Xtreme Sports ID bracelet

Anyone who spends a great deal of time in the outdoors usually ends up alone much of the time. Being alone in remote places and participating in a motion sport like cycling is a reasonably serious risk. Cell phones may not work. Who knows where you rode that day? Where would search and rescue look for you?

There are sophisticated products like the SPOT locator device. This is slick but is somewhat expensive for the average Joe out for a ride.

There is another option that, while it does not locate you and broadcast your position, it does identify you and supply crucial info for emergency contact numbers, medical issues such as allergies, etc, and will even send an email to people stating where you plan on riding that day and when you will return, etc.

All that for a few bucks. Xtreme Sports ID has a motto: "Never Go Out Alone". Their product is a simple ID bracelet like the ones you see all over the wrists of people, the colored rubbery ones like this:



The bracelet has an individual serial number on it that links you to an online database of your info for contacts, doctors name, etc. It will also allow you to send a pre-ride email to select addresses that details your plans in case you drop out of site. As well, there is a phone number option that allows the rescuer to dial a number, enter your bracelet's serial number, and get interactive text to voice info on you with no need for an internet connection.

If you are found and are unable to respond to questions or are unconscious or, well, dead....there, I said it, your identity and contact info will be readily available.

All this for eight bucks per bracelet which includes one year of the web and phone service and it is five dollars per year after that if you wish to continue.

I got mine. Cool deal for $8.00.

How to Choose a Bike Like an Expert

Experts. You have all seen them. They stand out from any crowd by the way they intimately know their field of expertise. The average man on the street stands in jealous awe at the skill and ease with which they work their craft.

Take for instance the wine afficionado. From the reading of the label to the first taste, this person judges clarity, color, bouquet, taste, and quietly pronounces judgement like Emperor Nero at the arena. Thumbs up, thumbs down.

Likewise, the keen eye for horseflesh. With skilled hands they examine the animal's hocks, withers, teeth, hoofs. No brokedown mare will pass through undetected.

Bicycles can be judged the same way by those in the know. Up until now, this has been a closely guarded secret passed on from rider to rider, but only in the strictest of confidence. However, I am going to change all that and empower the average Joe or Judy to look like an expert. I say look, because much is made in the appearance.

The wine dude? Hey, who knows if he really can tell the difference between Ripple and Chablis? He looks so confident and sure that no one dares challenge him. He is an expert.

The horse master? Hey if the nag falls down in the derby, it was rider error or such. He is, after all, an expert. You can tell that by the way he acts and the things he says. I mean, what do YOU know about strangulated tendons? I thought as much.

See, experts just need to LOOK like they know more than you, and since you may not know the first thing about it either, the most practiced and prepared will win.

Now, bikes. They are no different than wine, cars, horses, etc. If you know what to do and what to say, you can be an expert there too. You may not know how to spell deraaill...ahh....derrailer...well, shifters (hey, it's French, who can spell that stuff?) or tell a clincher from a tubular, but that is not important. With the secrets of the ages I am going to reveal to you, it won't matter a bit.

Consider the typical bike shop. The shop rat figures he knows more than you and he may or may not, but that is neither here nor there. You are an expert and you will demonstrate that in no uncertain terms by these key steps:

Choose a bike, any typical mtn bike for instance, and begin with:

The Brake Lever Flick -

The brake lever is lightly gripped with one or two fingers...NEVER the entire hand...and then released like a bow string. This should be done a few times in repetition as you listen to the qualifiying 'thunk' of the brake lever. Immediately the shop monkey is re-evaulating you. Perhaps there is more about you than meets the eye? This is the equivalent to uncorking the bottle.

The Heft -

Moving to the side of the bike and getting close to it, grab the bar/stem interface with one hand and underneath the back of the seat with the other hand and pick the bike off the ground. Bounce it up and down a few times, not letting it touch the ground, and then set it back down. Say something like, "well it is a bit heavier than what I am used to", but never venture to guess the actual weight as the monkey may know this. If you do venture a guess, say it in some obscure unit of measure like "I bet this is about 6.5 stone, maybe less" or, "huh, I would say it is less than 26.5 kilograms". At this point, the shop rat is confused and in awe of your tactile and mental abilities. This is to bikes what holding the filled wine glass to the light reveals.

