Food and Brew for a Cause

On January 4th, 2011 we will be having a Frederick Bicycle Coalition event at Brewers Alley in downtown Frederick. All day long, 20 percent of your food/bar bill will be donated to FBC. So visit Brewers Alley for some great food and beer and help support Frederick biking at the same time.

Plenty of bikers and FBC board members will be there in the evening, so come on out and introduce yourself, enjoy some great food and beer and help support the Frederick Bicycle Coalition.

Brewers Alley is located at 124 North Market Street in downtown Frederick, MD and will be open from 11:30AM to 11:30PM on the day of the event.

And of course, you are encouraged to ride your bike to the event. Hope to see you there!

Food and Brew for a Cause

On January 4th, 2011 we will be having a Frederick Bicycle Coalition event at Brewers Alley in downtown Frederick. All day long, 20 percent of your food/bar bill will be donated to FBC. So visit Brewers Alley for some great food and beer and help support Frederick biking at the same time.

Plenty of bikers and FBC board members will be there in the evening, so come on out and introduce yourself, enjoy some great food and beer and help support the Frederick Bicycle Coalition.

Brewers Alley is located at 124 North Market Street in downtown Frederick, MD and will be open from 11:30AM to 11:30PM on the day of the event.

And of course, you are encouraged to ride your bike to the event. Hope to see you there!

Merry Christmas and MANY Thanks!

We at The Bicycle Escape have been overwhelmed by the generosity of our friends and customers this year. The amazing clock shown was a gift made by an artist in Bogota, Columbia and is constructed of recycled metal. I could not believe it when this was delivered to the shop. Pile on some delicious homemade pupusas, gourmet deserts, fresh fruit, and some very good craft beer and you've got yourself a truly touched collection of bicycleman. Thanks so much and have a happy and safe holiday.

Origin 8 Pro-Grip Toe Straps

We just received a shipment of the Origin 8 Pro-Grip Toe Straps. They are shown here mounted to Fly BMX pedals. These are a great lower cost ($19.99) alternative to some of the pricer straps on the market.

www.thebicycleescape.com

NEW Water Bottles

Water bottles just took a huge leap forward. Our latest shop bottles are the new Purist bottles produced by Specialized. These new vessels are made of a space age compound that is nearly as smooth as glass. It does not absorb colors, tastes or odors. If you are a skeptic, fill the bottle with tomato juice and then go pump up your car tires (you know it has been a while) when you return empty the bottle and give it a quick rinse. You will be holding a totally clean bottle awaiting the next hydration challenge. The bottles are BPA free and easy to squeeze. They also feature high flow, no-drip bit valves. Stop by and get yourself one of these beauties while they last.

Frederick Bicycle Coalition

The free FBC bike tune ups are taking place right now. We are at the Hillcrest Latino Market off Hillcrest Drive.

Cheers to Five Years!

Our five year anniversary just past and to commemorator the event we filled our glasses and said Salute! If you would care to join in our toast, stop by the shop sometime before Christmas and wish us a happy birthday. We will make sure you are set up with a proper drinking vessel.

SALE SALE SALE

Don't forget out 5 year anniversary sale continues into tomorrow Saturday Nov. 26

Everything in the shop is on sale! Save up to 10-50%

Bicycle Advisory Committee Ride

More wonderful signs that Frederick continues to move to improve bicycle accessibility.

Yesterday the Mayor's Bicycle Advisory Committee took a ride downtown to identify problem areas as well as investigate using bicycles as a way of touring Frederick's many historical sights. The formation of the Advisory Committee is one of many examples of Frederick's ambition toward becoming a Bicycle Friendly Community. These efforts are being spearheaded by the Frederick Bicycle Coalition (FBC). If this goal is as important to you as it is to us, support the cause by becoming a member of FBC.

Busy Weekend

This weekend was a busy one. Saturday was packed with friends, food, bikes and home-brew. Thanks to the host Steve who worked hard to put the event together, everyone had a blissful time.

Sunday The Bicycle Escape crew volunteered to support the first annual Ten Mile Race to benefit the Frederick YMCA. This also proved to be a great way to spend a morning. There were over 250 friendly runners keeping fit for a great cause.

Bikerumor Pic Of The Day: The Mechanic’s Apprentice

Bikerumor Pic Of The Day: The Mechanic’s Apprentice

Our little guy is now famous.

