Dirtscrolls

For the first time since 2005, the USA will host a UCI Mountain Bike World Cup event when the series finale rolls into Windham Mountain Resort in New York on August 28-29th, 2010. Windham will offer cross-country, downhill, and four-cross competitors one last chance to hone their game before heading to Mont-Saint-Anne, Quebec for the ...

Augusta, GA will host the 2010 International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) World Summit on May 5-8th. The summit is open to the public, and topics will include: destination and urban trail networks, land conservation and sustainable trails, youth outreach and new programs designed to grow local capacity for the 700+ clubs and patrols in IMBA’s ...

Issue #2 of our sister publication, Bicycle Times, is on the streets. To give readers a taste of the flavor, we’ve reprinted selected articles on the Bicycle Times website. Peruse the list below for a sweet taste, and then click on through to read the full story. We’ll be posting additional articles in the coming ...

The next event on the Dirt Rag World Tour calendar made this staffer stand up and say, “Ooh, oh, me, mee!” It sounds like a helluva lotta fun packed into one weekend: the VisitPA.com Festival and Rassin’ Weekend, that is, at Marysville, Pennsylvania. Rassin’ – that’s “racing,” for all you proper folk, and there are ...

Justin Steiner posted the following blog entries during his testing time atop the Salsa Fargo. Brain Fart: Salsa Fargo in for Test! Fargo Update

If one name is synonymous with the US National Mountain Bike Series, it could be Jeff Frost. “Frosty” was a key factor in the series, making sure the events ran smoothly even under the most trying of weather conditions, as well as taking care of his riders’ most urgent needs on every level. His was ...

 Total Laps completed 1,832 Total distance traveled 23,449.6 miles Total elevation gain 2,986,160 ft (565.56 miles) We just returned from another great weekend of 24 hour racing at Big Bear Campground near Hazelton, WV.  Rolling in around noon on Friday, we saw that many riders arrived early to set up camp and to prepare for the festivities.  ...

On July 19th 2009 the PureDirt mountain bike team will host a MTB-a-Thon at the Vultures Knob mountain bike trail in Wooster, OH. Riders will be responsible for collecting pledges, with the proceeds benefiting the “Change Through Chance” charity that provides horse therapy to children with special needs. On May 25th Change Through Chance had ...

The Area: Pennypack ParkLocation: Northeast Philadelphia, PAInformant: John TannockPhoto credit: John Tannock, www.tannockphotography.com Background:Part of the Fairmount Park system, Pennypack is named after the Lenni Lenape Iindian word for deep, slow-moving water. How big is the park?Frankly, it’s still growing! There are about 18 miles of trail in about 1400 acres of parkland. What type(s) ...

The Turner Sultan is a 120mm travel 29er, one of the few big wheeled bikes out there sporting over 100mm of travel. I’m happy to be riding one for the beginning of the summer. My size large tester came built up with some interesting parts including a 2010 Fox F29 RLC with the 15mm QR ...

Last weekend was the 12th annual Cirque du Cyclisme in Leesburg, VA. With events planned for Friday through Sunday, we made plans arrive early Friday morning.  The wife and kids decided to make the trip with me, and the four of us loaded up the family sedan very early Friday and drove south to meet ...

The Pennsylvania Senate’s current budget plan (Senate Bill 850, now in the House as Bill 1416) reduces the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) budget by about $19 million beyond the reductions Governor Edward G. Rendell proposed in February. If enacted, DCNR acting Secretary John Quigley said the Senate proposal will force the agency ...

The Tour Divide, a self-supported mountain bike race that covers all 2,745 miles of Adventure Cycling’s Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, gets underway on June 12th, 2009 in Banff, Alberta, Canada. The routes includes dirt roads and jeep trails that follow the Continental Divide through the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia—and the American ...

As spring rolls into summer, this season’s new test bikes are rolling into the Dirt Rag World Headquarters at a feverish pace.  Allow me to introduce my trusty steed for the next few months: Gary Fisher’s new 140mm travel Roscoe Two.  For testing purposes, we settled on the middle-of-the-road Roscoe Two which retails for $3,850, ...

We promote and cover mountain bike advocacy a lot here at Dirt Rag, arguably more than any other magazine. We do it because we believe it is critical for continued access to trails, and to help promote and grow the sport we love. We also do it to give some much-deserved recognition to the good ...

It’s that time of year again! Time for the Dirt Rag gang to roll down to the beautiful mountains of West Virginia to attend the 18th Annual 24 hours of Big Bear on June 13th and 14th 2009. Get geared up for around the clock mountain bike racing, trials competitions, and the legendary 24 minutes ...

Bikes Not Bombs, non-profit organization in the Boston area that works to expand alternative transportation and promote community development, will be holding their annual Bike-A-Thon and Green Roots Festival fundraisers on Sunday, June 7th, 2009. The Bike-A-Thon offers 15, 25 or 62 mile bicycle rides that are fully supported with food, mechanics, maps, road markings, ...

