Everyone knows what a toilet is used for, but in Fair Oaks, racing them is one of the most anticipated events of the year. During the 63rd annual Fair Oaks Fiesta on Saturday over one hundred people of all ages and backgrounds came out to Fair Oaks village to enjoy the race. This year's race included six toilet racers with three-person teams. The rules require one driver, who must sit on the toilet at all times, and two pushers. Two teams represented the Fair Oaks Park and Recreational District, calling themselves the Parks District and Rocky the Rooster. The other four teams were privately owned and called themselves The Royal Flush, Hot Rod Toilet and Porcelain Princess. Contestants c

For anyone wanting an energizing bike ride in January that won’t take them into the freezing winter cold, Hot Italian on 16th and Q streets has just the thing: Savage Sprints. For the second year in a row, the Midtown restaurant is hosting a series of stationary bike races free to anyone who wants to show up and ride. The next racing event will be Jan. 8. “They are small interval races of about 10 to 12 seconds (each),” Alisa Kuwabara, a supervisor at Hot Italian, said Friday. “It sounds short, but it’s really intense and gets your heart racing like crazy.” The head-to-head races start with little kids on smaller bikes, and progress to adult races on larger bikes, Kuwabara said. Accord

The band’s name says it all. Joy, an emotion evoked by well being, success, and good fortune or the prospect of having one’s desires. Formidable, a feeling of awe and admiration from grandeur and great strength combines the artistry of the trio formed in 2007 from North Wales -- Ritzy Bryan on guitar and vocals, Rhydian Dafydd on bass guitar, and Matt Thomas on drums. This is a band that should be seen live. The recorded music, especially the new song “Whirring,” is good. But the trio thrives before live audiences. Live, the band lives up to its name projecting a soul-filling joy. Whether you are a sweaty youth in the crowded mosh pit or a 40-something professional grooving to the band

Team SacPD is on their home stretch. “Group B is on the way to meet group A for our final day of racing. On the way to the finish line!” was sent out on the team’s Twitter feed Friday morning. Having cycled just over 2,820 since Saturday afternoon’s start, Team SacPD has just 176 miles to go, however, embedded photographer Kati Garner stated, “…the last day of RAAM is not an easy ride for the racers…..they are in the Appalachians, full of ascents and descents for miles and miles.” Team SacPD is the first all police officer team in the history of Race Across America (RAAM), fully comprised of police officers from the Sacramento Police Department doing the race on their personal vacation

It’s all downhill from here… so to speak. Monday, in the Race Across America, Team SacPD concurred their highest elevation climb of the race. With their climb to nearly 11,000 feet above sea level Monday, the team has climbed a total of 55,952 vertical feet since the start of the race Saturday. From this point, the majority of the race is downhill except for a few smaller elevations climbs later in the race. At the time of this posting, the team is skirting the southern part of Colorado and is about half way across the state. At this point they have traveled almost 1,030 miles and have about 1,969 miles to go. The only significant challenge reported today was a racers blown tire shortly

Sunday was a long but rewarding day for Team SacPD in their second day of Race Across America. The team traversed north east through Arizona and at the time of this posting they are just north of Tuba City heading toward Utah. Team SacPD is now 33 hours into the race and have traveled over 615 miles. They have climed a total of 32,744 vertical feet and are presently around 5,000 feet above sea level and will reach around 11,000 feet in this assent.  The day was not without challenges. Early in the day one of the riders wasn't feeling well and had to sit out several relay rotations, but later returned to the race reportedly doing well. The same van that broke down Saturday developed mecha

Team SacPD, started the Race Across America (RAAM) Saturday afternoon. Starting from the pier in Oceanside, they already peddled over 170 miles with just under 2,830 to go at the time of this post. They have cumulatively climbed 8,789 vertical feet and reached a top elevation just over 4,000 above sea level. The team is now commencing a stretch in the race where over the next 750 miles they will ascend to an elevation of over 10,000 feet above sea level. Until they reach that elevation, they will be on a consistent climb with few brief downhill breathers. Shortly after the races start, one of the teams vans with relief riders on board, broke down with radiator issues. “1st crisis! One va

Oceanside, CA | Team SacPD starts pedaling across America, a 3,000 mile trek, at 2PM today and will end in Annapolis, Maryland. The first all police team to compete in the Race Across America (RAAM), Team SacPD, entirely comprised of officers from the Sacramento Police Department, assembled in Oceanside over the past few days, prepping and taking care of last-minute details heading into the big start at 2PM Saturday in Oceanside. Team SacPD is riding to raise awareness of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. “The eight member SPD Team will raise money and bring media attention to the National Law Enforcement Memorial, Washington DC. Working with the hundreds of federal, state,

Throwing a Fourth of July celebration? Your fellow Americans have some tips, ranging from home-grown parades and potlucks to Elvis impersonators, dunk tanks and old-school amusements. This week, a handful of Sacramentans offered ideas on how to have fun and maybe even save a little cash this holiday with celebrations as diverse as the country. Organizing your own Independence Day parade topped the list of suggestions. Processions can be as small and impromptu as a clanging pots-and-pans parade of kids and adults moseying around the block or as big as a community parade with marching bands and dozens of floats closing down streets. Jeff Dominguez, who owns Exit Realty West in Midtown, i

For five residents of a Sacramento rehab center, this Memorial Day represents a personal battle won. Of 1185 registered participants, five members of the recently formed running and walking program One Step Forward completed their first race as a team this morning at the “No Excuses” 5k run at William Land Park. The members were recruited just over two months ago from Sacramento’s Clean & Sober program, dedicated to helping disadvantaged people overcome drug and alcoholic addictions. For the past six weeks, One Step Forward trained twice a week in preparation for the race. One Step Forward was formed by local organizer Makiko Yamashita, who wanted to provide a sense of community, accomp

Friday evening, you may have run into a crowd of cyclists pedaling their way downtown, uptown, and back again. The racing term for this group is a peloton. These rather enthusiastic riders were in the midst of the Sacramento Alley Cat bike race.  The Alley Cat is an unsanctioned bike race, checkpoint-to-checkpoint, where the emphasis is placed not on speed, but on knowing the layout of the city. Races are always open course, taking place in street traffic.  40 riders took off for the five checkpoints of the race which stretched from Lucky Lefty's on 16th Street all the way to West Sacramento and back.  Many others who came chose not to race, but remained at Lucky Lefty's, watching a bik

According to the American College of Sports Medicine 2008 study, San Francisco is the most fit city in the U.S. (www.americanfitnessindex.org). Sacramento did not make the list of top 16 most fit cities. The only other two California cities that made the bottom of the list were Los Angeles and Riverside. While the results of this study may be debatable, it poses a good question about how fitness-friendly our city is. How does our city rank in terms of the number of bike trails, walking trails, exercise facilities, etc? There seems to be a huge link between fitness and fundraisers. People will exercise as long as it is for a cause. Look at the events below that happen either at the Capi