So, you think your business promotes helth and wellness among employees? Maybe there's a health club onsite and fitness programs?

Sure, that's nice.

But here's what I want my employer to buy me -- a treadmill desk.

Hey, it only cost $4,899.

My previous posting about an altercation with a motorist at 15th and Q streets in midtown Sacramento prompted quite a response from the cycling community.

Reader Gregory Wilkins, who recently moved from Dallas to Folsom, says he's been hassled by motorists and cops on his bike to such an extent that he carries a DMV booklet with him.

The way Wilkins tells it, being a cyclist in Texas is dangerous (hey, isn't that where Lance Armstrong is from?)

"I moved here to ride my bike and be left alone," he says. "In Dallas, I have been harrased for being a commuter for 25 years, (riding) 1.500 miles a month. I'm a chef, and it keeps me in shape and happy. The DMV book in Texas has less than a half page and the drivers think in Texas that bikes are only legal in parks and on sidewalks.

"I have been shot at three times, chased, (had) beer bottles thrown, dogs sicced on me and a lot of middle fingers."

Reader Diane Craig says that California might want to adopt the New York City model of "green pavement markings to indicate where cyclists should be...(Some have) proposed the idea of 'advance boxes' so that cyclists in a right lane bike lane can stop ahead of where motorists stop.

"In a regular intersection, this would ensure that the motorists (1) see the stopped cyclists and (2) allow them to proceed straight ahead after the light turns green, (3) before the motorists turn right, into or in front of them. I think we need a statewide consistent bicycle marking policy. I like green."

 And here's this from David Allen, of Roseville, a League of American Bicyclists instructor: 

"I've found that horn honkings and verbal commentary are related to motorists not knowing where I'm headed. The more I eliminate ambiguity in my riding, the rarer such interactions occur. How do I do this? By riding predictably and communicating often.

Unless we can drum up some guest bloggers from among The Bee staff ("Anyone, anyone? Bueller?"), the blog is going no vacation for a week.

See you June 30. 

I recently switched chairs at work -- traded up, or so I thought -- and I notice I've been slouching more.

Maybe I need to get one of these iPosture gizmos that zaps you whenever you slouch. MSNBC.com gave it a test spin. Read its findings here.

A new study from India, appearing in the journal Anesthesia & Analgesia, reports that gargling with a solution made from licorice before surgery can help people who awaken from anesthesia with a sore throat.

Researchers at the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences in Lucknow, India, put 40 spinal surgery patients into two groups. About 25 percent of patients who used the licorice gargle had a sore throat, compared to 75 percent of those who gargled with water. Postoperative sore throat was also less severe in the licorice group.

They also found that the licorice group had fewer incidences of post-op coughs.

Sal Vasquez (Courtesy of the Marin Independent Journal)

Today's story in The Bee about the Dipsea Race did not mention that the all-time recordholder now lives in Sacramento.

That's because we didn't know that Sal Vasquez, who has won seven Dipseas (the last in 1997), now calls our flatlands home. Vasquez, 69, has been a Sacramentan for the past seven years during his semi-retirement.

In Dipsea lore, Vasquez is a living legend. After he won four straight Dipseas, the officials started awarding penalty minutes to previous winners. They call in the "Sal Vasquez Rule."

Vasquez says he was planning to run in this year's race, but an ankle injury felled him. He had surgery to repair tendons in May and says he'll be ready to go for next year's 100th race. Sal, who also has won a Double Dipsea, will be 70 and he thinks he's got a good shot at winning.  

YouTube, the video-sharing site, is all about interactivity, so it's not surprising that some slob "answered" the spoof ultramarathon video we linked to yesterday.

The guy in the video is pretty funny -- though I don't recommend his workout, per se. Plus, he really needs what Seinfeld scholars would call a "bro."

Check out today's feature on the venerable Dipsea Race over Mount Tamalpais in Marin County. Twenty four runners from the Sacramento area participated, including Elk Grove's Brian Olson, shown below.

In California, it's the law: Anyone under 18 must wear a helmet while bicycling.

Raise your hand if you've seen kids biking sans "lid"?

That's a lot, but at least our state has a law.

A new report by the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital show that in areas where no bicycle helmet laws exist, nearly one-half of children, ages 4 to 17, never wear a helmet.  

Here are the grim facts about kids and bike injuries: Every three days, a child in the United States is killed while riding a bicycle, and every day at least 100 children are treated in emergency rooms due to bicycle-related head injuries. 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has determined that universal bicycle helmet use by children, ages 4 to 15, would prevent about 40,000 head injuries and about 50,000 scalp and face injuries every year.

