European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 27, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Untsain Bikin exercise with a View by William Stockton new York times thirty years ago two Brothers growing upon a cattle ranch near Raton ., Rode their cow ponies Over the Plains and through the mountains helping with the ranch work. The horse was still a Central figure in ranch life then and it was routine to ride 10 Miles at a Bone jarring Trot in order to work with a group of cattle and then return Home at the same unpleasant Pace. The ranch still exists but All terrain vehicles and four wheel drive trucks have eclipsed the horse. Now horses Are specialists trucked to Distant pastures where they carry out specific tasks before being trucked Home again. The Brothers came Home to the ranch recently bringing with them Mountain bicycles the popular fat tired bikes with 18 gears. The two Brothers one is a Newspaperman who writes about fitness and the other an Engineer who lives in Santa be  Spent a Day Riding the bicycles Over the Plains across the Flat topped mesas and through the mountains retracing familiar horseback treks. They came for reasons of nostalgia to enjoy the rugged but Beautiful mountainous terrain and to demonstrate that keeping fit should encompass a variety of activities and be a pleasure rather than a chore. They were joined by two Mountain biking loonies. Art Waskey is a lawyer and Emmons Carey is the owner of the downtown Bike shop in Santa be which specializes in Mountain bicycles. The Bike trip began at the foot of Bartlett Mesa following a Rocky dirt Road up the South face of the Flat topped Mountain a vertical ascent of 1,500 feet. With the bikes in their lowest gear the cyclists followed the route that the ranch s cattle Are driven each year to summer pasture atop the Mountain. The steepest stretches of the Road seemed to come lower on the Mountain and one of the Brothers found his heart rate quickly soaring to 175 beats a minute. People exercising above 5,000 feet who Are not acclimated to higher altitudes must breathe faster to do an equivalent amount of exercise. With time fewer breaths per minute Are required for the same amount of work although one s performance May never be As Good As at sea level an occasional level stretch of Road provided a respite before the maximum exertion needed for another Steep Section. Such exercise is a form of interval training easy exertion interspersed with More taxing exertion which is regarded by Many physiologists As one of the most effective forms of aerobic conditioning. New Market for folding bicycles the Montague Birame folding bicycle. Not by Barbara Lloyd new York times a t a time when bicycle thieves Are Able to break through the toughest of locks the idea of a folding bicycle one that you can carry with you begins to make  bikes Are not new. But to make them compact american designers built the bikes with a Small wheel base and Long seat Post. Now there is a new Bike the Montague Birame which its manufacturer says is the first High performance All terrain Bike that folds. What we re stressing is that this is first a Bike and then that it is a folding Bike said John Nelson a partner in the Montague corp. Of Cambridge mass. The Bike comes with a Chrome moly Frame 18-Speed Index shifting upright handlebars Knobby tires and cantilever brakes. Harry Montague an architect in Washington invented the Bike in 1984. He was Selling it on a limited basis until his son David and Nelson made plans for the first Large scale shipments of the bikes to sporting goods stores this month. The bicycles Are made in Taiwan. Concentric tubes inside the bicycle s Frame allows the Birame to Pivot at the seat Post. To fold the Bike you remove the front tire and release two levers one at the top of the seat tube and the other at the Bottom near the crankshaft. The front half of the Bike swings Back on the rear Section. Nelson suggests strapping the front wheel to the Frame with velcro or carrying the two separately. The folded Bike measures 3 feet by 3 feet by 1v feet. At 31 pounds the Bike weighs about the same As a Standard All terrain Bike. Nelson said that weight was not As crucial in design As building a Bike with the same handling characteristics As a full size All terrain Bike. While somewhat cumbersome to carry the bicycle can be stored in a closet and it will fit in the trunk of a car. Montague plans to Market a carrying Case next year As Well As straps to adapt the Case for backpacking. The Birame retails in the United states for about $460 and comes in two wheel sizes 18% and 20va inches. Vij Mountain biking provides the Best possible interval training Carey panted at one Point his Short muscular legs thrusting his Bike Forward after the others had dismounted to push their