A few years after moving to California, we shot a video of our house and family at Christmastime for our friends back in Maryland.

One stop on the tour was the Men's Crisis Center, the shed in the back yard where a new dad could get in some afterhours cranking on an old bike set up on a trainer.

I was returning to the shed with the camera running when I realized I had left my inquisitive son in there alone. He had totally greased his hands on the oily bike chain. It was too funny to get angry.

I had totally forgotten about this until I ran across the other day. Now, it seems like it happened yesterday.

By the way, this kid went on to ride the Cycle Across Maryland and Ride Around Washington on a tandem, and two more Ride Across Washington week-long tours on his  mountain bike.

Be aware that you're going to have a big ol' bare spot on your wall in a couple of weeks if you haven't bought a bicycling calendar to replace that 2007 model.

There are lots of bicycle calendars to choose from online. Some feature scenic road and mountain biking locales, while others feature professional and recreational women cyclists from around the world and across the Northwest.

As usual, the Cyclepassion 2008 wall calendar is undoubtedly the hottest one out there this year. Instead of relying on professional models, it features pro women cyclists. That's Norwegian mountain biker Gunn-Rita Dahle-Flesja on the cover ....   more »

I'm always amazed at athletes who compete in endurance sports, especially those ultra events that involve sleep deprivation from hours and days in the activity.

UltraRob's Adventures blog tells about two cyclists -- John "Blue Dog" Jurczynski and Mike "Mad Dog" Gallagher -- who each set an indoor spinning record of 113 hours at a sports club in Laconia, New Hampshire, last night.

If confirmed officially, the effort will put the two in the pages of the next Guinness Book of World Records, barring the unlikely prospect that someone can beat 112 hours. Actually, the previous record of 111 hours, 11 minutes and 11 seconds had been set by George Hood last summer ...   more »

President Bush is known for his love of mountain biking, so it's no surprise that many world leaders gave him gifts with a bicycling theme.

In the cycling apparel line, Bush received cycling jerseys from Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, and Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen. Verhofstadt also gave him cycling tights.

Former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, one of Bush's closest friends on the world scene, gave the president an electric-power assisted bicycle...   more »

Authorities cleared a string of some 28 bank robberies in 16 states in September when Bruce David Voss, the so-called Bicycle Bandit, was arrested after a bank robbery in Tallahassee, Florida.

Caught red-handed with the cash and his getaway bicycle stuffed in the trunk of his car, the 57-year-old Voss confessed to a string of bank robberies. The next day, he hung himself in his jail cell before authorities could learn the details and locations of all the robberies.

But that hasn't been the end of bicycle bank robberies. There have been two other separate serial bank robbery sprees -- in Georgia and New Hampshire -- that have a similar modus operandi. The robber makes his getaway on a bicycle...   more »

Joe Kurmaskie isn't exactly the poet laureate of bicycle tourists; he's more like the comic laureate.

I caught Kurmaskie's very entertaining talk at the Seattle Bike Expo, and I'm happy to see he's returning for another Metal Cowboy Holiday Spectacular at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 11 at the downtown Seattle REI. (Cascade Bicycle Club members, 2 for $5; nonmembers $5.)

Kurmaskie's a funny guy. He spends many days every year bicycle touring, often with his family. If you're not familiar with the Portland bicyclist, here's an excerpt from a quiz he sent out earlier this year entitled: "Are You Addicted to Cycling?" ...   more »