UPDATE: According to the Idaho Statesman all the bikes have been recovered. They were found locked up in three separate areas on the Boise State campus and appear to be in good condition. Police are still searching for the thieves.

PRESS RELEASE Boise, ID – On the eve of the biggest women’s international stage race in the U.S., the Team TIBCO trailer was broken into and 14 of the Team’s Specialized bicycles were stolen.

The trailer was parked in the parking lot of the Exergy Tour race hotel parking lot in Boise, Idaho. Thieves stole 6 Specialized Shiv Time Trial bikes and 8 Specialized Amira road bikes.

“These bikes are top-of-the-line race bikes, built with top-of-the-line SRAM Red components,” said Team Founder and Director Linda Jackson. “The time trial bikes specifically are very unique and should be easily identifiable. In addition, all these bikes were painstakingly built and fitted to each rider with the help of Specialized. Having this custom equipment back for the U.S. National Championships next month is also critical for every team member.“

The thieves also made off with a number of Reynolds wheelsets, including Element Disc time trial wheels and special RZR 46s and 92s. “These wheels are also very unique and are not readily available,” Jackson added.

“The theft is a huge blow to the team. On the performance side, our riders now have to compete in the most important stage race in the country without their Specialized and Reynolds time trial equipment and their custom-built road bikes,” Jackson said.“

“George’s Cycles in Boise Idaho has generously offered a $500 reward for information leading to the safe return of the bikes, we thank them for that,” Jackson added. “We will match them and make the reward $1,000.” Exergy has also added a $1,000 reward for information.

Boise Police are urging anyone who has information to call Crime Stoppers at 343-2677 or go the website www.343cops.com.

If you’ve been chewing on killer ways to get people out and about on bikes in your area, now is the time to submit. Between now and June 11th, Clif Bar and Good Maker are challenging you. Asking the question, “How will you use $1000 to advocate bicycling in your community,” they’ll award the winner the proposed amount to use toward that goal.

Submission is simple – provide a photo or video and 3-5 sentences explaining the idea. Projects will be posted online with voting open to the public from June 11-25 . View full contest details here.

• Shimano filmed (video above) some of the team mechanic and rider first impressions at Sea Otter, the first time many of them ever laid eyes and hands on the 2013 Saint group (posted here, more tech here). Video’s a bit of a commercial, but nothing a true fanboy won’t appreciate.
• 24 Hours of Booty has added Indianapolis to their roster for June 29th-30th. Their other race venues include: Charlotte, NC July 27th-28th, Columbia, MD August 25th-26th, and Atlanta, GA October 13th-14th.
• The Tour of Colorado makes it’s stop in the town of Superior this weekend, May 18-20, for the Superior Morgul.
• If you haven’t had the chance to catch the premiers, Anthill Films‘ much anticipated mountain bike movie ”Strength In Numbers” will be streaming live worldwide Thursday, May 24th at 12:00pm PST here.
• The Latitude Festival, a music festival in Suffolk, England, July 12-15th, is offering a Tour de Latitude as a way for festival-goers to lower their carbon footprint by cycling to the event.
• Purchase a Handsome Cycles Devil before May 31st and receive a free PDW upgrade with Whiskey grips and cufflink, a $95 value.
• IMBA is requesting you take this 5 minute survey to help support the development of large-scale trail systems at Alabama’s Coldwater Mountain.
• People For Bikes has reached 500,000 supporters, halfway to their goal of 1 million, and has made this video to help inspire more people to sign the pledge.
• The League of American Bicyclists, Sierra Club and National Council of la Raza have released new data on the economic benefits of cycling.  Key data include: “US cyclists save $4.6 billion a year by cycling instead of driving. If American drivers replaced just one four-mile car trip with a bike each week for the whole year, it would save more than 2 billion gallons of gas. From 2001 to 2009, Hispanics, African Americans, and Asian Americans took up biking at faster rates than other Americans, representing 21 percent of all bike trips in the U.S. in 2009.” What does this mean for us? It means cycling is as important as driving as a transportation alternative for many reasons and must be supported! Click here to ask your member of congress to protect funding in the Transportation Bill.

Salsa Cycles is recalling 1,100 of their Minimalist bike racks because the L-shaped mounting strap can snap, causing the rack to fall and possibly harm the rider. Two incidents have been reported resulting in minor injuries.

