Ah December – when most of the mountain bike news seems to be coming from places outside the US! Here’s what we’re reading about this week.

Ikea Mountain Bikes: Don’t get your hopes up (or down) yet – these aren’t for sale to the public. Instead, Ikea workers in Maryland received 26-inch mountain bikes made specifically for the employees. Apparently this is sort of a Christmas bonus – last year workers got restaurant gift cards. One employee said “I think it’s a wonderful gift. It’s better than a calendar. The only thing that could top it would be a smart car.” Indeed. I wonder if the bikes come assembled?

Glentress Forest “Scandal”: Glentress in Scotland is starting to show up on the radar of mountain bikers worldwide in part thanks to two former pro mountain bikers, Emma Guy and Tracy Brunger. Guy and Brunger have owned the Hub in the Forest for the past decade, offering a cafe, coaching services, and bike rentals to mountain bikers from all over the UK and beyond. Now the Forestry Commission has decided not to renew the business’s permit after announcing a new multi-million dollar visitors center. Admittedly we don’t completely understand the political process at work but it sounds like the owners are getting a raw deal and customers are sounding off online.

Guy had this to say: “We started it with a passion for mountain biking rather than making money. The new cafe will probably go to a chain with no interest in fixing someone’s bike or taking a group of kids out for free.”

Formula One Racer Breaks Shoulder Mountain Biking: Red Bull sponsored Formula One driver Mark Webber hid his broken shoulder and raced at the Japanese Grand Prix in October. Webber broke his shoulder while mountain biking which is apparently part of his training. This isn’t the first time Webber has been injured while mountain biking (he hid his injury the other time too). Team principal Chris Horner said “Our drivers have an obligation to make sure they are fit. It seems bikes don’t agree with Mark so maybe it would be better if he stayed away from them.” You’d think Red Bull, of all sponsors, would understand that mountain biking injuries happen from time to time.

Anecdotal evidence seems to show a fair amount of crossover between mountain biking and other motorsports like rally car racing. Combine the need for speed with the ability to pick lines and it seems the two sports share important similarities. Surprisingly (to me anyway) drivers need to stay fit too which makes mountain biking a good choice.

Mountain Bike Trails Opposed Due to Parking: As if we need another reminder that driving to the trails isn’t always the best solution, residents in Wahroonga, Australia are opposing a new mountain bike trail because there’s nowhere for riders to park their cars. Trust us, even if there isn’t a single place to park a car, mountain bikers will still find a way to ride new trails. After all, we’re on bikes, not Razor Scooters, and riding to the ride is always an option. Thank goodness IMBA is working hard here in the US to locate mountain bike trails close to urban and suburban areas for maximum accessibility.

Four mountain bike news items to start off the week:

Easton Seatpost Recall

Easton is recalling approximately 200 EC90 Zero seatposts manufactured in 2010. The Consumer Product Safety Commission says the carbon top clamp on the seatpost assembly can crack which, as you can imagine, would really suck for the rider. The release we read made it sound like the seatposts may have been included on some Turner and Ibis bikes so if you bought one of those bikes this year, check your post and the Easton website to see if yours is affected.

Although no injuries have been reported, consumers should immediately stop riding the bicycles and contact any authorized Easton Sports (dealer) for a free replacement top seat clamp.

Croc Trophy Race Wraps up “World’s Hardest” MTB Competition

photos courtesy crocodile-trophy.com.

To be more specific, race organizers claim the Croc Trophy is “the world’s hardest longest hottest and most adventures (sic) MTB race in the world” and this year’s competition just wrapped up a few days ago at the northeastern tip of Australia. Apparently the course takes riders into the Australian Outback and some daily stages are nearly 100 miles long. Just to finish all 10 stages of the Croc Trophy takes serious stamina – congrats to this year’s winner Urs Huber who finished 5 minutes ahead of second place finisher Bart Brentjens and 40 minutes ahead of third place finisher Mike Mulkens. Now’s the time to start training for next year’s epic!

Singlespeed World Champs Recap

We wrote about the Singlespeed MTB World Championships a couple weeks ago ahead of the competition in New Zealand and today we discovered ESPN.com’s entertaining take on the event. My favorite quotes from the article:

“If you are riding really, really fast but don’t want a tattoo, then don’t win the race. The winner will be tattooed at the finish line so decide before you start if you want a tattoo or not.”

If “The Dude” from “The Big Lebowski” was into mountain biking instead of bowling he would have been a singlespeeder.

I think this is one of those things I gotta experience for myself at some point – sounds like a blast! Though I guess that means I’ll need to shed some gears first…

Loch Raven Reservoir Cracking Down on Mountain Bikers

Mountain bikers in Baltimore have been enjoying the 30+ miles of trails around Loch Raven Reservoir for years but lately rangers have been issuing $100 citations for things like night riding (read the recent trail reviews for more examples). According to this article, land managers are becoming concerned about erosion issues affecting water quality and it seems mountain bikers are an easy target. Specifically new “unofficial” trails are popping up and land managers want it stopped – though hikers are just as likely to create unauthorized “social” trails as bikers. Keep an eye on this issue as local club MORE works with reservoir managers to resolve the situation…

The Australian published an interesting article about “adrenaline junkie CEOs” and whether or not they have an obligation to disclose their “dangerous” hobbies to shareholders. Many of the company executives mentioned in the article like to mountain bike (and rock climb, heli-ski, drive race cars, etc.) which may have some shareholders worried about the future of their investments should something go wrong on the trail.

