Have you registered for Interbike, yet? It’s not free anymore, but still more than worth the price of entry. Register here online to save time at the convention center.

July 26 (Boulder Colo.) The rush is on for entry into the biggest cyclocross race in the U.S. CrossVegas registration opens on August 1st at Noon Eastern Time for all categories. Categories include Elite Men, Elite Women and the Wheelers & Dealers presented by Mountain Bike Magazine race for bicycle industry members attending Interbike.

The 2009 edition of CrossVegas is scheduled Wednesday Sept. 23rd in Las Vegas following the first day of the Interbike show. Heading into its third year, CrossVegas has become a fixture on the U.S. cyclocross calendar attracting almost 10,000 spectators to the stadium setting of Desert Breeze Soccer Complex in Las Vegas.

Exclusive online registration is at BikeReg.com. Registration is limited for each category to 100 racers and is expected to fill rapidly.

In addition to competitor registration BikeReg.com will offer general admission ticket sales for the event. An admission of $8 per person has been created this year to cover the expense of fencing mandated by park authorities. “We’re victims of our own success,” explained CrossVegas co-promoter Brook Watts. “There have been serious traffic hazards created by fans parking in adjacent businesses and jaywalking major thoroughfares. As a result the fencing was required to mitigate the traffic issues as well as control fans hauling in prohibited beverages.”

Food and beverages sales, including beer, are available at CrossVegas beginning at 6:00 pm. In addition, Interbike will again provide a free shuttle bus throughout the night from The Sands Convention Center. “It’s the best bargain in Vegas,” explains Watts, “what else can you do in Las Vegas for eight bucks?”

Avoid the crowds at the gate and purchase tickets in advance for pick up at the Will Call window at the event or at the CrossVegas booth at Interbike.

The Wheelers & Dealers presented by Mountain Bike Magazine offers divisions for Men, Women, Media, Manufacturer, Retailer, Distributor and Advocacy. New this year will be Wheelers & Dealers number pickup at the CrossVegas booth at Interbike on Wednesday allowing racers a chance to avoid the rush at race time. In addition, the Wheelers & Dealers start time has been bumped to 7:00 pm to give racers and fans more time to get to the event after the show ends.

CrossVegas 2009 promises a great show for racers and fans alike. “If you’ve been to CrossVegas you know what an incredible show it is. If you’ve never been then you’ve got to come see the biggest race in the U.S. ” Watts concludes.

Complete information at: www.crossvegas.com

About Cross Partners LLC
Cross Partners LLC is a Boulder Colorado based group headed by Chris Grealish and Brook Watts that stages international cyclocross events including CrossVegas. The team has a combined 40 years experience creating and managing cyclocross events at every level.

Here’s the gang at the Bicycle Retailer & Industry News world headquarters before we set off. We’re all on very nice Giants and are sporting Giant and Pedro’s jerseys courtesy of the ride sponsors. Thanks! Left to right: Chris Zigmont of Pedro’s, Jason Norman, Megan Tompkins and Marc Sani of BRAIN, An Le of Giant, Lynette Carpiet of BRAIN, myself, and Nicole Formosa of BRAIN.

First stop was Ladera Cyclery in Ladera Ranch. Nice higher end shop with a range of family to high end road and tri gear. Jeff is the owner and is passionate about cycling.

Very different and up next is the classic shop Bicic Sports owned by Marcel Calborn. BS is in the vein of classic road shops. They definitely speak Campy here. I remember first seeing him almost 10 years ago at the ol LA Bike Expo selling Mapei team bikes since he was friends with someoneo on the team. Very cool. Still has tons of classic bikes and gear in the shop. Endless trove of stories to go along with them.

Marcel has made his own brand of frames for over 20 years including this old school time trial bike with the Silva aluminum disc wheels. I love this stuff. The counter displays are full of old cranks and Delta Brakes.

How many shops have Colnago and Pogliaghi tandems in stock?

Any shop can have a shop-brnaded water bottle, but how many have shop pantographed cranksets?

If you’re ever in the shop, ask Marcel about his Jacques Villeneuve Vespa. If you don’t know who Villeneuve was, don’t bother.

Edge Cyclesports in Laguna Woods is a contrast to Bici Sports: high end boutique road and tri shop. Only the latest bikes and gear, all super high end. Most striking, though, is how nice and welcoming co-owner Mary Ann is. Maybe it’s because she’s from Ohio. One of the niceset and most fiercely knowledgeable people in the bike industry I’ve met. I’ve been to many high end shops in my life, and unfortunately, many of them come with a high dose of arrogance. Not so at Edge.

Mary Anne made sure to point out the (hard to miss) Ridely Dean – one of the only that have made their way into a shop in the US so far. This was one of THE hot bikes at Interbike this year.

They love Made in USA (and Canada) brands like IF, Calfee and Guru. This IF fixie is beautiful.

On our way to the next shop, we came upon this group of OC fixie hipsters. There’s even a Bianchi Pista in there to complete the look. It’s amazing to me how much fixies have infiltrated suburbia. Where are suburban kids seeing them to get the influence?