By the way, here's California's youth helmet law:

21212.  (a) A person under 18 years of age shall not operate a bicycle, a nonmotorized scooter, or a skateboard, nor shall they wear in-line or roller skates, nor ride upon a bicycle, a nonmotorized scooter, or a skateboard as a passenger, upon a street, bikeway, as defined in Section 890.4 of the Streets and Highways Code, or any other public bicycle path or trail unless that person is wearing a properly fitted and fastened bicycle helmet that meets the standards of either the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) or the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), or standards subsequently established by those entities. This requirement also applies to a person who rides upon a bicycle while in a restraining seat that is attached to the bicycle or in a trailer towed by the bicycle.

... is good!

At least, we don't take out our frustrations on our fellow drivers.

That's according to a telephone survey of 2,500 people to determine the best and worst cities for road rage, commissioned by Auto Vantage, an automobile club.

Sacramento is the fourth most courteous city, according to the surgery, behind Portland, Ore., Cleveland, Baltimore and ahead of Pittsburgh.

The least courteous, in order: New York City, Dallas/Fort Worth, Detroit, Atlanta, Minneapolis/St. Paul.

Click here to read more.

Not content to put on some of the most highly-attended road races in the area, Fleet Feet Sacramento will be holding a trail run on Aug. 16 with the enticing name of "Blood, Sweat and Beers."

It's in Auburn, and there are  8K and 15K races.

More details here.

Sacramentans like to think of themselves on the cutting edge of bicycle culture. And Davis, of course, is a certified bike crazy town.

But neither of our cities is up to speed with Montpelier, Vermont.

On Saturday, bike activists staged the Naked Bike Ride right smack through Main Street to the State House. Yup, 42 men and women let it all hang out. Why? According to the Rutland Herald, it was to to preach "the ills of oil dependency and the beauty of the bicycle."

Nudity is legal in Vermont, according to the Herald, but disrobing in public is not.

While you scratch your head over that one, here's a quote from one of the participants, co-organizer Jill Cichoski: "It's more nonconfrontational when you're naked. When you're naked, people can't get angry at you when you're telling them what to do."

Oh, by the way, the riders did wear helmets.

They are sticklers about helmets, those nude cyclists. Safety first.

Read the full story here. (Alas, no photos.)

VICTOR PLATA

The very name "Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon" sounds rigorous, and it is. But for Victor Plata, a professional traithlete who is studying at the University of the Pacific's McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento,  it was easily conquered.

Plata finished fifth in the elite pro division of the 1.5-mile swim (from Alcatraz to the Bay), 18-mile hilly bike ride and 8-mile run (including the 400 steep "sand ladder" steps) with a time of 2 hours 13 minutes 52 seconds.

Originally from Santa Cruz, Plata moved to Sacramento for law school. He competed for the U.S. in the 2004 Olympic Games in the traithlon, finishing 27th. Read more about Plata here.

Meanwhile, just across the bay in Mill Valley, the annual (and also grueling) Dipsea race -- a 7.4-mile age-handicapped run from Mill Valley to Stinson Beach over Mount Tamalpais -- saw Sacramentan Iain Mickle, 48, finish 18th at 53 minutes (actual time 57:12). It was the fifth straight year Mickle, a Sacramento lawyer, finished in the top 35, earning the coveted black shirt.

For a complete report on the Dipsea, read Thursday's Outbound section in The Bee.   

That's the word from a professor of OB-GYN at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.

"Laptops are becoming increasingly common among young men wired into to the latest technology," said Dr. Suzanne Kavic, MD, director of the division of reproductive endocrinology at Loyola, in a press release. "However, the heat generated from laptops can impact sperm production and development making it difficult to conceive down the road."

Her recommendation to guys who want to one day become fathers: "Place your laptops on desktops to prevent damaging sperm and decreasing counts and motility."

Other fertility tips the doc provided include:

* Avoiding hot tubs
* Using boxers over briefs
* Refraining from ejaculating too frequently (the recommendation is to only engage in sexual intercourse every other day around ovulation)
* Exercising moderately (one hour, three to five times per week)
* Avoiding exercise that can generate heat or trauma to the genital area
* Eating well
* Taking a daily multivitamin
* Getting eight hours of sleep per night
* Staying hydrated and limiting caffeine to no more than two cups per day
* Refraining from smoking
* Avoiding drugs and excessive alcohol use
* Minimizing exposure to toxins
* Avoiding excessive weight gain or weight loss
* Practicing stress reduction techniques

Heck, just reading that list elevates my stress level.

OK, so don't overreact and start strictly following the no-carb Atkins mantra again.

