Bike to School Week Kicks off in UK!

Most of you know that we've donated Kryptonite branded bike racks to cities and towns in the US over the last year - and we will be again this year. It's been quite a successful program with lots of interest in the racks.

At the end of last year, our friend Carlton Reid put in a request that we just couldn't refuse. We donated 20 bike racks to St. Catherine’s RC Primary School in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The head master is very pro-cycling for the kids. And then, of course, there are pro-cycling parents. It's a great recipe for more kids getting on bikes throughout their tenure at the school. It doesn't get better than that.

Check them out - they were in place last week (yes, it took a little longer that I'd hoped to get them overseas.....but it's all good)

This area will eventually have a covering over it so the kids are sheltered when properly locking and unlocking their bikes, of course.

Look - there are some kids already using the racks! But, the big kick off to the "Kryptonite Korner" was today. The start of Bike to School Week in the UK.

Not only did the kids all ride to school and fill up the racks, but Kevin Brennan, Minister for Children & Schools visited St. Cats and cut the tape on the new bike safety area! How cool is that?! We have Carlton to thank for that, too. Nicely done!

These are some great photos courtesy of Carlton, with more here. Check them out. It looks like everyone had a great time.

Bravo to all! Encouraging kids to be on their bikes is healthy and fun. Bravo, bravo!!!

UPDATE (5/7): Some great coverage on this event can be found at:

The Journal

The Journal cover shot (photo Carlton Reid)

BikeBiz

Quickrelease.tv

Bike For All

A Winter Ride

by Roby Holland, National Sales Manager


WOW, how the weather changes in New England! Today is just down right nasty. It was just right last Saturday, a beautiful forty degree day, that I was on my bike for an afternoon ride.

The problem with winter days like this is that they are very sporadic and you are not always prepared to take advantage of them. I think it took me just as long to find my gear as it took for the entire ride.

It was one of those rides where the people in the cars look at you as if you are a crazy person riding tricycle in your birthday suite during a blizzard. You, on the other hand, have the feeling like "Come-on in the water is fine! You'd be surprised what it will do for your complexion, not to mention your dogs mid section."

The ride was appox. 21 miles, and took me on my local tour of the beach and points of interest in Duxbury. The bay was quiet and void of any birds working the fish, a sight which I long for and await its triumphant return!

Back to the ride. This ride was one part introspective, one part reflection one part stress buster, and one reminiscing past rides . I bring up the four parts of my ride because I think many of us think about similar things during our times on our bikes at one time or another. The most enjoyable part of the ride for me was when I let go of the bars to stretch and almost crashed into a mailbox.

You might be asking yourself why that was the high light of my ride? This brought me back to the day that my brother and I were riding our bikes around the neighborhood with some buddies. For the last few days my brother had been trying to ride his bike "no handed" and it just was not happening. One of our buddies suggested to him that he ride faster to help steady the bike. Well, it helped alright and when my brother proudly turned his head and yelled to me "Hey Roby, check this out" he was promptly removed from his bike by one of our neighbor's extending mailboxes. All of us fell off our bikes in that debilitating laughter we all had as kids when one of your friends shows off and get absolutely abused for it. After a good chuckle to myself, I began to think of other times that my brother and I shared similar moments in our life and when that next moment would be.

The point of this rant is to remind us of the fun times we have had with friends and families on our bikes, skateboards, roller-blades or whatever vehicle brought you together and made you laugh together. More importantly not to forget these good times and fond memories and that they can still be had everyday!

Happy New Year

Help Trips for Kids! Vote Now!

If you haven’t heard, the Volvo for Life Awards are happening for the 6th year pretty soon. What are they? I can’t say it any better than they do on the website:
"Protecting our kids. Helping our neighbors. Saving our earth. This is what heroes do, the real-life heroes we honor each year through the Volvo for life Awards. Since 2002, Volvo has given these heroes nearly $5 million in funding and awards to help them continue their extraordinary work on behalf of their communities."

