Velo City Cycles

As this is being written it’s kinda snowing like crazy outside the Cool Bike Shop. After a very rider-friendly December it looks like winter might be thinking of showing up around here after all!

But here’s the thing……..we’re good w/ it either way! We’re gonna ride (inside and out) no matter what – we’re gonna celebrate the joy and power of cycling on nice days and foul ones and There Will Be Bike Face!

So – here’s the first QR of 2012…..check out all the stuff we’re planning – rides, events,  classes – and make sure that you stop in and see us!

We’ll be here!

WEEKLY RIDE SCHEDULE: We’re kinda proud of our rides….and people in the cycling world (like Bicycling magazine for instance) have been noticing as well. Here’s the menu for this month and pretty much all winter:

The Tuesday Night Ride (Outside) 5:30 – For the winter the TNR is a short ride (18-20 miles) intended to stake a claim to the roads, get some fresh air and remind Ol’ Man Winter just who runs things around here. Dress warm, charge up your lights and join us. We will be back in time to thaw out for yoga!

The Wednesday Indoor Ride 8:00pm – MC claims to have been leading the area’s first indoor group rides since the mid ’80′s (ask him to tell you the “Connault Story) and we’ve been doin’ ‘em ever since! Bring your trainer and bike – we’ll supply the TV, coaching DVDs, fans and company. We’ll post the scheduled workout on the FaceBook page so you don’t miss a fav! (Note – we don’t have the room to store your bike at the moment but you are free to store your trainer, wheelblock and even shoes here if it helps.)

Jan’s Recovery Ride (Outside) 8:30am – 25 miles @ 17-19mph, a high liklihood of a llama sighting and then a post-ride stop to warm up and re-fuel @ the local bagel shop. What’s not to like?

The Bagel Ride (Outside) 8:30am – Any resemblance to the Recovery Ride is pure coincidence! 25-28 miles @ 18-21 mph and then  we head to the Good Earth Cafe for bagels, muffins, coffee and heat!

The Saturday Indoor Ride, 8:00am – Just like Wed night, except on Sat morning! (In general the Wed night workouts will be longer and more “tempo-oriented” while the Sat morning ones will be shorter interval efforts)

THE “CRAZY BASTARD WEST” RIDES are both a tribute to and our version of a long-standing ride that we’ve enjoyed in GR. We meet at the Hamilton Food Center on M-40 (just south of town) @ 2:00pm on alternate Sundays and head back into the Allegan State Game Area looking for “seasonal” roads, 2 tracks…..who knows? Depending on the weather either ‘cross bikes, mountainbikes or fat bikes rule the day but it’s a classic case of “run what’cha brung”! It might also be the most fun you’ll ever have on 2 wheels! For January the official CBW dates are 1/8 and 1/22.

VELO YOGA CONTINUES! It’s been 3+ years now since we teamed up w/ instructor-cyclist Heather Allegrina to bring the concept of “yoga for cyclists” to the lakeshore. Her class has grown in popularity and spawned imitation. (Awww, we’re flattered, really).   This is atheletic, strenuous yoga – designed by an avid cyclist to make you a better rider. To quote Ms Allegrina – “Cycling requires core strength, balance and flexibiliy – but doesn’t give you any!” This class will!

Tuesday @ 7pm / 1 hour class / no registration required / $10 per session

(All proceeds go to the establishment of the John Allegrina Memorial Scholarship @ GVSU)

STUFF ON SALE STUFF ON SALE STUFF ON SALE STUFF ON SALE!!!!!!What’s that? You were wondering if we had anything on sale? Well, we’re so glad you asked! We always like to kick off the new year by offering our friends some sweet deals on some cool bike stuff so check it out……

ALL CASTELLI CLOTHING 30% OFF!

ALL WOMEN’S FALL/WINTER CLOTHING 40% OFF!

ALL REMAINING 2010/2011 BIKES FROM CANNONDALE, CERVELO, ELECTRA & CO-MOTION MARKED DOWN FROM 15-30% OFF!

(Fine Print – Prices apply only to stuff in stock, no special orders)

2 MORE WEEKS TO EARN VELO BUCKS! You can still accumulate Velo Bucks w/ any purchase of $50 or more. Velo Bucks get you a 10% rebate on your purchases through Saturday Jan 15!

ANNNNNNNNND – for those of you that are already holding onto some – they can be redeemed from right now through Feb 29!

RIDE INSIDE / RIDE OUTSIDE! – If you’re gonna ride all winter you’re going to have to equip yourself to ride either inside or outside – or both! Lucky for you…we got’cha covered either way! Check it out -

For Inside Riding we feature Cycle Ops trainers, Kreitler rollers and all the fixin’s. We have a complete selection of training DVDs and other accessories. We can help you figure out which of the 6 models of trainer will serve you best.

When it comes to Outdoor riding we’re pretty sure that there’s no shop in the area w/ a better selection of gear or experience in using it! We have a tremendous selection of tights, jackets, jerseys, gloves, booties, socks, shoe covers and baselayers from Castelli, Pearl Izumi, Cannondale, Ibex, Smartwool and others. We have winter shoes from Shimano, chemical toe warmers, Smartwool lined footbeds from Superfeet, handlebar mounted mittens from BarMitts and more! We also stock studded tires in 26″ and 700c sizes. Not to mention a full assortment of lights and fenders. If it’s what you need to stay warm and safe as you ride through a Michigan winter – chances are pretty good that we’ve tried it, tested it and – assuming that it works – carry it!

So – if you’re having trouble staying warm or not sure how to get started riding inside OR out…..we got’cha covered!

