CARBONDALE - Sunny days are here again and that means perfect weather for biking. It's environment-friendly, great exercise and saves you gas money!

Doug McDonald, owner of Phoenix Cycles in Carbondale, said bike sales are starting to pick up and that's always a good thing.

"The primary reason most adults come in to buy a bike is better health because the doctor said it's time to get into shape," McDonald said. "However, some customers come in saying they have a short commute to work and a bike will help them save on gas!"

Biking is an excellent, low-impact exercise that can be taken up by all, including seniors. It's a lot more forgiving of body type and age than running, cuts down substantially on the air pollution caused by vehicle emissions, and is an affordable, efficient means of transportation. The kicker? If you are a nature lover, it's a fun and enjoyable way to enjoy the outdoors.

McDonald is most excited about the electric bike, which is a regular pedal bike with an electric-assisted motor.

"If you need to bike up an incline and are tired of pedaling, you can let the electricity pull you along," McDonald said. "Its environmental friendly and I think it will be all the rage in the next five to 10 years."

Priced between $1,200 and $1,500, the concept hasn't yet caught on in the U.S., McDonald said. And that's the reason he doesn't stock up on the bike in his store, but hopes to one day soon, when the demand goes up.

Don Lawrence enjoyed hiking in the woods, until peripheral neuropathy struck his left leg. "I can no longer hike, but I can bike!" he says.

At 77, Lawrence has had both his knees and a hip replaced, and sports six pins in his back. Yet he still manages to bike between 10 and 17 miles a day.

"At my age, I realize I have to exercise between 30 to 60 minutes every day to keep in good shape," he said. "The thing is to exert effort and keep moving."

So he makes it a point to keep active by doing chest pushups and resistance exercises every morning, and biking several miles a day.

A retired high school biology teacher, Lawrence started biking seriously in the '80s when he joined the now-defunct Poplar Camp Touring Team.

"We would meet at Murdale Shopping Center and anybody who wanted to learn to bike could bike with us," he said. Carbondale Bicycle Club members continue the tradition by meeting at Murdale on Saturday mornings and riding to Southern Illinois Airport in Murphysboro and back.

Preferring to ride alone these days, since he can't keep pace with faster bicyclists, Lawrence has outfitted his bike pedals with a stirrup that straightens his foot out, since it tends to roll inward without an ankle brace. Other gadgets attached to his bike include a compass, temperature gauge, speedometer with built-in calorie counter, water bottle holder and water-resistant iPod speaker case with a remote attached to the handlebars for ease of operation.

Lawrence said he doesn't use headphones because that would distract him from traffic.

He's been on organized bike tours of Nova Scotia and Hawaii, and just last year took his trailer to Florida, where he camped and biked all day on paved bikeways.

"One day I biked from Tallahassee all the way to the ocean, where I promptly had fried oysters!" he laughed. "Of course, there's much to see in and around Southern Illinois on a bike as well. My personal favorites include Pyramid State Park, Tunnel Hill and the Giant City area."

As a member of the Sierra Club, America's oldest environmental organization, Lawrence acknowledges the eco-friendly aspect of biking. He encourages those interested in biking to join the Carbondale Bicycling Club. If you're not in Carbondale, look for other bicycling clubs in your part of town.

poornima.jayaraman@thesouthern.com

351-5019

Carbondale looks to ride in May

With May being National Bike Month, the League of American Bicyclists promotes Bike-to-Work Week from May 12 to 16 and Bike-to-Work Day on Friday, May 16.

This year, Carbondale will celebrate its sixth annual Bike 2 Work Day on May 16. This community-wide event is part of a national effort to encourage more people to bicycle more often.

The fourth annual Beautiful Southern Ride on Saturday, May 17, is a fundraising event to benefit the Carbondale Boys and Girls Club.

Bike routes consist of 15, 30 or 62 miles. Registration is from 7 to 9 a.m. Plan to start in time to finish by 4 p.m. All rides start and end at the Carbondale Middle School. Restrooms and showers are available at the school. Entry fee is $15 per person or $40 for three or more riders from the same household.

Registration forms are available at www.carbondalebreakfastrotary.org/bikeride.html. For more information, e-mail beautifulsouthernride@gmail.com.

- Poornima Jayaraman

Stay safe on your bike

While biking is great exercise and good for the environment, accidents and injuries can happen when safe riding skills aren't practiced and also because the bicyclist is less protected than drivers of automobiles.

According to the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute, the average careful bicyclist may still crash every 4,500 miles.

Doctors everywhere see acute biking injuries that occur if you fall off the bike or are hit by a car. These include minor scrapes and bruises to more severe injuries such as concussions, head injuries and even death.

"Helmets are critical in preventing brain and head injuries," said Kerry Hammond, certified athletic trainer and director of sports medicine at the Orthopaedic Center of Southern Illinois. "Make sure they fit properly and wear them all the time when out biking."

Hammond suggests reflective clothing for dawn and dusk riders. She said clipping on a pulsating disc light, like a safety strobe, to your clothing helps approaching traffic see you when visibility is low. She said smaller children should wear knee and elbow pads to cushion falls.

Chronic biking injuries usually take a while to develop and include muscle strains of the hip, quadriceps, hamstrings or calves.

"That's why it's important to stretch properly before and after biking," Hammond said.

Other simple bicycle safety tips include obeying the rules of the road, wearing sunscreen and making sure you are hydrated before, during and after bicycling.

"When you do too much too fast, you get sore and will stop exercising," Hammond said. "My advice is to start slow and work up to more miles gradually."

- Poornima Jayaraman

Do

Signal left turn, right turn, slow or stop

Obey traffic signs

Keep to the right

Keep in one row if riding in a group

Wear a bike helmet at all times

Try to keep your bike in good shape

Always let cars and people go first

Slow down and check traffic at all corners

Keep both hands on the handle bars except when doing turn signals

Walk across busy streets

Stay off busy streets

Don't

Don't ride at night

Don't stunt

Don't ride double

Don't hitch rides

Never go in and out of traffic

Never go between two cars

Don't leave your bike unlocked

- SOURCE: Illinois State Police Bicycle Safety Command Center