Bicycling magazing names Cleveland one of top five up-and-coming cycling cities

Bicycling magazine names Cleveland as one of the top 50 cycling cities in the USA, and one of the top five up-and-coming communities:.

By David Howard

Apparently there have been a few Cleveland jokes told over the years: mostly lame jabs about inept sports teams or Rust Belt dreariness. We don't know about any of that. But we do know the city is dead serious about bikes, from Cannondale devotee LeBron James down to the devout commuters at the Cleveland Clinic.

What's to love? For starters, the stretch of bike lane that now runs the length of historic Euclid Avenue, linking the city's two employment hubs. A new towpath just beyond Cleveland's southern border reaches Akron—80 miles away. Plans call for webs of bike paths to unspool east and west as well. To lure tourists in, the Downtown Cleveland Alliance launched a bike-rental program last summer—it will expand this year into a parking garage with showers and lockers.

And then there's the diversity. In January, a nonprofit unveiled plans to build an indoor velodrome—the third of its kind in the country and the only one east of the Rockies. The city is home to the vast Ray's Indoor Mountain Bike Park and Pedal Republic, which organizes bike-polo tourneys, tall-bike rides and alley cat races..

Congratulations Judith Arndt on silver medal in Olympic cycling time trials!

Gay Games Ambassador Judith Arndt has just won the silver medal in the Olympic cycling time trials. Congrats!!!

17 June 2012 / Women cyclists in Sydney invited to ride with an Olympic champion

Gay Games Ambassador Michelle Ferris is inviting all women cyclists in the Sydney area to join her for a 30-40km ride on 17 June 2012.

The ride will start at 7am from the café in Centennial Park (note: not the caravan!).

We thank Michelle for setting this up, and urge any interested women to take advantage of this special opportunity.

And remember that while Michelle's an Olympic medallist, she competed in sprints... maybe you can outdo her over the distance...

:)

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" airman to cycle against AIDS

Another column of interest from Roger Brigham in the Bay Area Reporter:

Randy Phillips became a celebrity of sorts last fall through a quiet act he took in a moment of profound isolation. This spring, when he rides in the 11th annual AIDS/LifeCycle, he will be able to share the joy of the moment with the thousands of fellow riders and event onlookers on his way from San Francisco to Los Angeles.

Airman Phillips, 21, gave a human face to the repeal of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" last September when he returned to his room on Ramstein Air Base in Germany to call his father, back home in Alabama, to tell him he was gay. He videotaped the call and posted it on YouTube, and the video link was quickly circulated throughout the blogosphere as part of the DADT repeal coverage.

[...]

Phillips's videos caught the attention of activist and blogger Ryan Yezak of Los Angeles. Yezak rides in the AIDS/LifeCycle for Team Popular, raising nearly $400,000 in the past two rides for AIDS services at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center.

"He hit me up on Twitter when I did the video and talked about the ride," Phillips said. "I said, Okay,' and then within about two hours I made up my mind I was going to do it and made it 'Twitter official.'"

Never mind that Phillips, who says he has been in a steady relationship since around Thanksgiving, isn't a cyclist and has never even been to California. The former high school baseball player and wrestler lifts weights and plays a little bit of tennis and golf, but biking? Not so much.

"I have yet to hop on a bike and I have not been on a bike in years," he said, "but I ran a half-marathon yesterday. I'm trying to get in some cardio and basically do some small rallies around here and in France. It's hard to do it right now; it's freezing here. The high this week has been about 15 degrees."

Read in full HERE.

Out cyclist thinks everyone is worried about him looking at their genitals

From the Scottish Sun, an update on Graeme Obree, who came out earlier this year (read HERE):

FLYING Scotsman Graeme Obree was hailed a hero after bravely revealing he was gay earlier this year. The divorced dad-of-two decided he could no longer live a lie, and exclusively told The Scottish Sun the truth about his sexuality in January.
But, despite the plaudits, the cycling legend has warned homosexual sport stars NOT to come out until AFTER they retire.

And he also urged gay SPL footballers to hide their sexual preferences — for fear of being shown the red card by their team-mates.

The 45-year-old said: "I don't think being gay and an active sportsman is a good thing. "While I was competing and in a changing room environment there was no way I would come out. "You'd always be worrying if other people were thinking, 'Is he checking me out?' "

He added: "There are SPL footballers who are gay, I know that for a fact. "But if I was in their position there is no way I would come out. "It would be too awkward in the dressing room. "You need to be retired first. Even now I wouldn't do coaching because it's still an awkward situation. Sure, I got a flood of letters from people supporting me. But now people have moved on and don't give a monkey's. They'd rather talk about cycling, which is great."

