Sea Otter Classic Greener Than Ever with Solar Powered Beer Trailers, Etc.

Sierra Nevada's Solar Powered Beer Cooler

PRESS RELEASE: Each of the past several years, the Sea Otter Classic has substantially subtracted from its carbon footprint by ratcheting up efforts to make the event more sustainable. Incentives to reduce waste, preferred parking for carpoolers and hybrid or other alternative fuel vehicles, and a recycling program in a league of its own are the bedrock of Sea Otter’s sustainable initiatives. Partnerships with companies that live by their sustainable words, like Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Clif Bar & Co., Pedro’s, and Toyota, have strengthened and expanded Sea Otter’s “green” mission and new this year, if you like beer, then you’ll want to sample some brew at Sierra Nevada’s Solar Draft Trailer.

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. has developed a refrigerated beer trailer unlike any other 17′ trailer - this one is actually powered by solar energy. When it arrives at Sea Otter, it will have 15 photovoltaic panels that transfer solar energy to 14 batteries. Energy is converted from direct current (DC) into the more easy-to-use alternate current (AC) electricity, and then powers a compressor, which keeps the trailer at 36 degrees Fahrenheit and your beers cold.

“The idea is that, when we do an event that is three or four days long, like the Sea Otter Classic, we can pretty much set up in an open field and operate completely on solar power for the duration of the event,” said Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.’s Eric Silverman.

2010 also marks Sierra Nevada’s third year as Sea Otter’s “Official Recycling Sponsor.” While recycling may be a small step, it is an important one. Since Day 1, Sierra Nevada’s expressed goal for the Sea Otter Classic has been to make recycling easy. The success of the program has earned Sea Otter “best in its class” praise for event recycling from Monterey County.

Sierra Nevada has pioneered many innovations to conserve resources and focus on sustainable business practices. The solar-powered beer trailer and recycling program are distinct ways of extending the company’s environmental commitment to the events that they sponsor.

Clif Bar Strengthens Measures to Inspire Healthy Living

Clif Bar & Co. set new trends in sport nutrition years ago by ambitiously replacing commercial ingredients with organic ingredients in every available instance of their expansive product range. Unwilling to rest on the satisfaction of improving a person’s nutritional wellbeing, Clif Bar took aggressive measures to improve the planet’s wellbeing too by launching programs like the Wrapper Brigade and the 2 Mile Challenge to inspire people to engage in a healthier, more conscientious lifestyle.

Clif Bar will still take all brands of energy bar wrappers (that’s right, ALL of them) at their booth, number 227, to later be converted into useful objects like tote bags and purses. In partnership with Terracycle, Clif Bar’s Wrapper Brigade wrapper-recycling program is now in its third year.

Since 2007, the Clif Bar 2 Mile Challenge has been challenging people to fight global warming by walking or riding bikes for trips that are two miles or less. Take the challenge www.2milechallenge.com where you can start from scratch by designing the perfect bike or join a team and connect with a nationwide network of peers who are doing their part to fight global warming.

In addition to options for the public to reduce their carbon footprint, each year every Clif employee “walks the talk” by riding bikes to and from the venue each day.

“Eight miles traveled by car puts roughly 8 lbs of CO2 in the atmosphere,” said Clif Bar’s Peter Berridge. “Between Luna (they ride too) and Clif Bar staff, we’re 10 - 13 people on any day at Sea Otter so you might say, we’re sparing 160 - 208 lbs (round trip) of carbon emissions each day. That adds up to 640 - 832 for the full event.”

16 lbs of carbon spared daily by each Clif/Luna crew member may not sound like much but every little measure taken in a given day and week adds up.

“Simply choosing to ride your bike instead of drive your car once or twice a week can make a big difference in your carbon footprint on the planet,” continued Berridge. “This sort of thinking is at the heart of Clif Bar’s 2 Mile Challenge and that’s partly why Clif Bar has always believed it is important to ‘walk the talk’ here at the Sea Otter. As outdoor enthusiasts, we’ve all got a duty to help protect the places where we play; the planet’s overall health is part of that equation. As bicyclists, every one of us is well-equipped to do the right thing.”

Clean Bikes With a Clear Conscience at the Pedro’s Bike Wash

Pedro’s, the bicycle care brand from Massachusetts with a strong environmental ethos, is back for a fifth year as a partner to the Sea Otter Classic’s sustainability initiatives. Pedro’s will offer all participants free bike care during the event at a special clean-and-lube station. The station will feature the company’s high performance and biodegradable care products including Green Fizz bike wash, Pro J degreaser and GO! chain lube.

