An Interview with Kris Thompson of 303cycling

Hello readers: Its no secret, we haven't had much content lately. I thought an interview series would be a nice way to get back on the flow (of web traffic), so heres the first one.

A couple weeks ago I took a ride (a very messy one, still cleaning the mud out of my brake calipers) with Kris Thompson, the founder and one of the primary contributers to 303cycling. Afterwards we did a little Q&A, heres what he had to say.

1. When did you start 303cycling?

March 2008. Before that I was doing the same thing on boulderveloracing.com as a means to improve our teams exposure for our sponsors.

2. What was your motivation for creating 303cycling?
Primary reason was my lack of interest in pro cycling because of one scandel after another, I simply lost touch with those people and had a much strong interest in the cycling that was happening right in my back door. Another reason for starting 303cycling was to fill a void that was needed and that was helping spread cycling related news that happens in our community. Where did one go years ago to get this kind of information? I also started this project because mainstream media is failing, newspapers are dying and big corporations are buying up the dead and producing vanilla news or news that has no interests to me or our community of cycling. The future IMO is in targeted media outlets, not the one shoe fits all like Fox News, CNN, NYTimes, etc.

3. Road, mountain and cross racing seem to be the main focus of
303cycling. Do you not care as much about other types of cycling or is
there just not as much to write about things like BMX, advocacy,
commuting, etc.?
I care about all of it but in the end there are only so many hours in the day and the disciplines that I am involved in are the ones I have the easiest access to. I have a strong desire to have a larger non competitive cycling tone then what is there today and as a result we are constantly looking for others to help write or just ping us when something important in the cycling world happens like opening of new bike paths, local advocacy, bike polo events, etc. If anyone ever has news you feel is interesting please drop us a line at 303cycling (http://303cycling.com/contact")

4. Are there any other websites, based locally or elsewhere, that
serve the same function as 303cycling? i.e. reporting on local races,
rides, events, & general cycling news.
BikeDenver.org is close, I would love to have their content integrated into ours, would make for a good site. YourGroupRide.com is very similar to 303cycling but it covers Fort Collins area.

5. What is the future of 303cycling? Any big plans?
Short term, improve our resource pages like our climbs/rides page and our upcoming training/coaches pages. Also hope to bring on a few more writers and a part-time sales person. Long term, Site redesign, move into other related areas like triathletes and running and maybe merge with other related sites.



There you go, stay tuned for more interviews with people who contribute a lot to cycling in the Denver/Boulder area.

RTD Drivers Kill 4 People this Week

Photo by Zak Wood (Hey! I used to work with that guy)
Daily Camera Story

More! Local Cycling Related New Stories

Concern that Boulder-donated bikes ended up in Africa prompts new deal

Summary: Boulder Police were concerned that Community Cycles was sending bikes that the Police impound had donated off to Africa so they halted donations. Community Cycles response was to take the "Bikes to Africa" page off their website, release a statement saying they don't send them out anymore and are working on a formal deal to re-start the flow of donated bikes.

CU-Boulder Police watching the wrong stop sign

Summary: Boulder Police are ticketing cyclists who blow the stop sign at Colorado & Libby Drive, when really they should be ticketing drivers who don't use their turn signal at the roundabout and people blowing the stop sign out of Libby drive.

and one of the best local news stories evar:
Longmont cyclist sues dog owner whose pet ran into his wheel

Summary: A dog ran into a guys bike and caused him some serious injuries and grief. The dog was is King Charles Spaniel, a breed known to chase moving things. The article suggests the dog is still alive so I doubt it could have cause too much trouble. Well, just as fast as that dog chased his bike, a lawyer chased Mr. Abbhul's ambulance and he is now suing the dog owner for negligence (not having an effective latch on the gate). I don't know who to side with here; I don't particularly like small dogs or crashing my bike, but something tells me that the "latch" defense isn't going to win this one.
I hope Mr. Abbhul gets well and back on his bike again soon, I hope that the dog's owner will install a functioning latch on her gate, and I hope that nobody gets too embarrassed in the shitshow that will surely surround this ridiculous lawsuit.

Don't take this story too lightly. A bike-dog collision took Marcus Burghardt out of the 2007 Tour de France. But Sandy Casar hit a dog later in the same Tour and went on the win the stage.



