Go Clipless

Where are the Booth Babes?

Right here!!  Vish returns to crown the 2005 Interbike Booth Babe and tell of his copious quest for new rides.  But before I get to the tales of the Vish, I'm excited to present the first of many Clippy awards and announce to the world which Babe of Babes gets the pleasure of topping my podium.

Who says GC has no shame?  I've seen plenty of sites who flout and flaunt their pictures of Booth Babes, especially at gamer and geek conventions....go figure.  Or maybe they're just flouting our babes for their girl-at-the-booth-next-door look.  Sorry you guys have such high standards, but we are just average bikers and would be psyched if the homeliest, cross-eyed babe in our collection came out and rode with us - in a sweater.  After all, not every biker chick can look like Ms. Vanlandingham.

Here's an interesting twist on the contest idea, although in pure geek style, it plays more on poking fun at the fellow 40-year-old virgin than it does the hot babe in bed next to him.  MTBReview almost came close with its 2003 Quick Poll.  Too bad there were only seven to choose from...and one of those sounds like a guy team.  Well, all mountain bikers must be alike, since we at GC also had a small percentage of men and mannequins in our contest.  Or maybe we just have a muddy (read: dirty) sense of humor.  Either way, our very own editor, G-man, scored just behind the mannequin but still in the top 40% when the votes were tallied and the babes crowned.  Way to go, G - you're one hot bitch!!

OK, enough talk....on to the Booth Babes....

Life in the fast lane

  Life in the fast lane 
  Originally uploaded by mike1727.

Here's a great one from the Greater Manchester Cycling Campaign.

Just a glance at their blog shows quite an active bike advocacy group.

This is a poster to promote the "Love Your Bike" campaign, which was kicked off by a critical mass style bike commute.

Go Clipless 3.0

Announcing the new and improved Go Clipless 3.0!

Ok...not quite a complete overhaul, but enough changes to warrant a full point release. So break out of your RSS readers and check out the new streamlined Go Clipless. Features include:

• New two column design for a less cluttered and more mobile-friendly look.
• Light Gray background to reduce harshness from reading on a large screen.
• Wider post column (500 pixels vs. 400); reducing scrolling and optimizing your reading pleasure.
• Tighter leading between items in the list column, again reducing the need to scroll.
• Re-sequenced link lists designed with the returning visitor in mind. For example recent comments are now near the top allowing you to quickly see if a post you are tracking has any new comments and is worth revisiting.
• A consolidated blog-roll combining the best of my local favorite blogs with those in the wider cycling blogosphere. More on the blog-roll later.
• A new list of my current musical rotation with a ten word or less review...both the good and the bad. Sometimes I buy some dogs. I'm always looking for recommendations.
• Two new posts added to the noteworthy, popular, or controversial link list in case you missed them.
• A cleaned up subscription list to make it easier to subscribe with most major feed readers.

Now...the locals may be wondering what happened to all of the content for riders in Virginia, Maryland, and D.C. Well, for a while now I have been focused on writing content that would appeal to a wider audience. At the same time, there have been stories worth telling, rides worth recounting, and news worth posting that only locals would care about. I have held back from posting them so as not to bore the wider readership. Soon I will be launching Go Clipless the DC Edition so these stories can yet again be told. A couple of people have indicated an interest to participate in the new local GC so it will probably be a collaborative effort. Shoot me an e-mail if you are interested in participating as a contributing or guest author.

Finally - the blog-roll. Lots of conflicting thoughts on this one. I want to give props to my fellow local bloggers, but could not justify carrying two lists and achieve a more streamlined GC at the same time. As a result, I folded some of the local blogs into an expanded blog-roll. I only included the ones that appeal to a wider audience, those with whom I have ridden or corresponded, or those that link to GC. If I've missed a blog...let me know. The new GC DC Edition will include a comprehensive list of local bloggers.

Anyway, that's enough for now...let me know what you think of the new GC. Thanks for reading.

Luna Chix, Ultra MTB, Cannondale's CGM, and a musical - if not - soiled chamois

Just got back last night from yet another business trip. Totally wiped out...today I am taking a "mental health day" (I hate that term)to recharge and rejuvenate. I'm going for a mtb ride by myself today come hell or high water. Really looking forward to it so I can clear my head.

Last night I caught up on some blog and news reading. Here are a couple of things worth a look:

A few weeks ago I posted about Cannondale's corporate blogging program. Leslie Jump of the MarketerBlog picked up on this and asks readers to evaluate the program as either a savvy consumer generated media campaign or a missed opportunity. I left a comment with my thoughts.

