Odds and Ends

I recently attended the Outdoor Retailer trade show in Salt Lake City looking for ideas and products for our new Camp and Cabin Section. Actually didn't find too much, but it was still a fun show and I got together for dinner with some old friends from my climbing days. We'll order samples of the two-or three items VO might stock and see how it goes.

While at Outdoor Retailer I came across the Bikeboards booth. They make bike skis. Put one on the front for travelling or on both wheels for "skiing".The videos make it look like a blast. Check out their website. We won't be stocking the skis until we design the VO constructeur fat bike. But then we'll want a laminated wood version.

I also looked for innovative winter cycling garb and found an interesting way to keep one's face warm.

Bouldering near Shelter Cove.

After the show my old climbing partner and I drove out to the Lost Coast area of California for a week of hiking and beach-side bouldering. Later we hiked around the newly opened Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands, which are a few hours south.

Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands

In Arcata we enjoyed factory tours at Kokotat and Wing Inflatables thanks to my buddy's connections. Both these factories were fascinating and make really high quality stuff. I was especially interested in the quality control and testing they do.

Arcata has many interesting Victorian homes (wiki photo). Just adding curly-cues for the sake of being fancy doesn't do much for me, but you have to admire the extraordinary carpentry. Arcata also has a great sushi place called Tomo that I've enjoyed on previous visits; recommended. This is one of my favorite left coast towns.

One more Lost Coast photo.  The "trail" runs 24 miles along the shoreline.

The drive back to Salt Lake was via Rt. 50 through Nevada, (the loneliest road in America), not a road I'd want to cycle!

Moving on: Here's a nice review of our Moderniste water bottle cage by T&R Cycling and Canoeing. They also reviewed our Model 3 saddle. Check out the rest of the site as well for lots of interesting reviews.

In case you missed it, Bicycle Times has it's "First Impression: Velo Orange Pass Hunter". A full review should appear in the next issue. The Pass Hunters have been really well received with very positive feedback from "early adopters."

We'll have more Campeurs in a few weeks; some sizes are now out of stock. The blue Polyvalents will arrive at the same time.

By the way, if you need a small replacement part or screw for any VO or Grand Cru product send us an e-mail. We don't have absolutely everything, but we keep some small spares around.

We'll be exhibiting at Frostbike and at NAHBS. Please stop by our booth if you're there.

I added a little explanation of why a plastic saddle need not be as wide as a leather saddle in the post about our new non-leather saddles (below). Basically it's because you don't need room for rivets in a plastic saddle and the plastic body does not flare out at the bottom like leather does.