Web problems freeze Iceman Cometh registration
Looking to try something new in 2012, I fired up the laptop this morning to enter the Bell's Beer Iceman Cometh Challenge Race, from Kalsaska to Traverse City.
The Iceman also was trying something new, registration through USA Cycling, and the web site crashed just at the opening bell. They are "feverishly work (sic) on the problem."
Budget cuts hit triathlon class at UW-Madison
A popular triathlon class at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has been caught in a financial transition, forcing the school to cut 29 physical education offerings.
The Wisconsin State Journal reports that students and trainers object to the cut, which would take place after the spring session.
Jorgensen takes 6th in Clermont ITU Sprint Triathlon
Waukesha native Gwen Jorgensen started her Olympic season with a sixth place finish Saturday in the Clermont ITU Sprint Triathlon Pan American Cup.
Two years ago, the race served as Jorgensen's first triathlon and the launching point for her success in the multi-discipline sport. A standout swimmer and runner at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, Jorgensen found instant success in triathlon and earned a spot on the 2012 U.S. Olympic team.
Birkebeiner reflection: the lessons of Vegard Ulvang
Joe Dubay was disqualified from the 2012 American Birkebeiner, and I envy him.
Not his disqualification, of course, and not necessarily his ability, which allowed him to ski faster than 1,641 other competitors in the 54K classic race - unfortunately in someone else’s bib.
Green Bay adding shared use lanes for bicyclists
Motorists in Green Bay will be asked to yield to bicyclists on portions of downtown streets being converted to shared use lanes this summer.
Known as sharrows, the shared use lanes have been added to city streets across the country to make commuters more comfortable on bicycles. Often set away from the curb and in a traditional traffic lane, the sharrows have additional markings and encourage motorists to slow and move over to pass bicyclists.
With low-cost races, running remains a cheap date
I read this Off the Couch post about increasingly expensive races a few weeks ago, and a part of me grimaced in agreement.
Birkebeiner tales accumulate as fast as the ski season disappears
The disappointment of watching the snow disappear has been softened by the accumulation of Birkebeiner tales in my inbox, in the days since the race.
Nearly 8,000 skiers completed the Kortelopet or the Bikebeiner on Feb. 25. No doubt, each of them has been sharing their personal story, of suffering and glory. Here's a few that I wanted to share.
And the winners of the Silent Sports/Canoecopia prize drawing are ...
Congratulations are due to the winners of Silent Sports' prize drawing conducted at Canoecopia, the paddlesports expo in Madison, Wisconsin, March 9-11. More than 400 people entered to win a Bending Branches wood canoe paddle, made in Osceola, Wisconsin, and a selection of books on biking, hiking and skiing in the upper Midwest.
The paddle was won by Dave Clemens, a long-time reader of the magazine, in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. Sharing the books -- titles, authors and an illustrator of which we've featured in Silent Sports -- will be shared by John Ryder of Sparta, Wisconsin, and David Olson of Cambridge, Illinois.
Some Minn. lawmakers complain health program not showing results while bike sharing programs expand
Like diet pill poppers only interested in seeing immediate results, Minnesota lawmakers seem unable to commit to programs that integrate exercise and lifestyle changes intended to lead state residents to better health over the long term.
Some Republican legislators are expressing doubt in the effectiveness of the Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP), a multi-pronged effort included in a 2008 bipartisan health care package it was hoped would lead to cutting future health care costs.
Chicago selects bike-sharing program to start this summer
Chicago is the latest city -- but not the first in the upper Midwest -- to jump on the bike-sharing bandwagon.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Tuesday the selection of Alta Bicycle Share, Inc., of Portland, Oregon, to make 3,000 bikes available at 300 solar-powered stations this summer, with expansion to 5,000 bikes and 500 stations by 2012, according to the Chicago Tribune.
