The nine-day professional international cycling competition starts its fourth race this year in Sacramento in February.

Rabobank will become a founding partner of the race and the official bank of the tour for the next three years.

The 2009 race runs Feb. 14 through to the finish in San Diego on Feb. 22. The race spans 800 miles.

Rabobank Group has been a longtime supporter of professional cycling, and it is has sponsored a cycling team since 1984. The Rabobank team has competed in the Tour de France since it started. The Rabobank team raced in the Tour of California the past two years.

___________
Source: American City Business Journals, Inc

But while there are many who laugh and point at the bouncing spectacle, there are those who cover their children’s eyes and their own, then complain to the city.

In a proposal that pits the bicyclists’ desire to ride unencumbered against those who don’t want to see all that, Seattle park staffers are proposing a ban on nudity in city parks.

What has led to the proposal is the Seattle Naked Bike Ride, one of a number of worldwide nude rides. Taking a different route every year, the bicyclists circle through much of the city, including the Seattle Center, and have ridden through parks such as Gas Works and Alki.

During the July ride, Seattle police received six complaints and briefly detained a group of bicyclists before dispersing them, Dewey Potter, Seattle Parks and Recreation spokeswoman, said.

According to state law, public nudity alone is not illegal. But officers at their discretion can make arrests for indecent exposure if there is “any open and obscene exposure” of a person who is aware “that such conduct is likely to cause reasonable affront or alarm.”

The bicyclists organization did have a permit from the city to ride through parks. According to a park department memo, summarizing the plan to be presented to park commissioners Thursday night, the city would prohibit nudity in any public park or park facility open to the public.

Exceptions would be made for children under 5, nursing mothers and in restrooms, locker rooms and indoor showers. Violating the rule could result in being barred from the park for 24 hours or longer.

“Parks are for the use of the general public, including families,” Potter said, “and this rule would provide users with some expectation that they will not come across nude people, which many find objectionable.”

But some say an outright ban goes too far. Johnson, who has organized the ride in Seattle since 2003, said he wanted to work with the park department on a compromise but was brushed off.

The proposal also would make illegal unofficial nude beaches such as one largely hidden on the shores of Lake Washington, where during the summer many — mostly men — sunbathe in all their glory.However, the park department still would allow nudist groups to rent city swimming pools for clothing-optional swim nights, after they are closed to the public. The city already requires all swimmers to be over 21 for such swims and that park department lifeguards be on duty — though the memo from park staffer Karen Tsao noted, “some lifeguards who have volunteered to staff the clothing optional event chose not to volunteer again.”

But Johnson said: “This is very Seattle. Seattle is one of the most liberal and tolerant cities in the world.”

To Mark Storey, of Seattle, a board member of the national Naturist Action Committee, the nude ride, “doesn’t harm anyone. It’s a fun, celebratory bike ride. People who see it just have a blast. They come out of restaurants waving and laughing. I don’t recall anyone getting offended. If we’re going to gauge public opinion, maybe we ought to have more of them, because people seem to enjoy them.”

(Editor’s Note: This story has been altered. Earlier versions, based on incorrect information from the Seattle Parks and Recreation department, inaccurately described described what happened to 23 nude bicyclists during a ride in July.)

FOR MORE INFORMATION

* The Seattle Board of Park Commissioners will be briefed on the no-nudity proposal at the board meeting Thursday night. The meeting begins at 7 p.m., at 100 Dexter Ave. N.

* The park board will hold a public hearing Jan. 8.

__________
Source:Seattlepi.NWsource.com
KERY MURAKAMI
P-I REPORTER

© Seattle Post-Intelligencer

In fact Griffin appears to be in a difficult situation. The submission was made by his predecessor, and while Griffin has no choice but to defend it, it was clear to us from speaking with him that he does not agree with it and that it does not represent ACPO’s real position. What he must do, however, is ensure the situation is corrected as far as the select committee is concerned.

