No one knows bike technology better than Seattle’s Ric Hjertberg. So when Ric goes from carbon fiber (FSA) to wood fiber (Ghisallo), you know something is afoot. The media missed the story at Interbike 2009, but Ric brings us up to date on his blog, Wheel Fanatyk.
BikeRadar: On the heels of a rippingly successful high-school mountain biking program in northern California, a new National Interscholastic Cycling Association has been formed. Quote: “Cycling’s been around for over 100 years, but only now is it becoming a high school sport.” Congrats and best of luck to Matt Fritzinger, NorCal league founder and executive director who is the driving force behind NICA.
We haven’t spoken with Fritzinger, but there’s certainly potential for NICA in the Pacific Northwest. Already we’ve noted a biking (repair) class in Bellingham High in the shadow of nationally recognized mountain-biking mecca Galbraith Mountain, and Issaquah (Duthie Hill), Renton (Lake Sawyer), Seattle (Colonnade) and Federal Way (Sea-Tac) all have strong youth mountain biking populations.
Kids all over are gathering informally to build ad hoc stunts and structures and otherwise grow the sport. If NICA can formalize a lot of the random and impromptu energy that goes into mountain biking as an “extracurricular” activity, we could be on the cusp of a whole new level of participation.
This will be intriguing to watch.
One more reason to avoid L.A.: Not having a bike license in Santa Monica can get you thrown immediately into jail … and subject to a $1,000 fine. Note the disparity between bike licensing and car tab penalties. Even driving without a driver’s license has no minimum penalty.
If you steal a bike in Grants Pass, OR, you apparently are in a world of hurt.
This Day in Doping: Humanplasma says OK, we fess up … to tax evasion. But we never helped anyone dope, even the cyclists who say we did. From Bicycle.net.
More kudos to Tyler Farrar, who won it all in Franco-Belge.