Walking

This week I walked instead of biked, but I am determined to learn to bike. I will try again next weekend. My walk was very pleasant and peaceful, I went inside my head alot and thought my project for CDI and I am so excited.

Greensboro, NC: #41 of 50 bike friendly cities

I was pleasantly surprised to find Greensboro, NC on Bicycling Magazine's list of top 50 bike friendly cities. Greensboro is part of the Triad metropolitan area.  It turns out the Triad is the 2^nd most sprawling urban area in US.  The city has a population of 260,000 and density of 2,436/sq miles.  The median income for a family in Greensboro is $50,192.  The city is home to seven institutions of higher education.   Industry in the city includes textiles, modern architecture.  The city is a major transportation hub and is thought of as the South's up-and-coming centers for relocating businesses.  In 2004 the Department of Energy (DOE) awarded Greensboro with entry into the Clean Cities Hall of Fame.

Of all the cities on the list of 50 Top US Bike Friendly Cities, Greensboro is the most similar to Winston Salem.  The current bike infrastructure includes 81 miles of Greenway trails, with a proposed increase to 420 miles of greenway in the next decade.

Other reasons that make Greensboro awesome….  A bicycle education program is taught to all fourth-graders, and some schools host bike rodeos. The mayor is an enthusiastic supporter of all cycling causes.  There are also a number of great biking clubs and organizations including the Velo Club and BIG (biking in Greensboro).

greensboro velo club website 

bicycling in Greensboro 

So how does Winston Salem stack up? Winston Salem is also part of the Triad metropolitan area.  The city is slightly smaller and less dense than Greensboro and has a population of 230,000 and density of 1,400 people/sq mile. The median income for a family is $46,595.  The city is also home to seven institutions of higher education.   The city has suffered from a reduction or loss of industries including textiles, tobacco and banking.  The city is thought of as the South's center for design and innovation, and is known as the City of Arts and Innovation.

Although Winston-Salem and Greensboro are similar in many ways, they greatly differ in their bike friendliness.  The current bike infrastructure in Winston-Salem includes 22 miles of Greenway trails, with a proposed 150 miles of greenway extensions.

There are a few bike clubs and bike shops in town including the Piedmont Flyers and Ken's Bike Shop, Mock Orange Bikes, & Paul's Cycle and Fitness.

Piedmont Flyers 

Pauls Cycling Fitness 

Mock orange bikes 

Ken's bike shop 

What can we do to help make Winston Salem more bike friendly?  Could we use these 18 cities (the ones we chose to research) as models for how things should be?

Biking w/Kiva

Hello!
Hope everyone is having a great week. Unfortunately I have been spending much of my time at the hospital and missing out on this beautiful weather. No biking this week but I am LOVING my pedometer. I have had ample opportunities to walk around the hospital and I average at least 2 miles a day. My plate (Livestrong) looks like a disaster waiting to happen because I have been grabbing food here and there, packing whatever I can throw in a bag and vending, snack machines are slowly becoming my new best friends. Starting TODAY, I am watching what I eat, will be riding my stationary bike while still maintaining my hospital walks. It is so easy to backslide.

I am very excited about the opportunity to work with Matt Gymer at Novant Health. There will be more information after I find out exactly what is expected of me and what my role will consist of.

Indoors vs Outdoors

For variety this week I decided to do the majority of my miles indoors in spin class.  It was an easy decision since it rained after class on Monday and I was busy after class on Wednesday, so outdoor riding was out.  I am still hoping this weekend is not completely rained out and I get on the greenway Saturday and Sunday.  So far I've logged three hours of spinning, which I think equals about 40 miles. There is another class tomorrow morning and since my WSSU students earned an early start to their spring break, I am actually free.  We will see if I can convince myself in the morning.  I'm not sure how some of my students are putting in 1-2 hours on a stationary bike.  I can only tolerate the spin class because there is some music to get jazzed about and because I get to interact with 10+ other people while I'm there.  Otherwise, I think I would be bored out of my mind. 

I would much rather be outside enjoying my surroundings and being in nature.  I really hope everyone at least tries to get out on the greenways/trails/neighborhoods, because they are totally different experiences.  I love hearing the red-shoulder hawks screeching over the Bethabara Park Trail.  I love hearing the male red-wing blackbirds defending their territories along the Salem Creek Trail.  I love seeing Great Blue Herons fishing in the shallow waters of Salem Lake.  These are experiences you just don't get if you are inside.  Rihanna and Lady Gaga, yes.  Wonderful birdwatching, no.

I have been keeping up on "MyPlate" since Matt presented it in class.  I had taken a couple months off (since December), but I generally like the site and use it pretty regularly.  I was really bad yesterday, mostly because I went to CDI and they had extra chips and cookies from a meeting.  We do not have this type of food in the house and I couldn't help myself.  So I made up for it today by eating well and spending way too much time at the gym.  I think I'm back on track now. 

In other news, I'm very excited for round two of biking 101 with Erika on Saturday.  I hope we can get her a bike that fits her and have an actual go at the activity.  In preparation, and because I have no children,  I've been looking for tips on how to teach someone to ride a bike.  I found a nice blog, called sirbikesalot.com (Thanks Tony) that has a nice "how to" post.  Wish us luck!

teach kids to ride

Biking (well running and biking) and Media Article

This week I did some stationary biking followed by running to try and mix it up this week. I stationary biked for about and hour and a half and then went running for half an hour. My legs were sore after becase I did not give myself very much rest time. I was very bored staionary biking but had a blast running. I didn't run hard because I was enjoying nature and the wonderful weather I had the other day. I may take up biking when I get home, when I only have to worry about destroying my own bike and not someone else's.

