News broke yesterday that THE pioneering 24-hour mountain bike race, the 24 Hours of Big Bear, is canceled for 2010.

Granny Gear Productions, based in Davis, West Virginia, points to an un-friendly economic climate as a major factor in the decision to cancel the race this year. Laird Knight, founder and head of Granny Gear Productions, also stresses that the event is not finished for good. Knight plans to simply “reset” the event by taking some time to assess things and see how it can be improved for the future: “By taking a breather, I can set up a good marketing program to grow the event for 2011.”

Granny Gear Productions’ 24 Hours of 9-Mile, scheduled for July 31 and August 1, 2010 in 9-Mile Forest, Wisconsin, has also been canceled. However, Knight wants everyone to be sure the cancellation of Big Bear and 9-Mile will now allow him and his staff to devote even more energy to the 24 Hours of Moab, set for October 9th and 10th. The 24-Hour National Mountain Bike Championships were originally going to run along side of the 24 Hours of Big Bear. As a result, the Championships will now run concurrently with the 24 Hours of Moab.

The 24 Hours of Big Bear was to be held over the weekend of June 13th and 14th. Since the race is canceled, Knight is tentatively planning on inviting anyone who’s interested to the site of the race for a weekend of riding the trails and course, and to participate in a very grassroots and informal feedback session about the race. Check the Granny Gear web site for more info in the coming weeks for that.

The 24 Hours of Big Bear began life in 1992 as the 24 Hours of Canaan, the original 24 hour mountain bike race in the United States. The event remained in the Canaan Valley, albeit in a couple different venues, until 2000 when it moved to Snowshoe Mountain Ski Resort in Snowshoe, WV. In 2005, the event moved to Big Bear Lake Camplands near Hazelton, WV.

Along with Granny Gear staff, Knight grew his 24-hour mountain bike racing empire to include events all over the country: Georgia (24 Hrs of Conyers), Vermont (24 Hrs of Killington), Utah (24 Hours of Moab), California (24 Hours of Temecula, 24 Hours of Tahoe, 24 Hours of Donner Pass) and Missouri (24 Hrs of Landahl), among others.

Here’s a gallery of photos from the 2008 24 Hours of Big Bear.

Dirt Rag and these events grew up together, and we have a lot of memories from the races over the years. Leave a comment below to share yours.

Beer. Bikes. Big Wheels.

Three awesome things, aren’t they? Especially when they come together, as they will for this year’s installment of New Belgium Brewing’s Urban Assault Ride.

As in years past, the Urban Assault Ride series will roll through thirteen cities around the United States between April and September this year. If you don’t know, the Urban Assault Ride is part party, part competition, part effort to “promote sustainable bike-loving lifestyle” and all fun!

Participants will pair up to form teams setting out across the city on bicycles in a scavenger hunt-like competition…sort of like an alley cat, but more fun, with more cool prizes and with less attitude. There will be various checkpoints throughout the city, at which you’ll be required to complete some zany obstacle courses. The team that completes all of the checkpoints in the shortest amount of time wins.

But we’re all winners because as you finish the race, you’ll dismount your bike and stroll right into a “massive celebration of bikes and beer” with music, plenty of tasty suds from New Belgium Brewing and all of your friends having a good time.

If you attend the Austin, TX Urban Assault Ride, you’ll also get to trade stories and share drinks with some Dirt Rag & Bicycle Times staffers. That’s right. We’re the media sponsors this year, and the Austin event is one of our World Tour stops…you’ll be hearing more about that (and a cool contest) in the weeks to come.

For your planning purposes, here are all the dates for the New Belgium Brewing Urban Assault Ride Series (along with our humble plea to bring the series…and the beer…to the northeast sometime soon):

4.18.2010 – Tuscon, AZ
5.2.2010 – Berkeley, CA
5.16.2010 – Seattle, WA
5.23.2010 – Portland, OR
6.20.2010 – Charlotte, NC
6.27.2010 – Austin, TX
7.18.2010 – Ft Collins, CO
7.25.2010 – Denver, CO
8.8.2010 – Minneapolis, MN
8.15.2010 – St Louis, MO
8.23.2010 – Des Moines, IA
9.12.2010 – Chicago, IL
9.26.2010 – Madison, WI

(Thanks to Urban Assault Ride for the photo!)

Have you, or do you plan to, attend any of Urban Assault Ride events? If so, leave a comment below and tell us about it!

We have some fantastic news coming out of the National Bike Summit in Washington, DC this morning. The League of American Bicyclists is reporting that Google Maps has finally added a “bike there” option to the choices of directions between to locations.

According to the press release from the League of American Bicyclists:

“This new feature includes: step-by-step bicycling directions; bike trails outlined directly on the map; and a new “Bicycling” layer that indicates bike trails, bike lanes, and bike-friendly roads. The directions feature provides step-by-step, bike-specific routing suggestions – similar to the directions provided by our driving, walking, or public transit modes. Simply enter a start point and destination and select “Bicycling” from the drop-down menu. You will receive a route that is optimized for cycling, taking advantage of bike trails, bike lanes, and bike-friendly streets and avoiding hilly terrain whenever possible.”

