Interbike - Outside Our Booth

After a heck of a week with a cold, I am finally able to breathe. If you couldn't guess, breathing is not over-rated. I credit the semi-fast turn around to my new found gem - Puffs w/Vicks. I had never seen them before and after a little investigating found out they are new. If you get a cold....go directly to the store and get some. Now...I wonder if they make things for coughs....

But, I digress.....although I spent a lot of time in our booth at Interbike I did get out a couple of times to visit some friends and see some of the sights. Got to the Thule booth to say 'hey' to Karl and Tripp, met a very nice lady at the Larabar booth (if you haven't tried them do it today...they are just too, too good and good for you), got to the Masi/Haro booth a couple of times (how could I not), met new friends at the Shimano booth (as you can see) and found these interesting items along the way.....



Yes, you see a bus in that photo. A real bus that the folks at Clif Bar drive around the country. It was a cool thing to see. I guess they were also doing smoothies or shakes during the show, too, but I got there too late for that (note to self for next year....go on day 1).


A guy rode by our booth on this one of the days of the show but I didn't get the camera out in time. The next day I found it hanging out in this booth. This is just FUN!



Then I found our friend Chris at the Earth, Wind and Rider booth. Check out this wool polo shirt. Chris took a trip around the country this summer and hung out at some messenger events and found that they are playing street polo now. These shirts are just sweeeet....there are 6 total with different colors and numbers that are distinctive to the cities they represent. The numbers are...get this...the area codes (brilliant!) and the colors have something to do with the city...Boston's red because of the Red Sox (ha)...New York is yellow for the taxi cabs, or in my mind for the New York Lock...Oakland is silver to match the Raiders and so forth. Way cool.

My last stop before I packed up and left the show was to visit a long-time friend of mine, Dave Murphy, over at the Sugoi booth. He showed me some absolutely kickin' new items for 2008. He's been with the company for about a year and a half now and I can see his touch pretty much everywhere. There was just too much goodness to take photos of everything, but check out this women's jersey.....it has a cupcake design on it and in the pocket??? The recipe to make cupcakes. How fun is that?! Look for it next spring.

That's it for now...one more Interbike post from me to come...after all, we did have some great things happen IN our booth, too.....

Happy Weekend all!

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 week full of summer wrap-ups

by Jody Perewitz


Here at Perewitz Cycle Fab we had a busy week September 17-23! There were so many events going on in one week no one at the Perewitz shop got a good nights rest.

It started on Tuesday with Kory's, our service manager, birthday! Another birthday gone with the wind! Next on Wednesday we had our last Bike Night and what a night!

Wednesday was a nice day for bike night. As Donna has stated we luck out and always seem to get good weather, although I don’t want to curse us so we’ll say we have always HAD good weather! Well, the bike night was a huge success! We never know how the last one is going to be because kids are back to school and it gets dark so much earlier.

Those things didn’t seem to stop the crowd though! The parking lot was full, the food line was long and there were numerous volunteers, who got a free Kryptonite lock, to do burnouts. The first one was on a complete custom motorcycle which is cool because usually it's stock bikes, not that those are bad! Anyway it was a great night and an even better way to end the season!

Next we had a long weekend full of events. We had our annual, invitation only charity event, the Fall Foliage Run. It started with a ride from our shop to the Cape, then dinner at our house for 200 people!

On Saturday we had a poker run and a lobster dinner with a live auction. Thanks to the high bidders on the auction items - hopefully we will have a good amount of money to donate to the Multiple Sclerosis Society. On Sunday everyone rode to Provincetown and came back to the Perewitz manor for an Italian dinner and some leftovers. What a weekend!

We skipped work Monday to clean up the house, get rid of the trash, put things away, and eat some great leftovers that have lasted all week! Phew, I am glad it is over but sad to see another season go!

Till the next one!

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...

Devastation Can Happen Anywhere

by Craig Glab, Regional Manager (Central)



I was in Minneapolis on September 13, to visit Erik’s Bike Shop in Dinky Town. They have more than one store, but the one I visited is right there in the U of M campus area and they are a great Kryptonite dealer. I went to the store and conducted business and then drove across the bridge that is the closest bridge to the I-35 bridge collapse.

When I was driving, I decided as a former Minnesotan I wanted to capture the view to show other people what I saw. The destruction was phenomenal. I had been there just a couple of months before the bridge collapse. And, in the past, I’d driven across the I-35 bridge many times – anyone who has driven it can probably still remember all the pot holes and where they were, I know I do.

