A New Meaning for the Phrase Cycle Track

I'm a little behind schedule with posts, as you can see. Just returned from the 2009 Power Sport Dealer Expo in Indianapolis. While it seemed that attendance was a little lighter than in recent years, the people who were there were definitely interested in doing business. The power sport dealers we talked to are trying to focus on the 92% of the people who are still employed rather than the 8% who are not - what a refreshing perspective compared to the gloom and doom too frequently presented by the media!

So, here's a belated tidbit found by Eric Anastasia, National Sales Manager, on a recent trip to Portland, OR... I was out on the Left coast in Portland Oregon last week visiting one of our distributors Cyclone Bicycle Supply. While I was there I picked up the local newspaper (Portland Tribune) to read over breakfast and I came across an interesting article about how they are enhancing their bike paths in the city. The project that they spoke about was appealing because instead of putting in bike lanes they were putting in a raised platform. It seems pretty smart because the ‘cycle track’ as they call it will be on its own level and the cars will be one level lower. Then one level higher than the ‘cycle track” will be the sidewalks that will be separated by planters. Take a look at the image that I scanned from the article and if you want to read for yourself here is the link. http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=123378662118319800

Before signing out, I'd like to congratulate Eric and his wife Cheryl on the birth of their first son and newest Team Kryptonite member yesterday morning! Eric had just arrived home from the trade show when they turned around and left for the hospital. Talk about amazing timing...

The life of the traveling salesman

by Craig Glab, Central Regional Manager


The four weeks. The whole month. It’s just about over and I’ve been gone all month.

Week 1 – Minneapolis/St. Paul. After the fine experience of my first tattoo, Don Shipman and myself traveled with the Tucker Rocky reps in Minneapolis/St. Paul. We went to both motorcycle and bicycle shops, sharing our experiences and fine tuning each other.

Week 2 – I drove down to Chicago, IL and Roby Holland, might I say, our National Sales Manager, came out and traveled with me that Monday and Tuesday. He was showing me the city of Chicago through his eyes. We also did a Lexco open house (one of our distributors) that Tuesday night while we were there.

Week 3 – I was in Portland, Oregon to meet with a potential new customer. We’ll be excited to bring them on board! Flew to Charlotte, NC to attend Ingersoll Rand’s internal school – IRU. I was sharpening up my skills to be a better salesman.

Now I’m home; it’s 80 degrees out but I’ve got emails to read and mail to go through. I can’t wait for next week. I’m on vacation! I’m turning my cell phone and everything else off. I’ll be working on my custom motorcycle.

See you in May – I’ll be back in Charlotte, NC for the May 17th race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway where we are the official motorcycle parking area of the speedway.

Filmed By Bike in Portland

Headed out to Filmed by Bike this week in Portland? Make sure to ride your bike there (it's kind of the point, right?). Don't worry, there will be a bike valet area there! Yes, courtesy of Kryptonite.

What's Filmed by Bike? Here's what they have to say about themselves:

Filmed by Bike is the West Coast's premier bike-themed film festival. The festival embraces the art and innovation of bikes through the eyes of imaginative storytellers who use moving images to celebrate the world's most efficient and creative form of transportation. Since 2003, Filmed by Bike has showcased a love of two wheels in eight minutes or less. This festival-plus-party happens once a year in Bike City, USA: Portland Oregon. The event grabs hold of an entire weekend of screenings and features movies from around the globe.

It's Friday thru Sunday this week. Check out the website for more details. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? I'm just bummed it's so far away....

In related news, check out the new bike racks at Portland's City Hall. Way to go, Portland!

Kryptonite Bike Racks

When we started our brand relaunch planning back just about a year ago we had a plan...and then we modified that plan...and then modified again. Sometimes a plan doesn't come together for whatever reason. So, not everything we originally planned for happened. Ah well...that's life.

One thing that was always on the plan was to provide some great cycling cities with permanent bike racks. We wanted to give cyclists in these cities and towns more places to secure their bikes when they were off exploring the city - or just doing daily errands.

It was a long process, longer than any of us expected, but in the end 4 cycling cities and towns will have bike racks installed - or already do. Portland, Oregon was the first city to see the bike racks. The first group was installed at the Pacific Northwest College of Art and seem to be full just about all the time.

Thanks to Rachael Allen for the photos of the Portland racks!

The school actually took away some car parking spots to put in a bigger bike rack area. How cool is that?! Now, to be fair and tell both sides, some people in Portland aren't happy that the racks have a company name on them, but most people seem to think more bike racks are a good thing and will use them. As you can see by the photos, dozens of people don't mind the little logo on the bottom of the racks. They just care about having a safe place to lock while in school or around the area. Photos like this just make us smile!

