Green Racing

So, we've got exercise and better nutritional education out of the way... now on to the 3rd pillar of E3- environmental awareness. I came across an article talking about environmentally-friendly races. Turns out, there's a whole council dedicated to making races green! There are some obvious things, like using water bottles instead of cups and purchasing food, etc. from local vendors, but there were a lot of things that I didn't consider. For example, the B-tags (that I love) are actually not all that environmentally "good" because you can't recycle them due to the whole tag being integrated into the bib (oh dang). 

As you might imagine, it is difficult to put on a race without impacting the environment somehow (but here's a list of races that do a pretty good job). So, they set up a system where you can "bank" "good deeds credits" (ok, I'm paraphrasing here) by donating clothes to homeless shelters, cleaning up a local trail, recycling plastic bottles, etc. Anyways, the article is a pretty good read. Here are some links for environmentally-conscious athletic organizations:

• Athletes for a Fit Planet
• "Go Green" Program 
• Go Green Road Race
• Council for Responsible Sport

Fixie 101

I found this post (which I found entertaining to read) that does a pretty good job of explaining fixed-gear bikes (aka fixies). It goes over some of the things you need to consider when purchasing one (because apparently, like minimal shoes, you might want to consider transitioning from "normal" bike to a fixie with a single-speed) and reviews six or so models.

Anyways... we are trying to plan a Fixie Festival for sometime in October to benefit the E3 Project. This event will hopefully be paired with a Cross Country Race (the results and some pictures from last year's race can be found in the righthand column of the blog) and some other fun events. Soooooooo... if you're interested in helping us out with some of the logistics, that would be super awesome!