fresh rides

this one belongs to Heike Fischer from Waridi who are not only a great partner company for us, but nearly all employees are on an IF... Turned out to be a beautiful bike and we look forward to seeing her back down here in Allgaeu soon for another riding clinic weekend.

Berlin is next weekend, and we will have two new customer frames on display along with my my new Ti Deluxe 29er -just finishing the build and will post more at the IFBRT blog soon!

The weather is warm and spring like, but I am still healing, already took Munsingen off my schedule but will be looking to be ready for Gardasee Marathon.

Get out and ride!

Do it.

Long-distance cyclocross, stage race goodness...

Critical Dirt

Hitting Reset

Sometimes we just need to stop and listen. After an eye infection, the flu and two surgeries to remove an infected Bursa on my left hip (Bursaitis) stemming from a road crash back in December, I am forced to stop and listen. Outside of these circumstances, a friend of mine has been encouraging me to engage in Yoga, something I used to practice religiously and while laid up in the hospital bed, Sandi dropped of a Thich Nat Than book "The Miracle of Mindefullness". I had to listen to what was being said.

Rather than being bummed about a derailed season of nordic skiing and what was to be an awesome build up to the riding season, I am stoked that I have found my way back to center. Instead of daily rituals of LT's, Tempo skis and high-rev spin classes I find myself limping around our place, settling into deep breathing exercises, internal meditation and beginning the slow process of healing (in more ways than one). Yoga will certainly be a centerpiece as I lay a new, yet stronger foundation.

Even with races in April already looming, I am strong in my confidence to be ready and even stronger than I might have been with out the train going off the tracks. I'm listening, are you?

Pulling Shots

Having worked in the specialty coffee industry for a number of years and being an all-around java junkie, it has been a long tedious journey to find coffee bliss in Germany. With other words I have had coffee dry spells with short bursts of decent coffee in between. The short oasis' have either been a couple kilos I drag back from the states or care packages from friends.

Fortunately things on looking up on the caffeine front. Armed with a new La Marzocco G3 (this ain't your average machine kids - you could run a full-blown cafe with one of these) and having finally sourced some yummy beans from small roasters here in the fatherland, I can honestly say we are pulling some shots that would rival many North West espresso locations. The best part is just that, the espresso that we are brewing is much like NW espresso, 100% Aribica beans, none of that Robusta crap, with some excellent sustainable growth old strain varietals blended to form complex and yet delicate blends that remind me of the good ol' cafe days.

Having been tinkering in the kitchen with several blends, we have come up with a few we like and will be offering these blends soon via our new online shop and directly at events this year. Not too mention if you make it over for a visit, come in for a bike fitting or just go on a ride here in Fuessen, you will be sure to enjoy a sot of espresso, an Americano or whatever drink you fancy. The barista is on duty, so what can we serve you?

Order # 25334 Deluxe 29er

This steel 29er is for a good friend of mine who we saved from riding, well lets just say not such a desirable bike prior. The 29er was a good choice for Sacha given that he is taller (190cm), and would help smooth out the trail for him.

The silver frame is subtle and stylish white the white and black details are a bit more flashy creating the perfect balance.

This was a complete build for Sacha, a mix of Shimano and Sram, FOX F29 Fit Fork, Thomson, KING, AMC wheels, Geax treads, Prologo saddle, Ergon grips, Magura Marts SL Mag stoppers and a King Cage. I enjoying building this one up, but I am sure he will enjoy riding it even more.

 

Bet he can't wait for the snow to melt and go for a ride...

Order # 25336 Deluxe

Here is a beautiful white steel Deluxe we recently built for a customer. It was a near complete new build for him with a mixture of Shimano goodies, Race Face cranks, FOX F100RLC, KING, Fizik and Thomson.

The stark contrast of white and black play out p[erfectly on the clean simple lines of the bike.

Plus the pictures in the snow with the white bike are clean and fresh. Enjoy your new ride Michael!

