Volkswagen stakes claim to be the world’s leading sustainable automobile manufacturer by devising alternative transportation. The new VW Bik.e was unveiled last week at Auto China, the Beijing car show. This all electric “peddle-less” bicycle folds up to the size of a spare tire and packs in the trunk. Read the rest of this entry »

The street may have thawed but your bike chain is frozen solid! On that last cold ride of the fall maybe you put your ride away wet. Or maybe you’ve got an old bike you’re restoring. But turn the crank and you’ll find that your chain is a rusty, crusty mass of immobile iron links.

Find a solution at Examiner.com: Madison Recreation Examiner

If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to run in a low gravity environment, there’s spot in Madison where you can do just that. The Sport & Spine Clinic, a rehabilitative therapy center at 340 S. Whitney Way, recently acquired an Alter-G anti-gravity treadmill.
“I’d been hoping to work with low gravity for my patients for a while now,” said clinic director David Nissenbaum. “I’d wanted a pool. But of course I don’t have room for a pool here. The Alter-G is the next best thing, maybe even better.”

Read the rest at Examiner.com>> Madison recreation Examiner

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Even though temperatures across the country are still well below freezing there are still plenty of people out there riding their bikes through the winter. On this blustery day in Madison Wisconsin a small class of avid bikers have gathered together to learn the finer points of riding around town in some pretty rough road conditions

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Weather on race day was in the mid to high 20s. After a major blizzard and an unseasonable cold snap conditions marked by full sun made for an excellent Jingle Bell 10K Run/ 5K Run/Walk in Madison over the weekend.

A few hundred hardy souls came out with their holiday attire to run the UW Arboretum course to benefit national and local efforts to treat and cure arthritis. Runners and walkers in Madison raised just under $30,000 in support of friends and neighbors whose ability to move freely is restricted by inflamed and painful joints.

Check out the slideshow at Examiner.com>> Jingle Bell Run

Janice Beers is getting ready for her 12^th marathon. And for the first time she’ll do the bulk of her training while there’s still snow on the ground.

“It’ll be in February,” she said. “And I’m a little freaked out about running through the winter.”

Fortunately the event itself will be in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, the National Marathon To Finish Breast Cancer. Running for such a worthy cause Beers will likely enjoy a comfy 70 degrees or more on race day. But in the months leading up to her day in the sun, this Wisconsin resident, 44, is more than a little apprehensive about running in sub-freezing temperatures on the icy streets of Madison.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Beers says. “I love the falling snow and all that. I just don’t know what to expect putting in all those miles when it’ll be so cold out.”

During an average winter in Wisconsin temperatures will settle to 20 degrees or less well through the month of March and into April. Add to that few hours of daylight from dawn ‘til dusk and five to six months of winter training outdoors could be very difficult.

“It’ll be hard to find the motivation just to get out of bed ‘cause it’ll be dark,” Beers says, “When it’s nasty out I won’t have that push I’d have in the spring and summer when the weather’s nice.”

If you’re going to maintain the training base you built up when the days were long and warm, winter running is an inevitable part of the Madison active lifestyle. And if you can’t stand the thought of running indoors on a treadmill don’t worry. With the right combination of technical clothing and some knowledgeable advice you’ve got more than a few options when it comes to outside workouts. Even during the coldest months of the year you can run the winter warm. Read the rest of this entry »

Fall is clearly a season of transition. As the weather crosses over from long warm days to short brisk ones now is the time to make a similar shift in how you recreate outside. For many in southern Wisconsin, particularly those who love to bike, cyclocross is the ideal changeover sport to bridge the cool autumn months before the first snowfall.

“I am all over this,” said Ryan Griessmeyer, “It’s a whole new breed of sport for me, perfect for this time of year.”

The Madison athlete was among dozens of riders who came out to race at the Badger Prairie Cross, the third event in the Planet Bike Cyclocross series. In his first ever experience at the sport Griessmeyer, an avid triathlete, said it wasdifferent than what he expected.

“I figured I’d bounce in off my Ironman finish. But it’s so fast paced it’s hard to breath and stay aerobic,” he said. “First my lungs went, then my legs went and then it was all over. I loved it!”

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Let it never be said there’s no surfing in Wisconsin. A thousand miles from the nearest ocean, few if any breaking waves and vast bodies of water that freeze solid belie the logic of hanging ten on a long board. But the advent of Stand Up Paddling has changed that paradigm forever.

Read the full story at Examiner.com>>http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-15739-Madison-Outdoor-Recreation-Examiner~y2009m10d2-Stand-Up-Paddling-Prairie-Style

Anything this quirky is worth trying at least once. But the true virtue of Injinji Toe Socks ($12-$14 MSRP) will be determined by whether or not you want to try them a second time. Better still, should you even incorporate them permanently into your arsenal of performance gear? For many the answer is an unmitigated yes. Read the complete review at Examiner.com

The Devil’s Challenge Triathlon got off to a chilly start as an early morning fog settled over Southern Wisconsin. But within an hour of the first swimmer’s splash into the water from beach the skies cleared to make for a great conclusion of 2009 Triathlon season. Visit Examiner.com for the complete story and a slide show: http://www.examiner.com/x-15739-Madison-Outdoor-Recreation-Examiner~y2009m9d20-Devils-Challenge-concludes-2009-Wisconsin-Tri-seaon