Dec
1
CrossVegas Piece on KCLV TV Channel 2
Filed Under Cycling, Interbike, Racing, Video | Comments Off
Saw a bunch of retweets a few days back about this CrossVegas piece that ran on Las Vegas’ KCLV TV station (channel 2). For those handful of you who are not on Twitter yet (you know who you are…) and haven’t seen it, it’s been uploaded to YouTube. It’s a nicely done video “essay” on the event by Eric Sorenson and it features a few well known friends who raced that evening like Carlton Reid and Brian Hodes.
Jul
27
CrossVegas Wheelers & Dealers
Filed Under Cycling, Events, Interbike, Racing | Comments Off
From Brook Watts of CrossVegas comes news that registration for this year’s races will open on August 1. Also note some updates to the event for its third year. We will again be providing complementary shuttle service to CrossVegas from the Sands for registered Interbike attendees, exhibitors and media (bring your badge!). Here’s their press release:
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.
Jul
20
Video: Tompkins & Fries on OutDoor Demo East 2009
Filed Under Cycling, Industry News, Interbike, OutDoor Demo East, Racing, Video | 1 Comment
Here’s a brief video we filmed back at Sea Otter earlier this year with Interbike show director, Andy Tompkins, and New England race promoter and announcer extraordinaire, Richard Fries. As we’ve announced, our OutDoor Demo East event in Providence, Rhode Island, will have two days open to the general public (Oct 10 & 11) following the trade-only days (Oct 8 & 9). We’re partnering with Richard’s company, GSD Promotions, to hold the public expo in conjuction with their Providence Cyclocross Festival. Lots of bike gear and cross racing – what could be better?
Public day registration isn’t open just yet, but if you’re a retailer, you can go ahead and register to attend here. Retailer badges allow access to all four days of the event – both trade-only and public. Find info about OutDoor Demo East here at the main Interbike website.
Jun
8
Cycling as the great American pastime?
Filed Under Cycling, Industry News, Interbike, Racing | Comments Off
From Interbike show director, Andy Tompkins, on his first trip to the big Philly races, now know as the Philadelphia International Cycling Championship.
I had the pleasure of attending the Philadelphia International Cycling Championship this past Sunday, June 7.
It seemed that the entire city embraced this race; I’ve never seen a sporting event touch so many in one community. It was the 25th edition, and an estimated three hundred thousand people lined the streets and outpoured respect and excitement for the field. Andre Greipel and Ina Teutenberg, both of Columbia-Highroad took top honors in their respective divisions, but in my opinion that was only part of the story.
In business we know that which gets attention gets done, and the 2009 event was a model of this persistence. Due to the recent economic upheaval, this years race almost didn’t stage, however local banks and casinos, along with the mayors office made sure this PA classic stayed alive. Mayor Michael Nutter was omnipresent, thanking all who took part for attending this marquis event, understanding that the race is special and important for his city.
And what a legacy to protect – while it was amazing to see the pros in action, ride the course in the Fuji-Servetto team car, and spend time with the great people of ASI (Fuji’s parent company) camped on top of Manayunk Wall (special thanks to Pat Cunnane, of ASI, and his entire crew for their hospitality), my favorite moment came courtesy of a two year old boy. His grandfather held him up to give the youngster his first glimpse of a peloton – I’ve rarely seen such an expression of unadulterated joy. The grandfather explained to me with pride twenty four years before he had taken his daughter to see the race as well, and he shared that she gave him a similar smile.
Pastimes are really shared history – common bonds of lessons and love shared through generations. Sports seem to offer this special link, but in America rarely is cycling mentioned in this context. But maybe if more cities take Philadelphia’s lead cycling may indeed become a great American pastime.
Andy Tompkins
Jun
3
*MASHLV*
Filed Under Attendee News, Cycling, Interbike, Racing | Comments Off
15 weeks, everybody…
May
23
New Spokesmen Podcast with Bob Roll
Filed Under Cycling, Industry News, Interbike, Racing | Comments Off
Had the pleasure of recording a new episode of The Spokesmen Cycling Roundtable podcast this morning. Other participants this week were host David Bernstein, Donna Tocci of Ingersol-Rand/Kryptonite, and DL Byron of BikeHugger.com. Special guest this week was the inimitable Bob Roll of pro cycling and Tour day France tv commentary fame.
Bob was an awesome guest as we talked about a variety of subjects. We were able to coax some old ‘88 Giro memories ofu the epic snowy Gavia Pass stage. Great stuff. Definitely worth a listen.
Check it out on iTunes or at www.the-spokesmen.com .
May
22
Memories of Steve Larsen
Filed Under Cycling, Industry News, Photos, Racing | 1 Comment
As most of you have heard by now, former pro Steve Larsen passed away earlier this week while out training. It was a shock to me for two reasons. First, was that I had the pleasure of getting to know the man about 10 years ago and second, I just turned the age that he was when he died.
While I can’t claim that Steve and I were friends, at a previous employer of mine we sponsored his mtb racing career and I was able to speak with him fairly regularly and met him at a few races during the season. Eventually, he purchased a shop in his native Davis, California, and he became a customer of mine, too. Always a great person, very professional as a representative of our brand, appreciative of our sponsorship and a fast and savvy racer. When I heard of his passing, I dug through my pile of memento jerseys and photo albums to find the items in the two photos accompanying this post.
