Know someone suffering from Single Track Deficit Disorder (STDD)? Nominate your friend and both of you could win a trip to Sun Valley, Idaho, July 1st-8th – coinciding with the 2012 USA Cycling National Mountain Bike Championships! Read all the info and enter here.

Awesome video (thanks to their Kickstarter campaign) from the guys at North Central Cyclery promoting the 3rd Annual Gravel Metric on May 27th in DeKalb, IL. The metric is FREE. True statement: Sausage + Beer = Peace On Earth, Good Will Towards Men.

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.

(more…)

  Bikerumor Bike Shop Video Challenge entry from Wheat Ridge Cyclery out of Wheat Ridge, CO.

From the makers of Ride The Divide. More video inspiration coming to a venue near you starting in May 2012.

The Santa Cruz Mountain Bike Festival, a free two day event, will be raging between April 14-15th. Come out rain or shine and test ride bikes from a variety of manufacturers, enjoy the beer garden (stocked with local brews), and enjoy or compete in the various races and events.

Bikes from Ibis, Niner, Pivot, Rocky Mountain, Santa Cruz, Giant, Specialized, and Cannondale will be on hand. Take them out on the famous post office dirt jumps, around the newly revamped pump track, or for a spin through the forest of Nicene Marks. In addition, shuttle rides to the top of Nicene Marks will be available, as well as the Camp of Champions gravity bag.

Events include the first legally sanctioned enduro race through Demo Forest (rumor has it a certain DH bike is named after this network of tacky technical trails). As well as a dirt jump jam featuring some of the biggest names in the world of freeride.

The event is hosted by the Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz (MBoSC). This group of dedicated volunteers has made great strides towards legalizing and maintaining trail networks, and raising funds for the establishment of new features and bike parks. The proceeds from the festival go directly towards furthering their mission.

For more information, check past the break

(more…)

• Bo Jackson does bikes, and is biking ‘Bama April 24th-28th to raise money for the Governor’s Emergency Relief Fund of Alabama that supports the victims of the 2011 tornadoes. Trek is sponsoring him with 5 bikes – one for each leg of his ride – that will feature the names of the over 200 Alabamans who lost their lives. Bo will autograph each of the bikes and they will be auctioned after the ride. Alabama and Auburn fans take note: two of the bikes will feature your venerable school’s colors! Check his website for details of the auction and to learn how you can ride with Bo to support the cause.
• Jenson USA is having their annual bicycle clearance sale with up to 53% off complete bikes. Hurry, sale ends March 31st!
• Also ending March 31st is Hill Killer Apparel’s contest to win a new cycling jersey.
• Want to race on the island home to the man from the Isle of Man? You know who we’re talking about, but this is a mountain bike race running from one end of the isle to the other, making you a real man. The End 2 End is September 9th, 2012. All 1700 positions are sold out, but check the website for their Entry Exchange Forum, or, if you’re an Elite level racer contact the organizers with your stats.
• Batdorf & Bronson coffee roasters is asking you to design their team t-shirt for Olympia, Washington’s annual Bicycle Commuter Challenge. Entries must be submitted by April 16th. If they select your design, you can win a three-month coffee subscription and a t-shirt with your design on it.
• The Commencal online store is now available in English.
• The Ride Connection wants to help you find someone to ride with in your area.
• Thinking of riding your bike out in CA Wine Country? Click on to read San Louis Luis Obispo County’s list of top 5 cycling adventures:

(more…)

