TEMPE, AZ - It’s Tour time and BH Bikes is celebrating! To cheer on theAG2R-La Mondiale team in the Tour de France, and support our loyal consumers BH USA is giving away BH team kits and raffling off a frame.

Every consumer who buys a BH Connect or G4 frame or bike will be given a BH team kit. The striking cycling jersey and bib shorts match the G4 paint scheme. The consumer also will be entered into a drawing to win the soon-to-be-released BH Carbon Cross frameset.

The AG2R-La Mondiale cycling team will be an exciting team to watch in this year’s Tour. The team is coming off a great spring campaign with wins at GP Lugano, Paris-Nice and Dauphine Libere. Their success at the Dauphine—considered the ultimate warm-up for the Tour—bodes well for the team in July. Cyril Dessel won a mountainous stage of the race (against some Tour favorites) and several other riders just missed out on podium spots. AG2R took second in the Dauphine team classification and will challenge for the team overall at the Tour.

The fine print:
1. Must purchase a BH G4 or Connect frame or complete bike.
2. Must purchase the bike/frame from July 5-27 from and authorized BH dealer.
3. Must provide a consumer receipt of purchase to be entered in the drawing.
4. Entries must be received before Aug 20.
5. Drawing will be held on Friday, Aug 27.
6. Prize will be a BH carbon cross frameset (frame, fork, headset, seatpost).
7. Winner can specify the size of the frameset.
8. The prize is not redeemable with BH USA for any other BH merchandise.
9. BH employees and/or authorized retailers are not eligible for this contest.

Photo by Ken Conley

On Sunday June 29, Rock Racing’s Rahsaan Bahati successfully defended his title to win the 47th annual Chevron Manhattan Beach Grand Prix. The pressure was on for Bahati as Rock Racing was a presenting sponsor for the race and he was racing in front of his family.

“It’s like a monkey off my back, it’s weird going into a race that you’ve won the previous year, to have all my family out here, Rock Racing sponsored it. It’s a lot to accomplish you know in one race, to entertain you guys, represent the sponsors well and to win the bike race, and as a team today, phenomenal.” said a relieved and happy Bahati.

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Manhattan Beach, Calif. — Rahsaan Bahati won his sixth race of the season in convincing fashion Sunday, scoring an impressive second straight victory at the 47th edition of the Chevron Manhattan Beach Grand Prix.

Bahati swept across the finish line on a sun-splashed afternoon at Live Oak Park ahead of runner-up Ricardo Escuela (Successful Living presented by Parkpre) and Brad Huff (Jelly Belly Pro Cycling).

“I had a lot of trust in my teammates and they delivered,” Bahati said before being congratulated by Rock Racing Team Owner Michael Ball and a host of teammates and cheering fans. “With a lap to go, I was concerned about us getting swarmed. But our lead out was tremendous. The guys started sprinting with a kilometer to go.”

Ball said he was thrilled that Rock Racing could be a part of the long-standing event. Several thousand fans lined the 1.4-mile (2.2 km) hot dog-shaped course that borders the Pacific Ocean.

“Being able to celebrate a victory again makes our involvement this year even sweeter,” Ball said.

Rock Racing was an official sponsor of the race and the team’s official vehicle, a Cadillac CTS, served as the pace car. The iBN Sports network also provided live, online coverage of the entire event, which is available on-demand at www.ibnsports.com.

The victory was Rock Racing’s 20th of the season and its second at a National Race Calendar event. Santiago Botero won the overall title at the Redlands Bicycle Classic to open the NRC calendar in April.

In last year’s race, Bahati edged out Ivan Dominguez (Toyota-United Pro Cycling) while Hilton Clarke (Navigators Insurance) was third.

This time, Bahati said having so many teammates around him at the end of the 90-minute race was reassuring. Rock Racing controlled the front the final laps of the race on the strength of Fred Rodriguez, Kayle Leogrande, Peter Dawson, Jeremiah Wiscovitch and Sterling Magnell. Rock Racing even chased down a move of six late in the 90-minute race that included its own Rudolph “Rudy” Napolitano.

“We just couldn’t put all that pressure on Rudy to come through at the end so we told him to just sit on and the rest of our guys helped bring them back,” Bahati said.

Halfway around the world Sunday, Rock Racing’s Oscar Sevilla scored a runner-up finish at the Spanish national championship road race. Racing without any teammates, Sevilla finished second to Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) in the challenging 130-mile (210 km) race. Oscar Pereiro, another one of eight riders from Caisse d’Epargne in the race, was third.

