Velo City Cycles

Ahhhh December! Frosty mornings, indoor training rides, yoga classes…..isn’t there something else…? Oh yeah! Christmas! That rocks too! We love December here @ the Cool Bike Shop – just like we love any month that offers lotsa Cool Bike Events, a buncha chances to get’cher BikeFace on & (as you’ll see right here in this newsletter) a WHOLE lotta cool stuff ready to go down……….so check it out -

THE VELO REBATE PROGRAM is going strong! The details are simple – EVERY time you spend $50 or more w/ us ‘tween now and 1/15/12 we’re going to hand you Velo Bucks Certificates good for 10% of the purchase. Those certificates are good from 1/1/12 – 2/29/12.

So – buy that Salsa Mukluk 3 ($1600) and get’cher self a cool $160 in Velo Bucks! Do some Christmas shopping for the riders on your list and score them the Velo Bucks OR keep’em for yourself!

Remember – every purchase of $50 or more earns you a 10% Velo Bucks Rebate!

THE WEEKLY OUTDOOR RIDE SCHEDULE happens to be something that we are pretty proud of ’round here. We take our position as the hub of the local cycling community seriously & as such we offer a buncha rides all year. Here’s what we have going on this month:

The Tuesday Night Ride rolls @ 5:30. We’ll do an hour or so and be back in time to thaw out for yoga.  Figure on about 20 miles.

Jan’s Recovery Ride leaves on Thursday @ 8:30am.  This time of the season it’s less about “recovery” from a hard ride or race and more about having a nice morning ride. (And a stop at the baked goods place).  Figure on 25-28 miles and a 17-19mph pace.

The Bagel Ride is Friday @ 8:30am. We’ll do the “Llama Loop” (28 miles) and then head to The Good Earth Cafe for breakfast. Pace is generally 18-20mph. A “very civilized way to start your day”!

INDOOR TRAINING RIDES are @ 8:00pm Wed and 8:00am Saturday. C’mon down and sweat-n-suffer w/ a bunch of fellow riders. We’ll supply the TV, fans, coaching DVDs and company – you supply the bike and trainer. You are welcome to store your trainer and wheel block here but (for December anyway) we’re not going to have room for you to store your bike as in years past. That will hopefully change as we sell a buncha bikes (hint hint) or find more storage room.

SPECIAL DECEMBER RIDES – As usual we have a few things cooking that are hors catagorie – check ‘em out!

The Chili Chilly Ride is Sunday 12/11 @ 2:00. One of the most steadfast of our “Fun-Raiser” Ride Series, the C2 offers 25ish and 40ish mile road loops followed by a chili cookoff.  Bring a pot o’ your best chili and compete in the “Hottest” and/or “Tastiest” catagories. (Prizes for both.) We’ll supply the bread, drinks and such – you bring the chili!  Tip sheets provided – we’ll seperate into groups as required.

(Note – making/bringing chili is optional. You can bring snacks, dessert, cornbread or just your appetite!)

The 1st Crazy Bastard West Ride of the season rolls on Sunday 12/18! Meet us down @ the Hamilton Food Center on M-40 for a 2:00pm roll out. We’ll head SW into the Allegan Woods looking for “seasonal” roads and trouble! Road surfaces could include asphalt, dirt, gravel, sand, mud, snow, ice or all of the above! (Lots more CBW rides comin’ up in Jan-Mar! This is kind of a full month.)

The First Day of Winter MukFest is Thursday 12/22. Here’s your chance to try out the bike biz’s hottest niche if you haven’t already. We’ll meet @ the Hamilton Food Center and roll @ 6:00pm. The idea is to wander around back in the boonies and have some fun. We have a few sets  of demo lights available – as well as our 2 demo MukLuks. Bring your ‘cross or mtn bike and we’ll play musical bikes.

The New Year’s Day Ride – Okay, technically not a “December” ride – but we’d hate for you to miss the traditional chance to thumb your nose @ winter and kick off the new year right! We’ll roll from the shop @ 1:00pm (1-1-1, get it?) and get our ride on! Distance and route will be a “game day call” – but we’ll have fun and then head back to the shop for snacks and stories.

VELO YOGA CLASSES COMMENCE  12/6! Developed and led by instructor/ avid cyclist Heather Allegrina, our cycling-specific yoga class will make you a stronger, more balanced and more flexible rider. And that’s nothing but good!

