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The 2009 USA Cycling mountain bike calendar boasts higher cash prizes and a more logical travel schedule, the organization said Thursday. The third annual USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Calendar includes 34 events; the calendar is intended to boost top tier events that have not traditionally been part of a national series. The 19-event cross-country calendar kicks off with the Fontana United States Cup in Fontana, California, on March 20 and ends seven months later on the last weekend in October with the Piney Hills Classic in Ruston, Louisiana.

New York City's Ken Harris (CRCA / Jonathan Adler Racing) set a new world masters hour record for the age 40-44 group at the Valley Preferred Cycling Center velodrome in Trexlertown, Pennsylvania. On Tuesday evening, Harris added about 400 meters to the old record of 45.189 set by Dr. Neal Stansbury in September 2003 at Manchester, England. The new record is 45.587 kilometers. A UCI official was on site to certify the record. Harris is one of the leaders of a New York-based Adler team, and president of the Century Road Club Association, the largest racing club in the United States.

German workhorse Bert Grabsch won Germany’s first world time-trial title since 2001 on Thursday as Canadian Svein Tuft delivered the surprise ride of the day to claim the silver medal. American David Zabriskie powered to bronze in Varese, Italy, claiming his second world championship time trial medal in three years, while Levi Leipheimer didn’t quite have the day he expected and finished just off the podium in fourth.

Ivan Basso’s racing ban ends on October 24 and he’s not wasting much time getting back in the saddle. Just two days after his ban ends for his admitted role in the Operación Puerto blood doping scandal, Basso is expected to race at the Japan Cup on October 26. His new Liquigas team will likely announce it later this week and schedule a press conference with Basso ahead of the Giro di Lombardia in mid-October.

NorCal League Heading South
The organizers of the NorCal High School Mountain Bike League, America’s largest interscholastic bike racing league at the high school level, have taken their successful model south. On August 4, the NorCal league helped launch the Southern California Interscholastic Cycling League.

Mountain bike world champion, Christoph Sauser tried his hand in CrossVegas aboard a Specialized S-Works Tricross. His bike is equipped with SRAM Red, linear pull brakes and ultra-exclusive FMB file tread tires.

Lance Armstrong showed up to race with Trek’s XO bike. His was equipped with Shimano Dura-Ace sporting a 39/53 chainring combo. Bontrager’s Race XXX Lite carbon tubular climbing wheels sported Tufo tires and SRAM’s new Shorty 6 cantilevers handled the braking.

Carl Decker raced Giant’s brand new TCX. The new Aluxx alloy frame has drastically shaped tubes and a new fork with a tapered 1.125 to 1.5 steerer tube. Shimano Dura-Ace, XT V-brakes and WH-7801 carbon tubulars with custom Dugast-Michelin tires rounded out the package.

Thomas Frischknecht put the new Scott Addict CX to the test at the front of the race. His bike is built with a full run of Ritchey parts including cockpit, cranks and wheels. SRAM supplied him with its Force group. Dugast’s 34mm Typhoon wrapped his WCS carbon wheels.

Cannondale-cyclocrossworld.com superstar Tim Johnson was out on his CAAD9 signature bike, the TJX. His ride is equipped with SRAM Red, including the new Red BB30 crank, Mavic Cosmic Carbon Ultimates and Dugast Pipistrello tires.

Maxxis rider Geoff Kabush started the evening’s fireworks show by throwing down one of the night's first serious attacks. He rode a titanium Litespeed with a Dura-Ace drivetrain Reynolds DV46 clinchers and Maxxis tires.

Race winner Ryan Trebon of Kona rode a Kona Major Jake. The frame is scandium and equipped with a Shimano Dura-Ace and FSA double ring drivetrain, FSA carbon wheels and Challenge Grifo XS tires.

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Bit bins. Effetto Mariposa’s Giusta Forza miniature torque wrench now can be ordered with a case containing all of the bits for it. Or just the bits can be purchased separately, in their own little case.

A whole lot of hangers. Wheels Mfg. makes derailleur hangers for just about any frame.

Clif Shot Roks are a way to eat a protein mixture by popping them in your mouth one at a time. The hard outer surface makes it possible to throw them in your pocket or on the floor of your car to grab whenever you need a burst of energy, without the chocolate interior melting all over.

