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.
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