After Recovery From Cancer, She’ll Have the Ride of Her Life

Cara Dunne, 25, a first-year UCLA law student, was a blind Paralympic skier for eight years until a recurrence of a rare, life-threatening retinal cancer forced her to quit two years ago.

Now that Dunne, blind since she was 5, has recuperated, she has regained her competitive thirst. This summer, she and tandem partner Sonja Fritsche will embark on an 18-day, 996-mile ride across a portion of Siberia as part of the AXA World Ride, an around-the-world cycling event for the mentally and physically challenged.

“We could have gone to Ireland, London or Paris, but this was the only segment that fit our schedules,” Dunne said.

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Trivia time: Who invented the football huddle?

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Long day: Jalen Rose, the 6-foot-8 point guard for the Denver Nuggets on his training plans for the summer, “I’ll be in (the gym) at 5 or 6 in the morning, until 12 or 1 at night.”

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Simple gripe: Phil Jackman of the Baltimore Sun wonders:

“Am I the only one in the solar system who sees those graphics at the upper left of the picture giving score, period, time remaining, temperature, high and low tides and, of course, a sponsor’s logo as a huge distraction taking up too much of the screen?”

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Erik, the red-faced: Erik Hanson, 5-5 with a 4.11 earned-run average for the Cincinnati Reds last year, complained when he signed a one-year deal with the Boston Red Sox for $1.25 million.

Sportscaster John Steigerwald quipped: “Do you think it ever occurred to Erik that the Reds paid him more than $500,000 per win last season?”

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Called for behavior: Melissa Isaacson of the Chicago Tribune on NBA referees: “Aside from being the most self-conscious of officials in all of sports, they are also some of the most gossipy and generally discontented guys around.”

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Expert testimony: Will O.J. Simpson’s osteoarthritis defense hold up? Arthritis Today magazine wanted to know. The magazine polled readers suffering from the chronic disease for a centerpiece spread.

Most were skeptical.

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Land, ahoy! David Casstevens of the Arizona Republic on his enthusiasm for the America’s Cup in San Diego:

“My idea of seafaring adventure is lunch at Long John Silver’s.”

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Ice escapades: The troublesome Mathieu Schneider, amid reports he was a cancer in the Montreal Canadiens’ clubhouse: “I’m not a Cancer, I’m a Gemini.”

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Trivia answer: According to Mike Kaika, media relations director of Gallaudet University, the Washington, D.C., school for the deaf and hard-of-hearing used the huddle 30 years before Herb McCracken, who usually gets the credit.

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Quotebook: Jockey Julie Krone, talking about her numerous injuries at racetracks: “Mornings, some parts of me wake up slower than others.”