The Squish -

If it has a suspension fork, this is the next key move. Holding both brake levers firmly on, push up and down on the fork and make a few noises with your lips, barely more than murmurs, perhaps a knowing nod. Be subtle. Ever see a wine guy take a sip and yell, "That is AWESOME!" I think not.

You are almost done except for the ultimate test of frame rigidity.

The Crankarm Press -

Find either crankarm (the thing the cheap, plastic pedal is screwed into) and place the pedal all the way down in the rotation. Once again, get to the side of the bike, holding the bars and seat just like in The Heft, but with your body farther away. Now place either foot on the pedal and press the pedal down in such a way as to cause the bike to bend away from you. This will seal the deal in concrete for the shop guy and anyone around you as you expertly show the ultimate test in bottom bracket stiffness. Never mind that the tires are nearly flat and the spokes are as well tensioned as Top Ramen, you have shown by this move that your judgement is not to be questioned.

One more thing: DO NOT ACTUALLY RIDE the bike. That may ruin the entire performance, but if you are forced into actually saddling up, stay tuned for part two on Choosing a Bike Like an Expert

Magic Salsa, Hold the Chips

SO, what is it with Salsa bikes these days? In my opinion, they are getting a lot of things right for 2008. In fact, right now I could satisfy my bike longings with:

A - A beautiful SS in the new Selma. Very sexy bike. Gotta be fast on that baby.

B - An XC FS bike in the new Big Mama, and depending on the build, be there for everything but rides where weight is more important than comfort, like maybe 24 hour racing.

C - You know the 24 hour stuff the Big Mama may be too heavy for? How about a Dos Niner, maybe the king of affordable soft tail 29ers. Would make a killer 1x9 fireroad bike.

D - The Fargo. Wow, has this hit a niche that was untapped except for custom frame offerings!

E - Podio. A road bike even I would like to own.

F - Chile Con Crosso. I am not sure what I would do with it, but I bet I could find a spot somewhere.

And I have not even mentioned the Mamasita and El Mariachi and I hear they even make 26" wheeled bikes too, but this does not concern me as it is just a nasty rumor.

Now I could possibly come close to this with, say, Trek brand stuff if I mix Fisher in there too. Specialized....ahhh, almost, but no Fargo. Anyone else? Nope.

And it is not just variety. They could all be mediocre bikes and be varied, yes? But as much as I can tell, folks love these things. Very happy owners. And, they don't seem to break a lot either.

Good combo, all that. But there is more that sets them apart and it is a bit of an intangible.

I remember when Salsa Cycles was Ross's baby. I first knew them from custom stems, then the Ala Carte. Then a veritable outpouring of stuff that always had a cool factor to it. The little Pepperman guy, etc. I remember the Mangos De Amor, the Handles of Love barends. Still makes me smile.

So, 'back in the day' there was Salsa, Ibis, Fat Chance, Ritchey, Yeti, etc, all still made, if not by hand, at least in limited production numbers and captained by the guy that began the company, usally by accident cause he loved bikes and one thing led to another...voila, a bike business is born.

With most of the boutique bikes either swallowed up by big box type corporations or faded into history, there is Salsa, owned by a huge-ish entity, QBP. And there is Salsa, no Ross as far as I know, and yet still cool and innovative. Huh. How come? Why do I still want a Pepperman t-shirt and not a Yeti t-shirt (I don't own either bike brand)?

Must be in the hearts and talents of the guys running the show and I guess the folks that write the checks are smart enough to let them be dreamers and inventors and bike riders and bike nuts and whatever else separates them from Trek, Cannondale, Specialized, etc.

I think the brand appeals to riders who know what they want, are educated in cycling ways and do not need the bike shop to do the thinking for them. Maybe not first time buyers and maybe not the buyer looking for the Seven Cycles custom Ti or Litespeed, but there is a huge middle ground of seasoned riders with a medium budget and a desire to buy a niche brand that makes them feel like the old days when it was cool to ride a homegrown bike brand, even if they are too young to have been there 'back in the days'.

To sum it up, Salsa has remained cool and relevant and THAT is well...cool.

Part Four: Interbike - Let's Make a Deal!

The last day of the week long journey dawned hot and bright as only the desert can do. When we had rolled into Vegas the night before, it was still over 90*, quite the change from when we had left where the evenings were very pleasant. But hey, the halls of the convention center were air conditioned and so was Steve M's Honda, so we were good to go.