There are 4 categories (Safety, Quality, Environment and Butterfly) and multiple nominees in each category. Each winner from the Safety, Quality and Environment category wins $100,000! The Butterfly winner gets $25,000 and the grand prize winner gets the money and a Volvo for life. The breakdown is here.

Online voting has been open since November, but it closes at noon on Monday, January 7th. Why am I telling you this? Because we know one of the very cool nominees, Ms. Marilyn Price, the founder of Trips for Kids. She has been nominated in the Quality category.

I’m hoping that they don’t mind, but I’m going to past Marilyn’s nomination bio here so you’ll see why we all think she’s so worthy of this award:

As a young bicycle enthusiast in the mid-1980s, Marilyn Price often pedaled up the redwood-forested slopes of Mount Tamalpais across the Golden Gate Bridge. On one afternoon excursion, she stopped to look out over Tamalpais' sweeping view. Taking in San Francisco, its deep, blue bay, and the Pacific Ocean beyond, the mountain's panorama inspired in her a sense of so many paths not yet taken. She remembered the disadvantaged children whom she served when volunteering at St. Anthony's Dining Room in the heart of the city. It was from the mountain's view of a larger world that Marilyn's vision of Trips For Kids (TFK) began to take shape.

A single mother with two children, Marilyn began TFK on a simple hope and ten donated mountain bikes. But she persevered in her belief that getting inner-city youth bicycling outdoors would connect them with nature, provide exercise, and steer them away from trouble. The program has ensured that more than thirteen thousand disadvantaged children from the San Francisco Bay Area have experienced the natural world from the seat of a mountain bike. The program also teaches bicycle and computer repair work at the TFK warehouse. Through their apprenticeships, participants earn credits toward purchasing their own mountain bikes and computers.

The original program still brings inner city youth from San Francisco to bucolic Marin County to mountain bike the county's expansive countryside. "Many of these kids have never been out of a concrete setting," Marilyn notes, "and never hiked on a mountain, and never seen a deer." The typical outing begins at TFK's San Raphael warehouse, where the staff outfits the young riders for the trip. Next, the staff teams each youngster with a mentor - an experienced mountain biker who will accompany them for the duration of the trek. Together, the group sets out for Marin's lush terrain. Here, inner city kids ride from hidden ocean beaches up through steep coastal slopes forested in towering redwoods. "I liked being in a natural setting," one teenager says, "and I never thought I could make it up the slopes. But I did."

Twenty-one years ago, Marilyn Price rode up the high slopes of Mount Tamalpais and saw a view that inspired her. Marilyn's inspiration has, in turn, inspired hundreds of volunteers to join her cause - fifty-seven TFK chapters have since formed across the United States. Through her program, over thirty-eight thousand inner city children nationwide have explored a world once closed off to them: a place in nature far away from the confines of the street.

To learn more about Marilyn Price and her cause, and how you can make a difference, please visit: www.tripsforkids.org.

There are many great nominees, but we think Marilyn is fantastic and has brought cycling to many more kids than you can count. Go on…no signing up, just a little check mark. It’s so easy!! Vote for Marilyn and Trips for Kids! I did.

Go Marilyn!

Wonder Woman Contest Winner

Congratulations to Chris from Granada Hills, California. He's the winner of a brand new Wonder Woman padlock. It's on its way to you, Chris. With it are our wishes that you and your family are safe from the awful fires.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the contest. There will be another one coming soon. Stay tuned....

Perewitz Movie Night

by Jody Perewitz


We will be having a Ride-In Movie Night tomorrow night! The idea of it is that people ride their bikes here and sit on them or in the parking lot and watch a movie. Well, I am sure that a lot of people will come with kids in cars but that’s ok too!

We have a big screen that is going on the front of the building and surround sound to make sure everyone can hear the movie. We will be playing Wild Hogs staring Tim Allen, John Travolta, Martin Lawrence, and William H. Macy. The movie is a comedy about 4 guys' motorcycle journey 2000 miles across country.

I have seen this idea at some other dealerships and thought it was a great idea. We have 4 bike nights throughout the summer and I like to try a different event in the fall. Previous years we have done a kids day, HOG members day, and now a Ride-In Movie.

