What a weekend.

It's been a full week since our last post. I had part of last week off and the Velocity train doesn't stop, so a few other things took precedence over blog posts. It is important to note that we do have some pretty amazing things up our sleeves for the coming months and I can't wait for the launch of them!

This weekend I would say it's safe to say summer has hit here in west Michigan. Sure, June 21st is the official date for summer but with temperatures in the 80's and look to be that way for the coming week, it's hard to argue differently. Any excuse not to ride is now out the door.

Yesterday, the wMMBA put on it's first Misery Loves Company free time trial race down on the gravel roads around Yankee Springs and on some the Barry Roubaix course. With the solid presence of the Founders Ale Racing team along with our very own, Ryan and Jacobi, and around 30 other riders from all accounts the event was a success. With the 80 degree temps and some humidity topped with an solid amount of sand, the race lived up to its name and provided enough misery a 12 mile time trial could.

Jacobi decided to try out an interesting approach with his bike set-up for this race; with his Fisher Super Fly rocking a P35 front wheel partnered with a 700 x 40 tire and on the rear going with the B43, yes a B43, and a 700 x 32 tire. In traditional Jacobi logic this would provide a 'roller coaster' effect once up to speed, mirroring his success on his Iver Johnson in gravel races. Sure, it would fight you on hills but given Jacobi's size it would increase downhill speed and help cut through the wind. Needless to say, he admits the 'roller coaster' effect worked but having more float [which the P35 front and rear would have provided] is what he would have ideally needed for this course. Even with that, Jacobi still won the Men's 35 and under category and Ryan took home first in the Men's Single Speed.

There is another Misery Loves Company time trial planned by the wMMBA for Saturday, August 28th at 2pm. For the second edition they are doubling the length to 25 miles of gravel/sand goodness. Check out the wMMBA site and their Facebook page for updates on all of the WMMBA/MMBA events.

In other weekend news, our fearless GM, Matt headed to Minneapolis on Friday to participate in the the Midwest Bike Polo Championship 8. We don't know how the tournament went so far since Matt is traveling back today and I'll see if I can get him to do a little write up about it. From all that I can gather from the Twitter feeds, this was another great event with a solid turn out with lots of bike polo had by all.

Remember, there is still a week left of Bike Month.

Get out. Ride. Advocate.

Trail Work.

For the past few months, especially these past few weeks, there has been a growing movement of people involved in developing the new trails within city limits here in Grand Rapids, appropriately called GR Bike Park. We've mentioned the park awhile back when preliminary layout was done in January and Ryan threw out his back. This park renewal, specifically the trail system, has been headed up by the wMMBA and has been gaining a lot of steam as the pump track is in it's final stages of completion and the single track is coming along well.

With the May 15th launch date quickly approaching, work has been occurring on the Thursday nights and a few weekends to get this urban bike complex together. J-Bolt, Ryan, Matt, Jacobi and along with the hard work of countless others, have been pouring in the hours to make these trails a reality. This is truly a great thing to see and to hear going on; especially when local governments are tight on funds, for outside groups to rise up, develop, manage and pursue projects like the GR Bike Park. This is the first park of it's type here in Grand Rapids with talk of another already started.

So if you're in the Western Michigan area, check out the Facebook event page and GR Bike Park's Facebook and Twitter pages to keep up on the status of the trails [along with pictures], when trail work days are happening and other ways to help. Finally, this weekend is the 21st running of the Yankee Springs Time Trial down at the Yankee Springs State Recreational Area near Gun Lake. It's a great race for the start of most riders seasons with around 600 riders showing up. Good luck to everyone!

Whether you are racing or not, get out and ride this weekend. Enjoy!

Grand Rapids BFF

This weekend here in Grand Rapids is the 3rd annual Bicycle Film Fest, in what I must say is perfect timing for the event. Seeing that this a weekend meant for couples and that most of us might, healthy or not, consider one if not all our bikes as our significant other; going to see a few films on our favorite sport seems almost right.

The BFF is organized by the wMMBA, the Rapid Wheelmen, and Grand Rapids BMX, and is being held at the Wealthy Theater. Looks as if it will be an all day affair if wanted with both a matinee and a evening show:

MATINEE SHOW: Doors open at 2:30. Movies from 3-5pm. Pre-sale tickets are $5. Day of tickets are $7. The matinee is a BMX themed event in the Koning Micro Theatre.
EVENING SHOW: Doors open at 6:30. Movies from 7-10pm. Pre-sale tickets are $13. Day of tickets are $15. The evening show has movies running in both the main theater (Wege Auditorium) and the Koning Micro Theatre. We have a collection of cycling shorts, documentaries, great cinematography, and a couple local production efforts included.

Be sure the check out the Facebook page for the event for any questions.

If we had to pick one, we're pretty excited for the Revival showing in the evening. But it all looks pretty good here's a list of the films being shown with as many of the previews I could find:

-Matinee (Koning Micro Theatre)
-BMX Crash Clips
-John Heaton BMX Life


-Michigan NBL Promo
-Stompin Stu


-1974 Yamaha Gold
-70's Sidehack Racing
-Jag Worlds Pro Main
-1901 Freestyle
-70's Schwinn BMX Pro

-Evening (Koning Micro Theatre):
-Joe Kid on a Sting Ray


-Revival

THE REVIVAL from morehartfilms on Vimeo.

-More then 100 Miles (full run)


Evening (Wege Auditorium):
-Fat Bike

Fat Bike Trailer from indieAK films on Vimeo.

-Le Movement Supreme
-More then 100 Miles (short run)
-D2 Labs Promo Video
-Into the Thunder Dragon


-The Motion Initiative
-Filmed by Bike (shorts from around the world)

So much more.

