At 9:00 am, nearly a hundred cyclists showed up for  Sacramentos first Tweed Ride sunday for the all day neighborhood bike ride. Amazing as  the idea gave birth just a little over a month beforehand. Thanks to powerful internet networking the idea traveled fast and soon the restaurants that accepted  to participate got what they reserved, a lot of love from the enthusiasts dressed in fine vintage tweed.  The scramble to amass the finer vintage look was on and the final result a best dressed contest showed us the need for such an event.  The enthusiasm was contagious as was the creative impulse for both vintage bike and dress alike. Many cities have such a ride already in place. New York,

At about 9 a.m. Thursday, three-time Amgen Tour of California winner Levi Leipheimer announced via a "tweet" that he was going to defend his title in 2010. It was part of a high-profile Twitter conversation started by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that went something like this: "@schwarzenegger: Great news for American cycling fans and CA. The 2010 Amgen Tour of California will be better than ever. @lancearmstrong will you join us? @lancearmstrong: Absolutely! @schwarzenegger, I've decided to ride the #Amgen Tour of California in 2010. Can't wait. What about you @levileipheimer? @levileipheimer: I'll definitely be racing the 2010 Amgen Tour of California, defending my title." Then at 4:30

Bikes, beer and beards - all were in abundant supply this weekend at the second annual Sacramento Bike Games, which lasted all of Saturday evening. A select group of people received phone calls Saturday morning from the event's organizers telling them where to meet up for the first event, a skid-stop competition held on the American River Bike Trail at noon. After that, the action moved to Discovery Park, where the Pick Up, Footdown and Trackstand events were held. While Footdown and Trackstands have been explained in previous articles in this storyline, Pick Up is probably unfamiliar to readers. In Pick Up, objects of successively diminishing size have to be picked up by players riding

Sacramento's newest bike rack is just in time for this weekend's Amgen Tour of California. There it sits, on the corner of 19th and O, right outside of Zuda Yoga Center. The smell of fresh concrete, a green metal masterpiece, new paint - it's the real deal.  The Sacramento-themed bike rack, which has a depiction of a bicycle inside the State Capitol Building, was installed earlier this morning. The work of art already had a blue bike locked to it this afternoon.  Zuda's owners, spouses Anne Marie Kramer and Bill Prysock, had been actively "trying to get a bike rack installed" outside their business for approximately six months, said Yoga Coordinator Amanda Johnson.  Johnson added, "We a

 It's always been a struggle for me when I bring my bike to Yosemite or any other national park.  Because of the difficulty of siting any kind of mountain bike trail, you're stuck on the paved roads with the Winnebagos and tour buses.  Frankly, that scares the snot out of me.  I wind up riding in places I shouldn't be, and that's bad too.  The International Mountain Bike Association has been working for years to improve off-pavement bicycle access in National Parks and many other places.  The Park Service has finally come up with a proposed new policy which will make it a little easier to site some trails in national parks.  There is one week left for you to get your comments in on the new

Friday evening, you may have run into a crowd of cyclists pedaling their way downtown, uptown, and back again. The racing term for this group is a peloton. These rather enthusiastic riders were in the midst of the Sacramento Alley Cat bike race.  The Alley Cat is an unsanctioned bike race, checkpoint-to-checkpoint, where the emphasis is placed not on speed, but on knowing the layout of the city. Races are always open course, taking place in street traffic.  40 riders took off for the five checkpoints of the race which stretched from Lucky Lefty's on 16th Street all the way to West Sacramento and back.  Many others who came chose not to race, but remained at Lucky Lefty's, watching a bik

Its party time come this Second Saturday. You see the Sacramento Bike Kitchen has a new center and we are throwing a grandopening party. The Bike Kitchen otherwise known as SBK is a nonprofit org(501(c)3) with the intention of keeping you on your bike and more importantly creating more advocates who create a more bike friendly community, one bike at a time. Heres how it works. For a small fee you can have someone show YOU how to fix and maintain your bicycle. A sort of teach a man to fish philosophy. We survive on donations such as unused bikes and bike parts. Unused, tools, and bike stands are gladly accepted as well. 2 hats we are wearing is the recycler and educational center for all t

Working downtown out of Old Sacramento I am noticing a significant rise in bike traffic here. Be it  a meating place and/or hub for riding the American River bike trail. Many do not know that this gem known as the American River Bike Trail ends or begins here depending on your POV.  Rumours on the club scene are an organized ride from Old Town Folsom to Oldtown Sacramento are being planned.   It behooves the planners for old town to cater to cyclists as they bring cash and credit cards to old town. Cyclist by and large are quiet adding to Old town ambiance, dont polute and love Oldtown charm. Steamers coffee, a popular destination and resting spot for area cyclists have no outdoor seatin

So one night a few months back, I was sitting in traffic on J street and noticed a Chevy Suburban towing a billboard advertising for a soft drink product. I was a little pissed that this vehicle was driving around burning gas and clogging traffic, but it spurred another idea. Build a better way of doing this in a little more responsible way. How do you advertise your product and not annoy people or make them feel like you're creating traffic jams? The solution was to buy an existing product and rework it a little with the help of a signage company. Out of this came a bike trailer and bicycle with custom made "wraps". PLease look at the photographs and notice the complete custom build for