Monday, October 28, 2019

October 28: Upcoming running/walking/bicycling/tri events

Upcoming events

Running/walking:


Cycling:

  • Monday, Oct. 28: Monday Minions Ride. This is a weekly ride that rolls in the 13-15 mph range. Total distance around 15 miles. After the ride most go over to Square 1 restaurant for the $5 burger and fries deal. If you are looking to get into cycling beyond the casual roll, this is an ideal ride for you. 6 p.m., Fort Myers Cyclery, 3630 Cleveland Avenue, Fort Myers (meetup.com/Biking-SWFL) 
  • Tuesday, Oct. 29: Taco Tuesday Ride. Every Tuesday night, We Ride For Tacos! After a 21 mile ride on Treeline/Old Airport/Daniels/6 Mile Cypress roads and paths, we'll finish at Tijuana Flats for Taco Tuesday. B RIDERS: 16 to 18 mph for the basic group. A RIDERS: The faster group rides at 20mph plus. We finish well after dark, so Front And Rear Lights are Required. 6:30 p.m., Trek Bicycle Store of Fort Myers, 8291 Dani Drive, Fort Myers (meetup.com/Biking-SWFL)
  • Friday, Nov. 1: SW Florida Critical Mass ride. A family-friendly slow ride through Fort Myers gathering at 7:15 p.m. and starting at 8 p.m. Front and rear bike lights required. Grab your helmet, bring all your friends and meet in the open field next to Publix at First Street Village, 2160 McGregor Blvd. Fort Myers. (meetup.com/Biking-SWFL)
  • Saturday, Nov. 2: Saturday Slow Roll. 8 a.m. meet-up at 2160 McGregor Blvd. Recommended for inexperienced/young riders. Distance is 6 miles, includes group ride instruction. (meetup.com/Biking-SWFL)
  • Sunday, Nov. 3: Trek Poker Ride, distances of 10, 40 and 80 miles, all start from the Trek Fort Myers store, 8291 Dani Drive. Details at bikesignup
  • Sunday, Nov. 3: Gulf Coast Cycle fest, distances of 20, 35, 62, 79 and 100 miles, all starting from Main Street At Lakewood Ranch, 8100 Lakewood Ranch Blvd, Bradenton. Details at caamevents.com
  • Saturday, Nov. 9: Sanibel Critical Mass ride, gathers at 7 p.m. at Jerry’s Shopping Center, 1700 Periwinkle Way, on Sanibel. Lights required, helmets recommended.  (meetup.com/Biking-SWFL)
  • Friday, Nov. 15: NE-Lee Critical Mass ride, gathers at 7 p.m. at the Winn-Dixie, 14600 Palm Beach Blvd. Lights required, helmets recommended. (http://www.meetup.com/Biking-SWFL/events/)
  • Friday, Nov. 29: Cape Coral Critical Mass ride. Gather at 7:30 p.m., start at 8 p.m. at the Southwest Florida Military Museum parking lot at 4820 Leonard Street for a family-friendly ride through the Cape. Lights required, helmets recommended. (meetup.com/Biking-SWFL)
  • Ongoing: Join the Caloosa Riders Bicycle Club on one of their many weekly rides for members and potential members, with an array of paces and routes to choose from. Check them out online at www.caloosariders.org.
  • For more Lee County cycling and tri events, visit Caloosa Riders Bicycle Club (caloosariders.org); Florida Mudcutters (mudcutters.org); and SW Florida Biking Meetup Group (meetup.com/Biking-SWFL).

Triathlons:
  • Sunday, Nov. 17: Longboat Key Sprint/Olympic Triathlon and Duathlon and 5K (imathlete.com)
  • Check trifind.com to find regional and state tris.









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Thursday, October 24, 2019

BikeWalkLee: Maybe it’s time for a tour

BikeWalkLee Column
The News-Press, October 24, 2019
by Ken Gooderham

Courtesy Photo
A lot of people like to bike as part of their vacation. But have you ever considered doing your vacation on a bike?

Of course, I mean bicycle touring… which offers a unique and (for some) very enjoyable break from the routine. The options are endless, as are the choices of how much (or how little) time you want to spend in the saddle.

By touring, I mean the multi-day, go-from-place-to-place tours… not the tour-the-town tours, which can also be a great way to see the sights (particularly in places where you’d be smarter not to drive). Vacation tours are where the bicycling is the vacation – along with the experiences you find (or are shown) along the way.

Tours are big on almost every continent (probably not Antarctica, for obvious reasons), but most common in Europe, Asia and America. They also range from the rugged (you carry everything you’ll need for the trip) to the luxurious (somebody else carries everything and you just ride from place to place).

