The Cycling Cat: Reporting the Wild Side of Bicycling 3

Hello, dear reader, my name is Nikita, and I am 10 years old this week.

The human you know as The Cycling Dude has been my life long companion, and bosum buddy, and I have also been his co-blogger for years.

What am I doing here?

For the next week or so Daddy will be very, very, busy, and so he asked me to fill in for him, and keep you entertained and informed. ;-D

The first post in this series, from March 7, has pictures of me, and a link to where I normally blog, if you are interested.

Daddy will explain everything, when he returns to blogging, I promise. ;-D

So, let's roll!

1. Cool Cat Bicycle Helmet Program in Michigan:

The Cool Cat Bicycle Helmet Program was developed in 1996 to increase the use and knowledge of bicycle helmets in young children and their parents through the development of a training program targeting preschoolers. The program also hoped to increase local community involvement in bicycle helmet promotions.

The Cool Cat Bicycle Helmet program used a character-based curriculum to educate preschool children on how to properly use a bicycle helmet. "Cool Cat the Brain Defender" performed a skit and song to convey the safety message to students. Each student, while wearing a bicycle helmet, had their picture taken with Cool Cat. A brain board presentation described how helmets protect the brain during a crash.

Teachers also distributed a bicycle helmet curriculum guide, coloring books and stickers to each student.

The Michigan Department of Community Health presented the Cool Cat Bicycle Helmet program to more than 4,000 preschoolers in 1996 throughout the state. Through the program, over 4,000 coloring books and stickers and 1,000 bicycle helmets have been distributed to participating students. In addition, more than 10,000 parent bicycle helmet brochures have been provided to a variety of community agencies, for dissemination to program parents.

The Cool Cat program is now presented throughout Michigan to reach more young children and their parents.

2. Pedal out to the ballgame:

Here is an excellent story about innovation in baseball that does not involve the use of illegal drugs:

When the San Francisco Giants began planning for their new downtown baseball stadium in the early 1990s, many neighbors expressed concerns about the traffic that a new ballpark would generate. To alleviate these objections, the Giants developed a comprehensive transportation management plan, which included excellent access to light rail, commuter rail, and ferries. The plan also included a first for major league baseball: indoor, secure, staffed bike parking.

The Giants contracted with the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition (SFBC) to staff the bike parking facility, located on the southern side of the present SBC Park (nee Pacific Bell Park) overlooking the waters of McCovey Cove. The SFBC is a 4,400-member nonprofit advocacy group which promotes bicycling for everyday transportation. The SFBC has for many years provided valet bike parking for numerous events throughout San Francisco, and the coalition was successful passing legislation requiring secure bicycle parking at major events in the city. Valet bike parking at the SBC Park facility was a logical extension of the coalition's work.

The Sacramento River Cats Minor League Baseball Team also provides secure staffed bike parking outdoors in a fenced area near the main entrance to its ballpark.

Sadly the Los Angeles Dodgers are striking out.

I'm gonna tell Daddy to look into the Anaheim Angels, and Ducks. ;-D

Read: BIKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME: Bike facilities lacking at California ballparks.

Well, that's all for today!

I'm going to go take a well-deserved nap. ;-D