Hopefully this event will attract neighbors, motorcyclists, kids, customers and anyone else interested. This should be a fun family event that can tie together motorcycles and families.

The concession stand will be open. We will have fresh popcorn, snacks, candy, and warm hot cocoa in case it gets a little chilly! We are bringing our picnic tables over to the screen so if people come on bikes or anyone that wants to sit at the tables can.

So bring your chairs, blankets, and the kids for Perewitz Movie Night tomorrow October 19th!

Hope to see you there!

Wonder Woman Lock Contest

The next installment of our 'win the lock' contest. Answer the question correctly and be entered in a drawing to win the Wonder Woman padlock.

by Ryan Sawyer, graphic designer

Wonder Woman can fly, so why does she need a jet...and for the matter, why does it need to be invisible? She doesn't turn invisible when she's in it, so it just looks like a lady sitting down, zooming through the air. Do you remember when Spider-Man briefly used a dune buggy that could drive up walls? Same concept. It's like giving Aquaman some scuba gear.

Also, I wonder if her "Lasso of Truth" would hold up in court as a legal evidence. I certainly don't think she reads the criminals their rights before she hog ties them with her lasso, and anything they say while being detained by her is almost certainly coerced, since her lasso "forces" them to tell the truth. That'd be a sad day, wouldn't it? Wonder Woman finally catches Lex Luthor red handed doing something incredibly illegal, but the case gets thrown out of court because his "confession" is inadmissable and the invisible security cameras on her invisible jet use invisible tape, so no one can see the footage.

Trivia question: Wonder Woman's creator, William Moulton Marston, had a hand in creating what popular law enforcement tool?

As usual, please email your answers to Donna, donna(underscore)tocci(at)irco(dot)com. Good luck!

Dave Zabriskie's Calling YOU out!

Have ever watched the Tour Day France and thought, "I can take him". Ok, me either....but maybe you've watched a race at some point and thought, "I can hang with him." Tomorrow's your chance if you live in or near the state of Utah.

As part of the Bikes for Kids Utah, current USA Time Trial Champion, Dave Zabriskie will race YOU, big talker. Yup, that's right. Bring your trash talkin' and give it a go. For $75, which goes to this great organization, you can race Dave on a USA Cycling sanctioned time trial course. Is there a catch? No...except that it is up Salt Lake's Traverse Ridge (that to me says "mountain").

Dave's ready. Are you?!

If that's a stretch for you...'cause it is for me....you can participate in Bikes for Kids Utah on Saturday with Dave, too. There's a 5K family ride and a 50K with Dave and a metric century at 100K. Hopefully, it will be a nice fall day for a ride. Go on out and join 'em. I've only been in contact with Dave once...he visited our booth at Interbike in '06 (no not to see me...to say 'hey' to Bob Roll). He seemed very, very nice - I'm sure he'll be fun to ride with.

So, what is Bikes for Kids Utah? You can read all about them here, but basically they are an organization that started last year to provide "disadvantaged children with free bicycles as an inexpensive and fun way to get to school and as a hobby that helps them exercise as well as learn responsibility and safety."

The organization teaches them about bike safety, rules of the road and the importance of regular exercise. Last year they gave away....are you ready for this....they gave away 1,000 bikes! They are aiming to do so again this year. Amazing.

Kryptonite has been a proud supporter of this event the last two years. Seriously - kids, bikes and safety...it's a great thing for all involved.

We wish everyone involved tomorrow the time of their life and everyone a crisp, clear fall day to ride on Saturday.

A Parent's Dilemma - Tricycle or Push Bike?

by Alison Donlan, Category Manager



It all started about a month ago when my husband, my 2 year old son and I went to my brother-in-law's for a cookout. (I should mention my brother-in-law has 3 children 3 1/2, 5 and 7.) My son, whom I will lovingly refer to as "my short friend", got out of the car and his eyes popped out of his head when he saw all of the bikes and tricycles in the driveway. He made a b-line for the largest bike (the tire about his height) and attempted to get on. While I encourage my short friend to do challenging things, I was not up for a trip to the hospital so I re-directed him to a tricycle that looked a little more his speed.

