By William M. Welch,  USA TODAY, LOS ANGELES – Law enforcement’s battle against drunken driving has a new target: bicyclists.

“We were having some issues with fatal bicycle collisions in the area,” California Highway Patrol (CHP) officer Adrian Quintero says. “A lot of the issues we were having were bicyclists under the influence crossing over the center (line) and being struck.”

CHP officers last week charged seven bicyclists with riding under the influence during a one-night crackdown in Sacramento. But California is not the only state watching for wobbly bicyclists.

Most states require bike riders to follow the rules of the road same as car drivers, according to the League of American Bicyclists, which supports enforcement.

“My first thought would be, ‘I’m sure glad they’re riding a bike and not driving a car,’ ” says K.C. Butler, executive director of the California Bicycle Coalition.

Butler wonders whether police need to mount an intense effort to snare drunken riders as in California, where drunken riding is considered so significant that the highway patrol received a state-federal grant to enforce traffic laws for bicyclists in the Sacramento area.

After all, Butler says, he has often gone home on a bicycle after having a few drinks.

“I could have been a candidate many times,” he says.

In California, riding while under the influence is punishable by up to a $250 fine, according to the highway patrol. But the money is only part of the punishment. A rider caught drunk is arrested and must remain in a jail cell until he sobers up. The arrest becomes part of a criminal record, though it does not affect one’s driving record or insurance. A rider may dispute the assessment by asking for a breath, blood or urine test.

Quintero says officers look for equipment violations, too, just as they would for stopped cars.

“A lot of bicyclists don’t understand they are obligated in California to stop (at stop signs and signals), signal turning movements, drive in the same direction of traffic,” Quintero says. They also must have lights after dark and rear reflectors at all times, he says.

Rather than setting up roadblocks, Quintero says police cruise streets looking for bicycles (and cars) being driven erratically or in a way that suggested impairment, such as weaving or crossing a center line.

When asked whether this was an effective use of police time, Quintero says absolutely.

“You can have severe injuries and or death when you have bicyclists” collide with cars, he says. “When we get these individuals off the streets, we’re also protecting the community.”

Andy Clarke, executive director of the League of American Bicyclists, agrees.

“We want to have the same rights and responsibilities as motor vehicle operators,” he says. “If this is a documented public safety issue . . . it’s absolutely legitimate for police to be cracking down on it.”

Think we’ve been having difficult cycling weather? Here’s a rider in Boulder Colorado getting some miles in this morning. The snow will be here in no time.

Aaron Bouplon rides his bike near Boulder, Colo. on Wednesday morning Oct. 28, 2009 during the first major snowstorm of the season. (AP Photo/The Daily Camera, Marty Caivano)

The Westchester Putnam Bike Walk Alliance announced a victory for cyclists and walkers today in the town of Carmel. There have been two ongoing parking and access issues in regards to the North County Trailway in Putnam County.

Today Carmel removed concrete barriers that had blocked parking along the shoulder of Willow Road.  The town board heard from neighbors this area and had discussed banning parking along Willow Road, but 25 cyclists and pedestrians turned out at a public meeting in September to speak on the value of the Trailway and helped change the minds of the town’s board.

Last night the county legislature reversed an earlier vote to abandon a parking lot across the street from Bikeway and next to the Trailway at Route 6 and Mount Hope Road. Bikeway’s is one of two bike shops in Putnam County. The county had planned to stop work on the parking lot after residents objected to the construction of the lot. The alliance helped fight this back in September as well pointing out that the county had already spent $640,000 on the project. This parking lot serves both the Trailway on weekends and Croton Falls train station commuters through the week. The WPBWA argued that grants from the federal and state governments would cover all of the costs and stopping the project would waste local tax dollars.

For more information check back on LoHud.com or read Mike Risinit’s story in Thursday’s Journal News.

The guy who introduced me to serious cycling and took me on my first rides some 30 years ago, Jerry Pagano, died last month in New Mexico.

Jerry took me to Nyack Bicycle Outfitters back in the early 1980s where Jim Skelley set me up with a Bianchi. I spent the next couple of years chasing him and occasionally some of his racing buddies around. I never caught them.

I lost touch with Jerry and was saddened to read his obituary, written by his brother Michael, also a member of the local cycling community. I have included it below in case some fellow riders might have missed it.

