Niner auctions six new S.I.R. 9 29ers for IMBA

Posted on June 25, 2012 by aa

If you’re in the market for a steel 29er, Niner Bikes is auctioning off a fleet of specially painted S.I.R. 9’s to benefit IMBA. People are bidding on six special edition Niner S.I.R. 9 framesets to raise money for IMBA. The paint scheme is themed after the ideals of the International Mountain Bike Association and every penny spent on the frames goes directly to the advocacy group.

Niner S.I.R. 9 Limited Edition IMBA Frameset

Niner S.I.R. 9 Limited Edition IMBA Frameset – If you don’t bid, you can’t win!

THE NEW SIR 9

At a time when carbon super bikes dominate the stage, why would Niner shine a spotlight on the S.I.R. 9? Perhaps it’s better to ask “just what is it about steel bikes?” Why, when we get on a steel frame, are we instantly transported back to that first bike we loved as a kid? Why is steel just as relevant today as it was 50 years ago while other materials have come and gone? There wasn’t anything wrong with the S.I.R. 9 – like other Niners, ride it and love it. But something about steel being equated with retro seemed almost unfair to such a great bike. There is simply no reason frames built with one of the best metals on the planet shouldn’t benefit from and take full advantage of cool technologies like updated headsets standards, tapered forks and through axles.

  • Proprietary steel tubeset for ideal function and ride quality
  • Custom-bent double-butted Reynolds 853 DZB downtube
  • 44mm Reynolds 631 head tube allows use of tapered or 1–1/8” forks
  • Niner Bio-Centric II Bottom bracket system and removable downtube cable stops for clean singlespeed or geared setup
  • CYA Compatible – run almost any contemporary crank style in geared set up
  • 142 x 12mm rear Maxle
  • Post mount brake bosses between seatstay and chainstay
  • Investment cast stay bridges and dropouts
  • Tamale Red or Arctic White
  • MSRP $999

You can bid on these frames here!

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Recovery – A crucial component for success | Hammer Nutrition

Posted on June 24, 2012 by aa

Hammer Nutrition - Endurance Fuels and Supplements

Training causes physical stress and depletion. Recovery is when adaptation to that stress occurs; it involves improvements not only in muscle performance, but also in glycogen storage. Hard training followed by timely, adequate nutritional replenishment increases your glycogen storage, as if your body is saying, “If there’s another workout like this tomorrow, I better be prepared with a good supply of available fuel. If you feed your body correctly after a workout, you’ll have that fuel, muscle glycogen, the next day.

This article answers questions about how to enhance your recovery, and it offers guidelines on what nutrients you need and how much of them to use. If you follow these guidelines, you’ll give your body the support it requires to meet the demands of your next training session or race.

Athletes tend to focus on training and neglect recovery, specifically the critical step of refueling as soon as possible after each workout. We tend to think that a hard workout deserves a nice reward. Do you usually first go for a shower or relaxation after a hard workout? Are beer and pretzels your favored post-workout snack? If so, it’s important to remember that a hard workout has left your body in a state of utter depletion and physiological vulnerability. However, it’s also in a state of prime receptivity, ready to absorb nutrients. Taking those few extra minutes to properly refuel is one of the most important things that you can do to improve your race day results. In fact, properly refueling your body immediately after your training session is as important as anything you did in the actual workout.

You can really give yourself a major advantage come race day if you’ll take the time to put some quality fuel into your body as soon as possible after all of your workouts. If you’re at all serious about performing better in your racing and staying healthier, then take heed to this saying: “When you’ve finished training, you’re still not finished with training! Here’s what I mean: You must attend as much to recovery as you do to active exercise if you expect to reap the benefits of hard training; how well you recover today will be a huge factor in how well you perform tomorrow. Exercise, done properly, creates enough stress on your muscles and cardiovascular system to instigate a rebuilding and strengthening program, but without causing big-time damage. Your body responds by adapting to the stress you placed upon it. Too much exercise at once leads to over-training syndrome. If you train within limits, but fail to supply your body with adequate fuel and nutrients, you get pretty much the same thing: over-use symptoms such as consistently sore muscles, increased susceptibility to infections, and fatigue.

Recovery includes many factors, including rest, stretching, muscle stimulation, and sleep, but we will limit our present discussion to the nutritional aspects. This article will cover the three essential nutritional areas of recovery: rehydration, the two macronutrients (carbohydrates and protein), and micronutrients (primarily antioxidants).

Read the full Hammer Nutrition article here: Recovery – A crucial component for success | Hammer Nutrition.

