Guest story submitted by Jennifer Roberts

This could be a story about social media, or the tight-knit Boulder community or being a bike messenger in the age of email, Twitter and texting. In many ways, it's about all three. Nan is a bicycle courier for Denver/Boulder Couriers (http://www.dbcouriers.com/) and can often be seen around town riding her iconic pink-rimmed bicycle. The only reason I learned about Nan was that a small community of people in Boulder had a case of ‘bike-envy” and a Twitter feed to post when one of them had spotted Nan(@nansighting) .They started the group and Twitter feed to both promote cycling culture in Boulder and show their appreciation and respect for a cool, fixie-riding, mother-of-3 Boulder gem!
We met at the Laughing Goat to find out how she got started as a bicycle courier, her favorite winter gear and her opinion on Twitter.

Tell me about yourself and what you do?

[303 Cycling]: As a promoter what was your experience with the chip timing system, how did it effect registration and post race results. Are there any bugs that still need to get worked out?

[Boulder Racing]: With any new changes or system there’s going to be some nervousness going into race day. However, our staff comes from a chip timing background, directing over 20 chip timed events in the last 3 years, so we were more excited than nervous. In terms of registration everything was super smooth and the ACA did a great job of educating the rider on proper chip placement etc.

We feel the key to a successful registration process is to encourage as much pre-registration as possible. The Louisville Crit saw record attendance on Saturday with perfect racing conditions. All pre-reg riders were able to walk up to the pre-reg line, simply sign their “pre-filled out” waiver, and walk away with their number. They saved the couple minutes it takes to fill out a full registration form and kept the registration line nice and short. On top of that all their information was already pre-entered into the chip system’s database, which saves the timing company valuable time before each race starts. Imagine a field size of 65+ riders and having to type all that data in 20min before each race start.

Colorado-based cycling gear discounter launches Monday

March 31, 2011

BOULDER, COLORADO — By now everyone’s heard of the Groupon phenomenon. For the small price of sharing your email address, savvy consumers get great deal buying opportunities delivered daily to their inbox.

Now there’s a new player in the on-line discount game, and their goal is to cater specifically to Colorado cyclists. Introducing Handlebargains.com, the world’s first cycling specific, local deals provider.

Starting with its launch this coming Monday, April 4, Handlebargains will serve up deals on everything from discounted bike tune-ups, to half-off coupons for tires and tubes, to slashed entry fees for local cycling events.

Whether you’re a cat. 1 racer, a dedicated commuter, a weekend warrior or all of the above, Handlebargains will save you money on cycling gear and services.