Jerry Pagano, 54, of Silver City, New Mexico passed away on September 30, 2009. Jerry was born in the Bronx, NY, raised in Tappan and lived for varying amounts of time in Iowa, Vermont, Florida, California and finally New Mexico. He completed an 8 year stint behind the wheel of a NYC Taxi before becoming an accomplished cabinet maker and carpenter; Jerry also wrote poetry and short stories during his college career at Rockland Community College and University of Iowa. Jerry’s passions included a love of the outdoor, eating, cooking, and eating some more but his greatest pleasure was when he was on the road riding his bicycle. In younger years Jerry competed for the Century Road Club of America and Onion River Sports. Of late he supported Silver City, NM bicycle races as a driver for race officials and VIPs in The Tour of the Gila and as a race marshal for both The Tour of the Gila and Signal Peak Challenge. He was a regular on the Nyack Rocket in the 80’s and 90’s and whenever in town to visit family; he extended his love of cycling to brother Michael who carries on the passion still. Jerry is predeceased by his father Michael and mother Tootsie. He is survived by his partner of 13 years Carolyn Smith and dog Satchmo both of Silver City, brothers Joe (Julie) of Grand Rapids, Michigan and Michael (Mary) of Stony Point, New York as well as his nieces and nephews; Nichole, Tyler, Taylor, Christopher and Katherine along with many aunts, uncles and cousins. A Memorial Service will be held in Silver City on October 31, 2009 at the Church of Harmony at 5 P.M. A memorial bike ride to honor Jerry’s life will take place Sunday morning, November 1, 2009 at 10 A.M.

AIGLE, Switzerland (AP) Lance Armstrong’s new team has been given permission to race in many of cycling’s top events for the next four years.

The International Cycling Union said Friday it has granted Team RadioShack a license to compete in ProTour races for the 2010-13 seasons. The team still needs an invitation to race in next year’s Tour de France and Giro d’Italia.

The season-long ProTour series includes one-day classics such as the Amstel Gold Race in the Netherlands and Belgium’s Tour of Flanders, plus stage races including the Dauphine Libere in France and Switzerland’s Tour de Romandie. It will feature 16 races in 2010.

Membership of the ProTour will likely give teams an advantage from 2011 in gaining entry to the grand tours and storied one-day races such as Milan-San Remo and Liege-Bastogne-Liege.

The UCI is in talks with race organizers to ensure starts will be given based on world ranking points collected in ProTour races.

Armstrong rode for the Kazakh-backed Astana team when he finished third in this year’s Tour at age 37, his first since retiring following his unprecedented seventh straight win in 2005.

The Texan announced during the Tour in July that he was leaving Astana to create his own team, which will be backed by American retailer RadioShack for two years.

The team will be managed by his long-term mentor Johan Bruyneel, who has been at the center of an acrimonious split with Astana.

UCI president Pat McQuaid said last month that the governing body’s license commission wanted more details of Bruyneel’s role before accepting RadioShack to the ProTour.

Teams must provide proof of secure finances, management structure and anti-doping program to gain a license.

ProTour teams currently each pay $179,000 per season toward operating costs of the UCI’s biological passport project, a blood profiling system that is its main weapon in the fight against doping.

Last chance to register online for Sunday’s MS Tappan Zee Bridge bike ride today at 5:00pm! There will be limited day of event registration. Click here for more information.

This ride starts at Kraft Foods in Tarrytown and heads out across the Tappan Zee Bridge. Riders have a choice of turning back at the Nyack Alliance Theological Seminary and riding about 15 miles and the TZ bridge twice. Or you can head north on Route 9W towards the Bear Mountain Bridge and complete a 60 mile loop back to Karft Foods.

One of the events new sponsors this year, New Leaf Brands of Orangeburg. Their founder and President, Eric Skae will ride the event with 36 other team members. They have done a great job of fundraising with over $ 8,000 raised so far.

“As a locally based business that is providing healthy beverages to local establishments as well as more widely recognized convenience stores such as 7-Eleven in the tri-state area, we saw the MS Bike Ride as a great opportunity to give back to our community and raise awareness of the fight against MS, Skae said. We intend to use this as an example of how we can work with the MS society on a national level and participate and sponsor additional events in the future.”

Looking forward to seeing everyone out there Sunday.

