The week’s top bike news from around the world, brought to you every Friday.
Local news
Meares a fitting role model
Anna Meares has been named Women’s Health magazine’s sports woman of the year after her stellar performance at the London Olympics in June.
City of Perth falls short on spending
The City of Perth is the only capital city council to reduce bicycle infrastructure funding this year. Perth Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi claims less funding is needed because Perth already has an established bike network, but But Bicycling WA chief Jeremey Murray disagrees.
Darebin Bridge rally this weekend
Building the Darebin Bridge will link six of Melbourne’s most popular trails and give easy access to hundreds of kilometres of popular bike paths throughout the Melbourne metropolitan area. The project has been approved, but progress is painfully slow. Help convince the State Government to make completing this short link a top priority this Sunday, 9 December, at Sparks Reserve, Ivanhoe: 10:00-11:00am.
International news
No turbo boost from EPO
According to a new study published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, there’s no evidence that EPO – the illicit drug of choice for many ‘doping’ cyclists – noticeably enhances performance, but it can have some nasty side effects.
Bikes boost local businesses
While motorists spend more per visit in shops and restaurants, bike riders and pedestrians make more frequent trips to local businesses, establish relationships with retailers and spend more overall. So while many shops complain when car parking is replaced by bike parking or bike lanes, they could be doing them a favour.
London considers change of pace
The City of London has funded an investigation into the possible benefits of lowering the city’s speed limit to 20mph (32.18km/h) as it considers ways to make streets safer for bikes and pedestrians and encourage active transport.
World’s oldest paperboy?
Bud Shaefer picked up riding at the ripe old age of 82, and quickly fell in love with life on two wheels. Now, four years later, he uses his bike to deliver the local newspaper every afternoon.
Health
Fit kids perform better
According to a recent study conducted on middle school students and published in the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, children with a high level of all-round fitness perform better academically across the board than their peers.
Video
Let the good tunes roll
In an impressive feat of multi-tasking, bicycle showband Crescendo play and ride in spectacular formations at the same time.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ragGCgQDmY]
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