But...

New research on breakfast choices from the University of Alabama, Birmingham confirms earlier studies finding that a diet moderately lower in carbohydrates shows less fluctuation in glucose levels. Glucose, found in simple carbohydrates (doughnuts and bagels), cause a spike in insulin levels, which sends hunger signals to the body.

In other words, you'll feel fuller if we eat a breakfast that contains more fiber and, fruit and some dairy. Your "fullness" feeling will last longer into the morning and prevent you from snacking.

The study was presented this week at the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society in Washington, D.C.  

Steve Larsen, the former Davis resident who went on to become a professional cyclist and champion triathlete, had coronary heart disease that led to a heart attack that killed him on May 19. (Read The Bee's earlier story on his death here.)

That's the autopsy report from the medical examiner in Bend, Ore., where Larsen collapsed while doing a track interval running workout. The Bend Bulletin quotes Steve Cross, the Deschutes (Ore.) County medical examiner as saying even fit athletes such as Larsen can have undetected artery blockage.

"Unfortunately, sometimes the first indication of heart disease is sudden death," Cross told the paper. "Nearly 1 million people will die this year, and about half of them will die of heart disease."

Read the complete story here. 

Antioxidants are good for you. This message is broadcast far and wide by vitamin companies, farmers and physicians. But what many people don't know is that antioxidants might be quite bad for you if you have breast cancer.

According to a study published in the July issue of the medical journal Cancer, many women with breast cancer continue taking large doses of antioxidant supplements in hopes of improving their body's ability to fight the disease. But past research suggests that antioxidants may also have detrimental effects on conventional cancer treatments.

Antioxidants, such as vitamins C and E, beta-crotene and selenium, have been found to help prevent the onset of cancer by protecting the body's cells from damage caused by unstable molecules known as free radicals - free radical damage may lead to cancer. But many physicians note that cancer patients undergoing treatment may be doing their bodies more harm than good by consuming greater-than-average doses of antioxidants.

Researchers at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health studied the use of antioxidant supplements among 764 women in the Long Island Breast Cancer Study Project. Of the 663 women who were undergoing chemotherapy, hormone treatment or radiation, 60.5 percent said they were taking antioxidants during their treatment and a majority of the women - about 70 percent - who reported antioxidant use said they were taking high doses, which was defined as more than the dose of antioxidants found in an average multivitamin.

Many breast cancer patients surveyed in the study believe antioxidant supplements will protect them from the toxicity of chemotherapy and radiation treatment, improve their overall health and mitigate the risk of cancer recurrence.

But the actual impact antioxidants have on cancer treatment is unknown at best and dangerous at worst. 

In a 2008 study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, researchers found that antioxidants can protect healthy cells while patients undergo radiation and chemotherapy treatments but chemotherapy and radiation treatments often attack cancerous cells by generating free radicals, which many vitamin supplements protect against. Antioxidants exert their effects on all tissues, not just healthy ones, and can thereby protect cancer cells, as well as healthy cells, from the treatments.

Bee File Photo 2007/Randy Pench

David Takemoto-Weerts, bicycle program coordinator at UC Davis walks among hundreds of bikes that have been picked up on campus and stored in this warehouse.

You gotta love Davis, the bike-crazy burg.

Apparently, students at UC Davis have this strange habit of leaving their commuter bicycles behind upon leaving campus for the summer. They either lock 'em up and then retrieve them in the fall or they just leave them behind to lighten the load when moving out of the dorms.

A story in the student newspaper, the Cal Aggie, reports that the university's Transportation and Parking Services will post with impoundment warnings that give the owner 48 hours to remove bikes from racks. If the bikes aren't retrieved, they go into the university's annual spring bike auction. 

Read the complete story here.  

What is, arguably, the one household appliance that leads to acute injury?

Would you believe the personal computer?

OK, so some might not consider the computer an appliance, per se, but it sure is used a lot more than the dishwasher and microwave, at least at my house.

A study released this week by Center for Injury Research and Policy of The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital found that acute computer-related injuries increased by 732 percent, from nearly 1,300 to approximately 9,300 injuries per year.

The study didn't chart chronic conditions, such as lower back pain from slumping in front of the screen or blurred vision. Rather, it tracked mishaps such as lacerations and contusions and abrasions. Young children are especially vulnerable to head injuries.

Among the injuries was hitting the side of the computer and sustaining a contusion (37 percent of all injuries) and computer equipment falling on the patient (21 percent). For the elderly and young children, tripping over computer cords was a big problem.

