Stuff, Stuff, Stuff

I can now add (paid) author to my resume. As I alluded to in my last post, I am now writing cycling articles for the Denver Examiner. You can follow my articles here. I even have a game plan: Mondays will be inspirational/weekend recap, Tuesdays will be tech/reviews, Wednesdays will be weekend planning, and Friday will be training/dieting. I don't purport to write four articles a week, but I do hope to get at least two of the four, maybe more. I still need to ride and cook. But, I have a ton of ideas; I have even written them down in a notebook!

As for RideBerthoud Blog, I am not so sure about it's future. I will continue to blog, I want to post additions or personal info about Examiner articles, but I may change the name. I would like something better descriptive for what I am doing. I am trying to decide the best approach to all the social media out there. I think tweeting will be in the future. Also, I would like a good forum for some photo-journalism. Trying to get everything I want without several web-sites is a challenge. But, small steps, you know.

As for RideBerthoud itself (name, concept, etc..), I am working on ways to make the concept viable. I am happy to say I have been talking to TrailCentral.com and hope to dovetail with them. They are a great online resource for mountain bike trails in Colorado. (They have also taken over sponsorship of the RideBerthoud team, for full disclosure.) We have brainstormed several ideas and hope to start developing something (great) soon.

We are still trying to chase down sponsorship for the Mongolian Bike Challenge. I have gotten one response for more information, but, we are still along way from buying plane tickets. The initial deadline for registration is May 7. In case you missed the post, you can find race information here. We can still put together a great sponsorship/media package for any potential sponsors.

I have not been riding much do to the weather. Every time I break down my trainer and set my bike up for road rides, the weather turns foul. Snow, rain, high winds. Colorado has had an uncharacteristically dreary spring. I can only hope the summer will make up for things.

New Look, New Job

No apologies this time about the delay of posts. I have been working on making RideBerthoud.com bigger and better. I will be announcing new sponsorship soon. Also, I just received a real (paying!) journalism job writing about cycling. I will post more about that soon. I have been cultivating some topics and will announce my column here within a week or two.

April is here, and the weather is still crazy. I woke up to snow yesterday and today I was wearing shorts. There are two great local races this weekend, PrairieCenter Crit and Boulder Roubaix. You can find information about both races here. PrairieCenter has a nice prize list and Boulder Roubaix, contested on dirt roads just north of Boulder, is back after a year hiatus. Also, Paris-Roubaix, the greatest one day bike race, will be held this Sunday (in France, bien entendu). You can find live streaming video here. The race starts about 4 a.m. here in Colorado, but will finish around 10:30 a.m. So, no need to get up too early.

For those wanting to celebrate Roubaix in a more active fashion, I recommend the Berthoud Roubaix Course. A detailed description can be found here.
View Berthoud Roubaix in a larger map
While Berthoud recently lost Retro Bistro, one of the best French restaurants around, there are still plenty of ways to celebrate post ride. Brick Oven Pizza serves up some of the best pizza around. And being located next door to the ample wine selection of Berthoud Wine and Spirits, a good bottle of wine will be easy to find. Top this all off with forecasted great weather this weekend, a ride and a picnic in Berthoud is a great way to celebrate Paris-Roubaix and the start of cycling season.