Grand Master of Tournament festivities, none other than The Duke, Ben Duke himself! Photo Credit Dane Cronin

Our first ever Spring Open Ping Pong tournament proved to be a success; with plenty of laughs, beer, flying ping pong balls and good times. We are proud to say that we raised over $800 for Community Cycles!

The Gear Movement Spring Open is underway, ping pong time! Photo Credit Dane Cronin

This is only the beginning pong people! This was a warm up for tournaments to come. Next on deck, the fall classic. Through the experience gained from the inaugural tourny, we have already begun to lay out the format for this fall’s extravaganza. With shorter games for the early rounds, referees for each table, and helpful tips from all of you; we can promise a fast flowing and exciting time in August.

Super staff member Nick Ranno working the bracket for the tourney. Photo credit Dane Cronin

Our goal is to double the amount earned for Community Cycles, so please put this in your calendars for the last weekend in August, Saturday the 27th! Until then, thank you for your support and practice up as the talent most certainly is!

Check our Facebook page in the coming months for the next invite!

Cheers!

Ultimate host Ryan van Duzer and TGM master Jordan Schware, giving out some sweet schwag! Photo Credit Dane Cronin

The Top 3, Akira in 3rd, Mike in 1st and Rob in 3rd. Congrats Gents! Photo Credit Dane Cronin

Rad 80's gear, this is a necessity... Photo courtesy of eBay seller Retrovision65

Third, what to do? Um…. Ski. Or snowboard, whatever floats your boat, who needs to get specific? Or wait!… lets get specific… MONOSKIING! Ya, that bridges the gap! That’s totally 80’s bro! I’d give a body part to have one of those. If we get one in to sell, we’ll be sure to make a fuss about it in another, never boring, Newsletter.

Looking to bridge the gap? Done! Phot courtesy of www.pdhyman.com

Ok, fourth consideration to consider considerably would be your ability to pull a Spread Eagle… (level = Easy)

Skill Level = Spread Eagle, check! Photo courtesy of amazing bad-ass spread eagle dude...

Ok, got that one? Think that’s easy? Try a Daffy… (level = Medium)

Need we say more? Uhh no... Photo courtesy of www.shredbook.com

Ok hot shot. You’re beyond level Medium… it’s time to try a Screamin’ Seamen!

Seriously, this video is a must see, the guy does a 360 and a Screamin’ Seamen. at the same time! Not even guys from the 80’s could pull that off! …. “Poor some sugar on me” – ya sing it!

Finally, you’ll need to listen to good music. The 80’s rocked! Today, artists are trying to recreate the sounds of 80’s rock legends like Queen. Although they’re no match, today’s tunes are actually quite catchy.

Fast Tube by Casper

…CRAP! I’m old. I can’t tell you any new artists to listen to, or what exactly to wear when you’re NOT skiing. So just listen to Def Leopord; wear bright clothes (that are too tight in some areas and too baggy in others w/ tendancies to lowride); buy a Mono-Board, and with it… try a SPREAD EAGLE!

‘Till next time – CHEERS!

Ben, Jordan and the entire crew at The Gear Movement. Rock on!

Author Nicole Duke riding at Boulder Creek Kayak Park

I have a new love in my life and it’s called SUP. Yes, i’m a SUPer, no not the evening meal but a Stand Up Paddleboarder. The sport of Stand Up originated in the ocean but now has transformed and is showing up in lakes, reservoirs, and rivers.

My fascination started when my friends Kat and Ryan Guay with Mountain Paddle Surf started repping C4 Paddlebaords. Being frustrated with no surf in Colorado I bought one immediately. This was my way to “get my fix”, being born and raised in the Florida waters I was in dire need.

The Boulder Reservoir was a great place to start but soon was not enough for my adventurous spirit. It had to be harder, faster and more dangerous to keep my attention. This is where the river comes into play. My first time down a river was the 2010 SUP Whitewater Nationals, put on by the Godfather of river SUPing himself, Charlie Macaurther. I got a tutorial from long time river rat Ryan Guay, shimmied my way into a borrowed wetsuit , my husbands retro PFD, helmet, and a pair of 12 dollar dive shoes I had just found the day before at a local thrift store. There were three events, a 7 mile downriver, a sprint, and a standing wave surf contest. I fared well enough to earn 2nd in the Womens Division and was hooked on the river.

