Title: Socio-economic benefits of Singeltrek pod Smrkem and Rychleby trails Objectives: The fundamental goal of the diploma thesis is the global introduction of social- economic benefits in the most extensive singletrack areas in Czech Republic - Singltrek pod Smrkem and Rychleby trails. Furthermore based on the comparative analyse of selected variables, to classify identical and differential characters of both destinations and suggest the resolution of detected deficiencies. Methods: For the data collection and information acquisition for the diploma thesis have been used: documentation as well as comparative observation of watched objects (technical parameters), standardized and unstandardized interviews (trail builders, municipality majors), analyse of information resources (research of domestic and international literature) and especially the methods of comparative analyse (Singltrek pod Smrkem versus Rychleby trails). Data collection resulted from primary as well as secondary external and internal resources. Results: Diploma thesis introduced the area of Singltrek pod Smrkem and Rychleby trails as the socio-economically important new form of terrain-bikes tourist industry. Based on comparative analyse selected variables further classified identical and differential characters of both...

The craft of planners are planning for a better future. Knowledge about climate change, environment, health and availability effects the trend towards less car dependent societies in favour of public transport and active transport like walking and biking. This study takes place in Västerbotten, one of Sweden’s most north provinces with a population of 260 000 inhabitants. It is a sparsely populated area with two dominant cities, the other municipalities are largely unpopulated. The issue in this study is to see what opportunities exist to create a regional plan for pedestrians and bicyclists. I have conducted a participatory observation during the meetings where civil servants were in creation of this regional plan.

Safe Routes to School is a national program funded by the Department of Transportation. The goal of the program is to increase children’s active transport to and from school, primarily by walking, in response to the epidemic of childhood obesity. Implementation at the state and local level has had varying success. In my capstone presentation, I discuss the creation, implementation, and ongoing success of the program at Oak Grove Elementary, a local public school in Georgia. The program is comprised of the 5 Es: Education, Encouragement, Enforcement, Engineering, and Evaluation. Each of these five components will be focused on, as well as ongoing challenges in the struggle to retrofit a school to make it more walker-friendly in a car-dependent environment.

abstract: Thousands of children are being injured every day in bicycling accidents. Interventions, like Safe Routes to School, are currently in place to combat injury rates by providing programs to teach children safe biking behaviors. In order to develop effective behavioral change programs, behavior and the components of which it is composed must be understood. Attitudes, subjective norms, and self-efficacy are important predictors of intention to perform a behavior. The purpose of this study was to ascertain the extent to which attitude, subjective norms, self-efficacy, and bike rodeo participation explain third through eighth graders' intentions to bike safely. These constructs were tested using a survey research design in a purposive sample of fifty-seven third through eighth grade students in Safe Routes to School schools in the Southwest. Students took an online survey in the computer lab at their respective schools supervised by a teacher. The study found attitudes to be comprised of three factors: happy/safe, not afraid, and calm. Overall, the model explained approximately 71% of the variance in children's intentions to bike safely, R2=.749, Adjusted R2=.713, F(7, 49)=20.854, p<.01. The significant predictors were happy/safe attitudes, subjective norms, self-efficacy, and a quadratic self-efficacy term explaining 10% (p=.019), 28% (p<.01), 18% (p<.01), and 15% (p<.01) respectively. The results of the study can be used to create future and improve current bike safety interventions for children. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Recreation and Tourism Studies 2011

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Mary Catherine (Katie) Kingery-Page / Human happiness is often overlooked in urban revitalization. Many studies have proven the benefits of regular exercise for overall health and happiness. Active transportation adopted as a major form of transportation has the potential to provide similar benefits. Wichita, Kansas, like many other mid-sized, American cities, prioritizes the car over the pedestrian. Currently, the plans for Douglas Avenue, the major thoroughfare, includes only minimal bicycle infrastructure, shared lane symbols (City of Wichita 2013). Lack of focus on the pedestrian and bicyclist only reinforces the auto-dominated downtown. Douglas Avenue is a missed opportunity and needs a re-envisioned strategy based upon current needs. I hypothesized that better understanding the lived biking experience of Downtown Wichita would help me to develop design recommendations that address current streetscape issues as they occur in daily life. This exploratory study documents the experiences of a small group of people who bicycle in or through downtown Wichita on a regular basis. First, participants recorded their experience visually and verbally by using GoPro cameras during a typical bike ride. Next, each participant reviewed their video with me, clarifying their comments and the overall experience. Dominant themes included: urban environment, bicycling infrastructure, road/traffic, safety and motorist behavior. The analysis of the bike rides and follow-up reflections were mapped over each participant’s route to reveal positive, negative, and neutral experiences categorized by theme. Final design strategies for selected areas (determined through analysis of experiences) were then produced based upon feedback and streetscape best practices. Bicyclists of Wichita are faced with many stressful situations during their daily routes. I have realized that downtown Wichita has more than a design problem to fix—an entire bicycle culture must be developed. I learned that while each participant was unique, they wanted the same things: safety, a pleasurable ride, and to be respected by motorists. Not all bicyclists’ needs can be answered through design; however, this proposal can help to create a safer and more pleasurable bicycling experience in downtown. An improved bicycle network provides humans with increased health, freedom to move, encourages and strengthens social connections, and provides a resilient form of transportation.

In the top sport training is one of the basic idea the principle of forward direction. In this meaning talented and somatic appropriate individuals are selected for different sport branches. By the young sport like a mountain bikes competitions are missing the detailed studies. For that reason is necessary to perform an casuistical analysis to study the increasing performance of the most successful competitors. Purpose of this diploma thesis is selecting successful racers on the mountain bikes and to search for common factors useful for the identification of talented persons. This diploma thesis should contribute to explain how athletes heve been achieved their successes.\\

Diploma thesis called Use of bike potencial of Prague and its suburbs, business plan is based on idea to implement these information in reality and launch it as soon as possible. Its task is to research the theoretical literature on leisure activities and their socio-cultural and economic context with accent on domestic and foreign tourists. Integral part is of course theoretical proces of making this kind of business plan according on the type of organization and its targets supplemented by practical examples similiar companies making business in this area. Thesis also contains industry, area and also closer idea specifications. One of the main resources is already operating company in this area called BIKO which concentrates its efforts mainly on foreign tourists.

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A method for tuning the spring rate and damping rate of a mountain bike suspension based on a data-driven procedure is presented. The design and development of a custom data acquisition system, known as the "MTB DAQ," capable of measuring acceleration data at the front and rear axles of a bike are discussed. These data are input into a model that is used to calculate the vertical acceleration and pitching angular acceleration response of the bike and rider. All geometric and dynamic properties of the bike and rider system are measured and built into the model. The model is tested and validated using image processing techniques. A genetic algorithm is implemented with the model and used to calculate the best spring rate and damping rate of the mountain bike suspension such that the vertical and pitching accelerations of the bike and rider are minimized for a given trail. Testing is done on a variety of different courses and the performance of the bike when tuned to the results of the genetic algorithm is discussed. While more fine tuning of the model is possible, the results show that the genetic algorithm and model accurately predict the best suspension settings for each course necessary to minimize the vertical and pitching accelerations of the bike and rider.