Dirtscrolls

USA Cycling announced that it will hold the 2009 24-Hour Mountain Bike National Championship at the 24-Hours of Moab in Moab, UT on Oct. 10-11th, 2009. USAC also revealed that the 2010 USA Nationals will be held at the 24-Hours of Big Bear in Hazelton, WV on June 12-13th, 2010. Originally slated to be held ...

It’s back by popular demand! Dirt Rag‘s February Merch Special is the New Sun DIY Shoulder Holder—a padded shoulder strap for your messenger bag—on sale for $10 (normally $15). The DIY Shoulder Holder fits over a 2″ wide strap and has a main compartment large enough for your cel phone, plus a smaller zippered pocket ...

Take a look at this nifty packaging.   (click on photos for larger versions) I’m sure by now most of you are familiar with the Fargo, but it’s basically a 29’er mountain bike with drop handlebars designed for adventure touring. The Fargo begs to be loaded up and paraded around the countryside with little to ...

The Ninth Annual Bicycle Film Festival (BFF) looking for films with a strong theme or character of bicycles. This includes all mediums and styles such as animation, experimental, narrative, documentary and music videos. Deadline For Entries Is March 7th. The BFF celebrates the bicycle through film, art and music. The Festival is held in over 17 ...

The temperatures are still chilly in many parts of the country, but the early-2009 bicycling calendar is already hot, hot, hot. Catch up with the Dirt Rag/Bicycle Times World Tour as we roll into the Dirt Rag Women’s Weekend at Ray’s, the North American Handmade Bicycle Show, or the Seattle International Bicycle Expo. Or find ...

The mountain bike film Klunkerz—a documentary that traces the Marin County roots and global rise of mountain biking—won the 2009 Cycling Film of the Year award at the 17th Annual Competitor Magazine Endurance Sports Awards. The awards ceremony was held in the Nautilus Pavilion at Sea World in San Diego, CA. This was the inaugural ...

As I look out my window at icy snow-covered streets, all I can think about are bikes and how much I’d like to be out there riding. I just finished proofing one of the final drafts of our new publication, Bicycle Times, and I’ve got to say, I’m more excited than ever that we’re doing ...

Last week I was getting psyched up for a weekend in Northern Virginia riding the Leesburg Snotcycle race. The following is a brief recap of the event and some of the debauchery with a couple pics of the pre-ride. Last spring was the inaugural event for HereForTheSwag at the Leesburg Baker’s Dozen 13 hr race. ...

It’s an exciting time around the Dirt Rag office, if not exhausting, as the wheels of our 20th anniversary gain momentum and we launch Bicycle Times Magazine, your everyday cycling adventure. In addition to a new website, www.bicycletimesmagazine.com, our merchandise machine has been creating fun logos to promote the relaxed atmosphere of our latest endeavor. ...

Trek Bicycle recently announced the opening of “Thing One,” an all-new design center in Waterloo, WI. The 20,000 sq. ft. studio is the new home for 55 designers working in environmental, retail, and industrial design alongside interactive, packaging, product graphic, and visual design teams. Also within the Thing One environment is a photo studio, retail ...

The folks at Santa Cruz have been busy. Just days after the bike-maker introduced their first carbon fiber bike via a re-designed Blur XC frame, comes the unveiling of Driver 8—an all-new platform with 8 inches of next-generation VPP rear wheel travel. Named after the much missed former head canine at Santa Cruz, the Driver ...

I’m not sure I will understand why Cyclocross racing isn’t a more popular spectator sport in the United States. All the key ingredients are there: a sport to which just about everyone in the world can relate since anyone of any age can ride a bicycle; dedicated athletes pushing themselves farther than anyone can imagine; ...

If you’re not following Dirt Rag on Twitter, now is a good time to start. Dirt Rag will be at the UCI Cyclocross World Championships in Hoogerheide, Holland on Sunday. We’ll be posting tweets from the event all day along with some quick photos. Start following here: http://twitter.com/DirtRag And since Holland is several hours ahead ...