He was enjoying himself on said tricycle when his cousins appeared with bicycle helmets on, jumped on their bikes and stared riding. Crisis. "Bike hat! Bike hat," my short friend exclaimed pointing furiously to his head. Thank goodness for sister-in-laws because mine came out of the house with an extra "bike hat" for my short friend. For the remainder of the day my short friend pushed himself around on the tricycle, proudly donning his new bike hat, pink flowers and all. It was very amusing and heart warming to watch.

On the way home that night (short friend asleep with newly acquired bike hat in hand) my husband and I decided it was time to procure a tricycle - or a push bike. Dilemma. Do we buy a push bike or a tricycle? It seems like the push bike is very logical for many reasons. However, are we going to deny our short friend the childhood joy of a tricycle if we buy a push bike? Will he turn 18 and revolt against us because he didn't have a tricycle? I suppose only time will tell...

Fearless Bike Riding 101

This morning I got an email with the title, "Danger, proud Dad moment." I knew it would be a photo of a writer friend's kids, but didn't have any idea what I would find. I had the biggest grin on my face when I saw this photo --

This is Freya and she is not even three years old! She's got the training wheels off and away she goes, with the just-in-case adult support right behind her (notice the pink shoe).

She doesn't seem to be slowing down at all, which isn't surprising since her dad is an accomplished rider himself. I think this may just be the start of a serious unbreakable bond between Freya, her bike and her cycling dad.

Bravo, Freya, Bravo!

A Family Ride

by Don Warren, Kryptonite Category Manager


We had planned on doing a ride on the holiday weekend and my wife came up with the idea of going on the Minuteman Bikeway trail that goes from Bedford to Cambridge MA. So we gathered the 4 bikes, made sure we filled the tires with Air, wiped the cobwebs off my wife’s and mine frame. We didn’t have a rack for the 4 bikes, but its amazing what these minivans can hold and so all fit in the back with room to spare. Then we needed to find our helmets – it’s been awhile. Kids were no problem to find as we always have them ride with one no matter, but ours took a little more searching. Now we were ready. We loaded the kids into the mini-van and we were on our way. It was about a 25 minute drive to get there from our house.

We all got out our stuff and made sure we had water bottle filled because it was a warmer day. The kids had fanny packs to put their water in because their bikes are too small for water bottle brackets. My youngest daughter, Erin (5), has a 16” bike she got from Big Sis, but we added training wheels with some “bling”. My oldest, Katie, is 10 and has a 20” bike. Since the last time I watched her ride, I found I needed to raise the seat an inch! The kids do a lot of riding around our neighborhood but were on a busy street so they don’t get to do longer rides. This summer we just didn’t get a chance to do a lot of trekking out together because we are usually so busy as a family, going in different directions, like most families. Where did this summer go??

The trail is an old railway line that has been converted with very smooth pavement. Yellow stripe in the middle separated the path. It was busy that day – we met up with other cyclists and some inline skaters along the way. During the ride, we taught the kids to stay to the right and when you are passing someone you pass to the left and tell people your doing so no one gets jolted. My youngest decided at one point to just stop – but didn’t let anyone know she was going to stop. X&*#$, boy there were some fast stops behind her.

As the trail winds down there would be a few traffic lights or stop signs where the trail crosses roads, we used those as stopping points for water bottle breaks and getting our bearings. Our goal was to search for the ice cream place that used to be along the trail. This is what drove the kids, so we went through Lexington – the historic town green area where the British battle occurred so many years ago – and watched a lot of other bikers taking a break on the green with us. We thought the ice cream place was there….but it wasn’t. After a short rest we continued on towards Cambridge in search for soft serve gold.

