- Photographer Justin Olsen Auctions a Print of and for Paul Basagoitia – To raise money to help Paul on his road to recovery after his recent Rampage crash, Olsen is auctioning off a single limited edition canvas print of a photo he has captured, and which marked a major career milestone for Paul. All production costs were covered by Paul’s Scott team, and all proceeds will go to his Road to Recovery fund. Only two prints of this photo will be made, one to the winner and one to Paul himself. Head over to Ebay to get in on it, as there are just 2 days left.
Bikes
- Bombtrack bikes Journeys from Turkey to Iran – They’ve just released a digital edition Lookbook of their recent A Journey Beyond trip. Beautiful photos make us all want to ride our bikes, so we thought this was worth sharing, especially since it has a pretty good story and so many scenes that many of us have never experienced. Check it out where Bombtrack has posted it on Issuu.com.
Sponsorship Deals & Contests
- Get Sponsored by Leatt – Purveyors of premier protection, Leatt has opened up their sponsorship program for 2016. They gone beyond their neck support to include helmets, body armor, knee braces, elbow guards, hydration systems, and other protection products. If you think you can properly rep their company and test their new products, give them a shout for sponsorship via Hookit.
- Get in on $4000 worth of Monkey Lights with the Bicycle Moments 2015 Photo Contest – This holiday season Monkey Lights are rewarding all the ways our lives are made better by bikes. So they’re giving away over 100 Monkey Light bike lights for the best Bicycle Moments of 2015. Not Monkey Lights necessary, just a bicycle in your photo. Pretty much all you need to do to enter is get your bike pic on Instagram and tag them. Check out the details here and enter to win in one of 5 categories and have a look at MonkeyLectric.com to see what is up for grabs.
Advocacy
- Support Word Bicycle Relief’s end of year drive – They’ve just announced their Year End Appeal Campaign highlighting how the power of bicycles is radically and positively impacting Palabana, a rural community in Zambia. A video put together shows how a critical mass of bikes from World Bicycle Relief has affected students, health care workers, small business owners, and farmers by giving them mobility to get more done every day. Check you the video over on Youtube, and their campaign at OnTheMove.WorldBicycleRelief.org. Donations are being matched dollar for dollar by industry partners, so every little bit helps.
- Trek becomes the newest Gold Founding Member of LGBT Wisconsin – Having been a regular corporate member for just a year, Trek has stepped up their support as they work to help solve many of the world’s issues and problems one bike at a time.
- The Bicycle Friendly University Program Continues to Expand – 4 years ago the League of American Bicyclists awarded its first Bicycle Friendly University awards, recognizing campuses that make bikes an integral part of the college experience. Now, the BFU program steps it up, announcing 49 new top-performing colleges for a total of 127 BFUs in 42 states, a 5x increase since 2011. Three new campuses have even attained the coveted Platinum Bicycle Friendly University designation – University of Minnesota, Portland State University, and Colorado State University – the highest award available in the program. Check out the list of 2015 awardees, or of all BFU awardees over at the League’s site: BikeLeague.org
Events
- Sign up now for La Fausto Coppi Le Alpi del Mare Gran Fondo – Last weekend registration opened up for the 29th annual international gran fondo, which takes place on July 10 starting in Cuneo, Italy. This year the marathon is part of the Nord Ovest (North West) Road Cup, an Italian series that includes three more prestigious marathon events, over Liguria, Lombardy, Piedmont, and the Aosta Valley. Sign up early for a reduced 35€ entry fee til the end of the year, and join the 3500 riders likely to take on the 177km/4125m event, one of the hardest and most scenic Gran Fondos in Europe.
- Hosting UCI Worlds isn’t cheap – Media outlets this week were reporting that the city of Richmond paid out $1.7 million in employee overtime to host Worlds. Apparently $1.3 million went to police personnel, with the rest going to fire and emergency service and public works and utilities employees. That’s not to ignore the reported $5.7 million in infrastructure works either, although those were mostly permanent road and sidewalk repairs. That being said, the success of the event seemed to promote the US as a legitimate cycling destination, so it’d be interesting to see USA Cycling or the UCI try to look at what Richmond’s return on investment was?