G-Haus

Welcome Geekhouse to our offering of handmade works of art to be ridden. We are proudly representing the brand from Marty Walsh in Central Europe and will have two of his beautiful frames on hand in the near future.

Come check out the Geekhouse line at the Berliner Fahrrad Schau 06.-07.03.2010 or drop us line for more info.

Spring in the SW

About this time back in my past life in Colorado, while full in nordic/ winter sport stride, thoughts began to drift from the trainer towards the warmth of the desert. Fruita, Moab and Cortez offered up some great early season riding and some tanning time for those pale legs. Here is a sampling of that riding poached of my old friend and coffee junkie Jason Grove of ElCamino Fab MySpace page... I belive this was shot near the OTE Sports shop in Hurricane UT.


Flight of Icaraus

El Camino Fab | MySpace Video

IFBRT

2010 IF Biciclista Racing Team

Skate Night

Lead group under the lights in Schwangau

Sandi & I decided to jump into the 2 annaul Skate Night, a night skate skiing race on the lighted loop in Schwangau, at the base of the famous Neuschwanstein Castle. The local sport club puts it on as a fundraiser for local charity, donating 1 EUR per lap from each participant who try turn as many as they can in one hour. This year's edition drew out 122 skiers from ultra-fast to the average hobby skier.

With our first ski-marathon just two weeks out, this would be a great tune up for that along with being a good time racing at night. The 1.5km loop starts off flat for about 100m before going up for short bit and then dropping down into the valley. A ninety-degree bend at speed at the bottom of the first descent has you dancing the skis around the apex and pushing you back to the outside of the track, milking the speed on the next short rise before dropping all the way down into the valley. Through the flats there are some small rises and rollers as you wind around the valley back towards the start/ finish area. A long climb with a a steep section at the end is the last bit on the lap before leveling off and heading back into the start/ finish chute.

The tempo started out easy enough, I was sloughing off not too be out front at the start, but suddenly the pack started to swallow me from behind, so throttling it it I started to try to move up before the first descent and be in a good spot for the fast sharp first corner. Tucked in around eighth, I drafted the first half a lap comfortably, but then daylight started to open a few skiers ahead, and not wanting to be left behind, I jumped out of line and bridged up. We hit the final climb for the first time, it quickly sorted out the contenders from the pretenders, and people were quickly shelled. I made it over the top in fifth and in contact with the lead group.

Things stayed this way for the next couple of laps, before some attacks went off the front. A group of three went, and I was not closing this one. Rather was settled into my pace and would wait and see if they would come back to us. A couple of laps later, one of the three did come back, and we formed a group of three in the chase group with the two about :30sec up on us.

We were making good pace lap after lap, I would pull on the climbs and one other guy pulled on the flats, the third I honestly don't think he could do much and was just hanging on. The climbs was becoming more and more difficult to navigate with the back markers clogging up the lines, and with two to go one moved over right into my line, hanging me up long enough the other two got away. The chase was on. The next two laps I was drilling it to get back on, and I made it at the base of the final climb before the finish sprint. I knew if I wanted 3rd, i had to go and not wait to recover, because there was not going to be enough time. So I tried blowing by them but they both sat right on my heels and went back by at the top.

I would come in 5th, which was awesome for me. I skied exactly how I planned to, up front all race and finished in the top five as I had wished. It was also a super result considering the level of skiers there, former Olympians and National skiers. Best of all it was a fun course, tactical race and some great racing. At the end my HRM read avg = 176 max = 190.

Next weekend - Ski Trail 55k Marathon...

New and improved!

We are live with the new and improved www.ifbikes.de site. Check it out, take it for a spin and tell us what you think.

Enjoy the ride!

things to come...

