February 2023

Bahati Foundation: Helping kids to a better life

From VeloNews.com

By

The Bahati Foundation is impacting lives for the better through cycling.

People often ask: What does the Bahati Foundation actually do? What are its successes or failures? The answers to those questions originate in the foundation’s formal vision statement: “Our vision is to expose under-represented youth to cycling and assist them in maintaining active participation as the next generation of cyclists by nurturing and encouraging alternative mobility.”

To get more detailed answers, we asked the foundation’s executive director Rashid Bahati and his son, the foundation chairman Rahsaan Bahati, for some examples of kids who have come through their programs and found success in life.

Rahsaan immediately came up with “a kid the same age as me, Kenny Burgess, that I met at the high school I went to in Los Angeles. I met him in class after he saw a small little article on me in the LA Times sports section after I went to the Pan-American Games with the U.S. team. After reading the article about me he went absolutely crazy, saying, ‘I want to do what you do.’ He ended up racing and I helped him join a program that got him into college, at Indiana University; he went on to do great things. He lives in Georgia now, has a family, has a great career, and of the three or four people in our circle he was the one with the least support coming from home. So, when people blow back on Kenny, they say how proud they are of him. He overcame a lot.”

Rashid recalled other young people that were helped by the foundation and went on to major achievements. “We had a young man in 2016 or ’17, Keyshawn Blackstone, who was greatly overweight before coming to us. He lost a bunch of weight, was cycling everywhere, doing a lot of good stuff, and we were able to get him a major scholarship through one of our supporters, to help in school. He was a high achiever and cycling did a lot for his life. It really turned him around.”

Read more

in Featured  by Forsyth 0 comments

Train Smarter – Avoid These 6 Common Cycling Mistakes!

If you’re looking to improve your performance or fitness on the bike then it can be all too easy to fall into the trap of some very common mistakes. Conor and Manon go over 6 mistakes that can be easily avoided that, when rectified, will boost your training and help you reach your goals! 💪

 

in Featured  by Forsyth 0 comments

Have You Mastered These 8 Road Bike Skills?

From Bicycling.com

By Molly Hurford

“It’s just like riding a bike” might be the most common cliche, but let’s be honest: Riding a bike is rarely as simple as pedaling in a straight line. There is a skill element involved—unless you plan to stick to riding back and forth on your flat driveway. So when was the last time you thought about your bike skills? We often get so caught up in progressing our fitness, we forget about honing our skills.

“We talk about progression a lot when we talk about fitness: If you follow a training plan, you’re going to gradually progress each phase of your fitness,” says Lorri Lee Lown, founder of Velo Girls and longtime head coach at Savvy Bike. “But when we look at the ‘skill’ part of cycling, we don’t do the same thing. If I were to do anything else as an adult learner, I’d take classes and practice, but we don’t do that on the bike. We tend to think about how far or fast we can ride, but we don’t think about how precisely we ride.”

Not only do bike skills require dedicated practice and awareness, they also require slow, steady progression. Take climbs, for example. “Every little grade that I go up, I’m climbing, and every little grade that I go down, I’m descending,” says Lown. “It can be the smallest hill, but I still try to think about my position, my shifting, my braking—I’m reinforcing the skill set. Then, when you’re in a higher risk situation, like those 10% grades and higher, you feel more comfortable.”

Here, we dig into a few of the key skills for safe, smooth, and fun road cycling, with help from a few expert coaches and pro riders. Now, all you have to do is practice!

Photo by Munbaik Cycling Clothing on Unsplash

Read More

in Featured  by Forsyth 0 comments

New California laws that affect drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians

From SFExaminer.com

By Chris Dolan and and Allison Stone

The OmniBike Bill (AB-1909), written by Assemblymember Laura Friedman, D-Glendale, changes how cars and bike riders share the road. The goals and purpose of the changes were to ensure that cyclists on California streets were safer and more protected, to help cyclists and motorists safely share the road, and to reduce collisions involving bike riders and motorists. The bill makes four significant changes to the vehicle code in California.

First, drivers passing a bicyclist travelling in the same direction must change lanes/move over into an adjacent traffic lane, if available, before passing a bicycle, just as it would when passing another car on the road. That is, vehicles must move into another lane with due regard for safety and traffic conditions, if practicable and not prohibited by law. This contrasts with the previous law — known as the “three-foot rule,” which required that a driver passing a bike rider do so at a distance of at least three feet. Many felt this three-foot rule was too hard to measure with two moving objects on the road, was difficult to enforce and did not provide enough room or cushion for the safety of a bicyclist. This change is a significant improvement over the previous three-foot rule. It offers clearer directives and makes it easier for cars to pass bikers safely while preventing and reducing serious and life-altering bicycle accidents. The requirement of changing lanes to pass will make it easier for police to cite drivers who fail to give bikes room for safety. Penalties may vary by county, but those who violate the law face fines and fees.

Second, cities and counties are now prohibited from requiring and enforcing bicycle licenses’ law.

Third, the new law essentially eliminates local authorities’ ability to ban electric bikes from bike paths. Class 3 electric bicycle riders are permitted on approved bicycle paths, trails, and lanes. In other words, there is no longer a statewide ban on class 3 (the fastest) electric bikes on bicycle paths, trails, bikeways, bicycle lanes, equestrian trails, and hiking and recreational trails. Notably, electric bicycles can still be banned from certain hiking trails and equestrian paths.

A fourth change that goes into effect on January 1, 2024, is that bicyclists can cross an intersection when a “WALK” pedestrian signal is on instead of only when there is a green light.

Another important change that came into effect as of 2023 is AB-2147, also known as the Freedom to Walk Act written by Assemblymember Phil Ting, D-San Francisco. This law prohibits officers from stopping pedestrians for violations such as crossing the road outside of a crosswalk (jaywalking) unless there is immediate danger of a collision. In that case, an officer can stop and cite a pedestrian. Crossing the street outside a crosswalk is now legal, and you will not get a ticket if the road is wide open. For more information, see our blog on this specific topic.

Photo by Maarten van den Heuvel on Unsplash

 

Read More

 

 

in Featured  by Forsyth 0 comments