Flax fiber is strong? Yes, and it has 16 timers the shock absorption of carbon fiber, according to Museeuw marketing manager Fangio Reybrouck. When woven with carbon fibers into Museeuw’s patented flax-carbon fabric, it is super stiff and strong while providing a super-comfortable ride.

Johan Museeuw with his top-of-the-line MF-1 flax/carbon frame. “The easiest thing to do would have been to go to China and buy a container of carbon frames with my name on them. But I always want something different,” says the Lion of Flanders. “And now I have the world’s only flax-fiber bikes”

What’s in the bag? Johan Museeuw ships his flax/carbon frames in a linen (flax fiber) sack.

Messenger bag maker Crumpler’s booth is a castle you could stand and stare at all day without tiring of finding new little details in the design.

Ibis’s polished Airstream booth offers the comforts of home away from home on the Vegas show floor.

The Tout Terrain single-wheel suspended trailer’s shock has two mounts. One shock-mounting position offers 200mm of travel, and the other offers 140mm of travel while lowering the trailer for improved stability and aerodynamics on smoother roads.

The Tout Terrain single-wheel suspended trailer allows you to ride singletrack trails with your kids before they are old enough to ride. The trailer attaches to the seatpost, out of the way of your heels or trail obstacles.

The Cervélo P4’s crotch between the head tube/fork and the down tube has been filled in for smoother air flow. The water bottle fills the crotch between the down tube and the seat tube. It pulls out like a normal bottle, but the bike is faster with it in place. The rear brake is hidden from view beneath the chainstays and from the wind by a cover.

Revelation. Cervélo company co-founders finally reveal the new P4 aero bike. The two were both Canadian engineering students when they started the company in 1995.

You know when you’re a success when you call a press conference at the last minute and the halls empty because of how many people are clustered around your booth waiting to see what you have under the sheet. And then when you run late and nobody leaves? Well, you can be sure you’ve emerged as the leader others must follow, and Cervélo is that leader when it comes to aero bikes.

What’s under the sheet? Cervélo was ready to show it's new P4, but not until creating a bit of buzz.

Electra partnered with artist Alexander Girard for a series of new cruisers.

Electra’s Amsterdam Balloon features Schwalbe’s Fat Frank rubber for extra style points, and 8 speeds for extra comfort. Cost to you, $750 for the works.

Courtney Lewis’ job is working out so far. While working at Hincapie Sports, she met and married George Hincapie’s Columbia teammate Craig Lewis.

Hincapie has sunscreen, too. It’s a spray-on zinc formula that protects against melonoma.

The women’s jeans are in the fifth prototype stage.

Hincapie’s casual wear, which includes a variety of jeans and merino tops, will be available in the spring of 2010.

Move over, Rock & Republic, George Hincapie has jeans now too.

Sock Guy is the name, custom socks — and now arm warmers — is the game.

As popularized by Cadel Evans at the Tour, Sock Guy’s custom undershirts are available online.

In addition to titanium dropouts, the Parlee Z2 CX features Bob Parlee’s custom carbon cable stops.

Bob Parlee has a ’cross bike for 2009. The $3,850 frameset is based on his Z2 lugged road model.

DeFeet’s Ciclismo was made for Paolo Bettini, who wanted padding in certain areas (red) and right/left specific socks. The result is the Ciclismo.

If recycled bottles aren’t exotic enough for you, DeFeet offers socks made from kelp (SeaCell, at left) and coconut (Cocona, at right).

DeFeet is incorporating an increasing amount of recycled plastic into its socks. Currently the white and black CoolMax threads are recycled plastic. Company founder Shane Cooper hopes to have 100 percent of the CoolMax color options from recycled sources in two years.

Pinarello brings Italian style to the masses with the FB3, which retails for $3,800 as a complete bike with a mix of Shimano Dura-Ace, Ultegra and MOst components.

For those who want a little less flash, the stealth Pinarello Prince is another $5,500 option.

The Spanish champion paintjob Pinarello did for Alejandro Valverde is now available on the Prince to retail customers. Retail customers with $5,500 for the frameset, that is.

The Merckx EMX-3 uses the same mold as the EMX-5, and therefore gets the same sculpted styling, but uses a less-expensive carbon fiber. The result is a $3,600 bike with Shimano Ultegra (sweet backdrop not included).

Merckx and Pinarello have begun working together. The EMX-5 is the first product of that collaboration. The $3,750 frameset uses the same 46HM3K carbon fiber as Pinarello’s Prince.

