Alameda Runners – Get After It!

April 22 (Thursday) will be Earth Day, a day dedicated to our wonderful planet.  We’ll be able to watch the first green supersonic jet launch on Thursday, and can look forward to 50 green Apple iPhone apps to celebrate the 40th Earth Day.

Earth Day has developed into an international day of celebration that is now acknowledged by 1.5 billion people.  As athletes we often see views of the world only a small number of people are able to enjoy, such as the top of hills and mountains, lakes and oceans up close, and exploring the woods.

After running in Coyote Hills last weekend, I discovered a copy of the Tri-City Voice inside the Coyote Hills Visitor Center – and the front page of the April 14 – April 20 edition has a great front page spread about Earth Day.

Specifically, the newspaper’s article is best for S.F. East Bay residents — but the start of  Earth Day also is listed in the second paragraph of the article written by Sargunjot Kaur.

For those in the East Bay, here is one of many events scheduled:

East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) will also be celebrating Earth Day by enhancing existing trails and constructing new trails for Regional Parks through the Ivan Dickson Trail Project. Since 1996, the project has managed over 121 trails with the help of nearly 6,000 volunteers and 25,000 plus volunteer labor hours. Maintenance projects will include pruning, erosion control, post installation, trail improvements, and new trail construction.

As athletes and beginner triathletes look to sign up for new events, some people show interest in purchasing a triathlon bike.  For a regular cyclist who has never ridden — or may not have seen triathlon bikes up close — it can be a relatively frightening experience.

(I remember my first ride on a bike built specifically for time trials – and it was a very unique experience, even after years of cycling and mountain biking.)

To hopefully make it easier, here is a short blog posted on Competitor Triathlon that discusses triathlon bike geometry, positioning, and the basic differences between road bikes and triathlon bikes.

Short blurb about some tri-specific geometry:

“Triathlon bikes have a steeper effective seat tube angle than road bikes. This moves the rider further forward relative to the cranks and allows the rider to get low in the front without discomfort in the hips. Tweak the geometry in a few more places to accommodate a lower position and improve stability, slap an aerobar under the rider’s elbow and you have a tri bike.”

The article is short and precise, easy to understand, and is quite informative.  (Kudos to @TriathleteMag for tweeting this great link a few days ago.)