I guess it is different for all of us – we’ll all have our own thoughts on this tragedy. If you don’t live in the Twin Cities area think of it this way - if it was a tunnel in Boston or a bridge in San Fran or wherever you live, it would mean more to you, I guess, especially if you drove it every day and then all of a sudden it wasn’t there any more. You might even think it could be you. It could be any one of us. This is particularly devastating for anyone who lives in, or has lived in, Minneapolis.

It really brings to my mind the question, “how short is life”? In a split second this could happen to you…or me. It could be any one of us. This huge bridge was there once and now it is gone…amazing. I guess I still have a hard time with it.

Here are some interesting photos of what I saw last month.

Lake Mead Ride Video

I've been to Interbike 8 times now...and 6 of those I've come home sick. This year is no exception. I've got a red nose, watery eyes and the sniffles. People in the office are avoiding me like crazy....which could be a good thing. I'll get lots done between sneezes.

So, I wasn't feeling that chipper to write this morning. Thank goodness for friends and their creativity!

Carlton Reid sent this link to me this morning. It's a fun video of the 24-mile industry ride to Lake Mead that happened before the indoor portion of Interbike started this year. You'll see the Masiguy, David Bernstein, Rich Kelly and the Boston Globe's Ross Kerber (I told you he was a bike guy!).

Enjoy!

Boston Globe Talks Simply Cycling

There are more photos and commentary from the Interbike show, but I'm weeding through emails this morning....tons tend to pile up when you are out for a week, even when you peek at them half way through the week....

But, I didn't want y'all to miss a couple of articles in today's Boston Globe, which you can view online. The Globe sent out business reporter, Ross Kerber, whom I've known for years. He's a good, fair reporter who just happens to be a total bike person. I'm not sure he considered headed to Vegas for Dirt Demo and the first day of the show 'work', but we won't tell his bosses that.

Anyway, he spent some time at Dirt Demo trying bikes and then walked around the show. His article, "Simple Cycling" is a great one and worth the read. Also worth the read is his second article, "Finding Profit in the Practical". Gee, I wonder who you'll find in that piece... give it a read, too.

Interbike Day 1

Day 1 of the Interbike show opened with a flourish. I don't think I took a deep breath until about noon - or maybe later.

Highlights:
- seeing good friends! Some I only see once a year, some I haven't seen in a few years and others that I have never met in person until yesterday. I know trade shows are a lot of work, but this truly is the best part. And, if you have more than 2 minutes to catch up with some of these folks, it's truly a great day. Thanks to those friends who found more than a few minutes to catch up.

- having Bob Roll in the booth, of course. Bob is always fun and brings in a great crowd.

- judging the YouTube contest at the Shimano booth. I was in some pretty cool company. Wow!

- actually doing a Spokesmen podcast in the same room with the rest of the crew! I may have sounded like a complete dork, but it was great to be in the same room with David, Carlton, Tim and Tim.

- seeing dragons - yes, dragons...

- attending the 7-Eleven team reunion. What a historic occasion. As John Eustice said, this is really the team that started it all...7-Eleven to Motorola to US Postal to Discovery....and what stories they have of the 'old days'. The pre-event announcement mentioned "Celebrating the Fast Times & Raucous Racing of American Cycling's Original Supergroup". After hearing some of the stories, I have to think it was quite a wild ride (no pun intended).

***The 7-Eleven reunion was a fundraiser for the Davis Phinney Foundation. All donations to the foundation to October will be matched by Bicycling Magazine. You can donate here, just leave the box for the "Victory Lap" checked and Bicycling will match. Bravo, Bicycling!

Ok, got to run to the second day....here are a few photos...




Kryptonite booth (side view)



Oh, look at the front view of our booth...it's the new Masi Soulville ...yes, it's as cool as you think it is....and it looks good on our flamed out parking meter (yes, it's a Dave Perewitz original).



Bob Roll telling stories to some cycling fans at the Kryptonite booth.




I'm a lucky gal....this was the group judging the YouTube contest. (l-r) Dave (Shimano), David (Fredcast/The Spokesmen), Tim Grahl (Crooked Cog), little ole me (!), Bob Roll (y'all know him...), Master of Ceremonies Carlton (BikeBiz), Mr. Kozo Shimano (our gracious host) and Phil Liggett (y'all know him, too).


I wasn't kidding about the dragons....

We're all set up

So...Interbike set up day is behind us...we are ready to go. Or as ready as we will ever be.

Today was a day for all the little things to go wrong - although not many did for us. A shelf missing a peg here....a hook missing there...minor stuff really. The one missing piece is our Masi bike, but that's coming in the morning. I'm super pumped about that. I guess it's been getting a lot of attention out at Dirt Demo - the belle of the ball. Congrats to Masiguy!

