Phillip Barron The Herald Sun DURHAM — Cafeteria conversation at work on January 31st revolved around the predicted ice storm. Bread, milk, and bottled water would be cleared off grocery store shelves by the time we left work that evening we all joked. We also guessed that the next day’s news would be littered with images of cars skidding off the road. It’s not that Southerners can’t drive in wintery conditions. Neither can the local transplants from New England or the midwest. No one can drive on ice. And since no one can drive on ice, the answer is not […]
The Outspokin’ Cyclist: Take time to unplug, be outside and watch the sunset
DURHAM — There was a year when I watched the sunset almost every evening. Across the street from the school I was attending at the time began a neighborhood of houses that had been built in the 1950s. These streets and dwellings brought unprecedented order to the post-war town, carving their grid-like stamp into Southern countryside. The streets parallel to the main road separating the campus from the neighborhood ran only four or five deep, and the last street had houses on only one side. The far side of the street faced an open pasture where a farmer kept cattle. […]
The Outspokin’ Cyclist: Durham roads may get even better for bicyclists
Phillip Barron The Herald Sun If a sport is defined by the rules that compose a game, then I don’t think of cycling as a sport. Sure, there are sporting events that are based on riding bicycles, from homegrown mountain bike races on the Cane Creek circuit to the NORBA Nationals and even the Olympics. Some people say that multi-stage road races like the Tour de France are the purest expression of cycling’s ethos. Those lean trained bodies, the glossy frames with glittering flawless componentry, the self-organization and strategy of the peloton for some add up to what cycling is […]
The Outspokin’ Cyclist: Make some idle time to relearn lost art of exploring
You see more from a bicycle than you do from a car. You see even more from a balloon-tire Schwinn than you do from a carbon fiber Pinarello. That’s why author John Stilgoe, in Outside Lies Magic, says to choose the cruiser. “Bicycle to the store,” he says, “then ride down the alley toward the railroad tracks, bump across the uneven bricks by the loading dock grown up in thistle and chicory, pedal harder uphill toward the Victorian houses converted into funeral homes, make a quick circuit of the school yard, coast downhill…, tail the city bus for a mile […]
The Outspokin’ Cyclist: Drivers must always be attentive and responsible
Phillip Barron The Herald Sun DURHAM — A Herald Sun article this past week described a hit-and-run by saying, “a recent Duke University graduate was critically injured when she was hit by a car late Friday on South LaSalle Street near McQueen Drive, according to police. The vehicle left the scene without stopping, police said.” One from a few months ago, describing an altogether different incident, says that “two women walking next to Kingston Drive were injured when a teenage driver left the road and hit them Friday afternoon.” A later article concerning the same incident says that “a motorist […]
The Outspokin’ Cyclist: Doping scandals spoiling the spirit of sports
Phillip Barron The Herald Sun Allegations that cyclists are doping are so common that anyone accused is guilty until proven innocent. And that’s taking its toll on the sport. The cover of the October Bicycling, arguably the sport’s leading monthly, makes plain why it matters – whether Floyd Landis doped or didn’t, “either way, we lose.” Did Landis pull off one of the greatest accomplishments in cycling’s history? The night before stage 17 of this year’s Tour de France, Floyd Landis told his wife he was going to “go out in the morning and do something big.” He attacked – […]
The Outspokin’ Cyclist: Can mountain bikers be green?
Phillip Barron The Herald Sun DURHAM — Many mountain bikers pick up the sport as another way to spend time in the woods. But not all trails let an environmentally conscious rider enjoy the ride. Improperly built trails soon develop deep ruts in the ground and can damage sensitive vegetation, especially if those trails are carved through low-lying areas that stay wet. Perhaps worse are the poorly constructed stunt zones where deep holes are dug or wooden structures are built hastily. If built of untreated lumber, these structures quickly rot becoming both neighborhood blight and safety hazards. Trails like these […]
The Outspokin’ Cyclist: Some athletes lose sight of sportsmanship of biking
Phillip Barron The Herald Sun Jan Ulrich and Ivan Basso lost their bids for the yellow jersey to Operation Puerta before this year’s Tour de France even began. Operation Puerta isn’t a new contender for victory; it’s a six-month doping investigation and arguably the most significant doping scandal of bicycle racing. Thanks to OP, thirteen professional riders were kicked out of the race and more than forty others are involved in a continuing investigation. Around the same time Operation Puerta’s news was breaking, Lance Armstrong was wrapping up his latest victory. He settled a libel suit with a British newspaper […]
The Outspokin’ Cyclist: Saturday good time to learn about mountain biking
Phillip BarronThe Herald SunJune 8th, 2006 MORRISVILLE — Do you have a mountain bike that just sits around while you say to yourself, “I really should go ride sometime?” Have you been looking for an event that will introduce you to the local mountain bike community? Or maybe you’re already tapped in and want to show off your skills to a local audience. This Saturday, June 10th, says Camye Womble, is your day to ride. The Triangle Off-Road Cyclists (TORC) are sponsoring their first ever Fat Tire Festival — a day-long ode to the mountain bike. From 9:30am until 2:00pm […]
The Outspokin’ Cyclist: New bike, pedestrian bridge has community backing
DURHAM — “(The process) has enabled me to make some really wonderful connections with the people who make Durham work,” says Iona Hauser of Stewart Engineering, who has completed the design plans for a new bicycle and pedestrian bridge over 147. The new bridge, a “graceful arch, framed by abutments that reference Durham’s historic and unique rectangular smokestacks,” will replace the existing pedestrian bridge linking Lakeland Street to the south and Gillette Avenue to the north. Construction of the new bridge will begin this fall, and it may open as early as the fall of 2007. The existing bridge was […]