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Windham World Cup 2012

Posted on June 19, 2012 by aa
Windham World Cup 2012

Windham World Cup 2012

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USA Cycling announces 2012 Olympic team

Posted on June 16, 2012 by aa

USA Cycling announced today 21 of its 24 nominees to the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team, including 10 male and 11 female athletes across the disciplines of road cycling, track cycling, mountain biking and bicycle motocross (BMX).

Six of these were automatic nominees and 15 were nominated to the Olympic Team via discretionary selection.  All of USA Cycling’s discretionary nominations are made by a highly qualified, independent committee, facilitated by key USA Cycling staff, using the posted principles of discretionary selection which are centered on an athlete’s capability to medal or otherwise enhance team performance and create a medal capable environment.

ROAD CYCLING
In the discipline of road cycling a total of five men and four women were nominated to the Olympic Team, the maximum number allowed to qualify per nation.

On the men’s side, all five nominations were discretionary picks as no men’s road athletes met the automatic criteria. A Tour de France stage winner and one of the world’s fastest finishers, Tyler Farrar(Wentachee, Wash./Garmin-Barracuda) will make his Olympic debut in the London road race after finishing 10th at last year’s world championships. Following a win at the 2011 Tour of California and second place results at this year’s Tirreno-Adriatico and the Vuelta al País Vasco, Chris Horner (Bend, Ore./RadioShack-Nissan-Trek) will bring experience to the American squad who will be looking for strong leadership in an event which restricts the use of race radios.

At 24 years of age, Tejay van Garderen (Tacoma, Wash./BMC Racing) has accrued top five overall results at Paris-Nice, the Criterium du Dauphine, the Amgen Tour of California and the USA Pro Challenge and, along with current USA Cycling Professional Road National Champion Timothy Duggan (Boulder, Colo./Liquigas-Cannondale), will also join the team as a discretionary nominee.

Farrar, Horner, van Garderen and Duggan will be joined by Taylor Phinney (Boulder, Colo./BMC Racing) who, in addition to contesting the mass start road race, will also compete in the time trial. The youngest member of the men’s road race squad, Phinney will return for his second Olympic Games after finishing seventh in the individual pursuit on the track in 2008. Phinney proved his form this spring by wearing the pink race leader’s jersey in the Giro d’Italia and finishing in the top 15 at Paris-Roubaix.

Kristin Armstrong, who struck gold in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, will look to repeat in London.

Since no men’s road race athletes met the automatic criteria to compete in the individual time trial, Phinney received a discretionary nomination to fill the United States’ sole start position in the race against the clock. A former junior time trial world champion and one of the United States’ most talented up-and-coming time trialists, Phinney earned the prologue win against the world’s best in this season’s first grand tour, the Giro d’Italia.

With the maximum number of start spots raised from three to four for the women’s road race, four women will represent the United States in the Olympic road race for the first time ever. After winning the UCI Women’s World Cup #4, La Flèche Wallonne, and remaining inside the top 10 in the world cup standings, Evelyn Stevens (Acton, Mass./Specialized-lululemon) earned an automatic nomination to the women’s road race squad. Shelley Olds (Gilroy, Calif./AA Drink-Leontien.nl) helped secure her nomination after riding to victory at the Tour of Chongming Island World Cup #5 in China.

Kristin Armstrong (Boise, Idaho/Exergy TWENTY12) and Amber Neben (Irvine, Calif./Specialized-lululemon) will join Stevens and Olds for the road race and will also contest the time trial as discretionary picks. The 2008 Olympic gold medalist, Armstrong proved to be one of the most dominant time trialists in the world in 2012, winning all eight international-caliber time trials she entered. Neben has also posted consistent top-level time trial results this season, including a gold medal at the Pan American Continental Championships.

TRACK CYCLING
In the discipline of track cycling, a total of two men and four women were nominated to the Olympic Team.

Sarah Hammer (Temecula, Calif./OUCH Pro Cycling)  was the only track cycling athlete to receive an automatic nomination. She did so by virtue of her omnium bronze medal at the 2012 UCI Track Cycling World Championships and will contest both the women’s omnium and team pursuit in London. Hammer will join forces with Dotsie Bausch (Irvine, Calif./OUCH Pro Cycling), Jennie Reed (Seattle, Wash./OUCH Pro Cycling) and Lauren Tamayo (Asheville, N.C./Exergy Twenty12) in the women’s team pursuit. Various combinations of the foursome have celebrated a string of successes in international competition, including a previous world record set in May of 2010 by Bausch, Hammer and Tamayo and a world championship silver medal in 2011 from Bausch, Hammer and Reed.

