Category: Cycling News

After a one-year absence; I returned to Madison, WI again this August for Trek’s annual dealer show: Trek World. This year, Trek added a new showing (they regularly have two shows for U.S. dealers: Top 100 dealers and then everyone else) exclusively for sales staff. Since I’m not managing a store at this time – I qualify. And this show; titled Trek World Backstage, was before all the others and granted us the first look at the new products and services from Big T – before the “grand fromage” descend on Madison. So, enough back story – let’s get to the meat.

This being my 5th trip to Madison; I think I have a good deal of context for evaluating the shows – and this was the best one ever! What was most evident was Trek’s recent (about 3 years) commitment to creating “Best in Class” products – period. Trek has brought in new staff, expanded inter-departmental product teams, and dedicated what must be massive amounts of money across their entire product offering and the work shows. Each year the weak points in the product line become harder and harder to find and for 2009, I think you’ll have to look very hard to find a place where the Trek family of product is not at least on par with anyone else’s offerings. The hard work and dedication is paying off and we can only expect better things in years to come.

The clear competitive advantages for 2009 will come in the form of:

– New Project One program for Madone bikes

– Trek Top Fuel make-over

– New Fisher Roscoe series mountain bikes

– Return of Bontrager Aeolus 5.0 ACC

– New Bontrager footwear line

– Continued improvement of InForm Saddles

And the big headline of the show – and the topic of most of the buzz among all the attendees: Gary Fisher road bikes – to fill the gap left by the ousting of the LeMond line.

Trek is also bringing a Bontrager line-up of soft goods (shorts, jerseys, gloves, socks) to market for Spring 09 – breaking the B-dot brand up into “on-bike” and “on-body” divisions and marking a distinct move away from Trek branded accessories. In the near future; the Trek badge will only be found on bikes – not on bags, helmets, clothing, tools, electronics and other accessories as it has in the past. The Bontrager teams are especially tenacious in pursuing the Best in Class goal; refusing to simply re-brand previously sold product by replacing the T with a B-dot; but rather choosing to systematically re-design product from the ground up with an initial goal of brining the best tecnhology, aesthetics, weight, and value. And, after spending some considerable time pouring over the on-bike and on-body offerings; I have to say that I didn’t see one product that I felt I would have to apologize for. Everything is great and most of it I would spend my own money on – and that’s the best way I know how to complement something; as I’m picky, critical, and cheap!

The weather, food, riding, music, and people were great as usual. And as usual, I came away with a serious case of “gear-lust” for a variety of things such as the Fisher Roscoe 3, ProCaliber, and Superfly, Trek Madone 6.9 Project One w/ Dura Ace 7900 and Top Fuel 9.9SSL (with a Fox fork instead of the stock SID – more on that later) and some Bontrager Race X Lite shoes, bib shorts, and gloves.

For more on all these items and others, watch for subsequent posts over the next few days as I gather all the information. I’ll have some catalog photos as I can edit them – I didn’t have my camera.

If you have questions or there’s something you’d like to see or get my opinion on; leave a comment and I’ll do my best.

More to come…

Whatever illusions certain fools in the pro peleton may have had should well be erased by now. The constant bickering between the UCI, ASO, and the Pro-Tour teams aside – a clear message has been sent: you cannot use performance enhancing drugs and participate in the Tour de France.

Today’s ejection of climbing “phenom” Riccardo Ricco – after two stage wins in the tour and some amazing climbing performances in this year’s Giro d’Italia: all now under question – marks the third rider within the first half of the current tour to be caught and expelled for EPO use. Ricco’s team, Saunier-Duval/Scott followed suit and removed themselves from the race voluntarilly (for reasons yet to be known as I write this).

So my thought today is the same as it was last week when former Team Discovery rider and teammate of Lance Armstrong, Manuel Beltran was expelled: Who are these guys that they really think that they can get away with this now? Since WADA has taken over the drug testing and ASO has taken such an abrasively staunch anti-doping stance there have been so many positive tests and suspensions – in and out of the Tour – you really must be a fool to think that you can get away with it. Continue reading “Sending a clear message…”

So, there’s a number of blogs that I visit regularly. Some of them are by people whom I have some kind of strange connection to, others are just ones I’ve run across that I like. I learned a lot of what I know about custom bike fit passively from Dave – which is another story that I’ll have to tell later. That’s just to say that Dave is one of those with whom I feel a connection.

One of Dave’s recent posts deals with a pet peeve of mine: the fading courtesy of the “wave”.

It first got under my skin when I first moved to Nashville in 2000. I was living on the west side of town and trying to ride myself back into shape after my college years – when I just didn’t make much time to ride. I found myself climbing up and over Knob hill and over to Belle Meade Boulevard then doing a loop through Percy Warner Park. Some days I’d do it on my road bike, others on my mountain bike. I was the same rider from day to day, but while on my road bike I’d get a few waves from oncoming cyclists. While on my mountain bike, it’s as if I wasn’t there – both oncoming riders and those passing me going the same direction (I did say I was out of shape and on a mountain bike after all…) just wouldn’t give me the time of day. Maybe since I grew up in “Small Town America” I had grown accustomed to this friendly acknowledgement from kindred sorts – whatever our affiliation. It just irritated me. I decided then that I would not be one of those people and that I’d wave at everyone. Everyone. Every time. Continue reading “Do The Wave!”

It’s been a while since my last update and I apologize for being out of touch – I’ve been pretty busy.

