Treehugger has just posted an article on their website on how to help prevent your bike from getting stolen. How? Forget heavy duty locks. Instead try making it look as UGLY as possible.

10 tips to "ugly" your bike:

1. Remove any flashy stickers or brand name labels from your bike.

2. Buy second hand so the bike already looks worn.

3. Repaint it with a cheap matte black or army green spray paint. Don’t be modest with the paint. Over-spraying is a good thing. Not on the gears, chain, or brakes though.

4. Decorate it with ugly stickers, possibly a car air freshener, or fake animal fur.

5. Attach a milk crate or a rusty rack for carrying stuff.

6. Fake rust your bike with modern spray paint from the hardware store.

7. Tear a hole in your saddle (when it’s raining cover with plastic bag).

8. Add some duct tape to the frame.

9. Consider adding some streamers or spokey dokeys.

10. Visit U-G-L-Y Your Bike , a great how-to guide that offers step-by-step tips to keep your "first class ride" from the hands of thieves.

By Sandra Mcculloch and published in the Victoria Times Colonist

Combine technology with a treasure hunt, set the venue in a B.C. provincial park and you have a new venture announced yesterday by the province, the B.C. 150 Secretariat and the B.C. Geocaching Association.

Geocaching is a recreational activity that’s growing in popularity, with hundreds — perhaps thousands — of geocachers on the Island. The sport involves the use of a handheld global positioning system receiver to locate hidden caches, typically small objects stored in watertight containers.

Clues are posted on a website so others can go out and hunt for items. Anyone finding a cache is supposed to log the find in a notebook, exchange a new item for the found one, and report the find on a website.

To celebrate B.C.’s 150th anniversary, members of the BCGA have placed limited-edition commemorative coins in 100 provincial parks.

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The Canadian Mountain Running Championships took place this past weekend at the Peak Challenge .  The race was won by Joe Gray from Lakewood, WA.  He was followed by Adrian Lambert from Edmonton, AB and then two Victoria, BC boys Kris Swanson and MuddySocks Adam Campbell who made up the top three Canadian finishers.

Full Results Here

Running for beginners
By Erik Gable
GateHouse News Service

It’s summer, and just about anywhere you go, you can see runners and joggers hitting the sidewalks and trails. Thinking about joining them? If you’ve never run before, here are some tips from the pros.

Decide why you’re doing it

“First and foremost, you’ve got to have a goal,” says Eric Clarke, who owns Running With E’s in Adrian, Mich., with his wife, Kerri. “You have to really identify why you want to do this.”

You might be running to lose weight, or to compete in a race, or even to run with a school-age child who’s in sports — but having a clear goal will help you stay motivated.

Get cleared by your doctor

James Larson, head track and cross country coach at Adrian College in Michigan, says people should get a doctor’s approval before starting an aerobic exercise program. “We want you to be safe, and being cleared by a medical doctor is the first step,” he says.

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Brian Drewry, Times Colonist

Shawnigan Lake is once again about to be invaded by some the world’s best outdoor enthusiasts.

The Schick Xtreme3 Mind Over Mountain Adventure Race (MOMAR) series is returning to Shawnigan Lake on July 26. Both the long (50 kilometres) and short (30 kilometres) courses will included mountain biking, kayaking, trail running, orienteering, water challenges and bushwhacking.

More than 200 participants from B.C., Alberta, Washington and California are expecting to be in attendance. There will also be an after-party at Shawnigan Community Centre, which will included dinner, prizes and dancing.

The event is also looking for volunteers and all volunteers receive a MOMAR T-shirt. For volunteer or racing information, visit the series website at: www.mindovermountain.com/momar or call 1-866-912-3331.

There’s a reason most ultra-marathons take place on trails. If you’re running 26-plus miles, better to do it off pavement, where there’s always shade, the surface is forgiving and the view never gets old.

But extreme distances are not required to savor our trails. In fact, as I learned this week, one need move neither far nor fast to get some great exercise courtesy of Mother Nature.

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Canwest News Service

Gary Reed already has a world championship medal — now he’s ready to take a shot at Olympic glory.

Reed punched his ticket to the 2008 Beijing Olympics Sunday winning the men’s 800 metres on the final day of the Canadian track and field championships in Windsor, Ont.

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FRONTRUNNERS GutBuster 004
Victoria, BC - Mt. Douglas
SUNDAY, July 6th, 2008
Start: 10:00am

There are two course options:

SHORT COURSE - A 6km run up to the top of Mt. Douglas (200m) for an amazing view over Victoria. Filled with great flowing single-track trails that is ideal for both runners and hikers.