Ti Deluxe 29er XC race machine for 2010

2010

Another year, a new decade and we continue down the road where it leads no one knows. We had a great time during the holidays, some biking, some skiing and lots of playing. We try to tune Colin in to the European and American cultures and traditions which can be a challenge. But he takes it all in stride and does well with all of the activities and ongoings. He wished for a bike this year with no influence from me...but then again I am not surprised because that is what mommy and daddy do - a lot! But I have to admit there was a bit of pride when he would answer the all to often question "what did you wish for Christmas Colin?" An immediate, firm answer was "a bike." He got his wish, a Laufrad (walking bike) and he has been cruising our apartment since. Can't wait to get him outside this spring.

But I want to ride outside

ifbikes.de had a great year in 2009 and we are off to a great start in 2010. Lots of really cool bikes in the system right now and some sick builds happening around here. This Crown Jewel we are doing for Alek almost makes me want a road bike...almost. If I would, it would be something like this though for sure, absolutely gorgeous!

Alex's Crown Jewel

details...

More details



Mmmm - paint



LaMarzocco will be giving us a sweet espresso machine for events in 2010, we will use it at special dealer and larger events and festivals. We are getting the Linea which is a Barista's dream. Add to that we will have some of our own coffee roasted for us by Speicherstadt, we will have some great espresso and brews for IF fans this year!

Linea - a handmade, stainless steel work of art that happens to pull some of the best shots.

Final touches are going on our website and 2010 Team kit, we will be stylin' for sure this year!

Wish everyone the best in 2010, may it be a peaceful, prosperous and joyful one for all. See you on the trails!

Seasons Greetings

I ♥ Italians

Andrea doing some skinsuit testing for Biciclista


you have to love the land that brought us espresso, grappa and the vespa... Italians above all are passionate, every experience I have had with people from the country shaped like a boot has been a memorable one (sometimes I wish I could forget...). Since Gardasee this eyar I have found some new friends south of Austria who are a passionate bunch of single speeding hooligans. In envy I have followed their antics from a far, as they bolg their exploits on LosLobos. Lead by SS-Mafia kingpin Stefano Spedini (whom I affectionately refer to Speedo) who also runs Biciclista, a sweet small manufacture of some of the most original bad ass cyclingwear you will lay your eyes on. They happen also to be our team clothing supplier for 2010.

Andrea Compri and Luca Bassi have recently joined the ranks of ifbikes.de customers, both taking bitchin' 29ers to race/ ride on next season. Andrea went with a sweet rigid 29er single speed steel Deluxe with IF rigid fork, while Luca went with a Ti 29 Deluxe corrected for 80mm - a cross country speed weapon! Speedo has a Planet X thus far, we will have to see about getting him a limited edition Bicilista Deluxe 29er next year...

Others on the team include our good friend out of France David Guillot is also in the mix with a sick rigid steel 29er, can't wait to see his paint!

A new 29er for one lucky Mr. Wenzel

Add Wolfgang Seyfried, Jochen Schäffler, Sandi and myself to the mix, and you have a pretty diverse sick team! We will be killing it at events around Europe next year with some killer Apres event parties... Look out Gardasee, we are coming and will be taking over the place.

skid marks

coffee ride

Chris Sheppard coined the phrase in one of his training articles that appeared in Mountain Bike Magazine. A coffee ride is when you go for an easy spin around some local trails and end up at a local coffee shop/ café for a good cup of joe. My old buddy DG used to pull this one back in the day when I lived in Germany the first time around, but instead of a café it was a gas station and instead of coffee it was red Bull...



Now serving a delectable variety of delicious singletrack.

After two harder days this week, the legs were asking for something on the lighter side, but the grey matter wanted something fun, besides we have been enjoying super late fall weather via the "fern". Fern is German for hairdryer or warm wind, and that is exactly what we have. The warm air comes pouring over the Alps from Italy making for sunny warm days, we had nearly 70F today!

Would you like another serving?

On the riding menu today was the locals loop which includes a spin out to the Alatsee, climb up to the Kolberweg, a sweet techy single track, and back into Füssen. I ended up making two rounds as I thought I had lost some money on the trail, but instead of stuffing it into my rear pocket, it ended up somewhere down my bibs...

