Part of the fun of the Internet is your ability to follow an interesting idea, or "thread," from one place to another.  On this page, we offer you links to several topics we find interesting.  If you want more information about our group, or would like to suggest other links we should offer to our visitors, e-mail Bill Uttenweiler.
 
 

People are attracted to volkssporting for several reasons.  The emphasis is on fun, fitness, and fellowship.  Events are non-competitive.  You can take the time to smell the flowers or browse an interesting store along the route.  Most volkssport activities are walks; so the first set of links we offer you relate to walking.
 

	American Volkssport Association Home Page has hundreds of links to information on volkssports (organized walking, bicycling, swimming and skiing events) throughout the world.
	Probably the best WWW site on walking and hiking is Wendy Bumgardner's.  It includes an excellent Walking Newsletter to which you can subscribe.  Besides her role as their Walking Guide at About.com, Wendy was an elected officer of the AVA for 8 years; now she describes herself as "just a club president."
	New Balance, maker of a wide variety of athletic shoes, has become the newest nation-wide sponsor of the American Volkssport Association.  (Your webmaster loves them because they make the extra-wide sizes he needs!)
	The National Study of Health & Nutrition has a Walker's Survey on-line.  It can provide information on your diet, physical activies and lifestyle choices, or you can participate in a long-term study on the effects of walking.
	Volksware of Tigard, OR, provides a variety of products for volkssporters, including the "Walk USA" and other T-shirts and sweatshirts.
	The American Hiking Society (AHS), with 130 member trail clubs and over 10,000 individual members, is devoted exclusively to hikers and hiking trails.
	The International Marching League (IML), whose motto is "May walking bring us closer together," sponsors multi-day walks of at least 20 km (12.4 miles) a day.  Some IML events also carry IVV credit.
	Rockport Shoe Company makes dressy as well as fitness shoes.  Several of members of the Central Coast Peregrine Pathfinders are registered volunteers for their Wear Test Program.

Peregrine falcons, once on the brink of extinction because DDT contamination made their eggs, too thin, are making a dramatic comeback.  Just as our club was organizing in the late spring of 1998, three more young peregrine falcons were released on Vandenberg AFB, CA.  The US Air Force and its contractors have been involved in falcon recovery efforts for over a decade.  This release was part of a multi-year project by the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group.  These raptors have adapted to live in large cities as well as in remote mountain ranges.  They are monogamous birds who usually mate for life.  Know as the fastest flying bird, peregrines are predators who are able to dive at speeds exceeding 150 mph to reach and kill their prey, who make up 99% of the their diet.  Although Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt announced on August 25, 1998, that peregrines have recovered well enough to be removed from the endangered species list, the bird's population is not back to its pre-DDT levels.  Here are links to several interesting sites about these magnificent birds.
 

	The Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group, Long Marine Lab, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, has done outstanding work returning these magnificent birds to their former habitat in our area.  A great web site for a great program.  Chosen a USA Today HOT SITE.
	The University of Calgary in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, has a page containing observations of students and information about the bird in that area.
	The site about peregrines closest to us is Peregrine Falcons of Morro Rock, which tells about the birds of nearby Morro Bay in San Luis Obispo county, CA.
	The World Center for Birds of Prey operates the Peregrine Fund.  It is a restoration group with both corporate and private sponsorship.
	The Peregrine Falcon Project at California State University, Stanislaus Foundation, Turlock, CA.
	Outdoor Photographer, April 1997 article.

 

1998-1999

2000-2001

May 2001