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

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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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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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“Playing safe is probably the most unsafe thing in the world. You cannot stand still. You must go forward.”

Robert Collier ~American motivational author (1885-1950)

Photo by James Edward Mills from the collection “Ironman in shades of rosegold and bronze“

Team Joy Trip post Ride For Boys & Girls Club

So far our Bike For Boys & Girls Club team has raised $1,375. With a more than a month of fundraising still to go we’re well on track to reach our goal of $3,500. On Saturday July 18th 14 of my cycling friends and I road our bikes 50 miles around the Madison area to help promote programs that engage disadvantaged young people in our community. And though we’ve ridden this familiar route dozens of times for our own enjoyment there was something truly special about doing it this time for such a worthy cause.
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Our Bike for Boys & Girls Club team jerseys arrived today! Our group of 14 riders will pedal 50 miles around Madison this Saturday to raise money and awareness for underprivileged youth in our community

Join Team Joy Trip and pledge your support at:

http://tr.im/nNm8

The attention of the cycling world is clearly focused this week on the Tour De France. As Lance Armstrong makes an amazing play for his 8th win after three years in retirement, just about everyone who pulls out their bike these days wonders how they might stack up against the grueling pace over 3,500 kilometers of steep mountain roads. Especially here in Wisconsin, home of Trek Bicycle where Lance’s bikes are made, citizen riders pound pedal to pavement over scenic routes throughout Dane County that are as good or better than any you’ll find on the planet.
Michael Beibertiz author of the book “Great Dane Rides” said Madison is unique in that the city offers dozens of bike rides along well-maintained open roads just a few miles outside of town. His book, complete with maps and cue sheets, features a variety of cycling routes put together by members of the Bombay Bicycle Club accumulated over the past 30 years.

Click here to continue article at Examiner.com: http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-15739-Madison-Outdoor-Recreation-Examiner~y2009m7d13-Great-Dane-Rides

Late last night we heard a crash. Must have been about 2 in the morning. My wife and I thought it was kids playing with fireworks in the cemetery behind our house. That’s not an unusual sound to hear this close to July 4th. Beats the hell out of the sound of gunfire.

After the dogs stopped barking we rolled over and went back to sleep. But when we woke up this morning we discovered one of the huge maple trees in our back yard had lost a limb. It had to be 40 inches in diameter at its base and its mass of branches and leaves completely covered the Capital City bike path. Read the rest of this entry »