“We’re committed to keeping all the bikes at Sea Otter rolling. We just don’t think you need to poison the planet to do it. That’s why our focus is on effective bike care done responsibly” commented Pedro’s CEO Christopher Zigmont.

Preferential treatment for hybrids and alternative fuel vehicles

2010 marks the fourth year in which anyone arriving at Sea Otter in a hybrid vehicle or other alternative fuel vehicle will be directed to premier reserved parking. Carpools of four or more people per vehicle will also gain access. The reserved parking area is hosted by Toyota.
Sea Otter’s evolution as a sustainable event has emerged as a model against which other events in the Monterey Bay area get measured. By partnering with companies that share Sea Otter’s compassion for the environment and healthy living, Sea Otter shows by example that sustainability is a process made greater by the sum of its parts.

Porque esto mismo no lo hemos promovido para Monagas? Hay que organizarse si queremos tener un "trail network" de clase mundial. esta a nuestro alcance, solo debemos enfocar nuestros esfuerzos y recursos en un objetivo en comun.

IMBA Coming to Tsali for Trail Maintenance Classes, Work

IMBA is coming to Tsali, NC, Mar. 19-21, and you’re invited to join in the special events. Chris and Leslie Kehmeier of the Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew are teaming up with SORBA and the Nantahala Outdoor Center for a weekend dedicated to improving local trails and having fun.

The weekend offers participants the opportunity to learn about maintaining trail in the classroom and on the Tsali Trail. Share your experiences in mountain bike advocacy and learn about exciting mountain bike projects in the Southeast. Then, ride and enjoy the spectacular trails of western North Carolina.

Registration fees include cover admission to IMBA Trail Care Crew events, lunch and dinner on Saturday, group rides, on-site transportation and the Saturday night social.

Check out the details below and come join in the fun…

Friday
5:00 – 7:00 PM Registration
8:00 PM SORBA Executive Board and IMBA – SORBA Staff meeting

Saturday
On Saturday morning there are two activity tracks for participants: Track One is for all attendees. Track Two is for SORBA Board members and IMBA Regional Leadership Advisory Committee members (RLAC) only.

Breakfast at River’s Edge, on your own.

Track One:
9:00 - 11:30 AM IMBA Trail Care Crew Presentation, Klienrath Hall
11:30 AM Lunch
12:30 AM Transportation to Tsali for TCC afternoon on trail class
1:00 PM on site IMBA TCC Trail Class
4:00 PM Transportation to NOC
4:30 PM Bike Ride at NOC

Track Two
8:30 AM SORBA Board of Directors meeting with IMBA RLAC, location TBA
11:30 AM Lunch
12:30 PM Transportation to Tsali
1:00 PM On-site with IMBA TCC
4:00 PM Transportation to NOC
4:30 PM Bike Ride at NOC

Everyone
6:30 – 7:30 PM Dinner
8:00 PM TCC Club Care Presentation and party

You can register online and get more info here.

Sunday
Breakfast on your own at the River’s Edge.
8:00 - 9:00 AM SORBA Board meeting
9:00 AM Group rides at Tsali or Jack Rabbit Mountain

Team Sky Bus Totally Pimp, XZibit Would be Proud

Team Sky sent us a link to their team bus photos, and it’s one sweet ride. Here’s the blurb:

Dave Brailsford, Sky Team Principal, employed designers who had formerly worked with F1 teams Honda and Benetton to ‘Pimp-My-Ride’ the traditional team bus concept. They completely gutted two brand-new Volvo 9700s and started from scratch. Their vision: to ensure everything in the bus makes the riders’ recovery time off the bike as relaxed as possible.

Nine leather seats, each with their own Sky+ (a UK TiVo-style service) box and space to stow the team-issue iPhone and Macbook Pro, can tilt and swivel a hundred different ways in the main cabin. They even feature (electronic!) retractable calf support. A full multimedia set-up, projector and screen are available for team talks, and there’s a mood-lighting system developed with the team psychiatrist to enhance the riders’ focus. At the back, meanwhile, there’s a meeting room that doubles as a massage area, as well as the all-important showers, with specially lowered floors so that even Bradley doesn’t have to stoop to wash the road dust from his hair.

