Community Bicyclist in Little Rock AR now has Central Arkansas Recreational Peddlers - C.A.R.P. Membership Applications in the shop. They are $10.00 for 1 Year. A requirement if you want ride the trails of Camp Robinson and avoid the fine. A C.A.R.P. Membership is a must!

You're invited to a reception for Andy Clarke, executive director of the League of American Bicyclists, at 5:00 p.m. on Monday. November 23, at River Trail Rentals in North Little Rock's Riverfront Park.

The occasion is the formal award of the League's designation as a "Bronze" Bicycle-Friendly Community to the City of North Little Rock. We'll gather at River Trail Rentals at 5:00 p.m. for refreshments and a "meet and greet" with Andy, then shortly before 7:00 p.m. we'll go to the North Little Rock City Hall for the formal presentation before the City Council. After the presentation, most of us will be trooping over to Cregeen's Irish Pub next door for supper and probably for more refreshments.

If you haven't thought much about what the League does to support bicycling on a national basis, this is a good chance to get caught up in the excitement, as well as to celebrate North Little Rock's hard-earned success... Hope to see you there!

From BRAIN...

"WASHINGTON, D.C. (BRAIN)—The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Easton Sports, has announced a voluntary recall on about 6,400 bikes with EA30 stems.

The bicycle stem can crack and cause the rider to lose control, posing a risk of serious injury if the rider falls. The company received a report of a stem breaking, causing a minor injury to the rider.

This recall involves all Raleigh 2007, XXIX 700c MTN, RX1.0, Diamondback 2007, Mission, and Sortie bicycles with EA30 stems. The EA30 stems are black with white-and-gray graphics and feature a four-bolt stem face cap."EA30" is printed on the stem. EA30 stems sold as aftermarket items are included in this recall."

www.easton.com

PDF here

Join your fellow Heifers for a leisurely, fun, family-friendly bike cruise through and around Little Rock and North Little Rock - on the bike path. Rain or Shine.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
10:00am-12:00pm

All Heifer family and friends welcome!

There will be two routes: "Easy & Long" and "Super Easy & Short." Both groups will meet up and roll back to HQ for snacks and drinks. Not a biker? Great! Volunteers are needed to herd the cattle and fix the grub. No bike? No worries! Let us know and one can surely be found. More information and the sign-up will be posted on HIP. If you’re interested in volunteering or have any questions, e-mail Jessica Ford or Jessica Clendenning:

Jessica.ford@heifer.org or Jessica.clendenning@heifer.org

This is what I'm talkin about! Little Rock Bicycle Polo!....what can I say! It's finally arrived.....Bicycle Polo....

Aw yeah!....check it

From Steve S....

"If you want to try your hand at cyclocross racing, consider the event on Sunday, November 15 on Mud Island in Memphis. It's a primo course on the banks of the Mississippi River!

Memphis Mud Island Cyclocross"

Put on some "Dropkick Murphys"!

Status on Cadron clean-up....from Tim

"I awoke at the crack of dawn and on a spur of the moment went out to Cadron to do some work. It took all morning but I got all the mtb trails cleared of all leaves and I got all the downed trees cut off the trail. I wanna encourage everyone to get out there and ride. The trails are dry and clean. We will not be doing a work day unless the remaining leaves on the trees are enough to cover the trail again.

Tim"

Turner Trail Day at Syllamo November 7

Please join us at Competitive Cyclist's Turner Trail Day at the Syllamo Trail System near Mountain View, Arkansas on Saturday, November 7th for trail maintenance, Turner mountain bike demos, lunch, and an opportunity to meet and ride with Dave Turner, namesake and founder of Turner Suspension Bicycles. This is a free event.

We'll have a full size run of our dw-link equipped Flux, Sultan, and 5 Spot full suspension mountain bikes. Each is outfitted with a full complement of the finest components from Rock Shox, Avid, SRAM, Truvativ, WTB, Fox, and Mavic.

In 2009, Turner Bikes received an across-the-board redesign and are now engineered around the dw-link rear suspension. Demo one and experience traction and acceleration without compromise on some of the Ozark's most beautiful trails. Please note -- you'll need to bring your own pedals along with the rest of your personal riding gear and a healthy appetite for singletrack and a complimentary trailside lunch. Ride yours. Ride ours. It doesn't matter - just come ride!

The Syllamo Trails are one of just 47 trail systems designated as an IMBA Epic, but they were devastated by an ice storm in the early part of this year. Local volunteers and Forest Service personnel have gone a long way towards getting it back into shape. On Saturday, November 7th, we hope to finish off the rest of the light work on the Bad Branch (red) Loop. Competitive Cyclist is an IMBA corporate sponsor and a proud adopter of this section of the trails. We'll plan on doing the trail work in the early part of the day and get down to some riding and serious fun for the after-lunch hours. We hope that you can come out and pitch in with some trail work in the morning. If your time is limited, please still feel welcome to come and simply ride the bikes. Competitive Cyclist will provide the finest grilled trailhead cuisine and high-performance beverages to finish out the day.

What: Turner Bikes Demo Event / Syllamo Trail Maintenance on Bad Branch Loop

* Come test-ride the new dw-link Turner Bikes: Flux, Sultan, and 5 Spot
* Trail maintenance on Bad Branch Loop

When: Saturday, November 7th

* Trail work to start at 8:00
* Turner Demo Event to officially begin mid-morning

Where: Syllamo Trails -- Bad Branch Trailhead.

The Bad Branch Trailhead is accessed from Green Mountain Road, which is the first gravel road going west from Arkansas Highway 5, .5 miles north of Jack's Fishing Resort in Allison, Arkansas. Click here for a map.

Go west on Green Mountain Road past the White River Bluff and Scrappy Mountain trailheads. The third will be the Bad Branch trailhead.

The Syllamo Trails should be beautiful for that weekend. Hopefully we'll see some remnants of fall color on the trees. This area is easily accessed and is set squarely between a number of population centers -- 2 hours north of Little Rock, 2.5 hours east of Fayetteville, 3 hours west of Memphis, and 5-6 hours from St. Louis and Kansas City.


According to our source at the Ozark National Forest office nearby, our maintenance duties will mostly consist of brush work, removal of "face slappers" and general tread sweeping. As always, when in doubt bring tools and equipment. We foresee the need mostly for strong backs and able bodies, but a few weedeaters and pruners/limb loppers will always be useful.


For questions regarding the upcoming event, feel free to contact us. tim@competitivecyclist.com (888) 276-7130

Got a note from Steve B.....

"Gary lamb was injured last night on the Rivertrail on the NLR side close to the Big Dam Bridge Gary was broadsided by a deer on the trail! Gary has a concussion and broke collar bone but is in great spirits. Everyone please be careful riding at night on our trails and go slow in the very dark areas. The critters are moving.

Steve"

I think it was maybe four years ago, Gary took a full-on skunk spray riding on the trail (scroll down page for archive). Gary says despite the collision, he can still crank-out the CARP membership cards :-)