LONG COURSE - 11km that features three summits to the top of Mt. Douglas. Each time will leave your breathless by both the views and the workout! You’re going to to LOVE this course!

and there are…

FOUR EASY WAYS TO REGISTER:
1. Register online
2. Download registration and mail it in
3. Drop off your entry at Frontrunners in Victoria, Nanaimo or Langford (must be dropped off by Thursday before race day).
4. Come early on Race Day

But this late in the game your only option is to get down there early tomorrow.

A great article from the New York Times , published June 11th…

Olympic marathon runners are no less obsessed about shoes than the gal pals in “Sex and the City.”

Later this month, Ryan Hall and Deena Kastor of the United States plan to begin testing the latest design from the distance-running equivalent of Manolo Blahnik . Their shoemaker is a Japanese master craftsman whose soles are renowned not for space-age gels or air bladders but for the gripping properties of rice husks.

The husks, which are ground and imbedded in the rubber soles of racing flats, are designed to absorb water and to provide up to 10 percent better traction along the 26.2-mile marathon course at the Beijing Olympics in August.

Marathon running does not exactly produce the same kind of skidding as Nascar racing. Still, the Beijing course could become slippery from rain, slick with humidity, slithery at water stops and misting stations, and glassy along a four-mile stretch of stones that have a feel similar to marble.

And no elite marathoner will soon forget the 2006 Chicago Marathon, where Robert Cheruiyot of Kenya — a favorite in Beijing — slipped as he crossed the finish line in first place, hit his head and sustained a concussion.

Continue reading…

The Canadian Press, June 9th 2008

Colin Jenkins is on the Olympic men’s triathlon team because he’s willing to sacrifice his dreams of a medal to get teammate Simon Whitfield on the podium in Beijing.

Whitfield, the Olympic gold medallist in 2000, Edmonton’s Paul Tichelaar and Jenkins, from Hamilton, Ont., were named to the men’s team Monday by Triathlon Canada.

Jenkins was appointed to the team ahead of Victoria’s Brent McMahon, who is ranked higher than Jenkins internationally, because Triathlon Canada says Whitfield’s chances of winning a medal improve with a teammate whose sole purpose is to draft for Whitfield on the 40-kilometre bike leg of the race.

"We’re putting a team together that’s about medal contention and at the end of the day, that pressure falls on me," Whitfield said Monday from Vancouver in a conference call.

"We set this team up and I have to go perform."

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By The Canadian Press

TORONTO - Simon Whitfield of Kingston, Ont., Paul Tichelaar of Edmonton and Colin Jenkins of Hamilton, Ont., have been named to the Canadian men’s triathlon team for the Olympic Games.

Triathlon Canada made the announcement this morning following the 2008 world championship in Vancouver on Sunday.

Whitfield, an Olympic gold medallist in 2000, will compete in his third Olympics, while Tichelaar and Jenkins will make their Games debut in Beijing.

Whitfield, 33, qualified by finishing in the top eight at both a World Cup and a world championship. Tichelaar and Jenkins were nominated to the team by Triathlon Canada’s high performance committee.

The women’s triathlon team will be named within the next two weeks.

The Olympic triathlons will be held Aug. 18 and 19.

Following is the latest editorial by Chris Kelsall and originally published on the Flotrack website .

Is American marathon runner John Little of Flagstaff, Arizona completely off his rocker? Is he delusional and possibly suffering from a bout of post marathon illusory psychosis? He just may be! He also may be fully and completely correct with his assertion that Canadian Olympic marathon standards are set too high by the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) and Athletics Canada (AC). Of course John has nothing to lose by saying so when he talks to the Canadian press about his feelings on the subject.

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The following article is written by Guy Dauncey and originally appears in the June issue of EcoNews .

Two wheels on the road, the summer air in your face - it’s a wonderful way to travel! When we look at the urgent need to eliminate our carbon emissions, plus the end of cheap oil and the benefits of being healthy and fit, cycling has to be one of the most important transport initiatives we should be investing in.

Coaches, transit, light rail, electric vehicles, ride-sharing, walking – these are all part of the answer.

But cycling should have a special place on the list, because it brings so many benefits. In Copenhagen, where 36% of the population commutes to work by bike, cycling has become such a style that they have invented a verb, “Copenhagenize”, to capture what’s happening. (www.copenhagenize.com)

And just look at the economics of it. They know from their health statistics that physically active people live five years longer and have four fewer years of lengthy illness than those who are non-active.

They know that cycling for four hours a week – 10 km a day, a typical Copenhagen bike ride – makes a person physically active.

Continue reading on the EcoNews website …

A recent article written by Jack Christie in Vancouver’s Georgia Straight talks about the reopening of the Kettle Valley Railway Trail near Kelowna after forest fires in 2003 destroyed 12 wooden trestle bridges. This is something all British Columbians should do at least once. Here is the beginning of the article.