The adventure continues. Issue #2 of Bicycle Times, our sister publication, is hot off the presses and in the mailboxes of subscribers from coast to coast. In issue #2 we review the Raleigh Clubman, Manhattan Green and Dahon Mu Uno. An old bike is made fresh and useable again, a closer look at bike lanes ...

Dirt Rag World Tour events at the 24 Hours of Big Bear, visitPA.com MASS Festival Weekend and, Le Cirque du Cyclisme headline an action-packed Mega Event Calendar for the month of June. Find an event near you and join the fun. Date State City Event Title Hyperlink 6.04.2009 KY Louisville Louisville Short Track Series USAC ...

The tag line sums it up: 3 guys, 1 bike, 100 days, 13,000 miles, 65 cities. From May 13th through August 20th, 2009, three 60+ year old Lutheran pastors will be pedaling a bicycle built for three (triplet) over 13,000 miles across the U.S. to raise awareness (and donations) to help eliminate world hunger and to ...

Le Cirque du Cyclisme! What is it? Good question. How about this description form the official website: Celebrating Vintage Lightweight Racing and Touring Bicycles and the Artisans Carrying on the Traditions. Sounds like our kind of party! So we are headed down to Leesburg, VA to see what there is to see and introduce new ...

Have you had your eyes on a Dirt Rag Woolistic wool jersey or super comfortable Voler cycling shorts? How about a pint glass set or an organic cotton Bicycle Times T-shirt? Well, now’s your chance to order and save a nice chunk of change. From 5/29 to 6/14/2009 we are celebrating our 20th Anniversary and ...

The International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) reports that California State Parks has announced a proposal to open a singletrack trail for mountain biking in Marin County, on the shoulders of Mt. Tamalpais. The agency plans to allow bicycle use on the four-mile Bill’s Trail segment, and is soliciting public comments on the project. The commentary ...

This weekend the Western Chapter of the Michigan Mountain Bike Association is hosting the 9th Annual Midwest Mountain Bike Summit in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This three day event focusing on mountain bike advocacy will include a two-day IMBA trail school, hands-on technical trail building demonstrations, a mountain bike festival, food, demos, organized rides, a raffle, ...

Dirt Rag issue #142 is on the streets and copies are now hitting subscribers’ mailboxes. Non-subscribers may purchase single issues of #142 in digital format via Zinio and in traditional paper format via Dirt Rag Merch. If you have not yet experienced digital Dirt Rag, click here for a sample of Dirt Rag within your ...

Bicycle Times Cycling Cap by Spoke Punchers The Bicycle Times cycling cap is hand dyed red and silkscreened for us by Spoke Punchers. This cotton cap features our Bicycle Times logo with bike lane marking on the brim and black ribbon stitched down the center. No two caps are exactly alike since they are all ...

On Sunday, May 17th the Boggs Mountain Demonstration Forest in Cobb, CA hosted 374 high school mountain bike racers for the 2009 California High School Mountain Bike Championships, presented by Touchstone Climbing and Fitness. Racers from the well-established NorCal League squared off against the new kids on the block from the recently-formed SoCal League. The ...

Congress is writing a bill that will define our national transportation system for the next six years, and now is the time to contact your Member of Congress and ask them to support bicycling and walking. Representative Daniel Lipinski (D, IL) is circulating a “Dear Colleague” letter proposing that the upcoming Transportation Bill, which is currently ...

With over $50,000 in cash and prizes up for grabs, the U.S. Open of Mountain Biking is hard evidence that America’s mountain bike gravity racing scene is alive and well. The event, which takes place at Diablo Freeride Park/Mountain Creek Resort in Vernon, NJ on May 22nd-24th, 2009, offers up-and-coming athletes a unique opportunity to ...

The Squamish Lillooet Regional District (SLRD) announced that the Squamish-Whistler section of the Sea to Sky Trail is the newest registered section of the Trans Canada Trail (TCT).  The TCT Foundation has committed $300,000 in funding support for Sea to Sky Trail development. At this time the Sea to Sky route from Whistler to the ...

The best things in life rarely come quickly or easily.  Such is the case with the newly opened Allegrippis Trail System at Raystown Lake Pennsylvania.  This 30-mile trail network, which has been in the works since 2003, is the first, and surely not the last, project resulting from a partnership formed between IMBA and the ...

Anthony Sloan, Yeti’s demo guy for the Rocky Mountain territory, died suddenly on Thursday, May 7th. He will be missed by family, friends and many who rode and hung out with him, but also by many more riders who were inspired by photos and writings posted on his website and on the Passion forum at ...

We packed a lot of good reading into issue #1 of our sister publication, Bicycle Times. To give you a sample of the flavor, we’ve posted a series of online reprints at the Bicycle Times website. Commuting Kits: Essentials and Extras Bicycle Times StaffRiding to work can be a fun adventure if you have the ...

Don Walker, the man behind the North American Handmade Bicycle Show, used his Facebook NAHBS group to announce that the 2010 North American Handmade Bicycle Show will take place on February 26–28th at the Richmond Convention Center. Don has promised further details soon, and we’ll be sure to pass  them on. For a taste of ...

