- Win One (or Two) of the World’s Safest Bikes for your Kid – All you need to enter is to share the contest on Facebook or Twitter and fill out a registration form. Then if you tag a friend and you win, they get a free bike too! Winners will get to choose from one of Gaurdian’s 20″ kids bikes, each equipped with SureStop anti-endo brakes, a low center of gravity, and a light frame to make them easy for kids to handle and enjoy. The contest runs until December 15, with the promise to deliver the bike by Christmas. GuardianBikes.com
Training
- Join the Sufferlandrian National Team and Train Together at the UCI in Aigle – If you do only one training camp in your life, let this be it. The Sufferfest has opened up registration for their 2nd annual SUF Camp 2016 from June 12-18. Live out the fantasy of training like a pro. The UCI World Cycling Center in Aigle, Switzerland again welcomes Sufferlandrians to get that national team experience. There are only 16 spots total at the SUF Camp, and at least 7 are already taken. So act fast. It may set you back $5750, but riders of all levels and ages are invited, and everyone will leave the camp a fitter, smarter, and more skillful rider. Book a spot and lay down a deposit at TheSufferfest.com.
- Train with Jens Voigt and more Pros on a 52lb World Bicycle Relief bike on Zwift – To raise money for World Bicycle Relief, Zwift is hosting a Ride On virtual fundraising ride tomorrow December 5. There’s no cost to signup, but users are encouraged to fundraise/donate $147 as the cost of one of WBR’s Buffalo Bikes being sent to build communities in Africa. To get the message across, rider avatars on the 5th will be riding Buffalo Bikes instead of their regular virtual road bikes. To add to the effort, Trek is ponying up $20,000 if everyone on Zwift collectively rides 50,000 miles; if it hits 100,000 miles, Trek will double their donation. So hop on and lend a pedal. RideOnForWBR.com
Contests
- Win a ProViz Pixelite Jacket from ProBikeKit – The web retailer, and exclusive retailer in the UK of this combination performance and safety jacket is giving one away to anyone who joins their mailing list and answers a simple question. Designed to get cyclists through the winter, entry to the raffle ends tomorrow December 6 at midnight GMT. ProBikeKit.co.uk
Gear
- Lauf TR Boost Starts Shipping, plus Buy & Try for 4 weeks – Lauf just launched a new shopify ecommerce site today with the new Boost version of their Trail Racer fork now available, as well as a range of Lauf riding gear. With Lauf’s new Buy ‘n’ Try program you get up to 4 weeks to ride your new fork worry free. If you don’t like the fork, tell them why, and you can return it for a full refund. Lauf.myshopify.com
- Get the Fastest SES 7.8 Smart ENVE Wheels Now – It looks like the latest update to the tubeless compatible SES 7.8 carbon clincher wheels are now available, even shipping with ENVE’s new carbon hubset. The updated SES 7.8 uses a 71mm deep x 29mm wide front rim and 80mm deep x 27.5mm wide rear rim with their new textured, molded-in brake track to create their fastest wheelset yet. With the premium ENVE hubs the SES 7.8 weighs 1551g for the set and sells for $3500. ENVE.com
- Cyber Monday grew to Cyber Week for Fezzari Bicycles – There are still a lot of deals floating around on the web at the end of this week. Fezzari has bikes and gear still on markdown in limited sizes and quantities. Plus NO Interest 12 month financing available on all bikes bought until December 6. Fezzari.com
- Mavic Wins a Trademark Battle in Poland – Apparently a Polish company had been producing and selling their own wheels through the online auction site allegro.pl, and had been putting Mavic and Cosmic labeling on them. As they were both defrauding customers and infringing on trademarks, Mavic took them to court and recently won a ruling to pay damages and to order the destruction of the fakes.
Events
- 2016 Dates for Vail Outlier, Breck Epic & Eagle Outside Festival Announced – The 2016 event calendar is taking shape. The Eagle Outside fest welcomes the start of summer in Colorado with racing, demos, craft beer, and music from June 4th-6th, and registration is already open. The Breck Epic delivers 6 days of Summit County’s best singletrack in the peak of summer August 14th-19th. This year there will be the chance to compete in either the first or last 3 days as well, but register soon as the field is limited. The Vail Outlier will again close down the mountain bike season September 9th-11th (conveniently the same weekend as Vail’s Oktoberfest) by giving consumers a chance to try out next years goodies that we will be running around tradeshows to show you.
- The Alta Via Stage Race is Back for 2016 with Early Registration Now – The 5th edition of the 8 day Alta Via Stage Race is coming back June 18-25, 2016. The race will tackle a 550 km-long course with 19,000m of elevation between the Mediterranean sea and the Apennine Mountains in Liguria, Italy. From mule-tracks to long dirt roads, from descents carved into fresh rocks to singletrack immersed in the mediterranean scrub; then even higher on the tops of ridges among green and steep meadows. It’s an exciting chance to experience the region from the saddle of your mountain bike, in one of the most spectacular stage-races around. Registration just went live this week, so get a spot at: AltaViaStageRace.com
- 3rd Annual Richmond Endurance Athlete Symposium and Expo is coming in January – Billed as a day of motivation and education, the symposium and expo attracts high-performing endurance athletes from around the country both on the stage as speakers, and as guests in the audience. Among the keynote speakers will be 5x Ironman champ Linsey Corbin; pro triathlete, coach, and commentator Matt Lieto; and tri, running, and cycling endurance coach Elliot Bassett. Registration and more information is available at: RichmondEnduranceSymposium.com
Sponsorship & Advocacy
- Women’s RIDE and TRI Ambassador Program from Pearl Izumi – Pearl Izumi is accepting applications now for their first ever women’s ambassador teams. They are seeking a group of 200 cyclists and 100 triathletes across all abilities, to help spread the brand’s new Endure & Enjoy program. Those selected will get custom Pearl kits, as well as a number of other opportunities, and will be encouraged to both participate in and organize rides for women in their area. Interested women have until December 18 to apply at PearlIzumi.submittable.com
- Current Togolese Road National Champion raising money for youth development – Abdou-Raouf Akanga, from Togo in west Africa has been developing a cycling club project to promote biking in his home country since 2012. He collects parts and buys bikes to outfit youths interested in cycling, and then works with them on training. But he doesn’t have the funds himself to keep up with demand, and is now looking to set up a proper meeting place. So, now he has worked to create a fundraising site to raise money to rent a house for the project. They’ve made great progress and are already halfway to their (very modest) goal. If you have a few bucks to spare, it looks like this guy is doing right by young riders. Kpalime-Cycling-Project.com
- San Francisco’s Bike Yield Law going before Board of Supervisors Committee – On Monday the proposed ordinance goes up for debate, that would direct local police to treat the safe and cautious rolling through stop signs as the lowest traffic enforcement priority. The ordinance only applies to situations of cycling through stop signs where others (pedestrians and vehicles) are not present at the intersection when the cyclist arrives. The Bike Yield Law would be the first San Francisco law to codify that people walking always have the right of way and all others must yield, and could set a precedent for other municipalities. Interested? Find out more and get involved at: SFBike.org