Next, was the Teva Games. The C4 Waterman crew was coming out from Hawaii for Tevas’ introduction to the sport. The hype and excitement surrounding our new sport at The Games was encouraging. The race would be a 4 mile downriver run on the beyond freezing Gore Creek. I took 3 practice runs with the Hawaiians, exchanged line choices and laughed about the craziness of it all. It required exceptional balance, focus, guts, and anaerobic threshold. It was exhilarating!! The morning of the race the Teva Games issued a high water warning and offered to give anyone their money back if they wanted to back out. Not one SUPer bailed! People lined the banks and bridges to witness this new and crazy sport. Lungs burning, shoulders aching i paddled my way to a second place in 21 minutes. Next i found myself on the podium with my new found girlfriends and a check for 500 dollars in hand. I will be back for first next year!

Nicole Duke and the C4 Waterman from Hawaii at the Teva Games

As long as I am on a roll I might as well join the river rats for the oldest whitewater festival in the nation. Fibark, for First In Boat down the ARKansas river, or in my case first on board down the river. The race is a 26 mile downriver through class 3+ rapids. The first recorded time was posted in 1949 and took 7 hours and 18 minutes. No one really seemed to want to run the 26 miles on a board, it was a little daunting. Three SUPers signed up, me being the first and only woman on a paddleboard. We were told to “just start wherever AFTER all the kayakers”. Being the new sport on the block isn’t always easy and is often misunderstood.

This time I would wear a camelback, pack my PFD with food and wear extra sunblock. I was in for a long haul and had no idea what a class 3+ rapid looked like. For me this wasn’t a race it was an adventure. I started with a slow and consistent paddle stroke, the kayakers seemed to be traveling at about 3 times the speed. Not bad, the rapids were manageable, the scenery was gorgeous, and I had some of the racers in my sights. Well, 30 min in , I was all alone and wondering how long this would really take. One and half hours in and I floated by the 10 mile take out, wishing that was my exit. The crowd cheered me on, told me I only had 16 more miles and that I was doing great. What did they know, my hands already had blisters, I was freezing, and the wind kept blowing me sideways and backwards. Ok, I can do this, it’s still beautiful! The biggest rapids were to come of course when I was the most tired. There were three that I vividly remember. One, where a HUGE rock sat right in the middle  of the river and threatened to flatten both me and my board, I dug the paddle in last minute and narrowly missed being squashed. The second rapid was up on the horizon line with nothing to see beyond it. I picked a side, left I guess, tipped over the edge and saw 5 or 6 waves taller than my head. I let out a battle cry and charged the first three waves standing and then buckled to my knees out of respect for the dominating middle wave. I was spit off my board but had made it through unscathed and able to ask the safety boat ” How much longer, exactly!” They responded, “Just a little bit”. I said, “No, EXACTLY how much longer,  I’m dying over here!” “Four more miles,” they said! At this point four miles felt like forever, my muscles were seizing, my legs were tired of balancing, and my hands and wrists wanted to quit. The third and last rapid I remember was at the finish line. I had done it, 3 hrs 15 minutes and I was the first woman SUPer to race and finish the Fibark Downriver. Only 2 of 3 SUPers finished that day. I was and am still proud.

Teva Games Podium. From Left Jenny Macauther (1st), Nicole Duke (2nd), and Jen Koki (3rd)

If you are interested in this wonderful new sport I am instructing on Monday, and Tuesday evenings 6-8 at the Boulder Res. Lessons are $50 and includes PFD and board. Coming soon, SUP Core Fitness classes and Race series classes. Check out my contact info below:

Spread the SUPlove!

Nicole Duke, nicole @ thegearmovement.com — Mountain Paddle Surf.com Instructor

Arriving in San Francisco for Stage 3 of ToC, beautiful and typical weather of this area

An 8 day bike race wrapped up and done, but geeze, it feels like a grand tour. This 2010 edition of California’s premier sporting event was by far the most exciting and intriguing race I have done in years. I have worked this race every year but one and couldn’t have asked for anything more. I have never worked for a ProTour Team before, and this was an experience. From the late nights, to the extra little bit of work we did all day to set ourselves apart from the other teams at the bike race, it was definitely a good experience. From the outside the Garmin-Transitions ProTour Team looks like a looming fortress of pretentious staff and riders. It is not, this team is a huge family that after spending a week and a half with them I noticed how close they really are!

