April Newsletter Volume 1
While there are still beautiful trails to explore on skis, bike season is starting to roll into action. This season Trek, Fisher and LeMond have added new colors and styles to their bike inventory. With the old-style meeting the new, the Trek Navigator 2.0 is one for the riders wanting a comfortable classic look. Stylish lines and colors will have you riding in comfortable style. For those looking at technical riding over single track, the 29ers are the new style bike with a huge 29" wheel which increases momentum, speed and ultimately fun.
Tech Tip - Pre-season bike tuning
This is the time to tune-up your bike, and here is what you can do to prepare for the summer ahead:
Make sure you have air in your tires to the PSI specified by the manufacturer on the sidewall of your tire. While you are doing this, check for cracks in the sidewall, which could lead to a tire blowout.
Test your brakes to make sure they are still working, do this before you embark on a ride; especially one with major downhills.
Lubricate your chain and other moving parts.
If anything seems wrong or you are just not sure about something, you can bring your bike into us for a free check-up, and we will let you know what your bike needs to safely get on the road or trail again.
Feature Item – Gary Fisher 29er
As physics tells us: the larger the wheel - the more the surface area touching the ground, the more stability and ultimately, the more momentum. The 29er bike frame, re-worked to handle the 29-inch wheel, gives the rider full control of the bike, lowering the center of gravity in relation to the axel. The frame remains sized the same for the rider, so a 19” frame, is still a 19” frame. The 29er is also affected less by dips, bumps and soft terrain, giving the rider a smoother ride. “More speed equals profound joy and happiness due to more trail ridden by sundown,” Gary Fisher, 2007. Featured below are the Paragon and Super Caliber.
Goldstream Sports employee news
The Goldstream Sports team welcomes our newest member, Lorien Nettleton. Originally from Boulder, Colorado Lorien moved to Alaska in 2005. With a keen interest in bikes, and mountain biking, Lorien brings with him a technical knowledge of bike mechanics, and an enthusiasm for customer service.
We also welcome Tyson Flaherty back from an intense ski season. Tyson will be one of our technical bike specialists.
We are still looking for full and part-time employees for our bike season. Please come in and drop off your resume.
Shop moves to bike season
While we will still be providing skis, boots, poles and bindings for sale as well as waxing, thermal bagging and fitting on skis, our stone grinder will be put away this coming weekend. If you have any stone grinding to be done, bring the skis in by Saturday and we will have them ready for you by Monday.
Joyrides: a Fairbanks training blog
by Lorien Nettleton
As the newest member of the Goldstream Sports sales team, I’m looking forward to getting into really good shape for summer. For the next few months I’ll be keeping a log of what it’s like to use a bike for transportation, fitness, with an eventual goal of doing some club racing in Fairbanks. We can even call it a blog!
Spring Goals
The roads became fast on Thursday, March 29, when 40 degree temperatures and sunshine drove the last snowpack from the shoulders of every roadway in town. At last, it’s time for skinny tires and big gears.
After getting new tubes into the road bike (and breaking every tire lever I have in the process) the ride to work gave me time to review on my goals for the upcoming season. Had I been on target like the rest of the Goldstream crew (who have spent the winter riding indoors on trainers) I’d have goals like winning a stage of the Fairbanks Stage Race in July, or at least not getting destroyed by Craig’s Hillclimb race on May 20th.
While those long-term goals are good to identify early on, I’ve got to focus on the short-term goal of getting to work on time. This will mean either waking up earlier, or just riding faster.
Riding faster:
For racing, the investment in early-season miles will pay off with more endurance. Currently I’m logging 80 miles a week commuting to work, which is a good start. Dry roads will let me swap out the sturdy-yet-slow mountain bike for the zippy road bike, letting me stretch the daily ride out a few more miles to achieve my target 100 miles per week.
Hills:
Another short-term goal is to maintain enough speed coming over the hills on Goldstream road to carry me past the gravitational pull of Ivory Jack’s. On the slower mountain bike, the lure of delicious burgers and beer has been too powerful to ride past, but with more speed on the road bike, I’ll soon be able to slingshot past. Hopefully with improved uphill endurance and the benefits of avoiding big greasy cheeseburgers, I’ll start seeing my speeds increase.
Event Calendar - April 2007
| Date | Club | Time Location | Event |
| 7 | RCN | 10am Patty Center | Spring Fling |
| 8 | UAF | 11am Birch Hill | UAF Dash For Cash |
| 8 | NSCF | 1pm Birch Hill | Alaska ski-cross championships |
| 14 | 10am Patty Center | Beat Beethoven | |
| 21 | 10am Pearl Ck Elementary | Run-a-Muck | |
| 28 | Noon Pioneer Park | Flush the Slush | |
| FCC - Fairbanks Cycle Club; NSCF - Nordic Ski Club Fairbanks; RNC - Running Club North | |||
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