Time – 7:00-8:00pm Tuesday

Cost – $10.00 per session (all proceeds go to the John Allegrina Memorial Scholarship @ GVSU)

STUFF ON SALE STUFF ON SALE STUFF ON SALE!!!!!! Well sure we have stuff on sale – it’s winter! Check out this list – and remember that our Velo Bucks Rebate applies to this stuff too!

All 2010 and 2011 bikes are marked down – if we have your size this might be a great time to get your next bike lined up!

All 2011 Cannondale road & fitness bikes are 10-15% off!

All 2011 Electra Townies, Ticinos & Cruisers are now 35% off!

All 2010/2011 Cervelos are 10-20% off!

We still have a few of the 2009 Cannondale F5 xs mtn bikes as well – they are 50% off! (now $375)

All Women’s Fall/Winter riding apparel – jerseys, jackets, tights, base layers, knickers – now 30% off!

We still have a few sets of wheels – Zipp, Mavic, Rolf, Velocity – @ 25% off!

Fine Print Department – all sale prices apply only to stock on hand, no special orders, sorry!)

LET’S TALK ABOUT OUR SERVICE DEPARTMENT FOR A SEC – OKAY? Like any machine – Velo City runs on power provided by the ‘engine room”.  LIke most bike shops the “engine room” is the service department. We wanted to take a sec and talk about the folks back there -

Our Service manager is Jeremy “Berger” Berghorst. He’s been here since ’06 and around bikes his whole life. He’s also the Head Mechanic of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fooundation’s Ride to Cure Program – which has him working on bikes as he travels from Vt to Death Valley.

Jeremy’s main man is Nate Guiles. Nate’s fairly new to us – having pulled on the Big Boy Pants of Velo-Citizenship only about 6 weeks ago – but he’s worked at 2 of the busiest shops in GR for the past 6 years, assembling scads of high-end bikes and learning everything there is to know about disc brakes, tubeless set-ups and other mtn bike goodness. Working w/ Berger and Aaron he’s rapidly become equally proficient w/ road stuff and has already learned what a task it is keepin’ MC’s fleet running!

Speaking of Aaron….Aaron Dowling has been here for years, wrenching on bikes, assembling new ones & devising clever solutions for unforeseen problems. He’s part-time now, but still a huge part of what makes our service department rock.

Then there’s Alex Slikkers – bike assembler extradinaire! If you’re riding a bike that he built – you’re riding a good one! He’s been here for 3 seasons now, coming home from school in the winter and working through the summer.

So – what the point here? These guys rock, that’s the point here – and we just wanted to call ‘em out!

SERVICE DEPARTMENT SPECIAL FOR DECEMBER! We’d really  like to work on your bikes now – while the boys have the time – and to entice you to think about it we offer you this -

Our “Deluxe” Tune-Up Package (which includes our full tune-up, fresh bar tape and cables) is now only $100! (reg price is $150) In addition we’ll give you 25% off any other items your bike needs during the repair (tires, chain, cassette etc)

We offer fast turn around & superlative work. So – let’s get your bike ready for next season now, huh?

(And need we add that yet again – you’d earn Velo Rebate Bucks?)

This offer good from now until 12/31.

BRING IN 2010 W/ THE LAST CALL BAND! MC and his musical cohorts will be doin’ their thing down @ the Saugatuck Brewery on 12/31 from 8:00 until it’s 2012. No cover, no need to wear a funny hat – just good music, beer and food.

DECEMBER/JANUARY EVENT CALENDAR: Lots goin’ on – how cool is that?!?!? (* means “read more about it elsewhere in this newsletter”)

Tues 12/6 – 1st Velo Yoga! 7pm.*

Sun 12/11 – The Chili Chilly Ride*

Sun 12/18 – 1st Crazy Bastard West Ride*

Thurs 12/22 – MukFest 1st Day o’ Winter Ride*

Sat  12/31 – Last Call Band @ SBC*

Sun 1/1 – New Year’s Day Ride*

1/8 – Inside Out CX Race – Greenville

1/14 – Farmer’s Fat Bike Race – GR

Whew! Is that a ton of stuff to be excited about or what?!?!? We’re looking forward to every bit of it and hope that you are too.

Stop by and see us – the coffee’s on, there are cookies (sometimes – watch FaceBook) and lotsa cool new stuff to check out.

We’ll be here…….and thanks again for helping this be such a fun year!

The Velo-Citizens…MC, Berger, Chris, Nate, Aaron, lil’ Mike,

Sandy, Keith, Kaat and Alex.

“There is nothing, absolutely nothing, quite so worthwhile as

simply messing about on bicycles”

Tom Kunich