Also, since all of these are Daily Camera articles involving bikes, there are hundred of ridiculous comments.
Be sure to read them and laugh, but be sure NEVER post one unless you want to be accused of being a hippy/nazi/elitist/ignorant/homophobic/dog loving/dog hating/asshole biker/Republican NRA member.

EDIT: Just spotted an interesting device designed to keep dogs from chasing bikes at Dave Moulton's Bike Blog.

Cycling Related/Inspired Clothing/Shoes

Supercorsa Vans





Kind of looking forward to these guys. These shoes are loosely inspired by the design of old cycling shoes, low profile, narrow laces etc but with a rubber sole instead of a hard leather/plastic one. The colors of the shoes correspond to the colors of the classification jerseys in the Giro D'Italia. Unfortunately for fans of the Giro, which starts on May 8th this year, these don't come out until July and besides the design inspiration, nothing about these makes them particularly suitable for cycling.

Futura x Descente Packable Jacket

These are FUTURA branded Descente cycling jackets that pack into a small pouch. I thought this was worth mention because Descente is based out of Boulder (though theres no factory store where you can get these) and because we've seen FUTURA collaborate with the bike industry before; the one that sticks out most in my mind is the FUTURA x Colnago Master.

But with a $400 pricetag, I don't think I'll be picking up a new Descente jacket any time soon.

Sneakers and Jacket via Hypebeast

Cycling in the Media Lately

Story #1: Boulder transportation official: Cyclists should have to dismount at crosswalks

Summary: If you live in Boulder, you probably know that you can cross a street in a crosswalk as long as you are going the pace of a pedestrian. Recently, Boulder Transportation Officials have been discussing changing the "bicycle in crosswalks" law to make cyclists dismount their bikes at a crosswalk. Some people think this is a good thing, some think this is a bad thing. The Daily Camera Online already has about 250 comments on the subject so be sure to read the full story and throw in your opinion if you feel like it.

My thoughts: Probably a good thing, at least in some parts of town. 16th and Broadway is a shitshow of pedestrians, RTD buses, cars, longboarders, and cyclists from 3-6 every day and maybe making everyone dismount their bike would clear up some of the pandemonium.
Also, as far as the pedestrian crossings along Broadway and along Canyon, making someone walk across them rather than letting them ride could prevent more inattentive drivers from hitting people and/or other drivers. I know at least one person who has inadvertently caused an accident by biking across a pedestrian crossing on Broadway.

BUTTTTTTTTTT If the city is going to wage war on cyclists they must also wage war on the real menace, longboarders.

Story #2: Tony Kornheiser vs. Lance Amstrong

Yesterday some nobody-sportscaster made comments on his radio show encouraging motorists to run cyclists of the road. You can listen to audio of his show on this YouTube video. Its basically a conversation between a few bike hating idiots talking nonsense about the cars superiority over the bike. Well, lucky for us cyclists, celebrity Lance Armstrong used his massive twitter following to turn millions of cyclists against this guy.


Lance went on this guys show and made him apologize etc and the world is all better now.
That YouTube video also has hundreds of comments so if you feel angry or whatever about the situation go share your thoughts with the YouTube masses.

Baphomet Cycles

My good friend/Surly Sponsored BAMF/Broke Ass Messenger Bama just started a clothing company, Baphomet Cycles.

Baphomet Cycles is making affordable riding gear that can take the abuse that messengers dish out -- "industrial grade cycling apparel for mopes like you."
I know several messengers around town are testing the gear out and its holding up fine to fully loaded shoulder bags, crashes in icy weather, run ins with cars and dodging aerosol wielding homeless guys.

Baphomet is more workwear than high fashion, heres some pictures of the first batch of products.

The Hellmet Hoodie



The Hellmet hoodie is perfect for cold weather riding (like we do in Colorado). Thick material keeps you warm and Velcro on the hood keeps the hood stuck to your helmet. Shoulder reinforcement pad available on request.

Pantagram and Pantagram+

Pantagram knickers feature a pen/marker pocket, are short enough to keep your chain off your leg, are long enough to keep your knees warm, and are super tough.
Also, they are approximately 1/10 the cost of Chrome Knicks.

