The Drop Bag is stocked with Active Pursuit reading to enjoy at the finish line of your day, or a coffee break serving as the equivalent of an endurance event aid station.
Beer and bikes: With words and pictures, Milwaukeeans Jason Reimer and Darren Hauck majestically captured the first UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships held on U.S. soil. Their portrait of the sport appeared on the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin blog. A small sample: “The sounds of squeaking brakes, muddy boots slopping up and down trails, and the multitudes of singing fans. The smell of hot chocolate and beer and sausages drifting through the woods. And, I asked myself what is it about cyclo-cross racing that brings people of all types together to have such a good time? The ferocity of the racers on a race course too tight and crazy to be a good idea? The bitter cold? A good ale or two with friends? I would have to say all of the above and much more. It’s simply contagious and I can’t wait until next season.”
Weight loss myths debunked: The New England Journal of Medicine dismantled much of what we’ve come to believe about obesity and how to lose weight. Runner’s World editor Amby Burfoot summarized it nicely, in a piece that will make many rethink their approach to losing pounds and living healthy.
Throw in a mile: While many citizen runners consider the marathon their ultimate race, the mile has it’s own lofty stature. John L. Parker described the four-lap agony in “Once a Runner,” Roger Bannister remains a legend for breaking the four-minute barrier, and I carry memories of final-lap pain from my high school days. In the Minnesota Daily, Megan Ryan details how the distance too-often overlooked can be a valuable training tool for us all.
No passing on the right: Chicago police ticketed a pregnant 30-year-old bicyclist, after she had been hit by a car door and severely injured, adding outrage and impetus to an effort to change this Illinois law: “The driver of a 2 wheeled vehicle may not pass upon the right of any other vehicle proceeding in the same direction unless the unobstructed pavement to the right of the vehicle being passed is of a width of not less than 8 feet.” Keith Griffith explains on the Chi.streets.blog how advocates are fighting for a change that would accommodate bicycles.
Challenging the cold: This piece from Mitch Mode, owner of Mel’s Trading Post, in Rhinelander, reminded me of a ski outing at Greenbush when the minus seven-degree temperature stunned my senses. “There are only two significant decisions one makes in the cold: When to go out and when to come in. All else pales to that pair of calls one makes. I’d gone out and stayed out. Now I felt the chill come down and spread over my back and I knew I was at the time to make the second decision–when to quit.”
