Thursday, April 23, 2009

Ibis, MTB trail advocacy, and the Mojo

Here is a note from Ibis about a donated Brian Lopes edition Mojo to the cause of trailwork in Northern California. Mock Orange is proud to be an Ibis dealer partly because the issue of MTB trails and trail maintenance is as important to them as it is to us. After all, without trails where would we ride mountain bikes? Perhaps you will become inspired from this info and attend a trail work day here in our local neck of the woods. Enter the raffle,win a sweet Mojo, and feel good about it! (Then perhaps you can take it to one of the awesome festivals mentioned in the following text.)

Info about a good cause:
Here in Northern California, Spring has muscled winter aside which has in turn been temporarily displaced by summer with temps in the mid 90's. The furnaces in our houses have been put back into hibernation and we're enjoying monster traction on our local trails. "Ego Dirt" we call it, because just about anyone can pilot a bike around corners like Brian Lopes in these conditions.

The racing and festival season is heating up too; Sea Otter just finished, The Fruita Fat Tire Festival is this week, followed by Ales and Trails the next weekend and so on.

One Mid-Summer event that gets us particularly excited is the Downieville Classic. It's in the tiny mountain town of Downieville, not too far from California's Lake Tahoe, and one of the best events of the year. No cell phones work up there, no internet, just a few days of bike riding, camping and swimming in warm rivers. In other words, good clean fun.

Q: Why do we like Downieville?

A: Because the riding is exceptional

Q: Why is the riding exceptional?

A: Because of the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship
About the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship
This small dedicated group of rapscallions and rabble-rousers have been tirelessly building trails up in Downieville for the last few years: Winter, Summer Spring and Fall. Due in great part to their efforts, Downieville and environs has become one of the premier mountain bike destinations in the US. When the good people at Yuba Expeditions asked us if we wanted to sponsor the Downieville Classic this year, we didn't hesitate for a second. And the good folks at Yuba let us specify that 100% of the money we put toward "The Classic" will go to the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship (SBTS).

Enter the raffle to win an Ibis Mojo, help build a trail
We're finally getting to the heart of this information. We are going to raffle off a brand spankin' new Mojo worth well north of $5,000.00.
We've enlisted the help of our rider Brian Lopes. Brian likes Downieville just like we do, and we all decided we wanted to give a little something back. So we asked Brian to spec out a bike like he'd be riding up in Downieville. He did, and we asked his other sponsors to help us out with parts. They did.
Now it's your turn, and FIVE BUCKS IS ALL IT TAKES TO BUY A RAFFLE TICKET but we think you'll want to give a little more. The more you buy, the more trails you help build and the greater the chance you have of winning.
We will ship anywhere, so if you're in another country, go ahead and enter. Your size and color choice is also part of the deal.

For you Gearheads, here is the parts listing.
The frame is a Mojo Carbon, and it's available in all four sizes.
The winner gets to choose their color, as long as it's one of our 5 standard choices
Marzocchi 55 RC3 Fork with 160mm travel and 20mm thru axle (Thank you Marzocchi!)
Marzocchi ROCO TST Coil rear shock (Thank you again Marzocchi!)
Full Shimano XTR drivetrain (Thank you Shimano!)
Hayes Stroker Gram Brakes w/ 7" rotors front & rear (Thank you Hayes!)
Easton Havoc Stem, Havoc wheels, MonkeyLite XC Carbon Bars (Thank you Easton!)
Kenda Tires (Thank you Kenda!)
KS Adjustable Seatpost (Thank you KS!)
WTB Silverado (new Lopes signature saddle-Thanks WTB!)
Click Here to find out more about the raffle. Or if you're already IN IT TO WIN IT, you can always make a donation and know it's going towrds a great cause.

Thanks!





Tuesday, April 21, 2009

The weekly Ladies Mountain Bike Ride returns!

The Wednesday Night Ladies Mountain Bike Ride is set to begin next Wednesday, April 29 at Tanglewood Park in Clemmons, NC. This ride is for women who like to ride mountain bikes! Led by Erika von Isenburg, this weekly outing was much fun last season and is back for this year. The ride meets at the visitor’s center, which is on your left as you enter the park, and will head in to the woods from there. Again, the first of this season’s weekly Ladies Mountain Bike Rides is next Wednesday, April 29, 6 pm, at Tanglewood Park. This is a weekly Wednesday event so come on out beginning the 29th of April for some sweet evening MTB fun.

Thanks!

Friday, April 17, 2009

Spring has (finally) Sprung!

The weather is taking a turn for the better and there are lots of great rides on the horizon!

The Lewisville Yadkin River Metric Century will take place this year on Saturday, May 9.

It is that time of year again: time to get in shape! With this end in mind, Sunday, May 17 members of the Mock Orange crew will be hosting a fabulous road ride to the upper parking area in Hanging Rock State Park and back. We will depart from the shop at 10 am. The total distance on this ride is in the 70 mile range, so please come prepared for a good long day in the saddle. The shop will provide refreshments at the park, and then we will head on in. This ride will be great training for the 3 Mountain Madness ride taking place later in the month, or any other challenging ride that might be on your calendar. We are already looking forward to this Hanging Rock ride on May 17 so be sure to come on out!

Also, taking place on the same day as the 3 Mountain Madness (May 30) is a ride with a bit of a different feel, Gears and Cheers! Leaving from the Grove Winery in Guilford County, this promises to be a great ride. There is even a PRE-ride party on the Friday night prior! It definitely sounds like a good time will be had by all at the Gears and Cheers ride!

Thanks and we'll see you soon!

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Dan Allen



Check out Dan Allen! He was out in the far western part of the state at Tsali for the third installment of the Southern Classic Mountain Bike series. Way to fly the colors Dan! The series continues on April 19th in Columbia, SC.

There was a lot happening this past weekend. If you were road racing in Rockhill or 6 Hour mountain bike racing at Warrior Creek, and you (like Dan) were rockin' your MOB kit, then send us your photos, and we'll make you famous!