You can have the choice of a number of distances per day, with many tours offering 2-3 distance options depending on how vigorous you’re feeling (but always starting and ending in the same places as everyone else). The pace can vary, but usually is (again) based on what you want to do.

There will be instructions to guide you, and someone to sweep the route and keep an eye on all the riders (but particularly the slowest ones). Some tours use more hands-on guiding, where cyclists of similar skills and speeds stay together with a leader to traverse the countryside.

And that’s one of the real draws of bike touring: Seeing the country up close and personal. Wandering a back road at an easy pace, stopping to look at something you find interesting, getting a feel for how a place looks – and smells and tastes and sounds – can be a very unique experience, even for seasoned travelers.

If this idea appeals to the cyclist in you, here are some ideas to get you started:
  • Where would you like to go? With so many locations to choose from, you’ll want to narrow them down to a country or region. You should also ponder whether you want to try somewhere new or see somewhere you’re more familiar with from a new perspective.
  • How many days would you like ride? Most tour last at least a week, and many can exceed two weeks. There even are people who will do two tours in a row (or more), although they are the exception. Nonetheless, think hard about how much you really want to ride (particularly for your first time out), and book accordingly.
  • How much work do you want to do? If you like camping for days at a time, a self-contained tour is for you. If you like the idea of riding, but want someone else to schlep the bags and have a cool drink and hot meal waiting for you at the end of the day, then an inn-to-inn or van-supported tour is more your speed.
  • How good a cyclist are you – in terms of stamina as well as skills? Be realistic, this is not the time for bike bravado. If going more than 10 miles at a time is too much for you, your choices may be limited – or you’ll need to build up your stamina to match the demands of the tour, and that includes elevation skills as well (so if your idea of a hilly ride is crossing the Sanibel Causeway, you should plan on working on your climbing). Most tour companies will be honest about what you’ll need to be able to do, and most also include an assessment of your skills as part of the introductory process… so they know what to expect. As fa as skills, the ability to fix a flat tire is almost essential, particularly if you’re riding more independently during the day. Obviously, basic road skills are expected.
  • What kind of traveler are you (and everyone who’s coming with you)? If you’re pretty self-sufficient, you’ll be good with almost any tour type. If you’re more high maintenance, needing someone to stick close to make sure you’re OK, look for an easier, heavily guided tour. Making this a family affair? Make sure the tours have kid-friendly (at least for your kids) options and plans. Want to pack in more education and experiences? There’s a tour for that, too.
If you’re looking for a local tour option, not much is out there – which is surprising in an area that’s warm (at least in winter) and flat (all year long). The lack of bike infrastructure might be part of the issue, as well as a reputation as not always being bike/ped friendly. There is one tour this November that starts in Fort Lauderdale, rides to Key West, ferries to Fort Myers and rides back across the state… but as a self-contained tour topping 380 miles over 10 days, it’s for the serious cyclists.

But if the idea of biking to get away sounds appealing, there’s bound to be a tour that suits you to a tee.

Be bright, less light

With the time change still over a week away, morning bikers, runner and walkers face less light (meaning less visibility). Remember to work harder to see and be seen – bright colors, bright lights and a little more awareness. Once we wave goodbye to Daylight Savings Time Nov. 3, evening exercisers will need to up their visibility game to stay safe.

Ready to ride or run? 

Run? Runners have a number of distance options available… this weekend brings the FISH 10K on Sanibel, the LCEC Goblin Gallop 5K in Cape Coral and the Monster 5K in Naples, followed by a Naples and Cape Coral 5K the following weekend. Details at ftmyerstrackclub.com, 3dracinginc.com and gcrunner.org.

Ride? Critical Mass has these regularly scheduled rides on tap:
  • Friday, Oct. 25: Cape Coral Critical Mass ride. Gather at 7:30 p.m., start at 8 p.m. at the Southwest Florida Military Museum parking lot at 4820 Leonard Street for a family-friendly ride through the Cape.
  • Saturday, Oct. 26: Saturday Slow Roll 8 a.m. meet-up at 2160 McGregor Blvd. Recommended for inexperienced/young riders. Distance is 6 miles, includes group ride instruction.
  • Friday, Nov. 1: SW Florida Critical Mass ride. A family-friendly slow ride through Fort Myers gathering at 7:15 p.m. and starting at 8 p.m.
Lights required for night rides, helmets recommended for all, details at meetup.com.

For something different, Nov. 3 brings both a Trek Poker Ride (distances of 10, 40 and 80 miles, all starting from the Fort Myers Trek store) and the Gulf Coast Cyclefest (distances of 20, 35, 62, 79 and 100 miles, all starting from Main Street At Lakewood Ranch in Bradenton). more formal ride, consider the 10th annual Tour de Northport, with distances of 15, 35 and 65 miles. Details at bikesignup.com and caamevents.com.

