Bike racing in the Mid-Atlantic in March?! What?! Bike racing in the Mid-Atlantic in March in an underground parking garage?! WUTTTTTT?!?! Wait, it’s in Crystal City, home of the underground mall? Then that makes total sense. Also, it’s not the only one.

Event Facepage: “The course will be fast and fun for all abilities, and participants will compete for prizes for the top finishers each week while earning points toward being the best rider of the series. The lounge area will provide great viewing and happy hour drinks in the Washington Wine Academy beer and wine garden. Guests not racing can still enjoy fun games and activities in the lounge area. The first race will debut on March 4, 2015. Wednesday Night Spins is partnering with Bikes for the World and will have a drop off point for donations of bikes and cycling gear. Your donations will help support cycling programs and transportation solutions across the globe.

The course is a unique subterranean 10+ turn criterium held in the Crystal Drive Parking Garage. Unlike other Crystal City BID underground races, there will be no dismounts. This is a crit-style training race, not a cyclocross race. It’s worth checking out the course as racing inside with low ceilings takes a couple minutes of riding to get used to.

Registration and additional info at https://www.bikereg.com/crystal-citywednesday-night-sprints“

Keep up to date with the race series on the event Facepage.

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Admittedly, I’ve only had the tires mounted for just about a month. However, in those four weeks these gnarly fuckers have paid their ticket into the permanent Boredom Service Course.

Up until the end of January, we had a mild winter in #BikeDC. Lots of riding outside and the small bit of snow we received was easily handled by regular CX tires. Yet, there was a foreboding chill on the horizon—dark clouds emanating from the mountains to the west. In anticipation of an unrelenting trek through the realm of the Vortexxx I called Schwalbe and finally ordered the studded tires I said I’d order every damn year I rode through this shit and cursed poorly maintained trails, paths, and bikelanes.
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Image Credits:

Cyclingtips/Kristof Ramon
VTM Nieuws
Wielersport

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Not a nieuw product, but an update to one of Search and State’s original and critically acclaimed pieces.

“The new model features an new zipper, from Riri, which is an injection molded technological wonder.  It is insanely light, and designed for military applications.  This new model is smoother, lighter, and blacker than anything we had before.  Aside from the technology side of things, we’re really excited about the new color to debut, Sandstone.  This color is a notable departure from our expected color palate and totally unique look when it comes to bike-specific technical outerwear.”

The Search and State S1-J Riding Jacket ($255USD) voor mannen are available now with the vrouwen version to be released mid April.

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Wiki sez: “A shield is a type of personal armor, meant to intercept attacks, either by stopping projectiles such as arrows or redirecting a hit from a sword, mace, battle axe or similar weapon to the side of the shield-bearer.”

The Spy Optic Daft ($150USD) are a rimless, shield style glass, designed to intercept attacks and projectiles such as killer UV rays and the deadly looks the rest of the field sprint gives you as you look behind yourself crossing the finish first. It also protects your from the gnat swarm scourge and perhaps also many tiny air dirts.

Follow along on on Twitter/Instagram/Facebook/Flickr as I test the Spy Optic Daft.
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I like typefaces. I like cycling. When the two come together, I haz an amour. House Industries‘ niuew typeface, Velo, is inspired by the cycling.

These are the things they say: “Velo leads layouts with a grand tour champion’s panache but is also a hard-working design domestique for text-heavy applications. Superelliptical shapes and sturdy serifs will keep pace with contemporary culture with an aesthetic agility that will never go out of style.”

House Industries: Velo from Monogram on Vimeo.

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I’ve had the luxury of testing more than a few extremely technical jackets from a veritable plethora of brands.  Some are “me too” products offering nothing new. Others are fantastically conceived on all levels. The 7mesh Revelation Jacket Launch Edition ($450USD) falls into the latter category. Both men’s and women’s models are available.
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While Rapha’s Pro Team line has been out for a few years now, there’s a definitive push to continue producing more technical road wear. As well as the introduction of an actual pattern.

Rapha regarding the pattern: “The most striking visual feature of this season’s Pro Team collection is the Data Print, a collaboration that creates graphic art from the science of modern road racing. London-based design studio Accept & Proceed used the ride data from the three weeks of a Team Sky rider’s grand tour to produce a unique graphic. Charting the story of each stage, the resulting print is made up of precisely scaled chevrons mapping the rider’s distance, elevation gain and effort.”

Admittedly, I initially wasn’t so sure about the pattern, but as I’ve been working on this post it’s grown on me. Would love to see this in more colors.

Of course there’s way more than just these two pieces. Voor more information and to see the full line, check out the Pro Team Racewear Innovation page or peruse the collection.

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Yeah, it has discs, but it looks dope. ‘Dat ORANJEBOOM colorway had me catching vapors and feeling feels. Entry into the world of the Santa Cruz Stigmata is $2300USD for the frame or $4700USD for the SRAM CX-1 kit pictured below (1 of 3).

Video Interlude

From the looks of the communiqué, it appears that SC launched another product they’ve apparently labeled as a bike, but I am dubious about their designation. Check out the gallery on The Radivist voor more shots of the Stigmata.

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Always been a fan of the kits Vanilla/Speedvagen have put out and my feels voor this one’s no different. Nieuw black Castelli made kit is pre-order only and deadline is March 1st.

“The black Speedvagen team kit is an evolution of the original Army Green version. Clean, crisp, balanced, and minimal, this is the collection that our team has been racing in exclusively for the last two years. We like offering something special to the Speedvagen family of owners, as well as to friends of the brand. The team kit seemed like just the thing. In addition to looking better than any of your riding buddies, every kit purchases helps to support the team. We hope you can join us this season, in person and in spirit, as we spread the gospel of riding hard, holding ourselves to a high standard, and being good to our fellow racers—all while looking for a few chances to poke some fun at ourselves!”

For the rest of the details and additional pieces check out Speedbloggen page, or the shop to pre-order.

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