Beginning in 1885 Edoardo Bianchi was a pioneer in designing and building “safety” bikes, with pneumatic tires. In 1897 Bianchi launched motorcycle production. He built cars and commercial vehicles from 1900 to ’39. In 1955, the joint venture of Bianchi, Pirelli, and Fiat created Autobianchi. Fiat merged Autobianchi production into Lancia in 1989. In 1997, Piaggio bought the motorcycle business, and Cycleurope bought Biachi bikes.
State’s Budget Cuts Put Surfers at Risk
By Chelsea Marcum, SurferMag
Beach quality testing in California has plummeted in recent years, increasing surfers’ risk of unknowingly exposing themselves to contaminated water, according to a report by the Los Angeles Times. With no clear state funding for testing after this year, advocacy groups like Surfrider Foundation and Santa Barbara Channelkeeper are stepping up to fill the gap.
Surfrider Foundation began testing beaches in the early ’90s, due to the lack of public information on water quality, but bowed out to county agencies in 1999, after a California law required official publicized beach monitoring throughout the state. California led the country in beach quality monitoring, paving the way for the Federal Beach Act, which established water-testing requirements around the nation.
It’s a decade later, and water testing in California has fallen to an all-time low since the policy change. In 2008, the state cut the project’s $1 million budget, leaving health agencies scrambling to continue testing with emergency bond funds, which are expected to run out by the end of the year. By law, counties are not required to continue the beach monitoring without proper funding, prompting Surfrider to conduct its own testing.
“Some of the counties will basically take the winter off,” says Surfrider’s Coastal Management Coordinator, Rick Wilson. The counties are prioritizing and assume there will be fewer beach-goers during the colder months, he says. Many Surfrider chapters are using volunteers to raise funds for lab equipment, collect samples, and publicize test results on the web.
“We’re not a state certified lab, so we’re not necessarily saying to close the beach because of our results,” says Wilson. “But it’s good general information to know whether the bacteria counts are high or low.”
Water with high levels of bacteria, sourced from sewage systems, leaking septic tanks or animal waste, makes surfers vulnerable to illness, rashes and infections. And after the 2008 winter budget cuts, Santa Barbara Channelkeeper took over monitoring several county beaches, posting the contamination levels from spots like Rincon and El Capitan State Beach.
It’s common for locals to complain of such ailments after surfing certain spots, says Ben Pitterle, the Watershed Group’s Program Director. But coupled with the best swells of the season, even the worst contamination reports can be ignored. Pitterle admits that deciding whether or not to jump in questionable water leads to an unfair give and take, in which good surf usually wins. “If the surf’s not that good and it’s dirty, I’ll stay out,” he says. “I think most surfers know what they’re getting into-if the surf’s good enough, they’re probably going to go for it anyways.”
Paul Jenkin, Environmental Coordinator for Ventura County’s Surfrider Chapter, suffers from frequent ear infections and once had mononucleosis, allegedly caused by poor water quality. The Ventura Surfrider chapter partners with Pitterle’s group to test the often-neglected fresh water streams feeding to the central coastline. He believes more people should report illness after surfing dirty water, even when the correlation is difficult to confirm. “I think a lot of surfers think, ‘Oh yeah bummer I got sick,’ and just kind of move on with things. But if nobody reports then nobody knows. We need to demonstrate that there really is a health risk,” he says.
Surfers shouldn’t ignore useful albeit bothersome guidelines, like showering post-session and staying out of the water for 72 hours after rainfall. When deciding whether to go to beaches that are near heavy development, creek mouths, or storm drains, Wilson suggests choosing spots with the most natural surroundings. “Where [polluted] water tends to collect, then spill out to the ocean, is typically worse than a spot half a mile away,” says Wilson.
California coast residents testing the neglected beaches are hoping for county programs to resume this winter. “We’re definitely discouraged that the funding for this kind of important testing is being cut,” says Pitterle. “We hope as things turn around, and as the economy improves, it will again become a priority.”
First race of the year with my Velo-One Cycling squad was last Saturday with Boulder CX Series #1 at Xilinx.
This race was exactly 7 days after the Steamboat 50. To say that the legs weren’t ready yet would be an understatement. I came in 36th out of 65 or so folks in Cat 4. Not great, not terrible. Felt strong just couldn’t hang on during the middle laps. The rest of my Velo-One team did fantastic!
Next up is racing at New Belgium Cyclocross Series this Tuesday then Boulder CX#2 @ Interlocken on Saturday.
HT On The Off Camber for the video and race report.
Looking forward to lot’s and lot’s of racing this fall!
Andy B
outsideallday.com
The 25 (Essential) Books for the Well-Read Explorer
By Brad Wieners
Hey, we’re with you. Given half a chance, we’d much rather hit the road than the armchair. Nothing can replace the intensity of authentic experience. Yet experience needs shape and wisdom—and behind every great adventure are the stories that inspired it. We read before we go; and after we arrive, free and clear in far-flung terrain and edgy places, we invariably find echoes of the voices that led us there. The following list is devoted to books that offer the truest inspiration, the deepest reflection, the strongest provocation. These are books that seize imaginations and rattle sedentary lives.
Click here to read the rest of the story.
It’s a good list!
Andy B
outsideallday.com
Tracing the Edge – A 10 part video series featuring Gerry Lopez, Colin Haley & Krissy Moehl.
Our legends. Our heroes. Our rising stars. It’s easy to consider them super human, but dig behind all the tubes ridden, summits climbed and miles run, there are very human stories. Shot on location in the Pacific Northwest and abroad, we present a new video series tracing the careers of three Patagonia ambassadors – surfer/snowboarder Gerry Lopez, alpinist Colin Haley and ultrarunner Krissy Moehl.
