Rapha

Sure, the roadways are nearing the temps that melt rubber, but the coolest name in cycling gear is coming to town for a special early evening ride and movie night.

Hosted by Bicycle Haüs in Scottsdale, the Rapha Mobile Cycle Club is setting up shop this Thursday, May 24, fresh from its run at last week's Tour of California.

Part café, part showroom, the battleship grey mobile cycling toy store lovingly named Hennie (after legendary Dutch cyclist Hennie Kuiper) rolls into town for a 5 p.m. ride and 7:30 p.m. movie fest.

The chaps steering Hennie across North America are Rapha Continental racers Ben Lieberson and Ryan Thomson, who will be leading the ride with the Bicycle Haüs crew and brewing up the cappuccinos during a mini-fest of the brand's films.

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photo by Jason Franz

As the Valley settles in for another summer and the triple digit temps are once again the norm, hydration re-emerges as the top health priority for area denizens. Without question, water is gold.

Just because it gets warm does not mean that we stop being active. Aside from swimming, cycling is actually one of the best warm-temp activities because the constant air flow is like standing in front of an evaporative cooler. But, that is sweat pouring out so that fluid needs to be replaced - constantly.
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brunogfmtube

With the recent rash of cyclists getting hit by local drivers, there's an understandable level of increased concern about personal safety when hitting the streets. But who'da thought that a video camera could become one of the most valuable pieces of protection for exposed pedal pushers?

That was exactly the case recently for a pair of cyclists in Berkeley, Calif. just a few weeks ago when they were side swiped from behind by a driver who hit-and-ran as the cyclists were splayed across the tarmac. Both cyclists were unharmed aside from some nasty road rash.


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American League of Bicyclists

The National Bike Challenge wants everyone to Get Up & Ride.

May is National Bike Monthand The American League of Bicyclists has set up a series of dates to get us on our bikes more as the rest of the United States enjoys ideal cycling weather during Bike to School Day (May 9) and Bike to Work Week (May 14 to 18).

Knowing that some specially noted days isn't quite enough to get hesitant riders in the saddle, the league -- in partnership with Endomondo, Kimberly-Clark, and Bikes Belong -- has created the National Bike Challenge to get people to ride a hefty daily average of 1.67 miles over the course of four months.

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City of Phoenix, Streets Transportation Department

In an effort to connect with adolescent and teen cyclists around town, the City of Phoenix Street Transportation Department created a line of comic books that show the graphically dangerous side of not practicing proper bike safety.

The six-episode series and their accompanying posters, funded in part through a grant from the Arizona Governors Office of Highway Safety, are now available through the department's office and will get a greater distribution through local schools in the fall.

The various episodes cover getting doored, avoiding blind spots, and obeying signs and signals. With the recent string of cycling injuries and deaths on Valley roads, this series comes at a time when the greater cycling community is chafing for more safety awareness among both drivers and cyclists.

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photo by Jason Franz

A few months back, some friends of Cycle (henceforth to be known as FOC'ers) suggested that the Cycle Exploration Team (of one) venture out to the San Tan Mountain Regional Park and check out the new trail that's part of the greater Maricopa Trail system.

It turns out that these FOC'ers were onto something because the new Dynamite Trail that carriers mountain bikers, hikers, trail runners and horseback riders over Goldmine Mountain and into the larger park area is a dandy of a track.

The San Tan Mountain Regional Park trail network is not as extensive as McDowell Mountain or as technical as Estrella Mountain, but it makes for a good, flowy loop with some challenging climbs and beautiful vistas for anyone looking who has some decent legs but is looking to develop their fat tire skills.

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photo by Jason Franz

When you talk to Al Cappello, co-owner of Portapedal Bikes in Tempe, he'll immediately sound like one of the most fervent bike advocates in town. But he has a distinct bone to pick with the two-wheeled traditionalists.

"We have become servants to the big-wheeled, rigid framed bikes," says Cappello.

This comment would raise an eyebrow or elicit a confused double-take if it didn't come in the middle of the store he and his partner, Jeff Looker, opened a little over a year ago focused on folding bikes.

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Graham Watson

When it comes to professional cycling, most of the world thinks racing begins and ends with the Tour de France. Sure, that grand tour may provide 22 days of highly covered racing plastered with all sorts of viewer sweepstakes.

But for pure drama, intensity, and display of cycling brilliance, Paris-Roubaix is the year's greatest race.

The "Queen of the Classics," Paris-Roubaix is a 155-mile slog across northern France's exposed flatlands, starting just outside of Paris and pushing up to the town of Roubaix. And it's being televised live in the US for the first time ever this Sunday.

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Scottsdale Public Arts, Cycle the Arts

​Looking for a way to explore some local art and get a little workout? Scottsdale Public Art is hosting their 7th Annual Cycle of the Arts ride this Sunday, April 1, to explore some of the newer public arts around a short loop through Scottsdale.

Registration for the ride begins at 8:30 a.m. in front of the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. Ride leaders will lead small groups of cyclists starting at 9 a.m. for a 7-mile lap that will stop at four art locations. 

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Photo by Timothy Boyd, design by Jon Ashcroft

PEDAL CRAFT PHX organizers Jon Ashcroft, Dorina Bustamante, Jonce Walker, Jeremy Stapleton, and Nicole Underwood at Kitchen Sink Studios.

​Local designers and bike enthusiasts Jon Ashcroft, Dorina Bustamante, Jonce Walker, Jeremy Stapleton, and Nicole Underwood know there's a very geeky and compositionally beautiful place where cycling and design meet. More >>