Cyclists

With two Valentine's Day runs coming up, there's no reason you can't show your honey that you were born to run. On Feb. 13, the West Chester YMCA will hold its annual 5-K Sweetheart run. And the next day offers a chance to run a 3.7-mile loop around Cooper River Park in Pennsauken. But don't worry if you don't have a sweetheart to bring with you - you never know, he or she might be the Lycra-clad athlete running next to you. To help keep their organization active over the winter months, the folks at the Bicycle Club of Philadelphia will be offering cyclists a chance to trade in their bikes for cross-country skis on Feb. 13. Their bike-or-ski event will take place in Valley Forge Park and will be either a relatively short ride for intermediate cyclists, or a day of cross-crountry skiing - all depending, of course, on the weather.

You're sitting in your car stuck in traffic, when a guy on a bike zips past going the wrong way. Or maybe he blows through a red light or jumps the curb and makes up time by barreling down the sidewalk. The Philadelphia Police Department wants you to know that these actions are illegal and soon, very soon, Commissioner Richard Neal will issue a directive telling officers to start writing tickets for scofflaws on Schwinns. And yesterday, a City Council committee did its share by approving a bill to raise the city fine from its Depression-era level of $3 to $10. City Councilwoman Happy Fernandez, who has pushed bills to increase street safety, said her bill merely corrects a technicality that the police wanted resolved - putting the city fine on a par with the state fine.

A sea of red, white, and blue descended upon South Ocean City yesterday morning, when more than 1,000 cyclists of all ages displayed their patriotic-decorating skills in the annual holiday bike parade. Contestants found creative ways to spice up bicycles, scooters, and strollers with streamers, balloons, garlands, crepe paper, and leis, while participants donned stars-and-stripes hats, bandannas, shirts, and beads; Uncle Sam suits; and Statue of Liberty costumes. The festive group paraded a mile and a half along Central Avenue in just one of the many celebratory events held down the Shore on the Fourth of July.

LONDON - A British couple's round-the-world cycling odyssey ended in tragedy when both of them were killed in a road accident in Thailand. Peter Root and Mary Thompson, who had been chronicling their journey in a blog, died Wednesday when they were hit by a pickup truck in a province east of Bangkok, Thai police said Monday. The couple, both 34 and from Guernsey in the Channel Islands, left Britain in July 2011 and had cycled through Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and China.

While for many, the Fourth of July is a day to take it easy, Tony Borda and about 50 other intrepid trekkers plan to be pumping their way through West Chester. The cyclists are scheduled to arrive at West Chester University this afternooon on the next-to-last leg of their 456-mile trip, which started near Pittsburgh on Sunday. Tomorrow, they are to arrive at Penn's Landing. "This is not a race," said Borda, as he put the finishing touches on his 10-speed at his home in Marshallton before the trip.

By Jake Blumgart On Sunday, thousands of cyclists found out what it's like to enjoy car-free city streets. They were taking part in Bike Philly, an annual ride hosted by the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia that includes 10- and 20-mile loops closed off to traffic. There's no mystery why the coalition includes the "car-free" hook. A recent study shows that even in bike-friendly Portland, Ore., a strong majority are intrigued by urban bicycling but fear for their safety.

A high school art teacher is organizing a bike ride in conjunction with the Oct. 12 AIDS Walk. Called GEAR (the Great End AIDS Ride), the 52-mile trek hopes to draw a couple hundred bicyclists to raise money for AIDS prevention and treatment. The ride begins at 7 a.m. Oct. 12 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art - a few hours earlier than the walk, which starts about 11 a.m. Teacher Christine Belton came up with the idea as part a project for a "self expression and leadership" class she's taking in her off hours from teaching art to teen-agers at Springfield High School, Delaware County.

Bryan Ohlson of Gladwyne readily admits that he feels ambivalent about his performance in Sunday's CoreStates Championship bicycle race - his first competition as a professional cyclist. He completed 120 of the 156 miles in the race, and that pleases him. But he didn't finish the race. And that upsets him. "My feelings are somewhat muddled about it," he says. "When I got off the bike, I was happy at first; the pain had stopped," says Ohlson, who is 28. "I felt good to have gone that far. Later, I felt bad for not finishing.

Cycling produced the most positive drug tests of any Olympic sport in the latest global statistics compiled by the World Anti-Doping Agency. WADA-accredited laboratories reported 482 positive samples for cyclists in 2005. Baseball was second with 390 positives, while soccer was third with 343. Track and field - the most tested sport - was fourth with 342. Colleges A Penn State student who assaulted a police officer as students rushed the football field after a dramatic victory over Ohio State last fall was sentenced Tuesday to at least four months in prison, but he will be immediately eligible for work release.

