Thursday, February 24, 2011

Outside: Where Living is Risky


Last week was an interesting blog post on peopleforbikes.org titled "Don't fear riding a bicycle, fear sitting in that chair". It really struck a cord with me, especially because I sometimes end up defending myself in terms of being "crazy enough" to ride a bike on a road... A road that is also used by cars, trucks and nutjobs.

Living is risky. Being active (whatever your activity of choice may be) bears certain risks, but being inactive doesn't make you live forever either... Quite the opposite actually. Here are some graphs that the Centers of Disease and Prevention published and that links inactivity to obesity and diabetes. It's really a no brainer, but it's still interesting to see these maps right next to each other.






There is still so much to do in order to make being active outside more accessible and safe for everyone, but there are also tons of options already available.

In the meantime, we just have to do our part in being as safe as possible out there... I am always suprised about how many people I see on the SRT without helmets on. What is especially ridiculous, when the kids wear helmets, but the parents don't. It's the helmets and the lights and the reflect gear that will protect us to a certain degree while we are out there....

It's expecting that other people screw up in traffic and act accordingly.... People are only people and make mistakes no matter if you are in a car or on a bike or just walking down the street, so open your eyes when you are out there and watch what everyone else around you is doing, especially if you don't have a cushion of steel around you.

Okay, I am getting of my soap box now.... Happy Thursday!

No comments:

Post a Comment