https://www.facebook.com/groups/SouthFloridaBentRiders/

I'm very pleased to see that the South Florida Recumbent Riders group is awake again , after moving to Facebook, from Yahoo Groups.  We have a group of "regulars" who join our weekly scheduled rides and we have also added numerous new members! This group is not "formal" or very "organized" by design. All members are encouraged to participate by not only joining the scheduled rides they see in our Event Page but also by scheduling their own rides in their own areas and invite others. So, if you happen to see this post and are looking for a great group of people to ride with, I hope you check us out

I’ve been familiar with Martin Krieg's amazing story for years. I’ve also been aware of “Awake Again”, the book Martin wrote to share his story and had made a number of mental notes to myself to read it sometime. Then, I guess life happened and I just kept putting it off. Well, I finally read it and frankly, I’m kicking myself in the rear for not reading it earlier. Soon after reading the last page, I had conflicting emotions. A part of me wanted to encourage others to read this extraordinary story and a big part of me was worried that my words would not do the book justice. But the story in itself helped me find the courage I needed to risk sharing my thoughts. You see, this book is not just about Martin’s horrific ordeal and his journey back to physical and mental health. It is not just about a guy who, in spite of incredible obstacles, managed to bike across the USA twice! Sure, all of that is a big part of the story but there so much more. This is about Martin’s journey into himself. It is a story that gives the reader so many insights about the things that are really important in life. It is a story about learning about the value of examining our motives, facing our fears, understanding our most inner feelings and discovering so many hidden truths that can set any of us free and also put us on a path to becoming the person(s) that we were intended to be. In this book, Martin candidly reveals his weaknesses and fears. In so doing, we not only come in touch with Martin’s extraordinary strengths but also we get a better understanding of that which is essential for us to be strong in ourselves so that we can help others and add a whole new dimension of meaning to our lives.

See http://bikeroute.com/ for more details about the National Bicycle Greenway and Martin Krieg.

I get it.... You are bent and yes, we are bent. But there are those times when the trails demand something else... So... for those times and for the fun of it we added these toys to our stable:

SHARE THE ROAD?

“Share-the- Road” Signs, bumper stickers and  license plate messages have been promoting the idea that enhanced bicycle safety could be achieved through education and public awareness, public support for bike lanes, etc., for as long as I can remember.  As an example, we know that the push for a “Share-The-Road”Florida State Specialty license plate goes back to 1992 when the idea was born and the pressure to get the state approval grew steadily for the next eight years till, finallty, in the spring of 2000, a Florida State “Share the road” specialty license plate was available for purchase. Other states of the nation have also adopted pro cycling, pro sharing the road license plates in one form or another. In addition, Pro cycling organizations have also embraced this philosophy through campaings of their own and it is probably safe to say that, by now, after more than a decade of “Share The Road” promotions,  most cyclists support it.

Unquestionably, the “intentions” behind these efforts are honorable. We ALL want more safety for motorists and cyclists. We all want to see a reduction of injuries and death. Yet, after all these years, perhaps it is time to think about the effectiveness of the “Share The Road” movement. Has it resulted in more considerate drivers? Have the availability of more bike lanes and a plethora educational programs this movement has inspired succeeded in significantly reducing the number of cyclists that are killed on the  road?  The available statistics suggest that the Share The Road philosophy has not succeeded. The chart below shows the number of cyclists killed each year on US roads since the year 2000.  It does not take long to see that in spite of all the Share The Road “propaganda”, when bicycles and cars meet on the road, the cyclists get killed at the same rate as they did long ago. It is as if bike lanes, education and well meaning “Share The Road” thoughts have not made any difference.

CYCLISTS KILLED ON US ROADS 

2000    689

2001    739

2002    663

2003    626

2004    722

2005    784

2006    769

2007    699

2008    716

2009    628

2010    621

2011    680

2012    730

2013    741

 Insanity has been defined as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. I believe that this insanity definition is very applicable to those of us who continue to be cheer leaders for the Share the Road campaign. It is time to recognize that our efforts to promote safety should focus on promoting other solutions. Instead of “sharing the roads”, let us ask our representatives for more BIKE PATHS!  Let’s also ask that existing bike lanes have a physical barrier between cars and bicycles. Yes, it is expensive but one should consider the savings of improved safety and the potential revenue opportunities of a cycling friendly nation.  Yes, it will take a lot of effort and yes, your taxes will go up but here is a chance to do something that could actually work instead of settling for solutions that make us feel good but do nothing to improve safety for cyclists.

I recently realized that I had been ignoring my personal web site (www.GetBent.org)  for almost a decade so I decided to take a quick look. To my horror, most links were broken and some of the Java scripts used to create the original were no longer working. A more fancy web site was not possible as I don't have the time and I'm not interested  in researching the new web tools available but I thought I could certainly maintain a simple site, one that had the information I wanted to share and was easy to maintain. So I compiled the "messed up" html pages into a number of Word Documents and turned these documents into my "revived" personal web site. It only took me a couple of days to reorganize everything so I'm pleased with the results. I also thought it might be fun to add a blog space to record miscellaneous thoughts or whatever came to my head at whatever time I felt like writing something so here is my first post.  It might be interesting to see how this evolves or fails to evolve.