machines. Bartlett Mesa is one of several massive Flat topped mountains along the Colorado state line that butt up against the Edge of the Southern Rocky mountains. Formed by ancient lava flows on top they Are Flat and treeless carpeted with verdant Meadows and acres of Blooming wildflowers. The Flat expanse was Welcome after the climb but the Road was Little More than a cow track strewn with hazardous rocks. A sudden bang caused everyone to jump. A tire had blown out and seemed hopelessly ruined threatening to end the trip. But not to worry. From the Small bags attached to his Bike Carey produced tools an air pump and a new inner tube. He deftly Cut a piece of the old inner tube to form a shield or Boot within the mangled tire to protect the new inner tube. Within a few minutes the group was on its Way. You learn to be ingenious Waskey explained. People make boots from pieces of soft drink cans from clumps of  at the far end of Bartlett Mesa an ancient volcanic Cone rises up from the Flat expanse. The cyclists headed for this Peak first Riding up its lower flanks then pushing their machines and finally shouldering the bikes and clambering up Over the last boulders. Although the bikes could have been left at the Bottom of the slope for the climb Mountain bikers like cowboys never leave their mounts behind. After lunch on the Summit 8,900 feet above sea level the cyclists Rode Back Down the Pinnacle the goal being to ride As fast As possible without falling off and breaking one s head on a Rock. Carrying Mountain bikes downhill Borders on Wim piness. The cyclists descended the North face of the Mesa expecting a two hour trek on narrow cow tracks. Instead they found that a new owner had just finished bulldozing a massive dirt Road the length of the previously unspoiled Canyon. They sped Down this unexpected Mountain bikers expressway crossed the interstate Highway at the Summit of Raton pass and then followed a series of dirt tracks through the Foothills of the Sangre de Cristo mountains. They hooked up with a 1940s-Era abandoned Highway that eventually led Back to the town of Raton and a few Miles beyond that the morning s starting Point. The bikers had been gone seven hours travelled about 30 Miles and ascended a total of 2,500 feet of vertical Rise. They were sore and exhausted evidence of the thoroughness of their biking workout. Mountain biking combines effective interval training with Beautiful scenery and personal Challenge. Safety approved child crash helmets can Lessen the Chance of serious head injuries from a bicycle spill. � it � it it vow helmets urged to protect kids in bicycle mounted child seats % i � � a . Associated press Hildren who ride along in bicycle mounted seats should Wear approved crash tested safety helmets american experts say As a growing number of children in the United states Are being seriously injured in cycling accidents. In a study of injuries to bicycle passengers or. James Sargent a paediatrician at Boston City Hospital found that 65 percent of the injuries to children in bicycle mounted child seats Are to the head and face. The reason for that preponderance of head injuries we believe is that these seats put children High off the ground and that when the bicycle Falls Over the child s head is the highest part of the whole bicycle. You Combine that with the fact that toddlers Don t have much head control. Their Heads Are heavy in relation to their bodies and they Don t have the muscle development an older child has Sargent said. California Highway patrol records of bicycle related injuries and deaths to children under age 6, from 1977 to 1986, showed that the number of injuries to cyclists remained relatively constant. But injuries to passengers jumped from 17 percent of the total in 1977 to 28 percent in 1986. This is a real problem one whose magnitude has been insufficiently appreciated and a problem that is largely preventable through some common sense measures primary of which is putting a crash tested helmet on a child said or. Jeffrey sacks a specialist in injury epidemiology and control at the . Centers for disease control in Atlanta. Injuries to children on bikes Are not accidents he said. They re failures to follow simple  Sargent had these tips for choosing a helmet some infant helmets Are not appropriate. They re just foam lined. In order to be appropriate they be got to have plastic foam As part of the helmet. Helmets like that Are crash tested " there Are no . Government regulations for helmets but the Snell memorial foundation and american National standards Institute certify crash worthiness of helmets. Sargent said parents should look for stickers showing the helmets were crash tested and approved by either group. Page 14 the stars and stripes saturday August 27, 1988 the stars and stripes Page 15