The most successful team in pro cycling lived up to its billing yesterday at the 25th annual Philadelphia International Cycling Championship, taking the first two spots in a race witnessed by an estimated crowd of 300,000. Andre Greipel, 26, of Germany crossed the finish line on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway with arms raised at 6 hours, 24 minutes, 4 seconds. Team Columbia-Highroad teammate Greg Henderson of New Zealand was less than a second behind in the 156-mile race. "It was a victory for our team," Greipel said.

The Chester County motorcyclist who was critically injured in a collision with a truck operated by an alleged drunken driver Friday night has died, police said Monday. Liam Crowley, 24, of Chesterbrook, died at Paoli Hospital at 7:40 p.m. Sunday, police said. Crowley was driving north on Route 202 near Stanton Avenue at 10:28 p.m. when a Dodge Ram pickup truck driven by Robert Elwood Landis, 49, made a left turn in front of him. Crowley, who was wearing a helmet, struck the passenger side of the truck, police said.

LONDON - A British couple's round-the-world cycling odyssey ended in tragedy when both of them were killed in a road accident in Thailand. Peter Root and Mary Thompson, who had been chronicling their journey in a blog, died Wednesday when they were hit by a pickup truck in a province east of Bangkok, Thai police said Monday. The couple, both 34 and from Guernsey in the Channel Islands, left Britain in July 2011 and had cycled through Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and China.

Just as dozens of nearly winded cyclists make one last push up Manayunk's steep hill nicknamed The Wall during the annual Philadelphia International Cycling Championship, city leaders must try harder to revive professional bike racing in the city by next year. There's no doubt that cycling enthusiasts, merchants along the racers' route, and officials in the city's visitor industry will miss the June 2 race, now cancelled by event organizers after the loss of the title sponsor that had provided the lion's share of funding.

THINKING ABOUT parking your car in that bike lane? Don't do it. It'll cost you. City Council approved the "Complete Streets" bill Thursday that makes a series of changes to the traffic code for bicyclists and motorists, stressing consideration for all who share the road. For drivers, violations include parking a vehicle in a bike lane and opening a car door against oncoming traffic, a potential hazard to cyclists. For bikers, violations include running a redlight, riding on the sidewalk, or parking a bike in the street (unless it's against the curb or in a designated parking space.)

  Bicyclists would face fines of $75 for running a red light or riding on a sidewalk, and drivers could be required to pay as much as $75 for parking in a bike lane under a bill approved by a City Council Committee Thursday. Fines, however, aren't the only point of the "Complete Streets" bill, according to its backers. Instead, as the name suggests, the bill's goal is to design streets that balance the needs of drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians. "By enacting this bill, Philadelphia's streets over time will become safer spaces for walking, biking and driving," said Alex Doty, executive director of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia.

Anyone who uses Philadelphia streets and sidewalks - and planners of projects that might obstruct them - could be affected by a bill being debated today by City Council. If all goes smoothly at a 2 p.m. hearing of the Streets and Service Committee, open to the public in Council Chambers, Bill 120532 bill could be approved by the end of the year, according to Councilman Mark Squilla. Some highlights of the bill, which was introduced in May: Drivers would be required to check for cyclists before opening street-side doors, and prohibited, with fines of $50 to $75, from stopping, standing or parking a vehicle in a designated bike lane.

A man riding a bicyle was killed when he was struck by a motorcycle at S. Ninth Street and Oregan Avenue at 8:37 Sunday night, police said. The motorcycle driver, who was injured, was hospilization in critical condition. Police have no more information Sunday night.    - Kathy Boccella  

Lance Armstrong, the now-disgraced cycling legend, offered bribes to competitors in a series of 1993 races, including one in Philadelphia, in order to win a $1 million bonus, according to allegations in court documents uncovered by the Australian Broadcasting Corp. The network said the allegation came from a sworn deposition given by New Zealand cyclist Steven Swart in Armstrong's 2006 lawsuit against a Dallas-based insurance company. SCA Promotions, Armstrong contended, failed to make a promised $5 million bonus payment after the American cyclist won his sixth Tour de France.

Lance Armstrong challenged the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency to name names and show what it had on him. On Wednesday, it did. The anti-doping group released a report on its case against Armstrong - a point-by-point roadmap of the lengths it says Armstrong went to in winning seven Tour de France titles that the USADA has ordered taken away. In more than 150 pages filled with allegations, the USADA names 11 former teammates - George Hincapie, Tyler Hamilton and Floyd Landis, a Lancaster County native, among them - as key witnesses.