photos: velojoy
In a recent opinion piece in the New York Times, “The Dutch Way – Bicycles and Fresh Bread,” Russell Shorto, an American writer who has been living in Amsterdam for several years, contrasts car-centric culture in the U.S. with a European mindset that “hard wires” transportation alternatives into its culture. As part of his comparison, the author sheds light on the connection between using bicycles for daily transportation in the Netherlands and eating fresher, more healthful food:
“Cyclists can’t carry six bags of groceries; bulk buying is almost nonexistent. Instead of shopping for a week, people stop at the market daily. So the need for processed loaves that will last for days is gone. A result: good bread.”
Shorto’s observations were on my mind when my son and I shopped Amsterdam’s Noordermarkt, one among many neighborhood green markets, the way the Dutch do — by bicycle. In Amsterdam, a network of 249 miles of bike lanes and paths supports accomplishing daily routines, including food-shopping, on two wheels. Read more…
Kattie Fragola, an I-Tri team member, rides the race course of the Maidstone Park Youth Triathlon.
Innovative Program Encourages Empowerment
“There’s nothing you can’t do on a road bike.”
That’s how Abby Roden, 14 (photo below), a participant in an innovative triathlon program for adolescent girls based at Springs Middle School in East Hampton, NY, describes her love of cycling.
I first learned of I-Tri and its motto, “transformation through wellness,” when I came upon a group of Abby’s teammates setting off on a training ride with their coaches. A few weeks later, I watched 15 first-time I-Tri triathletes and 8 mentors race in the second annual Maidstone Park Youth Triathlon. What an inspiring experience! I-Tri is a great example of an effort to help empower young women, at least in part, by getting them involved in cycling.
Led by Abby’s mother, Theresa Roden, the group’s founder and executive director, I-Tri helps adolescent girls develop self-confidence and a sense mastery through triathlon.
Abby Roden in the transition area with the road bicycle that she named Blue Lightening.
Theresa, a former teacher who now works with her husband in publishing, says students are invited to join I-Tri based on recommendations from teachers and guidance counselors and on a survey created by the Women’s Sports Foundation to help identify girls who could benefit from participation.
“We’re looking for girls who don’t identify themselves as athletes, and who also have some self-esteem or emotional issues in their backgrounds,” Theresa says.
Building Camaraderie and Self-Confidence
I-Tri focuses less on finish times than on building self-esteem and camaraderie. Abby, in a gesture of solidarity reflective of the program’s heart, ran across the finish line clasping the hand of her teammate Camila Tucci.
She says she was happy to have improved her running time over last year. But Abby still considers bicycling her favorite triathlon discipline, and even named her LeMond Tourmalet road bicycle Blue Lightening. “I like the speed,” she says. “It’s just you and the bike, and the wind in your hair.”
In Blue Lightening, there’s also an important legacy. Abby’s mother road the bicycle in her own first triathlon in 2006, an experience that paved the way for founding I-Tri.
“I felt transformed, from the inside out,” Theresa Roden told the East Hampton Star of competing in the Block Island Triathlon. “I’d gone from being a couch potato to an athlete. It changed everything…I thought that if I’d begun at the age of 12 rather than 35 what a different life I would have had.”
From left, Paige Rucanno and Valentina Sanchez display their medals following their triathlon finish.
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