We kept at our pace which to my surprise had seen Erin keeping up with riders that were older. Fun to see her spinning the cranks so fast while being kept upright by the outriggers – One incident to report was when Erin ran off the road one time while riding too close to the dirt edge (tricky training wheels) kinda like a Paris-Roubaix hazzard, and scraped her knee a little bit, but she got back on after a little touch-up. As we continued along Katie and I decided we were getting a little sore from our hard saddles – about 5 miles down. Mom had the nice Sport Gel seat and was doing fine. Erin still was keeping up the whole way – no need to pull her along thank goodness and not sure she would care if your saddle was to firm! Alas we got to a point in the ride that we decided that ice cream wasn’t looking like it was very close so we decided to turn around and start our journey backwards since we had to go the same distance back to the car.

Along the way we met other kids, bikes and trailers and a couple of people who had small dogs in their backpacks as they were riding. The kids enjoyed that and it made their ride a little more enjoyable when they got to pet the dogs. Back through Lexington…I realized I needed to stand up off the saddle a little bit more and crank the peddles this way so the insuing pain didn’t hurt quite as much. I know I looked forward to the ‘finish line’ aka the car but the kids didn’t seem to mind as much. They had a bit of the energizer bunny in them. We still told them we going for the gold.

Some enterprising kids had a stand along the trail where we stopped paid a buck and had 2 cups of lemonade for the kids. It was interesting to see that the entrepreneurs were even recycling the cups!

Got back to the car and the car seat never felt so comfortable; I didn’t remember the van seat being that comfy before.

On our journey back I took the opportunity from there to take the kids on a magical mystery tour and show them areas of Concord and Lincoln that were also a big part of the American revolution. We even went by Walden Pond, too.

As our prize, we found a place called Dairy Joy in Weston that gave us what we were really looking forward to – ice cream! When we got home we realized it was a lot of fun and we should do it a more often, but with saddles that are more comfortable. We’ll be doing that soon so we can get out on the trail again very soon!

Bike Riding Alive and Well

After this year's The Tour Day France, I wondered what the impact of all the drug stories would be on cycling, in general. I'm sure there were similar thoughts at other bike companies and bike industry rated companies.

This weekend, I was pleasantly surprised during a road trip and now I know - bike riding in the US is just fine. I don't know how many youngsters are going to turn to bike racing, but bike riding is just fine.

I was traveling down Rt. 95 from Massachusetts to Connecticut (and back) this Saturday. I went to visit my best friend and her family - I don't get to see her much since she lives in Boulder, but she visits family in CT a couple of times a year and I never miss an opportunity to see her.

As I was driving down the highway, with the music on, enjoying the absolutely perfect day (blue skies, big puffy white clouds, clear air...and traffic that wasn't stopped!), I started to notice something...bicycles...everywhere. No, people weren't riding them (we're on the highway remember) but they were being carried in twos, threes, fours, fives and even, in 2 cases, six bikes at once! It seemed like every 10th car or so had bikes attached. All kinds of bikes - mountain bikes, kids bikes, road bikes - all sizes and shapes. I couldn't believe the volume of bikes I saw all the way from Mass, through Rhode Island and through CT.

It was reassuring to see all those bikes and think about all the fun adventures people either had had over the last week with them, or were headed to have on vacation with them that weekend. I just hope that when these groups got home they would ride as much as they did on vacation - take a Tour Day Neighborhood every day - or at least on the weekends, when there is a little more time.

When I got to CT, we took my friend's little boy to a big, huge park with ponds and bike paths and he started to count the bike riders that went by us...1...2...3...4...he got up to 10 before he got distracted by the lily pads (hey, lily pads are cool to a kid who isn't five yet). But, still, we were only in that particular spot for 10-15 minutes and I counted 20 people on bikes riding around the park. Again, good reassurance that bike riding is just fine!

Winner #2 - Thomas K!

Thanks to everyone who guessed about Superman's mother's name. We put the names of the folks who answered correctly into a hat and Thomas K's name was chosen. Congratulations Thomas!

Here is Thomas' answer:

Lara Lor-Van or Lora Lor-Van.
Lara was first referred to in the Superman newspaper comic strip in 1939, where her name was spelled as "Lora"; her name first appeared as being spelled "Lara" in a 1942 Superman novel. After the establishment of DC's multiverse system in the 1960s, it was retroactively shown that "Lora" was the name of Superman's mother in the Earth-Two universe, while "Lara" was Superman's mother in the Earth-One universe.