The Time RXR ULTeam integrated seatmast has 3cm of adjustment after the frame is cut to fit. Time dealers have a jig that not only assists with the cut, but also with drilling a hole for the fastening bolt. A vertical slot in the seatpost allows the seatpost to move for fine tuning, and a bolt inside secures everything.

The RXR ULTeam is Time’s first step towards an aero road bike, said company vice president Chris Smith. Built as a classics bike, the $6,000 lugged frameset includes the Monolink RXR ULTeam stem.

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The Bulldog Bikes/Toyota Matrix Team will be performing two BMX exhibition shows during the USA CRITS Finals at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino on Thursday, September 25. The race determines who will be crowned the world champion of criterium racing in both male and female categories. The BMX show features world class Bulldog riders performing aerial stunts to the beats of hip-hop master DJ Jay Ski and legendary MC Jimmy Mac, who founded the Bulldog Bikes team. Performances are during race intermission at 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. Races begin at 5:30 p.m.

After a season of oh-so-close calls, Tyler Farrar finally broke into the winner’s circle Wednesday. The 24-year-old Garmin-Chipotle sprinter blasted his way to his first victory on the 2008 season after a year littered with seconds and thirds, outkicking Anthony Ravard (Ag2r-La Mondiale) in the 166km opening stage from Celles-sur-Belles to Saint-Jean d’Angely of the Tour Poitou-Charentes in France. Farrar also took the leader’s jersey in the five-stage, four-day race.

It’s no secret that every bike nerd in America was holding his (or her) breath in anticipation of Lance Armstrong’s press conference today in New York City, at which he fleshed out some of the details of his comeback tour. Just a guess, but I’m willing to bet a bottle of Stan’s tire sealant that the 2009 Tour de Armstrong will focus on the skinny-tire side of bike racing. But personally, I hope Armstrong includes some off-road events in his 2009 schedule as well.

As the road climbed uphill into the lower Alps the peloton began to shatter. Riders attacked, while others drifted against the flow of the group. Gaps formed in the long line of riders. At the back, groups of dropped riders pooled together while, up front, sensing it was the moment where differences would be made, riders forced the pace, rivals working together to forge gaps. I followed the wheels, jumping from one to the next as riders could no longer hold the speed.

Former world cycling chief Hein Verbruggen has dismissed as "ridiculous" a report suggesting he and Lance Armstrong may join forces and buy the company that owns the Tour de France. Australia's Sydney Morning Herald suggested last week that a link-up between seven-time yellow jersey champion Armstrong and former UCI chief Verbruggen "carried weight". But just as the American cycling icon who recovered from cancer a decade ago was confirming his comeback at a press conference in New York, Verbruggen was dismissing the notion.

The U.S. women’s team struck gold in Wednesday’s time trial at the Varese world championships, but it wasn’t Olympic gold medalist Kristin Armstrong bringing home the rainbow jersey. With pre-race favorite Armstrong slotting into fifth, it was Amben Neben who stormed to victory in the challenging 25.15km course in dramatic fashion to win her first major international time trial race. “I don’t have any words, I’m just so excited, so happy,” Neben said. “I cannot speak right now, I don’t know what to say. It’s a dream come true.”

Luxembourg's Kim Kirchen has pulled out of the world road race championships after citing a lack of form. Kirchen was regarded as a medal contender in the men's road race to be held this Sunday but said he was in no condition to compete. "I don't think I have sufficient form to get a good result, so I prefer not to compete," Kirchen, who wore the yellow jersey at this year's Tour de France, said Tuesday.

Cycling legend Lance Armstrong confirmed Wednesday that he would join Kazakhstan's Astana team for his competitive comeback. "I will race in 2009 with Astana," he told a press conference in New York. Armstrong said he would start with the Tour Down Under in Australia; would also compete in the 2009 Tour de France, which he has won seven times; and was interested in the Giro d'Italia.

The new 303-R DH frame is 2.5-pounds lighter than the original 303, and its suspension gives more energy back to the rider producing a lighter, more flickable ride according to the brand’s downhill racers.

The shock mount of the 303-R offers a three-position adjustable shock mount that simultaneously influences bottom bracket height and head angle.

Yeti Cycles has a new downhill bike called the 303-R DH. The new bike has a single rail for the shock linkage to slide on instead of two, like the original 303 DH. The new bike has a single pivot and its rail influences the shock’s leverage rate.