Bicycling

He once was a humble cyclist with a reputation for grit, whether riding with broken bones so painful that he ground 11 of his teeth to nubs or crying openly during the 2004 Tour de France when his beloved dog and constant companion Tugboat had to be put down. On Friday, Tyler Hamilton, 38, announced his retirement from cycling after failing a doping test for the second time in his career that included a dramatic stage win at the 2003 Tour de France and a gold medal at the 2004 Olympics.

Phil Keoghan, he of the arched eyebrow and host of Emmy Award-winning "The Amazing Race," is a self-acknowledged creature of extremes. For his day job, the 41-year-old New Zealand native logs more than 400,000 air miles per year, mostly as he crisscrosses the globe with the CBS show's $1-million prize and adventure-hungry contestants. But that's nothing really.

The undulating asphalt gave way to a sea of potholes and the bicycle shuddered with each curve and dip. Ahead, the Brooklyn Bridge rose in a long incline toward the camera-ready skyline of Manhattan. But the cinematic quality of the city was lost on an approaching bicyclist, who saw only a tight grid of streets with thin slices of available roadway -- spaces that momentarily widen, then narrow, in the anarchy of Manhattan traffic.

The travel, the adventure, the fitness. Bike touring, currently enjoying a renaissance, is the same body-and-mind journey of discovery it's been since the Jack Kerouac era, with one exception: The gear's a lot better. The top-of-the-line cargo carriers here -- heavy-duty, waterproof, huge -- let you lug along all the creature comforts you can't live without . . . for decades. They even do the job if you're not into touring any farther than the end of your neighborhood.

It WAS somewhere between spotting the hefty tree trunk lying across Sullivan Canyon Trail and actually running into it that I realized I was in trouble. But it wasn't until I had flipped over my bike's handlebars and into a one-armed handstand that I experienced my moment of clarity. The epiphany was simple: "I should have worn gloves." Gloves have the distinct advantage of not bleeding the way my scraped-up right palm did moments later.

BEIJING -- Taylor Phinney has bright, large dreams: He will pedal down the Champs-Elysees on the final day of the Tour de France. He will be the winner, of course, because he has it in his genes. But before that, he will own an Olympic medal, perhaps even at these Beijing Games, because those run in the family. Phinney's mother, Connie Carpenter-Phinney, was a sparkling cyclist in her own time.

Here's the Sunday plan: Get up early, zip into the parking lot at Santa Monica Pier hours before the weekend masses, sign out some wheels, and pedal the world's most-taken-for-granted ocean-side bicycle trail to the South Bay and back before the rental counter closes at 6 p.m. What family within 10 miles of the coast hasn't vowed to do this? And how many of them (besides mine) have let it sit dormant and neglected on the weekend to-do list for far too long?

Diehard cyclists in parts north, bundled head-to-toe against the elements, scoff when Southern Californians lament the hardships of winter cycling. But we aren't complete pedaling wimps. Early-morning temperatures have hovered in the 30s in some local canyons recently, and the short days can quickly turn leisurely mid-afternoon road rides dark, chilly and dangerous. If you want to get in cycling shape safely and comfortably at this time of year, the following accessories will help.

If you can develop subdivisions specifically to appeal to golfers, maybe it's not such a stretch to wrap your marketing around a bicycling theme -- for serious cyclists. The developers of the proposed Pla d'Adet subdivision in Greenville, S.C., aren't just throwing in your basic bike path. They envision a 36,000-square-foot training center with weight room, indoor "cycling studio" and outdoor tracks, according to local media and sports reports.