The recall involves all aluminum Salsa Minimalist bike racks with a black or silver finish sold between January 2011 and March 2012 at shops nationwide and internet retailers.

For more info, call Salsa toll-free at (877)-725-7211 between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. CT Monday through Friday or visit Salsa online.

Full recall info here.

• Click on the permalink below to find out more about this week’s Smithsonian Institution Snapshot: the draisine, circa 1818.
• This September, Peter and four of his friends are making an epic journey of almost 1600 miles to raise money for Garden House Hospice in Letchworth, England. The ride is in honor of Peter’s father who was recently in their care. They will ride from Letchworth to Alicante, Spain, following a similar route Peter’s father rode with some of his friends when he was in his 20′s. More info and to support their cause click here.
• Patricia Hansen is riding her bike on a 97 day journey across the US to raise money to feed families in need. She’ll be marking her 70thbirthday along the ride that will cross Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and Virginia. Click here for more info and to donate to her cause.
• If you like Malaysian food and want to support a pedal-powered food cart in the San Francisco area, check out this Kickstarter campaign by Ian Deleporte. Don’t even read the descriptions of the food if you’re not going to donate, you don’t want to know what deliciousness you’re going to miss!
• Yay! It’s May! and that means it’s National Bike Month. Read about all the national events planned and supported by the League of American Bicyclists.
• Canton Velo is giving away a bunch of schwag to the first (US based) person who guesses which beer is in this picture.

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Photo courtesy of Micheal Gill

I’ve been making the trip up to Cleveland for quite a few years in order to ride at the incredible Rays MTB park throughout the cold winter months. However, now it looks like cyclists will have another reason to make the trip to Cleveland, but this time it will be for riding in the nicer months of the year to ride the all new Fast Track Cycling Velodrome! Fast Track Cycling Inc, a 501 (3)(c) non-profit, has been fundraising for years and thanks to a $50,000 grant from The Cleveland Foundation, it has finally met it’s capital needs to start building. The photo above is from the ground breaking/ribbon cutting ceremony that was held yesterday and signals the start of construction. Fast Track Cycling hopes to have the the track, which is being built by Michigan based V-Worldwide, finished for the grand opening on June 16, 2012.

Get the story on the soon to be Velodrome after the break.

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These guys were lucky they weren’t killed. Accident happens around 2:30, then repeats in slow motion. From the rider’s info on YouTube:

…I went to the police department and I reported the crime. I also gave the video to the police officer. It was possible to identify the number of the car on the video. The police have located the car and the owner. Now I’m waiting for the return of the police on the case.

• “Love” is the word this Mother’s Day with this limited edition 8″x12″ giclee print – yours free with purchase of one of these four featured tees from Après Velo.
• Our Bikerumor Bike Shop Video Challenge is on! Enter your shop’s video to win a feature article about your shop and it’s employees on Bikerumor.com and the coveted Bikerumor Cup. When you send us the link to your video, please include the website url for your shop and any info you want us to know. Good luck!
• Prices go up May 1st for all Sufferfest videos. Order now to save some coin.
• The National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) will be expanding to accommodate the growth in High School mountain biking across the country. As many as three more regions will be joining the association’s Project League program by 2013 with applications from Arizona, Tennessee, Georgia, Maryland, Virgina, West Virginia, and New York.
• Join Bike for Kam on their ride from San Francisco to Santa Monica on May 12-19th, or donate to help raise money for HIBM.
• The Pedal Pushers Club is launching a new series of t-shirts exclusively with City Sports. You can purchase them online or in their shops in Boston, DC, Philly, Providence, NYC, and Baltimore. If you order online, City Sports is offering free shipping through the month of May on all cycling gear in honor of bike month!
• We Have Motive is a new website on all things BMX.

