Linking the Week

This week the highlighted site for linking the week is Indie Arsenal.  Indie Arsenal is a local group here in Denver with two different chapters for creatives to join to meet like minded individuals as well as to collaborate on projects or other items in which it may be helpful to get the thoughts of others.  The Denver group meets on the second Tuesday of the month while the Boulder group is the first Monday of the month.  In addition to the meetings and other events, there are plenty of online resources to help you out as well as a forum to share resources, ideas and ask some of those troubling questions.

There has been some interesting weather the last couple of days here in Denver as well as on the eastern plains, so sharing the Rainbow Chasers website as the linking the week site is quite timely.  A series of nine videos, the Rainbow Chasers is a spoof on the whole storm chasing as three guys decide to go out and search for rainbows as the number of rainbow sightings in the past few years has been down here in Colorado.  This was a collabrative effort between Ben Jones of Image Brew, the Honest Bros. as well as the Nix Brothers.  Be sure to check out the videos to see how their quest plays out.

With the start of the summer recreation season, and the snow starting to melt quickly at the higher elevations I thought the Outdoor Recreation Infromation Center would be a good choice for the linking the week site.  The ORIC can be a useful resource around the year but most people venture out hiking or backpacking in the summer and the website has a good list of hikes in the Colorado area.

In addition to the online information, you can talk to the ORIC staff at the Denver REI flagship store near downtown and they can also give you ideas for places to visit as well.  Most people just past by the area on the way to the cashiers, but next time you are there and are looking for some ideas for your next hike be sure to stop by and see what ideas they may throw your way.  The service is free but they may suggest you get a map for that area if you don’t have one, but that is something you should have with you anyways when getting on the trails no matter the length of the hike.

It is during this week each year I remind myself why it is important to wear a bike helmet.  I wanted to share this post with you again for this week which was also the LTW post last year.

Warmer weather is starting to appear, and how many times have you jumped on a bicycle without a helmet, whether it was for a short ride in traffic across town or many miles down a bike path. There are various reasons why you would not wear one; from it just being something else to carry when you get to your destination, it messes up your hair, you look dorky with it on and the countless other reasons. Well 22 years ago tomorrow, I didn’t have a bicycle helmet on while riding home from soccer practice and it impacted my life. I won’t go into the specifics about what happened and the injuries suffered but needless to say it has changed the thought process of using bicycle helmets for many people I know when I tell the story.

Here are some facts from the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute regarding injuries for bicyclists:

• There are 85 million bicycle riders in the US.
• About 540,000 bicyclists visit emergency rooms with injuries every year. Of those, about 67,000 have head injuries, and 27,000 have injuries serious enough to be hospitalized.
• A very high percentage of cyclists’ brain injuries can be prevented by a helmet, estimated at anywhere from 45 to 88 per cent.
• 770 bicyclists died on US roads in 2006, down just 14 from the year before. Over 90 percent died in crashes with motor vehicles.

Now I don’t want to scare you with the statistics as a bicycle is a great way to get around but throwing a helmet on your head is another thing you should do when out riding. Helmets vary in price, but some can be purchased for around $20.

If you don’t have a helmet, I encourage you to check out the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute website to find out more information. At the website you will find information on how to buy a helmet, how to fit a helmet, the locations where the use of a helmet is mandatory and until what age (you may be surprised at some of the restrictions) and much more.

When you are riding a bicycle always make sure a helmet is on your head, as you never know what can happen.

As the weather has been getting nicer I have been taking the opportunity to ride by bicycle up to the Denver Photography Gallery – gallery nrc instead of driving.  While it is around seven miles and on a mix of bicycle paths and city streets it reminds me of an article I saw in the newspaper earlier this year discussing the US Bicycle Route System which is this weeks linking the week site.

While riding seven miles is different than throughout the country, it is somewhat similiar.  Here in Denver there are plenty of bike routes which are published, and while I am heading to the gallery see the signs indicating I am on D-6 or D-1 heading the gallery.  On a smaller scale this is exactly what the US Bicycle Route System is planning on doing throughout the country.  Marking bicycle routes is a smart move for education to both bicyclists as well as drivers so they are both aware of predetermined routes which exist and improve safety.