FCC FACEBOOK WEEKLY WRAP-UP
(For our non-Facebook members)
GIRLS RIDING INTO TOMORROW (GRIT) GRIT is a great Anchorage girls biking program started by Lael Wilcox. If anyone in Fairbanks is interested in starting something similar up here, the GRIT team in Anchorage would be an awesome resource. (10-minute video: tinyurl.com/sh98lrg)
BE A RESEARCHER Chris Smith, a graduate student at UAF, could use your help. He is working on a project called Mapping Detection of Boreal Vegetation (MaDBoV). The goal is to involve the community in the data collection process which will help him produce more accurate fire fuel maps of the Alaskan boreal forest to help predict fire risk. Anyone in Alaska can participate, and it is a great reason to get outdoors while actively participating in applicable research (in accordance with state social distancing policies). All participants have to do is get out in the woods behind their homes, on trails, or any naturally wooded area and take a geotagged photo on their smartphone and send it to mad.bov2020@gmail.com For more information send an email to mad.bov2020@gmail.com.
BIKE BITS If you want to appreciate living in Alaska during this pandemic, read this article on “Bicycling in Sichuan Under the Shadow of Coronavirus.”
tinyurl.com/wmx9fnp
Read that a lots more in the latest issue of Adventure Cycling’s Bike Bits.
mkt.adventurecycling.org/email/view/5e84ec23ed5f0796939180
HEALTHY FUTURES’ 100 MILES OF MAY (IN APRIL) Healthy Futures is holding a bonus month of its 100 Miles in May fundraiser, so you can participate in April. For more details see here:
healthyfuturesak.org/get_involved/100milesmay/
This Anchorage-based group mainly organizes and supports Anchorage events, but it does support four Fairbanks area fall “jamborees,” which we believe are the cross-country running races.
healthyfuturesak.org/community-support/event-profiles/
And if someone wants to organize a Fairbanks cycling event for youth, I’m sure the group would help out!
BIKE SHOPS CONSIDERED ESSENTIAL BUSINESSES One nice thing to see with the recent COVID-19 pandemic restrictions is that in Alaska “bicycle-repair” facilities (i.e. bike shops) are considered essential businesses and are allowed to stay open. That’s not the case in some other areas. For some people, cycles are their main–maybe even only–source of transportation. They are listed in this order under II > b > vi > 5.
tinyurl.com/rw4q4je
If you would like to thank the governor for including bike shops as “essential,” see this page for contact information: gov.alaska.gov/contact/
WORLD RIDE ONLINE MOVIE ON APRIL 2 We’ll probably still be under some sort of “hunker down” orders by April 2. Here’s something entertaining to watch that helps a good cause!
tinyurl.com/wuy656e
YOU CAN STILL RIDE WHILE “HUNKERING DOWN” On March 27 Gov. Mike Dunleavy ordered more strict “hunker down” orders (see link below). Please abide by these orders.
But here’s the good news. You can still go out and bike! The third point of Part I of the governor’s order is as follows:
“Outdoor activity (e.g., walking, hiking, bicycling, running, fishing or hunting) is permitted when a distance of six or more feet can be maintained between individuals not in the same household.”
So, go have a blast biking! Just stay six feet from anyone not in your household. We’ve got lots of trails in the area, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find the space you need.
(All this assumes you are healthy. The fourth point of the governor’s order states that if you are exhibiting signs of illness you “must not leave their home, including to work, except as necessary to seek or receive medical care.”)
Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s March 27 order: tinyurl.com/wuy656e
And this suggestion from Heath Sandall:
This 6’ suggestion needs to come with some caveats, especially when riding bikes, skiing, running. 6’ is not going to be an acceptable distance when traveling at speed.
For the biking and outdoor crowd, infection is most likely going to spread via snot rockets, spitting, coughing or lauging at jokes. Let’s take two people riding bikes, one in front of the other. If the front person spits or coughs, 6’ of ground is going to be covered very quickly and the person behind is going to be exposed to the spray. Add in a headwind and the distance will even be greater. Crosswinds and swirling winds make it even more complicated.
Two people only, side by side, separated out, each taking consideration in when/how they spit, snot, or cough. And careful with the jokes 🙂
ADVENTURE CYCLING BOOK SUGGESTIONS Here’s something to read if the pandemic has you stuck at home with time on your hands: tinyurl.com/udrv3mw
And this from Russ Ridlington: Miles from Nowhere by Barbara Savage
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