Yes, it seems that Thomas knows his Superman - he even provided all the links himself. We've sent him an email to get his address and the Superman padlock will be on its way shortly to him.

Please stay tuned...another super hero contest question coming up soon....

Man of Steel Padlock Contest

Hi everyone! I’m Ryan, Kryptonite’s recently-acquired graphic and packaging designer. Being a huge comic book geek, I am thrilled to be assigned the task of blogging about Superman. What can I say about the Man of Steel that hasn’t been said a thousand times in books, news articles, psychiatric journals (the interplay of the Superman/Clark Kent/Kal-El personalities is quite interesting), physics books, Biblical parallels…the cultural impact that Superman has brought to the world is mind-boggling.

Before radio, television and comic books, stories about our heroes were communicated through oral tradition. People like Paul Bunyan and Pecos Bill were told to have incredible powers and perform awesome feats of strength. Naturally, the key to good storytelling is embellishment, and while many of these stories were either exaggerated or just flat-out untrue, you couldn’t help but look up to the courage and strength of these heroes. Superman is the closest thing we have to folklore in America today. He’s the ultimate hero…the strength of Paul Bunyan, the moral steadfastness of Atticus Finch…and despite being 100% alien, he has a unique "Americanity" (yup, I’m making up words now) that’s rivaled only by Captain America (rest in peace, Cap).

I could go on and on, but I’m going to restrain my inner-geek and wrap this up. If comic books could be boiled down to only ONE hero, I have no doubt that it would be Superman. He wasn’t the first superhero…we’ve been telling stories of super-powered people for thousands of years…but for the past 70 years, he’s been far and above the most loved and recognized. One day, many years from now, when WWIII has wiped out all electronics on Earth and we’re living by candlelight once again, I hope to tell my grandchildren the stories of a young child, sent from the doomed planet of Krypton to a small blue marble in the Milky Way galaxy.

And now, on to the trivia question. I was going to ask what Clark Kent’s middle name is, but there’s some dispute over whether it’s Joseph or Jerome (see, this is what happens when you ret-con stories, it screws everything up). Therefore, I decided to go with something a little less debatable. And don’t cheat by going to Wikipedia!

What is the full name of Superman birth mother?

Please email your answers to Donna -- donna(underscore)tocci(at)irco(dot)com

The correct answers will be placed into a hat and the randomly-chosen winner gets a cool Superman combination padlock, which is perfect for lockers...or telephone booths. ;)

Batman Question Winner Is....

....Mr. Al Whitehurst! Not only did he answer our Batman trivia question correctly, he was picked from our hat by our category manager, Alison.

Al knew that Batman's father's profession was indeed a doctor. He was also a philanthropist, but his profession was doctor.

Dwight is so excited about this new line of locks that he's decided to kick off the contest series with the whole kit and kaboodle....Al is going to get a full set of 5 Justice League padlocks! They are sitting here on my messy desk....Al please email me your shipping address and I'll get them right out to you. donna_tocci(at)irco(dot)com

Thanks to everyone who played....next up Superman...before the end of the week. We'll ask the trivia question and have you email them in to me (thanks for the tip Caroline!). The winner will get the Superman padlock.

And, at the end of the series, we'll be giving away another whole set of locks for answering the big question correctly. Stay tuned....



Stay tuned...

The Dark Knight

For those of you who have been waiting with bated breath for the beginning of our contest - the wait is over. Batman, the Caped Crusader is the first superhero that we will test your knowledge of. Again as a reminder the first 25 respondants will be entered into a drawing where the grand prize will be a full set of the padlocks, plus the winners picture,if so interested, on our website. The question is:

What is the profession of Batman's father?

Tour DAY France Tidbits

I've caught a couple of the Tour de France stages this week (I missed the opening day due to a family reunion). I loved hearing "Tour DAY France" for the first time this year from our friend, Bob Roll. I just love it!

