We are very sorry to pass along the sad news that one of our good friends Adam Little was killed yesterday in Kannapolis, NC while commuting to work on his bicycle.  In addition to being a friend, Adam was the team manager for the Subaru/Fisher Cycling Team and a loving husband and father of 2 young children.

At times like this, it's difficult to find the words to properly express our emotions. Adam was a first-class guy in every way, and he will be dearly missed by us all.  We want to express our condolences to the Little family and the entire cycling community.  If you knew Adam, you will undoubtedly think of him with a smile on your face, as I will.  We will remember how he touched our lives.

Services for Adam Little will be held this Saturday, March 20, 2010:
A visitation will be held at Hartsell Funeral Home in Concord on Saturday, March 20 from 11:30-1:30.
A memorial service will be held at Hartsell Funeral Home Chapel on Saturday, March 20 at 2:00.

Address for the funeral home:
460 Branchview Dr, NE
Concord, NC  28025

Memorials may be made to Levine Cardiac Kids Fund c/o Carolinas Healthcare Foundation, 1221 East Morehead Street, Charlotte, NC 28204 or Levine Childrens Hospital c/o The Childrens Fund, PO Box 32861, Charlotte, NC 28232.

Obituary listed at http://www.hartsellfh.com/index.cfm
Link to news story about his death http://ow.ly/1nOWd

We are fortunate to have some of the best equipment sponsors in the world supporting our Hincapie Development Team.  We love riding and racing the best stuff you can get, and this week we took delivery of some new hoops from HED.  Justin Lowe won a race the very first time he raced on the new wheels!  That has to be a good sign of things to come.

HED makes some of the most advanced bicycle wheels in the world.  They are light and stiff, while providing superior aerodynamics in almost any condition.  They test all their wheels against the wind and publish the information on their website in some easy to understand graphs.

This year, Hincapie Devo riders are rolling on HED Jet 4 and HED Jet 6 wheels.  These things are awesome.  They are smooth and fast, while offering the stiffness we need to rail through corners.  Not only are they fast riding wheels, but they look amazing on our Black/White BMC ProMachines too.  Our friend Eddie Helton took some shots of Justin’s bike last night at the Tuesday Night World Championships.  (Hooray for the time change!)

That's one sweet looking ride.  This one belongs to Michael Stone.

I wanted to try the new HED Ardennes that I have read so much about, with their bombproof 23mm Scandium C2 rim and smooth rolling Sonic Hubs.  Being a larger rider, who is pretty hard on his wheels, I ordered the Stallion build.  HED recommends this build for riders over 190 pounds, because this set up adds one extra pair of spokes to help absorb any extra abuse.

These HED Ardennes wheels are awesome!  They are light, stiff, good-looking and smooth-rolling.  I’ve ridden quite a few wheels over the years and these are definitely some of the best wheels I’ve ever pedaled.  My BMC ProMachine was already a rocket ship, but from the very first time I spooned on my Michelin Pro3 tires, these Ardennes put a big smile on my face.  They accelerate better than anything I've ridden in a long time.  They feel light up the hill and have the stiffness to bomb the decent with the best of them.  HED says these things are great for racing and training, so they are just right for a guy like me who hates switching wheels on race day.  (Hey, you have to practice using what you race on to get good when it counts, right?)  If you aren’t looking for larger, deep-dish wheels like the Jet 6’s, and you want some light, stiff, do-anything wheels, you will absolutely love these HED Ardennes!

It was another fantastic weekend for the Hincapie Development Team.  Justin Lowe and Parker Kyzer teamed up to race the Blythewood Road Race and the Forest Acres Spring Criterium this weekend in Columbia, SC.  The duo worked well together and came away with some really great results in the Cat 3 races.  Justin and Parker finished 1st and 6th respectively on Saturday.  They followed it up on Sunday with 2nd and 15th place finishes.  The guys are racing well together and we’re proud of them.  They can probably taste the upgrades already…ha ha.

Justin sent me his account of the weekend.

Blythewood RR:
Saturday it was really, really windy. Parker and I sat in for the first 2 laps or so and covered and watched a couple of small breaks get pulled back. At the beginning of lap 3, Parker attacked with a couple guys, and the field had to work hard to pull them back. As soon as they got caught, I countered real hard into a strong head wind. One guy from Uptown Cycles in Charlotte went with me. It was a two man break from then on out. Parker covered everything and helped move us up the road. I had done most of the work in the break, so coming down to the final lap I sprinted around the guy in the last 200 for the win. It felt great!

