Thanks to the Boys and Girls Club of Cumberland and Lincoln , and RI NEMBA 's Chris Nichols, we now have a local mountain biking program for kids in our area. Needless to say we're pretty psyched to see this come about and we're more than happy to lend a hand. Getting more kids outside, away from TV land, and into the woods is always a great idea and it's nice to see some local folks working together to make it happen. More info on the program from the Boys and Girls Club site: Summer Mountain Biking Program Action sports are a great alternative to the typical recreation program. It is our hope that the Summer Mountain Biking Program will be the first of many of its kind. In association with Chris Nichols (Vice President of the Cumberland chapter of the New England Mountain Biking Association ) we will offer both intermediate and advanced levels. Participants will receive instruction in bike maintenance, trail blazing and safe riding habits all in an environment b...

And he didn't take any pictures, that I know of, so you get to read this update instead. People riding big old squishy fun time bikes and jumping off of stuff and having a good time would be a fun thing to read about, right? Right. Well, buckle up and get ready for all that type of stuff to decidedly not happen in this post. You get hot and dusty dirt road riding and other cyclocross bike related stuff for now. Sounds like a blast. Let's go! On that note, if you're into racing 'cross or you just feel vexed by front derailleurs in general then check out the Paul Components Chainkeeper. Mike installed one on his personal 'cross bike and it works! Who would've thought something called the Chainkeeper could do just that? This device really doesn't do anything more than a Third Eye Chain Watcher and a bash can do, but it's lighter than said combo and looks about one million percent more elegant. And it's made in the USA by a guy who rides. Did I mention ...

Local mountain biker type guy Joe H. managed to break himself another bike... So we fixed him up with a new whip in the form of this sweet black and blue combo Redline Monocog Flight frame and Surly Karate Monkey fork (an appropriate color scheme given his bicycle abusing track record). It turned out pretty nicely and should be up to the frame detonating riding he seems to dish out. At least we hope so anyways. Speaking of bikes, we have a slew of Banshee bikes in the shop right about now (a Spitfire, Rampant, Scythe, Wildcard and something else I can't remember right now) . If you feel like checking them out then by all means swing by and arrange to demo one. While we aren't a Banshee dealer we are operating as a um, liquidator, if you will for the old Banshee rep. These are all demo bikes and they were ridden so, you guessed it, this is a good chance to snag a great deal on some nice bikes for all your aggressive riding needs. I'd hold out for a 2011 Rocky Mountain Slaye...