BikeRumor.com

Trek has officially announced that the Trek-Volkswagen team has come to an end, leaving a large group of top pro riders without a team for 2009 (and no time to find one).  The demise is largely due to Volkswagen’s non-renewal of their title sponsorship and Trek’s prior commitment to increasing its European presence in 2009.

Some of the riders interviewed by VeloNews seemed really caught off guard by the news, but my conversations with Jeremiah Bishop (pictured above winning the ‘08 Iceman Cometh) over the past few months showed he knew something was up.  He, along with “Rad” Ross Schnell, will have partial sponsorships from Trek, and Chris Eatough has one year left on his contract.

Other big names affected include Sue Haywood, Travis Brown, Alison Syder and Roland Green. We’ve got some interview requests out there, we’ll keep you posted on what these riders are gonna do.

Jackson County, Alabama, tourism director J.P. Parsons is pitching the idea as a way to build tourism revenue for the area…which is smart.  Not only are then in a good area for potential trail building (good terrain, close to several major urban areas), but there’s precedent for believing a quality trail network and facilities can bring riders to the area.

Our friends at BMCC in Wilkesboro, NC used an initial $10,000 grant from their local Chamber of Commerce to build the incredible Dark Mountain and Over Mountain Victory Trails, and they continue to build more.  This has helped the area land several large events (BURN 24 Hour) and let’s the club host their own events.  Ski resorts like Mammoth, Whistler (photo above is from Whistler’s online gallery) and more use their growing mountain bike parks to keep business up when the snow melts.

Even IMBA supports the concept and offers seminars and training for areas that want to develop mountain bike parks and resorts.

Read “more” to see a map of the area…

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Florida Women’s Cycling Network, Swamp and Bent’s Cycling and Fitness present Advanced Skills Mountain Bike Clinic for Women on Saturday, January 31 at Alafia State Park.  The Clinic starts at 9am.  Registration closes on January 28.

This clinic will be instructed by Shelly Allen (UCI World Master’s Champion and Multiple Florida State Champion) and Barbara Shircliffe Perigard (Expert Level Mountain Biker).

Clinic Topics:
• Bike fit/bike setup for technical trails (suspension, tire pressure)
• The importance of looking down the trail
• Body position for confidence on difficult trails
• Shifting and gear choice
• Braking skills, smoothness and control: sometimes less is better
• Cornering skills on tight and fast trails
• Descending skills
• Climbing skills, including switchbacks, and slow speed balance

Read “more” for additional details…

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Giant and Specialized have launched www.test-the-best.co.uk in advance of their forthcoming 2009 Test The Best Series. The Test The Best Series will give consumers the opportunity to test ride the very latest full suspension offerings from both Specialized and Giant.

For 2009 Specialized and Giant will be taking an extensive range of Mountain bikes for both men and women to some great locations in England, Scotland and Wales. At each venue riders can expect a hive of activity with both Giant and Specialized Technical representatives making sure that your demo experience truly allows you to Test The Best.

Read “more” for dates and locations…

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What do you get when you combine the long travel of a Freeride bike with the geometry of an XC racer?  According to Dreamride founder Lee Bridgers, a mountain bike that does everything better than any other bike out there.  Lee creates Dreamrides one at a time, custom measured to each buyer, runs a Moab tour company and runs the Dreamride bike shop.

Founded in 1996, Dreamride takes your measurements, riding style and other information and designs the bike, then they’re built by Ventana, Moots, Lynskey, Pegoretti or Land Shark…depending on which frame material you desire. Their newest creation, the Fully 69 (pictured above), combines a 29″ front wheel with 5″ of travel and a 26″ rear with 6″ of travel to create an aggressive handling XC/All Mountain style bike.

After coming across this unique brand, which is based in Moab, UT, I sent Lee a few questions.  What came back is a very interesting (and opinionated) perspective on other mountain bike brands, his history of directing extreme riding for film companies and the genesis of the Dreamride brand.  Hit “more” to read the interview and check out pics/deets of the bikes…

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Read our earlier post for more details on the proposed policy change.

