Ride. Your. Bikes. People.

clipped from 30daysofbiking.com The ride’s the thing: Why I bike. patiomensch Guest post by Jeff Bean, @bikecrave, a writer in San Diego, CA, and the proprietor of BikeCrave (the good addiction). Why do I ride? That’s like asking me why I breathe. Riding a bike is part of who I am. I’m a cyclist, as well as husband, father, uncle, brother and friend. I started cycling early in life with a Huffy, complete with banana seat and sissy bar. I later progressed to a coveted Schwinn newspaper bike with kick-back hub before reaching a holy grail of sorts in college in the 1980s with my first Bianchi in the glorious bluish green hue of Celeste #227. That road bike cost me an extra year in studies. I missed many a biology lab in lieu of epic rides away from “the city.” On a bicycle, I was free to unlock my mind and explore far beyond that which I could read in books or hear in lectures. Today, I alternate between two road bikes and a mountain bike, each loved equally and rotated by season or situation. And I keep exploring.

Should have given him a few years

clipped from sports.yahoo.com Stallworth pleads guilty, gets 30 days in jail By CURT ANDERSON, AP Legal Affairs Writer 56 minutes ago Cleveland Browns wide receiver… AP – Jun 16, 12:37 pm EDT Stallworth also reached a confidential financial settlement to avoid a potential lawsuit from the family of 59-year-old Mario Reyes, according to Stallworth attorney Christopher Lyons. Reyes was struck and killed March 14 by Stallworth, who was driving his black 2005 Bentley after a night drinking at a swanky hotel bar. After a night drinking at a bar in Miami Beach’s Fountainebleau hotel, police said Stallworth hit Reyes, a construction crane operator who was rushing to catch a bus after finishing his shift around 7:15 a.m. Stallworth told police he flashed his lights in an attempt to warn Reyes, who was not in a crosswalk when he was struck.

No wonder I am so Brilliant!

clipped from lighterfootstep.com It’s Smart to Ride a Bike — and Riding Makes You Smarter Posted on 11. May, 2009 by Chris Baskind in Health It’s Bike to Work Week, and all this week, we’ll be discussing smart ways to start using a bicycle for some of the trips you’re currently making by car. But first — how cycling makes you smarter! That’s right: riding a bicycle, like most forms of aerobic exercise, can actually improve cognitive function. It’s long been known that physical activity can improve your mental outlook and help slow the results of aging, but scientific studies continue to stack up showing that regular exercise actually helps the brain to function better. So using your bicycle more isn’t just about what you can do for the environment — it’s about doing good for yourself. Check the Daily Footstep all this week for ways to get started. Or get in gear for Friday’s Bike to Work Day by checking out Lighter Footstep’s guide to becoming a bicycle commuter.

Yeah, more of a rub and tug, kneepads Obama?

clipped from www.time.com (l. to r.): Amr Abdallah Dalsh / Reuters; Kevin Lamarque / Reuters The Six Issues That Divide Bibi from Barack By Tony Karon Differences on questions ranging from Palestinian statehood to how to handle Iran will make the first Obama-Netanyahu meeting more than just a meet-and-greet Israel’s Netanyahu: Taking a Turn Toward Pragmatism? Obama and His Troublesome Allies

Funny drama in Italy

I want the riders safe, first and foremost, but I think certain personalities that get lots of media attention are driving the peloton to behave in ways that do disrespect the Giro and Milan.

clipped from www.steephill.tv After stage 9, a furious Angelo Zomegnan, who is the Giro director had this to say: “This [the rider protest] was premeditated. What’s more, hardly sitting on their bikes, the riders were obviously perplexed by certain features, fears that we shared, and we nuetralized the course. In the first 4 laps, they rode at 33 kilometers per hour, in the final three at 50 km/hr: The course was not that difficult. Yesterday at Bergamo, I cancelled all the celebrations, because not far away, there was a young man, Horrillo, who was at risk for his life. This gesture of the riders did not show respect to the Giro or to the people of Milano. The fact is that this circuit should continually have raised the action. It is necessary to get up into the saddle: When one becomes old, the legs grow shorter, the tongue grows longer.” Source, Gazzetta dello Sport.

Harrowing story of surviving a 80 metre fall over a cliff

clipped from newcyclingpathways.blogspot.com Sunday, May 17, 2009 “Me chiamo Pedro” (My name is Pedro) Not a story about doping, but a story, translated from El Pais, about our good friend Pedro Horrillo. If we had more people like Pedro in cycling, and the world, we wouldn’t be in the mess we are in. By Carlos Arribas Pedro Horrillo, a cyclist of 34 years, married with two young children, jumped on his bike in Morbegno, healthy and strong, a bull, at 12.08, at 14.08, he missed a left hand curve on the swift descent that finishes in di San Pietro and fell down a ravine, a vertical wall of 80 meters, at 1545, he arrived by helicopter, body wrecked, casing, unconscious, immobilized, his head surrounded by a splint, at the hospital in Bergamo, where he was admitted, in a medically induced coma into intensive care with a tube in his lungs. “But I found that nothing gives me more pleasure in life than riding a bicycle. In that old steel bike that I rented from Bruno’s brother I re-found the pleasure of pedaling aimlessly.

Lance starting to cry about bike racing being too hard for him

clipped from www.cyclingweekly.co.uk No sympathy for Armstrong from Giro boss Friday 15th May 2009 – Stephen Farrand Lance Armstrong’s Twitter messages about the dangers of the last two stage finishes got little sympathy from Giro d’Italia race director Angelo Zomegnan. Armstrong made it clear what he thought of the long descent to the finish in a Twitter message posted soon after the stage. “What are we supposed to do?” he asked bluntly. “Add another 100km to the stage and finish it on the motorway near Bologna…” “He talked to me about yesterday and he talked about the unlit tunnels. Today was a little more dangerous because it rained but I don’t think the finish was that dangerous. Things are more dangerous in Belgium.” Asked if perhaps Armstrong is getting old and is perhaps a little nervous after recently breaking his collarbone, Di Luca responded with a smile and a ‘maybe’ that said it all.