barenakedbiker

From the League of American Bicyclists:

League Extends Sympathy, Support to Hurricane Victims (9.1.05)
The League of American Bicyclists is reaching out to cycling clubs and members in the Southern U.S. recently hit by a deadly hurricane. Until they let us know the best way for us to help them, we encourage everyone to give to the American Red Cross by clicking here or calling 800-435-7669.

chemcycle

Well so can a semi....but they can hold a few more filtrations units, a little more water.....in a few less trips.....


BTW.....what is "artificial" power?

Bekologist

remember, during Katrina's aftermath, one of the excuses raised by the luit general in charge for the "relief" supplies NOT getting to New Orleans, was lack of fuel...

trmcgeehan

I think you have a good point here. Bicycles could have brought alot of help to New Orleans -- riding in and out from supply points carrying food and water. And bikes are almost as fast as cars. It takes me 10 minutes to drive to work, but only 15 by bike. How about bikes pulling trailers to assist in the recovery effort? I'll bet Trek would be interested in something like this.

Puppypaws

I think it's terrific that people are brainstorming creative ways to help in disaster situations. Bikes, extracycles whatever. Keep those ideas coming.

It appears to me that the very large organizations, Red Cross, FEMA, etc have a difficult time mobilizing in the hours immediately after a crisis. Not surprising, it takes a while to get an elephant dancing. Once they got in gear, they did help hundreds of thousands. This disaster involved staggering numbers....for that we need a big infrastructure which only those big organizations can supply.

Individuals however, were able to do a great deal of good early on. They took the initiative and were not paralyzed by fears of liability, expense, political repercussion, chain of command. For example, neighbors who helped the elderly evacuate. Individuals that distributed water. Or for example, the gentleman from California that flew to Nashville, bought an old yellow bus for $2000, stocked it with water, food, diapers, drove to N.O., and started to distribute and then evacuated people. I know of one lady in my town who rented a van and drove down and pulled out 8 relatives and brought them here...all on her own limited budget. She then came to our red cross shelter, and the red cross is helping her and her evacuee's.

Yes, the Red Cross and FEMA need to be in charge of the big picture and the large scale. But those big organizations cant be everywhere all at once.

Individuals are important. Creative thinking is important. "Just do it."

One question....
It appeared there was abundant debris....do they make puncture-proof tires?

chemcycle

LOL.......try the freeway.....we'll see how you keep up......

Listen, I like the idea of using bikes for more than just recreational riding....but delivering supplies ain't it...