Bobby Lea (Topton, Pa./Pure Energy Cycling-ProAirHFA) received the discretionary nod for the men’s omnium spot and Jimmy Watkins (Bakersfield, Calif./Project London 2012) earned the remaining nomination for the men’s sprint.

Of the six track athletes nominated, Reed will be making her third appearance at the Games, while Hammer and Lea return for their second appearances. Reed, who contested the sprint in 2004 and the keirin in 2008, made a switch to endurance riding to contest the three-kilometer team pursuit.

BMX
As the discipline of BMX racing returns to the Olympic Games after its debut in 2008, the U.S. will field the maximum five-person squad which consists of three men and two women.

Automatic qualifiers include David Herman (Wheat Ridge, Colo./Free Agent-Rockstar) on the men’s side and Arielle Martin (Spanaway, Wash./Intense BMX) for the women. Herman and Martin earned automatic nominations as the top-ranked athletes in USA Cycling’s BMX Power Rankings.

Herman will be joined by the winner of the U.S. Olympic Trials for BMX on June 16 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif., as well as a discretionary nominee who will also be named and announced on the 16th. Martin will be joined by a single discretionary nominee on the women’s squad.

MOUNTAIN BIKE

For the discipline of mountain bike, Georgia Gould (Fort Collins, Colo./Luna Pro Team) earned the only automatic nomination and will be joined on the women’s squad by Lea Davison (Jericho, Vt./Specialized Racing). Samuel Schultz (Missoula, Mont./Subaru-Trek) and Todd Wells (Durango, Colo./Specialized Racing) both received discretionary nods and will make up the two-person men’s squad.

Gould automatically qualified by ranking inside the top 10 in the individual UCI World Cup rankings, in eighth, as of May 31, 2012.  As the discretionary selection, Davison has finished inside the top 10 at three world cup or world championship events in the last 24 months.

After finishing in seventh place at the 2011 world championships and earning four top 20 world cup and world championship results within the past 12 months, the soon to be three-time Olympian Wells will fill the men’s mountain bike squad, along with Schultz who boasts the top American world cup average finish in 2012.

“We have a strong team going to London with a solid combination of experience, leadership and young talented athletes who are all capable of standout performances,” said USA Cycling V.P. of Athletics Jim Miller. “Each member of the team is deserving, we’re proud to welcome them as a part of Team USA and look forward to a promising Olympic Games.”

All nominations are subject to approval by the USOC board of directors. More information on cycling in the Olympic Games, including complete selection procedures can be found at usacycling.org/olympics.

2012 Olympic Games
London, UK
July 28 – Aug. 12
USA Cycling Nominees:

MEN’S ROAD CYCLING
Timmy Duggan (Boulder, Colo./Liquigas-Cannondale)
Tyler Farrar (Wentachee, Wash./Garmin-Barracuda)
Chris Horner (Bend, Ore./RadioShack-Nissan-Trek)
Taylor Phinney (Boulder, Colo./BMC Racing) – road race & time trial
Tejay van Garderen (Tacoma, Wash./BMC Racing)

WOMEN’S ROAD CYCLING
Kristin Armstrong (Boise, Idaho/Exergy TWENTY12) – road race & time trial
Amber Neben (Irvine, Calif./Specialized-lululemon) – road race & time trial
Shelley Olds (Gilroy, Calif./AA Drink-Leontien.nl)
*Evelyn Stevens (Acton, Mass./Specialized-lululemon)

TRACK CYCLING
Dotsie Bausch (Irvine, Calif./OUCH Pro Cycling)  – women’s team pursuit
*Sarah Hammer (Temecula, Calif./OUCH Pro Cycling)  – women’s omnium & team pursuit
Bobby Lea (Topton, Pa./Pure Energy Cycling-ProAirHFA) – men’s omnium
Jennie Reed (Seattle, Wash./OUCH Pro Cycling) – women’s team pursuit
Lauren Tamayo (Asheville, N.C./Exergy Twenty12) – women’s team pursuit
Jimmy Watkins (Bakersfield, Calif./Project London 2012) – men’s sprint

MEN’S BMX
* David Herman (Wheat Ridge, Colo./Free Agent-Rockstar)
Spot #2 Olympic Trials winner
Spot #3 discretionary nomination following Olympic Trials

WOMEN’S BMX
* Arielle Martin (Spanaway Wash./Intense BMX)
Spot #2 discretionary nomination following Olympic Trials

MEN’S MOUNTAIN BIKE
Samuel Schultz (Missoula, Mont./Subaru-Trek)
Todd Wells (Durango, Colo./Specialized Racing)

WOMEN’S MOUNTAIN BIKE
Lea Davison (Jericho, Vt./Specialized Racing)
*Georgia Gould (Fort Collins, Colo./Luna Pro Team)

*denotes automatic nominees

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2012 Wildcat Epic Bike Race – August 11-12

Posted on June 14, 2012 by aa

Wildcat Epic Events is excited to present the third annual Wildcat Epic Bike Race the weekend of August 11-12, 2012 in the picturesque Shawangunk Mountains in New Paltz, NY!

