- Get to NAHBS and catch the Cheetah – Seriously, if you are close to Sacramento, CA get on over to the North American Handmade Bicycle Show this weekend. We’ll be there and will report on all the beautiful bikes we find, but nothing beats seeing it all in person. Plus, if you’ve never heard of Nelson “The Cheetah” Vails, that is a mistake easily corrected. You’ll be blown away by his story. Vails was the first and still only African-American cyclist to win an Olympic medal, and he will preside over five screenings of the film about his life: Cheetah – The Nelson Vails Story (view a trailer over at Vimeo). The film highlights Nelly’s improbable ascension from New York City bike messenger from the streets of Harlem to the podium at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games. He was known as “the fastest cat in the concrete jungle” and thus the cycling world dubbed him the “Cheetah.” Screening details at: 2016.HandmadeBicycleShow.com/Seminars
Events & Where to ride
- Eroica California and complete l’Eroica international series dates set – The 2016 L’Eroica series calendar has just been finalized. Eroica California will be the first event to hit the gravel in Paso Robles on April 10. More than 1500 cyclists are expected to don the wool and roll off on vintage bikes through wine country. Four routes are offered: 120 miles (the Eroica or Heroic), 85 miles, 67 miles and 38 miles. Sign up or find out more at: Eroica.cc. The classic road riding then heads to:
-Eroica South Africa, in Montagu, South Africa on Apr 23
-Eroica Primavera, in Buonconvento, Italy on May 1
-Eroica Japan in Eiyu, Japan on May 15
-Eroica Hispania in Cenicero, Spain on Jun 5 and
-Eroica Britannia in Bakewell, UK on Jun 19. - Ride trails in the West you’ve never heard of with this Chasing Epic – The L.A. Times put together a nice article about Boulder, CO based trail outfitter Chasing Epic and their mountain bike trips in Colorado, Arizona, and Utah. A number of singletrack trips are on offer from the new guide service aimed at intermediate and advanced riders. Chasing epic takes riders to a key destination and then focuses on hitting both classic and undiscovered trails in areas like Crested Butte, Sedona, and Park City with local guides. ChasingEpicMTB.com
- Check out a new Fuji on the North American Demo tour – Starting next weekend at the Sedona MTB Festival Mar 4-6, Fuji bikes will kick off its 2016 North American Demo Tour. The tour will hit several other major mountain bike festivals including, Sea Otter, Fruita Fat Tire, Crankworx Whistler, and more. At the festivals riders will have the chance to test ride Fuji’s new 160mm Auric 27.5 all-mountain bike and 120mm Rakan 29er trail bike. Full details at: FujiBikes.com/DemoTour
Gear
- Free casual shades when you spend at Rudy’s e-shop – Rudy Project is trying to make you look as good off the bike as you do on it. For a limited time, when you jump onto their E-Rudy webstore and order $250 worth of any product, a $175 pair of their best-selling casual Spinhawk sunglasses is automatically added to your order. That’s it. Looks like the deal is sticking around for a little while, with the style of the free shades set to rotate every week or so. E-Rudy.com
