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(Left to right): Laura Radcliff, A.G. Edwards; Rebecca
Brown, Washington University; Walter Metcalfe, Bryan Cave
and Steven Lipstein, BJC HealthCare traverse the new River
des Peres Greenway bicycle/pedestrian bridge. |
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By Laurie Burstein
Steve Lipstein, president and CEO of BJC HealthCare, got involved
in cycling in 2001 mainly as a way to help raise funds for the MS
Society. His wife has multiple sclerosis and for the past five years,
Lipstein has completed the group’s popular MS 150 bike race, held
every September.
Steven
H. Lipstein,
BJC HealthCare
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| “What
I really love about biking is being outdoors. Cycling
is a physically demanding sport, but it is also relaxing
and therapeutic. It’s a good escape.” |
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On a typical weekend, Lipstein rides anywhere from 25 to 45 miles.
He and his friend, Alex Evers, the chairman of the department of
anesthesiology at Washington University School of Medicine, often
meet at the Starbucks near their homes in Clayton and then ride
out to another Starbucks at Mason, or sometimes farther to the Spirit
of St. Louis Airport in Chesterfield.
“St. Louis is a great cycling town,” Lipstein says, who was recruited
here from Chicago six years ago to head BJC. “The St. Louis region
offers so many great places to bike ride from the Great River Road
to the Katy Trail. There is very little congestion and such a huge
variety of places to ride.”
The 50-year-old Lipstein says one of his great cycling accomplishments
was completing a ride in Iowa with his daughter, pedaling 490 miles
in seven days. He also took a family bike trip with all three of
his children and wife in the San Juan Islands, which he describes
as a great family memory.
“With the kind of job I do, I need to find exercise that I can squeeze
in anytime. Cycling, along with running and swimming, are things
I can do on my own or with friends very easily,” Lipstein explains.
“What I really love about biking is being outdoors. Cycling is a
physically demanding sport, but it is also relaxing and therapeutic.
It’s a good escape,” he says.
Lipstein says he sometimes uses his cycling time to work out issues
and problems at work. “Biking is also my creative time to come up
with new ideas. People at work sometimes joke and say ‘Uh Oh, did
Steve come up with another bike riding idea!’”
Rebecca
Brown,
Washington University
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| ”Setting
physical goals for myself sharpens my focus in all
areas of my life.” |
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Rebecca Brown, Associate General Counsel for Washington University,
is another avid cyclist in St. Louis. She has completed the Ironman
Wisconsin Triathlon in 2001 and 2002, not to mention 15 marathons.
Seven days a week she is up at 5 a.m. to start her training regimen,
of which cycling is a major part. Some of her favorite rides are
through the hills around St. Alban’s, as well as longer rides organized
by Trailnet and Gateway Council/Hostelling International, which
explore new routes in Missouri and Illinois.
With a busy career, a husband and 18-month-old son, what motivates
her to cycle? ”Setting physical goals for myself sharpens my focus
in all areas of my life,” Brown says. “By giving myself 100 percent
in the morning to train, I have more energy to give 110 percent
the rest of the day to my family, my career, my friends and the
other organizations that I help support.”
Brown says her husband, Steve Brown who is Deputy Chief Counsel
for the Eastern Region Missouri Attorney General’s Office, is very
supportive of her training. “I have an enormously supportive husband
who is committed to Daddy-time on Sunday mornings, so I can do my
long rides. We trade off so he can have his golf time,” she laughs.
Brown continues, “I also love the structure that cycling adds to
my life. Having a disciplined training schedule forces me to make
choices about how I use my time and I end up using it more wisely.
The by-product of all this is physical fitness.”
Laura Radcliff,
A.G. Edwards
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| “I’ve
become a recreational rider and now I can enjoy cycling
as just a great way to stay in shape. I love the scenery
and meeting all kinds of people. I enjoy it even more
now that it’s not competitive.” |
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Laura Radcliff, a managing director of investment banking at A.G.