We've Seen Some Great Teamwork by These Guys This Spring

Forest Acres Crit:
On Sunday, Parker and I planned to set a hard pace and be aggressive. From the beginning Parker and I were constantly attacking over and over. Were tried and tried for a break but couldn’t get anyone to work. We couldn’t get the break to work but we did our best to make the race as hard as possible on everyone else. I sat in the last three laps or so and got behind the guy I thought would bring me home. Well he dragged me all the way to the line, but I couldn’t come around. I got 2nd.

Like Justin, Parker has been aggressive this spring.

These guys are working hard, having fun and learning how to win bike races.  We’re thrilled to have them on the team and we look forward to the day when we can help them upgrade to the next level.  More exciting action is sure to follow.

The Sea Otter Classic is a huge festival in Monterey, CA that includes all things bicycle.  The 4-day event, April 15-18, 2010, features rides, races and activities for almost any style of bicycle you can think of, and some you haven’t.  Thousands of cyclists descend on the area every April to celebrate their passion for the sport of cycling.  What goes better with any celebration then a nice cold beer?  But, keeping beer cold in the middle of a sun-baked vendor expo can consume lots of energy.  Enter the newest, state-of-the-art, beer cooling technology…a solar powered refrigerated trailer!

This is the “coolest” idea in beer drinking since the Koozie.

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. is one of the main sponsors of the Sea Otter Classic, and one of the pioneers in innovations to conserve resources.  (This will be Sierra Nevada’s 3rd year as Sea Otter’s “Official Recycling Sponsor.”)  They go through quite a few pints of Pale Ale quenching the thirst of all those ravished riders.  The trick is that they have to bring the beer to the people.  (I bet some of you really like the sound of that statement…ha ha!)  This year, they will be chilling your post-ride carbo reload with a new high-tech solar powered trailer.

For you tech geeks out there, here are some details from the press release:
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.

Ok, so it’s not about the beer really.  It’s about harnessing solar power.  With today’s increasing focus on green technologies and sustainability, we all need to find better ways, more efficient ways to accomplish our tasks.  This refrigerated trailer innovation is an awesome idea that I hope will catch on with many other sports, activities and companies.  I’m pleased to see Sierra Nevada take this step in the right direction and I hope others will follow their lead.

It was a fantastic weekend for the Hincapie Development Team.  The weekend was capped off by an impressive win at the SCTAC (Donaldson) Road Race by our very own, Michael Stone in the last race of the Greenville Spring Training Series.  This was Michael’s first Pro,1,2 win and we’re just as excited as he is about the victory.  The entire team contributed to the effort by staying active at the front and covering moves all day.  The guys are riding well together and having a good time as well.

Michael learned this post-up from his step-mother, Nancy Jones (Team Subaru/Fisher/Hincapie), who just so happened to win the Women's Pro Race for several hours earlier.

 You can read the rest of the race report on the Hincapie Development Team blog.

Yesterday afternoon the following tweet from a friend of mine in the South Carolina State House of Representatives popped up on my screen.

Dphamilton: SC House passes ban on just texting while driving...98-18. $25 fine, no points...another useless erosion of liberty.

As most Americans, I’m a big fan of liberty. It’s what our country was founded on and what makes it still so great. In our country we have the liberty to speak freely, to practice the faith we believe in and to vote for the representatives and issues we support.

When I heard about the new texting while driving bill, it did not strike me as an erosion of my personal liberty. In fact, it felt quite the opposite. Knowing that it will be illegal to text while driving will give me and others the peace of mind that there will be one less distraction available for motorist. It gives me the liberty to feel safe about going on my favorite lunch time bike ride and my wife taking a van full of our kids across town.

Our roads are designed for one purpose: transportation. Yes, there are rules and laws about how to use the roads, but they don’t restrict us from our core liberty of freedom of travel. I look at the driving laws not as restrictions but as understandings between neighbors. I know that if my light is red and yours is green, then it’s your turn to pass through the intersection and my turn to pause my travel (regardless of whether I’m in a car or on a bike.) And soon there will be the understanding that the driver next to me will be watching the road, looking out for me and other travelers and not typing on a mini pocket computer.

In the end, it really comes down to respect for others. As users of roads, whether on our bikes or motorcycles or in our cars, we ought to show consideration for our fellow travelers by following the traffic laws and rules. And really, it all comes down to the good old Golden Rule.

