FEBRUARY 1989 Student Body
U. THE NATIONAL COLLEGE NEWSPAPER 21
Mountain
Continued From Page 18
tious smile.
"I figure by (riding to school), people
will see me come to class with a big
Cile and say 'Hey, what is it that he
s?' I'll shake the water off my hat and
just smile," Poitry said.
Poitry feels mountain bikes have
opened up the bicycle industry.
"They are so versatile and people
don't get flats and bend up their rims
everytime they hop a curb," he said.
Doug McCallister is at the center of
the hard-core commuters. He didn't
miss a day this winter.
0 "Going from point A to point B under
your own power is very rewarding,"
McCallister said. "When you ride every
day, the bike becomes your only trans-
portation.
"People spend a lot of money on their
automobiles. They are proud of them.
When they see a grown man on a bike
they think he is ridiculous. Encounters
with rude people in cars make me want
to ride all the more."
All the riders agree it is the auto-
mobile which is to be most feared. "I
don't mind people who don't see you,"
said Poitry, "(but) it's the people who
make eye contact and still pull out that
scare me."
"They are surrounded by their cars,
which makes them feel much more se-
cure," Colter added.
Colter is interested in promoting the
sport of bicycling as well. He taught rid-
ing classes for many bicycle shop cus-
tomers he met this past summer. "It's
the teaching nature I have," he said.
He currently is trying to put together
a non-profit organization that would
educate people about bicycling.
Above all, Colter finds the greatest
satisfaction from just riding his bike.
"Riding on the Coastal Trail in the
evening is a spiritual thing," he said.
MONTI MADNE
Tim Miller tackles rough terrain at Virginia Tech.
It's one-of-a-kind ... Some people's idea
of fun may not include racing down the side of a
mountain solely supported by two wheels. But, for
mountain bike enthusiasts, it's a thrill that's one-of-
a-kind. The bikers go out in groups, riding up trails
on the sides of mountains, through mud, and over
creeks and fallen branches. "It gets you out of the
cars and into the trees," said Steve Hetherington, an
East Coasters Bike Shop employee and trail bike
rider. Chris Betz, a graduate student and a mountain
biker for two years, said trail riding is "alot more fun
than riding on the road. You don't have to worry
about cars, just trees." Although riders do not wear
much protection, except a helmet on occasion, Betz
said he does not feel the sport is all that dangerous.
"You ride alot slower,"he said, and the only injuries
he is aware of are skinned knees and elbows. While
the sport seems perfect for all thrill-seekers, some
may find it out of their price range. Mountain bike
prices usually begin at $300, with most bikes cost-
ing around $500. There may not seem like a great
many trails for mountain bikers to plunder around
Virginia Tech, but Betz said that doesn't matter. "You
can do the same trail over and over again," he said.
"The rain and dry conditions constantly are chang-
ing the terrain - the muddier the better." Lisa
Levine, Collegiate Times, Virginia Tech
U.
Steroids
Continued From Page 18
"(Steroids)make you get stronger and
faster," said the athlete, who asked not
to be identified.
He said that steroids help to speed up
the recuperating process when you have
an injury and that they motivate you to
train harder. But steroid use has led to
some side effects, like kidney problems
and loss of sex drive.
"You get moody if you take too many
or do it for too long," he said.
UH currently does not test their
athletes for steroids; it is waiting for the
Western Athletic Conference to poss-
ibly implement a uniform testing pro-
cess for all the schools in the conference,
according to Freitas.
"We don't (test for steroids) right now,
but we are looking to it in the future,"
Freitas said.