Jordan with the Specialized Angel at the start of Stage 3

Garmin-Transitions Team Super Fan, this kid was soo adorable!

The 20 some staff and 8 riders gelled really well together during the race. We had 2 personal chefs, 3 mechanics, 3 sougniers, 2 directors, 1 team photographer, and multiple media and sponsorship liaisons. Can you imagine the logistics of getting each one of these people to and from each race every day? I don’t know how it all gets done.

Our Chefs Chris and Barbara Grealish with thier new parking lot toy!

Probably some of the best times at the bike race where had by the 3 mechanics, hanging out in the parking lot after a bunch of bike working, eating the leftovers of a gourmet dinner served by our two chefs! I gotta say, Chris and Barbara Grealish, thanks so much for the food! On stage 7, the Time Trial in Downtown Los Angeles, I got to follow Tom Danielson during his ride. What an experience, he was flying through the course and although he didn’t post a great time on the day, he had an impressive ride through some of the gnarly windy sections and the one steep little climb.

HTC Columbia mechanic Chris Franges and his awesome bikes get ready for the TT at the hotel in Big Bear

Following Tommy D in the TT on Stage 7 in Los Angeles

Hanging out with TT1 mechanic Alex Banyay and Fly V's mechanic Tennyson Hulcy after Stage 7 of the ToC

The SRAM crew poses for a photo op in-front of the Staples Center at the Stage 7 TT in Los Angeles

I gotta say the number 1 experience for me came on the last day of the bike race when I got to drive the 2nd caravan car in the peloton on the unassumingly tough Stage 8. A lot of teams came into the last day unprepared for what was about to hit them. What looked like a simple course turned out to be a leg/lung burner. A super technical, twisty climb of more than 5k, followed by one of the gnarliest descents I have ever witnessed. I had the 4 tires on the super reliable Subaru Outback squealing on the 8k descent, ohhh my gosh it was the most fun I’ve ever had! I definitely envy a Team Director who gets to sit in the front seat and drive on a regular basis, my spot in the backseat is like a desk-job…boring!

Redwood forests from Stage 3, beautiful!

Mechanics Tom Hopper and Jordan chilly and wet to the bone after Stage 2 to Santa Rosa. It was a downpour all day...

We took two stage wins, and the overall team classification win for the entire race, what an impressive performance boys! It looks like I will be working part time with the Garmin-Transitions Pro team for the rest of the year. On tap next will be the USPRO Championships in Greenville, SC in early September. After that I will most likely do my first ProTour races in Canada – Montreal, and Quebec City, if I don’t do those, look for me on TV at the Vuelta a España, holy cow! Adios amigos!!

Post race dinner, me and Dave Zabriskie getting comfy...

The Garmin Transitions Team Bikes before the start of Stage 2

Stage 1: Nevada City to Sacramento. We had about a 1hr transfer this morning from our hotel in Sacramento to the race start in beautiful, quant Nevada City, what a cool little mountain town! This morning all the three mechanics had to do was get the race bikes, spare bikes and spare wheels pumped and loaded up on our many vehicles, wash the two race cars and get rolling. Our standard procession to the bike race  is with the bus in front, leading the way with all of our riders, mechanics driving the race cars and everyone else sitting and ready to roll!

Mechanics Jordan Schware and Tom Hopper before the start, looking good!

With a prompt race start at 11:45am, we were off! We have two caravan cars here for the Garmin-Transitions team, me in car two, big time mechanic Tom Hopper in car 1. I did a lot of sleeping in the team car today, no real work, it was a little bit different for Tom. The front car saw some action with a few flat tires and a rear derailleur to the spokes in Tommy Danielson’s bike on a climb. After a quick bike change to his spare, Tommy D was up and rolling along!

The craziness before the start...

Mark Cavendish from the Columbia – HTC Team took the win in a final sprint in downtown Sacramento. The Columbia boys have started off the week in style! All the Garmin boys finished with the group and were unscathed in some of the crashes at the finale.