I had great plans and ambition yesterday morning to take on the snow, well more ice than snow, that pelted our city over the last few days and ride to the other side of town on Dirt Rag official business. I dug out my studded Kenda Klondike tires, mounted them to my wheels, and gave ...

The 8th annual Worst Day of the Year Ride presented by SKS Germany—to be held in Portland, OR on February 15th, 2009—features an 18-mile urban tour and 40-mile challenge route in one of the world’s top cycling cities. The 3,000 participants will enjoy five stops along the route—with warm drinks, snacks, soup and brew. This ...

The fine folks at Kona want to hook you up with a test ride. A new addition to the Kona website site is their Kona Test Centres facility that allows you to scroll through a list of participating Kona dealers and view their test bike inventory. You make a call to a dealer near you ...

Dirt Rag #129 Readings: Highbridge Trails in Manhattanby Stuart Schrader and Harlan Price A three-mile network of technical singletrack recently opened on a wooded promontory in northern Manhattan called Highbridge Park, not far across the river from Yankee Stadium. In the 1990s, before a crackdown, urban cyclists looking for some dirt often rode (illegally) on ...

Links to web content associated with the Dirt Rag Issue #140 product review of the EWR OWB29er: Eastern Woods Research: Reloaded (interview with Jay de Jesus) Under Test: Eastern Woods Research OWB29er EWR OWB29er: First Impressions EWR OWB29er: How it Rides EWR OWB29er: Parting Thoughts Dirt Rag TV: EWR OWB 29er Test Ride.

Cyclists Inciting Change thru LIVE Exchange (C.I.C.L.E.) announced that it will begin plans for an innovative new Bicycle Community Center in northeast Los Angeles, thanks to initial funding from New Belgium Brewing Company. The Bicycle Community Center will house an extensive bicycle education program, and provide a comprehensive set of resources designed to get more ...

The national debut of ArtBike!—which takes place in Indianapolis, IN during the month of February as part of the build-up to the 2009 North American Handmade Bicycle Show (NAHBS)—is a 2-D/street art/sculpture/installation exhibition that is open to all. The creation of O2SM, a cycling specialist marketing and public relations company in San Francisco, ArtBike! taps ...

I was still bitter there would be no 2009 Turnpike Super Bowl, but I shook the weak hangover from the Eagles and Steelers games the night before, and shared one last round of goodbyes with the in-laws. It was time for me to head back home to pack the last few things and put the ...

The date has been set. Plans are being made. Dirt Rag and Ray’s MTB Park are throwing the second annual Women’s Weekend, Friday, February 20th through Sunday, February 22nd. Spend Friday at Ray’s MTB participating in free clinics with professional women riders. We will have Ray’s MTB—revamped for 2009—to ourselves during the day, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. ...

When Santa Cruz engineers set out to design a replacement for the existing Blur XC their goal was to create a lighter, better-pedaling bike that did not exhibit frame flex. After testing 13 different prototype designs, they have now unveiled a carbon fiber Blur XC frame that weighs in at 4.2lbs. including a RockShox Monarch ...

USA Cycling’s Mountain Bike State and Regional Championship events serve as automatic qualifiers for the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships. At each event, the top 15 riders from each discipline, category and age group will be eligible to qualify for competition at the 2009 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships set for July 16-19th ...

Some weeks ago I noticed that the large chainring on my cyclocross-style commuting bike was badly and unexpectedly worn – the teeth looked like pointy little shark teeth, rather than the rounded swells they should be. It wasn’t all that old, but it did go through some nasty street slush and muck this past spring. ...

The SRAM Cycling Fund announced that it will make a $200,000 donation this year to the Bikes Belong Coalition to develop an unprecedented broad-based political network of Americans who support government investment in bicycle facilities. Bikes Belong will partner with America Bikes—the national coalition of eight leading national cycling non-profit groups—to develop a network of ...

Brent Thomson, known as the Godfather and trail master of Bootleg Canyon, suffered a heart attack last Saturday while riding the trails that he cut into the mountains surrounding Boulder City, NV. Located a short drive from Las Vegas, the Bootleg Canyon trails host Interbike’s annual On-Dirt Demo, bringing much joy to the hordes of ...