I just found out about a cool new Google maps feature that I have to share.  It’s called Grab Your Bike and Go with Google Maps.  Sound interesting?  It did to me, so I checked it out.

We get quite a few people stopping in at Hincapie Sportswear headquarters asking us how to get from here to there on their bike.  They want to know the safest way or the recommended cycling way to get somewhere.  We love helping folks with these recommended cycling routes, but we worry sometimes that the directions become a little confusing.  I often think to myself, “Wouldn’t it be awesome if we could just hand them a map that will help them find their way.”  Well, now you can…sort of.

Grab Your Bike and Go with Google Maps is a new beta program they are testing that allows you to apply a bicycling filter to your Google Maps directions.  Google says:
“This new feature includes: step-by-step bicycling directions; bike trails outlined directly on the map; and a new "Bicycling" layer that indicates bike trails, bike lanes, and bike-friendly roads. The directions feature provides step-by-step, bike-specific routing suggestions - similar to the directions provided by our driving, walking, or public transit modes. Simply enter a start point and destination and select "Bicycling" from the drop-down menu. You will receive a route that is optimized for cycling, taking advantage of bike trails, bike lanes, and bike-friendly streets and avoiding hilly terrain whenever possible.”

Google unveiled this new feature today at the League of American Bicyclists’ 2010 National Bike Summit in Washington, DC.  I did a quick search on the route from Greenville, SC to Travelers Rest, SC and it seems to be choosing the route I would use by bike.  When I chose “by car” it shows the route I would drive.  I think that’s pretty cool.  Obviously, it will get better as people use it and they refine it, but this was a good start in my book.  It’s great to see someone like Google taking up the cycling cause and helping to make things better for all of us.  Check it out for yourself and let me know if it works well in your area.

Biking Directions on Google Maps

Former Hincapie Development Team rider, Chris Butler stopped by Hincapie Sportswear headquarters today with current Hincapie Devo member Blair Turner.  The duo was in town for the last weekend of the Greenville Spring Training Series.  It’s always nice to see these guys.  They are always up for a little fun, and this time we caught them on film clownin’ around.

These guys must not be eating much these days.  I don’t say that because they look super skinny (although they do).  I say that because they descended on the donuts and banana bread at our coffee bar like a couple of hawks to the kill!  We actually got a couple of great celebrity paparazzi shots with the whole mouth full, hand in front of the camera and the “this better not make the internet” fire in their eyes…ha ha.

After dusting the powdered sugar off their fingers, they started eying up the BMC Sparkle we have in the office to help dress up our women’s catalog photos.  Chris went through a very extensive bike fit at the BMC training camp, but I think he’s thinking of changing his position.  Check out this beauty…

Blair wanted to get his picture taken with none other than current World Champion, Cadel Evans.  He enjoyed the whole experience.  Afterwards, Blair said, “Cadel seems like a great guy.  He’s taller than I thought.”

Thanks for stopping by guys.  Best of luck in the races this weekend.  Keep your heads up and the wheels down!

I was recently WOW’d at a local bicycle function, and I want to share my excitement.  I say WOW because I was blown away by the participation and enthusiasm I witnessed.  But, WOW also stands for Women On Wheels, an effort led by some very passionate members of the Greenville Spinners Bicycle Club to get more women riding bicycles.  The function was also hosted by the Greenville Women’s Cycling Team, and I was thoroughly impressed with the whole program.

For starters, I’ll come clean and admit that the idea of being a man in a room full of female cyclists was somewhat appealing.  Now, I wasn’t invited to be the only man in the room.  I just so happened to be the only Hincapie Sportswear employee that was available to do a basic cycling clothing presentation to the ladies.  Sometimes you have to make sacrifices for the company, so I was willing to show up…you know, for the good of the brand and all.

Jenn (GWC), Ric (Great Escape), Kimberly (GWC), Steve (Hincapie...taking one for the team)

The function was billed as an introduction to cycling exclusively for women.  WOW and Greenville Women’s Cycling partnered with The Great Escape in Greenville (also a sponsor of the Hincapie Development Team) to host the event at the bike shop on Lauren’s Rd.  Let me tell you, this was a pretty cool evening.  Over 65 women showed up to learn more about riding, nutrition, apparel and equipment to help them enjoy the sport more.  It was awesome to see that many women in one spot discussing the bicycle.