SAMUEL PETREQUIN,AP Sports Writer, PARIS, Defending champion Alberto Contador and Lance Armstrong will play out the next chapter of their Tour de France rivalry against the majestic backdrop of the Pyrenees.

Tour organizers unveiled the 2010 course on Wednesday, with Armstrong and Contador attending the ceremony in Paris. The race will start with a 5-mile prologue on July 3 in Rotterdam, Netherlands and a final stage on the Champs-Elysees wraps ups a 2,234-mile ride.

The pair worked together as Astana teammates during this year’s race, and the Spaniard won the Tour for a second time while Armstrong finished third.

The route of most prestigious three-week cycling race will recreate the first crossing of the Pyrenees 100 years ago with four stages in the daunting mountains that form the border between France and Spain.

Contador and Armstrong shook hands at the Palais des Congres during the ceremony but didn’t exchange a word.

“They’re already writing the script,” Armstrong said of the rivalry with Contador. “It’s good for cycling. I think he and I could do without it, but I think its good for the event and good for our sport. For sure the build up to the tour, from April to May to June and to the start, it’ll be really intense.”

The 38-year-old Armstrong left the Kazakh-funded Astana team to launch his own squad after last year’s race. The RadioShack team has yet to be granted a ProTour license.

Astana manager Johan Bruyneel, the man behind Armstrong’s seven Tour de France victories, confirmed he will join RadioShack this season. He said he was confident the UCI will deliver its license soon.

“I was never one to say I like this Tour, I dislike this tour,” Armstrong said. “It’s the Tour. The best man always wins and you always do the Alps and the Pyrenees and you always have some demanding time trials.”

In 1910, Tour riders climbed the four legendary Pyrenean passes — Peyresourde, Aspin, Tourmalet and Aubisque — a feat their modern heirs will repeat next July. The Tourmalet, one of the toughest climbs in cycling, will be scaled twice.

“With the celebration of the first crossing of the Pyrenees, it’s logical that the Pyrenees will be harder than the Alps on this Tour,” race director Christian Prudhomme said.

The course will include a total of 23 mountain passes in the Alps, Pyrenees, Jura and Massif Central, three more than this year.

In between, riders will go through Belgium and tackle six mountain stages including three hilltop finishes and four medium mountain stages. The only individual time trial will be the penultimate stage in the Bordeaux vineyards after organizers decided to scratch the team time trial from the program.

“We wanted to make sure that anything could happen anywhere,” said Prudhomme, who was disappointed by this year’s scenario, when all the favorites neutralized themselves for the biggest part of the race.

Tourmalet is a nearly 7,000-foot peak that has been climbed more times (73) than any other in Tour history. But only once has it hosted a stage finish — in 1974, when French rider Jean-Pierre Danguillaume beat a field that included Eddy Merckx to the top. That year was also the last time Tourmalet was climbed twice in one Tour.

Contador says he’s looking forward to the demanding route.

“The route is better than last year’s because there are more mountains,” Contador said. “And finishing with the Tourmalet is great for me.”

The last time the Tour sent the riders over all four of the Pyrenees’ most punishing ascents in that order was the 17th stage in 1969.

That epic race involved Merckx taking off on an 87-mile solo breakaway, finishing first at Mourenx after crossing the peaks of Peyresourde, Aspin, Tourmalet and Aubisque on his way to the first of his five yellow jerseys.

In 1910 when the race first ventured into the Pyrenees, the 10th stage was a 203-mile journey over the four peaks. French rider Octave Lapize won that stage and went on to win the race.

Lapize’s judgment of the course’s designers has become part of Tour legend: “You are assassins, yes, assassins.”

Nicknamed “The Circle of Death,” the combination of the four big mountain passes was also crossed in the 1926 Tour. Like in 1910 and 1969, the winner of that stage, Lucien Buysse, went on to win the Tour.

The first stages of next year’s race will pay tribute to two of the most prestigious classics — Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Paris-Roubaix — with riders going through seven cobblestone sectors over a total 8.2 miles in the third stage between Wanze, Belgium, and Arenberg Porte du Hainaut, France, on July 6.

It will be the first time since 2004 that riders will have to handle cobblestones, a difficult task that dashed Spanish rider Iban Mayo’s hopes of unsettling Armstrong that year.