Obree, from Saltcoats, Ayrshire, became a national hero in 1993 when he smashed the world hour record using his 'Old Faithful' bike made from washing machine parts.
He went on to win the individual pursuit at the world championships twice in the 1990s.

But troubled Obree also endured a private battle with depression. He twice tried to commit suicide as he struggled to come to terms with his sexuality.

Obree celebrated coming out of the closest by building a sparkling PINK bike. He said: "I am floating along in my own single life. I like being out on my bike, that's all I need right now. Although it is a love-hate relationship — it's an obsession which I need to get by in my life." He added: "I still love my ex-wife Anne to bits, she is an amazing person and is my best friend."

We're struck by Graeme's singular obsession about locker rooms and what fellow athletes might be thinking. It sounds like he has internalized some homophobic clichés. As he himself notes, most people just don't care. In any case, it seems a pity for him to make his own worries a recipe for others. We're going to guess that there are far more athletes who are happy about being out than who regret it.

The Tour de France, Sydney Spokes, and Gay Games Ambassador Michelle Ferris

Michelle Ferris at Gay Games VII in CologneI

The Tour de France is a great excuse to write about Sydney Spokes and Gay Games Ambassador Michelle Ferris in the Sydney Star Observer:


It was a good week for sport in this country with the Great French Bike Ride forcing sunburnt English people in Wimbledon stands off the front page.

My late night prowling watching spokes go round on SBS has been curtailed by work, so I have had to learn the next morning how poor Spanish doctor Jesus Losa has provided another drug-filled exit strategy to a Russian rider in France.

This takes our eye off the goal — can Cadel Evans ultimately be triumphant in France to gain the dubious honour of wearing Lycra in one of the world’s fashion capitals, and will it be yellow this year?

Cycling’s affinity with the Gay Games movement includes Sydney’s own Michelle Ferris’ appointment as a Federation Ambassador. No small feat if you take a moment to peruse the international sporting stars she stands alongside.

At the height of her career, Ferris was not without controversy, but it never prevented her from producing the goods at medal time. As an international star, it would have been easy to stand on a pedestal and ignore the grassroots sportspeople in our community. Instead, Australia is well represented internationally and in local media by her profile, achievement and as a down-to-earth lesbian mum.

Cycling is a great sport. The development of Clover Moore’s ultra-green bike pathways throughout the gay Mecca has altered the journey to the point where I feel my two wheels have rights of their own. For the past decade, my bike and I have developed an affinity with the rabbit at the greyhound racing track. My greyhounds have been the taxi industry, non-observant drivers and Sydney Transit buses.

Sydney Spokes is a gay and lesbian cycling group which rides in and around Sydney on a weekly basis. It is not for purists, Lycra lovers, or former world champion triathletes, even though they’re all welcome. It is a friendly group which provides social interaction while exercising. Just another way to get out to play: www.teamsydney.org.au

Follow Scott Herman's Compete blog on his AIDS/LifeCycle challenge

Fitness consultant Scott Herman has put together a team to participate in the AIDS/Lifecycle charity bike ride in California. Compete is hosting his blog, which you can find HERE.

Here's an installment:

I am currently traveling across the United States with my Aids/LifeCycle teammates to embark on our 545-mile bicycle journey from San Francisco to LA. I left New Hampshire at 5am on Wednesday morning to pick up my teammates in New York and from there we have traveled 2,047 miles and are now in Wyoming. We haven’t stopped much other than to gas up and clean off the enormous amount of splattered bugs on the windshield.

My team consists of myself and 3 of my very own Hermanites— Adam Ebnit, Glenn Paladini, and Phillip Schlueter. None of us knew each other before SHF and the team met together for the first time at a charity fundraiser we did at McFadden’s in NYC only a few short weeks ago. It is amazing to me how strong a relationship you can build through social media today. Adam is 31 and works as an Administrator for Community Service and Civic Engagement at NYU; Phillip is 62, and has worked as a Pipe Organ Technician for 35 years; and Glenn is 62 and owns his own auto restoration company for classic cars specializing in GTOs called Chief Restorations.

