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June 2005

Volume 1, Issue 1

Smart Commuters Make a Statement

City of Jackson, LifeWays, Pedal and Tour
lead the way

Jackson Area Events

July

7/4 Hanover Horton Firecracker 5k

7/5 Walk Jackson Cascades

7/16 Americas Physique Running Festival 10k run, 5k run/walk

7/16 Holland Hundred

7/17 Clark Lake Triathlon and Duathlon

7/19 Walk Jackson Sharp Park

August

8/5 Relay for Life

8/6 Clark Lake Run

8/6 Mark Mellon Tri/Duathlon

8/6 Ride Charlevoix

8/7 Cascades Cycling Club Minard Mills Cycling Tour

8/21 Assenmacher 100

Find more events and details at www.fitnesscouncil.org

 550 miles! That’s a lot of ground for Jacksonians to cover on foot, bike, and transit. 165 Smart Commuters stepped up to the plate and walked, biked, or rode transit for their health on Friday, May 6th. 86% tried smart commuting for the first time and a fun experience was had by all.

Several Smart Commuters plan to make it a once-a-month or week event to continue making a positive change toward health.

The City of Jackson, LifeWays, and Pedal and Tour won the Corporate Challenge in their category for having the largest percentage of employees participate.

Are you still smart commuting?
We are currently writing a grant to make smart commuting easier for employees and we want to hear from you!

Answer this quick survey about our plans to make it easier for smart commuters and be registered to receive an awesome messenger bag.
                      
                     

Project U-Turn Spotlight: 10 Jacksonians
Making a U-Turn

Ten Jackson individuals young and young at heart have made a U-Turn in their lives by adopting simple and healthy habits. They were featured at the Fitness Council Annual Dinner in June. Featured individuals include: Bruce Porter who bikes to work as a refreshing and healthy way to start his day; the Benedetto family who bikes to the park for sports practices as a way for the whole family to be healthier; and Caleb, Michael, and Sarah who all walk or bike to school because it is fun and a chance to talk with their friends.

    Nominate someone you
    know who should be
    featured in Spotlights
    for making a healthy
    change in their lives.
    Email:
    info@fitnesscouncil.org


Check out the next page for information on a
new youth project that could help you and other cool stories...

      June 2005     

Volume 1, Issue 1       Page2

To combat the problem the students will survey the Jackson area to identify where bike racks are and where they should be. Then they will recommend rack locations to businesses and produce a signing campaign direct people to bike parking. When they are finished there will be less need for car parking too!
More Bike Racks in Jackson:
Youth Take the Challenge
Teenagers are looking for more parking spaces. No, not for their cars, for their bikes? A group of high school leaders involved in the Student Coalition for Walkable Communities recently asked themselves, “Why can’t we convince our friends to bike?”. The reasons were many, but one of the biggest issues was lack of bike racks.

Biking: Road or Sidewalk?
Several bicycle studies demonstrate that adding bicycle facilities like bike lanes improves safety for cyclists. Bicycles belong in the street: even without bike facilities, riding a bicycle on the street is twenty-times safer than riding on    sidewalks due to the much higher visibility of on-street cyclists.

Bike infrastructure, especially bicycle signage and striped lanes, greatly improves visibility and awareness of cyclist in the street, making riding a bike significantly safer. One study demonstrated that roads with wide lanes and signage have a 23% reduction in cycling accidents and striped bike lanes decrease bicycle accidents by 38%.

 

  

 


  "Riding a bike on the street is
  twenty times safer than riding
  on sidewalks"

- Adult Bicyclists in the US

Phone: 517-990-9798
Fax: 517-789-7831
Email: info@fitnesscouncil.org

225 N. Jackson St.
Jackson, MI 49201

 

 The Fitness Council of Jackson began in 1996 and currently aims to “lead our community to life-long physical activity” through its support of quality physical education in schools and Project U-Turn (a Cool Cities initiative to increase walking and biking for transportation). The Fitness Council of Jackson is endorsed by the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness, Health, and Sports. For additional information please contact the Fitness Council at (517) 990-9798.