I still was walking like the Tim Conway character, the old man, remember him? Maybe Festus on the Gunsmoke program? Yeah, I know, the age is showing, ain't it? I had the challenge of walking for hours through the show, so I popped way more Ibuprofen than normal and headed out with the gang. I figured I could always find a place on the floor or some abandoned hallway to lie down in if I had to.

It is funny how these type of events go, usually I just hit the top 6 or so booths that I really want to see and then the rest of the show fades into a blur of stuff, none of which I need and little of which I want. Inevitably I forget something or walk right by the 'gem of the show' only to read about it later on some other persons report. "Hey, did you guys see the Zero G cycles booth? They had the new Sputnik XC bike there with super secret declassified Russian mystery metal that actually weighed LESS than nothing. It leaves black holes whereever you ride it!". Nah...must have missed that one.

However, this show was a bit different. You see, I was being educated by a member of our group, who's name will be kept confidential so I don't embarrass Cliff by talking about him. He is a super shopper. If there is a deal within 200 square miles, hectares, kilometers, or light years, he will find it. The boy has talent, he does. SO he revealed to me that I-Bike can be a shoppers dream. Really? I had no idea. I had never even thought of actually buying anything there, but I had not been to the show in years, so maybe it happened while I was away or I just was clueless.

Now, I am not talking schwag or free stuff, or even scamming. I mean, "Hey, are those for sale, and if so, how much?" I won't even touch on his ability to get free stuff. The man's an artist, but I will leave that be. So now, with the thought of being able to buy some cool stuff at a good price in my mind, I was in another mindset altogether. I still had the living dead/zombie shuffle going on and my left hamstring was all messed up from the nerves getting zinged, but I still managed to do pretty well.

I already posted up the Deuter hydration pack. Sweet deal. More to come on that once I have used it for a while, but I also picked up the new DVD 'Seasons', a couple of insulated water bottles, a sweet pair of Serfas glasses with 4 lenses, and the usual samples and catalogs, magazines, etc.

Now, we were there on the last day. And in the last hour of the show, on the last day, things in the swapmeet heat up to fever pitch. Bikes, wheels, tires, etc, hit the chopping block. Shimano was selling the high zoot shoes which included a custom fit (done right on the spot) for silly prices. I heard of all kinds of stuff bought for cheap. I wanted to come home with some amount of money in my pocket, so I sat, rested my back and watched the whole thing wind down.

God was gracious and I was able to get through the day with a lot of discomfort and some pain, but hey, I ride mtn bikes. That is SOP for me. Felt like normal!

Some highlights of the show other than shopping:

Talking to Jason at Salsa about his Fargo adventures and touring plans he has for next year, then turning around and meeting Guitar Ted standing right next to me. VERY COOL. Heck, I would rather meet these guys than Lance Whatever His Name Is.

The booth that had those energy food bites that looked like malted milk balls...was it Clif Bar? Can't remember. Cookie Dough flavor....mmmmmmMM!

The entire Salsa line-up. I may need to blog just about that all by itself. How can they get so much, so right?

Watching Jeff Jones of Jones bikes, yes the swoopy $$$$ Ti ones, take his bike and stand it sideways on the front wheel, then jump on the center of the wheel to show how strong the set up is. I guess so!

Meeting the owner of Rawland cycles and training myself to look at him sign (apparently he is deaf and mute) his words while I listened to the interpreter off to the side. Now I only mention this as a point of self realization. At first I was looking AND listening to the interpreter. Then it occurred to me that that was a bit rude, so I focused on the owner, Sean (more about him here) and I could see the passion in his eyes for what he does. Very cool stuff, definately out of the box.

One negative thing. Specialized thinks I don't rate. Hey, they may be right, but how come I don't get into the inner sanctum of their bike display? Dealers and media only, I miss on both accounts. I guess this is nothing new for them, but it ticked me off. Makes me glad I don't own a Specialized bike and I doubt I will again. Salsa liked me. I buy stuff from folks that like me.

Anything else? A few things I will blog about all on their own, but the rest is all fuzzy, just one big mash of lights, banners, and shiny, expensive things.

Now a couple of pics just cuz. Salsa goodness, The Santana bike-as-fence-rail booth, The Lenz 6.0 and a quiet statement of faith, and Rawland steel, not in any particular order.