We are extremely excited to participate in the Aids/LifeCycle because for us it means that our community has grown strong enough in that we are now able to give back to others who are in need. Glenn is riding in memory of his cousin Eddy Sladeck who passed away of AIDS 20 years ago. Phillip is riding in memory of his friends Steven Williams & Kevin Clarke who passed away from AIDS in 2005 and 2006. Adam is riding because he enjoys doing what he can to help others in need and I am riding because I am an advocate for gay rights and see this not only as an opportunity to help others in need, but to also bring more awareness of what is going on in the LGBT Community to my own Hermantion in hopes to help in the fight for equality and understanding across the world.

I would also like to add that one of my VERY close friends whom I have known now for 6 years recently told me that he and his partner have had AIDS for quite some time and although they knew I would never treat them any different if I knew, it was not something that they go around telling others. What made my friend finally want to tell me was that in previous interviews when asked if I knew anyone close to me who was diagnosed with the disease my answer was “no”. He was moved by my statement and when he told me I gave him a big hug and said:

“So? Does that mean you are going to complain in the gym now? Haha.”

4 June 2011 / Pride Games Ride , Manchester

www.PrideGames.org

In italiano: Graeme Obree: coming out dopo il tentato suicido

photo Andy McCandish

From gay.tv:

Graeme Obree è un uomo coraggioso perché è un sopravissuto, perché sarà d' esempio a molti colleghi e ragazzi, perché nonostante viva in un mondo omofobico, come quello dello sport sa essere, ha trovato la forza di dire "sono gay".

“Sono stato cresciuto pensando che sarebbe stato meglio essere morti che gay. Dopo aver scoperto di essere gay non riuscivo ad accettare me stesso".

Lo ha fatto attraverso le pagine dello Scottish Sun in una lunga intervista in cui ha raccontato la sua storia. Obree è cresciuto in una famiglia in cui l'omosessualità non è accettata, è cresciuto a ridosso delle retate nei locali gay, nell'epoca in cui essere omosessuale era un reato. Per questo non si ha mai acettatto serenamente di essere attratto dal suo stesso sesso. Si è autolesionato, ha tentato il suicidio due volte nel 1998 e nel 2001, quando già la sua fama era alle stelle.

Ora a 45 anni, dopo tanta terapia è un uomo felice e fiero di essere apertamente gay: “È stato difficile, ci sono state moltissime lacrime, ma alla fine i miei cari hanno capito e mi hanno compreso. Ora mi sento libero. Mi sento bene a parlarne pubblicamente".

Scottish world-champion cyclist Graeme Obree comes out

photo Andy McCandish

From BikeRadar.com:

Mon 31 Jan 2011, 11:40 am UTC
Graeme Obree reveals he is gay
By Richard Tyler in London, UK

Graeme Obree, a two-time World Champion and hour record holder, has admitted the torment he faced as he came to terms with his sexuality, after revealing that he is gay to a British newspaper.

In an interview with the Scottish Sun newspaper published on Monday, Obree admitted that the anxiety associated with hiding the fact that he was gay had led to two separate attempts to take his own life, in 1998 and 2001.

"I was brought up by a war generation; they grew up when gay people were put in jail. Being homosexual was so unthinkable that you just wouldn't be gay. I'd no inkling about anything, I just closed down," Obree told the newspaper.

While Obree has only now made it public, he said he had come out to his family (he is now divorced from his wife) shortly after discussing the truth about his sexuality with a psychologist in 2005. He admitted that the revelation had been a particular shock for his parents, though the truth has had a positive impact upon his relationship with them.

"It was difficult and there were lots of tears. It wasn't easy. But the relationship with my parents has been improved by it," he said. "We talked about it and discussed things and we're a lot happier."

Keep reading HERE.

Douglass and QUAC bring home gold

By Brad Di Iorio from Q Salt Lake

Over half of Team Utah athletes attending Gay Games VIII this summer brought home medals, with Utah’s top woman cyclist winning three gold medals, and the state’s water polo team beating the international favorite in the finals for the gold.

Margaret Douglass, the Utah athlete with the most medals from previous Gay Games, added three more golds to her collection of five gold and two silver medals in cycling. She was only supposed to compete in two events at this year’s games in Cologne, Germany, but when the German women’s team saw her perform in the criterium and road race, they asked her to join them for their team trial race.

“I felt very honored and told them yes [and] we won the gold. They were really strong [and] one of them had out-sprinted me in the two previous races,” said Douglass.

Read full article HERE

Live from Cologne - Cyclists to get police escort back to the center of town

The time trial cyclists of the Gay Games VIII Cologne 2010 will experience a first tonight - after the time trial competitions, the cyclists will be escorted to the city centre by the police.