• Register 20,000 public comments supporting the rule change (File YOUR comment here…it takes two minutes).
• Attend meetings across the country with key stakeholders.
• Continue reaching out to trail user groups to discuss the improvements the rule change will bring to National Parks.
• Click here to Donate Now.
• Click here to send your Comment to the NPS

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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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.

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.

IMBA has issued a call to action.

If you’re interested in preserving and creating opportunities to mountain bike the National Parks, you need to act now.  There is a lot of opposition to this from the usual suspects (hikers, equestrians, etc.), and they’re well organized and vicious.

Read “more” for the full press release, but this is the deal:  There is a proposed rule change that will give individual park managers more decision making authority over whether to allow mountain biking in their National Park.  The benefit is that decisions are made on the local level based on local usage, trail conditions and environmental concerns.

Critics don’t like this because they still (ignorantly) believe that mountain bikers erode trails and they don’t like the concept of shared-use trails (which, honestly, is understandable…but then again, we don’t want to ride horse trails either).  The real threat to opponents, though, is this:  If decisions are made on a local level, they will have to fight battles on a case by case basis all over the country to try to keep mountain bikers off the trails.  Right now, they simply pay a lobbyist to go to D.C.  If this makes you as angry as it makes me, click here to use IMBA’s auto-fill form with a prewritten letter.  Seriously, it takes two minutes.

If you want to read an opposing view, there’s this post from NationalParksTraveler.com…but the funny thing is, most of the comments following the article do not support their anti-mountain bike rant.  Actually, there are some pretty well written, well researched comments…worth perusing if you have ten to 15 minutes. 

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Yes, this is not exactly new, but if you haven’t seen it, it’s got a cool wipeout at the end when the bike catastrophically fails. They just don’t make ‘em like they used to.

Only three events in the 2009 USA Cycling National Championship events calendar have yet to name a location:

• March 21: USA Cycling BMX National Championships – Desoto, Texas
• May 8-10: USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships – Fort Collins, Colo.
• June 28 – July 4: USA Cycling Masters Road National Championships – Louisville, Ky.
• July 2-5: USA Cycling Junior Track National Championships – Carson, Calif.
• July 4: USA Cycling Mountain Bike Marathon National Championships – Breckenridge, Colo.
• July 8-12: USA Cycling Junior, U23 & Elite Road National Championships – Location TBD
• July 10: USA Cycling Tandem Sprint Championships – Trexlertown, Pa.
• July 16-19: USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships – Granby, Colo.
• Aug. 15-16: USA Cycling Elite & Professional Criterium National Championships – Downers Grove, Ill.
• Aug. 18-23: USA Cycling Masters Track National Championships – Indianapolis, Ind.
• Aug. 29-30: USA Cycling Professional Road & Time Trial National Championships – Greenville, S.C.
• Sept. 19-20: USA Cycling 24 Hour Mountain Bike National Championships – Payson, Ariz.
• Sept. 30 – Oct. 4: USA Cycling Elite Track National Championships – Carson, Calif.
• Dec. 10-13: USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Championships – Bend, Ore.
• Date TBD: USA Cycling Collegiate Track National Championships – Location TBD
• Date TBD: USA Cycling Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships – Location TBD
• Date TBD: USA Cycling International Omnium National Championships – Location TBD

VeloPress recently released the 2nd edition of Weight Training for Cyclists, which includes updated pictures and exercises developed specifically for improving your riding.  We asked coauthor Ken Doyle to pick three exercises, one each for core, arms and legs, that would have the most impact on your riding.  Ken is USCF licensed coach and an exercise physiologist certified by the National Athletic Trainers Association and the National Strength and Conditioning Association.

Of course, there are a lot more in the 224 pages of the book, and I’m not advocating that you focus on just these three, but if you’re pressed for time, click the “more” button to get FREE printable pages of Ken’s top three picks…

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