The Indiana Bicycle Coalition will host a “Winning Campaigns” training program, conducted by the Thunderhead Alliance For Bicycling and Walking, during the North American Handmade Bicycle Show (NAHBS), scheduled for Feb. 27th through March 1st, 2009 in Indianapolis, IN. Show founder and director, Don Walker, said, “The NAHBS has always been about growing the market. ...

I first laid eyes on prototypes of Trek’s radically re-designed Top Fuel at last summer’s press camp.  At that time I posted this report on Trek’s racy full-suspension steed. Ever since that first encounter, I’ve been eagerly awaiting the availability of the Top Fuel production bikes. That time has come, and I just scored a ...

As you may know, Dirt Rag magazine is launching another title called Bicycle Times. This new magazine will focus on the pavement side of the bicycle experience—from commuting, to touring, to riding with family, to pedaling around for the heck of it. The first issue of this quarterly publication will be coming out in March ...

Ray’s Indoor MTB Park, located in suburban Cleveland. OH, will give amateur racers the chance to compete on a three-lap technical time trial course on Friday, January 23rd, with cash prizes up for grabs. Time penalties will be assessed for failing to complete a line. The course’s technical lines will be designed for skill, not ...

As I immerse myself in this time honored Dirt Rag tradition of Brain Farting, I find myself flashing back to a warmer time. A time where I was slightly newer to Pittsburgh and beginning an adventure along a new trail. Due to a roller coaster work relationship with a cultural non-for-profit north of here, most ...

Dirt Rag is proud to announce that a new and improved digital version of the magazine is now available through Zinio, a leading global online publishing and distribution services company. Click here to experience a sample of digital Dirt Rag within your web browser via Zinio’s robust, high-quality, reader interface. A one year (7 issue) ...

With the passing of 2008 and the beginning of a new year, it’s time at Dirt Rag to tally up the yearly commuting numbers of the office staff and see who the winner is of our friendly competition. And what does the winner receive? Well nothing more than anyone else that rode a bicycle to ...

Over the past few months I’ve been blogging about the EWR OWB29er test bike that I will be reviewing in Dirt Rag Issue #140—the February 15th, 2009 edition. In my prior installments I talked about the bike’s geometry and specifications, discussed my first impressions, and did my best to describe how the OWB29er rides. As ...

There is a panoply of excuses we can choose from when wimping out of cold weather riding. Some of them have more validity than others – but that doesn’t mean that they can’t be overcome. I’d like to address a couple of physical limitations that can be good reasons to bow out of a cold ...

Filmed by Bike is Portland’s annual film festival featuring bike-themed shorts. Entries are being accepted through February 15th, 2009 for the seventh annual festival, which is scheduled to take place on April 17th-23rd, 2009 at the Clinton Street Theater in Portland, OR. It’s free to enter. All submissions must be eight minutes or less, no ...

Happy new year! The following tidbit comes from the fun-loving folks at NEPMTBA, via nepmtbabikerbuildoff.blogspot.com. Welcome to NEPMTBA Biker Build Off 2009. Our contest will run from 1.1.09 to 3.17.08 allowing this time period to build your dream ride. Then all machines will show off in the 2009 Scranton St Patrick’s Day Parade in Scranton ...

The recently opened Museum of Mountain Bike Art & Technology (MOMBAT) preserves and chronicles the evolution of the sport of mountain biking, it’s personalities and products. The museum’s collection contains over 400 bicycles, including more than 250 mountain bikes, as well as hundreds of vintage parts and accessories and thousands of pieces of literature, including ...

Join cycling advocates, industry leaders, and retailers on March 10-12th, 2009 in Washington, DC at the National Bike Summit, as they lobby for expanding Federal support for bicycling—for active transportation and recreation. With the new congress beginning to write a new federal transportation funding bill, now is a crucial time for bicyclists to be heard. ...

A tasty mix of snow and mud made the Punk Bike Enduro stage #1 downhill finish particularly exciting the year. Click here to check out all the videos on Dirt Rag‘s YouTube page. Read the 2008 Punk Bike Enduro report, and check out the Punk Photo Gallery.