BEDFORD, Pa. — The longest stage of the American Eagle Outfitters® Tour of Pennsylvania presented by Highmark Healthy High 5® was made even more epic when strong winds and rain threatened the international field at the starting line in Camp Hill. While the sun broke through the clouds, neither the remaining gusting winds nor the many kilometers ahead could hold back cycling’s U-25 world-class up-and-comers from their visions of a Stage 3 victory.

Starting in Camp Hill at presenting sponsor Highmark’s campus, Stage 3 featured a 165-kilometer road race with a classic European road race sequence, and it all began on the rolling country roads that Pennsylvania is known for.

A truly valiant effort on behalf of the breakaway rider from America Peter Stetina (VMG-Felt), who gained nearly four minutes on a 40 rider chase group, came to a dramatic closing on the streets of Bedford when the soloist was caught just 100 meters to the finish line.

“It was very tough out there on my own, but I felt really, really good,” said Stetina whose lengthy breakaway efforts earned him both the Forbes Trail Most Aggressive rider and the VisitPA.com KOM winners jerseys. “It was a pure headwind and a false flat and without this, I think I could have taken the win. All losing did was make me mad, and I’m going to come back tomorrow and win. It’s on, this is my race now.”
The dwindled field, a result of strong head winds and tough terrain, came barreling onto the finishing straight away with the triumph in sight. American Jamie Driscoll (Fiordifrutta) took a slim victory ahead of Sheldon Deeny (Sakonnet Technology/USA) and David Veilleux (Kelly Benefit Strategies-Medifast/CAN).
“I was dying hanging onto the chase group while Kelly Benefits and Johan Bruyneel teams were doing all the work to catch Stetina,” said stage winner Driscoll. “I don’t know where my sprint came from, but I am really surprised to win here today.”

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Host city research and industry feedback confirms Las Vegas is the best return on investment for exhibitors and attendees of North America’s
largest cycling trade show

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, Calif. - After two years of collecting potential host city data and retailer, manufacturer and industry partner feedback, Interbike management today announced the trade show will remain in Las Vegas, and that they are currently finalizing an agreement with the Sands Expo and Convention Center to host the industry’s show for a minimum of three more years, beginning with the 2010 show.

“The decision to keep the Interbike show in Vegas comes after years of research and communication with our retailer attendees, exhibiting manufacturers and important industry partners,” said Lance Camisasca, Interbike’s industry consultant. “The data and communication we have collected, along with industry recommendations from organizations like the National Bicycle Dealers Association (NBDA) and Bikes Belong, confirm our decision to keep the show in Las Vegas.”

Keeping Las Vegas as the host city for the Interbike trade show came into question two years ago in preparation to renew the show’s contract with the Sands Convention Center, which expires with the 2009 show. Among other things, members of the industry were interested in seeing the show support a more cycling-friendly city, while maintaining the best return on investment for exhibitors and retail buyers.

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Norridge, Illinois - IBDs can now help find the cure for breast cancer without even stepping into a laboratory. All they have to do is stock and sell the limited edition “Pink Road Trainer” from Kurt Kinetic which Lexco will have available beginning in mid-August.

Kurt Kinetic will donate a portion of every sale of the Pink Road Trainer to the Susan G Komen for the Cure, which for more than 25 years has played a critical role in every major advance in the fight against breast cancer.

The Pink Road Trainer is not some knock-off trainer either: It’s Kurt’s #1 selling trainer (in pink, of course) which is quiet, reliable and leak proof. In addition, the fluid-style trainer features medical-grade silicone fluid that is thermodynamically neutral which means the viscosity of the fluid does not change giving each rider a repeatable measurable work out. Other features of the Pink Road Trainer include:

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Las Vegas, Nevada - Clincher tires work great on aluminum alloy rims, but what happens on carbon fiber wheels? The biggest problem on a typical carbon fiber rim is that the compression strength drops to approximately one-tenth the strength of aluminum for a tire inflated to 145 psi (from about 42,000 psi to 4,608 psi). Which means that the traditional hook-bead style tire retention system on a carbon wheel is fraught with potential failure. Enter Lew Racing.

The Lew Racing PRO VC-1 bead-seat clincher (BSC)™ works on a completely new tire retention system for bicycles (although the automotive industry has been using a similar system for decades). The BSC system relies on the inner diameter of the tire chamber registering the tire’s bead instead of the outer edge of the rim. So the 7,975 pounds of total force for a tire inflated to 145 psi is directed inward toward a more secure position on the rim where it sits on a perch located on the inner diameter of the rim chamber.

