GREEN & GLOVER: Happy feet

Concerned about how the Washington Wizards will perform this season? Don’t be, because star player Caron Butler has been keeping himself fit as a fiddle through his favorite hobby, cycling.

We caught up with Mr. B at Sunday’s first annual Sister to Sister Bike for the Heart event at the Verizon Center, where he and other notables, including organizer Irene Pollin, wife of Verizon Center owner Abe Pollin, espoused the virtues of exercise.

Since starting Sister to Sister 10 years ago, Mrs. Pollin has helped 90,000 people get screened for heart disease, the leading cause of heart attacks in women. Mrs. P says biking is a perfect way for young people, especially, to reduce cholesterol.

“Did you know Washington is the fourth-largest biking community in the country?” she asked.

“That surprised me because I thought we were a bunch of nerds,” she added.

“No, I see cool people out biking all the time,” Mr. Butler later responded. He should know: During the warm weather months, his personal best is “17 to 22 miles a day in about three hours,” said the two-time All-Star.

“I got to meet Lance Armstrong. It was brief, but one of the best experiences of my life,” he reflected on his encounter with the seven-time Tour de France winner.

Standing nearby listening to Mr. Butler, WJLA anchor Maureen Bunyan could not resist trying to show up her athlete friend.

“My claim to fame is that I biked through Europe, and I probably exceeded that a day. But I was much closer to Caron’s age,” she said with a laugh.

All that jazz

Former second lady Tipper Gore was kicking up her feet Sunday night at the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition and Blue Note Records’ 70th Anniversary Gala Concert at the Kennedy Center, where she was a guest presenter.

Looking glorious and trim, Mrs. Gore handed out the night’s top prize to 24-year-old Ben Williams, a native Washingtonian who attended the famed Duke Ellington School of the Arts and Michigan State University College of Music.

During the finale, we saw Mrs. Gore being spun around the stage by none other than Billy Dee Williams, the suave actor and singer.

“She’s a good dancer, but I think an even better drummer,” Mr. Williams said of Mrs. G, who used to play drums in an all-girl rock band back in high school in Arlington.

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