Two more 2010 bicycle-related calendars to add to the list:

	FROM CHRIS KING: Our 2010 Pretty and Strong Calendar features the mighty women racers of the Northwest as seen through the lenses of the talented photographers of PDX Cross. It was just a few months ago in a lunch meeting with the Oregon and SW Washington affiliate for Komen for the Cure that we learned of an interesting statistic related to rates of early detection of breast cancer in our region. Joining me for that lunch was Diane Chalmers, our VP of Operations, and Cristina Moore, Development Manager for the Komen affiliate. Cristina informed us that the demographic with the lowest rate of early detection was the one we knew included the women we saw at races every weekend. Seems that the distraction of “being fit” keeps these women from regular check-ups. About that same time, the PDX Cross crew came to us with an idea for a breast cancer awareness calendar. Sometimes you just get hit over the head with a great opportunity.Chris King is selling the calendar through our website and PDX Cross will be selling them at Nationals in Bend, OR next month. We would all appreciate your support in spreading the word about this calendar. Our Pretty and Strong Special Edition component series enters its 7th year in support of the local Komen affiliate and I’d say this is one of our better efforts.
	FROM COPENHAGENIZE: THE 2010 Bicycle Infrastructure Fetish Calendare for Traffic Planners and Advocates is probably the kinkiest calendar for 2010 on the market if you’re a traffic planner, bicycle advocate or urban planner with a untameable fetish for bicycle infrastructure. Copenhagenize.com offers up its hottest photos to keep you satisfied throughout the year wherever you are. Each month of the year you’ll be caressed by steaming hot photos of cycle tracks, bike-to-train facilities, bike parking prototypes, you name it. You can’t swing a blow-up doll around without hitting the infrastructure or bike facilities. Buy it if you dare. Ask for plain, brown wrapping paper. Give it as a gift to your favourite, infrastructurally-frustrated traffic planner. Hang it up by the coffee machine in DoTs around the world. Spread the word. Spread the love.
	FROM COPENHAGEN CYCLE CHIC: (Seriously, this is their sales pitch) So it’s that time of year again. Time for the Cycle Chic Calendar 2010. 12 months of Copenhagen right there on your wall.

Check this post for more 2010 cycling calendars!

Editor’s Summary: You can now combine orders from Backcountry.com, Chainlove.com and Bonktown.com and have them ship all at once to save freight.

PRESS RELEASE: After years of incessant clamoring, fans of the Backcountry.com brotherhood of ODAT (one deal at a time) sites are finally getting what they want: combined shipping.

As of Tuesday, customers of Chainlove.com and Bonktown.com can stockpile their multiple one-at-a-time orders for up to seven days before the goods are packaged into a tidy box and shipped off together. Shoppers are charged shipping for the first deal, and then can add an unlimited number of items to the same order for a small additional shipping charge of $2.99 per item. And while they can’t share one cart between sites (yet), they can have a number of carts open on multiple sites at a time.

This is good all around — good for the wallet and good for the globe. By opting in, customers can reduce their (and the stores’) carbon footprint, and can save themselves some coin too. Just in time for the holidays.

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Danny MacAskill, the rider made famous by pulling off the sick moves in the video above, is auctioning off one of his bikes to benefit BBC Children in Need.

The “Inspired” video has almost 12.5 million views on YouTube…at least ten of which are from yours truly…and now you have the chance to own the blue bike from this video.  Danny says “It is really exciting auctioning my bike for Children in Need! I really hope that it raises a lot of money for this great charity project and gives support to children that need it the most! Remember, the one who buys the bike will instantly be able to do everything in the inspired bikes April video!”

If you want in on the a(u)ction, click here to place your bid on eBay. Hurry, it ends November 27th, 19:00 GMT.

You can watch this video in higher quality on Watch26.tv.

GoPro recently unveiled its new HD Hero sports camera, and it features a lot of upgrades beyond video quality.