“I think you have to plan your season according to what you see here, too,” Armstrong said. “I think even a race like the Tour of Flanders is interesting now because you don’t want your only cobblestone experience to be the day you show up here. You need to practice that so we’ll build the season around this, too.”

“We don’t put cobblestones for riders to fall, but to make a selection,” Prudhomme said. “There will be 11 kilometers of cobblestones in the last 30 kilometers. There will be some damage.”

“I think it will be much more open than last year because the TTT (team time trial) really eliminated some people last year and you won’t have that again,” Armstrong said Wednesday after next year’s route was announced. “Whereas this year you had three or four guys who could win the Tour, this year you’ll go into the tough sections with 10 guys.”

Bruyneel said this stage won’t be a threat in Armstrong’s quest to win an eighth Tour.

“He feels good on this kind of stage,” the Belgian said. “For him it’s not a problem at all.”

Following a new feud between the International cycling union and the French anti-doping agency, Prudhomme restated that the fight against doping was his priority.

“This is an absolute necessity,” Prudhomme said. “And authorities in charge of this fight need to work together in good terms.”

This month, the French anti-doping agency released a report concluding that teams including Astana had received advance notice of doping tests during the Tour, and that some blood and urine samples were not handled correctly by UCI inspectors. The UCI responded by saying it scrupulously respected the obligations imposed by the World Anti-Doping Code.

On Tuesday, French prosecutors opened a preliminary investigation to examine syringes found during this year’s race in a container given by organizers to all the teams to collect medical waste. Several newspapers reported that Astana was targeted by French authorities but Armstrong and Contador are not worried.

“I don’t have any answers because I don’t know anything about the case,” Armstrong told Eurosport. “I’m confident that our team has been racing clean. We just have to deal with it and get on with it.”

Contador didn’t appear to be worried either.

“In France, the fight against doping is total,” the Spaniard said. “Astana was the most scrutinized team during the Tour. I’ve heard that they were looking into our waste, but I’m absolutely relaxed.”

Asked to comment that case, Prudhomme said he knew nothing about it.

“We learned it from the press,” he said.

While there were no positive tests at this year’s Tour, authorities did seize drugs that the French anti-doping agency said raised questions. The drugs included treatments for diabetes, high blood pressure and convulsions suffered by manic-depressives.

The St. Paul Parish in Congers is hosting their first Bike-A-Thon at Rockland Lake State Park Saturday Oct. 17th. Rockland Bicycling Club member and friend Lloyd Castillo is chairing the event. He is looking for participants, sponsors and volunteers.

The proceeds will go towards the parish’s religious education programs. Knowing Lloyd, I’m sure this will be a FUN event!

Please visit www.stpaulcongers.net for more information or to register. You could also call the church, 845-268-4464.

Orangetown Police now believe that Karen Marx of Leonia NJ had a front derailleur problem causing her to fall Sunday Oct. 11. She and her boyfriend were riding north on route 9w near Oak Street. They now believe she was not hit by a car. Police tell us she was wearing a helmet.

She was taken to Nyack Hospital and then transferred to the trauma unit at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan.

Please check tomorrow’s Journal News or LoHud.com for more information from reporter Steven Lieberman.

PARIS (AP) French prosecutors have reportedly launched a preliminary investigation against the Astana cycling team to examine syringes belonging to the squad during this year’s Tour de France.

L’Equipe newspaper reported Tuesday on its Web site that prosecutors opened the case after “the discovery of several suspicious syringes in a container given by organizers to all the teams in order to collect the medical waste.”

Tour de France winner Alberto Contador and third-place Lance Armstrong rode with Astana on this year’s Tour. The Spaniard is still under contract with the Kazakh-funded team while the Texan left to launch his own squad, RadioShack.

According to L’Equipe, the syringes will be analyzed by a forensic lab called Toxlab, which is responsible for determining their content.

Gilbert Pepin, a doctor at the lab, was not available for comment and did not immediately respond to an e-mail from The Associated Press.

While there were no positive tests at this year’s Tour, authorities did seize drugs that the French anti-doping agency’s scientific adviser said raised questions.

The drugs — which include treatments for diabetes, high blood pressure and convulsions suffered by manic-depressives — are not banned but are “incongruous” in top-level athletes, said Professor Michel Rieu last week.

Rieu declined to say which teams the substances had been taken from, saying that it was part of a judicial investigation.