Mountain

By the sixth night, David La Vau was convinced he was going to die. The 67-year-old father of six was trapped at the bottom of a cliff in the Angeles National Forest after his car plunged off the mountain. His car landed next to another vehicle with the decomposing remains of its driver inside. Too weak to scream for help any longer, La Vau walked to his crushed car and wrote on the dusty trunk: "I love my kids. Dead man was not my fault. Love, Dad. " A day later, his children were roaming the canyon road in a desperate search for their missing dad. They heard a weak cry from below the steep cliff.

Wes Williams was right. In the late 1990s, the tiny custom-bike builder in Crested Butte, Colo., developed a cult following for his odd Willits mountain bikes with their weird, 29-inch wheels ? 3 inches taller than those on standard bikes. He told everyone that "29ers" would take over the industry some day. When mountain-bike icon Gary Fisher rolled out his own 29ers, his dealers laughed at him ? until customers started clamoring for the monster-truck tires that fly over rocks, mud and sand so much faster and easier than little wheels.

The revolution is over - and big wheels have won. The "29er" mountain bike, which first appeared on the scene a decade ago with monster-truck tires 3 inches taller than the age-old 26-inchers, now dominates the market. It's easy to see why: The bike makes you faster and safer, gaining more momentum and floating better over sand and rocks. This year, the demand's so hot for huge hoops that some companies don't even sell 26ers anymore. Others have started experimenting with different-size big wheels, like the 650B, a "27.5er" (reviewed below)

At 8,000 feet in the High Sierra, disabled adults on crutches and in wheelchairs are pushing through boundaries that would stop most able-bodied folks. These students on the annual "Go For It" course of Summit Expedition are put through five rigorous days of rappeling, hiking across steep rocks and through thick manzanita, and even fasting. Sally Krohn, 32, a polio victim, can't walk without her metal crutches and leg brace.

Not all Southland swimming beaches line the Pacific shore. High in the San Bernardino Mountains you'll find summer swimmers and sunbathers flocking to Silverwood Lake. Surrounded by forest scenery, the 3,380-foot-high lake also attracts boaters, water skiers and fishing folk. It's the focal point of a state recreation area where hikers, bicyclists, picnickers and campers are welcome, too. The man-made lake's main purpose is not for recreation but as a reservoir for the state's aqueduct system.

A Denver-focused daily Web magazine led by former staffers of the defunct Rocky Mountain News and others plans to launch Monday. A dozen equity owners, about a dozen freelancers and partner blogs are providing content for the Rocky Mountain Independent. One editor, Steve Foster, declined to say how much owners have invested but said it was enough to get through three months as the group finalizes a business plan. Several people behind the Rocky Mountain Independent also worked on In Denver Times, an online venture backed by three entrepreneurs who pulled back after the site missed subscription goals.

Our press seems to quickly and easily detect a mote in the eye of any Democratic candidate and, just as easily, ignore the mountain in that of any Republican. ANN BARTUNEK Santa Fe Springs