Since 2003, OrganicAthlete has grown by leaps and bounds each year. At our last board of directors meeting, we decided that 2007 should be no exception, so we set a goal of reaching 800 members by the end of this year. We think we can achieve that goal, but we need your help.

Join us!

During the month of May, you can get a free subscription to either VegNews Magazine or Organic Spa Magazine when you join as a basic member. In addition, you will receive:

 

• Copy of the OrganicAthlete Guide to Sports Nutrition
• Subscription to our biannual newsletter magazine, The OrganicAthlete
• Member card
• Monthly e-newsletter with fitness tips, recipes, nutrition advice, and news from OrganicAthlete members
• Access to the membership website
• 10% discount at OrganicAthlete store
• Discount on OrganicAthlete events

 

Click here to join today.

 

Have a Organic, Vegan friendly business?

Consider becoming an OrganicAthlete business member. This is a great way to let like-minded fitness enthusiasts know about your company.

Business Members receive:

$250 Membership (1 year)

• 468X60 pixel banner rotating on every page of OrganicAthlete content (over 100,000 hits per month);
• Company name and website link in our monthly ezine with over 3000 subscribers;
• Company name and website listing in our bi-annual magazine, The OrganicAthlete
• 100% organic OrganicAthlete T-shirt
• Opportunity to partner as a discount provider for our membership or other programs

$100 Business Membership (1 year) includes:

• Company name and website listing in our bi-annual magazine, The OrganicAthlete;
• Company name and website link in our monthly ezine with over 3000 subscribers;
• Company Name and weblink listing on our business members' webpage;
• 100% organic OrganicAthlete T-shirt;
• Opportunities to partner as a discount provider for our membership or other programs.

Click here to join as a business member.

OrganicAthlete member Daniel Fitz-Enz recently completed the Rosarito Ensenada Bike Ride. With over 10000 participants, this ride is billed as one of the largest bike ride in the West.  Congrats Daniel.  It's great to see people sharing the OrganicAthlete message.

Send your member updates and photos to membership@organicathlete.org.

"Climbers have always said that you need animal protein to climb," [Steph Davis] says, "But I tried all these different things, and at one point I did a cleansing fast of about a week, and when it was time to start again, everything was unappealing. But after a couple of weeks, I found that I was eating vegan."

Read the full article. 

Minna Mettinen, chapter leader for OrganicAthlete Ontario, sends this report:

Hi Bradley,

I'm thrilled to write to you of a three fold success this weekend for OrganicAthlete.Org Ontario North Chapter.

1) We held our first booth to launch OA at the Sudbury ROCKS road race, with dozens of people coming to first time contact with the concept of integrating organics into their lifestyle in order to alter their ecological impact on our planet.  In a mining town ecological stewardship can be difficult to promote, while there are pockets of people very open to new ways to start reversing the damage we have done over the decades past. Others familiar with organics came away with new information, the benefits of a plant based diet and information on  a new chapter of OA in our location.

2) I raced my first road race of the season in 3 min. faster then my goal, 6th in my age and gender category and 15th out of 112 women. OrganicAthlete jersey made its debut at the Sudbury ROCKS  1/2 marathon.  I had some trouble at km 18, realizing my wheel was partially falling off and seriously rubbing against my wheelchair. Luckily I made it and finished, despite some fears that I may crash in the last 3 km's without a wheel.

3) Finally, here is a copy of the letter I just received, an invitation to the National Adaptive Rowing Team.  This gives me the chance to travel to the National Training center next month  for a chance to represent Canada at the world championships.

 I need to order several OA apparel so I can train wearing OA at the camp, and wear OA T-shirts if I make the national team and go to the FISA World Championships in late Aug.

Be well and remain strong,
-minna

Keri Sedor sports her flashy OA t-shirt at the 2007 Golden Wheel Awards.

Last night, the OrganicAthlete San Diego chapter and Ranchos Market hosted the OA cycling team for an evening's discussion about being a vegan athlete.  40+ people came out for the talk.

Here are a few photos of the event:





posted by Bradley.

"It's no secret that the average person in North America takes better care of their car than their own body. Our diet is bad, but did you know it's the root of most health problems, taxes our healthcare system and contributes to global warming?

That's according to Vancouver-based Ironman triathlete and bestselling performance-nutrition author Brendan Brazier, who also happens to be the 2003 and 2006 Canadian Ultra Marathon Champion. He's also the creator of VEGA, an award-winning line of whole food nutritional products, a formulation that put him on the shortlist for the 2006 Manning Innovation Award."

Read the full article.

The April 16th edition of the Daily Californian, the UC Berkeley student newspaper featured an article about Team Vegan, OrganicAthlete's Cycling Team.

Click here to read the full article.