___________
Source: Telegraph.co.uk

Prairie Crossing Principal Brian Greene said safety concerns led to the idea of issuing written “citations” to students without bike helmets. Charter school policy requires students to wear headgear while on a bike.

“I’d rather be proactive than reactive,” Greene said.

Greene said no one at Prairie Crossing will actively seek children without bike helmets Monday and that violators won’t lose school privileges. He said parents were informed about the initiative in a newsletter he sent today.

Children who are stopped will have their names placed on a document below the heading of “Bicycle Helmet Citation.” An explanation to parents about school policy requiring bicycle helmets is on the charter school ticket.

“Please discuss with your child the importance of bike safety,” the citation says. “If you are unable to purchase a helmet for you child, please contact Mr. Greene.”

Citations must be returned to Greene with the signatures of a parent and the helmetless student.

With 359 students, Prairie Crossing is Lake County’s only public charter school and offers an environmentally focused curriculum for kindergarten through eighth grade. Students mostly come from within the boundaries of Woodland Elementary District 50 and Fremont Elementary District 79.

Many of the children who bike to school live in the adjacent Prairie Crossing subdivision in Grayslake. It was common to see up to 50 pupils bicycling daily to school early in the academic year, said Greene, who also handles crossing-guard chores.

“Even today as I was doing crossing-guard duty,” Greene said Thursday, “there were 15 bikes that went by on one corner.”

Greene, who came to Prairie Crossing this year from Hawthorn Elementary North in Vernon Hills, said he’s noticed most of the kids without bike helmets are in fourth grade or older.

Prairie Crossing Director Myron Dagley said he supported the citation idea in a recent memo to school board members.

“As you might expect, this may not be a popular action,” Dagley said, “but I feel it is necessary if our policies are to mean anything.”

____________
Source: Daily Herald, Bob Susnjara

Copyright © 2008 Daily Herald Inc. All rights reserved.

The sport is bike polo, the “urban/hardcourt” strain, as opposed to the more sedate variety on grass. All players need is a ball, a mallet — monstered together from a ski pole and PVC pipe, usually — and a

junker bike, often stripped of entangling elements like that pesky second brake and handlebar.

We’re rolling on the basketball court at Cal Anderson Park on Capitol Hill, where this crew meets twice a week. The rules are pretty simple: three-on-three to five points. Whack the street hockey ball through a bike-length-wide goal between traffic cones. Don’t high-stick (just like it sounds) and don’t dab (put a foot on the ground).

Dabbing is majorly bad. In fact, “dabber” is bike polo’s worst insult. Alongside “rookie.”

I am both. I’ll own it. However, I’m happy to avoid some of the other jargon, like a “taco-ed wheel.” Collisions are common, as are superhero layouts across the tarmac. But the riders have regained — or preserved — the playground grace of children, the fierce, breathless explosion of activity that sends you sprawling bloodied here, soaring there, well past your limits — and stoked, stoked, stoked, regardless.

In full scrimmage, they weave like alley cats, grind together like monster trucks, freeze into track stands: perfectly balanced on the pedals and as still as the Space Needle. Insanely agile, they’re also street players — all rollies and hoodies on thrashed, chopped, thrift-store cycles.

Urban bike polo. So gritty. So graceful. The mix deserves its own word: grungelegant, perhaps.

“It’s a sport in every sense of the word,” says Jackie Rust, a 25-year-old pedicab driver, “strength, skill, endurance, technique …”

Aaron Grant, 21, observes: “People can ride bikes, but only a few can handle them. Same thing with cars: most people can drive, but only a few make NASCAR.”

Those skills saved Gary TeGantvoort on his cycle commute — twice. “I’ve had to wiggle around cars in traffic to avoid getting hit. It’s second nature now. Polo definitively breeds good bike control,” says the 26-year-old manager of the Montlake Bicycle Shop.

Seattle spawned the modern game, which traces its roots through European servants (too poor for ponies) via colonial India all the way to ancient Persian cavalry exercises. But our city took the game to the streets in 1998.