How we're enjoying this summer-like weather: Joy Cardin and Tom Held on WPR
To talk about how best to enjoy the current warm and sunny weather, Wisconsin Public Radio's Joy Cardin turned this morning to Tom Held, a frequent contributer to Silent Sports and the "Off the Couch" blogger for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
You can hear the 45-minute discussion here.
MnDOT gathering info for Minnesota bicycle study and map
After making several stops throughout Minnesota to gather ideas for how to make bicycling safer, state transportation officials will host an online discussion on March 22.
A statewide bicycle planning study -- and possibly Minnesota's first electronic bike map -- may result from the information gathered by Minnesota Department of Transportation officials earlier this month.
Catching up with "Off The Couch": Milwaukee path extension, Jorgenson, Solinsky & Petri
Having spent many of my waking hours of late adding events to the Silent Sports events calendar -- there are now more than 500 listed, including 187 in June alone! -- I've fallen behind on my "Off The Couch" blog reading.
And Tom Held's been busy.
Federal money spent on bicyclists & pedestrians in the upper Midwest generates huge returns
In conjunction with the National Bike Summit, which wrapped up yesterday in Washington, D.C., the League of American Bicyclists (LAB) released state-by-state factsheets detailing how federal money has served bicyclists and pedestrians. They make for interesting reading. LAB breaks down this spending -- a mere 1.5 percent of the federal transportation budget -- by congressional district, too.
Here's a snapshot of what the money has meant in the upper Midwest. :
Bike Expo and Pedal Power come to Milwaukee in early April
Two Milwaukee bicycling events taking place in early April ought not to be missed.
1) Sponsored by Wheel & Sprocket, the 28th annual Bike Expo at Wisconsin State Fair Park April 5-8 will include free cycling seminars, host dozens of cycling organizations and businesses, have more than 2,000 bikes available for purchase. The event is expected to draw as many as 11,000 cyclists.
Law allowing Illinois bicyclists to run red lights is revisited
An Illinois law that took effect earlier this year allows non-Chicago bicyclists to proceed through red lights. The law is already undergoing some tweaking because of some vague language, according to mybikeadvocate.com.
In a previous piece, Chicago bicycle accident attorney Brendan Kevenides expressed support for the legislation, writing, "It would be reasonable, in my opinion, for bicyclists throughout the state to be permitted to treat traffic signs and signals as yield signs. That is how most people ride anyway. If the coast is clear, after slowing to a stop or near stop, bicyclists should be permitted to proceed."
Victims of random attacks include cyclists in Minneapolis and a runner in Cedar Falls, Iowa
Recent apparently random attacks on cyclists and runners in a downtown plaza Minneapolis, Minn., and in a state park in Cedar Falls, Iowa, have mobilized police and citizens.
Three bicyclists on the Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis were attacked on March 23 by a "flash mob" of 15-20 youths, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
National Bike Challenge warms up
Yesterday when I joined the Get Up & Ride National Bike Challenge, I noted that Wisconsin's vanguard in bicycling advocacy had already racked up the third highest point total.
Today, Team Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin, which launched this encouragement program last year, had slipped to sixth place in the "warm-up before the campaign start," which is May 1 and continues to August 31.
April Fool's: Wis. DNR says it is not selling Elroy-Sparta Trail to Disney
Despite a report in an Ontario, Wis., newspaper, the Disney corporation is not buying the Elroy-Sparta State Trail from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
The state agency issued a statement today "to assure the public" that the trail is not for sale and that the report, originally published by The County Line newspaper and "picked up by other news media," was an April Fools prank.
Off The Couch: Birkie raises cap, Wodke heads to Boston, Mad City 50K & Trailbreaker Marathon on Saturday
On the "Off The Couch" blog, Tom Held reports the organizers of the American Birkebeiner will raise the cap on skiers for the 2013 event to 9,500 -- up from 9,000, which was reached this past February.
The new owners of the Telemark Resort are also actively wooing the Birkie back with a proposal to build a heated expo center. For the last two years, while the resort was in foreclosure and its future iffy, the Birkie moved registration to the Hayward Middle School.