Kevin the Bus Driver and Nick the Swany before the start

After rolling back from the bike race, us mechanics got the bikes and cars washed, cassettes and cranks changed for the hills of tomorrow and the trailer packed and ready to go for its first transfer. Tomorrow Jake is going to be in the 2nd team car, with me doing the transfer of our mobile service course to the next hotel. Cheers and goodnight ya’ll!

We were shooting some B roll for a Cliff Bar commercial today on both team cars...

Garmin Transitions ProTour Mechanic Tom Hopper Getting the Bikes Dialed!

Ever wanted a behind the scenes look at what goes on at a top level pro cycling race in the United States? Look no further! A lot of websites ask for athlete and race related content, what about the fun times that is had by all the support staff in the pro peloton? There are mechanics, sougniers, directors, logistical staff, chefs, bus drivers and many more important people that help each pro team to get through each day and keep the race running behind the scenes!

SRAM's new Aprila Motos and their sweet custom chromed racks!!

I will be spending this week with the Garmin – Transitions Pro Cycling at the Amgen Tour of California. Talk about the real deal! This ProTour level team has it all. We are totally set up with almost 25 staff members for only 8 riders in the race. This large discrepancy means we have our basis covered and every t is crossed and i is dotted, we are dialed!

Rockstar Fly V Australia Director Ed Beamon, apparently too busy to chat with me...

It is now day two of prep before the race and my legs and feet are already done. Standing in parking lot for more than 12 hours a day while running around doing odd jobs from working on bikes, washing bikes, cleaning cars, setting up radios, applying vinyl stickers to rental vehicles and eating burritos! Thats right, we are sponsored by Chipotle, its pretty sweet!

The Fly V Australia mechanics truck and a bike getting unpacked...

Too many words to put into this quick blog right now, so lets let the behind the scenes pictures tell it all…

Fly V Australia mechanic Chris Davidson

Garmin Transitions Chef RV. This bus is for cooking food for the riders only!

Food all over the chef RV. The guys will be eating very well this week!

The mechanics side of the Garmin Transitions Team, nice setup boys!

I worked on these spare bikes today, ready to go for stage 1!

Tom Hopper checking out the new trainers for the TT bikes, kinda cool idea - LeMond Trainers...

USA National TT Champ Dave Zabriskie's new custom TT rig, this thing is dope!

A quick picture opportunity in some of the beautiful New Mexico Landscape with the SRAM NRS Team Car

Long, long, long week! I think that is the best way to describe this last week of bike racing down in Silver City, NM. The SRAM Tour of the Gila outdid itself once again and provided all who attended at the races, on the internet and in the newsprint with a spectacular show! The characters, the racers, the locals, the in-race antics, the insanely tough conditions and the all around fun atmosphere provided by SRAM gave us a Tour to remember. For those of you not familiar with the SRAM Tour of the Gila, if you are interested at all in bike racing I recommend you check it out – www.tourofthegila.com.

Fast Tube by Casper

Fast Tube by Casper

Fast Tube by Casper

More great YouTube videos from Jordan at the SRAM Tour of the Gila – The Gear Movement’s YouTube Page

Jordan checked in after day two of working with the SRAM NRS road crew, but doing much more than that was pretty hard for him based on the enormous amount of work that needed to be done at the race. Here is an opportunity to check out some cool videos from a mechanics perspective as well as some great behind the scenes photos from the Gila.

SRAM NRS team bikes lined up and ready to go in the Stage 4 crit at the SRAM Tour of the Gila

Jordan atop the custom SRAM NRS Aprila GT 850 support moto, this thing has a nice kick to it!

That is some beautiful SRAM NRS red and black at the Stage 3 TT...

We hope you enjoy and please stay tuned as Jordan ventures out to the Tour of California with the Garmin Transitions Pro Cycling Team for more bike racing!

Roswell, what? Gotta love the New Mexico state bus, government cover up, what??

