol all are down.

"I just love riding," he said. "It's like a double-shot of caffeine in the morning."

Well, isn't that surprising. Okay, not really, but this has an implications for Mississippi. As you are probably aware, Mississippi leads the nation in obesity, and ranks high in the number of heart attacks, strokes, and diabetes. Also not surprising is that Mississippi ranks near the bottom (47^th) in bicycling. For those who live in Mississippi who bicycle and/or walk, please consider donating Bike Walk Mississippi, supporting Let's Go Walking Mississippi and, whenever possible, use your local mass transit system.

OMG! Not another blog!

Yes, my dear reader, I am afraid that there is (yet) another blog clogging up the Internet. So why bother creating another in a seemingly endless parade of vanity-filled ramblings to an audience who is quite possibly overwhelmed with too much poor, useless, and otherwise banal information? That is a very good question. Like most things I undertake, there is not simply one simple reason. Part of the goal of this blog is to act as a vehicle for expressing my thoughts, feelings, musings, ruminations, philosophy, religion, and politics about bicycle commuting on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. I also hope that this will be a resource for others in the area, both bicyclists and non-bicyclists alike, to learn and understand more about bicycle commuting, both the challenges and the rewards.

I started bicycle commuting about five months ago, and while I may ride every day, I do try to ride at least once a week. The biggest obstacle, so far, from my becoming a daily commuter has been, of all things, my work schedule. My job often requires me to travel between the main campus in Long Beach to the Student Service Center in Gulfport. Also, once a month, I go to Gautier to keep tabs on things going on at the Jackson County campus. And there are the occasional trips to Hattiesburg that I need to take. So far, whenever I know that those situations are going to occur, I drive instead of bike. However, I am working on a possible solutions to this and will report back when the time is appropriate.

My commute is a fairly lengthy one at roughly ten miles. Most people are amazed that I "ride so far", but I am not that impressed because I have ridden further than that in my life. What dismays me isn't the distance, but rather the time and, by extension, the speed at which I travel. It takes me approximately forty-five to fifty minutes to travel ten miles. That works out to an average speed of between 12 to 13 mph. Granted, the average speed is taking into account stopping at red lights, stop signs and the occasional freight train. I should also mention that the bike I ride weighs in at about 30 pounds and I carry an additional 10 to 15 pounds of gear (clothing, lights, locks, etc.) with me and that the bike is a hybrid, not a road racer. Contrast this to traveling the same distance by car, it takes me about 20 minutes.


So why bike to work rather than driving? The most obvious answer would be to save money, but that is not my prime motivation. The primary reason for riding is for the exercise and the simple enjoyment of bicycling. Face it, we all lead busy lives and finding time to exercise, most often than not, gets set aside or ignored. There is simply too much to do to be bothered with packing up gym clothes, going to the gym, paying a membership fee, change out of work clothes and into gym clothes, exercise, and then reversing the process to go home. And exercising at home? Well, I am sure there are others who are much better at that than I. No, for me, bicycling to and from work gives me a good, healthy exercise, twice a day. As a result, I have more energy, a better, more positive attitude, better focus, lower blood pressure and heart rate, and generally feel good about myself.

The exercise is important to me because I have a cirrhosis of the liver, the symptoms of which include lethargy, short-term memory loss, inability to remain focused, weakness, and confusion, among others. And do not get me started on the complications that can result; it is almost too depressing to think about. My doctors have me on a beta-blocker to lower my blood pressure, but I also know that regular, aerobic exercise will also help lower blood pressure over the long term, as well as lower my heart rate. Not surprisingly, my doctors are all supportive, as is my wife, who expresses her pride and admiration to me every day.

A little bit about me. I am not a native Mississippian. I grew up in Michigan and am proud to call it my home state. Now before anyone starts using the "Y" word, allow me a moment, if you will, to express my preferred geographic descriptor: Wolverine. No, not the X-Men character, nor the mascot from the University of Michigan. This label has its origins in both history and literature. Historically, the term Wolverine was given (as some have claimed) by Ohioans during what has been called "The Toledo War". The end results of which gave Ohio Toledo and Michigan the Upper Peninsula and is symbolically replayed every year during one of the greatest football rivalries. The literary source comes from Walt Whitman's poem, "Song of Myself" which reads, "The Wolverine sets traps on the creek that helps fill the Huron". Note that Wolverine is capitalized, indicating a proper name and Huron refers to Lake Huron. Now, I do not take offense at the term Yankee; I just recall a joke about how the meaning of the term changes depending on who hears it, and I have a private chuckle.