www.sbbike.org Serving Santa Barbara County We’re a countywide advocacy and resource organization that promotes bicycling for safe transportation and recreation.
How to reach us Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition PO Box 92047 Santa Barbara CA 93190-2047 phone 962-1479 email info@sbbike.org web www.sbbike.org
February 1st meeting Join us on the first Tuesday of each month for our general meeting: Tuesday, February 1st County Public Works Conference Room, 1st Floor 123 East Anapamu Street Santa Barbara, California 12:00 noon
Online email list We sponsor an online email forum where you can post and read messages that pertain to regional bicycling issues. It’s easy and free. To subscribe to our general forum, just send an email message to:
February 2005
Government says “exercise more” The news is dire. Two-thirds of Americans are overweight. And half of all Americans get little or no exercise. So the government is taking action. On January 12, new Dietary Guidelines were released by the US Departments of Agriculture and Health & Human Services. Compared to earlier guidelines, the 2005 ones have greater emphasis on increased physical activity and reduced calorie consumption. The new Guidelines tell Americans to engage in regular physical activity and reduce sedentary activities to promote health, psychological well-being, and a maintain healthy body weight. Specifically, we are told: • Achieve physical fitness by including cardiovascular conditioning like bicycling, stretching exercises, and resistance exercises for muscle strength and endurance. • Reduce the risk of chronic diseases by engaging in at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most days of the week. • Manage adult body weight by engaging in 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity on most days of the week, while not exceeding caloric intake requirements. • Sustain adult weight loss by engaging in 60 to 90 minutes of daily moderate-intensity physical activity, while not exceeding caloric intake requirements. While many people will feel that they cannot squeeze in 30-90 minutes a day for exercise, re-
thinking daily habits might reveal that bike trips for shopping and recreation can provide what they need. In addition to exercise, the Guidelines Federal 2005 Dietary Guidelines. emphasize calorie control and selection of nutrient-dense, high-fiber foods. Choose foods and beverages from basic food groups while limiting intake of saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, sugars, salt, and alcohol. What should we all eat? Mostly, eat a large variety of vegetables, fruits, and whole-grain products. Keep fat intake low, with most coming from polyunsaturated or monosaturated fats such as fish, nuts, and vegetable oils. Choose lean, nonfat or lowfat meat, poultry, dry beans and milk products. At the same time, balance calories consumed with those expended to maintain body weight. To lose weight, slowly reduce food intake while increasing exercise. You can read the entire 2005 Dietary Guidelines and consumer brochure online at www.healthierus.gov/dietaryguidelines.
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Join the Coalition You can help improve bicycling safety and conditions in Santa Barbara County by joining others in our own regional Bicycle Coalition advocacy group. Together we will continue to make a real difference. See page 6 for details.
Our Cycle Smart program The Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition’s Cycle Smart bicyclist education program offers bicycling skills classes for school children and adults. Look for details of upcoming classes inside Quick Release, or contact our Coordinator Nancy Mulholland by phone at 563-9073 or email nmulhol04@yahoo.com.
More bike articles, fewer letters to editors Each year since 1992, the Bicycle Coalition’s Ralph Fertig has clipped regional newspaper articles, cartoons, photographs, opinion/editorial pieces, and letters to the editor that mention or depict bicycling in any way. Annually, he then tabulates those where bicycling plays a significant, not trivial, part of the item. The results—shown in the graph—clearly demonstrate a continual rise of awareness of bicycling within our County. For 2004 articles, photos and cartoons, we have a new record: 405 of them! That’s an 8% increase over 2003.
For submitted letters and opinion/editorial “op/ ed” pieces, however, the opposite was true—we dropped to the lowest level since 1992. There were only 28 of them. This should be embarrassing to us because it’s the one area where we, as bicyclists, can personally raise awareness and make a real difference. As for the 28 bicyclingrelated letters and op/ed pieces published in 2003, ten were written by Bicycle Coalition members. Our thanks to Ralph Fertig who had three published, Robert Bernstein for two, and one each from Mike Hecker , Alex Pujo, Eva Inbar, Harry Nelson, and Garrick Sitongia.