Forget golf, take up cycling

From San Jose Mercury News:

In the past five years, cycling has become the hip sport of Silicon Valley. Technology entrepreneurs have taken to whirring through redwood groves on bicycles worth as much as the GNP of a small nation....

It started with San Francisco investment banker Thomas Weisel, who founded the U.S. Postal Service team that gave Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong his rise in the 1990s. Weisel eventually took over USA Cycling eight years ago. The leadership change led to the creation of a fundraising arm known as the Champions Club, where members donate $100,000 to get in, then contribute $25,000 annually.

The list of 30 members on the group's Web site includes legendary venture capitalist John Doerr; George Battle, the retired executive chairman of Internet search engine Ask Jeeves; and Tench Coxe, Russell Hirsch and Greg Penner, all partners at Peninsula investment firms.