Sierra Magazine Celebrates Pedal Power in L.A. – And Beyond

For Immediate Release,
February 27, 2008
For editorial information contact:
Bob Sipchen at (415) 977-5542 or
Email: bob.sipchen@sierraclub.org
For advertising information contact:
Kristi Rummel at (608) 435-6220 or
Email: kristi.rummel@sierraclub.org

Sierra Magazine Celebrates Pedal Power in L.A. – And Beyond

San Francisco, CA.—Los Angeles may seem the most unlikely location for a feature on cycling but in Sierra’s March/April 2008 issue, author Robert Gottlieb reveals a turn-of-the-century elevated bikeway as his inspiration for a bicycle movement that is taking hold even in L.A. The series of articles dubbed “pedal power,” include excerpts from Jim Malusa’s Into Thick Air: Biking to the Bellybutton of Six Continents (Sierra Club Books, April 2008) and Eric Sorensen’s Seven Wonders for a Cool Planet (Sierra Club Books, May 2008).

Malusa’s odyssey to visit the lowest point on every continent by bike was completed over the course of six years in which he devoted a month’s ride each to Australia’s Lake Eyre, Asia’s Dead Sea, Europe’s Caspian Sea, South America’s Salina Grande, and Africa’s Lac Assal winding it all up in North America’s Death Valley. Sorensen’s excerpt sings the praises of the “two-wheeled wonder . . . a vehicle more energy efficient than any other devised, ever, by anyone.” “Bicycling is the quintessential Sierra Club mode of transportation and recreation,” said Editor Bob Sipchen. “And we even give our readers a url where they can find out if their bike ride is really green at sierraclub.org/howgreen/bikeride.

Getting youth outdoors is a Sierra Club priority that is reflected in Connect and Disconnect, in which young Native Americans, more into MTV than Mother Earth, are engaged by wild scents and sounds. The Mountain Center outing near Santa Fe, New Mexico was made possible by funding from the Sierra Club’s Building Bridges to the Outdoors program.

Two new departments also debut in the March/April 2008 issue. Comfort Zone is a shelter section on smart designs for pleasure and planet that will appear in every issue. Readers are invited to submit their green living space ideas at sierraclub.org/shelter. Mixed Media is the new media department that covers “big ideas and oddball interpretations.” Veteran journalist Elizabeth Kolbert is interviewed about her climate coverage book, Field Notes From a Catastrophe (Bloomsbury, 2006) and The Ends of the Earth, (Bloomsbury 2007) which she co-authored with Francis Spufford.

Other March/April 2008 issue highlights include:
• Sierra Club Outings 2009 Winter/Spring International Trips. (pp. 58-59)
• Lair of the North Wind—Paddling Canada’s boreal forest by Nancy Lord. (p. 28-35)
• Good Going—Cape St. Mary’s Ecological Reserve, Newfoundland, a great spot for birding. (pp. 24-25)
• In The Footsteps Of . . . Sierra’s 12th Annual Travel Contest (pp. 36-37)

ABOUT SIERRA:
Go to sierraclub.org/sierra to view the March/April 2008 issue online. A bimonthly, our on-line media kit is available at sierraclub.org/sierra/mediakit. SIERRA is published by the Sierra Club, the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization in America, with more than 1.3 million members and supporters nationwide. In 1893 the organization issued the first Sierra Club Bulletin, which became SIERRA in 1977. The bulk of SIERRA’s paid circulation comes from readers who spend an average of $36 for membership in the Sierra Club. A recent study found that SIERRA readers consider the magazine to be the number-one benefit of club membership. With multiple readers per copy, SIERRA reaches a total audience of more than 1.2 million readers.

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