Livingonabike's Blog

Ride. Your. Bikes. People.

livingonabike — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 18:49:59 +0000

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

livingonabike — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:11:58 +0000

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!

livingonabike — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 21:26:08 +0000

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?

livingonabike — Mon, 18 May 2009 07:15:18 +0000

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

Funny drama in Italy

livingonabike — Sun, 17 May 2009 22:31:00 +0000

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

livingonabike — Sun, 17 May 2009 09:14:39 +0000

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

livingonabike — Sat, 16 May 2009 18:04:54 +0000

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.

UMMM was that acting you did on film? RIIIIIGHT! Nice try loser.

livingonabike — Fri, 08 May 2009 15:57:06 +0000

clipped from news.bbc.co.uk

Arnie appears in new Terminator

California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appears in the new Terminator film – thanks to technology.

Schwarzenegger played the Terminator in three blockbuster films

An image of Schwarzenegger, who played the killer robot in the 1984 original, was inserted from earlier films because he was too busy to shoot new footage.

Schwarzenegger had said he was pleased by the prospect in case he wanted to “jump over again” into acting.

Governor Schwarzenegger says he has met with director McG – real name Joseph McGinty Nichol – and plans to attend the 14 May premiere of the film.

The “brief” cameo by Schwarzenegger was “a cool moment” but Christian Bale’s performance was “a little over the top at times”, the review – which claims to be the first – said.

Terminator Salvation, which stars Christian Bale as resistance leader John Connor, opens in the US on 21 May and in the UK on 3 June.

Not a good place to live

livingonabike — Tue, 05 May 2009 21:41:24 +0000

clipped from www.ksby.com

Evacuations ordered for brush fire burning near Santa Barbara

Posted: May 5, 2009 02:03 PM

Updated: May 5, 2009 02:30 PM

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Reported by: Sarah Spotten

We are tracking a developing story this afternoon in Santa Barbara, where a brush fire is currently burning in the Santa Barbara foothills.

Evacuations have now been ordered for the Mission Canyon Road area north of the Santa Barbara Botanical Gardens.

According to the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, the fire started at about 1:30 p.m. has burned about four acres in the San Roque Canyon near the Tunnel Road area north of Santa Barbara.

There are no structures threatened at this time, but the fire is burning near power lines.

David Sadecki with the Santa Barbara County Fire Department says that two helicopters are responding with an air attack. He said the fire is not spreading fast. Santa Barbara City Fire and U.S. Forest Service fire crews are also on scene.

Praying for you Brother!!!

livingonabike — Sun, 03 May 2009 21:01:03 +0000

I have an actual physical reaction when I read about my brothers and sisters who get injured in bike wrecks, I am solemn and will be praying you will recover like Saul Raisin has…Godspeed my friend

clipped from www.cyclingnews.com

American cyclist seriously injured in Overijssel

American rider Wade Wolfenbarger of the Cinelli-Down Under team was seriously injured in a crash during the Ronde van Overijssel in the Netherlands on Saturday. He was involved in a massive crash with 30km to go, and was airlifted from the scene. He was taken to a hospital in Enschede.

According to Dutch press agency ANP, Wolfenbarger, of Lubbock, Texas, was in a coma following a serious head injury.

Following the race, which was won by Dutch rider Kenny Van Hummel (Skil-Shimano), representatives from the race organization went to the hospital to learn the situation of the rider.