Opening ceremony. Very exciting.

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PRESS RELEASE: San Francisco Declares April 30 “Positive Pedaler” Day

On Friday, April 30, at 11:30 a.m. San Francisco Supervisor Bevan Dufty will present a proclamation declaring “Positive Pedalers Day” in San Francisco. Members and supporters plan to ride their bicycles to the event, to be held on the steps of City Hall. In addition, if his schedule allows it, Mayor Gavin Newsom will present his own proclamation.

The Positive Pedalers are people living with HIV/AIDS committed to building a supportive and inclusive community for others and themselves through participation in bicycle-related activities, particularly AIDS Lifecycle. They were founded 15 years ago. In 1996 Jonathan Pon, Donald David Ferhenbach and others formally launched the Positive Pedalers. Pon died in December 2001, and an annual Positive Pedalers ride in northern California is named in his memory.

Click ‘more’ for the rest of the press release and more info on this event.

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Found this hilarious bit of imagery on the Mega Bottle Ride blog.

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

Mountain Biking UK's journalists are among the first to test ride the near-finished track

Esher Shore’s long awaited pump track is set to open very shortly, according to the Esher blog. To add some of the finishing touches and bolster the strength of the berms, a little more rain is needed before the track can claimed to be ready to ride. However, Mountain Biking UK’s journalists have already been shredding the track and are due to write a report on the track’s construction for the next issue.

Check out a short clip of the pump track being tested prior to its opening day after the break…

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And by “might” of course I mean I will have a bag full of goodies to give away, including the awesome Camelbak Podium Chill bottles and possibly some other stuff…who knows?

If you’re riding in the TD Bank Five Boros Bike Tour put on by Bike New York this weekend, be on the lookout for the bright blue R.E.Load Bikerumor bag shown here and come up and say hey!  I’ll be getting rid of things early in the day, so keep your peepers open!

If you’re not doing the ride but happen to be in the NYC, I’ll be dorkin’ around the lower part of Manhattan from the south end of Central Park to maybe 23rd Street all day Saturday.  Catch me if you can, I might just throw a little something in the bag that day, too!

FROM KONA: Back by popular demand, Kona’s Shoot the Ride Photo Contest hits the streets and trails of the big wide world of cycling for the third year running. The contest goes on the hunt for amateur photographers who best capture the essence and inspiration of bi-pedal travel. Note to self: this is not a Kona photo shoot. We are looking for images that best capture what it means to ride a bike, any bike, anywhere, with anyone. Go to www.konaworld.com/shoot2010.cfm for all the contest rules, regulations and submission guidelines. Winners receive juicy Kona store credits and reams of international acknowledgement and fame as we present the top photos on Konaworld.com.

Man vs. Machine is an upcoming series of webisodes featuring Swedish Dirt Jump phenom Martin Soderstrom’s recent trip to ride and hang with California riders Niels Windfeldt, Andreas Braaten, Andreu Lacondeguy, Brandon Semenuk and the McCaul brothers.

The trailer here is just a teaser, the first webisode airs this Thursday (April 29) on www.watch26.tv, www.friflyt.no, www.declinemagazine.com and will be followed by more webisodes in each of the next 3 weeks.

Avvo is hosting a free call-in / type-in question and answer session tomorrow, Wednesday, April 28, at 2pm EST / 11am PST.

The online forum will have a real, live attorney that specializes in bicycle-related legal issues ready to answer your questions.  If you can’t tune in or call in during the session, you can send in your questions ahead of time.  The event is being held via GoToMeeting, and you can sign up to participate here.  Here’s the blurb from Megan at Avvo:

Essentially, people can call in from a telephone or join in over their computer. If they have a legal question but can’t make it next week, they can also send in their question ahead of time. We’ll be sure to ask it and then send the recorded answer after the session.

We think it’s a great opportunity for bikers facing a legal issue to get some free help, or more importantly, raise awareness to prevent legal issues in the future.

Avvo is a website that provides ratings and searches for attorneys.

UPDATED: Added the participation link.