250 participants are taking part in the time trial competition at the Gay Games. The race starts at 7 pm at the Fuehlinger Lake, and at 9:30 pm all cyclists are expected at the finish line. “Of course we would like to make it possible for all of the participants to end their evening at the villages at Neumarkt”, says Dagmar Ziege, who is responsible for the sport. “We made an agreement with the police that those cyclists who are not allowed to drive on regular streets due to lack of lights on their special bikes, will be escorted back by the police in a convoy from Fuehlingen to Cologne city centre.”

The convoy starts at 10 pm at the Fuehlinger Lake and will reach Heumarkt at 10.30 pm. From there, the participants can cycle through Schildergasse to Neumarkt and enjoy the atmosphere of the Gay Games villages that will remain open until midnight.

The time trials were moved later at night to accommodate the desire of local communities to not have their streets closed during normal day driving times.

Michelle Ferris nNamed Gay Games Ambassador!

Michelle Ferris, Cycling World and Olympic Silver Medalist, Named Gay Games Ambassador

Federation of Gay Games names elite Australian athlete to join international roster of sports and cultural stars promoting the quadrennial Gay Games

Australian Michelle Ferris, one of cycling’s all-time sprint stars with multiple world and Olympic medals to her credit, has been selected by the Federation of Gay Games (FGG) to be the newest Gay Games Ambassador, an international group of prominent individuals supporting the Gay Games.

The eighth edition of the quadrennial Gay Games takes place in Cologne, Germany 31 July to 10 August 2010.

“I relish the opportunity to be a Gay Games Ambassador”, said Ferris. “The Gay Games provide a unique opportunity for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender athletes and artists from around the world to come together in celebration. By highlighting our sporting and cultural achievements under the three Gay Games principles of ‘Participation, Inclusion and Personal Best’, we have the opportunity to celebrate our accomplishments in a safe and supportive environment.”

Ferris’ 20-year cycling career peaked with a series of silver medals in the sprint and 500 metre time trials at the Olympic games in 1996 and 2000 and at the UCI World Cycling Championships from 1997-1999. She captured her country’s heart at Sydney’s 2000 Olympics when, after finishing in the runner-up position in the sprint to her perennial rival Felicia Ballanger of France, she said it didn’t matter because the most important thing was that she’d set a new personal best.

After retiring from the rigors of full-time cycling training and traveling, Ferris climbed back on her bike for the competitive yet less pressure-packed 13th UCI World Masters Track Cycling Championships held in 2007 in Sydney. She won gold in both the sprint and 500 m. time trials in the 30-39 age category and added a third gold in the 12.5 km. points race for ages 30-44.
Today, Ferris sees her athletic accomplishments as a way to bring attention to other important issues, such as those epitomized by the Gay Games.

“Until we have full legal and societal equality”, stated Ferris, “gays and lesbians, especially those with a public profile, should come out. Elite athletes have the responsibility and the honour of serving as role models for the LGBT community, and we can do this by living our lives proudly”.

The Gay Games Ambassadors represent a broad range of achievement in sports, the arts, business and government. Michelle Ferris joins an illustrious roster that includes: from the U.K., musician Sir Elton John, world power lifting gold medallist Chris Morgan, and former National Basketball Association player Jon Amaechi; from South Africa, Olympic beach volleyball player Leigh Ann Naidoo; from Germany, world and Olympic champion cyclists Petra Rössner and Judith Arndt; from Australia, world champion trampoline gymnast Ji Wallace; and, from the U.S., tennis legend Billie Jean King, Olympic gold medal diver Greg Louganis, Olympic gold medal swimmer Bruce Hayes, champion figure skater Rudy Galindo, rock star Melissa Etheridge, former U.S. Ambassador James Hormel, former Major League Baseball player Billy Bean, former National Football League players David Kopay and Esera Tuaolo, actors Judith Light and Amanda Bearse, and photographer Tom Bianchi.

“The selection of Michelle Ferris to be a Gay Games Ambassador is the FGG's way of recognizing her contributions to the international sport and culture community as a world champion, an Olympic medallist and an elite cyclist”, said Kate Rowe, Sydney-based FGG board member and Vice President for Diversity. “We feel truly honoured that Michelle Ferris has accepted our invitation to become an Ambassador for the Gay Games”.

Ferris and the other Gay Games Ambassadors will promote the upcoming Gay Games VIII around the world at sporting events and public gatherings in collaboration with the FGG. Although retired from elite competitions, Ms. Ferris continues participating in Masters cycling events and is looking forward to competing at her first Gay Games in Cologne.

SSO Article LINK HERE.