Frankly, it all verges on the over-the-top – a cross between the A-Team van and a James Bond car stuffed with secret contraptions – but nine track golds at the Beijing Olympics are testament to the efficacy of Brailsford’s all-encompassing approach. Scarily, Team Sky even has a manager officially titled ‘Head of Marginal Gains’. And, what with the teams’ undercard seeming to gel so well at the Tour Down Under, it may not only be the bus that’ll be making an impression this season.

If they’d only known Apple’s probably dropping some hot new MB Pros this year with waayyy faster chips…oh, wait, they have a massive budget. That chair looks more comfortable than anything in my house, perhaps including my bed.

Altogether, it took 9000 man hours - approximately four months - of blood, sweat and toil to get the machines kitted out.

SRAM Takes X-Dome MTB Cassette Down to 9-Speeds, Will Road Groups Follow Suit?

Taking the X-Dome technology from its XX component line, SRAM has debuted the XG999 9-speed cassette.

Set to release in mid-March, the XG999 is very light at 175g for the 11-32… a full 100g from their PG-990 cassette and about 50g lighter than a comparable Shimano XTR cassette. Like the XX model, all but the largest and smallest cog are milled from a single piece of billet steel, forming a dome shape. The large cog is a replaceable press-fit aluminum gear, and the smallest keeps it real with steel.

Because it’s mostly steel, SRAM claims it’ll be more durable, too, making it the obvious choice for all us weight weenies that are still on 9-speed bikes (ie. most of us). Well, obvious if you can plunk down $300 and don’t need the extra range that a 34-tooth cog would provide.

Bikeradar quoted SRAM’s U.S. road products manager Mike Zellman as saying “our best technologies consistently find their way across our product platforms.” And that March release date comes just before Sea Otter, where SRAM is known to launch most of their new goodies for the year, so our hunch is we’ll see something like this on the road side before too long. Funny, just the other day we were just wondering how they were going to improve RED now that Force is so similar…

Breaking News: Hayes to Unveil All-New Prime Hydraulic Disc Brakes

Coming in full color and detail on February 8, Hayes Disc Brakes is getting ready to unveil their all-new PRIME hydraulic disc brakes.

Two years in the making, the new brakes will feature several category firsts and new technologies that they promise will make use and maintenance much better and easier. We don’t want to totally spill their beans for them, but look for totally tool-free adjustments, big power and new reservoir bore designs…wait, we’ve said too much already.

Outerbike - Like Interbike, But Open To Everyone

Interbike’s Outdoor Demo has long been the place to try out all the new models coming out for the following year, but it’s been a trade-only event. If you didn’t work in the cycling industry or for a bike shop, you likely weren’t able to get in.

Now, the people from Western Spirit mountain bike tours have put together Outerbike, a four day outdoor demo that’s open to everyone…and it’s in Moab! For $150, you get to ride 2011 road and mountain bikes from Yeti, Maverick, Santa Cruz, Rocky Mountain, Kona, Specialized, Pivot, Ibis, Turner, BH, Marin and Trek, plus demo new suspension from Fox. Our guess is there’ll be other brands and products exhibiting by the time September rolls around.

You’ll also get lunch at the trailheads and shuttles to downhill runs, plus discounted admission to evening parties and film screenings. During the day you’ll get to ride Bar M, Sovereign Trail and Slickrock trails and paved canyon roads to put the new bikes through their paces. If you’re in the market for a new bike later this year or early next, this is a great way to check out bikes in real world conditions before destroying your credit score.

Proceeds will go to IMBA and the Moab Trails Alliance.

Ibis Cycles Releases Photos, Pricing on 2010 Mojo HD Mountain Bike

At Interbike, we spotted an unpainted prototype of the 2010 Ibis Mojo HD and got some shots and info. Now, Ibis has unveiled the first of three paint jobs that are available, along with pricing and full frame specs and detail photos.

The Mojo HD takes the classic and well-received Mojo full suspension mountain bike concept and blows up the travel to 160mm. The full carbon frame uses the DW-Link suspension platform and incorporates a tapered headtube, a custom MRP chainguide (or you can run it fully geared, as shown) and the ability to run up to a 180mm fork in the front, and it does it all in a svelte 6.3lb package.

