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Paul B. Cooley | 1 Jun 2002 01:51

Cooling children in a bike trailer.

Hello Everyone,

I am happy to report that we have decided that my son is strong enough for 
the bike trailer, so I am back on the bike on a daily basis. At 7 months, 
Zeb is younger than I would think safe, but he is big for his age and 
doesn't seem to mind the ride.

One thing I do worry about now that the temperatures are creeping into the 
nineties is heat stroke. Both children are drenched in sweat beneath 
their helmets and they always seem listless after the ride. I don't know 
how to judge how hot is too hot. The Burley seems pretty well ventilated 
with the mesh front and rear, but our ride is uphill for an hour, so there 
isn't much airflow through the trailer.

I am thinking of putting bottles of ice in the trailer in an attempt to 
cool its internal temperature. Has anyone tried anything like that, or is 
anyone out there an expert on heat stroke and could give me some advice?

Thanks,

Paul Cooley
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Paul B. Cooley | 1 Jun 2002 03:35

Ken's ideal car.

Good one Ken. But the question remains, how do you transport the 
handicapped and the elderly? I know that public transportation can handle 
much of that traffic. Also trikes for those who are able to pedal but not 
balance. Does anyone know of bicycle rickshaw service for the 
handicapped? Has that been tried, and do you think that would work? It 
might be a nice public service project to set up between a high school and 
the not-so-mobile. 

Paul
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Michel Gagnon | 1 Jun 2002 03:50
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RE: [CF] Cooling children in a bike trailer.

> -----Message d'origine-----
> De : Paul B. Cooley [mailto:pcooley@...]
>
> ... At 7 months,
> Zeb is younger than I would think safe, but he is big for his age and
> doesn't seem to mind the ride.
>
> One thing I do worry about now that the temperatures are creeping
> into the
> nineties is heat stroke. Both children are drenched in sweat beneath
> their helmets and they always seem listless after the ride. I don't know
> how to judge how hot is too hot. The Burley seems pretty well ventilated
> with the mesh front and rear.....

Paul,

I'm just an engineer, but I have done a M. A. Sc. in health and safety
engineering. You talk of two kids. I presume that the older child talks
somewhat.

One sign to check : if one complains that he is too cold when the
temperature is in the 90s, it's a sign of an imminent heat stroke. Give the
old one lots of water to drink, spray them with water, put an ice block on
them, etc. or go in an air-conditionned place ASAP. During the ride,
_insist_ that they drink a lot, stop for ice cream, etc. (this would work
for the old one, not the young one).

On the other hand, as long as they sweat profusely, it's a good sign.
Likewise, if they have very wet diapers (or if the old one bugs you often
for restrooms), it's a good sign: they may be hot, but are OK.
(Continue reading)

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John Snyder | 1 Jun 2002 08:29
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Subject: Cooling children in a bike trailer.

If it is too hot (or too cold) for the safety of the 
entire crew it's okay to park the bike and STAY home 
until the situation becomes less dangerous. 

These two pages by the Center for Disease Control 
(CDC) give some guidelines and observations:

http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/hsb/extremeheat/heattips.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/hsb/extremeheat/

I strongly recommend reading through all the
CDC's material on the subject.

John Snyder
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John Snyder | 1 Jun 2002 11:06
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Air Conditioning, Cars, and livable places

It's a topic that comes up every year about this time in
North American, how can bicyclists and pedestrians cope
with the heat? Traditional wisdom is to stay away
from extreme climates or reduce one's physical activity
to the coolest parts of a day if the temperature proves 
hostile. Recall, the old musical lyric sung by
Noel Coward, "only mad dogs and Englishmen go out 
in the noon day sun." Now days it's not fair to 
single out Englishmen for behaving like strangers 
in a stange land.

http://members.aol.com/noelcow2/maddogs.wav

Several sources reaffirm that the recent inventions
of the automobile and air conditioning resulted in 
people having moved into regions previously 
not fit to support large populations year round. 
The late 20th Century migrations to the Sun Belts 
represent a larger scale version of suburbs. Both 
are contrived environments only made possible 
by high energy consumming products.

http://www.sciam.com/2000/0800issue/0800numbers.html

"Blues, these 20th Century Blues..."

http://members.aol.com/noelcow2/20thcen.wav

Sigh, now plus one,
(Continue reading)

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David Hansen | 2 Jun 2002 12:36
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Re: [CF] Ken's ideal car.

On 31 May 2002 at 19:35, Paul B. Cooley wrote:

> Also trikes for those who are able to
> pedal but not balance. Does anyone know of bicycle rickshaw service
> for the handicapped?