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The trestles are back! The trestles are back! Phoenixlike, 12 wooden trestle bridges on the Myra Canyon section of the Kettle Valley Railway Trail near Kelowna have reappeared after vaporizing in flames during 2003’s forest fires. At the time, the loss seemed irreplaceable. Five years and $13.5 million in provincial and federal grants later, the Myra Canyon Trestle Restoration Society (www.myratrestles.com/) plans to unveil the new bridges on June 22.

Continue reading…

Jeff Bell, Times Colonist
Published: Monday, May 26, 2008

Donald Peterson won’t have to worry about keeping the rest of his team organized at this year’s 24 Hour Relay.

He is the team.

The 39-year-old running machine will be lining up for Saturday’s relay as the sole member of See Donald Run. It will be the first time a one-person entry has taken on the overnight event in Victoria.

"We did have a team of three people last year," said Pam Prewett, event manager for the Easter Seals 24 Hour Relay for the Kids. She said the lone-wolf approach has been done a few times at Vancouver’s 24 Hour Relay, and Victoria’s relay staff is looking forward to seeing Peterson take up the challenge.

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CBC News

The first Canadian man and woman to surge across the finish line of the Ottawa marathon this past weekend won’t be going to the Olympics in Beijing in August even though they both met international Olympic standards.

Gitah Macharia came 14th overall at the ING Ottawa marathon Sunday with a time of 2:16:55 and Tara Quinn-Smith came fourth in her category with a time of 2:33:58.

Quinn-Smith beat the women’s international A standard of 2:37:00 by more than three minutes and the B standard of 2:42 by more than eight during her first-ever marathon race.

However, she did not meet Athletics Canada’s tougher A and B women’s standards of 2:29:08 and 2:31:00 respectively.

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Globeandmail.com introduces Olympic triathlon champion Simon Whitfield as a regular Right to Play blogger leading up to the Olympic Games in Beijing this summer. In addition to being one of the top triathletes in the world, the Victoria native is also an Athlete Ambassador for the international humanitarian organization Right To Play. Headquartered in Toronto, Right To Play uses sport and play programs to improve health, build life skills and foster peace for children and communities in the most disadvantaged areas of the world. In their roles as Right To Play Athlete Ambassadors, Simon and dozens of other top Canadian athletes inspire children, are role models for healthy lifestyle choices and help raise awareness and funding for Right To Play projects

Here’s his first entry:

A blog for globeandmail.com by a guy who runs around in his swimsuit for a living . . .

Katherine Monk, Canwest News Service
Published: Monday, May 12, 2008

They may be purest metaphor for human accomplishment, but movies about running and the art of the pushing one’s body to the extreme can be downright dreary — if not ridiculous.

The problem isn’t the marathon idea, but the lack of externalized drama until the race itself. The real dynamics are internal, as the runner is inevitably forced to face internal demons of commitment, strength, desire and will.

Finding the face of that drama is difficult to accomplish without resorting to cheesy dialogue that may involve a line like this one from Without Limits, Robert Towne’s 1998 film about Olympic hopeful Steve Prefontaine: "the real purpose of running isn’t to win a race. It’s to test the limits of the human heart."’

Films that have been most successful at conveying the personal magnitude of a marathon generally weave that struggle onto a larger, epic frame that allows the theme of personal sacrifice to be meaningful to the audience.

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Runners attempt to be first to cross 58-kilometre route

Carolyn Heiman, Times Colonist
Published: Sunday, May 11, 2008

Build a trail and they will run.

And so three keeners set out yesterday wanting to be the first ever to run the 43 kilometre North Coast Trail on the northern tip of the Island, formally opened yesterday by the province.

The new trail links with the existing Cape Scott trail, forming a 58-kilometre stretch west from Port Hardy.

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Gina Kolata , a fitness and lifestyle writer for the New York Times , has just posted her latest article under her Personal Best column. Its called "For Peak Performance, 3 Is Not Better Than 1".

When Jenny Higgins started doing triathlons, she discovered something peculiar. She had been on her high school cross country and swim teams and her college swim team. But in 2003 she started running, swimming and cycling, and tried to excel in all three at once.

“I noticed that in the pool, my legs felt very heavy,” she said. “I was dragging my legs more than I used to and it hurt my swimming.”

Other times, she would swim fluidly but feel lifeless when she ran or cycled. After five years as a multisport athlete, Ms. Higgins, now a 32-year-old postdoctoral research fellow at Princeton University, said the push-me-pull-you feeling has not gone away. It made Ms. Higgins wonder something that may be on the minds of the nation’s more than 100,000 triathletes, too: Is it even possible to peak in more than one sport at once?

Click here to continue reading this article .