Archive for Opinion
We have a dream!
Posted by: | CommentsAfrican American and Hispanic American children suffer obesity at a rate that is 30% higher than whites. That obesity epidemic robs them of their future by stealing their health and replacing it with painful, lifelong conditions like diabetes and heart disease. It makes these children more expensive to employ and less productive in the workplace thereby diminishing their economic – and life – prospects.
Our dream is to to help these kids develop healthy lives and self-sufficiency through bicycling for fun and transportation through in-school, after school and summer programs . With your continued help, we will make this dream a reality.
Help us make the dream come true! Have your place of work adopt a local school and run a VeloSprints program to raise money so we can bring our smart cycling course to the school in the spring (click here). Help get your kid’s school or a school near you adopted by a local business or click the “donate” button on the right and make a contribution.
Would you like to get involved with US Open Cycling Foundation as a volunteer? Please email rdurishin@usopencycling.org for information.
Congratulations Richmond!
Posted by: | Comments
Back in 2007 the U.S. Open Cycling Championships was something that had not been seen since the Tour DuPont in 1994: a UCI-sanctioned, 1.1 professional bicycle race on national network television. The race began with musket fire from costumed Colonial Forces in a blinding snowstorm in Virginia’s historic capital of Colonial Williamsburg. Through the snow, under the watch of carefully orchestrated helicopter coverage, teams raced across historic countryside and into Virginia’s modern-day capital city of Richmond. Once in Richmond, several laps of a circuit including the cobbled Libby Hill ~ unearthed by race director, John Eustice ~ led to a thrilling finish and marked what we and the cycling world thought was the inauguration of an annual, landmark event on pro cycling’s global stage.
Unfortunately, it was not to be. Scheduling difficulties with Richmond and the instability of the Tour of Georgia’s start date made it impossible to reschedule for 2008, though the UCI and NBC were ready to go and the cycling world was anticipating.
In the build-up to the race we took professional cyclists into schools in the greater-Richmond area to visit with kids.
So inspiring was the reaction of those kids that it set the course for the establishment of the U.S. Open Cycling Foundation. Our mission is to help people achieve a healthy life through bicycling for fitness, fun and transportation.
Since 2008, we have engaged thousands of youth and tens of thousands of adults to help them ride better and smarter. Employers, schools, municipalities and individuals reap the health, environmental and economic benefits of bicycling with the assistance of U.S. Open Cycling. We’ve been invited to bring bicycling education in health and physical education curricula for an area school system and look forward to beginning work with youth who are at high risk of developing Type 2 diabetes to get them living actively and staying healthy.
We are also working hard and looking forward to the return of our race ~ which the federation has asked us to rename “The U.S. Open of Cycling.”
Get involved! Your tax deductible donation will assist the U.S. Open Cycling Foundation in helping Americans make our country healthier, cleaner and more sustainable through bicycling. For every $5.00 you donate at usopencycling.org, we’ll send you one 5″ x 3″ vinyl “Bicycle Safe Vehicle” sticker appropriate for placement on your car’s rear window. To learn about bringing the programs of the U.S. Open Cycling Foundation to where you live, call us at 401-484-1161.
Thanks! And congratulations Richmond!
Thinking About Helmets…
Posted by: | CommentsSad news in the Providence Journal, yesterday, about a gentleman, father of two, who fell off his bicycle and died two days later of a brain hemorrhage.
I am always amazed – and saddened – that, while many parents enforce a helmet use policy for their children, they eschew them for their own use. When I teach kids, I always ask who DOES NOT wear a helmet. Invariably 1/3 of the kids raise their hands. When I ask them why, the universal answer is: “Because I am a great rider!” I think that is a very honest statement and I think that a similar degree of confidence in ability may be why so many parents put them on their kids, but not on themselves.
But here’s the dirty little secret on being a great rider and wearing a helmet: the acorn under your tire, the squirrel chasing the acorn and the dog ~ walking the bike path on a retractable leash ~ who takes up chasing the squirrel can all cause you to fall and hit your head. And they don’t care if you are Lance Armstrong, multiple Tour de France Champion or Mike Steidley, nine-times National Trials Champion and about the best bicycle handler you will ever meet. Helmets are for situations you cannot control. Helmets are to reduce your chances of being injured in an accident. Helmets keep kids safe and parents in this dimension so they have a better chance of raising their kids.
Here is a graphic that shows the decrease in head injuries sustained in kids 15 and under in Swedish study as helmet use rose from 20% to 35%. Imagine if everyone wore a helmet.
So please, kids, wear your helmets and make sure that your moms and dads do too! It isn’t a sign of how good a rider they may be, it is a sign of how intelligent they are.
Download this Helmet Fit & Pre Ride Sheet on how to adjust a helmet to fit well. Remember: helmet straps are made of nylon, which slides against itself, meaning that helmets require frequent re-adjustment.