Speaking of Bob...he'll be checking in here over the weekend. He's blogging right here from Le Tour. I'm pumped about that. I'm hoping he writes about the first mountain stages! Stay tuned....

I started my career organizing events. It's not always easy and event day is a blur of activity. If you have time to breathe, you are lucky. Kudos to Christian Prudhomme, Tour de France director, on taking time out to not only breathe, but actually sign autographs for kids and spend a few minutes with them. That's how you make Tour fans for life!

Thanks to Carlton for sending this link. It's a bright spot in the day to know that there are people out there who take the time to make a kid's day. Bravo Mr. P!

A Small Town Holiday

Today Tim Clifford shares his 4th of July holiday and observations of the kids and their bikes in his town.



So I live in a small New England college town right out of a Norman Rockwell painting. On the fourth of July my wife and I, with coffee in hand, wander 100 yards up the street to the center of town to the large rotary (or round-a-bout for those of you in the UK ). There we stand with the 2,000 other “townies” to watch the parade come through. Since college is on break for the summer, the majority of bikes we see at this event are with younger children. Actually most of the bikes were parked (unlocked) and the kids were off watching the parade.

Since I’m overly protective of what’s mine, I expect everyone should be overly protective of what’s theirs, and kids should learn this at a young age. I mentioned to my wife “these bikes must have been abandoned, and obviously they are now looking for a good home.” Of course she didn’t see the humor in my remark and abruptly told me NO, like I was a dog on a choke chain.

But it got the salesman in me wondering….why don’t kids, and for that matter, a lot of adults, lock their bikes? Is it true that most people only think about theft after something of theirs has been stolen? For many people their bike is their mode of transportation and I expect there is a larger percentage of that group that locks them up. But for the recreational user I can’t imagine coming out of the Seven Eleven and finding my bike stolen. The stroll home would truly be the walk of shame. I hope kids and adults don’t take crime too lightly and realize that as much as you love your bike, someone else wants to love it just as much. Keep it locked.

So, later that night my wife I walk to the end of driveway where we can see the fireworks exploding about a quarter mile away. It’s raining a little and the show seems to be somewhat shorter than previous years. Fine by me, since standing under an umbrella being chowed by mosquitoes is not my idea of fun. Off we go, back in the house and awhile later we go to bed.

At 11:30pm we’re now asleep, only to we awaken by a loud explosion. Being overly protective of what’s mine, I shot out of bed, cat flying through the air to see what happened. The fireworks were starting again !! Hours had gone by, everyone had gone home and now they were starting again!! As I mentioned, I’m overprotective of my things and sleep is one of them. As I was tripping over the second cat heading for the phone to call the fire department and complain my wife, once again, intervened and told me not to be that guy. You know, the miserable old guy (or lady) in the neighborhood that complains about everything. With that I tried to go back to sleep with what sounded like the invasion at Normandy happening down the street.

On my way to work the next morning, one eye closed as I tried to catch up on my lost sleep, I noticed the “abandoned” bikes in the center of town were gone. I hope all went home with their original owners.

- Tim Clifford

My Messy Office

So...why didn't I post this morning, or at least by early afternoon? Take a look at my office...I'm hoping this explains things a little bit. Time to support some events! Here's the before...the 'after' will be on Friday sometime....I hope. At least that is the plan.

What a mess, huh??

We support about 100 events each year and most of that product is sent out by one person...me! As you can see, I'm not neat about it. But, as with any cleaning project - it must get worse before it gets better, right? By Friday I should be able to see my floor, at least most of it, and a lot of events will be happy come next week. All kinds of events - alley cats, Bike Nights, kids bike rodeos, charity auctions and the list goes on and on. We support a lot of action sports related charity events - it's one of the things I really love about my job. :) Bikes for Kids Utah and Trips for Kids - lots of stuff coming your way!

Le Tour on YouTube

I have a conflict with the Tour de France this year. I guess I did last year, too, with all the scandal and some of the comments coming out of the event organization about it all. So much so that I found myself not wanting to watch Le Tour at all. Basically, I've been sticking my head in the sand about pro cycling all spring. I haven't followed it at all. I've been focusing more on grassroots events and promotions here and how we can help communities encourage cycling. No pro stuff at all.

