Something Wicked Cool, That Might Just Come In Handy

OK, so I know that this is a week old, or so, but I have been playing around with this and just LOVE it! For those of you who might not have heard, might be living in a box, or are generally not on the internet or don't own a computer (wait... if you don't have a computer I guess you wouldn't be reading this). Anyway, recently the gods at Google updated their Google Maps program to include directions by bicycle. This includes the best routes from point A to point B by bicycle, as well and mapping out any of the transportation trails in the area. Like this:See all the cool green lines in the photo? That's where there are bike specific lanes, or bike paths in the area surrounding Cleveland. Pretty cool, eh?

You just go to Google Maps, and where there is the "more button" on the upper right corner of the map by the "Map", "Satellite", etc, buttons. Click the "More" button and check the "Bicycle" box. That simple!

OH! If someone from Google happens to be reading this; I just had a birthday and would love one of these
if you could please... and a fluid trainer, but that's another story.

Spin Bike Shop Presents: The 2009 Cross My Heart And Hope To Die Willoughby Cyclocross Spectacular!

It's that time of year again in Cleveland. There is a chill in the air, the leaves are changing, and a bunch of psychopaths are readying themselves for thirty minutes to an hour in hell. That's right, kids! It's time once again for the Cross My Heart And Hope To Die Willoughby Cyclocross Spectacular (CMHAHTDWCS). Last year was an amazing race. Great turnout, technical course, hill that made people wish they were dead, what more could you ask for? Well, it's all happening again, this Saturday!

Saturday October 17th cyclocross, again, returns to Willoughby, Ohio as Spin Bike Shop brings back the Cross My Heart And Hope To Die Willoughby Cyclocross Spectacular. (I just love typing that) The registration for the event will be from 11:00 am - 1:15.

A's (Novice/JRs) group will start at 12:00 noon and will run thirty minutes.
B's (Intermediate Men/Women Open) at 12:45 for forty-five minutes.
C's (Expert/40+ Open) at 1:45 for one hour.

Entry is $20 and you'll need a USCF or NORBA licence. One day permits to be had for another $10 USCF permit pending.

If you need more information on the race you can find it one of sixty two places. You can Visit:

Spin Bike Shop
Team Spin or HERE for a PDF of the specifics of the race, or go HERE to acess the actual PDF with a map to Todd Field in Willoughby.

Sadly, this year I will not be at the race, I will be covering the Fat Head's 1st Annual IPA Fest for The Art Of Brew. I will, however post a listing of the results from the race, so stay tuned!

Cleveland Beer Week

For those f you who are regular readers of the blog you know a few things. One, I like to ride my bike, and had a great chance to finally get out and ride late this week. Two, I am a die hard Clevelander. I've had the opportunity to leave before, and just cannot imagine living anywhere else right now. Finally, three... I LOVE good craft beer and home brewing.

With the later in mind, er the second and third I suppose, if you you want to be more accurate I want to take a minute to push a breakthrough event in Cleveland. October 16th-24th Cleveland will celebrate, for the first time ever, Cleveland Beer Week.clevelandbeerweek.org
Throughout the city events will be going on to promote craft beer and beer culture in Cleveland, Ohio.

Too many companies to mention here, too many venues to mention, too many times to mention... Get the point? If you need info on what events are going on where, you can check out the Cleveland Beer Week Calendar. This is going to be HUGE! Cleveland's own local breweries will be teaming up with national craft brewing companies to promote the craft brew industry and the passion that comes along with it. It will bring in the likes of Greg Koch of Stone Brewing in CA, Jim Cline of Rogue Brewing, Chris Trogner of Troëgs, and many, many more.

Cycling and beer have, for years, gone hand in hand. So break out the fixie, road bike, commuter, whatever and get out to the venues to sample some amazing creations. For more information you can check out Cleveland Beer Week. There you can find out about the Cleveland Beer Week (a not-for-profit, collaborative celebration to raise awareness of and education for the strong American and imported craft brew industry, while promoting patronage at local establishments. Also all proceeds from the Grand Reception, "Brewzilla" on Saturday, October 24th will be donated to the Malone Scholarship Fund which is managed by the Cleveland Scholarship Program.), event info (times, dates, ticket prices, etc), and everything you need to enjoy this monumental Cleveland area event.

An Extremely Cool Topic To Leave You With For The Weekend

I want to start with a cool Phan Boy Update! (crap... now I have to add the 'Phan Boy' tag and re-update) Anyway, I'll give everyone one guess where I will be this weekend... Give up? OK, here:That's right, Spin Bike Shop has their yearly winter clearance sale. What's on sale? What do you mean? Click the picture above and see for yourself. Better yet get in your car and get out to the Willoughby, Ohio store at 4144 Erie Street in Downtown Willoughby, or if you're west get to the Lakewood, Ohio store at 14515 Madison Avenue in Lakewood. Everything is on sale anyway, so you might as well just go. Tell them I said hello, or maybe I'll see you there...

Now, for something to leave you with over the weekend. Consider it homework, but fun, er phun. While messing around in the world of the interweb, and looking around the www.com stuff I came across something extremely cool. Extremely cool, and mind numbing this is. Apparently there is this ridiculously cool family doing a ridiculously cool thing. I'll try and give you the gist of it without ruining the story, but you have to check it out for yourself.

The Vogel's are on a journey. They have take their two kids, a tandem, two single bikes, their packs and on heck of a journey and turned it into something special. You see, as a family, they will journey from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to Ushuaia, Argentina via the Pan American Highway. A journey that will take them approximately 20,000 miles over thirty months (two and a half years).

The Vogel children will, upon completion of the ride, will go into the Guinness World Records as the youngest persons ever to complete the journey. But that's not all, far from it really. You see, they will learn valuable life lessons along the way, and through Reach The World they will be able to take their journey into classrooms. They will be able to provide amazing, firsthand, real life lessons to children as they travel.

I encourage you to check out their site, and follow their journey. They left Alaska on June 8, 2008 and are already in Mexico City! Seriously. They are leaving regular updates, some photos, some videos, and lessons we can all take from. God speed, Vogel's. Hope your having a heck of a ride!