Gambrill Night Mountain Bike Rides Return

The Bicycle Escape, in conjunction with M.O.R.E., is hosting night mountain bike rides at Gambrill State Park on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month through the end of April. Gambrill offers some of the most technical terrain in the region so these rides are for experienced mountain bikers only. It is also necessary to have a high quality lighting system. These are specialty, high powered lights with a minimum output of 10 watts or greater. Safe and properly functioning equipment is required by all riders. Helmets will be required to be worn by all riders at all times. The ride will leave from the main trailhead parking lot located off of Gambrill Park Road. The parking is on the right as you climb the mountain, if you reach an intersection at the top of the mountain, you have gone too far. Rides will leave from the parking area at 7 pm sharp and will last approximately 2 hours. Please allow enough time upon your arrival to sign-in, prepare yourself for the ride and be ready to hit the trail on time. Liability waivers must be signed by all riders and parking passes will be issued for each vehicle. We are in the park with special permission so these parking passes must be displayed on all vehicles! We must be out of the park by 10 pm.

Pace for the rides will be moderately fast. Speed is not as important as technical riding ability.

Because this ride exists with special permission from the Department of Natural Resources riders must follow the guidelines below in order to participate.

• The group must stay together at all times
• Keep noise to a minimum
  
• Do not disturb wildlife
• Respect park rules
• Follow the guidelines set forth by Tread Lightly
  

Please send any questions regarding the ride to tom@thebicycleescape.com

Moots comes to Frederick Maryland!

The Bicycle Escape is more then excited to welcome Moots into the TBE family of handmade frame offerings. Moots has been building beautiful Titanium frames in Colorado since 1981. The frame pictured is the 10 year anniversary YBB mountain bike frame. The bike has a pivot-less rear suspension system and accommodates 29" wheels. I think this will be my next bike.

Wild Goose Chase

This past Sunday was the Wild Goose Chase bike ride in Cambridge, MD. It is the first year I have done this ride. I went with my Single Speed Outlaw buddy, Maili and together we rode 25.2 miles. It was a beautiful and fun day. My Yipsan sunflower bike did great and attracted a lot of attention.

Schwinn Re-Birth

This was a fun project. The old Schwinn American Deluxe was rustier than an old grill. Our orders were to restore it with out doing any re-chromeing or paint work. We were quite pleased with the results. The chrome brightened up really nice and we fixed both the front light and the electric horn. The only parts we replaced were the tires and the damaged pedals.

www.thebicycleescape.com

Frederick, Maryland

New Shop Socks

We just got in newly designed TBE socks. This time we had them made by Swiftwick, makers of the best socks on the Planet!

Bicycle Monorail

An interesting concept. Read more here.

BBQ

FBC Fall BBQ and Picnic

Join the Frederick Bicycle Coalition for our first annual Fall Picnic and Bike Rides taking place on Sunday, October 10, 2010. The picnic will take place at Cunningham Falls State Park in the large pavilion in the Manor area. The road rides will leave from the same location, the mountain bike rides will start at the Sand Flats Parking area of the Frederick Watershed.

FBC will provide burgers and hot dogs (veggie versions too). You bring a potluck dish to share. We’ll have some adult beverages as well.

Members and non-members are welcome. You can RSVP by posting to the web site, ourFacebook page or emailing communication@frederickbicyclecoalition.com
The picnic is rain or shine, check the web site for ride information if the weather looks questionable.

A map showing picnic and ride start locations can be found here.

When: 12:30pm Picnic;
9am MTB rides , 9am road rides

About the rides:
Helmets required. The rides will start at 9am. Road rides will leave from the picnic area. Phil VanWerkhoven will lead a road ride doing rolling hills and covered bridges which will cover around 35 miles at a moderate pace. James Johnson will lead a ride up the mountain and on some of the nearby dirt roads, 25-30 miles at a relaxed pace.

The mountain bike rides will consist of two moderate rides, one will be a women’s only ride and the other will be open to all. The terrain ranges from smooth to rocky and technical with some decent climbs. The start location is approximately 7 miles from the picnic location. Following the ride we’ll head over to Cunningham Falls.

All rides will return in time for the picnic start.

Where: Cunningham Falls (http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/western/cunningham.asp) for the picnic and road rides, Sand Flats (http://tinyurl.com/sandflatsparkinglot) for MTB rides

Questions? Contact communication@frederickbicyclecoalition.com

The Latest Build

In case you missed the pictures on our Flickr album we just built this magnificent machine for Tom (not me). The YiPsan frame fork stem and post are even more impressive in person.

