Philly Bike Expo 2014 Part 1

Last weekend we flew to Pennsylvania for the fifth annual Philly Bike Expo, put on by the folks at Bilenky Cycleworks. It had been a couple years since we have attended this show, and it has grown even bigger than previous years, drawing more builders and component makers from all over the country.



We flew out from Oakland with three bikes, including one of the new Ventana El Gordo fat bikes. Thankfully we didn't have any troubles getting everything checked in and our flight left on time.



Flying over the Nevada desert, we saw some huge parabolic solar mirror arrays.



The skies were mostly clear, and we didn't have much turbulence.



After a stop in Burbank we flew on to Denver, landing just in time to see the sun going down behind the mountains.



We finally got to Philly around 1 am, got the bikes unloaded and caught a taxi to our hotel across from the convention center downtown.





We forgot to bring a tire pump, so the first order of business was finding the nearest bike shop to fill our tires so we could have some transportation. Neil rode his new Ventana El Gordo and we took a spin around downtown.

Thanks to Frankinstein Bike Worx for the air!

The weather was a little overcast, but thankfully it didn't rain on us.









Next we stopped by to say hi to Dave and Simon at Firth and Wilson, a shop that specializes in cargo and transportation bikes.



When you have so many cargo bikes in the shop, you have to make the most of the floor space.



The crew from R.E. Load Bags was also there with a full assortment of packs and messenger bags for the show.



The folks at F&W really practice what they preach, so of course they brought their booth to the convention center by cargo bike.



We had a big group, including several different kinds of front loading bikes.



Taking the lane is easy when you've got this much cargo!



We rolled straight into the convention center and couldn't help taking a few laps around the empty show floor. More pictures coming in the second post from our trip!

Neil and Xan MTB Road Trip: Part 3 – Colorado and Utah

After some epic rides in the Springs, it was time to pack up the car and start the real adventure. I crammed all of my stuff into the van and we headed north to do one of Neil's favorite rides in Golden back from when he was in college. Even though I've spent plenty of time in Colorado at this point, I still sometimes go on a ride that totally blows my mind. Golden Gate Canyon was absolutely one of these rides.

Neil and Xan MTB Road Trip: Part 1 - California to Colorado

I left for a two week trip to Colorado in mid-May to pick up our youngest monkey, Xan, from college and do some epic riding along the way. The plan was for me to drive to Colorado Springs solo, meet up with Xan at Colorado College and ride the Front Range area for a few days, then road trip to through the mountain bike meccas of Colorado and Utah. I took my Oxide Cycles Battleaxe, and Xan would be riding his Ventana Zeus, both Rohloff SPEEDHUB equipped.

On the first day of the trip, I left Berkeley in the morning heading east in Interstate 80. My first stop was in Sacramento to provide some follow-up service for a customer. Afterwords, I continued on to the Boreal ski area exit to ride Hole in the Ground, a fun trail that flows through evergreen forest and over classic Sierra Nevada granite. Unfortunately, spring conditions meant snow was still present in places, and I ended up spending about an hour alternating between walking and riding through intermittent snow patches as I attempted to reach the trailhead. By the time I was at the trailhead, there was far too much snow to make riding worthwhile, so I bailed on the ride and hit the road, getting to Elko, NV for the night.

Guest Post: Fruita and Grand Junction Trip, By Xan Marshland

This October I joined a few other members of the Colorado College Cycling Club on a trip to Fruita and Grand Junction, on the western side of the Rocky Mountains. Our plan was to ride some of the area’s renowned cross country and all-mountain trails for four days, camping by one of the trailheads and spending all day riding until we were exhausted. This area had been on my list of places to ride for years, so I was incredibly excited to finally get out there.

I started riding cross-country in my freshman year of high school, but my riding style has progressed greatly since then to favor more adrenaline-inducing trails. Due in no small part to the influence of my team coach and Chief Monkey Neil's aggressive (or insane, depending on your perspective) riding style, I quickly began to prioritize descending steep, technical terrain over fitness-based riding. By my senior year I had fully embraced the “all-mountain” attitude of earning as many vertical feet of descending as I could under my own power.

Big Mountain Riding: Neil & Xan's Tahoe Trip

Neil (right) and Xan before heading down the trail.

Neil and Xan loaded up the van early one morning this fall to do some riding around South Lake Tahoe. Henry, a friend of Xan's, joined us for the trip. The goal was to ride the famed "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride" trail, officially called the Saxon Creek trail. This would be Xan's first ride on his new white Rohloff-equipped Ventana Zeus, a 160mm travel trail bike with 650b wheels. It was also an opportunity for Neil to get away from the office and have some fun after a busy summer. Neil brought his Lenz Sport Lunch Box, a 150mm travel 29'er, which has proven to be a very capable bike over the past few years.

The bikes all loaded up and ready to go.