This year, back is the original Wildcat Epic Bike Race as well as three new course options! Competitors can choose from:

  • Wildcat 100 (WC 100) – The only 100 mile course in New York State! This race is also a candidate race for the 2013 National Ultra Endurance Series. The race will start at 6:45am on Sunday August 12th.
  • Wildcat Epic (WC Epic) – Ride two different 50 mile courses on Saturday and Sunday for a total of 100 miles for the weekend. The 50 mile course will start at 8am on Saturday and Sunday.
  • Wildcat 50 (WC 50) – Ride the 50 mile Saturday course of the Wildcat Epic. The race will start at 8am on Saturday August 11th.
  • Wildcat 25 (WC 25) – A 25 mile course. The race will start at 10am on Saturday August 11th.

Each day competitors will be treated to a remarkable racecourse, fully stocked aid stations, catered meals, and great hospitality. The Wildcat Epic Bike Race is fun for the whole family, so bring your loved ones and make a weekend of it!

Registration for all Wildcat option can be found here.

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Singlespeed, Singletrack and a Cave

Posted on June 13, 2012 by aa

This past weekend was the start of the New York State MTB Series. Race 1 was the Williams’ Lake Classic held on the grounds of the Williams’ Lake Resort in Rosendale, NY. The trails are on private property and therefore, NOT open to the public for riding…except for this event.

I’ve raced here many many times and it has always been one of my favorite race courses. There is a lot of flowing singletrack, fast double track, all leading to the coolest feature that I have ever come across in a race course…a cave. Yeah, that’s right, the course actually goes through a cave. Years ago, the Williams’ Lake Classic was always held on Halloween weekend, and it made the cave just a little bit cooler, and even with the race being early season now, the cave is still pretty cool.

I decided to race singlespeed this year, for no other reason than I like riding my Redline MonoCog Flight 29. Good move? Bad move? I don’t know. Sure, I was looking for another couple of gears on the climbs, but a singlespeed is always fun to ride.

I didn’t really have a great race. In fact, this race hurt. The race course seemed more demanding than I remembered…especially on a singlespeed. With a time of ~2:35:37, I finished 7th of 8 riders.

Coming up I have two time trials, a couple more mountain bike races and a road race before cyclocross season starts. While I like all the racing, I’m rally looking forward to cyclocross…for me, the season can’t start soon enough.

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Deja Vu: House Aims to Eliminate Local Funds for Biking and Walking

Posted on June 11, 2012 by aa

Take Action!

(League of American Bicyclists – June 11. 20012) Ask Your Member of Congress to Protect Funding in the Transportation Bill

The U.S. House and Senate are negotiating right now to produce a final federal transportation bill and 20 years of gains on biking, walking and Safe Routes to School could be eliminated.

Only a strong show of support from people like you can make sure this doesn’t happen. Please act TODAY to protect federal funding for local biking and walking.

In March, the Senate passed a bill with bipartisan support that included the Cardin-Cochran agreement, which allows local governments and school systems to access much-needed funds to for biking and walking projects and programs. But the House would prefer to get rid of biking and walking funding by giving states the chance to ‘opt out’ of this funding pot completely — and take away local governments’ ability to access federal funds for small transportation projects.

If the House gets its way, your local governments won’t have access to funds to build the sidewalks, bike lanes and bikeways that make streets safer for all of us.

We can’t let Congress eliminate local control. We need the Senate conferees to stand strong behind their bi-partisan, bike-friendly agreement, and the House to stand down from their attempt to eliminate local access to these federal funds.

Please act now, even if you have taken action on this issue already.  Fill in your zip code, below, or, if you’re seeing this in an email, click here to go to our action center.

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Law Protects New York Bicyclists from Passing Motor Vehicles

Posted on June 2, 2012 by aa

But does anyone beside cyclists really know about it?

Beginning on November 1, 2010, bicyclists throughout New York could breathe a little easier when cycling down the state’s roadways. In August 2010, then Gov. David Paterson signed into law a bill requiring motorists to maintain a “safe distance” when passing bike riders.