If you’re reading this article, chances are you’re as excited about this as we are. Not only is this a great tool for planning rides and commutes, but it also gives yet another example of the visibility, impact and importance of cycling. Like Andy Clarke, President of the League of American Bicyclists says, “It is a game-changer…”

You can see all of this in action, along with a cool little video and some instructions here.

Are you excited about this? How will this impact your riding and/or commuting? Let us know your thoughts by adding a comment below.

Jeez! What a weekend. Dirt Rag and Bicycle Times road tripping is always an adventure, but driving to Richmond, VA. for the 2010 North American Handmade Bicycle Show held February 26-28 received more than it’s fair share of oddities and mishaps.

We should have known from the beginning when the small things started to compound that we were in for the ride of our life, literally. Maurice’s “fix” of bending the wiper arm for the 50th time, so that there would actually be contact with the blade against the windshield wasn’t a fix at all, and picking Frank up at a turnpike gas station with his window stuck down and snow on the way was another clue, but we ignored the signs, covered the void with a garbage bag, and motored on with a trailer in tow.

Accommodating ourselves in a cheap hotel in the boondocks offering an inedible continental breakfast wasn’t the smartest move, but we managed and persevered, even through the bad ketchup. I guess Heinz doesn’t have distribution south of the Mason-Dixon Line. Some new photo equipment purchased in haste, check for blown fuses next time, and a disabled trailer (don’t let Evan drive again) resulted in un-needed expenditure and many palm slaps to the forehead. But each of the three days we made it back to the show, we were rewarded with aisles of beautifully customized bicycles, cool people all sharing the same passion, and many laughs reminiscing the night before made it worth the lack of sleep. And who can argue with that outcome.

Nearly 6800 people attended the show over its three-day span and I doubt if anyone left with a frown on their face. A free-beer Blue Moon happy hour closed the show each day, while swag soared through the air into smiling outstretched hands. After parties featuring gold sprints and prizes, raffles benefiting the local trails, a bluegrass band, short films and good food kept us all out late having fun and meeting new people. Some kind folks were even nice enough to tag our van multiple times by writing in the thick road salt covering the paint.

Engin Cycles won the Best Off-Road bicycle award with their stainless steel beauty and Kent Eriksen Cycles won Best Titanium with his super-sleek mountain bike. Bilenky Cycle Works won Best Road Frame with a French style tandem.

Other category winners are:

YiPsan Bicycles – Best City Bike

Richard Sachs – Best Track Frame

Crumpton Cycles – Best Carbon Fiber

Kirk Frameworks – Best Fillet Brazing

Calfee Design – Best Tandem

Spectrum Tandem – Best Steel Frame

Dinucci Cycles – Best Lugged Frame

DeSalvo Cycles – Best TIG welded Frame

Six-Eleven Bicycle Co. – Rookie of the Year

Llewellyn Custom Bicycles – Best Paint

Ellis Cycles – Best of Show

Cherubim by Konno – President’s Choice

YiPsan Bicycles  - Peoples Choice

Check out more of Justin’s awesome photos from each day.

NAHBS Day 1

NAHBS Day 2

NAHBS Day 3

And with the van packed we headed back toward the Burgh, discussed the formation of the universe to take our minds off the heavy traffic and enjoyed the ride, well until Frank got behind the wheel which had us all white knuckled and questioning the existence of a higher power. NAHBS 2011 in Austin, Texas! Who’s going? I’d do it again, but smarter this time.

The 8th annual U.S. Open of Mountain Biking returns to Diablo Freeride Park in Vernon, NJ on May 27th through 30th, 2010. With a rich cash and prize payout valued at nearly $60,000, the event attracts big names from around the world.

The event’s PRO/AM format gives amateur athletes the unique opportunity to compete against the world’s elite gravity racers—providing the ultimate proving ground for racers looking to measure themselves against world-class standards.

The Kenda Downhill race will be capped at 450 total competitors, with 150 qualifying spots allocated to the Pro Men’s category and 300 dedicated to the Men’s Amateur categories. The Kenda Giant Slalom event will be capped at 125 competitors, with 125 spots reserved for Men’s Amateur categories. The Women’s fields are uncapped.

Due to the popularity of the U.S. Open of Mountain Biking, pre-registration is highly recommended. For more information and to register visit www.usopen-mtb.com.

As the calendar flips to March, the action in the Dirt Rag online event schedule is heating up. One can only hope that spring-like temperatures are not far behind.

We invite you to join us as the Dirt Rag / Bicycle Times 2010 World Tour rolls into the Seattle Bike Expo on March 13-14th. Or scan the list and find an event near you and roll your own tour.

If you’re a promoter and you’re wondering why your event is not on this list, it’s probably because you did not send the information to our Vice President in Charge of Event Listings. If that’s the case, then click here to email the V.P. with the details on your upcoming events, so we can list them in the future.