Dear Internet,

As mentioned last week, there has been a few dedicated people who are leading the charge here in Grand Rapids for the new mountain bike park/trails. There was a great write up in our Sunday paper on the project, it's just been really great to see the amount of support and enthusiasm the park is getting from the community [cyclist or not]. Urban renewal takes a lot of different forms, as more and more local governments are making hard decisions on budgets; it's encouraging to see to private citizens and groups, like the IMBA, MMBA, and wMMBA, stepping up to better an area for the greater community. Sure it's just a bike park, but it's so much more.

Also over the weekend, there was a little gathering of 700CMXers for the the Midwest Mayhem in Milwaukee. From the video it looks like it was a really solid turn out. Hope everyone who turned out had a great time and congratulations to all the winners. There are numerous sites to check out all the went down but there are some pretty stellar photos from the event here.

MIDWEST MAYHEM!!! from Seth Root on Vimeo.

Holiday Ride

This past Sunday, the WMMBA put on their annual Holiday Ride. This was just a great casual ride around Grand Rapids as we celebrate simply riding and also join in on some of the Christmas 'spirits'. The ride was lead by Steve from Ada Bike shop, who did a great job of keeping all 30 or so of us rider all wrangled up and behaving.

The ride left from Founders Brewery shortly after 1pm...

Riding a strong 1.5 miles to our first stop...

the Winchester, [or 'A' on the map] a great little bar named hopefully after this great movie...

We then packed up to stretch the legs out a bit further... around a half a mile to be certain

to land at the Green Well [point 'B']

We finally actually got out and road a bit further north of town where we passed a sledding hill that a majority of the riders just had to try out, fortunately [or unfortunately depending on your outlook] no one went down [point '0']


Stop 3 [point 'C']took us to Quinn & Tuite's Pub, which was my favorite stop of the day if I had to pick a favorite over Founders. Just a great neighborhood pub.

The ride then headed on to Cambridge House. J-Bolt, Matt, myself and few others headed to 'X of Death' instead of stopping at the next stop. Unfortunately, the 'X of Death' was more of an 'X of too much work for no pay off' so much so that the pictures taken there were embarrassingly sub par. No worries though, we then completed the ride by landing back at Founders.

Just a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Here's a map of the ride for your enjoyment:

On another note, the Skidaddleisco Alleycat that was scheduled for this past weekend got rained out due to rain. Mark your calendar's West Coasters, it'll be running THIS weekend the 18th. Another reason to get out and ride to try to get your hands on some sweet swag...

Jive...

For those of you who are in the know, we have some pretty great mountain bike trails up here in the mitten. The governing body for these trails, the Michigan Mountain Bike Association, has been doing a stellar job at advocating, developing and starting these trails state-wide; benefiting not only us riders but many a hiker and equestrian. These trails have been some thing of great pride and work for the many MMBA members and officers who have donated their time and energy for the enjoyment of the masses.

Unfortunately, we all know how trails around the country and world have been lost or are on the brink of being closed because of the actions of a few. This is where most might stop reading, thinking it's the normal talk we've heard before or assuming that it's just the typical rant about poor decisions and choices or maybe you might not even understand completely what all the fuss is about. The reality, sure... nothing is new but even if you're not a mountain biker it's important to understanding the effects of how we ride and handle ourselves when not riding has on the non-rider.

Recently it has become a topic of discussion around here, posted over on our local chapter of the MMBA's site, the Western MMBA, and also on a few forums what some of the issues and problems occurring at a new trail, Luton Park, have been. This pilot trail system has become a very popular and developed very quick with a number of stellar loops for all ability levels. On the wMMBA blog, there is a great thread concerning what has been happening and below I've post what seems to be at the heart of it...

The issues we're beginning to experience at Luton is microcosm of what occurs nationwide, so Yes! these things have either happened at your local trails, are happening at your local trails, or some time will happen at your local trails...

Illegal Parking

Let's be honest, we all know where we should park but our Walmart mentality of getting the closest spot possible often takes over. So remember, you're out there to ride your bike if you get to park further away it only means you get to spend more time in the saddle... which is what you wanted to do anyways.

Night riding in parks [Tresspassing]

Night riding rocks. Riding on new trails or cutting new trails can be exhilarating. But the reality is, these rules are for your safety. Certain trails do open up at certain times of the year to ride at night, take advantage of it or join in the fun of the growing endurance race scene. If you want to develop new trails, look into your local organizations like the MMBA who not only maintain the trails you already love, but develop new trails WITH the support of the local communities.

Urinating in Public

When you've gotta go, you've gotta go but use your discretion. Don't simply pull off the trail or at the trail head or open your car door and go in the parking lot.

Consumption of alcohol on public lands and littering

Bikes and Beer. Yes, it's a match made in heaven. It's hard to beat the feeling of a cold one after a good ride but the reality of it is, there are proper places for it to happen and their are not. This might be one of the easiest things to crack down on and at the same time one of the easiest not to have to worry about. So ask yourself, do you want to have the law enforcement patrolling our parks instead of in the cities and towns where their presence might be more important?

Disobeying Trail Courtesy

Advocacy starts here and ends here in a lot of ways. Faster and experienced riders, your actions teach the newbies what flys and what doesn't. Even if a trail intended for the bike, hikers and equestrians get the right of way. It's the harsh reality we live in but that's the trade off we've made to have our trails. Announce when you're going to pass or when you're coming up on a fellow rider. Slower riders, be aware of your surroundings and slide to the right when encountering other riders. Doing these things naturally make the trails function smoother and properly.

I'll step down from my soap box but in the end, as with life... Perception is far too often reality but our actions will always speak louder than our words. Keep this in mind or the things we care about could be the things we lose.