Eine tasse Espresso, yummy

Back in town I rolled the Fußgangerzone in the Altstadt over the cobbles. Füssen is actually a very scenic old town surrounded by spectacular castles and town wall. We are looking forward to the Advent Zeit (Christmas time and markets) here and they have already put up the Weihnachtsbaum.

29er squeezed in at the café

The rest of the week and weekend should be this nice as well. Darn it, I guess I will have to keep on riding...

Füssen Altstadt loking up toward the Schloß. Notice the Christmas tree is up already, top left corner of the picture?

Trick Teil

Ralph Berner(former top MTB World Cup racer) and his brother Timo have made a name for themselves in cyclocross here in Germany both through racing and product design. They design and offer carbon cross frames, but also have an interesting line of side products in addition. Some of these products include aftermarket carbon pulley cages for derailuers that they will install, and even have an 'areo' version for the road. They also have cross brakes, touted as the lightest on the market, but one of the neat little trinkets I found was this carbon cable hangar.

the Berner Cable Hangar neatly goes between your spacer stack and headset

What is cool about this part is not that it is carbon, but rather how it works. The carbon plate flexes under braking aiding in preventing fork stutter, you know that sometimes violent shudder under heavy braking? One German magazine tested the hangar and reported that it increases braking power. While I believ with properly tuned brakes you can have both power and no fork-shudder, this is still a neat little part. It is light weight and looks trick.

Cable goes into a stainless steel cable stop.


More info available at: http://berner-bikes.com/

somewhere in between

still chasing the dream
I used to have a saying in my profile on this blog, it read something like "If you write it down, post it on the wall and read it everyday, it will come true," it is something I really believe in. Self-confidence can go along ways, sometimes all the way, in making the difference. There were poinent times in my life where I was sure of myself and my abilities, at those moments little if anything could have stopped me accomplishing my goals. That goes for all facets of my life, not just racing.

The writing is on the wall and I am already on my way along my next journey to the top.

Karlsruhe City Cross

if there were ever 'ideal' cross weather, that is what the conditions were today in Karlsruhe. Cold, damp so moist air that you could almost cut it with a knife, with weeks worth of precipitation softening up the ground. The venue was awesome with a big hill in the middle where one could spectate the whole race from the single vantage point. The course had power sections, up and down and many other varibles with little place to rest. The sand pit was some of the deepest heaviest sand I have ever encountered, wreaking havoc on many.

After a way cool ride on trails with Big Wheel brothers Michael and Justin in the Pfalz the day before, we met up with Basti, Holger and some others for 40 mins of doing circles on grass. I pre-rode with Holger and I have to say his techniques for 'surfing' his singloe fixed cross bike was very impressive - too bad there were no points for style, Holger would have won with those skids and white Sidi's...

Not sure what to expect from the 30+ field, Justin and myself took up spots in the 2nd row. Waiting for your typical sprint at the start, the slow roll off took me be surprise, so I quickly nabbed the hole-shot and ran with it. Not punching too hard, I still strung the field out and quickly made a selection of three riders off the front.

But it felt like I was missing just a tick of speed and could not quite dig in all the way. So one slipped by and rode away. My brakes sucked and I rode timid to put it nicely on the descents, kind of bummed I did not go for it more in the early going. As the race progressed so did my confidence, able later in the going to take faster more aggressive lines.

The third guy wanted my spot, and even took it for half of a lap, but a bobble in the sand trap and I had it back and from there opened the gap. Late in the race I caught Michael to put him down a lap, but he slugged it out. His converted road Schwinn Paramount looked pretty cool, but probably was serving him well on the very slick, steep off-camber sections doted around the course.

A mechanical took Holger out, or so he claims... Justin wasn't that far behind me in the end, something like 6th or 8th. Good race, lots of fun. It will be one we come back to for sure. Next weekend: Rosenheim.