“Cosmo.com was an online delivery company, right over there,” Messenger says, waving toward East Pike Street. “They hoped the messengers would be in and out every 10, 15 minutes, but business was so slow. We started playing in the underground parking lot, then in the empty warehouse. I must have played hundreds of hours on the clock.”

“That’s probably why Cosmo failed,” someone snarks.

I chip in, “Bike Polo Responsible for Economic Downturn — I can see the headline now.”

“Awww. We only ruined the online industry. Give the Republicans some credit.”

And then the discussion fritters into smack talk. But that’s OK. Trash mouth is one of the few rituals in this sport, in which players still scavenge for goal posts. Even in urban polo’s birthplace, the game plan is to “bring an iPod and some beer, ride some bikes.”

All that could change. Philadelphia will host the first hard-court world championship in 2009. Messenger — running his hands through his wild thatch of hair — says, “We need to organize so that corporate America doesn’t steal it all away.”

Christian Bourdrez, a 36-year-old snowboard rep, adds, “Look what happened with the X Games. Who is getting the money there, the boarders …”

“… or the fat cats?” Messenger explodes. The 37-year-old general contractor is something of a guru in the polosphere, the sport’s visionary, its Timothy Leary. But some players remain dubious about the next step.

Grant jokes: “The Hardcourt Bike Polo Federation. C’mon. What has the word ‘federation’ in it that’s still cool?”

Good point. Still — name aside — most riders are excited by the sport’s spread and its second generation. Rust points out: “Down in Oakland, middle schoolers are out playing. And Bike Works in Columbia City has a kids clinic.”

Messenger’s been even more proactive. His wife, Kelly Castle-Messenger, just gave birth to a girl, Viviana Pearl, instant hard-court royalty if she ever takes up the mallet. For now, she naps in a baby sling on the sidelines. Castle-Messenger, rocking the newborn for warmth as much as comfort, explains the fast-swirling skirmish. “The only rule really is no high-sticking,” she says. “Well, and no mallets in spokes. But players can edge each other out and, like hockey, they can check each other into the wall.”

Cycles squeal together in a tight clump. Like atoms, their nuclei avoid collision, even if wheel rims clack and mallets snag each other. But someone drags a foot onto the court. “There!” Castle-Messenger points. “That’s dabbing — touching the ground. He needs to ride a 360 loop before resuming …,” she breaks off and hollers, “Hey, don’t be a ball hog!” Then she grins, shrugs. “It’s a sassy game. Everyone talks a little trash, lets off a little steam.”

In the autumn chill, we watch the game clatter toward the five-point end. As the final scorer swoops around the goalcones, hooting, others — including onlookers — hurl mallets into the center court. The owners of the first six will play the next match.

This unfettered spirit remains the Northwest scene’s strength — and weakness, too. TeGantvoort observes, “Skillwise, Portland and Seattle are incredible, but East Vancouver tends to win tournaments. They have their own special court and train as a team.”

A bespoken space is the local players’ goal. Heck, they’d settle for some tarmac set aside a few nights a week. Amid a small huff of controversy, Cal Anderson Park booted them off the adjacent tennis court about two years ago. The riders now bogart the basketballers’ turf — a situation that grows tense in the long twilight hours of summer.

During a break, Dave Wells, a 32-year-old carpenter, explains, “We just need a lit court under cover.”

Sebastien Michel-Hart interjects: “With a retractable roof!”

Grant laughs. “Let’s shoot for the moon and maybe we’ll get something. How about KeyArena?”

“The city’s gonna be like, ‘Here’s a refrigerator box to play in,’ ” Michel-Hart, a 25-year-old bike messenger, shoots back. “I wish they’d give us Pratt Park over at 18th and Yesler. Or just a reservation system.”

As Messenger later notes: “There seems to be some prejudice. We’re not seen as a ‘real sport.’ Maybe the championship and all the kids getting out to play will change that, like the way the city came around to skate parks. We could share a court with dodge-ballers and the roller-hockey players … those are spectator sports, too. And isn’t the point to get people into the parks?