All full in Portland!

Then it was off to Blue Island, Illinois, which is just outside of Chicago. They are a city that is trying to get back to more of its roots of being a walking and cycling city. The racks were just installed there a couple of weeks ago and Roby went out to meet with some people in town, including Mayor Peloquin, to christen the racks.

Julie Sklom a resident of Blue Island and member of MainStreet,

their Open Space Committee, rides over to meet Roby)

Mayor Peloquin and his office were gracious hosts to Roby when he was in town and were happy to have these racks provided (read the mayor's thoughts here). All of the cities and towns we've partnered with have been so great to work with during this project. But the local advocacy groups have been fantastic, too. Chicagoland Bicycle Federation really helped out with getting racks placed in their area and have been very supportive of this initiative. They even came out to the christening in Blue Island (thanks guys!).

(l-r)--Keith Holt (Chicagoland Bicycle Federation), Roby, Julie Sklom,

Mayor Donald Peloquin, Nicholas Crite (Land Planning Manager)

There will be more racks installed soon in one other Portland location as well as in Austin, Texas and Palos Heights, Illinois. In all, over 75 racks will be around the country for cyclists to use when they are out and about.

As soon as the rest of the racks are in place, we'll let you know...and get some more pictures up.

Portland's Jonathan Maus on Boston TV

Not sure if I missed this the first time around since all the filming was in the summer, or if they are just getting around to airing it, but tonight's Chronicle (Boston's local channel 5 station) is featuring Portland, Oregon.

In the middle of the feature they talk to our friend Jonathan Maus who they label as a "bike activist and blogger". While they are talking with him he's sitting on his bike and what's attached to the back of the bike? Oh...a bright orange Evolution U-lock! Nice choice, Jonathan ;)

Better still, when they are cutting to break the anchor, Mary Richardson, calls Jonathan a "one man institution" taking on city hall and having the bike blog in the city. They don't mention the name of it, but we all know it's Bikeportland.org and it's fabulous! In all fairness, they do give the information here on their website.

Great to see you on this side of the country, Jonathan, even if it isn't in person. Congrats!

Portland, San Fran & Del Sol

Last week we had photos of our new billboards in Austin. This week we have photos of some new placements in San Francisco and Portland, Oregon. This is pretty exciting stuff to us because we've never done anything like this before.

Here are some shots from Portland, Oregon..

My favorite is the penguin one. I just love them. They are too cute.

Here's a shot in San Francisco...

Why the crazy, "out there" places to secure a bike? Part of that is to catch your eye as you are going by the photos. Part is to really convey that we know there are fascinating adventures to be had off the bike - Go. Do. Explore. We've got your back; no matter where you properly lock your bike.

Speaking of bikes....I'd like to thank Del Sol for jumping right in and providing the bikes for our new campaign. They were so eager to help and got a bike right to us for photography; they made the whole process an easy one. The bike is perfect for the photos. I hope they are happy with the results, too. Thanks, Jill!

So, look around when you are riding or walking in Portland and San Fran....I'll bet you'll see some of these placements. Let us know what you think. And, if you see one while you are out and about, let us know!

Kryptonite Bike Valet Programs

Kryptonite's participated in many bike valet programs over the years - some we have run ourselves and some we sponsor. I remember sitting out in the snow and ice at Cyclocross Nationals a couple of years ago, freezing while watching people's bikes. There was a lot of jumping up and down - not at the racing action, just to keep warm. Brrrrr....

But I digress....it's summer now and we have some great things going on including sponsoring two prominent bike valet programs.

The first is in Portland, Oregon. We are sponsoring the bike valet area at the open meetings for the Platinum Bicycle Master Plan. They had their first meeting this week and BikePortland has a great recap. Check it out. There are two more meetings (June 12 and June 14) in different sections of the city. If you live in Portland, participate. This is a great way to become involved in the city's cycling discussions.

The second is a much larger program. We are happy to announce our partnership with the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition as we sponsor their bike valet programs this summer. They support something like 50 events with a bike valet area. Kryptonite will be all over it! If you are at a large event in San Fran this summer, look for the Feel Free to Stop banners - that's where you can leave your bike safely. Goin' to the Movie in the Park series? Bring your bike! Participating in the Tour de Fat? Ride on over! Folsem Street Fair? We've got you covered.

Pretty cool, eh? Oh, best of all - it's Free! Wooo-hooo!

Look for more Kryptonite sponsored bike valet programs soon....we're working on it!