A friend of mine is riding this weekend in the MS 150 bike tour in Minnesota. This is an annual event that raises money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, which works both to fund research into the disease and to serve people who've been diagnosed. I've never tackled the bike tour (150 miles in 2 days; this particular one runs from Duluth to the Twin Cities), but I've done the MS walks previously and will be doing another later this year. This is an important cause for me, as my mother was diagnosed with MS when I was 6, so if you have a few bucks (donations are tax-deductible) and would like to make a donation to support Andrew in his 8th MS 150 bike tour, every little bit helps and is much appreciated.
Thanks!
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For many people, it is the time of the year to put the bikes away. I live in Louisiana, so now is the time to get the bikes out (too hot in the summer). Learning to ride a bike is a curious thing. Most parents use training wheels to get kids started. I do not think this is the best strategy.
Minneapolis is the City of Bikes. There are more bikes here per capita than any other US city, I'm told. Many Japanese cities have more bikes per capita and even less room, so the whole bike parking issue in Japan is pretty severe.
Dan Meyer at dy/dan just posted about teacher-student analogies. His analogy is that the student is like a weight lifter and the teacher is the spotter. I like this.
My friend J sent me a link to this gyrobike (http://www.thegyrobike.com/index.php). From what I can tell, it's a flywheel that you put in the front wheel of a bike. The site claims that this will help kids learn how to ride a bike.
My wife has MS and we do the walks in Annapolis, MD, and volunteer/crew at the Chessapeake Bay Challenge Walk every year, including holding a masquerade ball to raise money for it. (yeah, shameless plug for those in DC/Baltimore! ;-) )