Eroica Britannia heads in new direction with all new Peak District routes – If you are familiar with the classic Eroica concept, it is worth checking out the returning British stop on the retro calendar this June 17. For 2018 the festival atmosphere of the Eroica Britannia gets three all new routes of 30, 60 & 100 miles that head in the opposite direction vs. years past, plus new stops & villages along the way. So even for those who’ve ridden in years past, this will feel totally fresh as it takes on classic road & gravel climbs, plus miles of quiet tarmac, dirt & gravel paths through Peak District National Park. EroicaBritannia.co.uk
Where to ride
- Thomson Bike Tours branches out to gravel from Barcelona to Girona – In their first-ever gravel bike trip Thomson Tours will be riding from Barcelona to Girona this autumn. This premium trip takes riders of the beaten path and away from the busy roads up the Mediterranean coastline. From Sep 30 – Oct 6 the route follows a picturesque off-road course up to Girona via a variety of gravel, trail, and pavement routes. ThomsonBikeTours.com
- 20 years of 24 hour mountain bike racing at 24H of Finale this May – This year marks two decades of racing for 24H of Finale in Italy. And like every edition the endurance mountain bike race gets a theme. Appropriately this time around it is Vintage MTB. May 18-20 le Manie plateau is going nuts with the VentAge edition. If you want to stand on the top of the special VentAge podium you’ll need to go full retro – vintage lycra, a vintage 26″ rigid steel hardtail, and a vintage mindset is all you’ll need. Or you could just ride modern kit, and keep an eye out for the retro weirdos. 24hfinale.com
- Strider Cup kids racing returns to China – All those little balance bikes are made in Asia, so why not race them there?! The 2018 Strider Cup Asian Championship pushes through Apr 29 in Beijing. It’s actually the 3rd year for the Strider Cup Asian Champs and the first time being hosted in China. Thousands of 2-5 year old racers have turned out in the series so far, and this event is first come, first-served limited to 500 push bikers, with up to 100 international participants possible. Registration is liove now, and international translation services will be provided in Chinese, English & Japanese. Strider-CN.com
Advocacy & Industry tidbits
- Wiggo x Le Col clothing line coming soon – Tour champ Sir Bradley Wiggins is teaming up with UK clothing brand Le Col to create his own new cycling clothing line. Dubbed simply Le Col by Wiggins, it appears to be a new direction for the Team Sky alum after his Wiggo & Team Wiggins partnerships with Rapha. Apparently Wiggins and Le Col founder Yanto Barker go back 20 years to racing for Great Britain as juniors. And Wiggo will be more involved in product design & development with the Le Col partnership. A Spring/Summer 2018 collection is expected to make its debut in the coming weeks. LeCol.cc
- Strava updates link between Virtual Activities & some Challenges – Social network Strava just announced a new update that will expand the ways that athletes get credit for their activity. Now when users create partner challenges, they’ll have the option to allow virtual rides or all types of runs to count toward their Strava challenges. That means it will be possible to allow indoor virtual activities like Zwift rides to count for some specialized Challenges. Strava says that their own Challenges though, will continue to count only outdoor activities towards their targets. Strava.com
- Interbike pairs with BikeFlights.com to encourage coming into Reno by bike – With the Reno, NV area being rather conducive to cycling at the start of fall, tradeshow organizers for Interbike have partnered up with BikeFlights.com to get more attendees to bring a bike. Commuting around town by bike is easy, and there are plenty of riding options from morning group road rides before the show, to hitting the trails just a couple of miles from the convention center. Interbike wants to see more industry folk come with their bikes, so they’re working with BikeFlights.com to let attendees painlessly ship their bikes to area hotels & FedEx destinations. So just show up and find your own bike waiting for you. BikeFlights.com
Contest
- Win a set of 11 series Crankbrothers pedals in CX World lead in – In the run up to this weekend’s Cyclocross World Championships in Valkenberg, Crankbrothers who sponsor Aspire Racing among others are giving away two pairs of pedals. Over at WooBox you can enter to win either a set of Candy 11 or Eggbeater 11 ti spindled pedals, perfect for the horrendous mud that is looming over cyclocross’s biggest race this weekend. Enter to win between now and Feb 6. Crankbrothers.com
