Ken Carpenter

Roger Carpenter has been riding his bicycle the four miles between his La Mesa home and San Diego State for the past 13 years. It's a form of exercise and a way for Carpenter, 51, a biology professor, to avoid parking hassles. His son Ken, 22, was never interested in sports when he went to Helix High, but he needed a way to get two miles to school. Without a car, Ken followed his dad's example. He rode a bicycle.

In the match sprint finals of the U.S. Olympic cycling trials Aug. 19 in Houston, Ken Carpenter was seeking more than a trip to Seoul. He was looking for relief. "It had just been building up and built up," Carpenter said, "and I put a lot of pressure on myself, and you know there's only one spot on the Olympic team." After beating Bobby Livingston in the semifinals earlier in the day, Carpenter met one-time friend and principal rival Mark Gorski in the final, with the U.S.

Since Mark Hodges became national team director in April, the United States Cycling Federation has stressed to the athletes that it no longer will tolerate their use of performance-enhancing drugs, such as anabolic steroids. While not exactly labeling their recent sanctions against Ken Carpenter of La Mesa, Calif., as part of that campaign, USCF officials say the action is indicative of their more disciplined approach.

In the match sprint finals of the U.S. Olympic cycling trials Aug. 19 in Houston, Ken Carpenter was seeking more than a trip to Seoul. He was looking for relief. "It had just been building up and built up," Carpenter said, "and I put a lot of pressure on myself, and you know there's only one spot on the Olympic team." After beating Bobby Livingston in the semifinals earlier in the day, Carpenter met one-time friend and principal rival Mark Gorski in the final, with the U.S.

Re "Dust-Up Over Talc," Feb. 8: Why was this area ever included in wilderness? The 1964 Wilderness Act says that a federally protected wilderness will be an area of 5,000 acres, or greater, untouched by man. An area that has been mined is obviously not untouched by man. This is only one example of an area that should not have been included in the California Desert Protection Act. Or, was the Wilderness Act purposefully ignored to stop further mining of...

You say Seymour is doing strange things because of election year politics by putting a stop to S-21. What is strange about a lawmaker putting a stop to a bad bill, written by a special interest group, the Sierra Club, and introduced by Cranston? This is a bad bill because it completely circumvents the California Desert Conservation Area Plan process, as set forth in the Federal Lands Policy Management Act (FLPMA) of 1976. This is a law that specifically spells out how California desert lands are to be planned and managed.

Re "It's Official: Baker Has Bergeson's Backing" (April 9): Sen. Marian Bergeson states that C. Dave Baker has "clearly engendered the confidence of Irvine voters . . . and that's important." I'd like to inform Bergeson that what is important to some is not important to all. Baker has never engendered the confidence of this Irvine voter. Contrary to popular but misguided public opinion, the great conservative Orange Curtain has a great many liberal thinkers lurking behind its folds.

Since Mark Hodges became national team director in April, the United States Cycling Federation has stressed to the athletes that it no longer will tolerate their use of performance-enhancing drugs, such as anabolic steroids. While not exactly labeling their recent sanctions against Ken Carpenter of La Mesa, Calif., as part of that campaign, USCF officials say the action is indicative of their more disciplined approach.

Roger Carpenter has been riding his bicycle the four miles between his La Mesa home and San Diego State for the past 13 years. It's a form of exercise and a way for Carpenter, 51, a biology professor, to avoid parking hassles. His son Ken, 22, was never interested in sports when he went to Helix High, but he needed a way to get two miles to school. Without a car, Ken followed his dad's example. He rode a bicycle.

Olympic medalists Mark Gorski and Connie Paraskevin Young headline the field today through Saturday in the Los Angeles stop of the Sundance Grand Prix of Cycling in the Olympic Velodrome at Cal State Dominguez Hills. Young, 28, was the only U.S. cyclist to win a medal in the Seoul Olympics last year, taking a bronze in the women's match sprints. Gorski, 29, won the gold medal in the match sprints at the Los Angeles Games in 1984 but didn't get a chance to defend his title at Seoul, losing to Ken Carpenter last summer in the U.S. Olympic trials.

Many of the nation's top cyclists will ride through the streets of downtown Long Beach today in the first All American Sportsclub Winter bicycle race, the first major cycling event of the year. American standouts Alexei Grewal, Davis Phinney, Steve Hegg and Ken Carpenter head a men's field of both road racers and sprinters that will race 50 laps over an 8/10ths-of-a-mile course. Entrants in the 25-lap women's criterium include Rebecca Twigg and Connie Pareskevin Young.