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Cycling in the name of safety
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by Carl Jaeger
Friday, February 16, 2007
In an effort to raise support for the safety of Madison-area children, a group of University of Wisconsin students are bearing the cold weather and cycling all day today.
The UW cycling team will be biking on Library Mall for their annual "Freezing for Safety" event today from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. to raise funds and awareness for the Madison Area Safe Kids Coalition.
Out of the 80 members on the UW Cycling Team, nearly 50 have signed up to participate in the event, according to team member Jessie Duppler.
Duppler also said that members will bike in shifts and stay as long at they are able to.
"People come whenever they want and stay for however they want — until they freeze," Duppler said.
Duppler added the team normally doesn't train outdoors but makes an exception for the charity event.
"We have stationary trainers that we train inside on," Duppler said. "So we basically hook our bikes up to it and they become stationary."
Duppler also said the UW cycling team is providing entertainment on Library Mall in hopes of receiving donations.
"We heckle people for money, usually do some crazy stunts," Duppler said. "We bring cowbells and music, and usually people dress up in costume."
According to Duppler, the UW cycling team raised nearly $1,000 last year for the Madison Area Safe Kids Coalition.
UW cycling member Jon Camp said the Madison Area Safe Kids Coalition focused on the transportation safety of young people.
"Their primary focus is safe kids," Camp said. "They do a lot of stuff with child seats, helmets for kids who can't afford them and helping out families with other child safety issues."
Camp also said it is important to teach children positive safety habits early in life.
"By kids starting to wear helmets at a young age, it just really ingrains good habits to continue on whenever you choose to ride a bike later on in life," Camp said.
Camp added the cycling team aims to set a good example when practicing around the area.
"Even though we're not mandated to wear helmets when we race and when we ride, sometimes we do it just for the safety factor as well," Camp said. "It's nice to teach the same values to other people when they see us ride."
Safe Kids is a national organization that focuses on prevention of unintentional injuries, the leading cause of death among children fourteen and younger, according to the Safe Kids website.
According to Camp, the cause relates to many members of the UW cycling team.
"A lot of us have been involved in accidents at one point or another, so we know how important it is to have a helmet," said Camp. "Being on the cycling team, and having a large presence in campus, we try to advocate proper helmet usage and safety."
Anonymous (February 16, 2007 @ 4:41am):
Helmets may be useful for racing but they have very little benefit for bicycle safety generally; they are a side issue. Population studies have consistently failed to show any reduction in cyclist death and serious injury with increasing helmet use. One of the safest places in the developed world to cycle is Holland but this has an extremely low rate of helmet wearing. The studies that claim an 80% reduction in head injury are largely bogus. See <www.cyclehelmets.org> for an in-depth presentation of the complex issues.
Anonymous (February 16, 2007 @ 7:23am):
False. Helmets in cycling significantly reduce the risk of traumatic brain injury in accidents involving recreational cyclists.
Anonymous (February 16, 2007 @ 6:50pm):
Just to mention, slight misquote in that peice. We ARE required to wear helmets while racing, but we do it for safety reasons while training or riding around. Just thought I'd fix that!
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