A message from ibike

International Bicycle Fund / Ibike Update
(roughly semi-annual), June 2007

CONTENTS:

BICYCLE ESSAY CONTEST WINNERS: Winners of the 2007 Student Bicycle Essay Contest
TEACHING KIDS (AND ADULTS) TO RIDE A BICYCLE: A good start leads to more bicycling.
UPCOMING IBIKE PROGRAMS: Cameroon, South Korea, Vietnam, Uganda, Tanzania. Expand your horizons, enrich your mind, stimulate your body, and nourish you spirit.
ATENAS DE CUBA PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE PROGRAM UPDATE: Having hope in Congress.
DONATE TO IBF ONLINE:
HOUSEKEEPING MATTERS:

INTRODUCTION

We hope that the weather and road conditions around you are conducive for you do all the bicycling that you desire.  Meanwhile we are helping individuals and organizations to promote sustainable transport and understanding, worldwide.  Here is a brief program update:

WINNERS OF THE 2007 STUDENT BICYCLE ESSAY CONTEST

The winning essays from the 2007 International Bicycle Fund Student Essay contest are posted on our website. The winners are: "Bike Riding Is Not Just For Fun", by Tiffany Liu, age 7, Jen Ranch Elementary, Castro Valley, CA;  "Benefits of Biking", by Kathleen Davin, age 13, Elwood Middle School, Elwood, NY; and, "Biking: My Life, My Love", by Doreen Xu, age 15, Baylor School, Chattanooga, TN.  Each writer receives a cash prize and certificate. Congratulations to the winners and thank you to all the students who submitted essays.  The essays are posted at http://www.ibike.org/essays/2006.htm.  The next deadline is May 1, 2008.  We encourage you to motivate the students you know to think and write about bicycling, and to enter the contest.

TEACHING KIDS (AND ADULTS) TO RIDE A BICYCLE

It must be the time of year when people are out teaching and learning how to ride bicycles.  Recently we have gotten more than the usual number of praise messages on our article on how to teach kids (and adults) how to ride bicycle, and requests to help people learn to bicycle.  It all serves as a nice reminder that before people will go out and do lots of bicycling they need to learn how to bicycle.  The better they learn, the higher their level of confidence, and the higher their level of confidence the more likely they are to bicycle.  If you, or someone you know is teaching or learn how to bicycle, we would like to direct your attention to http://www.ibike.org/education/teaching-kids.htm.  If you have help someone to learn to bicycle recently know is a great time to take it on.

UPCOMING IBIKE PROGRAMS: COUNTRY YOU SHOULD SEE:

One of the goals of our travel program is to help people get out of the travel ruts – heading to the tourism destination enclaves.  We do this by offering programs to really interesting places that are not mainstream destinations, and by giving people an opportunity to see a mainstream destination through a different and more interesting lens.  We hope you will take on one of the following programs:

Cameroon: Consistent with our goal, in November 4-18, we are again offering a program to Cameroon.  It has been a while since we have put this program on the schedule, but not because it doesn’t deserve to be.  It is often called “Africa in Minature.”  Just one measure of how diverse this country is:  In the coarse of two weeks will be passing through the areas of the Duala, Bankon, Mbo, Bakaka, Bassa, Bamunka, Mendankwe-Nkwen, Kom, Lamnso’, Oku, and Bafut ethnic groups, to name a few.  It is unlikely that these names means much to you now, but in the course of the tour you will get a context for this and much more.  It is an extraordinarily beautiful route as well.  For more information see http://www.ibike.org/bikeafrica/cameroon.htm

Other up-coming programs include:
Korea: September 9-23, for more details see http://www.ibike.org/ibike/korea.  Half of Korea in pretty industrial, and the other half in picturesque rural, riverine, forested, coastal and mountainous, and continuously culturally rich -- it is the latter half that we explore!  We can’t understand why touring cyclists are swarming all over the back roads of South Korea.  Come be the first on your block to discover the elation of bicycle touring in Korea.
Vietnam: January 20-February 2, 2008, for more details see http://www.ibike.org/ibike/vietnam.  The recipe is: one part capitalism, one part communism and a dash of assorted religions, then stir – a very intriguing society, with beautiful bicycling.
Uganda: January 13-26, 2008, for more details see http://www.ibike.org/bikeafrica/uganda.htm.  Yes, it is safe, friendly and very welcoming.  The program includes really great opportunities to learn about the culture, and see wildlife -- with a back drop gorgeous scenery.
Tanzania: January 26 -February 11, 2008; for more details see http://www.ibike.org/bikeafrica/tanzania.htm.  Start with a toe in the India Ocean and finishing with ten toes on the top of Mt Kilimanjaro, the highest point in Africa.
Seattle: Year around, if you visiting Seattle please consider on of our custom Seattle Heritage Bicycle Tours.  For more details see http://www.ibike.org/ibike/seattle.

Our cultural travel programs are our main source of revenue.  We hope you will support IBF by joining one of these programs:  These may not be mainstream destinations, but that is part of their value.  The full schedule is posted at http://www.ibike.org/ibike/schedule.htm.

ATENAS DE CUBA PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE PROGRAM UPDATE

Unfortunately, our participation with Atenas de Cuba is still suspended because of U.S. restrictions on freedom of association and freedom of travel.  There are some rays of hope in the new Congress, but even there many representatives are trying to play to all sides by casting conflicting votes, so progress has been limited.  If you would like to know more about opportunities to effect change see http://www.lawg.org/countries/cuba/takeACTION.htm

DONATE TO IBF ONLINE

To continue our work we depend on donation from people like you who support promoting sustainable transportation.  You can now donate online through a secure link.  Go to http://www.guidestar.org/partners/networkforgood/donate.jsp?ein=91-1286223 

Sheaf Valley Cycle Route

The Sheaf Valley Cycle Route (City Centre- Archer Rd) represents a substantial improvement on what we had before. The link between Saxon Rd and Little London Rd was crucial to avoid congested Chesterfield Rd; traffic has been much reduced on Little London Rd, with consequential benefits for the residents of the Lakes and Norton Hammer areas and the permeability of the Broadfield Rd area is greatly improved. The proof of the success of this scheme is the greatly increased numbers of cyclists using the route.

But...

We still have reservations about:

• Saxon Rd, where we continue to believe that a one-way scheme with a contra-flow for cyclists, mirroring the Little London Rd scheme but in the opposite direction, would have benefits for all;
• The Virgin Gym cycleway where the bollards are too close together (can't get a trike down it - we need 1.5 metres!)
• Problem of no maintenance on the link into Sainsburys (here's hoping for an interchange of some sort there one day)
• What happened to the pay-off the council got from Tescos?
• Section between Fieldhead Rd & Mount Pleasant on Abbeydale Rd where apart from the p/t inbound bus lane there is no protection for cyclists (although moving the outbound bus stop has helped)
• Please please resurface Little London Rd & Staveley Rd - my soft fruit is getting turned into puree on the way back from Sainsburys! Cycle routes need better maintenance than bronze routes!