The UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis returns a solid core of veterans to work with a strong new crop of young riders for the 2010 season.

“One of the things this organization has always done well, from day one, is to blend veteran professionals with younger riders into consistently strong teams,” said team directeur sportif Mike Tamayo. “The new group we have coming in has a lot of talent. When you put them together with guys like Rory (Sutherland), Tim (Johnson) and Chris (Baldwin), they not only have a chance to learn how to race from some of the best, most professional riders in the country, but also how to win.”

Leading the new group will be young sprinters Jake Keough and Eric Barlevav. At 22, Keough comes to the team from Kelly Benefits, for whom he put up strong results in 2009, including three stage wins at the Vuelta Ciclista del Uruguay. The 23-year-old Barlevav, in his first pro season with Mountain Khakis in 2009, showed that he was turning into a formidable sprinter, winning the finale of the USA Crit Series, while showing consistency throughout the year.

They’re joined by another young fast man, Jonny Clarke, who, despite just turning 25, has a wealth of experience at the pro level, particularly in his time racing with the South Australia-AIS squad. In 2007, he delivered a stage win in the Jayco Tour Down Under, and he’s shown that he’s more than capable of winning sprints or providing lead-outs.

“We’re excited about these three young guys,” Tamayo said. “Eric and Jake both have really good speed, and Jonny has a good sprint and is solid tactically. He’s still finding where he fits in with his talent, and we’re looking forward to shaping his career.”

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Scottish urban trials phenom Danny MacAskill was featured in the New York Times today.  Here’s how it begins:

Like his fellow Scot Susan Boyle, who made a meteoric entry into show business, the stunt bicyclist Danny MacAskill can divide his life in two: before his YouTube video and after.

Eight months ago, MacAskill’s daily routine was fairly predictable. He would leave the apartment he shares with a roommate, hop on his bike and maneuver through strangling traffic to his job as a bicycle mechanic.

Along his route, he passed a metal fence with a spiky top. He had eyed it for years.

“I’d look at it and say, ‘I can ride that rail,’ ”said MacAskill, 24. read more…

The video that started it all is shown after the break…

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The Cardinal combines Gargoyles top-tier lens performance and features into new sunglass built for cyclists.

The Cardinal uses Gargoyles Toric Curve lens, which  allows light to transmit directly to the eye. No refraction, no distortion.  Precision-molded and hand-finished, this design provides 210° of seamless wraparound protection.

The Cardinal also incorporates Gargoyles’ Ballistic Defense technology into their lenses, making them 5-6 times more impact resistant than regular polycarbonate lenses.  Developed from a superior blend of polymers by Carl Zeiss Vision®, the Gargoyles Ballistic Defense lenses are designed for military, safety and sport applications and exceed all ISO and ANSI test standards, as well as the MIL-STD 622 ballistic test, which consists of stopping a .22 caliber bullet at 20 feet.

Adjustable, nose pads with a stainless steel core help to create a custom fit, making the Cardinal great for cyclists or others engaged in high-speed, aggressive pursuits.

The Cardinal comes in two lens color technologies, Signature Green and Drive. Gargoyles’ Signature Green lens provides a unique balance of target and background brightness to help in the tracking and location of objects in motion against a variety of outdoor backgrounds including Earth, sky and water.  The Drive is Gargoyles’ smoke colored lens, which reduces light intensity without altering the color of objects.  This lens technology has been formulated for varying light conditions provides the most natural color vision possible.

All Gargoyles lenses guard your eyes from 100% UVA, UVB and UVC light.  The lenses utilize a scratch-resistant and anti-fog coating, which offer 30% more protection than conventional lens coatings. MSRP:  $110

If you are a fan of CamelBak, you should take a second to enter their New Year’s Day raffle. Win one of the ten All-Mountain Freeride hydration packs that will be given away. Simply answer a short question about Trond and his CamelBak. If you answer correctly and are one of the first entries in 2010, you could be one of the lucky winners.

Sound like your cup of tea? Tell Camelbak which 2010 model Trond Hansen chose for his last dirt jump session in Southern France in the photo above; that’s Trond throwing down a table top in the background. If you are not sure which pack it is you can check out www.camelbak.com/sports-recreation/hydration-packs.aspx, specifically the All-Mountain Freeride series for 2010. To win, simply send an email with the correct answer. The first ten mails in the New Year will win. Please add your delivery address.

We’ve put some photos of all the nice new all-mountain freeride packs after the break, too…

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If you’re looking to score $500 off a shiny new Ellsworth, you only have two days left to donate your old ride to Kimberlee’s Trips for Kids.  Check out our prior post for full details and links.

Photo courtesy of Rob Lingstuyl

Entries are now open for the 2010 Alpine Epic multi-stage four-day mountain bike race to be held from Mt Somers to Lake Tekapo on February 24-27, 2010.

Limited at 100 teams for 2010, the event will see two-man teams pit their skills and endurance against rivals over 243km of untamed terrain through high-country stations and alpine passes from South Canterbury and into the Mackenzie Basin.

At the inaugural event last year Team RoadCraft’s Marcus Roy, of Invercargill, and Kashi Leuchs, of Dunedin, won four out of the five stages in a total time of 13hrs 27min 47sec.