"Various agencies provide safety recommendations for the home, including the bedroom, bathroom, living room and kitchen, but the home office or computer area is rarely considered," Dr. Lara McKenzie, who led the study, said in a release. "Parents should take steps to make their computer areas and home offices as safe as possible by keeping computer equipment away from the edges of desks and out of reach of young children, installing safety covers on unused electrical outlets, allowing young children to only use the computer with adult supervision, and keeping play areas separate from the computer workstation."

More than 1,000 women converged on the Capitol Sunday morning for the Nike Women's Fitness Festival 5K, and no one was faster than Sacramento's Kirsten Schneider.

Schneider, a 40-year-old member of the Buffalo Chips running club, won the 3.1 double loop around the Capitol in 17 minutes 55 seconds. That bettered her winning time in last year's race of 18:26. Schneider also won the racve in 2007 at 18:18.

She was tested this time, however, by Bridgette Pilling, 26, of the River City Rebels club. Pilling led after the first mile and finished second at 18:07.

It was a big triathlon weekend at Rancho Seco. On Saturday, the Tri for Fun Sprint (half-mile swim, 16-mile bike, 3-mile run) was won by 15-year-old Jeroen Keukenkamp in 1 hour 13 minutes 1 second. The top woman was Pamela Jennings, 29, at 1:18.15.

 On Sunday, in the Tri For Real Olympic Distance race (1.5K swim, 40K bike, 10K run), 35-year-old pro triathlete Jeffrey Piland of San Carlos won in 1:56.32. The top woman was Kari Mundschenk, a 43-year-old veterinarian from Sloughhouse, at 2:04.32. Mundschenk finished sixth overall.    

It was bound to happen: the first tweeting-while-running injury.

The casuality involving the self-involved Twitter phenomenon happened in Great Britain. Here are the first few paragraphs from the London Guardian:

Office worker Mr Coleman, 23, was 'tweeting' to his followers on his Blackberry while jogging to work when he cracked his head on a heavy low-hanging branch.

The force of the impact sent the dazed runner crashing to the pavement and left him with a badly bruised black eye.

Now Mr Coleman has vowed to keep his phone in his pocket while jogging the three miles from his home in St.Andrews, Bristol to work."I guess you could say I feel a right Twit," he said.

 

We've all heard that taking the stairs, rather than riding passively in an elevator or on an escalator, is a good way to be more physically active and strengthen that heart.

But building designers, apparently, haven't been stair-friendly, according to a study appearing in this month's Southern Medical Journal. Co-authors  Dr. Ishak A. Mansi of Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, and wife, architect Nardine M. Mansi, call for builders to make the stairs the star of office buildings, department stores and the like. 

"Stairs are frequently hidden from entrances, with only small signs denoting their locations, typically in connection to the fire exit," the authors write. 

They say fire exits are usually guarded by heavy doors, not carpeted, and not air-conditioned. They also report that architects find it challenging enough to comply with current building codes emphasizing fire safety and accessibility.

 "As a result," the report concludes, "a conscious focus on health does not enter the design process."

So, what exactly can designers do to make stairs more attractive to people used to taking the easy way?

The authors suggest carpeting and air conditioning. And, at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention building in Atlanta, officials found that playing music in stairwells and displaying motivational signs significantly increased the use of stairs.

. 

May I vent for a moment about clueless -- or just plain rude -- motorists when it comes to dealing with cyclists?

Let me preface this rant by saying that the vast majority of drivers are respectful and tolerant of bike riders and that, in some cases, cyclists can endanger cars.

Still, an incident on the ride into work still bothers me.

It happened at the intersection of Q and 15th streets. I was headed east into the heart of Midtown Sacramento and, just before the light, the far right lane becomes a right-turn only lane (clearly marked) and the left lane can either go straight or turn left.

So, the light turns red and, nearing the intersection, I migrate left to exit the far right lane and go to the far right side of the left (non-turn) lane. Well, a sedan pulls up in the turn lane and a woman rolls down her window and calls me a hazard for being what she calls "in the middle of the road." 

She wanted me to stay in the right lane, as near to the curb as I could get. In actuality, doing that would've made me a hazard for any car wanting to turn right once the light changed to green. I mentioned something to that effect to her, but she still thought what I was doing is illegal. 

Memo to the DMV: How about if you include more questions for motorists about dealing with bikes on the driver's test?  

The previous post about the new book, "What's Your Diet Type?," got me thinking about all the catchy names publishers slap on the numerous diet tomes on the market.

