The Xtra-Ty-cle

Trip Interbike remix from Ty Morrow on Vimeo.

Readers of The Bozeman Fix blog are privy to a little pre-race beta for this weekend's Fixie Sixty (2) race. Below is a map, elevation profile, and statistical breakdown of the race course. Also available is an interactive version viewable as a Google map.

The race will follow a closed format meaning that riders will be expected to ride the route as mapped below.  In order to limit shortcuts there will be a series of stops and/or tasks along the way. 

The race will begin after everyone has had a chance to congregate, drink coffee, and visit on Saturday morning.  Please bring a coffee mug to avoid using a paper cup.  We'll have a place to stash them along with a change of clothing for you while you're out racing.  We look forward to seeing and riding with you come Saturday morning!

Fixie Sixty (2) Fixed Gear Bicycle Race

9:30am, Saturday, September 25th, 2010

Rockford Coffee; Bozeman, Montana

For a more detailed look at the course view the interactive Google mapping of the race route.

Course Elevation Profile

Course Details

Friday, September 17th, 2010, 6:00pm
Race starts in alley behind PlonkBring $3

Rad prizes.

(+) Bike (-) Discretion

The Fixie Sixty was first held in October 2008 with an excellent showing of Bozeman cyclists turning out for a sixty mile course around the Gallatin Valley.  With the fall season fast approaching it's time to hit the streets, highways, and dirt roads once again for the Fixie Sixty (2).  

2008 Fixie Sixty participants

This year's course will be sixty (two) miles long and will weave throughout the beautiful roads and paths of the Gallatin Valley.  This may include some light dirt riding but will be primarily asphalt.  As the name implies, the race will be open to fixed gear bicycles only. This is a closed-manifest alleycat race, meaning that the course will be mostly pre-determined and racers will be required to follow said course stopping and various checkpoints along the way. 

• Date: Saturday, September 25th, 2010
• Start: Rockford Coffee in Bozeman (628 W. Main)
• Time: Meet at 9:30 a.m with race to start around 10:00.
• Cost: Bring $5 to cover winning prize and various other haberdashery.
• Weather: If weather is bad, meet at 9:30 a.m. and participants can decide to race or postpone until Sun. Sept. 26th.

You're welcome.

Yup, the time has come for me to move on. After nine years in Bozeman I have accepted the fact that despite the natural beauty here in Montana and the great friendships I'm part of and the amount I've been able to help with the cycling community here I need to move on. I've realized that for as much as I love this state there is limited opportunity available to me.

So what happened? In the space of three weeks I've gone from being “John at Bangtail Bikes” to “John at Specialized”. It's all very sudden and I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around the amount of change in my life in such a short period of time. An opportunity came (partly from being part of the Stumpjumper Trail Crew) that would not be available to me if I stayed in Bozeman. With Specialized I will be doing a lot of what I have been doing here- working to get others on bikes, promoting bike culture, doing geeky bike stuff- but hopefully it will be on a larger scale.

I'll be part of Specialized's dealer education network. This pretty much is a position that is nearly custom-made for me. I'll be able to use my engineering background, I'll talk in front of people, do a bit of design work and write some. I'll be helping to teach bike dealers from around the country about Specialized product and help with media events and product launches. For the more skeptical of you out there, you can say that I'll be serving the Kool-Aid. And I'm okay with that. The people I've met at Specialized do not embody the stereotypical “Company Man”, rather they are people who are intensely passionate about bicycles and also happen to be quite competitive. They are people who believe that what they create is the best and have an intense drive to always be the best. This passion and drive is part of what is exciting about this new endeavor.

Perhaps fitting with this culture I start next week with a trip to Portugal. For a week I'll be meeting the European Specialized contingent and hopefully get out for a few good rides. Upon returning to Bozeman I'll pack my belongings in my trusty Honda Accord and head west to fulfill my personal Manifest Destiny. The future for me is scary and exciting, fraught with danger yet with rewards that can only come from taking a measured risk like this.

Bozeman, I'm thankful of the time I've spent here. You've invited me into your houses for parties, on your porches for beers, on glorious rides in your mountains. I've experienced the best skiing and snowboarding around and you even taught me that floppy heels on ski boots are fun. I've watched both your riding skills and your families grow. You've shared with me the sweetest and most succulent meat you've harvested from the wild. You've taught me that the things most valuable in life are within one's community and that there's no shame in driving a tattered twenty year-old Subaru. After your generosity I feel a bit guilty leaving for personal reasons but this is a mission that I must complete. I'll be back, I will have changed, but one thing I can say for sure is that I will always, always take with me a bit of Montana no matter where I end up.

Thanks for the good times and the memories, Bozeman. I'll always look at this chapter of my life with fondness.

