Cyclists Oppose Maryland Helmet Bill
By Ron Cassie
A mandatory Maryland bicycle helmet law, introduced early into the House of Delegates during the current General Assembly, currently faces strong opposition from bicycling advocates on several grounds. Most notably, bicycling advocates at a recent February hearing on the bill pointed to studies that mandatory helmet laws, for all intents and purposes, end up driving down the number of bicyclists — which, in turn, makes roads more dangerous for those who do bicycle — and adversely effects overall public health.
Currently, only bicyclists under the age of 16 in Maryland are mandated to wear a helmet at all times. According to one report, only 10 states mandate bicycle helmets for adults.
Introduced by Del. Maggie McIntosh of Baltimore City, House Bill 339, would require anyone riding a bike to wear protective headgear at “all times while a bicycle is being operated on any highway, bicycle way, or other property open to the public or used by the public for pedestrian or vehicular traffic.”
The bill would also require any passenger on bicycle to wear a helmet — with the exception of a passenger in a commercial bike (a.k.a. a rickshaw).
The bill also makes an exception for those riding on the boardwalk between Ocean City’s inlet and 27th Street.
McIntosh, who describes herself as an avid cyclist, has said that she got the idea for a mandatory helmet law while driving past a bicyclist without headgear during her morning commute down St. Paul St. — a heavily trafficked downtown Baltimore City road.
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"Vigo" Retires From TriColumbia
by Ron Cassie
The shocker of the Mid-Atlantic triathlon offseason, though it was bound to happen at some point, was the announcement that TriColumbia founder, CEO and race director Robert “Vigo” Vigorito was stepping down after three decades with the organization.
A six-time Hawaii Ironman finisher, Vigorito founded the Columbia Triathlon Association, later renamed TriColumbia, in 1986. The organization’s signature event, the Columbia Triathlon, launched two years earlier, remains one of the most popular, and longest running triathlons on the East Coast. Once again, this year’s race is a national 5150 Triathlon Series qualifier and Maryland’s qualifier for The Best of the U.S amateur triathlete competition.
The first Columbia Triathlon race took place at the Wilde Lake Indoor Pool Center in 1984 with 90 participants. Since then the field has grown each year, attracting 2,000 triathletes today and top professionals and amateurs from all over the U.S. and the world.
In the early 1980’s, Vigorito helped establish the first governing body for triathlon, then known as Tri-Fed USA, which served as a forerunner to today’s USA Triathlon. In 1993, Vigorito co-founded the current USA Triathlon Mid-Atlantic Region, and today still serves as the Mid-Atlantic council chair. Later, in 2001, a year after triathlon debuted at the Sydney Olympic Games, Vigorito was recognized by the International Olympic Committee for his contribution “as a volunteer to the development of sport and Olympism and to the promotion of friendship and solidarity among peoples.”
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Team In Training
Cyclists members of Team in Training of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society are training locally for upcoming rides in Tucson, Arizona and the SeaGull Century in Salisbury, Md., this October. This group did the "covered bridges" ride in northern Maryland recently. For details on how to get involved contact Ben Clausen of TNT at ben.clausen@lls.org.