Since my last post, I’ve wrapped up my career with Allanti Bicycle Company in Brentwood, Tennessee; driven 2500 miles cross-country to Portland, Oregon while stopping to watch the Tour of Missouri and to ride in Boulder, CO and Boise, ID (more on the trip later once I have the pictures ready…); spent time with my wife and son whom I hadn’t seen in 7 weeks and travelled to Las Vegas for the Interbike trade show. One busy month!

Well, this coming Tuesday hopefully marks the beginning of a new page in m life with new opportunities to forge relationships and help people to love this sport that is so important and meaningful to me. Tuesday morning I’ll start working for the venerable Bike Gallery in their awesome Beaverton, Oregon store (pictured above). Bike Gallery is Oregon’s largest bicycle retailer and may be the largest Trek dealer in the United States. They have a long reputation for emphasizing the relationship and integrity over the “sale” and I can’t wait to begin working with another company that shares my values. Bike Gallery also sells Lemond, Gary Fisher, Orbea, Co-Motion and a wide array of other fantastic products. I’ll say again; I’m really excited for this opportunity.

You can learn more about BG by visiting their website: http://bikegallery.com. For those of you who are friends and former clients (or both…), I’ll invite you to stop by and visit. The address, phone number, and a map to the location can be found here on the website.

Finally, if there is anything that I can do to help you better enjoy your cycling experience – I now have a new medium to help you – so don’t hesitate to ask. Stop by the store and I’ll see what I can do. I’ll look forward to seeing you!

Thanks for reading.

This morning I spent 24 minutes watching the President of Trek Bicycle Corporation, John Burke’s presentation at the recently completed Taipei Bicycle Trade Show in Taiwan. ( To see it yourself, go to youtube.com and search for John Burke – then select the video that is titled John Burke – the Al Gore of the Bicycle Industry). Now, those of you who have heard John speak before know that it wasn’t easy – but as usual, while John isn’t the greatest public speaker, he had a lot of good things to say. Most of which inspired what I have to say here.

Think what you will about Global Warming; I won’t go into all of my thoughts here. But if Al Gore were correct, the bicycle is a great solution to our problems. I don’t think it stops there though. Obesity is possibly the greatest sociological and physiological problem of our time. There are many great epidemics – but obesity is by far the most transcendent and is the root cause of many other health problems facing many of our friends and neighbors. While thyroid disorders can account for a small percentage of obesity in our time, a far greater number of the cases are due simply to the lifestyle of “westernized” society in which we live in a manner that is fully dependent upon the automobile and almost necessitates a poor diet based on processed, “fast” foods
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The average American makes fewer than 1-half of one percent of all their trips by bicycle. Over half of all trips made by car in America are 2 miles or less. The average American burns 5-20 calories an hour while driving. The average human will burn 700-900 calories an hour while cycling. In London, the average car trip of 4 miles takes over 40 minutes. By bicycle, that 4 mile trip would take 20 minutes. You can fit 9-12 bicycles in a single automobile parking spot and as many as six bicycles in the space of one car driving down the road. The 1 mile trip to the video store takes me 2 minutes in my car. On my bike it takes me 3.5 minutes – if I’m not in a hurry.

If we will take the time, spend the money, and make the effort to make our cities more cycling friendly, more people will ride their bikes, more families will spend time together and I would venture to say that we could almost watch our world-wide obesity epidemic vanish along with our shrinking waistlines. With reduced weight and improved health we’ll also watch such problems as diabetes, heart disease, and arthritis recede from the general population.

Rising energy costs is also a great concern in modern times. Many people have become more energy conscious. In fact, NBC’s Today Show ran a story this morning which went so far as to blame rising energy costs for the increasing wealth-gap in America – the rich getting richer while the middle-class fight to stay on top of the increasing cost of living. While bicycles require a little more time to use as transportation (My 9.5 mile drive to work takes me 20-25 minutes while my 12 mile ride takes 38-43 minutes – I take different routes, obviously), the reduced dependence upon energy sources such as gasoline, diesel, and electricity are huge. The last time I checked, I didn’t consume any gas or diesel the last time I rode my bike; and I’ve had the same AA batteries in the headlight and taillight on my commuter bike for months now – using an incredibly small amount of electricity. The benefits of reduced energy use are almost more plentiful (but arguably less beneficial) than a decline in obesity. Lower energy use would result in lower energy costs, fewer emissions from the use and creation of energy, better air quality due to less pollution, and less CO2 in the air – whatever that means.

I can’t think of any downsides to increased use of bicycles – because even though they’re not as fast as cars…you’ll generally arrive at your destination in a better mood!

May is National Bike Month in the United States. There will be all kinds of great cycling oriented events held across the country, including the Tour de Nash and Edgar Soto Memorial Stage Race here in Middle Tennessee. The third week of May (14th-18th) is National Bike to Work Week with Thursday the 17th being Bike to Work Day. There’s no better time to begin to make a difference – whether you do it for yourself, your family, the environment, or Al. I plan to increase my bicycle usage for the month (from 1-2 trips to work a week) and as many days as possible on Bike to Work Week. I challenge you to change your transportation or bicycle-use habits at least for May 14-18 if not the entire month. With some of the great products that the bicycle companies are creating now, few of us actually have good excuses not to use bicycles for some of our transportation needs. If you have any questions or would like advice as to how to make this possible, feel free to contact me and I’ll give you some tips.

Thanks for reading.