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Dirt Rag Fresh Dirt
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4.27.2006
Tidbits
By: Karl Rosengarth
 Avid just announced their all new Juicy Ultimate brake—which they tout as the Juicy 7 optimized for the ultra weight conscious XC rider. By making subtle design tweaks, Avid was able to drop the weight by 80 grams, yet maintain all features and performance. Updates include a thin-wall carbon lever blade, low-profile magnesium lever body and a new one piece Monoblok caliper design. The Ultimate brake maintains the Pad Contact Point Adjustment feature that allows the rider to pick the amount of lever travel before the brakes engage, which makes it easy to balance the right and left lever "feel". This adjustment is now via a 2.5mm hex wrench. For more information visit the SRAM website.
The Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) is a non-profit membership organization working to promote bicycling and improve bicycling conditions in Oregon and Southwest Washington. The BTA staff went to Washington, DC in March and lobbied Oregon's Congressional delegation to support Rep. Blumenauer's Bicycle Commuter Act. BTA just received word that Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon has introduced a Senate version of the bill (along with Senators Collins, Cantwell and Snowe). Here's an excerpt from Senator Ron Wyden's April 24th "Statement for Introduction" for the Bicycle Commuters Benefit Act of 2006:
The bill extends the fringe benefit that employers can offer their employees for commuting by public transit, to those who ride their bicycles to and from their jobs. Our bill amends the tax code so that public and private employers can offer their employees a monthly benefit payment that will help them cover the costs of riding their bikes, instead of driving and parking their cars where they work. The bill also provides employers the flexibility to set their own level of benefit payment up to a specified cap amount. That way, employers and their employees can decide how much of an incentive they need to stop driving and start riding their bikes. Those who currently ride the bus and/or subway to work would also gain an extra incentive to ride their bikes. Employers can deduct the cost of their benefit payments from their taxable income. This reduces the taxes that they pay to the federal government. And, in turn, employees will receive anywhere from $40 - $100 per month as a non-taxable benefit, to help them pay for the costs of riding their bikes.
The 2006 Greenbrier Challenge AMBC and MD State Mountain Bike Championship Race takes place on Sunday, April 30, 2006 on the trails of Greenbrier State Park, just 1.5 hours drive from Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD. The promoter promises a prize purse of over $16,000. In addition to deciding the 2006 NORBA MD State Champions, this race will also be a qualifying event for the NORBA National MTB Championships in Mammoth, CA. The race course is 5.7 miles long, with 735 ft of climbing per lap. The trails, which are heavily wooded, are about 60% narrow double-track and 40% single track. Additional information and race details can be found at www.potomacvelo.com.
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