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Chris King, Nutcase Helmets, Vanilla Cycles and Bike Friday are just a few of the cycling companies based in and around Portland, Oregon, and the January 2009 issue of Oregon Business covers the explosion of the industry there and the cycling culture that surrounds it.

Bikeportland.com, a local cycling blog, was quoted as saying they’ve had to hire additional reporters to help cover all the cycling news in the area.  Vanilla Cycles apparently has a five year waiting list (maybe that’s why he hasn’t responded to our interview request from November…).

The article also discusses the spill over benefit of such a mad cycling culture.  More jobs are created in industries like alternative power, organic farming and craft brewing.  Some of these new companies or industries may not stand the test of time, but they help to alleviate the rash of job losses in automotive-related industries (car and RV dealers, etc.).  Portland also enjoys a tourism boost by hosting the Bicycle Film Festival, Oregon Manifest and countless cyclocross and other events.  In fact, Bend, OR, was just awarded the ‘cross nationals for 2009 and 2010. 

It doesn’t come right out and say it, but I walked away with several reasons why a strong cycling culture improves the local economy.  There’s a good lesson to be learned for those working to improve their own local cycling culture through transportation planning and local policy.  Read “more” for that and the link to the full story… 

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Join one of our bike technicians for this FREE one hour class on Basic Bike Maintenance. Learn about parts, basic adjustment, and the care and feeding of your bicycle. Preventative health for your favorite vehicle! Registration requested. 

• Location: REI Greensboro bike shop
• Date: January 29, 2009 - 10am
• Cost:Free
• Registration Required? Yes. Please Call Customer Service at 336-323-3117

The sport of mountain biking is celebrating its thirtieth anniversary in 2009, and leading the celebration is The Museum of Mountain Bike Art & Technology, a recently opened museum that preserves and chronicles the evolution of the sport, it’s personalities and products…like the composite-framed 1991 Trimble Inverse shown above.

In the mid 1970’s, the mountain bike sprang to life as a grassroots effort by a small group of riders in Marin County, California, who converted balloon-tired cruisers into trail bikes by removing superfluous equipment and installing knobby tires. The first purpose-built off road bikes were made in the late 1970’s when the term “Mountain Bike’ was first used to describe them, and the sport grew rapidly worldwide in the following years. The original mass produced mountain bike, the Specialized Stumpjumper, arrived in stores in 1981. An example of this model now resides in the Smithsonian Institution, and a similar model is displayed at the Museum of Mountain Bike Art & Technology (MOMBAT).

Read “more” for pics of some of the bikes and details…

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A strong and competitive Team Saxo Bank, led by South Australia’s Stuart O’Grady, will take to the start line at the 2009 Tour Down Under.

Race Director Mike Turtur highlighted that Stuart O’Grady is the only rider in the Tour Down Under’s history to have won the event twice.

“Stuart O’Grady won the inaugural Tour Down Under in 1999 and again in2001,” said Mike Turtur.
“Stuart has had the taste of victory here twice before and I know he will hit the race hard, looking to add a third title to his crown.

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The Tour Down Under keeps adding more teams and star riders to their lineup.

2003 Tour de France Green Jersey Winner Baden Cooke will be the leadrider for the 2009 UniSA-Australia team at next month’s Tour Down Under.  The UniSA-Australia team is a mix of seasoned pros and college riders, giving younger talent a chance to ride with Pro Tour cyclists on their home turf.

Additionally, Italian UCI ProTour teams Liquigas and Lampre-N.G.C. have confirmed their places on the 2009 Tour Down Under start list.

“Liquigas finished fourth overall in the Team Classification at the 2008 TourDown Under, so we expect them to be tough competition in 2009,” said MikeTurtur, Tour Down Under Race Director.

Read “more” for the Lampre and Liquigas team rosters…

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Aaron Fotheringham set a Guinness World Record for most consecutive backflips…in a wheelchair.  There’s actually video of him pulling off this trick from about two years ago, so the news here is the world record in October, and that he was just given $20,000 on Fox’s “Secret Millionaire” television reality show.

In an Las Vegas Sun article, Fotheringham said he plans to use the money to start Hardcore Sitting Company, a business idea to help others in wheelchairs realize their athletic potential. 

Looking for somewhere to put all those new Christmas goodies to use?  The  12 Hours of Oleta from Gone Riding is coming up on January 3 in Miami, FL.  Get warm, get some racing in and get more info here.

Click on the image to see a full-size flyer.

Andrew Jackson, a California rider comes from a motocross and trail background, and this video shows some pretty sweet hops and tricks.  I’m not a huge BMX freak, but I think some of his moves are pretty novel…I haven’t seen them before.  Worth taking a break to watch.