It’s time to get down and dirty. There are plenty of action-packed events to choose from in the latest edition of the Dirt Rag Mega Event Calendar. Date State City Event Title Hyperlink 5.15.2009 ME Parsonfield Mountain Biking Instructors Certification Program www.bikebackcountry.com 5.16.2009 MO Kansas City 835th Annual Tour de Cowtown www.acmebicyclecompany.com/tourdecowtown.htm 5.16.2009 OH Zanesville ...

Specialized Epic Expert Carbon Just in time for race season, well my spotty race season anyway, a carbon form of beauty showed up for me test. The Epic Expert Carbon from Specialized is one lean and fast race machine with a FACT 9m carbon main triangle and M5 aluminum rear triangle. It has 100mm of ...

Working in partnership with the Army Corps of Engineers, IMBA’s Trail Solutions and six other trail contracting firms have built 32 miles of amazing singletrack, the Allegrippis Trails, at Pennsylvania’s Raystown Lake. The Dirt Rag World Tour will be on hand for the Allegrippis Trails grand opening—featuring group rides; demo bikes from Cannondale, GT and ...

Wrap your hands around a pair of Dirt Rag branded lock-on grips. Made for us by Lizard Skins, these customized Charger grips feature the Dirt Rag “Peace Symbol” logo in white on black clamp bands. Grips measure 4.75″ in length and are made in U.S.A. The 130mm diameter fits a wide variety of hands. $25 ...

May is National Bike Month, and the League of American Bicyclists is promoting Bike to Work Week 2009 from May 11-15th and Bike to Work Day on Friday, May 15th. The League’s website has a list of Bike Month events taking place around the country. If you would like to post your event on this ...

As a part of the 2009 Pennsylvania bike summit, hundreds of cyclists will assemble at 8:30am on May 5th, 2009 at the Farm Show Building in Harrisburg for a 9:00am ride to the Capitol to show their support for cycling issues in Pennsylvanian and influence policymakers. A rally will take place at the Capitol (Thrid ...

Just in time for short-sleeve spring shredding sessions, we’ve slashed the price on our stylish Dirt Rag Elements jersey. For a limited time we’ve offering these top-notch threads for only $50 (normally $69). The Dirt Rag Elements Jersey is made by Voler of their extremely breathable, UV-reflecting SQ Pro fabric. It features a 20″ hidden ...

. If you hadn’t already heard, all around good guy and Cannondale factory pilot Nick Van Dine took a nasty fall snowboarding that landed him in the ICU. Nick underwent reconstructive surgery shortly after the crash, and is only a short time away from being back on the bike. Getting rolling on two wheels is ...

The Western Chapter of the Michigan Mountain Bike Association is hosting the 2009 Midwest Mountain Bike Summit on May 29th-31st, 2009 at the Cannonsburg Ski Area near Grand Rapids, MI. A Welcome Reception will take place at the Comfort Suites North, from 7:00pm until 10:00pm on Thursday, May 28th. Feast on a roast pig from ...

Paradise Royale, a purpose-built mountain bike trail in California’s King Range National Conservation Area (NCA), will receive $600,000 in federal funding from the 2009 omnibus appropriations bill (H.R.1105), which became law on March 30, 2009, (P.L. 111-8). The appropriation follows years of work by IMBA California Policy Advisor Tom Ward, who lobbied representatives in both ...

Tomac Bikes announced the completion of a limited edition John Tomac print—based off a 1995 photo by Tom Moran, which features Johnny T drifting through a corner at the Kamikaze—which was painted by Tomac graphic artist Randy Rigg. “The Kamikaze has always been a very special event in US downhill racing history,” says Tomac owner ...

I must be getting old. Somehow Dirt Rag and Bicycle Times “new guy” Matt Kasprzyk was able to evade my patented Rider Profile interrogation for several months before I finally cornered him for the following Q/A session. Matt graciously answered all of my questions, so you could get to know him better. Name: Matt Kasprzyk ...

A Dirt Rag World Tour stop at the Grand Opening for 30-Mile Allegrippis trail system at Pennsylvania’s Raystown Lake headlines this latest edition of the Dirt Rag / Bicycle Times Mega Event Calendar. Working in partnership with the Army Corps of Engineers, IMBA’s Trail Solutions and six other trail contracting firms have built 30 miles ...

We’ve just posted two all-new videos from Dirt Rag‘s 20th Anniversary Party, featuring helmet-cam footage shot at Ray’s Indoor MTB Park. Check them out below, or click here to peruse all the videos on Dirt Rag‘s YouTube channel.

The pinnacle day of the Otter dawned warmer and less windy, and stayed that way all day. It was really nice to experience some stereotypically Californian weather for a change, although those of us just emerging from winter layers had to be mindful of the need for sunscreen. There were so many kids ripping it ...

Friday is the day that the racing kicks in, for amateurs and pros alike, and there was a sense of excitement and urgency among the kitted-up people riding around the venue. It turns out we were camping with one such racer: Adrian Studdiford, son of our west-coast-host-with-the-most Robert Studdiford of TwoFish Unlimited. Some backstory: this ...