“Hold the pickles hold the lettuce, special orders don’t upset us”. Sorry about the fast food reference there – we just couldn’t resist. The point here (and we do have one) is that despite stocking and suplying our shop w/ the products that we think deserve your attention – we can’t stock everything! However – we can and gladly will special order you virtually anything the world of cycling has to offer. Now – are there exceptions to that? Yep – several brand names aren’t available to us (you can probably figure out the first 2-3!) but in general – if you want it, we can get it for you. The next time you’re in the shop ask to see the “Q” catalogs just to get a whiff of what we’re talking about. Lots of Outdoor Stuff too!

DIDJA KNOW ABOUT OUR DEMO FLEET?  Thinking about one of the new “fat bikes”? Looking for a new mountainbike? Curious about Shimano’s new electronic shifting? Well – we have a fleet of demo bikes that will allow you to try some of the latest and greatest on your favorite roads or trails. Our current fleet includes 3 Salsa Mukluks, 2 Cannondale 29′r mountainbikes (alloy and carbon), a Cannondale mountain tandem and a C-Dale Super Six w/ Ultegra Di-2! Stop in and talk to us about making use of ‘em!

MEET AND RIDE WITH PRO RIDER BRAD WHITE! Here’s a chance to hang out w/ a Big Time Pro Racer and ask him any questions about riding, bikes, training or whatever! Brad lives here in Holland when not on the road racing for the United HealthCare Team. He’s raced Pro since ’07 and has accumulated an impressive collection of trophies:

Most Aggressive Rider Jerseys @ the Tours of California, Missouri, Colorado & Utah.

Overall Sprint Winner – Tour of Utah

KOM jersey @ Tour of Utah for a day.

Needless to say – the man has some chops! So – c’mon down to the shop @ 2:00pm on Saturday 1/28 – he’ll lead a short (15-20 miles) ride and then head back to the shop to enjoy some snacks and answer your questions. Oughta be fun!

ALMOST ULTIMATE CYCLE CHALLENGE TIME AGAIN! The UCC is a 12 or 24 Hour indoor relay ride to raise money for Livestrong. It takes place on Feb 24th/25th and starts @ 8pm. For the 4th time we’ll be fielding a Velo City team so stop in the shop or otherwise contact MC (mike@velo-citycycles.com) and join in the fun. More info @ www.ultimatecyclechallenge.com

CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS (a * means you will find more about it elsewhere in this newsletter):

Sun 1/8 – Crazy Bastard West Ride*

Sun 1/8 – Inside Out CX Race, Greenville

Mon 1/9 – WMMBA monthly meeting, GR

Sat 1/14 – Farmer’s Fat Bike Race, GR

Sun 1/22 – Crazy Bastard West Ride*

Sat 1/28 – Brad White @ VCC*

Sun 1/29 – MMBA Annual Meeting

EDITORIAL – “JUST ‘CUZ YOU ”CAN” DOESN’T  MEAN THAT YOU “SHOULD”. Probably not a bad rule to keep in mind in general but right now I’m talking about the relatively new phenonenon of the “Fat Bike”. These 4″ wide tired bikes are easily the hottest thing in the shop this winter, we’re riding them, we’re demo-ing them and we’re selling them – and that’s great. However – I’m becoming concerned that once again we (the bike industry) is revealing its historical inability to learn from its past mistakes. So bear w/ me a sec, okay?

Here’s the thing – I was in the bike biz in 1984, when mountainbikes first showed up in West Mich. I bought one right away and the few of us that had ‘em rode all over the place, on any trail we could find. It. Was. A. Blast. But guess what? By 1986 the DNR in this state (and most others) reacted to the presence of bikes where there had been none before in a predictable manner – they banned us from every state park and most of the county ones too. The Michigan MountainBike Association formed right about then ( I know – I wrote the 1st donation check they ever received) and since then volunteers have been busting their butts all over the country – working w/ various Goverment entities, co-operating w/ other user groups, paying their dues w/ work days and otherwise re-gaining access to public lands by virtue of being a responsible user group. Our local chaper of the MMBA – the aptly named WMMBA – has made amazing strides in the past few years – opening new trails, improving existing ones and making West Michigan a destination for mountainbikers from all over the Midwest.

See what I’m gettng at here? Fat bikes are mountainbikes. Simple as that. They have fatter tires and that means that they can go places that “normal” mountainbikes can’t and that’s a huge part of the fun but just ‘cuz ya can doesn’t mean that you should! If we start riding our fat bikes on trails closed to bikes, over fragile environments, on groomed ski trails or private beaches – we will negate all the hard work and progress that the bike advocacy folks have made since 1986.

And that would be a shame!

Please enjoy the awesome capabilities of your MukLuk or Pugsley responsibly! (And for the other 90% of our readers who don’t have a clue what I’m talking about here – I hope you skipped right past this part!)

Thanks, MC

So – that about covers it for this month. As usual the best way to “stay in the loop” on all of our rides and events is to make a habit of checking our FaceBook page on a regular basis. We send out updates nearly every day – including the latest news about new stuff, fresh cookies and special sales. It’s the easy way to stay in touch!

And with that – we’re gonna call it good. We’re gonna thank you one more time for helping us have such a great 2011 and we’re crazy excited for all that 2012 has to offer! More rides! More miles! More people on bikes more often! So – swing by the shop when you have a chance, demo a Mukluk (responsibly!), join us for an indoor ride, an outdoor ride or both. Celebrate cycling with us!

Thats the plan!

Happy New year from your buds @ VCC – Aaron, Alex,  Berger, Chris, Kaat, Keith, Lil’ Mike, Nate, MC & Sandy

“I delighted in the supreme sense of freedom that comes with the first mile of a bicycle journey. No bills, no messy relationships, no job. All I needed was stuffed into 4 sturdy panniers”

Dan Buettner, starting his 12,000 mile, 277 day ride across Africa