• Deschutes Brewery has released their Chainbreaker White IPA to celebrate cycling and their sponsorship of various cycling events including it’s namesake the Cascade Chainbreaker mountain bike race, part of the Oregon XC Series. If you’re lucky to be in their 18 state distribution area you should be able to get a taste of it very soon.
• If you’re mad for Mad Men, then this charity auction is for you: Aaron Foster created the Mad Men logo out of license plates, had the cast sign it, and placed it on Ebay to benefit Trips For Kids.
• If you’re a Minnesotan, check out MN Bike Trail Navigator, a resource to inform cyclists about trails, maps, and trail projects around the state.
• VP Components Dirt Club Enduro race is June 23rd and 24th at the Dirt Club near Los Olivos, CA. Any person who pre-registers for the race now, up until the week of the race, will be entered to win a weekly drawing of sweet bike schwag.
• MaxBikesPR has introduced one day bike tours throughout Shropshire and the Cotswolds in the UK for £75 per person.
• ZOIC is having their big warehouse sale today until 6pm, and tomorrow 10am-1pm, in San Diego. Ride your bike to the sale and get 10% off! Click here and scroll to bottom for location.
• The National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) has announced the launch of their Booster Fund program. The program will provide micro-grants to individual student athletes, coaches and teams from underrepresented areas and disadvantaged backgrounds, with the goal of increasing participation in NICA leagues. Click here for information and application forms.
• Register now to avoid late fees for the Volkswagen Sea Otter Classic, April 19th-22nd. Fees go up March 25th at Midnight.
• The Smithsonian Snapshots is a weekly photographic peek into the Smithsonian Institution’s vast collection. This weeks’ Snapshot is the Columbia Light Roadster High Wheel. Circa 1886, this bike sold for $135 (roughly $3,200 in today’s money) and was offered in 7 different wheel sizes! Photo and description after the break

(more…)

• Video above: Yes, we do post a lot of their videos. Yes, that ride was totally epic and we wish we were there. Yes, the music is sort of apropos for St. Patrick’s Day tomorrow. Yes, you too can go there.
• Don’t want to fly to Spain for your next biking adventure? Try these guys in BC.
• On Tuesday, March 27th, the 7th Annual Georgia Rides to the Capitol takes place with riders from across the state converging on the state capitol in support of improved cycling infrastructure. Check out the website to find a police-escorted ride to join near you.
• From the organizers of the 6Hours Of Warrior Creek Race: “If you’re planning on pre-riding for the sold out 6WC or just planning to get out and take in the 6,845 berms at Warrior Creek, you need to read this post…TRAIL CLOSURES WILL BE IN EFFECT FOR THE FOLLOWING: March 19 – 23 Dawn til 5pm, March 26 – 30 Dawn til 5pm. The trail is OPEN WEEKENDS! Please respect the land managers as they make safety improvements to the trail system and campground during these hours. We’d much rather you ride with us another day than becoming a permanent trail feature if a giant tree were to fall on your face!”
• Rebecca Rusch and SRAM have announced her schedule on the Gold Rusch Tour – a series of skills clinics and rides at MTB events across North America designed to get women and girls out on their bikes with the knowledge and confidence to tackle any mountain.
• Awesome photos here of what it takes to build an indoor MTB park. Cranx in Syracuse, NY, is finished and now open for business, check it out if you’re in the area!

Not too long ago, we had the opportunity to check out what was new at the Northernmost Ray’s, Ray’s MTB Milwaukee. Ray’s has become somewhat of a mecca for riders looking to push their limits and develop new skills, and now that applies to novice and beginner riders more than ever. In Milwaukee Ray’s went to great lengths to add new features and rooms to the park to give beginners, who were a little uneasy, a place to grow their skills and confidence. We were assured that the same changes had been made to Ray’s MTB Cleveland as well, although verifying this meant a trip to Cleveland to ride the trails for ourselves to find out (you can never be too sure about these things, verification takes lots of riding).

Sure enough, Ray’s CLE has somehow managed to get bigger, better, and still more beginner friendly again.

Check out the new features after the break.

(more…)

Photo submitted by Matthew Davis, “First time on Zen Trail. What an AMAZING trail. A must ride!”

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

Built into an abandoned department store directly on a main road complete with colorful signage, Ray’s MTB Milwaukee is a bit of a departure from the isolated industrial park of its Cleveland based sibling. Compared with the WWII era complex that is exemplified in the Ray’s MTB logo, the MKE location seems almost new.

Hoping to get the 411 on what’s new for MKE’s first full season, I met with Ray’s PR man Eric Schutt for a tour. Due to building permit issues among other set backs, Ray’s MKE opened late and was only open for about half the season. Fortunately, it’s clear that the 2011-12 season for MKE will be a good one with an improved layout and more options than ever for the novice to beginning cyclists!

Full tour after the break!

(more…)