Rolling, Rolling, Rolling
This we believe is the Reevesville, South Carolina, town hall. It’s one of our smaller small towns located in Dorchester County and about which we are little moved to write. Almost every hamlet has managed to insert itself into the footnotes of our history via some central web site which never heard of the place, but posts sentimental notations as if it had. We didn’t bother looking it up.
Charleston Moves wonders if Charleston could duplicate New York’s car free street experiment.
Pedicab Man is still on the move and checking in from Ovanda, Montana.
GoGreenCharleston is promoting CARTA’s Dump the Pump effort.
The BMJ article comes out against helmet use on the grounds that it gives the impression that cycling is more dangerous than it really is. I am inclined to agree to a certain degree. I wear a helmet, but it is my choice; I am opposed to helmet use being mandatory, especially if it stops people from cycling.
The article points out, when helmets were made compulsory in Australia, hospital admissions from head injury fell by 15-20%, but the level of cycling fell by 35%. Ten years later, cycling levels in Western Australia are still 5-20% below the level they were before the introduction of the law yet head injuries are only 11% lower than would be expected without helmets.
Sneaking in under the wire and appearing in my reader just before I hit publish is Xarker! John Sloop’s post on purchasing a bicycle:
Then, however, I look at the sticker—over $1,800. I realize now that this is not a shocking price to bike enthusiasts, but to someone raised on Sears “Better” models, I almost pass out. Thinking quickly, I revert to one of the tactics I often use in such situations—“Say something that makes you sound like such a rube that these people will want to get you out of the store quickly,” I tell myself.
“It looks like you forgot to put the pedals on that one,” I say, and the sales guy patiently explains that the pedals are purchased separately, along with the shoes that click into them.
“It doesn’t look very comfortable to sit on,” I observe. Again, the sales guy explains with even greater patience that this is because there is no seat on the bike yet.
Heather @ June 17, 2008