Remiss

I apologize for my remissness of writing. I had the bad news that Berthoud's only bike shop, Roadhouse Bikes, is closing. Which, not only being tragic for Dan, a set back for the team, but, is bad for the community. According to National Bicycle Dealers Association, America has lost 3000 bicycle shops over the last 20 years. Which is nearly a third, considering only 5000 shops are around today. I won't go on about the benefits of bicycles, like long term health benefits and the cost savings. But, I will say, a town without a bike shop is sad. As a child, we all begged for one. However, bicycles seem to stay with our youth. Apart from the very small subset of lyrca wearing cyclists, adults just don't ride bikes. But, there may be hope for the future. I ran across this article, in which U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood is threatening to withhold federal tax dollars if new projects don't include bicycle and pedestrian lanes. You can read his blog here. Again, we wish Dan and family the best of luck. And, hopefully, he will bring a bike shop back to Berthoud one day.



Speaking of youth and craziness, I was climbing Pinewood Reservoir the other day when I met Nate and Shay on their homebuilt gravity bike, a very cool machine. Those are 20 pound weights instead of cranks, road bars on a bmx frame and some fat tires. They also had to have the seatpost modified so the could get into a true tucked position. I tried to keep pace with them on the descent, our speeds reaching 60mph! I could hold pace on my road bike during the straights, but, when the corners came, they left me behind with their knee dragging, motorcycle-style cornering ability. We are going to film the descent and post the results soonest. You may be sick watching.

And speaking of Pinewood Hillclimb (aka Rattlesnake Hill), please send us your times for the climb (email@rideberthoud.com). We are going to publish a list of results. Since we will break it down into categories, include your vitals (name, age, sex, bike weight, whatever). While we were going to do a most improved competition, that has been scraped. But, if you do ride up regularly, keep sending your times and we will do an unofficial competition. The course starts at the 25 mph sign just past the T-intersection of N County Road 31 and Polehill Road (this is where you turn from the back side of Carter Lake) and the 20mph sign at the top of Polehill Rd (you will know it when you get there). Who knows, maybe we will try a time trial effort some day, so keep tuned. For the technical junkies, Pinewood Hillclimb is 3.6 miles (5.8kms), averages 9.5% grade and has several 13% and 14% sections. We estimated a winning ProTour rider (Tour de France caliber) would ride up in about 14:30 (if Lance or any other ProTour rider wants to try, we would be more than glad to time you). Times of under 20 minutes and you might consider a cycling career, under 30 minutes is a good amateur time and under 45 minutes is a good fitness time. And just riding the hill, no matter what your time, is a test in mental and physical strength. Even ProTour riders walk their bikes uphill, sometimes. Bring your granny gears.

On team news, seeing the RideBerthoud boys back at the track was nice. And Brady needs to keep eating his Wheaties, because he was flying! Good job Brady.

Mongolian Bike Challenge

I found the ultimate race for the RideBerthoud.com XC-MTB riders - The Mongolian Bike Challenge. Now, if anybody out there would like to sponsor us, I think we could deliver great media and internet presence. I figure with airfare from Denver to Mongolia at $2300, the entry fee of about $1850, plus incidentals, we would need about $5000 a rider, or about $15,000 to send our team of three. Also, we could use some equipment - a great place for a titanium or steel bike (hint, hint), some great wheels, lots of energy drinks/bars and maybe a tub of chamois cream. I sent an inquiry to the race organizers for more information, which I will pass along when I receive it. (The race director just Skyped me as I was writing that last sentence, nice guy. He is going to email me a packet.)

Being located here in Berthoud, Colorado, we are at the perfect epicenter for training and could do well there. We have the altitude, the terrain (Pole Hill Rd, anyone?), the weather just turned warm and a cyclist friendly community. Plus, with Dan over at Roadhouse Bikes keeping our bikes tuned, we are set.



I figure we have four months to fund-raise, and five months to train. If anybody is interested (sponsorship, fund-raising ideas or joining us), just drop us a line: email@rideberthoud.com. I hope the video will inspire you like it did me and the other XC riders.

Also, I have been behind updating the RideBerthoud.com website. But, I have a good excuse. I will be interviewing for a great job tomorrow, and have been preparing for that. However, I have the final results for the GPS trainers on the Palm Pre showdown I promised earlier, and will post them this weekend. Also, I have been riding (helps calm the pre-interview jitters) and produced some great maps and graphics. I will give you a taste here, but there are lots more to come: