The New Belgium Criterium capped off an eventful weekend for downtown Fort Collins. My friend Diana was racing in it, so I went to watch and cheer. Unfortunately only a couple dozen people came out to watch (and fairly dispersed along the streets), so at times I felt like I was the only one applauding.
It was exciting nonetheless. Continue reading »
“I’m sure I’ll get another chance to test-ride a full-suspension mountain bike one day,” I said to my friends Kathrin and Guy over the weekend when we reluctantly left the Cycologists’ Bike Demo Day after only test-riding Salsa road bikes due to lack of time.
Never would I guess that another opportunity would present itself just three days later. As it turned out, Diana invited me out for a run at Lory State Park where Rocky Mountain mtb’s were being offered for test rides by a local bike shop whose name I do not recall.
Rocky Mountain Bicycles is a Canadian company (i.e. of the Canadian Rockies), something the company is very proud of. Continue reading »
There seems to be no shortage of celebrity cyclists coming out to Fort Collins, CO. Last November there was Tom Danielson of the Discovery Team along with Trek’s chief product engineer, Mike Sagan. Today, we were honored with the appearance of legendary Ned Overend (50 years young) at Lee’s Cyclery.
I had expected Deadly Nedly to be merely recounting race stories, but did not realize he is the Vice-President of Product Development for Specialized Bicycle Components. His presentation turned out to be quite technical and very informative including descriptions of many Specialized innovations. As a mechanical engineering geek, you can imagine that this absolutely thrilled me. :)
Below are some notes about the topics this mountain biking and XTerra legend touched upon. Continue reading »
Have you ever heard of Tom Danielson? Admittedly, I had not, but maybe I should have as he was the Team Discovery cyclist who won the Tour de Georgia this year and just came in 8th in La Vuelta. Plus, he is one of Colorado’s pro-cycling homebodies, being a resident of Durango with some Fort Collins connections. It came as no surprise, then, that 300 or so cycling enthusiasts poured into Lee’s Cyclery in Fort Collins to get a glimpse of the boy wonder who, word has it, just might be the next Lance Armstrong — his (now former) teammate and idol. To top off the event, Mike Sagan, the lead product designer and engineer of Trek Bicycles’ Advanced Concept Group, presented Armstrong’s 2005 winning time trial bike. Continue reading »
Bob, Sharon, Sharon’s friend Diane, and I went to Paso Robles during the Memorial Day weekend. We were there for two things: 1) the West Coast Kustoms (a 3-day hot rodding event including a Friday Night parade) and 2) the Great Western Bicycle Rally. Hundreds of cyclists camped out on every square inch of grass at the fairgrounds, but we stayed at the Templeton home of Sharon’s mom and dad, who were gracious hosts as usual.
On Saturday, Diane and Sharon did a 35-mile self-supported ride dubbed “Surprise at Spanish Camp”, whereas I did a 10-mile time trial. Afterwards, I test rode some carbon-fiber bicycles for the first time ever. Later in the afternoon, Bob came down from Fremont and the four of us went to the Concours d’Elegance Saturday evening. We capped off the event by doing the self-supported Vineyard Century on Sunday by following a route sheet provided by the GWBR organization. Continue reading »