New Harvest Organics has been a supporter of OrganicAthlete since I first came up with the idea in 2003.  I remember cold calling Philip Ostrum, the  owner, about the idea of a cycling team promoting organics when I lived in Tucson, and he was immediately receptive to the idea.  New Harvest Organics has made generous donations to OrganicAthlete in year's past, and this year New Harvest is sponsoring our cycling team.

I always make a point to stop by the New Harvest warehouse when I'm in the area, so when Akira and I recently rolled through southern Arizona on our way to the La Vuelta de Bisbee we stopped by to say 'hi.'

I never ceased to be amazed by the volume of produce that moves through their facility.  Millions of pounds of citrus, pineapples, tomatoes, apples, mangoes, squash, and more move through their Rio Rico warehouse each year.  Coming from as local as Arizona to as far away as Peru, NHO has farmers up and down the western hemisphere.  Philip tells me their even working on importing organic young coconuts from Thailand.  Yippee!

If you've ever bought an organic mango in the United States, the odds are good that you've purchased a New Harvest Organic product.  Next time you're shopping your local produce section check the label on the oranges or mangos in your cart and look for the NHO logo.  You'll recognize it from the back of our team jersey!

Click here to visit the New Harvest Organics website.

Posted by Bradley.

I don't know where people read about us, but the OrganicAthlete Cycling Team (and especially our national champ Sami) has received six fan letters in the past few weeks from all over the country.  Keep sharing the love.

Posted by Bradley.

Due to logistical considerations, the Santa Cruz Tour d'Organics will be held on Sunday, August 26th rather than Saturday, August 25th.  We apologize for any inconvenience.

Minna Mettinen is an OrganicAthlete member and founder of OrganicAthlete Ontario. She's a competitive athlete and mom of 2. In this interview she talks about her transition to an organic, plant-based diet and her commitment to healthy living.

Click here to read the full interview...

Bob Mionske is a former national champion cyclist and vegetarian. He is currently a lawyer practicing in Portland, OR. His website is www.bicyclelaw.com.

Click here to read the complete interview...

Sprint work with short recovery time leads to decreases in growth hormone with subsequent resistance training

Many people want to figure out the best strategy for designing a training schedule. Well, recent data indicate that when intense bouts of sprint cycling were performed before resistance training (less than 60 minute break between the sessions), growth hormone response to the resistance training was strongly decreased. Not good if you are interested in muscle growth, strength gain and good performance! After your endurance workout – you may want to give yourself a break of at least 2 hours before you begin your weight training session.

Goto K, Ishii N, Kurokawa K, Takamatsu K. Attenuated Growth Hormone Response to Resistance Exercise with Prior Sprint Exercise. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2007;39:308-315.

Too Many Calories in the U.S.

 

The restaurant industry is rarely trying to promote the health of the consumer. A new report by The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has demonstrated how true that can be. Meals and appetizers can have nearly 2,000 calories! The “Colossal Burger” from Ruby Tuesday has 1,940 calories and 141 grams of fat (and it ain’t the kind of fat you find in walnuts). Yikes! CSPI indicates that burgers, pizzas and quesadillas were never health foods to begin with. Yet, it is amazing to find out how much worse restaurants can make them. I have yet to hear of a vegan entrée that packs in unnecessary amounts of fat and calories!

http://www.cspinet.org/new/200702262.html

Animal Emissions Blamed for Poor Health

 

Due to the high consumption of animal products, more animals are being raised for food. This can lead to high levels of emissions. Scientists have found that reducing barnyard emissions can help reduce asthma, lung cancer and heart attacks. Many times you can smell the high ammonia concentrations near a farm, but the more serious health threats occur further away since numerous chemical reactions occur in the atmosphere that convert ammonia into microscopic, airborne particles of ammonium nitrate.

 

How farms handle manure is a major contributor to ammonia being released into the air and water? Cost effective ways to control emissions include controlling livestock feed, efficient use of nitrogen on farms and low-emission fertilizers. Oh yeah, we could always reduce our consumption of animal products too!

Pinder RW, Adams PJ, Pandis SN. Ammonia Emission Controls as a Cost-Effective Strategy for Reducing Atmospheric Particulate Matter in the Eastern United States. Environ Sci Technol. 2007;41:380-386.

Sodium and Ultra-endurance Exercise

 

The incidence of hyponatremia during intense endurance exercise has led athletes to consume more sodium during races. Researchers wanted to find out if this was beneficial. Data indicated that sodium supplementation beyond that consumed in food and drink during ultra-endurance exercise is unnecessary to maintain serum sodium concentrations.

Hew-Butler TD, Sharwood K, Collins M, et al. Sodium supplementation is not required to maintain serum sodium concentrations during an Ironman triathlon. Br J Sports Med. 2006;40:255-259.

 

Thanks to Ryan Andrews for this month's news.