The adventure-seeking CEO certainly isn’t a new breed – Richard Branson (Virgin) immediately comes to mind – and it’s not surprising people in demanding positions need to blow off steam every now and then. Heck, even the POTUS, George W. Bush, liked to mountain bike whenever he had the chance and I don’t recall anyone worrying about whether he should be putting himself at risk.

The old cliche of executives teeing up for a round of golf at the end of the day could be on the decline as more and more business folks discover the camaraderie, excitement, and health benefits of mountain biking. Of course any outdoor activity has risks associated with it and if anyone knows how to balance risk and reward, it’s a successful CEO. So keep honing your MTB skills and one day you may end up in the executive suite!

photo: ANNIKA ENDERBORG, Manly Daily.

Here’s an example of what not to do if you want increased mountain bike trail access: get quoted in the local paper saying you’ll continue to ride trails closed to bikes. As if that’s not enough, get a photo of yourself inserted in the article so officials can ID you on the trail. That’s just what Australian Aaron Dunford has done and we’re anxious to see the results.

I suppose things are a bit different down under but here in the US, Dunford would probably be attacked by hikers first then cited for trespassing by local law enforcement. IMBA would issue a press release saying Dunford doesn’t represent mountain bikers everywhere (if they haven’t already) while going into major damage control mode. And this guy appears to work for a bike company!

We’re all for trail advocacy and standing up for our rights as mountain bikers but honestly there are a million better ways to do so. Gandhi demonstrated the power of the “sit -in” so why not organize mountain bikers to suit up and take a seat on the trail one weekend? Demonstrating the number of mountain bikers who want trail access while playing by the rules works more often than you might think…

This week I came across a couple MTB news items that, although unrelated, point to interesting trends affecting the mountain bike world…

Image from cnano-rhone-alpes.org.

James Easton donates $2M to UCLA for Carbon Nanotube Research: Remember the early days of mountain biking when guys could just modify old Schwinn bikes into badass off road machines? Or even the days when anyone who knew a thing or two about welding could throw together a bike frame? Those days are coming to a close as carbon fiber and now, carbon nanotubes become the mountain bike frame and component materials of choice.

Easton actually makes a number of products beyond mountain bike handlebars and wheels including golf clubs, tents, bows and arrows, baseball bats, helmets, and every hockey sticks. While there’s no direct link between the carbon nanotube research funding and any upcoming MTB products (that we know of), it just goes to show the technology involved in building mountain bikes is becoming more and more complex. Is there a 5-pound rig in the future for mountain bikers? Time will tell…

Unemployed Australians Build Mountain Bike Trails: The world economy has hit a bit of a rough spot but in Queensland, Australia the government is paying unemployed workers to build downhill and cross country MTB trails at Amamoor in the Mary Valley. Workers receive training in chainsaw operation and trail building and will even get a chance to build trail features and obstacles.

It’s interesting to think about how many of the trails we ride today were actually built for hiking during the New Deal in the 1930s. These days it’s mostly volunteers who are adapting old trails to new uses but building trails AND getting paid – now that’s a trend I’m on board with!

While mountain biking season is just getting started here in the northern hemisphere there are some late-season epics taking place on the southside.

Photo from cape-epic.com.

The Absa Cape Epic presented by Adidas starts March 21 and is an 8 day stage race across the wilderness of the western cape of Africa. Riders will travel nearly 500 miles and will experience 52,000 feet of climbing (that’s not a typo). Riders must enter as teams of two, perhaps so one person can distract attacking lions Check out the official race website for tons of photos from last year’s race, rider blogs, and info on registering for the 2010 race.

Photo from BMC Mountains to Beach.

The BMC Mountains to Beach (MTB) wrapped up this past weekend down in Australia and riders raced more than 230 miles over 5 days from the Snowy Mountains to Narooma in New South Wales. Jason English won the overall race and the solo men’s category with an overall time of 9:53:47. Just over 150 riders made the trek but I have a feeling this race is going to get bigger and bigger every year…

The Pan American MTB Championships are taking place in Santiago, Chile March 20-23 and USA Cycling recently announced its team lineup. The US is sending 20 athletes including some former Olympians like Adam Craig and Georgia Gould. See USACyling.org for the full lineup and we’ll try to keep you posted on results from the races.

Two interesting MTB news items to start off your Tuesday…

Several months ago we reviewed the Jimi Wallet, a plastic case for holding your credit cards, cash, etc. while you ride and it turns out the Jimi works as body armor as well. Cassie Nobbs was riding at Porcupine Rim in Moab when she took a nasty spill and fell about 8 feet onto a pile of rocks. Luckily, Jimi had her back and absorbed the impact of one particularly sharp rock that could have done serious damage. The photo above shows the drop and the after-effects on the Jimi. Maybe next time Cassie will get 5 of them and line her entire jersey pocket before riding Porcupine Rim

Booby Trapped MTB Trails

Unfortunately this isn’t the first time we’ve heard of booby trapped trails and it’s a scary to think about how easily this could happen. A rider in Tasmania was injured when she ran into a head-height wire strung across a mountain bike trail that knocked her off her bike. Police are investigating this as a very serious crime that has the potential to kill someone – attempted murder anyone?

In 2007 an eco-terrorist targeted mountain bikers on a Texas trail with neck-level trip wires and the guy wasn’t caught for more than a year. Avoiding trails where trip-wires are found isn’t really an option because that means the terrorists have won (seriously). At the same time, no one wants to run into one of these things at speed. It seems the only option until police find the culprit is to walk the trails each day before anyone rides to look for hazards… Or just stake the place out at night and catch the bastards.