The bill added section 1122-A to New York’s Traffic Law, which reads:

The operator of a vehicle overtaking from behind a bicycle proceeding on the same side of a roadway shall pass to the left of such bicycle at a safe distance until safely clear thereof.

Drivers who violate the law will be cited at minimum with a traffic offense. More serious charges could follow if the driver seriously injures or kills a bicyclist while passing at less than a reasonably safe distance.

Law Passed in Honor of Bicyclist

Dubbed “Merrill’s Law,” the new safety measure for bicycle riders was passed in part due to an accident in November 2009 that took the life of 66-year-old bicyclist Merrill Cassel of Greenburg, New York. Cassel was riding his bike on Route 119 near White Plains, NY when a public bus sideswiped him. Cassel died of his injuries.

Following Cassel’s death, three bicycling organizations, including the Westchester Putnam Bike Walk Alliance and the New York Bicycle Coalition, began lobbying State Assembly members to take action to protect bicyclists.

Originally, the proposed legislation included a requirement that drivers maintain a minimum of three feet when passing bicyclists. However, the three-foot requirement eventually was dropped in favor of the “safe distance” language. State legislators believed that situations could arise that required drivers to maintain more than three feet from riders in order to ensure their safety. Of course, the “safe distance” language leaves plenty of ambiguity from case to case.

In states with bike passing laws, 16 of them require drivers to maintain a three-foot buffer zone, including Connecticut and New Hampshire. Eight states, including Oregon and Washington, have laws similar to New York’s and require motorists to maintain a safe distance when passing bicyclists.

Tension between Bicyclists and Drivers

Bicyclists have long argued that cars follow too closely on the road. Merrill’s law goes a long way toward protecting the right to use the road as well as safety.

Not everyone, however, believes the law is necessary. Some drivers believe bicyclists should be forced to ride on the shoulder of the road or a designated bike lane. Others believe that bicyclists should stay off the road altogether and stick to one of the state’s many bike path and trail systems.

Under New York law, bicyclists have the same rights to use the roadway as motorists. The law allows bike riders to ride two abreast, but they must fall back into single file when they are passing vehicles or when vehicles are passing them.

In 2008, there were nearly 5700 bicycle accidents in New York, resulting in more than 5500 injuries and 41 deaths.

If you have been the victim of a bicycling accident, contact an experienced personal injury attorney today. Under state law, motorists must share the road with bicyclists and can be held legally responsible for injuries to bicycle riders.

Article provided by Smiley & Smiley, LLP – Visit us at http://www.smileylaw.com

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Rudy Project Rydon II Sport Sunglasses

Posted on May 22, 2012 by aa

The Rydon II Sport sunglasses from Rudy Project are a stylish lightweight design that is great for cycling, running or just casual wear.

Rudy Project Rydon II

Rudy Project Rydon II Sport White Pearl With Ls.blue Racing Red Lenses

Rudy Project has re-engineered their Rydon profile with a smaller eye shape for reduced geometric wraparound. Loaded with all the Rydon features, the Rydon II offers a sleek and comfortable look for performance seekers with smaller faces. Unifying seamlessly advanced design technology and materials science, the Rydon II blends cutting-edge ergonomic features with advanced materials to create a super-lightweight, versatile, high performance and elegant sunglass.

In addition to the variety of Rydon II  frame styles/colors, there is a lens for everything.

  • Rudy Project Polycarbonate RP Optics lenses provide 100% UVA/UVB protection and a CONTRAST LENS is best to enhance depth perception and color while a NEUTRAL LENS is best to give you the darkest coverage possible.
  • Rudy Project’s ImpactX™ Photochromic Lens Technology represents the most advanced solution for vision protection in the sunglass market… (+ 100% UVA/UVB Protection)
  • Rudy Project’s Polar 3FX Polarized Lens Technology contains unique light absorption molecular properties to enhance contrast and depth perception… (+ 100% UVA/UVB Protection)
  • Rudy Project’s Polarized ImpactX™ Photochromic Lens Technology represents the most advanced solution for vision protection in the sunglass market… (+ 100% UVA/UVB Protection)

With additional lenses you can customize your Rydon II glasses and have a high quality lens for any weather/lighting condition. And new from Rudy Project; you can further customize your Rydon II‘s with temple tips and nose tabs available in assorted colors.

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2012 UCI Windham World Cup Mountain Bike Festival

Posted on May 16, 2012 by aa

The 2012 Windham World Cup is coming up pretty quick, June 28 – July 1, 2012. You can go to www.racewindham.com for all of the race information. And don’t forget about the Race the World amateur races to be held on Sunday July 1, 2012.

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