Edwards, got into cycling almost 20 years ago when she was living
in Kansas City. She was riding in the park on her own, spotted a
group of cyclists and joined them for a ride. Soon she began racing,
and rode competitively for about seven years. Later, her career
took over and now she enjoys riding for fun and fitness.
“I’ve become a recreational rider and now I can enjoy cycling as
just a great way to stay in shape,” Radcliff says. I love the scenery
and meeting all kinds of people. I enjoy it even more now that it’s
not competitive.”
Radcliff admits she has become a fair weather friend and does spinning
in the winter months. “Cycling is still a part of my life during
the cold winter months with spinning. Spinning gives me the feel
of riding and it’s a great workout,” she says.
When the weather is good, Radcliff and her husband usually ride
25-30 miles each day on the weekends. They enjoy the Katy Trail
or riding from their home in Kirkwood to the Farmers Market.
“Cycling is a great full body workout,” Radcliff explains. “There
is no other form of exercise that feels so good.”
Michael Staenberg, president of THF Realty, is another major cycling
enthusiast in St. Louis. He owns five bikes, sponsors a professional
bike team, and even started his own race.
In good weather, he can be found riding four or five days a week
on some of his favorite rides including down Clayton Road through
Forest Park or from downtown St. Louis to Alton and along the Great
River Road.
On Sundays, he meets up with his riding group who gather at 7 a.m.
at Clayton and Hanley for a 40-50 mile ride. “Cycling is a great
way to stay in shape,” Staenberg says. It can be very social and
is something I can do anywhere, anytime. It keeps you pumped up
all day.”
Staenberg started Rumble to the River three years ago and has raised
more than $400,000 for charities including The Ronald McDonald House,
the St. Louis Variety Therapeutic Bike Program and the Youth Technology
and Education Center of St. Louis. The ride started out as a bet
between Staenberg and a business associate to see who could ride
a 60-mile course from Chesterfield Commons to the Gateway Arch and
back. Last year, ten cyclists competed. Staenberg has won the race
two out of three times.
Staenberg is also part of a group who helped restore the St. Louis
Velodrome, an outdoor riding track built 30 years ago by the City
of St. Louis. Located at Kingshighway and Interstate 70, the Velodrome
is one of only 22 structures of its kind in the United States.
Walter Metcalfe,
Bryan Cave
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| “My
partners gave me a gift of two stages in the Tour
De France last year. Amateurs are allowed to ride
ahead of the professionals, so I actually finished
in front of Lance Armstong, although I started more
than two hours ahead of him. False pride and fear
kept me going!” |
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Walter Metcalfe, partner in the Bryan Cave law firm and its former
chairman, got serious about cycling in 1990. His desire to see St.
Louis and the rest of the world from a new perspective while getting
exercise led him to take up cycling.
His favorite ride of all time was last summer’s Tour De France.
“My partners gave me a gift of two stages in the Tour De France
last year,” Metcalfe says. “Amateurs are allowed to ride ahead of
the professionals, so I actually finished in front of Lance Armstong,
although I started more than two hours ahead of him. False pride
and fear kept me going!” he says.
His international rides have also taken him to Chile and Argentina,
but closer to home Metcalfe enjoys riding in Forest Park and through
downtown to the Chain of Rocks Bridge, as well as in Warren County
with his wife Cynthia, a member of the Missouri Conservation Commission.
Metcalfe says, “Cycling is a marvelous combination of fresh air,
exercise and seeing the world. You can remove yourself from the
everyday workday world. St. Louis is getting better all the time
with new trails, so that you don’t have to ride the same route over.”
All five executives agree that cycling has given them the opportunity
to meet people and see places that they would not have met or seen
otherwise. Brown sums it up by saying, “Cycling is just plain fun.
I love getting on my bike and racing around on a sunny summer day
because it feels just the same as it did when I was 10. The “gear”
is just a lot more expensive these days!” |
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