Ceepo, a Japanese bicycle manufacturer, is now the official bicycle of Ironman Triathlon.  Starting in the Spring, they’ll have an Ironman-branded Venom (shown above without the IM decals), followed by an Ironman Katana model in the Summer.  Ceepo was founded in 2002 with the goal of producing high end carbon fiber tri bikes that weren’t compromised by “road” bike foundations…they only make bikes for triathletes.  The sponsorship/licensing deal is a multiyear agreement. Read the full press release here.

Trek Bicycle has partnered with World Bicycle Relief and a USAID-funded, World Vision-led coalition of relief organizations to address the HIV/AIDS crisis in Zambia. With an overall goal of providing 23,000 bicycles to community-based healthcare workers, disease prevention educators, and school children and their families, World Bicycle Relief’s Project Zambia is working to ensure that healthcare and education reach those directly affected by HIV/AIDS. Project Zambia also strives to train and equip more than 400 bicycle mechanics in the field as well as provide micro-finance loans to those in need. It is estimated that the program will positively affect more than 500,000 adults, orphans and children.

In October and November of 2008, Elaine Burke, philanthropist and mother of Trek Bicycle President John Burke, traveled throughout Zambia with World Bicycle Relief founder F. K. Day (shown above training two locals in bicycle repair) and a team of relief-worker volunteers.

“Our goal was to identify and then distribute bicycles to those who could benefit most from them,” said Burke. “We visited schools, healthcare workers, and businesses across the country to explain the program and identify those who could really use a bike.”

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In 2009, Team Type 1 is expanding to include a triathlon team, a developmental squad, a women’s professional squad and two teams for the Race Across America (RAAM): Team Type 1 and Team Type 2. The athletes with diabetes in these programs serve as examples that diabetes can be controlled through diet, exercise and the use of the best treatment and technology available today.

Team Type 1 is the only professional cycling team in the world with a mission to instill hope and inspiration for people around the world affected by diabetes. It was created in 2004 by two racers with Type 1 diabetes, Phil Southerland and Joe Eldridge. The pair led the squad to back-to-back victories in the Race Across America (RAAM) in 2006 and 2007 before joining Fabio Calabria and Timothy Hargrave as two of four professional riders with Type 1 diabetes on the roster in 2008.

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A team from Appalachian State University’s industrial design department won Juicy Idea’s national competition with a bicycle made of used plastic bottles.  With just ten days to develop something that can change the world using only one item commonly thrown away (they were told at the start of the 10 days what object they would have to use).

For a full list of runners up and links to their videos, check the press release here.  Second place, also from a NC college, was a wind turbine made of plastic bottles, and one of the others was something to recover ocean “dead zones” due to fertilizer run off.  These are some pretty spectacular achievements considering a) they’re college teams and b) they only had 10 days to do it, but one of the factors they were judged on were scalability, so I’m guessing that’s what put the bike project on the podium.

Click “more” to see a pic of their bike…

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Looking for something to do this New Years without having to get a designated driver (or pedaler)?  This video captures the “fun” of Roller Racing, also known as a Goldsprint.  This video is from Rollapaluza in London, but here are a few U.S. based groups, events and manufacturers of Roller Racers for your next partay.  People will be puking, but not because they drank too much.  Good times…

• Bike Works NYC - 4up Bicycle Roller Racer w/ dial
• http://www.velozueri.ch/goldsprint_06.htm Zurich
• Rollapaluza - Roller Racing in: London
• Monday Night Gold Sprints - Gold Sprints in Seattle
• Salt City Sprints - Gold Sprints in: Salt Lake City
• NYC GoldSprints - Gold Sprints in: New York City
• ColdSprints - Gold Sprints in Minneapolis
• OpenSprints - Open Source software and hardware for Gold Sprints
• RockySprints - GoldSprints in Bozeman, Montana
• N.O.Sprints OpenSprints in New Orleans
• Southern California Roller RacingComing soon to San Diego and Los Angeles
• Minneapolis Star Tribune article and video on Goldsprints at Grumpy’s

LaPierre’s new Passport is a folding full suspension mountain bike that comes with its own travel bag.  Unlike some “travel” folding bikes, this thing comes feature rich with a pretty decent parts spec.  Fox FRL 100mm fork (80mm compatible), Mavic Crossride wheels, Ritchey Logic semi-integrated headset, and a mix of Deore/LX/XT Shimano bits on the drivetrain.  Since none of the parts are proprietary, you can easily upgrade most, with disc brakes possible on the front at least.  Avid Single Digit brakes come standard.

MSRP is €2,000 ($2,792 USD as of 12/25/08).  Weight is 16.5kg (36.37lb) for bike and bag. Check it all the specs here, along with a quick slideshow showing the disassembly/foldup process.