Kicked to the curb for now, urban polo will keep playing off the grid. Grungelegantly.

Seattle Bike Polo start times can vary (”Don’t panic if we’re late”). Bring a helmet, gloves and “a bike you don’t mind getting scratched.” Messenger also recommends “some beer and an iPod with a good polo mix.”

But wheels and goodwill are really all that’s required. Capitol Hill resident Aaron Willinger, 39, wandered onto the scene and wound up playing a full game recently. “I wanna make my own club and come back out here next week,” he enthused.

As TeGantvoort said, “We go easy on rookies. Don’t be intimidated. No one will knock you off your bike until you start knocking other people off.”

IF YOU GO

* Catch the hardcourt bike polo crowd Tuesdays (7-8 p.m. start) and Sundays (5-6 p.m. start) on the basketball courts of Cal Anderson Park, 1635 11th Ave. E, on Capitol Hill.

* Thursdays they gather underneath Interstate 5, around Northeast 65th Street and Ravenna Avenue Northeast, 7-8 p.m.-ish.

* Information — seattlebikepolo.com

__________
Source:
Seattlepi.NWsource.com
AMANDA CASTLEMAN
SPECIAL TO THE P-I

©Seattle Post-Intelligencer

“I’m 52 now, but as the sponsor of the team, the stronger riders have to let me stay around,” Reed jokes.

Reed handpicked Memphis cyclists who showed tremendous talent on the bicycle, but he wanted his team to be known for more than winning races. “They have to be a strong rider,” team captain Clark Butcher says about his teammates, “but they also need a strong reputation, a positive reputation, in the cycling community.” Butcher says that Marx & Bensdorf signs riders who earn respect on and off the bike.

And while the team participates in races all over the United States, members focus on Southern competitions. The highlight of the team’s season is a Memphis race, the “Marx & Bensdorf, Smith and Nephew Grand Prix.” Annually, team members compete in the “Mississippi Grand Prix” in Brookhaven, the “Tour de Louisiana” in Shreveport and the “Highland Rim Classic” in McMinville, Tenn.

Starting in March, the team competes almost every weekend until September, and spends the winter in training. This year, the team will fete four cyclo-cross racers competing at the regional and national level for the first time.

During their winter training camp, team cyclists focus on strengthening their friendships as well as their quadriceps. Strong relationships between the racers themselves and between the riders and their communities lay at the heart of Marx & Bensdorf’s mission. “We are friends first,” Butcher says, and “our riders are racers and advocates of cycling in general; advocates of the lifestyle, whether you commute or race.”

The formula appears to be working. Beyond Marx & Bensdorf Real Estate, the team boasts financial sponsorships from Paceline Capital Money Management and McElroy Truck Lines.

Most riders enjoy individual sponsorships, and this year the team has received endorsement from Italian frame builder “Velo Vie.” Racers turn in their bike frame at the end of the season, receive half credit, and the frame builder donates the frame to a charity of the rider’s choice.

“The company does this benevolent thing to keep more bikes on the road, and this program really matches our mission,” says Butcher.

Butcher hopes the bike frames from this season will be donated to younger riders, “to bring them up through the ranks and send them on.”

“Our big goal as a team is to be known as nice guys who race well, but who are first off advocates of the sport. We are a team that supports riders.”

Reed agrees. “We want to use cycling to spread good will in the world.”

With a world-class cycling team with a first-class mission, Memphis can be proud of Marx & Bensdorf.

__________
Source: Commercialappeal.com

Jamis in 2008 launched new feature SL and Team carbon monocoque frames with higher modulus fiber and new manufacturing methods making them even lighter than last year. Fully finished SL frames in some sizes weigh in as light as 850 grams. Furthermore, they stiffened the critical areas such as the bottom bracket and chainstay for serious kick when you surge on the pedals.

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