Among all the craziness it was a time to see some dear old friends that we don't see often enough. I saw Eric from Park Tool (as he was on his way to take one of their guys to the hospital for stitches after Dirt Demo- eek), Tripp from Thule, Eric from Pedro's and Chris Fallon from Earth, Wind & Rider. All friends from way back that I don't see often enough.

Rich Kelly ran by the booth and actually stopped to say 'hey'. It was great of him to stop for a couple of minutes in his busy day. I can only imagine how busy he really is during this show. Thanks for stopping in, Rich.

Bob Roll's here...haven't seen him or talked to him, but did a mean game of phone tag with him today. We'll see him at the booth tomorrow.

Tomorrow's the day. So many folks that I can't wait to see!

Here are some photos from set up day.

Ok, it's fuzzy, but this gives you an idea of what the spaces between the booths look like the day before the show...all crates as far as you can see.

The view from the top of our booth. Doesn't look like there is room for any customers does it? There will be by tomorrow - all the ladders, boxes and assorted stuff will be outta there.

We're all glad that Chris Fallon stopped by to say 'hello'.

In Vegas

A little sleepy from all the travel yesterday and not sleeping so well last night, but I'm here and rarin' to go.

Interestingly, I pull up to the hotel last night, get out of the cab and the first person I saw was Mario Cipollini. That's a nice way to kick off the Interbike experience.

Trade shows aren't all glamor, though (and yes, Mr. Lion King looked all decked out for a night on the town last night)....this morning it's off to pick up packages that we sent to ourselves here - I'm wondering how I'm going to carry them all from package pick up to the booth, actually, since I haven't honed my juggling skills...then off to the show floor to help getting the booth ready. We have a company that comes in and constructs the booth, but someone needs to be there to do the little things that happen behind the scenes - set up the reception counter, organize the storage room (what stays, what goes back in the crate to storage), where do the products go on the walls (Don and Ross will be doing that bit later today) and just a whole host of other things.

Oh, and find Masiguy to take delivery of the new Masi Soulville! Yes, we're lucky ducks - we get the brand new baby to display in our booth. Unfortunately, we need to give it back on Friday. Bummer.

Ok, off to the show...

Vegas/Interbike Here We Come!

Well, part of the crew is already out there at a meeting...seriously...that's their party line and they're sticking to it anyway.

The rest of us arrive tonight and tomorrow. We're all there for the Interbike trade show. Bob Roll's given his pre-event take on it and I have to say it isn't too far off my opinions. But, I'm very excited to see all the great people that I only get to see once a year. There are too many to name here, I'd miss someone and feel terrible about it. Just suffice to say, I'm glad to see all these folks!

I'll try to blog from the show, but I won't be as good about it as Fritz will, or any number of the other bloggers going. Tim Grahl, he'll be all over the show. And so many more. Me? I'll be hanging in my booth for the most part, except for The Spokesmen live podcast on Wednesday. Yikes - live! But, that may give me a unique perspective to the show - most bloggers get to walk the show and see all kinds of cool things. I will let you know what I see from the inside of a booth out. Could be booorrrring to y'all....but could be interesting. We'll just have to wait and see.

If you are a dealer and headed to the show come by and see us! We're in the same place as always (I don't know if I could find my way somewhere else at this point!) - booth 3319. All of our new regional managers will be there to abuse...I mean meet and talk with. :)

One thing that I know won't be boring to write about.......Bob Roll will be with us on Wednesday and Thursday mornings from 10-11am with FREE COFFEE. You know you need it to give you a little boost after one of those looong Vegas nights.

We are also giving away a chance to ride with Bob Roll to a lucky dealer. We'll bring Bob to you. Yes, we will. It's a great promo for your store. Bob will come ride with you and some of your friends and then hang out at the store and have a little coffee and chat with your customers.

So...Feel Free to Stop at the Kryptonite booth, say 'hey', chat with Bob, get some coffee and enter the drawing.

See you there!

Fall Foliage Run Weekend Raises Money for MS

It was a beautiful fall weekend on Cape Cod. The air was clear, the temperature was warm, most of the tourists were gone so traffic wasn't an issue and there was the sound of motorcycles all around! It was the Perewitz family's annual invitaional Fall Foliage Run Weekend. The FFR is for their motorcycle club, the Hamsters, and a few close friends.

It's a full weekend with a ride from the Perewitz Bridgewater shop to the Cape on Friday afternoon and a huge BBQ and silent auction at the Perewitz cape house. This year they even had a band playing in the back yard. Lots of fun and money was raised during the auction for the National MS Society.