When we got to Jax Bicycles in Irvine, we were welcomed by this nice display of balloons, snacks and cool drinks (hope the rest of our tour stops are reading this…).

Dave Hansen, the owner, is passionate about his business and gave us a great presentation on his business philosophy. Jax is a Trek concept store and is very nicely laid out and designed. He’s really focused into the numbers of his business and should be an inspiration to all retailers in that regard. “What gets measured gets done.” He’s very open about his business with both employees and his suppliers. He’s also very willing to help out his fellow retailers as it will elevate the bike retail business for all if all are stronger and doing better. amen.

We’ve got four more shops on the schedule for today. Weather looks good again this morning. Ride on!

Gatherings of the bike industry like this are awesome. Couldn’t enjoy my job anymore than on days like today. Thanks to all retailers that turned out today and hope to see many more of you on Wednesday. Keep your fingers crossed for decent weather…

It’s late, so here are some photos to give some flavor of what’s going on.

Aisle shot while the sun was still strong. With those trees in the back, this definitely is NOT Bootleg Canyon.

The Jamis and SRAM corner of the Demo. Jamis has over 40 models on display here.

Chris DiStefano of Chris King in the CK booth. Just like in Vegas, one of the more popular booths.

Mike Steidley put on a show for the dealers in attendance to break up the business talk and riding. Richard Fries was the MC. Mike is sponsored by Kenda.

Jamis area at the Demo. They made a real commitment to put on a good show for their retailers this first year.

Meeting of the minds: Tim Blumenthal of Bikes Belong (in blue), Scott Montgomery of Scott USA, and Maurice Tierney of Dirt Rag and the new Bicycle Times magazines. Tim said he liked how he could have a longer conversation with people here without as many distractions as the big show in Vegas. Had a nice lunch with Tim and Lance Camisasca today.

Tim Jackson of Masi having a good chat with some retailers. Just like at Bootleg Canyon, Tim seemed to be constantly busy.

Some of the Specialized bikes on display for demo’ing.

Parlee is one of the regional manufacturers from new England with displays here.

Here’s a retailer from one of the quintessential New England bike shops: the West Hill Shop in Putney, VT on some of the singletrack trails at the Demo site that we spent all day yesterday maintaining and cleaning up. One of the great things about having a demo event here is that the retailers can ride the bikes in conditions that they and their customers will be riding in. Here, that would be rocks, roots, dirt and mud when it’s wet.

I’m way past ready to call it a day, but wanted to get at least a few photos up of setup. They were all taken with my iPhone since the van that I left the real camera in was out running errands all day so that’s why they look crappy. It was a gorgeous sunny day with not a cloud in the sky. Got close to hitting 60 degrees F. Hope the weather holds out for Tues and Wed.

First off, an overview of part of the demo area:

Santa Cruz bicycles tent:

Always great to see Civia bicycles. Come on out to try one yourself, retailers:

You can always count on a large presence for Specialized:

Rocky Mountain bikes:

Fuji has a lot of carbon fiber available to demo in their tent:

Spent most of the day pounding in the these stakes and running Interbike caution tape between them to mark the trails. Think we laid out about 3 miles of this tape today with Lance, Chip and Robert. That and raking, clipping, shoveling and picking up seemingly tons of garbage out of the woods. Why do people go out in the woods to experience nature and then trash it with urban waste? Shame. But I feel like if nothing else, we’re leaving this great park a lot cleaner. Can’t wait for the soreness tomorrow.

Had some nice comfort food in an Irish pub down the street earlier tonight with the rest of the team. Almost got kicked out of said pub for cheering on Tampa Bay a bit too vigorously in game 7 of the ALCS (our team is made up of Yankee and Angel fans). I grew up in the Yankee half of Connecticut, myself. The game’s still on so I don’t know who won yet.

But enough baseball – we’re in New england for bikes. Lots of bikes, actually. Pulling into the parking lot of the Providence Hilton, this is what we saw:

Two Giant Bicycle rigs and one from Specialized. Hidden behind them was the Fox Racing Shox truck. They’re here in anticipation of move-in day tomorrow down at the Demo site. Had a nice chat with Andy the Specialized tech who was assembling some of their demo bikes. He had a few bikes with the new 2009 Dura Ace groups and we compared notes on it since I got to ride it out in Boulder City in September. Compared it with SRAM’s Red and the Super Record from Campy (which I haven’t had a chance to ride yet). Won’t tell you what our preferences were, but we did agree that they’re all definite improvements to the breed.

