Cafe Velo’s is having a demo day and tent sale this Saturday. Test bikes from Cervelo, BMC, and Neil Pryde, and wheels from HED and Zipp. Check out Sidi shoes and much more.

All participants who test ride a bike are eligible for a 10% discount on a new 2013 BMC, Cervelo, or Neil Pryde bike purchase. Stop by Cafe Velo for details!

Tent Sale: All 2012 bikes/shoes and winter apparel must go. Get a great deal while they last.

Available for demo

Cervelo Bikes

• R3 Ultegra with HED Ardennes SL wheels: 48, 51, 54, 56, 58
• S5 Ultegra with HED Jet 5 wheels: 48, 51, 54, 56, 58

BMC Bikes

• GranFondo GF01 Di2: 48, 51, 54, 56, 58
• GranFondo GF02 Ultegra: 48, 51, 54
• Team Elite 29″ Hardtail TE01: M, L
• Four Stroke 29″ Full Suspension FS02: S, M, L

Neil Pryde

• Bura SL
• Alize
• Diablo: 54, 58

Stromer Electric Bikes

Specialized

• Roubaix Expert: 56 & 58
• Tarmac Expert: 54

Zipp Race Wheels
202, 303, 404, 606, 808

Mad Fiber wheels

Corima

• Viva S

Sidi wheels

Enduro Bites Nutrition

Call Cafe Velo at 719 772-6101 or email contact@cafevelobikes.com to reserve your demo!

This weekend, April 13th and 14th, is the Front Range Cycling Classic at the Air Force Academy. There will be both collegiate and USA Cycling classes. Saturday morning is a collegiate only team trial followed by the Falcon Stadium criterium in the late morning and all afternoon. Sunday is the road race.

See the race flyer for all the details.

They’ve reported on the Front Range Cycling Facebook page that the Men Cat 4/5 race has reached it’s limit for the road race. Feel free however, to come out and race in the masters, pro 1/2 or 3/4 fields instead if your license allows as we’ve raised the field sizes for those races to 100 riders.

Here are photos of last year’s Front Range Classic crit.

Tonight, April 11th, Cafe Velo is having their First Annual Cafe Velo Ladies Night and wine and cheese party. From 4:30-6:30pm there will be a product showcase & technical clinics. Meet product experts from many of the Cafe Velo product brands during our product fair. Learn from Cafe Velo mechanics about race-day bike prep and how to handle race day mechanical issues such as flats, chain drop, and other common mishaps.

From 6:30-8 PM meet local cyclists and triathletes to hear their personal story of their journey into competitive cycling and triathlon. We have invited a range of local athletes to speak, including 2001 World Champion and two time Olympian Alison Dunlap, 2012 Age Group Female Triathlete of the Year Danielle Kehoe, 2012 Criterium Age Group National Champ Kris Johnson, DNA Cycling racer Ceil Murphy, ExergyTWENTY16 racer Laurel Rathbun, and Local Triathlete Beth O’Brien, and much more…

Ladies only please– no charge for this event, but space is limited RSVP is a must! Email Cafe Velo at contact@cafevelobikes.com or join the event on Facebook to reserve your spot.

Like riding the Jones Park Downhill? Unfortunately some of the trails could be closed to all users. The Forest Service is proposing closing 3.5 miles of trails along Bear Creek near Jones Park because of greenback cutthroat trout.

There is an open house tonight, Thursday, April 4th. You can also provide comments through email, by fax or through snail mail through the end of the month. Get the details on the UltraRob blog.

Southern Colorado Velo was founded in 2010 as an inclusive bicycling club and race team. Their members include riders of all ages, ability levels and cycling disciplines. They are a giving team where experienced riders share their passion and experience. They develop camaraderie through racing, riding and training. SoCO Velo supports a developmental cycling team, and casual cycling club, participates in local trail work, educates cyclists about skills and fitness, instructs bicycle maintenance clinics and hosts local youth bike safety rodeos.

On March 1st at 6pm, 2013 Bicycle Village is hosting the SoCO Velo Kick-Off Meeting and Membership Drive. Go meet the team and others interested in joining one of the largest cycling clubs in southern Colorado! There will be a Fit Kit to check-out and try on their new SoCO Velo Pactimo custom line of cycling gear. You will be able to sign up, discuss their 2013 member benefits package, get questions answered, talk about the 2013 cycling season and submit your application for the 2013 SoCO Velo sponsored race team!

Who Should Go?

• Interested cyclists and current SoCO Velo club and race team members.
• Cyclists of any size, shape, age or ability who enjoy riding a bike.
• Competitive cyclists and those who wish to compete as a sponsored cyclist in local races
• Cyclists who want to improve riding techniques and training.
• Cyclists who are looking for a group of people to ride with.