Saturday dawned a little overcast, but still great weather for the annual Poker Run. Everyone had a great time riding with each other and enjoying the company at the different stops. The winner rec'd this sweeeeet, custom painted 'trash can'.

Saturday night was the big lobster & BBQ dinner and live auction where thousands of dollars were raised for the MS Society, which is a charity near and dear to their hearts and mine as well.

Below are a few pics from Saturday night. Enjoy.

Susan and Jesse work out some last minute details.


The raw bar is prepared....

The tables were ready to go.....

Doors Open!


Susan, Dave and Jody were at the door greeting guests.

Chef Kory & Company were in the kitchen making a great fish dish and keeping the lobsters coming!

Full house! Everyone seemed to have a great time....

....including Joe Pro in his funky hat.

We even caught a glimpse of Beach from The Beachcruiser! Train was with him. It was great to meet them in person finally!

Soon it was time for the charity auction.

There were some very cool items to bid on. Check out the custom made Converse sneakers.

I kind of liked this fun mail box on wheels.

Local artist, Greg Vaughan donated a one-of-a-kind Fall Foliage Run painted horseshoe crab for the auction and presented the Perewitz family with this one for their trophy case at the shop. Talk about unique!

No event can be done without the hard work of many. Here is just part of the crew that spent their time making this event a success. Bravo gang!

And...of course.....there was cake....yummy cake....

Thanks to the Perewitz family for being so generous, putting on a fantastic weekend and supporting this great charity.

Former World Rally Champion killed in helicopter accident

by Neil McDaid, Director of Product Development and Design

Colin McRae - Spring, 2007

Photo: Neil McDaid

This past weekend motor sport lost one of its true superstars, way before his time. Colin McRae, 39, along with his 5 year old son Johnny and two friends lost their lives in a helicopter accident near his home in Lanark, Scotland.

Colin was without question one of the most exciting drivers to ever drive a rally car. Fans would flock in the thousands to see McRae as he was a fierce competitor, often pushing himself and his machinery to the limit and sometimes beyond.

In 1995 Colin clinched the World Rally Championship in a Subaru. In his career on the WRC circuit he racked up an amazing 25 World Rally victories. Colin most recently competed in the 2007 X-Game rally along side Travis Pastrana.

Colin has left behind a void that will be hard to fill.

# 88, Pepsi/National Guard and Dale Jr

Dale Jr. signs autographs at NHIS this past weekend. He will not be with the same sponsor next year.

As I just mentioned, I was listening to the announcement of Dale Earnhardt Junior's announcement. So was Don, by the way...we were like small children, actually....we listened intently for the new number (which we heard rumors about this past weekend at NHIS) and the new sponsors.

So, the cat is finally out of the bag for all NASCAR fans (including many of us here).

Dale Earnhardt Junior will be in the #88 Chevy next year. They will partner with Pepsi (Amp and Mountain Dew) and the National Guard. Seems like a good fit to us. Junior says that this is a "perfect fit". But, it will be a mouthful in victory lane to say "Mountain Dew, Amp Energy, National Guard Chevy". And, we're all sure he will be saying that in victory lane....

Kryptonite at NASCAR

Yes, I'm a huge NASCAR fan. Have been my whole life. That's not a surprise to anyone who knows me or anyone who reads this blog. However, Kryptonite's connection to NASCAR is a little more subtle.

I was up at the New Hampshire International Speedway this weekend for the race. Uniquely, people that go to this race bring their little red wagons with them to haul things from their parking spaces to the track. They decorate them, too.

Obviously, they can't take the wagons in with them so they lock them to the fence so they are there when they come back. They do this throughout the weekend, but race day is complete craziness. There isn't a spot on the fence to be had.

What keeps those wagons safe and sound? For the most part....you guessed it....Kryptonite! I had a nice little grin on my face when I saw these.



Safe and secure!

This was on Friday...you should hae seen this fence on Sunday, race day. Wow!

This is an old hardware cable....

And, look, the newest lock from Schlage, which is another brand of our parent company. Cool, huh?

Now, as every NASCAR fan is doing....I'm off to watch the Dale Jr announcement about the new sponsor and car number...rumor has it he'll be in a car with the 88 number, but we'll see....

Perewitz Bike Night Tonight

It's the last Bike Night at Perewitz Cycle Fab tonight. Looks like it is going to be a gorgeous Fall evening here in Massachusetts. If you are in the area, c'mon by. Roby and I will both be there.

Show Time!

by Bob Roll



I love Interbike! Interbike is the annual bicycle convention in Las Vegas that has become a ritual gathering of the tribe. Nearly every manufacturer from all over the world, who make every component you could imagine and quite a few you can’t even believe, all congregate each fall in Las Vegas to show the world their products.