On the High Definition side of things, it’s able to record in full 1080p, as well as 960p / 720, HD video at 30 and 60 frames per second. The 60 frames per second feature is available in 720p shooting mode and allows for quality  slow motion playback. The HD Hero works with their wide angle 170º and standard 127º lenses and uses the same case as the original Hero, so there’s no need to buy the entire setup if you already own the case and mounts.

Beyond the video, the new HD Hero makes a lot of great updates.  The batteries are now rechargeable Li-Ion rather than replaceable AAA’s, and it can take full 5MP stills for large prints.  Lastly, it can now handle up to a 32GB SD card (prior models were limited to 2- or 4GB cards). MSRP is $299.

Check out some sample video after the break…

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On Sunday, November 29, 2009, thousands of bicyclists from around the world will ride in solidarity for 29 miles to recognize 29 years of the AIDS/HIV pandemic. All of the World AIDS Day rides will start at 8 a.m. in their respective locations. Organizers encourage participants to wear red.

Some of the cities participating in this year’s World AIDS Day rides include Los Angeles, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, San Diego, Richmond, Va., Austin, Texas and London. The full list of cities hosting World AIDS Day rides is on the event’s Facebook page and on the Positive Pedalers Web site.

Brian Hodes of UTACVelo started World AIDS Day rides three years ago. Through his promotion to the annual rides he helps increase awareness of HIV and AIDS.

“As much as we’d like to think otherwise, HIV and AIDS are not going away any time soon,” Hodes said. “We need to continually remind our community that we need everyone’s support if we ever hope that AIDS will be cured.”

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Columbia Sportswear has become the title sponsor of the Muddy Buddy Ride & Run Series! 2010 will bring new events, new mud and new fun to a city near you.

The 2010 Columbia Muddy Buddy Series kicks off with an inaugural event in Las Vegas on March 7 and will also include new events in New York, Portland, Minneapolis and Miami. A portion of the proceeds from the events are donated to the Challenged Athletes Foundation, which raises money for athletes with disabilities and provides them with adaptive equipment.

Registration and more information will be available soon on their website. Hit ‘more’ to see the full schedule…

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The first couple are funny (because it’s not us), but then Scott Bicycles’ sponsored mountain bike freerider/dirt jumper Antoine Dubourgnon gets down to business with some ever bigger launches. In particular, check out the crazy big backflip at 2:03.

Video from VitalMTB.com

“Tunnel at trail end, Porcupine Rim” by Tom Holub.

To see more Pics Of The Day, click here.

If you’d like to submit a picture for our Pic Of The Day, click here.

Photo by placid casual. Read his blog about bikes, music, photos, tea and Life in general…

To see more Pics Of The Day, click here.

If you’d like to submit a picture for our Pic Of The Day, click here.

A Monty Python video. Found via Road.

Who said video games makes you fat and lazy? I’m in awe of the sheer amount of work and planning that went into this video. Found via GoMeansGo.org. Check out this dude‘s video response after the break, it’s HILARIOUS (and yes, all-caps funny.)

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BIKERUMOR.com REVIEW: About a month before Interbike, we received the Focus Izalco Team road bike in to review with the promise that we’d get it back to them just after the show.

So, we had about 30 days to rip, ride and race the Izalco Team, and we ended up getting a few hundred miles on it between two of us, including racing it in the Carolina Cup.

It’s important to note that this is the 2009 model, and for 2010, the Izalco line was totally redesigned and is totally bad arse.  This frame gets trickled down to become the Cayo with only minor changes: It gets a tapered headtube and BB30 bottom bracket.  Such is the risk of reviewing a bike at that late-mid-year point when new models are debuting, so if you’re in the market, consider this a review of the 2009 Izalco / 2010 Cayo.

The Izalco is Focus’ top end line of race bikes.  They’re designed to be light, fast and responsive, and that’s precisely the impression we left with.  Like any road bike that’s built for racing, the geometry handles sharply and rewards your concentration with steady performance in the middle of a pack or over less-than-ideal road surfaces.  The flip side is that it requires your attention to remain on the task at hand.  So, is this the bike for you?  Read on for the full breakdown of features and ride reviews…

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