Blue Wheel Bikes

I've been a customer at Blue Wheel Bicycles since the around 1974, when I bought a Torpado from a hole-in-the-wall location near what is now Coupe DeVille's on Elliewood. For years the Blue Wheel was in the blue house at the end of Elliewood, and last year moved downtown to the Ix Building. A friendly, knowlegeable, low-key, high-quality shop.

So Tuesday I decided to buy some lights for my bike - if I want to bike commute more than one or two days a week, I need to be able to safely ride after dark, since much of my council time is in the evenings. I was planning to get just a flashing red light, but Scott told me that City law required a headlight as well (guess I should have known that...).

And we (city council) just decided to invest a lot more next year in bike lanes (and sidewalks and trails) so hopefully bike commuting will become a bit easier and more common.

Signals For Health

This week the UVa Hospital opened an innovative new program at the Wahoo West Cafe (the cafeteria in the old hospital), designed to promote healthy eating by making it readily apparent which food choices are good ones and which are not. The Signals For Health program colorcodes all items in the cafeteria with green, yellow or red labels, based on calories, fat and sodium. Green indicates healthiest, red means eat sparingly or avoid, and yellow means eat in moderation. This follows an earlier plan with vending machines, with similar labels, that resulted in fewer red items sold, and more green and yellow.

I think this is a great idea - not only does it make it easier to make good choices, but the learning about good nutrition should extend beyond the cafeteria - and is the brainchild of Medical School Dean Tim Garson.

CNN was in town to do a story yesterday (and asked me for my thoughts!). This is a good idea that should spread.