inside excellent life
When a man with a car meets a man with a bicycle, the man with the bicycle is a dead man. In Italy more than in any other country in Europe. We are black jersey in civilization. #UnMetroEMezzoDiVita.
Source: Associazione Corridori Ciclisti Professionisti Italiani dal 1946 – ACCPI Assocorridori @ACCPI1946
Speaking of being sedentary lifestyle, I do not know how aware we are that it is the structure of our cities that leads us, like the current of a river, toward this very negative lifestyle. As long as cities remain spaces that almost exclusively facilitate the use of cars, walking and bicycling will remain on the margins of our lives and lack of movement will continue to be an endemic problem.
People on bicycles have “appeared in Paris,” and the most important thing about this incredible transformation of Paris is how quickly it happened once the streets were transformed. One cannot say that “Paris has always been like this,” because it has not. It took leadership.
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The following are the thoughts of @BrentToderian (City planner + urban planner at @TODUrbanWORKS. Global advisor on cities. Past Vancouver chief planner).
To ensure cars didn’t take back control of Paris streets as the pandemic was “ending,” (like they have in so many cities), Mayor @Anne_Hidalgo made sure that 60k parking spaces and many streets were permanently transformed to seating for restaurants, people places and bike-lanes.
There’s no simplistic “silver bullet” for making lively streets & great #peopleplaces — but if there was, it would probably be street seating & moveable chairs. Don’t let anyone say there isn’t room — just rethink space for cars. As #Paris effortlessly illustrates. #placemaking
Walking around European cities — from bustling urban centers like Milan and Amsterdam to smaller cities such as Ghent and Bruges in Belgium, and Ravenna and Padua in Northern Italy — it’s clear that there are numerous improvements that can be borrowed for the United States and implemented relatively quickly and inexpensively:
A survey by the Ipsos Research Institute on mobility and the Italian perception of the bike:
While in Roma many argue are against the decision of the major, Ignazio Marino, to close the Colosseo area to the car traffic. In London 50,000 cyclists are expected to ride the eight-mile traffic free route through central area over the two-day London FreeCycle to diffuse an eco-compatible life style.
Hungarian cyclists rise their bikes during an environment friendly demonstration. The protest ride was organized in order to promote cycling, one of the most environment-friendly forms of traveling, and to raise awareness about the need to improve cycling conditions in the city.
“Walking and cycling should become the norm for short journeys rather than driving a car, the government’s health advisory body has recommended in an attempt to tackle a national epidemic of inactivity and obesity which now causes as much harm as smoking.
In strongly-worded advice, which places significant pressure on the government to increase the extent of safe walking and cycling routes, theNational Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) urges local authorities, health bodies, workplaces and schools to do all they can to assist people in active travel.
The report notes that almost two-thirds of men and nearly three-quarters of women in England are not sufficiently active to maintain their health, with the results little better for children.
This amounts to a significant public health problem to which increased walking and cycling is a key solution, said Dr Harry Rutter, an adviser to the Department of Health-funded National Obesity Observatory, who led the Nice study.
“Only a minority of people in England get enough physical activity to improve their health,” he said. “This creates a huge and often invisible burden of illness and reduced quality of life, but most people seem to be unaware of the scale of that burden. Across the population, lack of physical activity causes roughly the same level of ill-health as smoking does.
“We all face barriers in changing our lifestyles and many of us feel we don’t have the time or the inclination to add regular physical activity into our lives. But walking and cycling – to work, to school, to the shops or elsewhere – can make a huge difference. It’s an opportunity to make these activities part of normal routine daily behaviour.”
The 126-page report lays down recommendations for many public and private institutions, which have no statutory force but carry some influence given Nice’s position. They also coincide with the advent next April of the NHS’s health and wellbeing boards, where local health chiefs will collaborate to improve community health.
It urges local authorities to devise a coherent, long-term plan for boosting active travel to be at the centre of every policy, avoiding the piecemeal efforts exemplified by the cursory and suddenly-vanishing bike lanes familiar to most UK cyclists. Schools are being advised to provide secure bike parking and introduce “walking buses” where pupils walk to and from school in a supervised group, with employers similarly guided on helping staff ditch their cars.
The report’s authors say they are aware of the ambition of their plan, with the average Briton now walking or cycling 80 miles a year less now than they did a decade ago and the percentage of journeys made by bike remaining at about 2%, against 26% for the Netherlands and 19% in Denmark.”
(article written by Peter Walker, The Guardian)
E’ utile ricordare che sono i genitori i primi educatori dei propri figli al movimento sino dal momento in cui cominciano a gattonare. Non basta un’alimentazione adeguata: bisogna lasciarli muovere liberamente, insegnando come non farsi male. Due esempi. I bambini anche con meno di un anno amano salire e scendere da divani, sedie e letti. Può essere pericoloso se cadono di testa, bisogna spendere del tempo nell’insegnare loro che non si scende di testa ma che bisogna girarsi e scendere con le gambe. Chi prova questa esprienza vedrà la propria figlia fare questo gioco per minuti e minuti. SEcondo esempio: si può insegnare a andare in bici e sui pattini in linea sin dall’età di due anni, l’unico problema può essere rappresentato dal mal di schiena del genitore mentre per il bambino questa attività sarà eccitante e divertente. Sono solo due modi per insegnare a muoversi in sicurezza, il sabato o la domenica bisogna poi portarli per ore parco e stare con loro. Chounque lo può fare basta volerlo.
Consiglio questo splendido articolo di Eugenio Capodacqua da cui stralcio: “Il sorriso è la gioia di esserci, di partecipare, al di là e al di sopra di noiose ed alienanti classifiche che sottolineano il più delle volte un finto dilettantismo sconfinante facilmente nella farmacia vietata e nell’imbroglio. Perché qui, all’Eroica non conta in “quanto” la fai, ma conta “farla” e basta. Esserci, appunto. Una rarità nell’inferno ultra competitivo delle altre manifestazioni e che, proprio per questo, attira sempre più appassionati. C’è Gianni il meccanico con gli occhiali a forma di bici; c’è Domenico il “professore” noto chirurgo romano, ci sono Gianluca, Giorgio, Giuseppe, Mario agguerriti avvocati capitolini, c’è Roberto il “conte” , ormai più pedalatore che imprenditore, c’è il giornalista, lo studente, l’impiegato, l’operaio. Un mondo intero che attraverso il severo filtro della fatica riscopre valori dimenticati.”
