Denver (Oct. 18, 2012) – The 2012 USA Pro Challenge, the toughest professional cycling race in the U.S., reached attendance numbers of more than 1 million over the course of seven days, Aug. 20-26, as fans turned out to watch the action-packed, heart-pounding racing. After traveling to 12 towns for the official stage starts and finishes, and passing through many other notable cities along the way, the estimated economic impact of the race to the State of Colorado is $99.6 million, according to a study done by IFM North America, a global sports research firm.

See the 2011 Economic Report from the USAPCC

With a lead change nearly every day, one of the closest professional races in U.S. history came down to the final moments of the Individual Time Trial in Denver, with American Christian Vande Velde of Garmin-Sharp-Barracuda taking home the overall win. The race received unprecedented coverage highlighting the beautiful terrain of the state that totaled 31 hours on NBC and NBC Sports Network in the U.S. and was broadcast internationally to 175 countries and territories around the world.

Why not? What limits are their for women in our community? I personally have the luxury of knowing Marty and say that I think it is so cool, regardless of her gender, that she so passionately changed her career goals to become a bike mechanic. Marty was a photographer and writer for the Daily Camera and now she is following her dreams.

From USA Cycling

Photo Credit: USA Cycling

“There’s such a huge body of knowledge and I’ve always been fascinated with the actual mechanics of a bike.”

Caivano, who is from Boulder, Colo., attended the United Bicycle Institute (UBI) in Portland, Ore., at the urging of a friend.
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“The most rewarding part of learning about the mechanics of bikes and bicycling is being able to take the sport beyond riding,” says Caivano. “It’s like unlocking the mystery of your bike.”
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Caivano says she was one of only two women to attend the UBI sessions, out of 18 total participants (about 11%), a pattern she has found to be true across the field. In fact, says USA Cycling, the percentage of women members to men is only 13%.

Product Review - Simply Dara's Raw Balls are an excellent all natural, vegan, gluten free, organic and "raw food" snack for cyclists.

Nutrition has been a hot topic in the cycling community lately and there seems to be a trend towards "real foods", think Allen Lim and the Feed Zone Cookbook. There also seems to be more and more cyclists going vegan or gluten free. In that vain, we've noticed a new product out of Boulder, Simply Dara's Raw Balls, that seems to fit right in with this trend, so we thought we'd give them a try.