Being a fan of the Simple Strap, this usage caught my eye.  The pic’s from another press release from them that we didn’t publish (sorry, Kyle), but if you’re looking for a way to use your strap without putting it low on the seatpost, here’s the skinny straight from the founder:

It might be worth mentioning that using the Simple Strap in this way is very popular, but user error can really get in the way of this one. It’s not as foolproof as putting it on a seatpost or frame. When people don’t pull tight on the strap it doesn’t compress the tube all the way and as you go down the trail the tube kinda “nests” in between the seat rails and then everything loosens up and could fall out.

With that said…as long as you pull it tight, and make sure everything is compacted together the first time…you should be alright!

Here’s to variety.

While actual production specs are still being finalized and may affect what you actually see on showroom floors and, likely, in Performance Bike catalogs, here’s the working spec list for the new 2011 Focus Redskin 29er.  There will be two models, the 1.0 and 2.0.  Both will utilize the same 7000 series aluminum frame in these pictures

1.0 working specs:

• SRAM X0 and X9 2×10 drivetrain.
• RockShox Recon
• DT Swiss 370 SL wheelset
• Avid Elixir 3
• 185mm front, 160mm rear discs
• Continental Race King
• Fi’zi:k Tundra

2.0 working specs:

• Concept SL Disc wheelset.
• 180mm front, 160mm rear discs
• SLX and XT Group
• Concept saddle
• Continental Race King

The FOCUS rigid carbon fork is a candidate for possible inclusion on a model (or an option, maybe?), as is the XX on the prototype shown with Schwalbe Racing Ralph tires.

Their PR folks really want us to emphasize that these could change, but being that we’re in the rumor business, we felt it our place, nay, our obligation, to go ahead and put this information out there.  Oh, and Focus won Bicycling Magazine’s Editor’s Choice Award for their Izalco Expert Ultegra model…congrats!

Check out more pics of the Redskin 29er here, and read our review of the Izalco Team here.

Mirraco rider Harry main has well and truly one upped the company’s founder Dave Mirra, who himself flipped off a drop a few years back, with this falir into a seven foot quarterpipe. The footage comes from pro training ground Woodward.

Check out Main shut down Liverpool’s RampWorx after the break…

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FROM SCHWALBE: Ralf Bohle, founder of Ralf Bohle GmbH and the tire brand Schwalbe, passed away last Sunday in Bergneustadt at the age of 75 after a long illness.

In five decades as an entrepreneur, Ralf Bohle set standards: As a bicycle specialist, he campaigned for the bicycle as a means of transport,: As an Asia expert, he established lifelong business partnerships and friendships: As the founder of the Schwalbe brand, he initiated industry leading innovation. He raised Schwalbe to be an undisputed European market leader and he always gave his employees more than just a secure workplace.
His son, the present managing partner, Frank Bohle, summed up his father’s work as follows: “Everything that constitutes the Bohle Group with the Schwalbe brand today exists due to his efforts, his ideas and his vision.”

Ralf Bohle had just begun his studies when the premature death of his own father forced the twenty-year-old youngster to become a businessman far sooner than planned. The year was 1955 when the first successes of the German economic miracle became evident and the majority of Germans still needed low-cost bicycles for commuting. Since 1906, the Bohle family had experience in producing bicycles and bicycle parts and, under the leadership of Ralf Bohle, the company began exporting German bicycle parts and motorcycles all over the world. But this became more and more difficult in the Sixties as higher wages made German bicycles more expensive. Many of the once proud manufacturers were no longer competitive and by the beginning of the Seventies, a large number of bicycle manufacturers had gone out of business. This is when Ralf Bohle started a new venture. He was well-acquainted with Asia and had met a fascinating family who manufactured bicycle tires in South Korea and this was the factor that determined Ralf Bohle to found the Schwalbe brand, which is now the undisputed European market leader in bicycle tires.
From 1973 onwards, he promoted an ever-closer partnership of two family-owned companies in spite of the vast distance that separates them: The Germans became responsible for development, marketing and distribution, and the Koreans for production.

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