In typical female style, it wasn’t just a bicycle meeting at a shop.  There were door prizes, product samples to give away, wine and hors d’oeuvres.  (Men would have called them snacks, but these treats were much fancier, courtesy of BI-LO.)  Headquarters Salon & Day Spa was giving free chair massages if you got a little fatigued from listening to tips on finding rides, holding a straight line or working a quick release.  Janice Batson was there from North Main Yoga to help them limber up before and after rides.  Table 301 gave away several gift certificates that seemed rather popular.  To their credit, the GWC ladies put together quite a detailed presentation to their fellow pédaleurs féminins.  They talked about everything from favorite Powerbar flavors and bike rides to changing a flat tire and basic bike maintenance.  Most of the information was delivered in a creative and digestible manner that kept things interesting and fun for the participants.

Fruit and veggies...and a table cloth...no beer and pizza at the WOW meeting.

I was there to talk about the basics of cycling apparel.  They wanted me to give some tips and techniques for what to wear on the bike.  Caroline Mills gave me an awesome lead in with a graphic presentation on what not to wear on the bike.  Man, do I wish I had the flip camera rolling for that part of the discussion.  It was hilarious.  Check out this outfit…

Don't even ask!

I kept things simple, as the audience was fairly new to the sport.  I hit on the importance of the performance fabrics and tailored fit of most cycling specific apparel.  I covered everything from head to toe that you should wear to ride your bike comfortably.  Sure you can wear just about any clothing on your bike and there might be days when you wear your street clothes for a ride to work or the store, but I made recommendations for general fitness and leisure riding.  I also gave a little sneak peak at some of our 2010 Women’s Spring Apparel Line that will be available in the next 30 days or so.

New 2010 Women's Dahlia Jersey will be here soon!

New 2010 Women's Performance Shorts with color accents coordinate well with other jerseys in our 2010 line.

Overall, it was a fantastic evening with more than 60 women focused on getting more involved in the sport of cycling.  I was super excited to see the great attendance and the enthusiasm of everyone involved.  Big props go to GWC Team and The Great Escape for hosting such a fantastic event.  We’re proud to be WOW’d by these partners.

March 4, 2010 is National Grammar Day.

What could be more appropriate than to be wished a Happy Grammar Day on a blog?  We all know that most blogs often lack perfect grammar.  I do my best to use proper English on here, but I’m sure I miss sometimes.  Actually, everyone misses sometimes.

The other day, I was in the grocery store and overheard the following conversation.  It was so hilarious to me, that I spent a minute or two fake shopping the mops and brooms section just so I could listen to these wordsmiths!  (To set the scene, there was a large, older woman talking to the grocery manager.)

Manager: You ever tried them plug in ones?
Woman: Nah, I ain’t never tried them ones.
Manager: They ain’t dangerous or nuthin.
Woman: I ain’t skeert a them ones there.  I just like them other ones better.
Manager: How come?
Woman: Cuz I think they lastess longer.

At this point, they parted ways with some comments about mom-in-nems and a name or two.  I was thoroughly entertained by the exchange.  (The whole thing reminded me of our Former President's ridiculous pronunciation of Nuclear as Nu-cu-ler.)  I’m willing to bet you could overhear some very interesting comments too if you hung out in the grocery store for a while.  What got my attention the most was the way the woman said “lastess.”  Obviously she meant lasts longer, but she said it like I spelled it.  That encounter brought to mind some other common errors that we see people make with their grammar.  Things like Your/You’re, Their/They’re, Its/It’s, To/Too, Affect/Effect, Loose/Lose, Insure/Ensure or my personal nemesis, Then/Than.  English can be a pretty tricky language.

I found the following information on the National Grammar Day website.  (Yes, that is a real website.)  It’s always interesting to expose a myth.

Ten Grammar Myths Exposed
Read the explanations before you write to express your outrage.
1. A run-on sentence is a really long sentence.
2. You shouldn't start a sentence with the word "however."
3. "Irregardless" is not a word.
4. There is only one way to write the possessive form of a word that ends in "s."
5. Passive voice is always wrong.
6. "I.e." and "e.g." mean the same thing.
7. You use "a" before words that start with consonants and "an" before words that start with vowels.
8. It's incorrect to answer the question "How are you?" with the statement "I'm good."
9. You shouldn't split infinitives.
10. You shouldn't end a sentence with a preposition.

Brief explanations with links to more detailed discussions