I love all the new shiny gizmos displayed under the shiny lights. Even after so many years seeing all the new bikes, wheels, components, clothing and, of course Kryptonite locks, it never ceases to get me excited about riding all over again.

Whenever I see something that I fancy I can’t wait to try it out on the road or trail. What amazes me is that this has been going on for over 20 years. If you added up all the extra tradeshows that I’ve been to, I’ve probably been to more than all, if that’s possible.

Try to imagine, if you will, the best products from Asia, North and South America, Europe and even Africa that relate to cycling even in the remotest sense and put all of those products and people in the same building for three days and nights. Then throw in a variety of personalities and you have an absolutely spectacular display of innovation and wackiness. Now, factor in the inevitable one-upsmanship and you start to get an idea of the pandemonium and joy on display at Interbike.

I am trying to love Vegas also. I have been less than successful in the past and so I’ve decided that there are certain aspects of Vegas that I love more than others. One thing I don’t love is the transportation system. It might be worst in the world. Waiting for an hour in a taxi stand every single time you need to go somewhere gets old after about the first hour. That is exacerbated by the fact that it is illegal to walk anywhere, apparently, and the distances are staggering even if you had the inclination to walk.

I also am not crazy about gambling. I find it hard to believe it’s legal for people to lose all their money, sometimes in a matter of minutes. The chances of anybody winning more money than they started with when you factor in the heartache of bankruptcy must be less than zero.

I’m sure there are many things to love about Vegas and I’m still trying desperately to find any. Mostly, though, I love Interbike because of the people who attend. It is the only chance I get during the year to see many of the people with whom I’ve spent my entire adult life. I also love to see the famous bike racers, riders like George Hincapie, Greg LeMond, Ron Kiefel, Davis Phinney and Levi Leipheimer, among many other luminaries, are perennial attractions that make the show a tremendous amount of fun.

It’s also, for me personally, a chance to reconnect with some of my ex-team mates from my racing days. There have been, over the years, some celebrities that provide really delicious surprises. I’m speaking, of course, of Phil Liggett - although we have yet to experience a confirmed sighting of Paul Sherwen.

The schedule this year tentatively includes, but is not limited to, the World Criterium Championships, a 7-Eleven team reunion, a cyclocross race, the mountain bike hall of fame induction ceremony, the Wounded Warrior Ride coming into Vegas, the Shimano/YouTube video competition judging and an outdoor demo where anybody can ride the latest equipment. As well as lunch at the Italian pavilion, which is not to be missed.

All in all, with so much fun, excitement, innovation, late nights and early mornings, the town of Las Vegas itself and all the personalities, it’s probably good that Interbike only happens once a year.

Lordy, Lordy, Look Who's Forty [3]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DON!!!!

From the rest of the Kryptonite gang

photo by lead instigator, Neil McDaid

Austin Farmers' Market

As you saw, we had a billboard campaign in Austin, Texas last month and promised that there would be more to come in Austin. We weren't kidding.

Earlier this summer we partnered with the Austin Cycling Association to sponsor their bike valet program. They've been providing bike valet areas all over Austin recently so you can ride your bike to events and not worry about it being gone when you come back. It'll be there.

Thanks to all the volunteers who are helping us to make this all possible!

Check out a recent bike valet area at the Austin Farmers' Market!

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!

Bicycling Has Minneapolis Bike Commuter Story

Bicycling Magazine has a section of their website where they highlight people's bike adventures and stories. This week they have a doozie - one very worth reading. Bicycle commuter Dan Schueller was at the base of the I-35W bridge that collapsed last month in Minneapolis. His story and photos are riveting. He was a perfect person to be there since he didn't think of his own well-being, he just jumped in to help.

Amazing. Bravo, Dan, Bravo.

My first experience with mountain biking

by John Joy, Kryptonite Engineer

Back in India I used my bike for transportation only. Getting from point A to point B. But this was something totally different.

Neil and I went to the Blue Hills on Friday after work. I thought it would be soft trails, maybe some mud. Something easy to do. Not rocks. The first bit, there was a clean road – I thought it would be easy and it was. That was the beginning. After that we went up a trail, that was easy, too.

Neil then asked if I was comfortable and I said, ‘yes’ and he took me to a steep, steep trail! I got launched twice! Gravity took over. One time, when I got launched, Neil was at the bottom waiting to see the fun. But, I didn’t really get banged up.

We cycled for more than an hour and it was fun! I loved it! Now I need to get my full gear. I didn’t have all the right gear so my feet were slipping a little bit, but it was a good experience. A good start.

*photo by Neil McDaid