Club Members Get:

• Access and invitations to social group rides and information on local events and races.
• Focused group training rides for cycling skills and fitness.
• Southern Colorado custom cycling gear at wholesale pricing.
• Bicycle Village Premium Partner discount card.
• Incredible discounts from SoCO Velo’s Sponsors– Trek Bicycles, Bell, Giro, Easton, Smith Sunglasses, Pactimo Clothing, Continental Tires and more!
• Learn about new trails and areas to ride.

Race Team Members Get:

• All Club Member benefits plus a race fees reimbursement incentive package.

This is last minute information for tonight but there’s 3 more Mondays in February so you can plan ahead for them. Unfortunately I just saw the info on this today.

Race with your own road bike indoors FREE! Big Mountain Adventure Racing is sponsoring the February BMAR-Criterium Computrainer Races at Criterium Bicycles every Monday evening in February.

Races begin at 6pm. The fastest racer each night gets a free BMAR SWAG bag! If you attend all four Monday events you’ll have a chance to win a 30% off BMAR race coupon!

If you’ve never ridden a CompuTrainer, who should go try them out. They have 2 different modes. In one mode it keeps your power output constant and in the other mode it changes the resistance to simulate changes in road grade. Racing uses the 2nd mode and you shift your gears to make it easier or harder just like on the road.

I haven’t seen the setup at Criterium but I have a CompuTrainer and I’ve also done the power classes at the CTS Endurance Sports Club. A couple nights during the classes I took at CTS we did some racing. It’s certainly a way to make indoor training less boring. Of course with the weather we’ve been having there hasn’t been much of a need to ride inside.

Fat-bikes.com has declared tomorrow, December 1st as Global Fat Bike Day. Right here in Colorado Springs, we’re going to have some fat bike fun. Pedal of Littleton is having a fat bike event up there too.

You may not heard of fat bikes but they’re gaining popularity. Fat bikes are mountain bikes with extra wide tires that were created for riding in snow. The tires can be nearly twice as wide as a regular mountain bike tire. They also work well in sand.

Racers for the Iditarod Trail Invitational would weld 2 rims together to get enough flotation in the snow. Then the Surly Pugsley was created and better wheels and tires came along. Now the Salsa Mukluk and Surly Moonlander are popular fat bikes.

Tomorrow’s event here in Colorado Springs is in Sand Creek near Platte Avenue. The Hub bike shop and the Surly rep will be on hand with some demo bikes including Moonlanders. For more details on the fat bike demo, see the event page on Facebook.

Cyclists got a chance to bike the Pikes Peak Highway during September. The Colorado Springs Parks and Recreation Advisory Board is taking input on allowing bikes on the Pikes Peak road in the future at their meeting tomorrow, November 8th.

The meeting starts at 7:30 AM. Bikes on Pikes Peak is fairly far down on the agenda so if you can’t arrive until a little after 8 you should be there in time and give input. The meeting is at parks headquarters, 1401 Recreation Way.

Levi Leipheimer has stood atop the podium of cycling’s most celebrated contests: The Tour de France. The Olympics. The Amgen Tour of California. The Vuelta a Espana. The Tour de Suisse and the USA Pro Challenge here in Colorado. But beyond the race coverage lies a man whose impact on those around him is even more notable. From the millions in charity work to the reshaping of his hometown, he’s done it all nearly silently. Until now.

As part of the investigation into Lance Armstrong, Levi testified about the doping in Pro cycling. Last week he was fired from the Omega Pharma-Quick Step team because of his doping. Tonight the Levi Effect is showing at theaters nationwide for one night only at 7:30 PM.

The Levi Effect is the story of Levi Leipheimer who left behind the mountains of Butte, Montana for a life of cramped hotels, endless traveling, and shovelfuls of pasta across two continents. Many talented young athletes do the very same, but few can make a home for themselves amongst the agonizing competition of a grueling sport. After years of struggling against the world’s top athletes, Levi finally earned a spot in their ranks. His greatest legacy may not be his racing success on the bike, but rather how he’s carried that success off the bike although it’s too early to know what effect his doping confession will have.

The Levi Effect website lists 3 local theaters showing the Levi Effect tonight. They are Tinseltown, Cinemark Carefree Circle and Hollywood Theaters 14. If you’re looking for someone to go with, a group is meeting a Cafe Velo before going over to the movie.

This month there’s a trial allowing bikes on the Pikes Peak Highway. It’s $12 to ride or $8 each for groups of 4 or more. Signing a special waiver is required to bike up Pikes Peak. This weekend is the last to ride Pikes Peak.

On the weekends, 80-100 cyclists have been riding the road with fewer during the week. Nearly 800 have ridden up this month.

You can start riding at any point and a popular start has been from Crowe Gulch Picnic Ground which is about 3 miles up from the tollgate. There’s no parking at the tollgate so to do the whole ride, park in the dirt near US 24 across from Wines of Colorado. Another spot higher up to ride from is Crystal Reservoir.

For a couple Pikes Peak by bike stories, read UltraRob’s Pikes Peak Highway/Barr Trail loop and Randi Hitchcock’s ride from Crowe Gulch on UpaDowna.