• Trek Bicycle has partnered with the Summer Gravity Camps at Whistler Mountain Bike Park to offer the use of their carbon Session 9.9 bikes. Camps are available for youth and adults. Whistler is amazing in the summer and, wait, what’s this on the website? SGC qualifies for Canada’s $500 Child Fitness tax credit?!?
• Join The National Bike Challenge May 1st through August 31st to win prizes and more.
• Congrats to artist Leanna Johnson who won the USA Pro Cycling Challenge‘s official commemorative poster contest.
• BikeGuard is a free registry for your bikes. They will send you a QR sticker that, when attached to your bike, can help reunite you if it is lost or stolen.
• The League of American Bicyclists has announced 67 more Bicycle Friendly Businesses, boosting the number to over 400 nationwide. Go here for information on adding your company to the list.
• Does your child need an adaptive bike? Let the Friendship Circle know by May 10th and you could win one.
•  For our New Zealand readers: local MTB club Gravity Canterbury, Bike Cycle NZ and SPOKE magazine, are holding one of New Zealand’s first multi stage Super Enduro events called the Port Hills Enduro on Saturday, May 5th, 2012 in Christchurch. The event will consist of 4 timed stages and is reasonably priced at only $20 per racer.
• You could win one of 3 Nissan Ultimate Access Grand prize trips for 2 to meet the Radioshack Nissan Trek riders on the final stages of the Amgen Tour of California. Click here to enter and use the code word “Cali”.
• Register now for one of only 50 spaces in the charity ride “Bike For Their Right” on May 14th put on by Specialized and supported by Western Spirit. Money goes to a development organization that brings “the power of sport and play to impoverished children.” Based on donation level, participants can get to watch Stage 2 of the Tour of California in a VIP setting, go on a fully supported bike ride complete with lunch and SAG vehicles, meet the Quick-Step Pro Cycling team, receive an S-Works Tarmac SL4 with complete Body Geometry fit, have a meet and greet with Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen, and more…

Two recalls announced this week: SR Suntour is recalling approximately 17,000 Suspension forks manufactured in China. The internal support tubes can possibly break and cause the rider to lose control, fall and crash. So far, there have been 12 reports of this incident.  Three brands used these forks – Giant, GT, and Trek.

Sold at shops nationwide from April 2011 through March 2012, these forks are found on Giant’s Revel 1 and Revel 1W models, GT’s Avalanche 4.0 and Avalanche 4.0 GTW, and Trek’s 3700D and 3900D. If you have one of these models, it’s recommended that you return them to any authorized GT, Giant, or Trek retailer for a repair. For more info, contact SR Suntour at (855) 205-2453 or follow the link. Full recall details at CSPC here.

Also, after the break a recall on about 40,000 Topeak Babyseat II Bicycle Carrier Seats. The grab bar hinge mechanism poses a safety hazard for fingers which could result in laceration or amputation. There  have been two reports of injury so far. Model numbers TCS2100, TCS2101 and TCS2102 were sold at J&B Imports, REI, Action and Hawley, and other retailers from January 2009 through April 2012. For more info, contact importer Todson at (800) 250-3068 or visit the website. Full recall details at CSPC here.

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What "Lucille the Wheel" would wear if she were real...

• Freeda Roam, a new women’s specific cycling apparel company, is taking pre-orders for their short-sleeved cycling jerseys with a discounted price of $59.95 and free shipping! Click on the link to see more great graphics like the jersey above. Place your order before April 22nd for the deal.
• Business Insider reports that the growth in the e-bike category is fueling the advancement in Li-Battery technology.
• Trips For Kids is celebrating their 25th anniversary with a Gala and Auction to raise money for the organization that organizes mountain bike training and trips for underprivileged youth. Click here for tickets to the benefit (and a list of auction items) to be held Sunday, May 5th, in Marin, CA.
• Now you can keep up with your favorite cycling website on the free Flipboard media content app. After logging in, tap the red ribbon on the content guide and type in “Bikerumor” into the search bar and tap the “+” button to add our content to your personalized news feed.

Foundry Cycles is hooking up five people with a new bike for the season, which they’ll get to use to both test it and spread the word about the brand. From their email:

“Foundry Cycles search for 5 Trades(wo)men continues. After pouring over more than 300 applications the field has been narrowed to just 15. With three people in each of 5 regions every vote counts. That’s right, Foundry is letting the cycling community choose the final 5 people who will go on to win the Foundry of their choice. Help someone win by casting your votes – 1 per region.”

Our buddy Stephen Janes over at Trips for Kids Asheville is one of the finalists. We don’t want to play favorites, but anything that helps get more kids outdoors and riding is good, and every little bit helps him further the cause. Check out all the contenders here and make your vote.