But Lew racing didn’t stop there with its PRO VC-1 rims. Ever PRO VC-1 contains three times the amount of material in the sidewall and tire interface region than a traditional clincher. Which means that the sidewall is not subject to compression as a significant stress but rather tension, which is a composite’s inherent strength. In addition, Lew Racing uses reinforced boron and high-modulus carbon in its rims which guards against rim deformation under extreme braking condition. Plus, because the PRO VC-1 is built to direct the tire’s bead toward the bottom of the rim chamber where it is more secure as opposed to forcing the bead outward toward the rim’s detachment point (as in traditional clincher rims) it eliminates the possibility of a clincher tire detaching from a PRO VC-1 rim. Making the PRO VC-1 the safest clincher composite wheel on the market.

“Through all of our tests both in the lab and out on the pavement, the PRO VC-1 is the ultimate clincher wheel both in ride and in safety,” says Paul Lew, Founder of Lew Racing. “Cyclists really feel the difference when riding the PRO VC-1.”

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In this latest edition of our Power Meter series, Karl Etzel from Silicon Valley Cycling Center spends some time showing us the software that comes with the various power meters. Up this time is the PPolar Pro Trainer, which comes bundled with Polar CS600 we showed off earlier in the series.

PHILADELPHIA, PA – Steven Van Vooren (Johan Brunyeel Cycling Academy) conquered the inaugural American Eagle Outfitters® Tour of Pennsylvania presented by Highmark Healthy High 5® opening time trial held in Philadelphia with a searing time of 4:18 ahead of Keven LaCombe (Kelly Benefit Strategies-Medifast) and Christoff Van Heerden (KON-Konica Minolta Continental).

Some 120 cyclists, ages 18 to 25, from eight nations including USA, Argentina, Canada, Belgium, Australia, Ireland, Netherlands and South Africa were showcased one by one as they rolled off of the prologue starting ramp outside Memorial Hall in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia.

The three-kilometer jaunt took the riders along the Memorial Hall’s concourse before looping back around to Martin Luther King Dr toward the finish line. “It was a tail wind going out in to the descent and then there were some fast turns,” said prologue winner Steven Van Vooren regarding the predominantly flat route that offered competitors an almost natural momentum.

“A headwind down along the river was where I felt like I was going strong, pushing a big gear,” continued Van Vooren. “I conserved a little bit of energy for that last climb toward the finish and I hoped that that was enough for the win.”

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PHILADELPHIA, PA – It’s among the most basic tenets of the athletic arena: You can’t beat the competition if you don’t know who they are. Yet come the opening day of the American Eagle Outfitters Tour of Pennsylvania Presented By Highmark Healthy High 5®, no one will know exactly who are the riders to watch among this talented field of 108.

But that’s the nature of the game when you bring together teams from all corners of the globe (five continents in this case). Unfamiliarity is inevitable, meaning there will be extra pressure on riders and team directors to make quick assessments and seat-of-the-pants decisions.

“Normally when you are directing a team in the U.S. you know all the guys you’re racing against,” explained Frankie Andreu, a former European-based pro who will be calling the strategic shots for the California-based ZteaM. “But here we are going to have all these guys coming over from Europe and elsewhere that you don’t know anything about. So if we have a breakaway go up the road, it’s going to be hard to know exactly how to handle it. You’re constantly going to have to ask yourself, ‘Is this guy strong or can he climb or can he sprint?’ There are going to be question marks everywhere and that will make it a lot harder to direct.”

The good news is that the 420-mile race kicks off with a prologue time trial. And while the 2.5-mile stage won’t necessarily decide who will be crowned overall winner six days later in Pittsburgh, it will at least provide an idea of who are the riders to watch among the 18 six-man teams.

“For us, it’s going to be like going to Europe and doing an international stage race,” added Jonas Carney, director of the Minnesota-based Kelly Benefit Strategies-Medifast team. “I think that kind of racing is more exciting because there is not as much control. A lot can happen and you have to be on your toes and think fast. It will be pretty cool to do a race when it’s game on every day. They’ll shoot the gun and it will be racing. You won’t be able to sit back and say, ‘We don’t have to worry about that breakaway because Toyota-United or Health Net will bring it back.’ Everyone will have to pay attention all the time.”

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