The Luna Chix are expanding their cycling program beyond the elite level. VeloNews has a nice article detailing the Chix new ambassador program to encourage more women riders to join the sport (found via The Steeps). Also included in the article are rider profiles for the 2006 team. Shonny Vanlandingham, pregnant Marla Streb, and Katerina Hasunova remain with the team and are joined by newcomers Georgia Gould and Jimena Florit. Alison Dunlap will remain with the team as a spokesperson/ambassador.

Endurance mountain bike racing gets a boost with a new National Mountain Biking Ultra Endurance Series. Six grass roots endurance events have come together to form the series...read about it in Cycling News.

Soiled Chamois launched a mashup podcast.

Ok...that should keep you busy for a while...I'm off to ride...I'm sure I'll be dragging all scooby-doo zombie-style.

Bob Roll's new site, RSS, and Such

I noticed on Tidbits and More that Bob Roll has launched a Web site. I figure Bob Roll (Bobke as he calls himself) is a quirky enough character that I would check it out and see what's up.

The site looks good...navigation is simple...oh cool...the BLOG-ke.

So I go to subscribe to the RSS feed. No feed.

Shyt...a blog with no feed is like corn flakes without the milk! (Sorry...in a Bobke like mood this morning...too much Belvy last night.)

I have become such an RSS whore that this basically means the site is off my radar. Unless someone else points me to something interesting that happens there I probably won't find it.

There are so many other sites out there that I would read more regularly that have just fallen off my radar. Even sites I would really want to read regularly like Dirt Rag (come on guys...get a feed...please) get missed by me and instead I turn to the blogosphere and mainstream media sites with RSS.

Speaking of RSS...I have added a FeedBurner feed to the site. I used to avoid subscribing to someones FeedBurner feed, but now I find that there is more value to a FeedBurner feed with the ability to add to deli.icio.us and see the number of comments and such. Eventually, I'll convert the site over to just the one FeedBurner feed if I can do so without losing subscribers to my other feeds. I know there is a way...just have to figure out how to do it with this TypePad blog. (I know...I know...some of you are saying...move to WordPress.)

Google Maps for Mountain Bikers

Things are heating up on the Google Maps mashup front. The last time I reported on this topic, most of the applications were aimed at runners or road riding. Now we have two new applications using Google Maps built specifically for mountain bikers.

TheWashCycle

I'll second Gwadzilla's post on Bikecentric ... TheWashCycle (I have been meaning to give this site some link love) is a fantastic resource for D.C. area cyclists. The site has only been around for a few months, but it is already packed with rich content. It's worth subscribing to the feed even if you don't live in the area as the author does a nice job elevating the local content to a broader context. Check it out!

Maus should have franchised this idea! Haha.

Double-take

More like this can be found at Free Moustache Handlebar Rides (mostly not suitable for work, however).

Introducing the Gel-bot

It's rare that I receive a press release that is worthy of mention on the blog, but this one goes down in the truly useful category. The GEL-BOT is a single system designed to dispense both energy gel and/or water while riding. Aimed at endurance riders, this system could prove equally useful to casual riders that want to reduce the hassle factor. Now if only Camelbak could come up with an equally useful device for its hydration systems.

Here we go again...

It seems our good friend Stuart Dorland of Twenty4sports is at it again. Yesterday it was announced that the World Solo 24 Hours of Adrenalin Championships will be held only one week before the next biggest North American endurance mountain bike event - 24 Hours of Moab.

Huh? So what you say? Well, it simply means that the worlds top endurance riders will have to make a choice. (Several riders are already scratching their heads). Practically speaking they won't be able to do both events as it will be nearly impossible to recover, pack, and travel across the country to compete in a second 24 hour event in only seven days. This means the field will split and water-down the competition at each event.

Clearly this will not be good for the sport in general.

What's amazing, however, is that when the Kerkove suspension went down last year, Dorland continued to defend himself by lashing out at others for "damaging the sport." If you ask me, this looks like a tactic designed to damage the competition and settle old scores between promoters. I'm all for fighting the good fight with the competition in business, but not when your tactics are clearly contradictory to the principals for which you allegedly stand.

Meanwhile, Guitar Ted is asking the right question. Who decided that this race is the "world championship" race anyway? Dorland did...that's who! By simply naming it so. I can't believe that anyone still takes this race seriously with all of Dorland's antics.