{"id":2002,"date":"2012-05-24T22:00:29","date_gmt":"2012-05-25T02:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=2002"},"modified":"2024-12-03T16:54:52","modified_gmt":"2024-12-03T21:54:52","slug":"big-on-bikes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=2002","title":{"rendered":"Liking Biking"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Linda Burton posting from Boise, Idaho <\/em>\u2013 Boise is for bicycles. And not just during the ExergyTWENTY12 event that\u2019s bringing world-class cyclists into town this week. Ordinary folks are out there every day, on the streets and on the pathways, going ordinary places on their bikes. Like Ed, the retiree who volunteers at the State Capitol. \u201cI ride my bike almost everywhere I go. I can hardly stand getting in a car anymore,\u201d he said. He figures he rides about 200 miles a week. And like Terry, a part of the American Heritage Trolley Tour I took. Standing by the map on the back of my car, Terry pointed out the route he and his daughter took in the summer of 1992 when they biked across the USA. Daughter Lyalka was 14, Dad Terry was 44. They departed from Florence, Oregon and arrived in Long Island, New York 43 days later, Pacific to Atlantic. \u201cPeople made a fuss over her,\u201d Terry told me. \u201cBicycling across the country at 14. They should have been making a fuss over me. I was doing it at 44!\u201d When I asked how they trained for the trip, he said they didn\u2019t; they were already bike riders, so they just went. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to be an athlete to do something like that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Or, you can<\/em> be an athlete, and a professional, like Boisean Kristin Armstrong, leader of the Exergy TWENTY12 Team, who brought home Olympic Gold from Beijing in 2008, and is aiming for London this year. How she got into cycling is a rather unusual story. <\/p>\n

Kristin was a swimmer; a Junior Olympian by age 17. She excelled as a triathlete until she was diagnosed with osteoarthritis at age 27. No more running at an elite level, she was told, but cycling was good therapy. Now 38, she is considered one of the most accomplished American cyclists of all time (no relation to Lance<\/em>). She lives in Boise with husband Joe Savola and son Lucas, age 2; she took a break from cycling when Lucas was born; but now she\u2019s back.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Leader of Team Exergy TWENTY12, she has set her sights on a second Olympic Gold medal this year. And part of that \u201croad to London\u201d is happening in Boise this week. It\u2019s the only 2.1 race for women in North America in 2012, on par with the most prestigious and competitive races in the world. It\u2019s a last chance for earning international ranking points crucial in qualifying for the upcoming London Olympic Games. And there is a $100,000 purse, on top of that.<\/p>\n

Over 100 athletes representing 18 countries are here; besides Kristin and her two rivals Amber Neben and Evelyn Stevens (all three competing for two spots on the US Time Trial team) are Germany\u2019s six-time champion Daniela Glass, and current road-race champion Ina-Yoko Teutenberg; Italy\u2019s current road world champion Giorgia Bronzini ; Switzerland\u2019s 2011 national road champion Pascale Schnider; Britian\u2019s 2008 Olympic gold medalist in the road race Nicole Cooke; Australia\u2019s national road race champion Alexis Rhodes; Sweden\u2019s national time trial champion Emilia Fahlin; Australia\u2019s three-time national time trial champion Shara Gillow; and, as they say in the press releases, many more.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Spectators are welcome at all events \u2013 Friday\u2019s road race in Nampa, Saturday\u2019s individual time trial in Kuna, Sunday\u2019s 59.7-mile road race from Garden City to Idaho City, Monday\u2019s final 46.7-mile road race looping through the Boise foothills from and to Hyde Park; and tonight\u2019s kickoff, the Prologue, a time trial from Julia Davis Park to the Boise Depot and back. Capitol Boulevard was closed and everyone was encouraged to \u201cbring cowbells or anything to bang on\u201d for some real-life Boise liking-biking cheer.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>It was quite a thrilling sight, standing at the turning point on the rose-covered Boise Depot hill; overlooking the city, the media vans, the traffic-directing police, the cowbell-clanging crowd, and the riders making their turn with camera crews on scooters right behind, recording every move. Most everyone, I noticed, rode their bike to the event.<\/p>\n

Host cities for the Exergy Tour http:\/\/www.exergytour.com\/host-cities\/<\/a><\/p>\n

About Team ExergyTWENTY12 http:\/\/www.teamtwenty12.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

About Exergy Development Group http:\/\/www.exergydevelopment.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0Post Race Press Release<\/em><\/p>\n

Kristin Armstrong, team leader of Exergy Twenty12 professional cycling team and pre-race favorite, crashed at the halfway point of the Prologue course in the 180-degree turn just beyond the Boise Train Depot. The 2008 Olympic gold medalist finished the race in obvious pain, and holding her left shoulder, just eight seconds behind winner Tara Whitten of Canada, who finished at 4:09.64.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

According to Jim Johnston, MD, Orthopedic Surgeon of St. Luke\u2019s Sports Medicine, Armstrong has a mid-shaft clavicle fracture. Surgery is scheduled for Friday morning forcing Armstrong to withdraw from competition. The Exergy Twenty12 team issued a statement saying a swift recovery is expected, and she plans to be back on her trainer within a few days to continue her pursuit of another Olympic gold medal.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Linda Burton posting from Boise, Idaho \u2013 Boise is for bicycles. And not just during the ExergyTWENTY12 event that\u2019s bringing world-class cyclists into town this week. Ordinary folks are out there every day, on the streets and on the pathways, going ordinary places on their bikes. Like Ed, the retiree who volunteers at the State […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4586,482],"tags":[586,3064,587,585,584],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2002"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2002"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2006,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2002\/revisions\/2006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}