Bicycling Magazine plays us for a fool
We aren’t dumb…but we are susceptible. Which is why we were drawn in by the press release touting Bicycling Magazine’s latest readers’ poll, which leads with the finding that 58 percent of the publication’s female readers would give up sex for a month rather than spend a similar time off...
Mahjong can wait (till I finish my intervals)
A retirement community in South Carolina is forming a triathlon team. And by triathlon, they don’t mean some hokum bocce-croquet-cribbage contest (which could be fun, OK, but it’s not a triathlon). This event comprises a respectable 350-yard swim, 13-mile bike and 3.1-mile run/walk. Retirement communities used to...
Saturday hash comes early: January 26, 2012
The idea behind these assemblages of random snippets is that they are supposed to accumulate over the week and then we chuck them out on the weekend, when we’re rather be doing something else. But sometimes the bucket gets filled early, and great news doesn’t necessary keep. So… These are...
Rabbit hole for cyclists
The internet is a rabbit hole, which is its blessing and its curse. You stumble across a link, and fall headlong into a world you never knew existed. A new reality opens up; hours disappear. It can begin with a simple Google Alert that points to an article in...
Senate victory for pedestrians, cyclists
Yesterday, for the third time in less than two months, Republican senators failed to eliminate federal money for bike paths, bike lanes, walking paths and other transportation “enhancement” projects. In this instance, the “enhancements” also include pedestrian safety projects. So we’ll chalk this...
Car-bike battle continues, this time in print ads. Advantage: bikes.
Cars and bikes need to share the road. It’s the law, and it matters for our health and well-being. And we need both. Sorry, until we figure out something better (sun-powered hover-cars!), we need four wheels and a chassis to plow through the drifts on those frigid dark...
Sunday quote: September 25, 2011
Our latest feature, the Sunday quote, debuts a day late. This is an inauspicious start. But let us not be distracted by minor glitches and human failings. Instead, consider this, which we found in Robert Penn’s wonderful It’s All About the Bike, about which more...
It’s not that unusual: over 60 and radically fit
There’s a condescending “good for you” tone to many profiles of very fit seniors. The implication is that tough old birds are also rare birds. We much prefer articles like this recent overview of senior athletes—runners and bikers and mountain hikers—living in the Los Gatos, California, area. The...
Assisted biking
Ever biked a road that you frequently drive? Yes, you have, and on one of those rides, the first time, in a totally nondescript stretch, you grunted, “Where did this soul-sucking hill come from?” Nothing connects you to topography like a bicycle....
Adventure racers love the thrill of plodding through the wilderness for four days
First, let’s establish that only a small percentage of young people should try this. Second, let’s clarify that it is kind of awesome. If you’ve got the stamina…and some fifty-plus racers do…there are still openings for the Mother Lode 4 Day Expedition Race (September...