Both? The lone local-ish event is the Longboat Key Triathlon/Duathlon, with both Olympic and sprint distances on Nov. 17; details at trifind.com or trisignup.com

TELL US ABOUT YOUR RIDE:

Have a favorite route you like to bike, or a unique walk you’d like to share with others? Tell us about it at info@bikewalklee.org, and maybe we can feature it in an upcoming column.

# # #

Ken Gooderham writes this on behalf of BikeWalkLee, a community coalition raising public awareness and advocating for complete streets in Lee County — streets that are designed, built, operated and maintained for safe and convenient travel for all users: pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists, and transit riders of all ages and abilities. Information, statistics and background online at www.BikeWalkLee.org. 


 

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Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Biking, walking on purpose delivers numerous benefits


Florida Weekly 'Outdoors' column, October 23, 2019
danMOSER
bikepedmoser@gmail.com


Courtesy Photo

Since the early 1990s, a daily goal of mine has been to forego using my car whenever possible, not just for our environment’s sake (both the natural and transportation environments) but also for my personal health and well being. For many years I was able to do so on a relatively frequent basis, meaning being car-free two or three days a week.

For 10 years I was able to commute to work by bike for the five-mile ride in about the same time it took to drive, thanks to having to navigate downtown traffic.

However, since adding driving evaluations to my professional workload around six years ago and taking on new responsibilities in my family — including being the sole driver — it’s become much less common to not have to drive at least once each day. But not being able to meet my ideal target of being car-free hasn’t meant I don’t use active transportation as much as possible. I still walk, ride my bike or even run to take care of errands, attend meetings or for work-related tasks. Life changed, so I adapted.

Dan Moser is a long-time bicycle/pedestrian
advocate and traffic safety professional
who cycles, runs and walks regularly for
transportation, recreation and  fitness.
Contact him at bikepedmoser@gmail.com
and 239-334-6417.
A study soon to be published about folks who engage in active transportation piqued my interest because it’s something I can personally relate to. Researchers from Harvard and Clemson Universities and Toole Design were seeking to determine whether walking and biking for purpose discourages other regular exercise.

According to the summary from the study to be published in the December issue of Journal of Transport and Health, those who regularly use active transportation are actually more likely to engage in other exercise, at least among the study’s subjects from the United States and the Netherlands. In the researchers’ words, “active travel does not substitute for other forms of exercise, but instead adds to total daily physical activity.” They further conclude: “Our findings imply significant health benefits could flow from engaging in active travel. Since the relationship between physical activity and positive health outcomes is well-established, we can presume that people who engage in active travel are likely to enjoy health benefits that they would not otherwise experience.”

Their findings are what I consider a win-win for individuals (health benefits and transportation savings) and the community at large (less traffic congestion, less pollution and potential tax dollar savings). The usual disclaimer stating that more research is necessary is actually more confident of the study results and is rather ambitious: “Future research should attempt to quantify these benefits.”

Along with the benefits I’ve already described is another I believe to be as important as anything else: I contend that being a regular walker, runner or bike rider makes one a better driver, at least for those who generally follow rules when engaging in those activities. (I’m thinking cyclists who routinely blow through red lights and stop signs or ride against traffic would not be better drivers).

One recent study, titled “ ‘Maybe I Will Just Send a Quick Text…’ – An Examination of Drivers’ Distractions, Causes, and Potential Interventions,” conducted by the Institute of Transport Economics and published in Frontiers in Psychology, determined that bike riders spend 21% less time speeding than the typical driver and have 14% fewer hard braking incidents.

They’re also generally less distracted than the average driver by about 6%. My experience convinces me that those of us who must deal with bad driving behavior on a regular basis while on our walks, runs and bike rides become more aware of the vulnerable road users we encounter when driving. I think this awareness also goes beyond how we drive around non-motorists, meaning we drive with more overall awareness, courtesy and compassion for all of our fellow road users.

¦ A worthy upcoming local bike ride. The Trek Poker Ride, which benefits United Way of Lee, Hendry and Glades Counties, takes place on Sunday morning, Nov. 3, from Trek’s Fort Myers store on Six Mile Cypress Parkway at Colonial Boulevard. More info can be found at www.trekbikesflorida.com.

To learn about this topic and more, visit bikewalklee.blogspot.com and www.streetsaliveswfl.org.¦



For Lee County cycling and tri events visit Caloosa Riders Bicycle Club (caloosariders.org); Florida Mudcutters (mudcutters.org); and SW Florida Biking Meetup Group (meetup.com/Biking-SWFL). The Florida Bicycle Association (floridabicycle.org) is your source for statewide happenings. BikeWalkLee’s blog site has all the information you’ll need to stay abreast of advocacy efforts in Southwest Florida as well as statewide and nationally.






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