It works for me, until I talk with our friend Bob Roll. And then I can't help myself....I find myself asking questions about who is on the starting lists....who looks good this spring (because I haven't been watching)...and the route...and I find myself getting a little interested. I vow to myself that I'll watch a couple of nights just because it's Bob. Not for the race, but to hear what Bob and his cohorts are saying. That's all. I'm not interested. Really. I'm not.

But, I find that I can't help it. I'm counting the calendar days until the 7th. I'm reading cyclingnews.com and velonews.com every morning now. And, this morning I broke down and visited Le Tour's official website. Know what I found there? They have partnered with YouTube. There are videos - 9 so far. They show clips from past Tours. They are obviously intended to show the wonderful side of Le Tour to get people interested again after so much scandal. To remind people of the wonder of it all; why they might want to tune in again this year even with the upheaval.

It worked for me. I found myself watching the 2003 and 2004 videos and remembering it all like it was yesterday (Tyler's broken collarbone and stage win, Lance going cyclocross, great sprint finishes and mountain battles). But, there are shots there that I don't ever remember seeing before. Behind the scenes, kids and more kids, spectacular scenery, amazing camera angles, the emotion, the mountain battles and even cows. Yes, cows (watch the 2004 video).

So, yes, I will watch again this year. As much for the spectacle as for the athletic abilities displayed. I'll want to hear what Bob is saying - he'll teach me a few things and I know he'll make me laugh. But, I need to get up to speed pretty quickly, right? I haven't been following along at all. I know what I'll be doing nights for the next couple of weeks....

Who is your pick? Is it too early for all that? I think I'll go with Vinokourov. He was my pick for a podium finish last year but couldn't compete because too many members of his team were on that stupid list. Don't get me started on that, again.

So, the Tour Day France is coming. It will start in London this year and I'm not sure there is a clear cut favorite, but it will still have fabulous scenery and great mountain battles. It might just be something to watch.

Age Does Not Always = Wisdom

This is a slight rant for a Monday morning (seriously, are weekends getting shorter, or is it just me?).

As I was on my way down to my Dad's yesterday with Father's Day dinner (3-cheese baked ziti, salad and fresh Italian bread....delish, if I do say so myself!), I made an observation about two sets of bike riders. It was a gorgeous day and perfect for both motorcycle riding and bicycling. Although, most motorcycle riders, I'm sure were a little more north in Laconia. But, I digress....

My dad lives in a rural area with narrow, curvey two lane roads. There isn't much room on either side since the bushes are in full bloom on both sides. Not a great place to ride bikes, but lots of people do, and should...when they do it properly. Can you feel the rant coming?

I'm about a mile and a half from my dad's ready to go around a corner and I see, in the other lane, a couple riding their bikes...they have just come around a corner, without helmets, and riding side by side. They aren't young, either, probably in their 40s, I'd say. They aren't haulin' down the road on a training ride, either, just a leisurely, afternoon ride. As I went past them, I saw a car come around the corner and have to brake to miss them. Did the guy on the outside duck in then? No! He stayed riding in the middle of the road as they approached the next curve so the car couldn't safely pass.

I'm all for cyclists on the road. I am one sometimes. And, I'm ok with people riding side by side, when it is appropriate for all involved. Riding, side-by-side, without helmets, on a curvey, narrow country road is just stupid. Yup, I said it, stupid. I could only shake my head and hope they didn't come to any harm.

About a quarter mile down the road, on another bend, I came across two young boys on their bikes (maybe 10 years old). They each wore helmets and were riding single file around the corner. They had fishing poles and were headed off to have a great, safe day of fishing. Good for them! They, obviously, have parents who ride bikes and had some sense about them to teach the boys good riding habits early on. Hopefully, this will translate for the rest of their lives and they'll love riding and have wonderful riding experiences. All parents should take the time to teach their kids good riding habits.

My take from all this was that age does not always equal wisdom. These kids could certainly have taught the grown ups something about safety yesterday.