I also strated myplate this week. I started it on March 1st and plan to track my progress for at least the rest of this month. I hope this will help me in making sure I eat enough, or at least be able to see what I am getting enough of and what I need more of. I do like this sight for tracking everything so far. I just hope to maintian this determination for the remainder of the month.

The media article my group choice this week was about the naked bike ride that is held annually in Colorado. There are more than 100 people who attend this race every year. This years race will be this month and on part of a new cylce walkway they have been working on getting. The reason they ride nude is to highlight the vulnerability of cyclists on the raodway. This article was very interesting and I had no idea that a race like this even existed. I personally don't think I would do a race naked, mainly because I feel like I would be uncomfortable. However I think it is a good concept.

BP & Sell Packages of the UK Upstream Assets

The article I chose to focused on BP and sell packages of United Kingdom Upstream Assets. These assets involved Wytch Farm onshore oilfield in Dorset and all of BP’s operated gas fields in the Southern North Sea. BP wants to focus on these assets will transfer employment to the new buyer when the divestments are completed. These divestments would then allow BP to concentrate solely on its diverse central North Sea, northern North Sea, west of Shetland and Norway assets and on successful delivery of its new major projects.
BP aims to complete divestments around the end of 2011. BP is also a major investor in the North Sea with an extensive portfolio of production from existing reservoirs, new projects under development and growth potential in undeveloped resources.

Volunteering

I've been thinking about what I want to do for my volunteer project and almost immediately vetoed Moore's Spring Trails. First off I don't have a car, and it would be nearly impossible to BIKE all the way (although it could be done...). But then I started thinking, I can't make it up there to be involved as much as I would like to be, but I can help get the word out about the trails and get other people involved! PR is kind of my hobby, my mom is an artist and lacks skill all things technology, so I handle her "press" and getting the word out. If it works for my mom I sure hope it will work for the the trails.

I am really looking forward to this opprotunity. I LOVE Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, just technology in general. I really hope this works out!

Oh, and I've joined the track team. So I am going to be seeing a lot of Salem Lake and downtown from a runners perspective. This will help give me a better idea of what it's like to bike (ish) around the Winston area.

Sustainable Clothing

This week I read an article entitled “Clothes Makers Join to Set Green Score” by Tom Zeller. The article discusses a database that is being compiled by a group known as the Sustainable Apparel Coalition. When complete, the database will include information on various clothing manufacturers and how sustainable their products are. The tool will include information on all of the components and processes of the clothing manufacturing procedure. Eventually, the group hopes to develop a label for garments that will inform consumers of its sustainability grade. Backing the project are large companies like Wal-Mart, H&M and Hanes Brands in addition to brands that are already concerned with their environmental impacts like Patagonia and Timberland. These companies will work alongside some of the Coalition’s other founding members, which include Duke University, the Environmental Defense Fund and the EPA. The Coalition is hoping to bring more accountability into the market. Last year, 340 billion American dollars were spent on apparel and 99% of it came from foreign countries, most of which have few restrictions as to how much impact they can have on the environment. This device will help to better educate consumers on where their money is going and help them to make smarter choices about the products they choose to buy. The most interesting thing to me about the article was a link that appeared at the very beginning to a Google Maps image of a river in China that is located in a city where many of the world’s blue jeans are produced (I attached the link here). The river has been dyed blue and if you follow the stream up the river it will eventually take you directly to the factories that are producing the denim. I think that this one image shows just how important it is for people to switch to more sustainable practices in all aspects of our lives.
This week I decided to ride the stationary bike in the fitness center because my only free time was at night. I rode for an hour and enjoyed it, but it was different from riding outside because there was not much to look at other than the television. Riding outside is more interesting because there is more going on. I think that next week I will try to get outside to walk or ride.

Loving the outside

Hello,

I have decided to do my service project on the MST. I choose this project because I love to be outside. I love digging in dirt, planting and just being outside in general. Even when I am in the house I am constantly looking out the windows and doors to see what is happening outside. The highlight of my morning today was looking out my bedroom window and seeing about 4 deer just standing in my yard. I believe that being outside being involved with natural is a way to relieve stress and to appreciate our surroundings. I know that it will be hard work building the bike trail, but I am really looking forward to being a part of this project.

I'm Still Here!

Hey Classmates,

I figured this may be the best way to reach everyone at once to let you know that I am still here and part of the class. I've been dealing with some pretty severe illness in my family but it seems that everyone is on the mend and I'll be back in the classroom tomorrow. I am looking forward to seeing you all again!

My cycling has not been going very well, to be honest. The first week was fun riding around my neighborhood and having a picnic with my kids, but my next cycling session I opted to try the stationary bike in the fitness center. My dance class is above the fitness center, and since I have a good chunk of time between that class and our bio I figured I'd cycle away the time. However, I have to say I was so bored by the lack of mobility and change of scenery. I fully expect the outdoor experience on one of the greenways to be much more thrilling. I was only able to stay on the bike for about twenty minutes, even with adjusting the resistance and the difficulty levels mechanically. I suppose if one is looking to cycle primarily as a work out then the stationary bike might be a better option, but I am interested in an experience that includes fresh air in a peaceful setting.

This Friday, since everyone in my home is recovered and heading back to school, I will have some time to take a ride out on one of the greenways. I will bring my camera and hope that the sun continues to peek through. I haven't decided if I'm going to bike or roller skate but I'll probably bring both options and make a game time decision.