Mara Abbott atop the podium at the SRAM Tour of the Gila Stage 1

A few weeks ago Jordan got a chance to shoot on down to the SRAM Tour of the Gila with SRAM Neutral Service Crew to help work the race, hang in the amazing New Mexico sunshine and get away from the office for a few minutes. Jose Alcala – the head of the crew down here, placed Jordan in the women’s pro race caravan. Directely from the source below:

Stage 1, had the women’s race climbing up and finishing ontop of Mount Mogollon, a nasty switched back climb with super narrow roads and racers from other categories riding down! A video of the men’s finish can be be found on The Gear Movement’s Facebook Page.

Working with SRAM crew was tons of fun over the last two days so here a few pics below to prove it!

The beautiful SRAM NRS Volvo's ready for a days work!

Great scenery outside Silver City, NM for the SRAM Tour of the Gila

Number 1 mechanic Todd Downs with the SRAM NRS crew!

Stage 2 brought a late start to the women’s pro race and saw 70mph wind gusts throughout the day. Unfortunately I was not able to grab any pics of this full on insanity, but girls in the race were walking up through the feedzone with their bikes in the hands flying over their heads! Here are some great videos below…

Fast Tube by Casper

Fast Tube by Casper

Fast Tube by Casper

Fast Tube by Casper

Fast Tube by Casper

Stage 2 saw some carnarge with some crashes and bad bad winds. Kelly took a spill just before the finish, which looked pretty bad, but the soldier that she is, she rode her bike back to the finish and finished the race! One of the more impressive things I have ever seen on a bike, go Kelly!

Reigning US Champ Meredith Miller before Stage 1 of the SRAM Tour of the Gila

Tonight we are building some of the new SRAM NRS Specialized Tarmac bikes for the TT tomorrow and going to an amazing restaurant here in Silver City, NM for dinner.

Jack Bissell shows off his new Crosskate Neck Breaking All Mountain Skates, yikes!

Not only have we been having tons of fun at the shop posting our clients cool Gear but we have added some new employees and some new features in our rad warehouse. Isnt it every grown persons dream where they can work in a cool environment that pushes them to have fun on the job? Well we try to do that here although we do have a custom pool table that has remained unused in the last few months, what a shame. We actually need to have the table re-leveled, does anyone know of someone in Boulder, CO who could do that for us?

New additions to the shop include our employee Mr. Jack Bissell. He hails to us from the great Full Cycle bike shop in town and has so far stated “That he fits into our little operation here just perfectly.”  When asked what his favorite part of working at TGM, while posting cool things like the Crosskate Inline All Mountain Neck Breaking Skate (we are still trying to understand these things, check the video below) he states: “The great level of respect everyone has for each other here and the chance to check out cool ‘Foot Hummers’ at TGM.”

Fast Tube by Casper

Well these skates are truly cool, check out the auction and win them for yourself in our eBay store: Crosskate Inline Backcountry All Mountain Ski Skates

Our groovy unused custom pool table and new frame and wheel racks - full!

Along with the addition of Jack, we have added new storage in our “Pool Table” room for the overwhelming inventory of frames and wheels we have been recieving from our consignors recently. As we travel into the new year we are starting to sell through our once large Ski, Skate and Snowboard inventory and start to focus more on the bicycle aspect of the business. A note to summer – “You can’t come soon enough!”

A new addition - more wheels and wheel racks!

Peace out from The Gear Movement, we are going to go try these neck breaking crosskates, but only after we update our health insurance plans!

Now Presenting, the one, the only, Mr. Duke!

So, I’ve never blogged nor do I Facebook often, but my business partner Jordan insisted I join the 21st century…

What does one blog about? I’ll just keep it short and sweet.

2009 has been a fast paced, crazy year. My wife Nicole and I received a new addition to the Duke family, Canin. She is the cutest girl in Boulder. She just turned 1 in October. Our son, Ryder, just turned 4. So you can only imagine how busy that part of my life has been.

Our newest addition to the Duke Family, Canin, just look at those cheeks!

My other part of life? New business… The Gear Movement. An exciting and stressful time it has been. Jordan and I started our eBay business selling new and used sporting goods back in March.. We have grown beyond our greatest expectations, which is simply awesome! Needless to say, we’ve been busy – and we want to thank all of you who support us – you all rock!

What does Spiderman, aka Ryder Duke do during his downtime?

So what now? 2010! Should be another fun packed, work filled, kid screaming year – and I hope to find some time to ride my bike along the way.

Happy Holidays!