Long live nice bikes!

More pics here.

www.thebicycleescape.com

Frame Repair

It is no secret that steel is a durable material, but even frames built of steel occasionally brake.

This old LeMond bicycle gave up the ghost after thousands and thousands of miles.

You may not know however one of the cool things about steel frames is that they are often repairable. This LeMond was given a second chance by Renold Yip of YiPsan Bicycles.

www.thebicycleescape.com

Don't forget to bring the family out THIS SUNDAY!!!

Frederick Bicycle Coalition plans ride to 'Sunday Funday' Keys game Originally published August 26, 2010 By Teresa Bell-Stockman News-Post Staff

Although not quite a year old, The Frederick Bicycle Coalition, a nonprofit Frederick County bicycle advocacy organization, is on track and keeping pace to reach its objectives. "Our real focus is to improve in cycyling in Frederick ... for recreation and transportation. To make it a safe, viable option," said Anna Kelso, treasurer of the coalition. Another goal is to help Frederick become a recognized bicycle community by the League of American Bicyclists, she added, and the group is working with the mayor and board of alderman to achieve this designation and to establish a bicycle advisory committee. "People perceive bicycling to be more dangerous than it is," Kelso said, and "we really want to drive home the point that (bicycling) is something you can do" anytime. The coalition has organized a family friendly ride to the Frederick Keys game Sunday, departing from the Baker Park bell tower at 12:45 p.m.-- Kelso said Frederick City Mayor Randy McClement will lead the group to Grove Stadium, where he will also throw out the first pitch. Free general admission will be provided to all participants courtesy of The Frederick Keys. The 1.2-mile ride will take place on an established, low traffic route with experienced cyclists escorting the group and a police presence to help with directing traffic. -- In addition to the bicycle ride, the game is scheduled as a "Sunday Funday" event, where kids can meet the Keys players prior to the game. Participants should bring a helmet, a bicycle lock and will be required to sign a release waiver.

Tour de Frederick

It was great fun to help out with the very first Tour de Frederick. We had fun meeting the many cyclists at our water stop.

What is Custom?

The term custom is thrown around quite a bit in the bicycle industry. Sometimes it describes a stock bike frame with a hand-picked parts assortment. To others a custom bike is one with custom geometry and tubes designed to best suit a specific persons needs.

The YiPsan pictured is a wonderful example of what a truly custom bike can be. Each and every detail of this machine is tailored to one rider's desires. His name is Dan and his goal was to own a bike that is comfortable for long rides and built tough to tackle foul weather and averse conditions.

The bike began with custom geometry (as you can tell Dan is very tall) and extra heavy duty frame tubes. Next a selection of parts were identified to suit the rider's needs. The bike was equipped with the bomb proof Rohloff 14 speed internally geared Speedhub. To accommodate the twist shifter required for this drive-train Renold at YiPsan Bicycles made a special stem with a shifter mount. The bike is also equipped with a Schmidt Dynamo/SON generator front hub to power both the front and rear light. Fenders, a Nitto front rack and Tubus rear round-out the build. This machine is not limited to the road, the 40mm tires and stout wheels will be right at home on dirt and gravel roads.

This bike is one mans dream and perfectly illustrates what a custom bike can be.

More pictures available here.

www.thebicycleescape.com

2011 Specialized Camber

Introducing the 2011 Specialized Camber series of full suspension mountain bikes. The Camber models range from $1650-$2900. The versatile Specialized FSR full suspension design used on the Camber is ideal for general use mountain biking.

2011 Specialized Stumpjumpers

Well folks here are a couple of the hot new 2011 Specialized bicycles... Stumpjumpers to be exact! First up is the faboulus Stumpjumper Expert Carbon 29er. This beauty will only cost you $3300 so don't for get to pre-book. Second is the Stumpy Comp Carbon 29er for $2800. The next bike shown in black and lime is the Stumpjumper Comp 29 which will be available for $1950. Next up is the 26" Stumpjumper Comp which sells for $100 bucks less. The single speed Stumpjumper is $2600 with the Fox F29RL fork. The Blacked out Specialized Stumpjumper 29er Evo offers a 1x10 drive-train for $2050. The white and carbon bike with a touch of gold is the Stumpjumper Carbon Evo R 29er which goes for $3300.