Just peering at the bookshelf at my cubicle, I can see a few. Here are some of the ones I've seen that make me laugh (which burns calories, by the way):

* "Skinny Chicks Don't Eat Salad"

* "Lessons From the Fat-o-Sphere"

* "Why Your Last Diet Failed And How This Book Won't Help You on Your Next One"

*  "The Hacker's Diet: How to Lose Weight and Hair Through Stress and Poor Nutrition."

* "The No 'S' Diet"

* "The Black Book of Hollywood Diet Secrets"

* "Half-Assed: A Weight-Loss Memoir"

What's your favorite diet book title?  

UPDATE AT 2:20 P.M.: I just received an email from the publisher Simon & Schuster about a new diet book coming out this month. Title: "Nice Girls Finish Fat" I kid you not.

Not a day goes by that a new diet book -- or 10 -- is not published. Rare is the book, though, that comes with its own playing cards.

Yup, coinciding with the publication of the diet tome, "What's Your Diet Type?," authored by registered dietician Heather K. Jones and two Sacramentans (Dr. Ed Redard and fitness and wellness expert Mary Miscisin) are a set of cards that perfectly illustrate the book's premise.

We particularly liked "Diet Player" card, showing a mod-dressed woman with thought bubbles swirling around her head: "I want it NOW!" and "Today must be enjoyed...tomorrow may never come," and "Variety is the spice of life."

The book ($19, Hatherleigh Press, 267 pages) matches specific dieting plans with your personality type, using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.and other personality research. It really is more a look at the emotions and reasons why people overeat than a how-to weight-loss manual -- though it's included as well.   

For more information, click here.

Medical reports are still pending regarding the exact cause of death of former professional cyclist and ex-Davis resident Steve Larsen, who collapsed and died on a Bend, Ore., track during interval training two weeks ago. (Read the story here.)

But a former cycling competitor of Larsen's, Patrick Mannion, wonders whether it might have been exercise-induced asthma that killed Larsen. Mannion, in an email, tells his harrowing brush with near death.

"Several years back, I myself was within reach of very sudden death due to an exercised-induced asthma attack.  From what I have heard regarding the circumstances of Steve's death, it sounds very much like what happened to me.  I am (quite literally) very lucky to be alive. I suspect that very few who have experienced what I did actually survived to talk about it.  I remember collapsing to the ground knowing I was about to die.

"After a 12 year layoff, I started bike racing again in 2000 after moving from California to New Jersey. In late May of 2000, I remember riding a training race and noticing the familliar musty, humid smell of maple pollen in the air.  At one point during the race I started to suddenly cough.  Figured I must have inhaled a mosquito or something.  The cough got worse, and at one point I even thought to myself 'Hmm, I'm almost short of breath.'  But then I recovered and just kept racing.

"Next year, same time of year, same circumstances, same kind of event, I had similar symptoms.  The next year, I was actually riding home from a training race, pedalling quite slowly and taking it easy, sipping some water.  Suddenly, I started coughing again.  The same tree pollen smell was everywhere again.  But this time, the coughing got worse, and it went even further.  Within seconds, I could feel my lungs literally compressing and robbing me of more and more air.  With each exhale, I could take in less air on the next intake.  I stopped the bike, right next to two pedestrians with mobile phones.  My last available breath was used to say 'Can't breathe, call for help,' and I fell over.  

"At this point, I was convinced that I was going to die right there and then.  No doubt about it.  I was terrified.  And I was three blocks from home.  At about that point, my lungs suddenly relaxed and the cough went away, and my breathing returned to normal. A visit to my doctor then turned into a trip to the pulmonologist.  The verdict:  Asthma. 

"I'd never had asthmatic symptoms before these three events, but apparently when you find your asthmatic trigger, you'll get attacked.  I found mine.  Hard strenuous areobic exercise, combined with hot, humid weather and maple tree pollen is the trigger.  I was advised to carry an emergency inhaler with me.  I opted to stop riding bikes in the months of May and June. That near-death experience scared the daylights out of me. I have not raced since.  Not worth dying over.

Mark your calendars and lace up your shoes. Wednesday is National Running Day, an effort by "major organizations in the running industry" (according to the Web site) to promote this healthy fitness habit.

For many readers, I know, every day is Running Day. But why not make a special effort to represent the sport?

Check out the Web site here.

Hey, skateboarding is not a crime! In fact, it's even encouraged by the Sacramento Parks & Rec.

Max Baer Park (7851 35th Avenue, Sacramento), torched by arson a few years ago, has risen from the ashes with a new skateboard park that opened to raves last weekend.

The skatepark, 4,332 square feet, features quarter pipes, boxes, flat ledges, angled ledges, grind rails, wedges, wedge corners, and a skateable table and stairs.

Park and Rec officials also have added a full basketball court and picnic areas.