Go Clipless

Marla Streb's daughter loves GC

The elder statesman of women's mountain biking (an acurate but strange term, since she is far from old), Marla Streb was at Interbike with her new daughter Nicoya. Marla was signing posters along with the rest of the Luna Chicks while her husband was holding the baby. I told Marla that I tracked her pregnancy here on Go Clipless and I wondered if she would be willing to pose with her new baby.

It was nice to see that she remembered meeting me last year and that she was aware of my coverage of her on the blog. You see...even the celebs take a peek once in a while.

I gave Marla one of my cards, which Nicoya promptly swiped and began chewing. What a cutie.

And the winner is...?

Ok, ok, ok...before we can get on with this year's booth babe contest (the Vish swears it is coming this week) it is time to crown the winner of last year's contest.

J-Vicious searched high and low across the vast expanse that is the Interbike expo hall in search of the beautiful babe that you - fine GC readers - selected as the most deserving of the crown for 2005

And the winner is...

IMBA lets you grade your region's mountain bike worthiness

It's that time of year again. Time to let the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) know how you grade your area in terms of mountain bike access and availability. Each year IMBA compiles the results of it's survey and produces a report card on the health of mountain biking in the U.S. and around the world. (Here's last year's report card.)

While the survey isn't exactly scientific, it is still useful as a tool for regional bike associations to enter conversations with park authorities and political entities regarding the benefits of mountain biking. If you are active in mountain bike advocacy, IMBA offers five tips to leverage your state's grade for better access:

1. Did your state get a bad grade? Take that grade and use it to motivate people. Request a meeting with elected officials, town councils and land managers to talk about ways to work together to improve trail access.
2. Get a good grade? Then brag about it! Encourage your local and state tourism bureaus to incorporate it into their promotional materials. Ask bike shops and touring companies to do the same.
3. Get the word out. Make sure your state and local media get the news of your new Report Card grade. Customize the sample press release (below) for your state.
4. Set a goal, make a pledge. Work with other IMBA-affiliated clubs to raise your state's grade. Make a list of priorities and create a game plan to accomplish them. Make a pledge to hold meetings, conduct volunteer projects and get more involved in trail decisions.
5. Grade specific areas of your state. Breaking down your riding areas and grading them allows you to focus attention on places that need work.

Go and vote for 2006...and be honest!

Oh...and let me know what factors you use to make your grade, either good or bad. The survey instrument is so simple (probably a good thing) that I am curious what causes people to vote one way or the other.

Beer XML

Seems like beer and mountain biking go hand-in-hand. Many of the mountain bikers I know tend to seek new micro-brews as passionately as they do epic singletrack. Some even brew their own in their quest beyond the ordinary.

Now there is Beer XML to help transfer recipes across the Internet faster than Dr. P supermans over the handlebars on a downhill run.

(via Fimoculous)

2007 Bianchi Rita 29er

The Rita is Bianchi's first new 29er since the early 90's. I love how they claim on their web site that they are not trying to brag, but after all they were making big wheel bikes back in the day. So I guess what I'm hearing you say Bianchi is that you swing with the trends and don't really stick with what you know is tried an true. I wouldn't be advertising that fact if I were you.

That notwithstanding, the Bianchi Rita does look like a nice bike. It's well spec'ed with the RockShox Reba SL front fork and WTB Exiwolf 29 inch tires. It's a little pricey for a single speed at $1400, but not having ridden the Rita, it's hard to say if the price is worth it compared to a comparably spec'ed bike like the Gary Fisher Rig at about $1200.

Update 10/21/06: Just noticed that Bianchi softened it's "we invented the 29er" tone a bit on its web site. Maybe we had an impact? I'm not really trying to pick on Bianchi...I'll have to make it a point to ride one so I can give it a real review. Maybe I can find one at one of the local LBS's or if Bianchi really did read this, then perhaps we can work something out?

Surly in 2007

You've all seen the Big Dummy by now. It's Surly's new cargo bike, built in partnership with Xtracycle that should be available in the Summer of 2007. Kind of looks like it is hovering there with no back wheel, huh?

Why do people love Surly so much? Are the bikes really better? I think it's because they seem like real riders experimenting with their own bikes and then productizing the results. The bikes seem organically developed and are not part of a master plan to fill niches. They clearly do fill niches, but it seems that it is more accident than planned.

Anyway, most of the updates to existing frames are with color. From the Surly Blog:

Crosscheck - green goes, Misty Mountain Grey is new, black remains
Karate Monkey - brown goes, Husker Blu is new, black remains
Pugsley - purple goes, new color is Metallic Thunderhead Gray
Instigator - black goes, new color is red Rocket
Steamroller - charcoal goes, new color is Maroon (which really looks like chocolate syrup)
Pacer - black goes - new color is Silver Bullet metallic with new graphics - super hot
Trucker and 1x1 stay the same colors for 2007

Current colors are still available until Spring. Now's your last opportunity. No, you don't get a discount.

Surly's also releasing a new crank-set and some other parts. You can find the details on the October 3, 2006 post on the Surly Blog (for some reason I can't link to the individual post.)

Post Interbike reality

Despite the rumors, J-Vicious and I made it back from Interbike. As usual we were smacked in the face with reality upon our return. I literally didn't touch the blog over the weekend as I arrived home to a house full of extended family. And since then it's been work, work, work. J-Vicious came to work with a shiner so I guess you can say he was literally smacked with his own sort of reality too.

Meanwhile, we still have tons more Interbike stuff to post about. Some of the highlights include;

• Photos - no where near as many as you will find on Blue Collar, but we'll get them up soon. I'll probably load them up to Flickr so they'll be fairly easy to sort through. Still have some organizing and renaming to do to make it easier.
• Lots of fun and wacky products seen on the floor.
• Some more bike porn.
• Two more bike reviews from Outdoor Demo that I promised earlier.
• Interbike Blogger Meetup.
• A few cycling celebs.
• The crowning of last year's booth babe contest winner.
• and of course, J-Vicious will have this year's booth babe contest together for your votes and maybe do it just a little different this year.