YiPsan in Red and White

I was quite pleased with the way our most recent YiPsan build. Steel tubes and components kept the weight down to 18.5lbs with custom frame, fork, post, and stem. Keep your eyes open for this beauty around Maryland and on the tri circuit. There is a 'ghost pearl panel' on the downtube that looks really good. If only I were a better photographer you could see it too :)

Check out more pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thebicycleescape/

Bike Taxis in Downtown Frederick

Have you seen the cool bike taxis rolling around downtown Frederick lately? They are so cool. Geo and I took our first ride in one last week and it was fun! It is such a great idea to have these in the city. It was a beautiful, sunny day so we were able to enjoy the weather and get to the our restaurant in no time at all. The driver was really friendly. He said he has been busy pedaling people all over town. If you ever need to get somewhere downtown quick or if you just want to enjoy the evening air, consider hopping on one of these bike taxis. All you have to do is text your location to the number below and they will pick you up!

Here is the company info:
MacFawn's Green Rides
301-246-2221

2011 Specialized 29er

For 2011 Specialized pushes the envelope with a 18.8 pound 29er mountain bike.

Bicycle Classes

BICYCLE CLASSES OFFERED

________________________________________________________________________

Frederick, Md. -- The Frederick Bicycle Coalition, The Frederick Pedalers Bicycle Club and The City of Frederick Parks & Recreation Department is pleased to announce the following bicycle programs. For more information or to register, please call 301.600.1492 or stop by the William Talley Recreation Center.

Mountain Biking (MTB) 101 for Beginner Teens

• Age: 13 to17
• Dates: Saturday, 8/14
• Time: 1:30 pm - 3:30 pm
• Location: 1775 Monocacy Blvd, Frederick, MD 21701 (Parking Lot by Boat Launch)
• Registration: Pre registration required at the Wm. Talley Rec. Center/ 301-600-1492
• Instructors: Rebecca Bafford / Mic Dunn
• Fee: $25 city / $30 non city

Rain Date: Saturday, August 21^st, same time and place.

Call the cancellation / information line for cancellations due to weather 301-600-6970

A parent / legal guardian will need to sign a waiver the day of class on 8/14.

Introduction to mountain biking, including: basic elements that make a mountain bike different from a road bike, required safety and maintenance tools, advice on preparation for rides (food, drink, extra clothing), demonstration of changing a flat tire, and teaching the basics of dealing with technical trail sections. Training will include a short mountain bike ride that includes general mountain biking challenges. All students will receive written information and references for mountain biking, bike stores, and safety tips. General biking skills, a mountain bike, helmet and water are required.

Minimum enrollment:10 / Maximum enrollment: 20

The Frederick Pedalers Bicycle Club along with The City of Frederick Parks and Recreation Department is pleased to announce the following bicycle program.

Basic Bicycle Program

• Age: 13 & up
• Dates: Tuesdays, August 17, 24 & 31
• Time: 6:30 - 8:30 pm
• Location: Monocacy Village Park Pavilion
• Registration; Wm Talley Rec Center / 301-600-1492
• Instructors: Frederick Pedalers Bicycle Club
• Fee: $25 City / $30 non-city

This program will be an introduction to safe bicycle riding on city and county roads for purposes of commuting, shopping and recreation. Each class session will include one hour of instruction and one hour of riding. First class will cover safety issues including protective clothing / helmets and hand signals. Bike maintenance, including fixing flats and cleaning chains is covered in second session Final class will be on handling techniques such as shifting, braking and traffic control.. Bicycles and helmets required for all classes.

Minimum enrollment 10 / Maximum enrollment 25

(Age 17 & under must be accompanied by a parent from 7:30 – 8:30 pm on the bike ride.)

Call the cancellation / information line for cancellations due to weather 301-600-6970

A parent / legal guardian will need to sign a waiver the day of class on 8/17 for age under age 18.

Comic

I have been too busy to post so how about this. Credit: http://www.marriedtothesea.com/archives/2010/Jun/

Bike to Work Winner 2010

A big congratulations to Tonya! She is the proud winner of the Breezer Greenway we donated to promote Bike to Work Day at the Frederick Pit Stop. www.thebicycleescape.com

2011 Specialized Road Bicycles

2011 Specialized Allez Comp Apex

2011 Specialized Dolce Elite Apex

2011 Specialized Secteur Elite Apex

For $1400 you can take your pick.

www.thebicycleescape.com