New Jersey is rated among the top ten states for cyclists

I read about this on The Patch at the article here. Here is the comment I posted:

I'm glad New Jersey got this designation, because it encourages everyone to keep going in the right direction. I would imagine it is not because conditions are in the top ten but because the legislation and plans are most forward thinking. For example towns and counties are adopting "complete streets" policies, which I hope will lead to better built streets and roads, giving equal access to pedestrians, motorists, cyclists, and wheelchair users.

I co-founded the South Orange Maplewood Bicycle Coalition, which, sadly, is shutting down. Those of us who ran it no longer have the time or energy to continue. We held various activities to encourage cycling and show how we can cycle on the roads we currently have. We advocated to our towns to adopt "complete streets" policies, and we succeeded.

I hope the vision continues to grow. I believe the world will be a better place when we drive motor vehicles less and walk more and cycle more. And it will be necessary, because I predict that fuel prices will reach unimagined levels eventually. We might as well start new habits now. If you think you can't cycle to school or work or the supermarket, please contact me or a local cycling expert or someone at newjerseybikewalk.org. There is a lot of help and encouragement in all kinds of places.

Please support a cycling portion in your schools' physical education program. We should all be in the habit of moving by our own power.

Red the greyhound is not doing well

I'm blogging his health chronicle here.

bone marrow donation

I'm going to give a few small blood samples on Friday morning. I'm sure this will be uneventful.

Since I had back surgery back in 1988, they're not going to do the procedure taking samples from the back, which is one of the procedures that they sometimes do.

Bone Marrow Donations

Speaking of donations:

In 2005, there was a woman near me, living in South Orange, who had a fatal disease and was hoping for a bone marrow transplant to increase her chances of survival. I don't think she received it, and she died soon after the word went out. Before she died, her family organized a local drive for many of us to test for eligibility to donate. Many of us in the area went in and had our cheeks swabbed. It was very easy. We are registered with the Gift Of Life Bone Marrow Foundation.

Since then, I've been getting periodic emails about what's going on in the organization.

In the meantime, I mentioned this to my cousin who is only a few months younger than I am. She is diagnosed with leukemia, though she is symptom-free. She is on an experimental drug program to keep it in check. I don't understand this, so take it at face value. She is on disability, and the drugs reduce the amount of energy she has throughout the day. Since she might one day need a bone marrow transplant, I mentioned I could donate to her, if I'm eligible. She was quite touched. Of course, it would be a big deal for her, but I tend to look at it for what it means to me. It would hurt, but it would be a relatively small sacrifice for me, especially given how big the payoff could be.

Today, I got a call from Gift of Life, saying there's a patient who needs a transplant and I might be a candidate. She's 37 years old, and that's all I know. I'll be going in for tests, and if I'm a candidate, there will be one of two procedures. The 20% likely one will be pretty painless, and the 80% likely one will be fairly painful. Apparently, a lot of the pain comes from the drugs, not the procedure. But I think she said the pain should only last a week. I was picturing them carving open my femur (after cutting through my quadricep) to get the marrow, but I guess not, and that's a good thing, though I'd be game for that.

So this might happen. Stay tuned. I knew this might happen, and here it is, six years later, and now it really might happen. I'm rather excited.

Please donate blood

WHO: The Blood Center of New Jersey
WHEN: February 5, 2011, 9am to 2pm
WHERE: Morrow Memorial Church, 600 Ridgewood Road, Maplewood, NJ 07040

Please come and donate blood. If you've never done it before, please consider doing so.

If you have questions about what it's like, please ask here or poke around the website to see if there are answers to your questions. It will tell you if you're qualified to donate, if it's safe, and all that.

http://www.bloodnj.org/

I give blood as often as I can. I find it to be painless, and it does not make me tired afterwards. In fact, I never feel any after-effects. Some people do feel a bit weak or tired for a while, but it's not guaranteed that you will. Only you can decide if it's worthwhile.

There are frequent blood shortages, and we could eliminate them if we all pitched in. I suspect people just don't give it thought. It costs nothing, only takes a little time, and it makes a difference. If you're short on cash, this is one way to help people without costing you any money. It's a real contribution to your community.

I used to be a bit fearful of the pain. There are two pricks: one to the fingertip and one into the arm vein. Most of the nurses who do the pricks are highly skilled and know how to do them without causing pain. I've learned over time not to fear them, which has made them feel like the most routine sensations. Once you know what to expect, it's no big deal at all. And pain really shouldn't be an obstacle to donating. The pain ranges from very minor to completely unnoticeable. The benefit, however, is much bigger than any of the pain. So please think about donating!

Children as young as 16 can now donate! This is new, and I think it's a wonderful opportunity for teenagers to serve their community.

As you can tell, I'm passionate about this. I'll be happy to tell you more if you'd like.

Thank you.

Tom Reingold
Maplewood, NJ

Book Title: The Watchers

Philip Chen has just published his novel called Falling Star. You can download a copy of this book for a mere $3 from Amazon. You need either a Kindle or Kindle software. Kindle software is free!

Falling Star, by Philip Chen

Free Kindle software for PC

Free Kindle software for Mac

safety warning: do not insert brake lever into your thigh!

Last night was the last of four sessions of classes my partner and I taught. The course was called Let's Ride. It covered traffic handling skills and bike repair.

Near the end of the ride, a student fell, and in a freak accident, the brake lever entered her thigh and was completely submerged under her skin. It caused a lot of pain, and she was in quite a panic because it looked so very gruesome.

As luck had it, very helpful people were right there. We were in a county park, near the edge of the park and a road. In the park was a fire engine with full crew, a patrol car with an officer, an EMT riding his bike, and an OR nurse taking a walk. The officer called for an ambulance, which came quickly, with EMT's, as did an ambulance with paramedics. The cyclist-EMT and my partner disassembled the bike, separating handlebars from the bike so that our student could keep the handlebars in her lap. She didn't want anyone extracting the brake lever. The EMT's agreed and complied, and they gingerly lifted her onto a backboard and then a stretcher, taking great care not to disturb the handlebar/human interface.

The police officer said he is also a cyclist. He does mountain bike races. He had never seen a brake lever pierce a body before. I'm sure he never will again, either.

The student had brought her husband and kids with her for the first time. Husband was riding along with us. The two kids, age 17 and 7, stayed at the ride start point.

By the time the ambulance took the student away, the sun had set, and it was quite dark. I strapped the disassembled remains of the bike to the rack on my bike, and we pedaled through the quite-dark woods to our start point. I talked to the husband, making sure he was calm and wasn't worrying too much.

The kids took the news quite well. My partner and I accompanied husband and kids to the hospital. We found the patient in good spirits. Her injury, as it turned out, was minor. She said that at least half the pain was from the horror of seeing her body invaded in such a shocking and disgusting way. The lever didn't enter any muscle tissue.

She's sore today and has trouble walking, but she says she is looking forward to getting back on the bike.