John (aka Mr. DNA)

John Friedrich is leaving Bozeman to start his new job with Specialized Bicycles. We here at The Bozeman Fix are going to miss him. Shit, he started this blog, if you read it, you are going to miss him too.

Mr. Friedrich has been an integral part of the Bozeman Bicycle scene for the past decade. He is responsible for singlehandedly facilitating an alleycat scene in Bozeman, and Bozeman Bike Polo, and Bozeman's too-short-lived GoldSprint series, as well as being an integral member of The Dirt Concern, and actively advocating for The Montana Mountain Bike Alliance. He is also one of the finest bike mechanics Bozeman has.

We could go on and on listing John's bicycle bona fides, but the fact remains, that while we are happy for him, we are losing a very good friend.

Enjoy Northern California John! The Bozeman bike geeks raise their glasses and tip their hats to you.


Godspeed.

This is how The Bozeman Fix crowd celebrates the wedding of two of our own. We wish Reuben and Alice all the happiness in the world. We love you both so much. Blessings on your union. Keep riding together!

Photo: John Friedrich

Captain E pwns it on a freak bike.

We have been alerted to another stolen bike in Bozeman. It is a sea-foam green cruiser with ape-hanger handle-bars, and a black banana seat.

Email casey [AT] bozemanbikekitchen [DOT] org if you have any details about this bike. Or call the Bozeman PD, the owner says he reported it stolen.

Keep yer eyes peeled.

Our usual polo location, Hawthorne School is under construction and a new court has been discovered by a small crew of trepidatious polo warriors.  A well lighted, underground location with the potential for winter play has been sourced in the basement of the NEW Bozeman parking garage.  It's small and there are some barriers but I think it will suffice in the interim.

Here is a completely unrelated photo of a man in a hotdog hat.

A new alternative-press-ezine-blog-newspaper sorta thingy called the Bozeman Magpie sprung up into the ethers recently and has been covering everything from summer ski sessions to the best of Bozeman.  Today they posted a story of some of our own here at The Fix with a story about the Back to School Alleycat race held recently.

The folks at the Magpie have a thing for prose and the photography ain't bad either so quit reading this dirtbag blog and go edjumacate yourself and read their article about the Bozeman Alleycat Races 

 Photo by John Parker (stolen with complete and utter disregard for copyright)

I've resisted posting so many videos so as not to push the Alley Cat post down the blog. But this one is too interesting not to post.

It's been 5 years in development, but the cobra tube is now out there on the market. It's another testament to how lazy the BMX world is, but how that pushes it to be stronger and simpler.

I can't wait for the fixters to catch onto this one (in another three years).

The cobra tube from Flybikes on Vimeo.

A new organizer has stepped up to the plate and has another alley cat race planned in Bozeman. Monday, July 26th at 7:00pm cyclists should come prepared with a writing utensil, messenger bag or backpack, and be ready to ride.

The starting point for the race will be the Gallatin Valley court house parking lot (just north of Wilson school) on the north side of the building.

The Bozeman Hardcourt Bike Polo players will have visitors from both the East Van Polo club (British Columbia) as well as the Billings Hammer & Cycle Bike Polo club at 7:00pm on Monday, July 12th. Come down and play some polo with us at Hawthorne School (corner of Rouse and Mendenhall), meet some new folks, and do what we do best - - ride bikes!

The June Alleycat Race Series went off wonderfully with over two-dozen participants spread over four races every Monday in June.  Each race was promoted by a different individual and therefore each race had a unique set of creative manifests, stops, ideas, and tricks. 

Results for the Bozeman June Alleycat Race Series, 2010

ps - For those who were present when the race results were announced after the fourth race you'll note some differences from what was announced and what is in the chart above. I attest that to my inability to do math in the field. My apologies.

Come bicycle race with a bunch of friendly boys and girls because it's "Time to Learn a Lesson".

Bring:  a bag, a writing utensil, and a bicycle (a tandem or unicycle would be cool too)

What: Bozeman June Alleycat Race Series - Round 4

When: Monday, June 28th, 2010 at 7:00pm

Where: Meet at International Coffee Traders (map) at 7:00 pm

PS - THIS RACE STARTS AT INTERNATIONAL COFFEE TRADERS.  I REPEAT, THIS RACE STARTS AT INTERNATIONAL COFFEE TRADERS.  IN CASE YOU MISSED IT THE FIRST TWO TIMES, THIS RACE STARTS AT INTERNATIONAL COFFEE TRADERS.  FOR MORE INFO ON WHERE THIS RACE STARTS, SEE ABOVE.  

@captaine said, "Employee parking. Four little fixies all in a row. #bike #bozeman #fb"