Brian Lopes has been thrashing this thing for most of 2009 as proof of concept, including racing it at the ‘09 Downhill Worlds, and here’s what he has to say about the frame:

“Let people know that this frame, although it looks very similar, it is a completely different beast when the limits are being pushed. When I am charging down any hill I can feel the differences in every aspect. The angles, stiffness, and that added amount of travel all are huge factors that translate into the ability to ride steeper, rougher, more technical terrain with more ease and confidence. While the regular MOJO is NO whimpy bike, the HD enhances the capabilities of a rider to the next level, especially when pushing the limits.”

Even if you’re not in the market for a bike like this (or you think you aren’t; it’s priced pretty competitively), the glossy pictures of shiny, curvy bikes are worth looking at. Go ahead, make the jump…

Thankfully, not all of the carbon is covered up, and there’s a Matte Black / Carbon finish that’s available, too. Ibis says there’s a third surprise colorway coming, too. The top tube has cable guides for the front derailleur and a remote height adjustable seatpost…run ‘em if you want ‘em.

The headtube uses a tapered 1.125″ to 1.5″ design with an inset hidden top section and normal outboard bottom bearing race. It’s compatible with both the Cane Creek Frustrum and Chris King InSet headsets.

While the Mojo HD bears resemblance to the Mojo and Mojo SL, these are entirely new molds and links. It uses the same UHM (Ultra High Modulus) carbon fiber layup as the SL. Ibis provides an optional $30 polycarbonate cable guard for the downtube to protect the brake line and rear derailleur housing for extremely aggressive riders.

For those wanting to run a normal geared triple up front, the front derailleur uses a standard clasp mount around the seat tube. If you want to run it with a single like Lopes-ey, they’ve custom engineered a front chainguide / bash guard that mounts to the main pivot bolt on the lower link. It’s being manufactured by MRP to their specs.

Ibis points out that the HD’s frame is not ISCG compatible because the upper ISCG bolt would interfere with the movement of the lower link. And, per Lopes’ request, they didn’t want to use a bottom bracket mount chainguide that could swivel if it was bashed on a rock. Thus, the custom made MRP unit. This also means that the HD won’t work with Truvativ’s Hammerschmidt, but Ibis says that the small gearing it uses isn’t ideal for the leverage ratios designed into the HD’s suspension anyway.

Speaking of the lower link, it’s been beefed up with dual row angular contact bearings in the front, and large radial bearings in the rear. Combined, they offer a stiff, long-wearing package that can take some real abuse.

The DW-Link suspension design offers an efficient pedaling platform, and you’ll find it on other well regarded bikes like Pivot and Turner, too. Another cool feature about the Mojo HD’s links? They’ll be available in colors:

Red, blue and black, to be exact.

The rear stays are designed to accommodate up to a 2.5″ tire, depending on knob design.

The left dropout is forged Magnesium, offering all the strength of aluminum at 2/3 the weight…I just hope it’s been treated to resist corrosion. The post mount design will take up to a 200mm rotor. That hole for the axle is made to fit the 12 x 135mm Maxle. The drive side dropout is carbon fiber.

PRICING:

Base price for the Ibis Mojo HD is $2,399.99 for the frame and a Fox RP23 air shock. There are a number of upgrades and packages available, including a Fox DHX Air 5.0 shock for an additional $133.99. Ibis recommends only air shocks for the frame due to the way the suspension ramp is designed to work, here’s why:

The leverage ratio, like the Mojo and Mojo SL is designed for air shocks. The Mojo HD comes with a 8.5″ x 2.5″ Fox RP23. A DHX air will work on all but the small size. A coil shock is not offered because the linkage rates weren’t designed for it. We lowered the top tube to get slightly better standover than the regular small mojo while having a higher BB because of the longer travel (we managed to retain the DHX air compatibility in 3 of the 4 sizes)

There are two complete bike build kits available: SRAM X9 ($4,099) and Shimano XT ($4,999), both with various upgrade options.

QUICK SPECS:

• 160mm of rear wheel travel
• DW Link Suspension
• 26″ Wheels
• Frame weight (Large): 6.3 lbs, 2.86kg
• 67º head angle (w/ a 160mm fork)
• Polycarbonate down tube cable guard
• Chainstay length: 17.125″.
• 12 x 135mm Maxle rear axle.
• Post mount magnesium left dropout, carbon right dropout.
• Uses new tapered steerer standard: 1-1/8″ hidden upper, 1.5″ traditional lower.
• 1-1/8″ Headset adapter available.
• Bottom Bracket height is 13.8″-14″ depending on tires.

More info is available on their website, including all pricing and upgrade options.