From my visits and calls to Northeast shops and pre-registration numbers (over 1,200 last I checked early last week), people are pretty excited about the event coming to town and we should have a great showing. If you work at a bike shop in the Northeast you should really come on out to Roger Williams Park just south of Providence. We’ve got just about 60 manufacturers coming with big demo fleets and ‘09 gear for you to see and try. Add in the Mavic and SRAM tech clinics and NBDA Super Seminars and it’s going to be a real serious event. Show us that we were right in choosing to put on a trade event here. Here’s the latest list of exhibitors for you:

AMB i.t. US, Inc.
Action Bicycle USA Inc.
Advanced Sports Inc: Fuji, Kestrel, SE and Breezer Bicycles
American Diabetes Association*
BMC
Cannondale Bicycle Corporation
Carver Bikes
Chris King Precision Components
Civia Cycles
Delta 7 Sports
Downeast Bicycle Specialists
Earth, Wind and Rider
East Coast Greenway Alliance*
Felt Racing, LLC
Finish Line Technologies
Fox Racing Shox
Giant Bicycle Inc
Gore Bike Wear
Haro Bicycle Corp.
Highway Two
Hydrapak, LLC
J & B Importers Inc.
Jamis Bikes
KHS / Freeagent Bicycles
Kenda USA
Kuota/Eurospek Inc
Louis Garneau USA
Marin Bikes
Masi Bicycles
Mavic,Inc.
New England Mountain Bike Association*
NiteRider Technical Lighting Systems
Norco Performance Bicycles
Nuun & Co
Pacific Cycle, Inc., Schwinn, GT, Mongoose
Pedro’s Inc.
Rocky Mountain Bicycles
SRAM Corp.
Salsa Cycles
Santa Cruz Bicycles Inc.
Scott USA
Sigma Sport
Specialized Bicycle Components
Squirt LLC
Storck Bicycle GmbH
The Biking Solution
The Caitlin Raymond Int’l Bone Marrow Registry*
Thomson
Thule, Inc.
Topeak/Todson Inc.
Uvex, Sports Inc.
VP Components Co Ltd.
WTB
Yakima Products Inc
Zipp Speed Weaponry

Well, I’ve been taking so long to write this post because of the game that’s been on in the background that I now know who won the game. Sorry, Boston. At least Tampa’s manager, Joe Maddon, is an avid cyclist, right?

See you in Providence!

Hearing from some of the exhibitors who will be at the event about some of their plans and it seems like no one is holding back and this will be a great event with lots of bikes and gear to try out. Jamis plans to bring no less than 40-50 models of bikes. Specialized just signed up to exhibit. Chris King should be showing their new bottom brackets and brown anodizing that was a big hit out West two weeks back. Haro, Masi, Storck, Giant, Scott USA, Santa Cruz, KHS, Felt, Zipp and BMC, to name a few, are all top brands that will be showing their lines and bikes to East Coast dealers. Regional suppliers Cannondale, Mavic, Pedro’s, Thule and Downeast will be their representing the best in Northeast bike and gear innovations. Civia, Salsa, Kuota, Fuji, Fox Racing Shox, Niterider… the list goes on. This event is the real deal.

I’m planning to head east a bit early to visit some shops in New England before the Demo. Shame I’ll have to miss the Gloucester Cross race this weekend. Last time I went to that race was back in 2000. Richard Fries and Chris Zigmont of Pedro’s are still the announcers and they are a treat to listen to while enjoying some tough New England style cross racing. Richard was the host of Good Morning Interbike and announced at CrossVegas and the USA Crits Finals at Interbike this year, by the way.

I also just learned that the Boston Bike Film Festival will be going on in Harvard Square the Friday and Saturday night prior to the Demo. I’ll probably be staying with some friends in the Boston area prior to Providence and I’d love to go to the festival. Wow – just noticed that the Head of the Charles is that same weekend. Will be hard to avoid, of course, but would love to see a bit of that since I raced there in ‘91 (6th place in the Club 4’s, by the way).

We really want this event to take off and become a real fixture on the east coast calendar. We see a lot of potential to build this into something bigger than just a trade-only event and really tap into the regional bike culture. I hope that East coast retailers see what we are trying to do for them in creating this event. We know that the expense of sending your staff out to Vegas each year is not trivial and a few of you have had to choose not to attend because of the cost or to just send the owner or buyer. So much of Interbike and the Demo are a real benefit to all staff members to get them up to speed on the latest gear and industry knowledge. This is the real reason for OutDoor Demo East: get as many of your buyers, mechanics, sales and staff members to ride the latest in bikes and cycling gear, learn from the SRAM and Mavic technical clinics, educate yourselves at the NBDA’s Super Seminars at ODDE and meet the people behind the brands.

Interbike and some of the best companies in the industry are placing a first-class trade event in your own backyard – take advantage of it! Let’s see the best East Coast, New England and Mid-Atlantic shops in Providence on the 21st and 22nd! Prove us right that the East Coast is worthy of its own trade event! If you’ve skipped a few Interbikes or sent less staff because of travel costs or timing, here’s your chance to reconnect with the best in the industry. We’re all looking forward to seeing you there!

Lance Armstrong Returns – Press Conf Las Vegas from CYCLEFILM on Vimeo.

Lance Armstrong Returns – Las Vegas Cyclocross from CYCLEFILM on Vimeo.