“The isolation is the unique factor in this race. You have this feeling of remoteness with just a couple of sheep tracks as guidance and knowing full well that the only people to venture up here are the musterers and us,” Leuchs said after the race in 2009.

The first event of its kind in New Zealand, the Alpine Epic combines raw adventure mountain biking with streamlined logistics. Each night a large marquee is set up to feed the riders and a presentation is held over dinner to acknowledge top-placed riders and share memorable moments from the day. Breakfast is also catered for and riders camp out each night in a tent village.

Described as the toughest mountain bike race in New Zealand the event attracts riders from throughout the world – in 2009 teams from the UK, Czech Republic, Switzerland and America vied for the title.

Stage Schedule, Distances and more info after the jump…

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The Vienna Air King celebrates its fifth anniversary on April 10th and 11th 2010. The visitors of the ARGUS Bike Festival will see the big names of the dirt jumping scene battling for an overall prize money of 7,500 Euros in front of the picturesque Viennese city hall.

In 2009, over 40 riders from numerous European countries, the United States and even Australia made their way to the Vienna Air King. Over 100,000 visitors joined them and visited the ARGUS Bike Festival that hosts one of the biggest dirt jump comps worldwide right in the middle of Austria’s capital every year.

Last year’s winner Martin Soederstroem from Sweden can’t wait for the upcoming contest: “The Vienna Air King is the kick off event each season, because it’s the first big dirt jump comp in the year. It’s cool to meet all my buddies again and especially to see what kind of new tricks they have worked on back home in the halls during the wintertime. The dirt line at the Vienna Air King is pretty challenging, and it’s great to show your tricks in front of such a huge crowd of people that are cheering while and after each run! It’s always fun!”

Martin as well as last year’s PANASONIC-Best-Trick-Competition winner Paul Basagoitia from the USA are two of the world’s best dirt riders that will be invited for 2010. But the Vienna Air king isn’t a big names only contest. Also rookies can apply for the contest to become one of the additional riders.

The Vienna Air King is just one of the attractions on the weekend of April 10th and 11th. The ARGUS Bike Festival features numerous booths of the most important bike brands and destinations. Bike fans can wander around the large exhibition area and check out bike industry’s newest trends and products of 2010.

Raiffeisen Club, Panasonic and the mobile service provider “3” are proud to present you the best dirt riders in the middle of Austria’s biggest bike festival and right in the heart of Vienna. A video clip showing the highlights of the Vienna Air King 2009, can be seen on: http://watch26.tv/video/2480.

You need more detailed information? Please check out the official Vienna Air King website.

The “Official” schedule isn’t announced yet, but we’ve got the inside scoop on the tentative 2010 Pro Gravity Tour downhill mountain bike race schedule. With six planned events, the series will have two central, two West Coast and two East Coast events as it stands.

• April 24-25 – Port Angeles, WA
• May 22-23 – Plattekill Mountain, Roxbury, NY
• June 26-27 – Northstar-at-Tahoe, Truckee, CA
• July 3-4  TBD – (TENTATIVELY Deer Valley Resort, Park City, UT)
• July 31 – Aug 1 – Winter Park Resort, Winter Park, CO
• Sept 11-12 – Whiteface Resort, Lake Placid, NY

There’ll be a new website for 2010 also, launching sometime in January.  Notice that logo above?  Doesn’t really grab you by the fruit ‘n’ veg’, so they’re going to change it, too, and you can help (and win some schwag!).  They’re looking for a new logo from anyone that wants to send in a concept.  If they choose yours, you’ll be famous and get some sweet cycling goodies to boot.  For details on the contest, check here.

In other news, they’re planning two new categories, the Amateur GRT series and a special Pro Privateer award.

Check out some racing video from 2009 after the break…

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“Bells Bridge” by Bank_street_baller. If you want to contact the Bank_street_baller, Jonathan Burke, you can email him here. He is a professional photographer in Glasgow, Scotland,

To see more Pics of the Day, click here, and to submit your own photo to be shown to the world, go here.

This humping bunnies water bottle comes from Cannondale, is $5.50 and has an extra wide opening to fill it full of 21oz of reproductive love.  What more do you need to know?  Buy it here.

Sea Otter Classic Holiday Special – $10 Discount

To help celebrate the holiday season, take $10 off your entry fee. Just use Coupon Code SOCHOLIDAY01 when you register for your favorite Sea Otter event. This offer is good through Dec 31, 2009. The fun begins April 15th- 18th at the Sea Otter Classic Powered by SRAM!

For more info and registration, check out Sea Otter Classic.

The NBDA, National Bicycle Dealers Association, will grant up to $30,000 in scholarships to first-time and returning bike dealers who participate at the 2010 National Bike Summit in Washington, D.C. March 9-11. The program is designed to support the cause of cycling in America by making it affordable for NBDA dealers to participate. Applications must be in by January 18th.

The National Bike Summit is produced by the League of American Bicyclists, and is where advocates, industry executives and education experts gather to learn about the issues involving bicycling in America, and to speak up for bicycling on Capitol Hill by meeting with members and staff of the House of Representatives and U.S. Senate by pre-arranged appointment.

More info from NBDA and LofAB below…

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