The Jaded Jaguar

With the change of time zones affecting us on the first night in Colorado we initially awoke at 4:30 in the morning but forced ourselves back to sleep. A couple hours later we were gearing up for our ride on the mountain. I had the honor of being the first person to test out Corsa Racewear clothing on a downhill course.
After coffee and showers we went directly to Trestle bike park. We had reserved two Demo bike packages online and it was time to sign in. Trestle uses a computer registration system where you simply look up your name on a screen and click the print button. Your information is printed out at the desk where you acknowledge the receipt, sign your waiver, receive your lift tickets and grab your gear.

Trestle is by far the most impressive downhill shop I have ever seen. Their collection of gear and bikes is unparalleled in my experience. The armor, helmets, gloves and pads were made by Fox or Kali. There was a large circular seating area where you could get fit for pads an…

Our journey to the Colorado Freeride Festival started at 4am with a dark, rainy drive to Tampa where we parked at the beautiful Intercontinental hotel and took a shuttle to Tampa International Airport. Our circuitous route would have us fly to Houston and then on to Denver. It was the first time we've had to navigate through time zone changes so we kept losing track of how long each flight was actually taking. We joked that we spent the day going back in time.
At 1 pm we arrived at the Denver International Airport. This place is a huge work of art with room to grow. The airport is actually pretty far from the mountains or even the city center. The layout spreads terminals across the tarmac connected by a very fast underground train. The main entrance known as the Jeppesen terminal is an enormous split level room full of restaurants with a tent like ceiling that bathes everyone in light, even under stormy skies.

Due to a timing error, my bad, we had to hang out for 4 hours before …

It's that time of year again, the largest Mountain Bike festival in the country is returning to Winter Park, Colorado. The Colorado Freeride Festival takes place on the weekend of July 25-28, 2013. This International competition includes a Freeride Mountain Bike World Tour Gold level Slopestyle event and an Enduro World Series race. There is an Epic Singletrack cross country race, an air downhill race and an intergalactic pond crossing event. Riders will battle it out for $45,000. worth of prizes while the audience enjoys a festivillage full of bike sponsors and games.
My wife Terri and I will be traveling to Trestle Bike Park to experience CFF for ourselves. This will be our first trip to Colorado so we are learning every step of the way. This is the first article in our five part series that will cover travel, lodgings, restaurants, bike rentals, racing and all manner of competition.

You wouldn't think there wouldn't be a lot to learn before you get on the plane but you…

The Venice/Englewood area is fast becoming a fun and popular cycling destination. As local events (Cycling/Triathlons/Running) gain in notoriety, demand for related products has also increased. The most recent addition to the area is a United Kingdom based company known as Cycle-Clothing.com.
Cycle-Clothing is owned and run by cyclists Carlton and Joan Nash. For the past seven years the couple has been working directly with a UK manufacturer to deliver high quality jerseys, tights and Dri-fit T-shirts for low prices. While their primary business is online sales, many customers requested a place appropriate for fittings so in June 2013 they opened an Englewood storefront.

You might have seen Cycle-Clothing.com at the Englewood Triathlon or at Sharky's "Ride the Beaches" for whom they designed the official jerseys. They printed and produced 100 jerseys with only a 4-5 week turn around. Fifty percent of their business is custom apparel but they also sell standard shorts, s…