The photo of me with him was taken circa 2000 when he was dividing his time between his mtb racing career and doing a few choice road races for the old Prime Alliance team. We were at the USPro race in Philadelphia in the photo. I don’t remember how he did there, but as you can see in the photo of the jersey, he had just won back the stars and stripes jersey as NORBA National champ.
The bike community lost a great man and racer. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends at this time.
A memorial service is planned for Saturday at 1 pm in his hometown of Bend, Oregon. Information about the service, a memorial ride and memorial fund that has been set up can be found over at VeloNews.
Apr
20
Levi Leipheimer discusses Twitter at Sea Otter
Filed Under Cycling, Industry News, Racing, Video | 1 Comment
Just back from the Sea Otter Classic. If you’ve ever been but missed it this year, you really missed some unbelievable Monterey weather – absolutely gorgeous. Felt a little like we were at Bootleg Canyon in September.
I was up there for two reasons, one was to attend and present at the annual Bicycle Leadership Conference on the topic of social media marketing. I’ll be posting about that soon. The other reason was to meet with members of the industry to see how things are going and to try to capture some interesting video interviews with my new good friend, videographer/producer Markus Neuert of Cyclefilm.
So in the first of many videos we’ll be posting up, here’s one that ties both reasons together as we checked in with Levi Leipheimer about his use of Twitter.
Follow us on Twitter:
Levi: @levi_leipheimer
Me: @interbike
Cyclefilm: @cyclefilm
Apr
2
SoCal high school gets velodrome & track racing program?
Filed Under Cycling, Industry News, Racing, humor | 1 Comment
How cool is this? Even in the midst of the economic crisis, a high school is investing in cycling. And not just a cycling program, but a whole velodrome!
Update: Too cool apparently. Even though I received the news in my inbox today when my hoax threat level was back down to green from yesterday’s red, I just noticed the release is dated April 1. Sorry. Shame since it would have made for a great record setting venue up in the mountains.
Read the press release below:
SOCAL HIGH SCHOOL GETS VELODROME AND TRACK RACING PROGRAM
Contact: Matt Fritzinger, fritz@socaldirt.org, (510) 653-2453, www.socaldirt.org
Cedar Glen, CA – Last night, with a 7-2 vote, the school board of Mountain Top High School approved the construction of the first ever high school velodrome and scholastic track program in America. The decision serves as a historic milestone in the main-streaming of competitive cycling in secondary schools across the state of California. While high school mountain biking has been picking up steam since 2001 with the formation of the NorCal High School Mountain Bike Racing League, track racing looks to be the next alternative for high schoolers eager for sports that suit their short attention spans.
“Mountain biking is an endurance sport and except for the occasional sprint finish, it favors athletes with slow-twitch muscles leaving young cyclists with the genetic gift of more fast-twitch muscles feeling devalued. I’m very pleased to see this new discipline brought into the schools,” commented Matt Fritzinger, director of the Northern California mountain biking program.
In what may draw some criticism, the velodrome will replace the astro-turf field and football program. MTHS’s Head football Coach, Don Boggs commented “I’m keeping an open mind here. After two losing seasons, I don’t get much say around here anyway. I’m also very impressed with the way cycling is addressing the problem of performance enhancing drugs.” Unlike professional football, which penalizes wealthy players with meager fines and has led to a vast abuse of steroids at the high school level, professional and amateur bike racers face 2-4 year bans from the sport.
School Superintendant, Jim Swift, said “I advocated for this as soon as I saw the cost-benefit analysis. A velodrome is going to cost $1.8 trillion whereas a stadium retrofit and new astroturf was going to cost us $1.9 trillion. That may seem like a small difference, but that’s actually $100 billion dollars. We can buy quite a few books and computers for that much money.”
Additionally, it appears that track racing will become a natural complement to the recently inaugurated Socal Interscholastic Cycling League that only includes mountain biking currently. Board president Quintin Easton commented, “I’m stoked -– we put the generic term ‘cycling’ in the League name because we planned to incorporate various disciplines into the League. This velodrome is a dream come true!”
Read more
Mar
26
Taking to the streets of Brooklyn this Saturday the 28th is the 2009 Red Hook Criterium. In their own words, this track bike-only event will be “an unsanctioned race through a desolate post-industrial part of Brooklyn.” How’s that for painting a mental picture of the venue?
You won’t have to rely on your imagination, though, to visualize the race since there are some pretty awesome plans to film the race in an extensive way. Again, from their press release on BikeBlog NYC:
Multiple HD cameras will be set up to film the race. At least one helmet cam will follow race action firsthand. Additionally, a surprise helmet cam shooter may be in town to cover the race. We will have a camera at the podium presentation immediately following the race.
The race starts at 11pm, but “bus and automobile traffic on the course, even if kept to a minimum, is a near-certainty.”
I can’t wait to see the film since the production is in the very capable hands of Kalim Armstrong who filmed the “Orange Bikes Take Manhattan” film from last year (below) among others. Should be some great footage of the fast and colorful action. It’s hard to beat NYC bike racing – no matter the format or discipline. Prospect Park and the Mengoni GP in Central Park were two of my favorite races before I moved out West in ‘01.
ORANGE BIKES TAKE MANHATTAN from Kalim Armstrong on Vimeo.