OrganicAthlete member Hyland Fisher was recently quoted in an ABC news release about vegetarianism:

"I know people who eat fish and call themselves vegetarians," says Hyland Fisher, 33, an 11-year vegan and an apprentice architect from Nevada City, Calif. "I wouldn't consider them vegetarians."

Click here for the full article.

OrganicAthlete New York members met this past weekend for a dinner that the Candle Cafe.

Read about their fun evening here.

OrganicAthlete would like to welcome Chartreuse Teas as a new business member.


Click here for their website.

For information about becoming a business member, click here.

The OrganicAthlete Cycling Team presented by VegNews Magazine is planning a summer full of racing across the east coast and mid-west.

Check out our current schedule:

• June 13- South Lake Tahoe Speaking Engagement
  
• June 18-23 - Tour of Ohio, Columbus, OH
  
• June 24 - Tallmadge, OH Speaking Engagement
  
• June 27- Boston, MA Speaking Engagement
  
• June 28-July 1 - Fitchburg-Longsjo Classic, Fitchburg, MA
  
• July 16 - Elite National Championships, Seven Springs, PA
  
• July 17-29 - International Cycling Classic, Milwaukee, WI
  

Please come out and support the team.  We are also lining up speaking engagements in New York and Chicago.  If you are interested in hosting the team for a speaking engagement in your area, please contact Bradley Saul at bradley@organicathlete.org

Posted by Bradley.

Congratulations to the winners of OrganicAthlete's Bay to Breaker's drawing winners:

• Mark Buban - subcription to VegNews Magazine
• Reggie Sparks- box of Clif Nectar bars

This is a report by Emily Thurston:

We have a new elite female racer on the team. After her 7th bike race in the US (she raced one season in Canada eight years ago), Cara Gillis has enough points to upgrade to Category 2.

Kern County Stage race was fabulous. The landscape was incredible, a mixture of arid, pure golden brown hills and relatively lush, greener parts higher up. Live oaks sticking out from the landscape like sculpture. Cows and their newborns standing in the road and grazing. Horses and the old-style barns, some still standing, some all fallen down. Ground squirrels, rabbits, coyotes, and snakes crawling, jumping, and squirming all over the hills and the "highway". Those weird citrus orchards, their lush green leaves such a stark contrast with the bare brown dirt they grew out of and the dry vegetation in the non-irrigated parts around. Billboards proclaimed, "food grows where water goes." There are no vegan or vegetarian restaurants in Bakersfield as far as Cara or I could tell, but we managed. The whole race was fun and friendly with a mellow intensity.

Cara dominated the Cat. 3 stage race from start to finish. She won Friday's mostly flat 10-mile time trial (by a margin of over a minute) with a time good enough for 7th place with the Cat. 1-2 field. For Saturday morning's flat & windy road race, she pulled the pack around for 50 miles (everyone else was apparently too intimidated to pull through) and won all 6 midway sprints and the final sprint, worth a total of 90 bonus seconds. The third stage was an uphill time trial with 2700 feet of climbing in 8.5 miles on Saturday afternoon. She placed third, again with a time that would've placed her easily in the midst of the 1-2 field, and maintained a lead in GC of 49 seconds over second place. The fourth and final stage was 72 miles in 3 laps, "mountainous", windy, and dry. She won the final sprint by four bike lengths.  Three stage wins and the GC.  Impressive, eh?

My race with the 1-2s was less spectacular, but had its moments. I started and finished the whole stage race without breaking. No injuries, no illness, just a swollen bee bite (A bee flew all the way up my sweatpants and bit my hamstring about 45 minutes before the start of the first race). I took third in one of the midway time sprints in stage 2, and sprinted for 7th overall in that race. I worked my way up from 14th place out of 16 riders (first stage) to 12th place in GC by the end of the race. It was great training, and I had a wonderful time, good spirits intact.

Catra Corbett is running.  She plans to keep running for the next 77 days (or more).  Catra is attempting to break the record for covering the distance of the Pacific Crest Trail.  The men's record is 78 days.  The women's is 91.  She thinks she can beat both.

Catra's attempt began on May 22.  I learned about her attempt from this article.  You can also check out Catra's blog.

Posted by Bradley.

Here are a few team results from the past couple of weeks.

Akira Wong (Cat. 1)

• Steinbeck Country Criterium - Salinas, CA- 12th
  
• Modesto Road Race - Modesto, CA - 4th
  

Ben Lyon (Cat. 2)

• Table Rock RR - Medford, OR - 12th
• Golden City Criterium - Yreka, CA - 7th
  

Cara Gillis (Cat. 3)

• Kern County Women's Stage Race - 1st overall

Emily Thurston (Cat. 1)

• Kern County Women's Stage Race - 12th overall