Bikes that can be used by the disabled already exist. For those in wheelchairs (only a small 
proportion of those with mobility impairment) there are a number of solutions. Hand cranked 
trikes, wheelchairs where one removes one wheel and clips it to the side of a bike, a one 
wheeled bike that plugs into the back of a wheelchair making a trike, electric trikes, trikes that 
will take a whole wheelchair on their box.

For those with other disabilities there are other solutions. For example a tandem bike with a 
recumbent seat at the front and a conventional seat for the main rider/steerer at the rear has 
many uses. Without the front pedals it can be used to carry people with things like cerebal 
palsy. Put the pedals back and a couple can escape from the pressures of life in a tandem 
where their heads are clost together, though this may mean they don't get far before becoming 
distracted:-)

The magazine which had a niche for these sorts of bikes was produced by Open Road, although 
they went out of business there may be some copies left at Company of Cyclists (something like 
www.companyofcyclists.co.uk). Encycleopedia is a perticularly interesting read.

--
David Hansen, Edinburgh - PGP e-mail preferred key number F566DA0E
I will always explain revoked keys, unless the UK government prevents me 
using the RIP Act 2000.
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Ken Kifer | 2 Jun 2002 18:13

Re: Ken's Ideal Car

Paul B. Cooley wrote:
Good one Ken. But the question remains, how do you transport the 
handicapped and the elderly? I know that public transportation can handle 
much of that traffic. Also trikes for those who are able to pedal but not 
balance. Does anyone know of bicycle rickshaw service for the 
handicapped? Has that been tried, and do you think that would work? It 
might be a nice public service project to set up between a high school and 
the not-so-mobile. 

Ken Kifer replies:
Well, I mentioned that our present automobiles were the best solution for them,
at least in our current society (http://www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/). Actually,
around here (and I suppose in most places in the US), there are small buses
(really oversized vans painted to look like buses) which will pick up and ferry
them around, although I understand that a lot of waiting is involved, as the bus
must accommodate all of its passengers. 
Certainly, trikes would be fine for those with balancing problems (I was wobbly
for a few days myself).

Practically speaking, there's very few willing to pedal themselves around here,
especially among the high school crowd, so a bicycle rickshaw would lack
volunteers. Within the county, there are distances of up to 30 miles and
elevation differences of 1,000 feet with grades of 6 to 12 percent, so we would
need a superman to do the pedaling.

At some time in the future (assuming that we maintain our present path, ignoring
global warming), the cost of oil is going to climb very rapidly due to
diminishing resources. Although people have been told that hydrogen will take
its place, hydrogen is not an energy source and would have to be produced from
coal. A more environmentally friendly method would be to use electric motors,
(Continue reading)

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Jym Dyer | 2 Jun 2002 23:36
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Re: [CF] Air Conditioning, Cars, and livable places

> It's a topic that comes up every year about this time in
> North America, how can bicyclists and pedestrians cope
> with the heat?

=v= I sweat, and the sweat evaporates. No ozone-depleting
chemicals involved.
<_Jym_≥
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Simon Norton | 2 Jun 2002 23:41

coping with summer

I must say that as an Englishman I find that the midday sun makes me languid
even at the lower UK summer temperatures such as we had yesterday. After a 3
mile walk linking two rural bus routes, when I got home I collapsed and went to
sleep.
Simon Norton
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Jym Dyer | 3 Jun 2002 00:29
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Re: [CF] Re: Ken's Ideal Car

>> But the question remains, how do you transport the
>> handicapped and the elderly?

=v= The way I see it, those of us who don't have disabilities
should not be consuming petroleum and other limited resources
that others have a genuine need for. Nor should we be building
sprawling communities that exacerbate the problem.

> Actually, around here (and I suppose in most places in the
> US), there are small buses (really oversized vans painted
> to look like buses) which will pick up and ferry them around,
> although I understand that a lot of waiting is involved, as
> the bus must accommodate all of its passengers.

=v= This is called paratransit, and I'm afraid it's not always
reliable. It gets *really* bad if combined with an unreliable
public transit system: you may have to schedule paratransit
24 hours in advance, and if the public transit doesn't get you
there on time, the paratransit may not wait for you.

=v= A lot of people with disabilities either aren't able to
drive or can't afford a car, so this is what they're stuck
with. Again, this just bolsters my view: limited resources
such as transportation funds should be helping these folks,
not subsidizing the so-called able-bodied who won't go to the
corner store unless they bring along an SUV.
<_Jym_≥
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Gmane