Click below to start watching:
http://www.patagonia.com/us/patagonia.go?assetid=55194&ln=303
Andy B
outsideallday.com
Go the distance, climb to the limit, ski the steeps, leap off a cliff and fly. Seven top athletes from The North Face share tales of adventure and extreme endurance in a live speaker series that takes you along for the ride. Meet them on their nationwide tour in fall 2010.
The North Face athletes: ultrarunner Diane Van Deren; extreme skier and BASE jumper Karina Hollekim; ski mountaineer Kit DesLauriers; ultramarathoner Dean Karnazes; alpinists Conrad Anker and Jimmy Chin; and climber Mark Synnott.
The North Face Speaker Series_2010_trailer from camp4 collective on Vimeo.
Click here for more info on this years North Face Speaker Series.
I’m going to see Kit DesLauriers on October 11 in Fort Collins. Sweet!!!
Andy B
outsideallday.com
Earlier this week I received a surprise gift package from Motor Tabs.
I use around 7 Motor Tabs tablets a week thru various training efforts, mainly at EmerFitness for CrossFit and long trail runs. I’m discovered that the Lime flavor does my body right. With t-minus 2 weeks until the Steamboat 50, it’s all preparation. Based on passed experience, these lime Tabs will help make or break my day. Long trail runs are all about food and hydration.
Thanks Sellers!
Andy B
outsideallday.com
Knocked out a 6:30 am trail run with Jobe on the Coyote Ride to Indian Summer loop this morning. Lot’s of deer with a beautiful sunrise. My legs felt good, better than they’ve felt in a long time. We kept a slow steady pace and ran 99% of the climbs. Jobe was a champ, this was his longest run ever. Other than tweaking his right ankle (again) he enjoyed himself. The Steamboat 50 taper has officially begun. Easy runs, rides and Emergent Fitness sessions for the next 10 days.
Time for a nap!
Andy B
outsideallday.com
In case you’ve missed it, registration for the USGP of Cyclocross in Fort Collins (The New Belgium Cup) is open.
The New Belgium Cup
November 13th and 14th, 2010
The third weekend of the USGP of Cyclocross races into new territory in 2010 – heading to Fort Collins, CO for the USGP’s first visit to CO since 2006. Fort Collins is home to a number of cyclocross standouts – including Georgia Gould, Meredith Miller and up and coming junior Skyler Trujillo – so the competition for hometown domination is sure to be intense!
The course will feature a deceptively tough course – native grasses that require power, terrain and elevation changes, dirt and pavement – all given the Fina treatment for something extra special.
I’m signed up for both mornings, Category 4. We race at 8:00 am both days, brrrrr!
Andy B
outsideallday.com
On Sunday my buddy Jobe and I tackled Longs Peaks. I picked him up from the Group Publishing parking lot at 1:50 am and we were running the trail by 2:50 am (I didn’t sleep that night), in pitch black, with our head lamps on. We hiked/ran as much as we could.
We summitted in just over 4 hours and spent 20 minutes on the top, I think we were the 3rd team to summit that morning. It’s the most amazing view I’ve ever seen. 14,240 ft reeks havoc on your lungs and we were burning on the way up. On the way down we were moving fast, even running a lot of the sections until Jobe took a fall onto his knee and popped his right ankle. Jobe’s the man though and kept moving fast while suffering.
The GPS info below is missing 1 hour of data. Our total time was 8:40. For some reason the watch turned off. The actual hike 14.7 miles long.
We celebrated the day with taco’s for Taco Bell in Estes Park.
The hike was perfect prep for the Steamboat 50. I needed to have that much time and effort put on my legs and feet. Thanks again to Emergent Fitness for forcing me to do all of the back squats, the legs felt really good. After being up for 36 hours, the Sunday afternoon nap and epsom salt bath felt really good!
Video of the day to come…
Andy B
outsideallday.com
Cyclocross at New Belgium in Fort Collins is right around the corner. The first race in the series starts on September 7. Click here to check out the 2010 American Cycling Association cyclocross calendar.
This video got me pumped up!
Andy B
outsideallday.com
On Sunday I raced the La Sportiva Eldora 11k up at Eldora Moutain Resort. The event was sponsored by La Sportiva, their shoes look very cool.
I decided on this race because I wanted to get some intense/fast training miles in at elevation (9,200 ft to 9,600 ft). To date, I’ve done ZERO speed work in my training which I knew would be a big factor in my overall time. The race started at the base of Eldora and took us thru some beautiful single track and forested areas. None of the climbs were to bad, but at elevation, you feel everything. At mile 2.5 I re-rolled my right ankle which forced me to stop for a minute to recover. I was able to run thru it but it took a lot of needed energy away. Bummer. There were 2 VERY large water crossings at mile 5. You couldn’t avoid either of them forcing you to run with soaked feet and legs. Because of water on the course, they couldn’t get a full 11k in, leaving us with 5.79 miles total.
Details:
206 total racers
00:54:48 (62 overall)
During the race I learned 5 things…
1. I’m not fast running up hill
2. I’m “ok” fast running on flats
3. I’m really fast running downhill (don’t laugh, some people aren’t)
4. There was a LOT fast woman trail runners
5. Rolling your ankle in a race sucks
I’m glad I raced, I just wish I was fast,
Andy B
outsideallday.com
With Julie and the boys being out of town I came up with the bright idea of hiking Long’s Peak next weekend…as I research more I’m not sure why. My buddy Jobe and I will be giving it a shot this Sunday with a goal time of 10 – 12 hours. I’d like to see how fast I can go but I know I’ll be suffering before it’s over.
Longs Peak - 14,259 feet (4,346 m)
With the Steamboat 50 right around the corner, this should be a great day of training. If the weather stays good, it will be a long fun day.
Andy B
outsideallday.com
