LOCAL CYCLIST ATTEMPTING FEATS OF STRENGTH

Don Brown is celebrating his 70th birthday on Wednesday in a

peculiar fashion for most men his age.

Instead of being stuck in a retirement home or at a family

party, Brown is going to spend the morning on his bicycle.

His goal: to perform two amazing feats of strength with a

bicycle and a strong trailer that he built himself. His initial

attempt is to try to pull more than 1,000 pounds of sand on his

bicycle as far as possible.

His second attempt is to try to haul a maximum weight of 1,600

pounds using the same trailer. Although it seems like an odd way to

celebrate a birthday, Brown insists that it is a culmination of his

love for cycling.

The event is even open to the public. It takes place today from

10 a.m. to noon or later at the Rolland Moore Park. No matter the

weather, Brown will be performing his feats of strength for anyone

willing to watch.

The semi-retired printer even coined a nickname for himself-the

Silver Fox. It came to him in 1999 when he was cycling the Blue

Ridge Parkway in Virginia and North Carolina. Many bicyclists have

told stories of foxes along the ride and thus his nickname was

born.

In his lifetime Brown has cycled more than 150,000 miles,

including more than 27,000 miles since 2001. In light of the Sept.

11, 2001, tragedy, Brown made a tribute to the lost lives by biking

exactly 9,011.01 miles.

A native from Hollywood, Calif., Brown began his passion for

cycling in 1950 when he was a bike messenger in downtown Los

Angeles. His one-speed Schwinn was enough to get him around until

he served in the Army Corps of Engineers.

Upon his return to San Francisco, he had a German-made Harbro

bicycle shipped back as well. From there he biked all the way to

Los Angeles in celebration of his return from serving in the

Army.