For 10 extra dollars you get the Pantagram+, which are the same as the Pantagram but are lined with fleece to keep you comfy on cold days.


Action Shots





All photos by Keegan Rowley & Josh McGuckin

EXTREME !

Saw this 'Haro EXTREME comp' at norlin library the other night on campus.

first time ive ever seen a bike like this in the wild. And the paint job... hate it or love it, that shits f'in EXTREME.

Pics from the other night

just a little taste of what its like riding around boulder during the winter.

Stay safe everyone, and for those in warm weather areas, be happy you dont have to deal with this all the time.

John Breaux Lives On

John Breaux is a cyclist who was hit and killed last year in Louisville. The woman who killed him was sentenced to 16 years of probation, 200 hours of community service, and is not allowed to drive anymore. Since I've been hit multiple times I don't want to digress into a rant about drivers who kill cyclists, but I will say this is a great example of why senior citizens shouldn't be allowed to drive.

More importantly, the city of Louisville loved this man so much that they erected a bronze statue of him downtown.


photo by Doug Grinbergs

I think this is amazing, and am going to take a ride out this weekend to check it out. If anyone would like to come along, hit me up.

More John Breaux coverage from the Daily Camera

Revival Premiere - Trick Jam Video

Revival Premiere Trick Jam from Coastless Clothing on Vimeo.

Props to Coastless for throwing this all together.

Mosaic Cycles

So we talk alot about italian and japanese builders who make great frames, but here in boulder we are lucky to have some really quality builders. Today im gonna talk about Mosaic Cycles. Started by Aaron Barcheck and Nick Phillips in 2009.

I was over at their shop the other day dropping off The Ocean to get a tube replaced, and he was kind enough to show me some of his recent work. I should have taken some pics, he had some seriously sweet Ti frames. Aaron says that his specialty is TIG welding, but his lug work was impeccable. He was showing me a road frame made from Stainless steel, lugged everything, it had a sweet aero seatstay with hand carved lugs.

Everything he was doing was of the highest quality, best tubes, best lugs, and best paint (spectrum). Right now he is extremely busy getting ready for the NAHBS, and I cant wait to see what hes got in store for the show. So when you peeping the NAHBS coverage keep your eye out for Mosaic Cycles.

Thursday Night Ride - 7pm @ Folsom Field

I was biking on campus today

When I got T-boned out of nowhere by this asshole

who told me it was my fault for not noticing him (I was going in a straight line in the bike lane) and refused to pay for a new wheel. If you know this guy tell him he's a bitch, he was riding a black Surly 1x1 with red ourys.

I know that it wasn't the best wheel, sort of a temporary until I got something stronger but I didn't expect it to go like this. Now I'm starting to understand why some people are trying to crack down on campus bike use.

Oh yeah and

The Spoke Cyclery Here in Boulder used to sponsor a Mercian Team. The Spoke used to be in the building that is now occupied by Buchanans Coffee Pub on the Hill.

Bike on CU Campus Much?

If so you'll be appalled by the treatment that cyclists are receiving at this blog, which looks to have been set up with the goal of restricting bicycle and skateboard use on campus. This blog is looking for scapegoats and sob stories to help their case. We all bike pretty recklessly sometimes, and I'm sure we've all plowed over a few longboarders who were "carving" in our bike paths, but I don't know anyone other than James Schu who has ever hit a pedestrian, yet this blog is implying that hit and runs between cyclists and peds occur regularly and are a growing problem. Don't let this sensationalist cause have their way, if you have an opinion on mixed use paths on campus, leave a comment on the Reckless at CU blog.
Note that this blog dropped on the same day as this Daily Camera article which discusses restricting car use on campus... Imagine an all pedestrian CU campus.

This Thursday

the ride will be ending at Old Main on campus for the Bicycle Film Festival. $10 to get in.

hella crispy/crunchy/baller/thizz face 54cm yamaguchi on ebay

here
previously owned by christian vande velde of garmin-chipotle, which is based on boulder. too bad dudebrah drilled the fork...

poor bike

someone needs to rescue this gitane, which has been lurking at the st julien

.

a swobo at 15th and pearl which sports both a front brake and a "no brakes" sticker.