Important note: These are European sized and run small; please see the sizing chart. If you want to make absolutely sure that the jersey will fit, go to your local bike shop and try on a Capo jersey. We cannot accommodate any exchanges.

]]> http://www.levisgranfondo.com/2009/12/09/granfondo-limited-edition-commemorative-jersey/feed/ 0 http://www.levisgranfondo.com/2009/11/13/1707/ http://www.levisgranfondo.com/2009/11/13/1707/#comments Sat, 14 Nov 2009 06:26:17 +0000 greg http://www.levisgranfondo.com/?p=1707 Levi Leipheimer’s King Ridge GranFondo
Newsletter #10 November 14, 2009
www.levisgranfondo.com

Did you miss us? Hard to believe that we’d be writing these little missives again so soon, but here we are, churning the butter for Levi’s GranFondo in 2010. We put last year’s event together in 4 months and we’re not about to put ourselves in that position for 2010. No way. Just like dad always said “Quit screwing around and gimme me that 9/16 crescent wrench Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.” And on that note, we’ve got a little something we want to pass along:

The 2010 Levi Leipheimer King Ridge GranFondo will take place on October 9, 2010.

Hold it! Slow down, take a breath. Quit frantically flipping through your calendar. Don’t hit “send” on that vacation request just yet. Apologize to your co-worker for squealing with delight and scaring the pantsuit off of her. There’s another date that’s even more important and looming much more closely on the horizon:

Registration for the 2010 event will begin at 9:00 AM PST on December 15, 2009.

Okay, NOW you can mark those calendars, because you know exactly when you need to start speaking for your spot in the 2010 GranFondo. In 2009, this event sold out in less than 6 weeks. That was before anyone knew what to expect. Now that we’re coming off a hit, those slots will be even more precious. Do not put this off, people (see dear old dad’s quote above).

Other Active Ingredients:
Van Westendorp’s Price Sensitivity Meter
Chariots of Fondo
The Fruits of Our Labors
Don’t Touch That Dial

For Your Consideration
Remember that helicopter soaring overheard during the GranFondo? Our accountants do. That wasn’t Jan-Michael Vincent and Ernest Borgnine, keeping us safe from clandestine, Cold War-esque military threats. That was Jesse Rosten and Carl Burchfiel, getting enough raw footage to string together one hell of a GranFondo movie. Get over to www.levisgranfondo.com and watch this as soon as your boss ducks into a staff meeting. It’s a great documentation of the GranFondo spirit, it captures the beauty and savagery of the land, and, most importantly, it makes you want to ride your bike. A lot. Go on and bookmark it. It’s a long winter ahead and you’ll need this one again.

Gimme A G! Gimme A V! Gooood Value!
Aside from getting a spot in the 2010 GranFondo, register early and you’ll also get the early bird registration price, which could save you as much as 50 bucks. Which is nice, unless you’re this guy or unless you like really expensive wallpaper. For those of you interested in the Piccolo or Medio route instead of the Gran route, we’ve adjusted the registration prices downward to reflect the length of your ride. We’re also tossing in after-ride grub and a t-shirt with the price of a 2010 registration. So, between including food and merchandise, scaling the price for the length of the route, and offering big savings for early registration, you may come out spending less money than you did last year, all for an event that has more planning and experience behind it for 2010. How does this work? Beats the hell out of us. Just get it while the gettin’s good.

Donation Nation
Speaking of cold hard cash, most of you may be surprised to learn that the money we raised was not spent on lounge chair rentals and tequila guzzling at resorts in Cabo. That’s not what we meant by “beneficiaries.” We were serious when we talked about raising money to get the Tour of California back to Santa Rosa for 2010 and we delivered. In late October, it was announced that Santa Rosa would host the finish of Stage 2 of the 2010 Tour of California, thanks in no small part to the $60,000 that was raised from the 2009 GranFondo. And Forget Me Not Farm? We were able to hand over $25,000 so that they can continue building stable relationships for abused children in a comforting setting on a working Sonoma County farm. Not a bad bit of work for one day on the bike, eh? We’re handing out those big goofy checks in front of flashing photo bulbs as you read this, so go on and feel good for what you helped do in the world.

After These Messages
Ok, so keep it tuned here, as this will be our primary bullhorn for communicating event details to the rest of the free and wired world. Sign up for the newsletter, sign your friends up for the newsletter, sign your dog up for the newsletter. Tell Fido to get your slippers and sign up at www.levisgranfondo.com/newsletter. We won’t barrage the inbox too much and we’ll try to make it at least worth a few chuckles along the way.

You may not believe it, but Bike Monkey is more than just another pretty Fondo face. We’ve got races for every bike in the garage and we range all over Lake and Sonoma County with them, not to mention that fine magazine we put out every few months. Click here if you’d like to be included on all our Bike Monkey news outside of the GranFondo. How are you going to tell your grandkids that “you were there” when you don’t even know where the there is? Or something like that. Whatever. Just click the link already.

What’s inside?  Some great stuff about the first ever Levi Leipheimer’s King Ridge GranFondo, created by the very man who brought you all of those spectacular newsletters.  A work of art?  Yep.

]]> http://www.levisgranfondo.com/2009/10/18/gf_special_edition/feed/ 0 http://www.levisgranfondo.com/2009/10/08/newsletter-9/ http://www.levisgranfondo.com/2009/10/08/newsletter-9/#comments Fri, 09 Oct 2009 06:18:34 +0000 greg http://www.levisgranfondo.com/?p=1635 Levi Leipheimer’s King Ridge GranFondo
Presented by Road ID
Newsletter #9 October 8, 2009
www.levisgranfondo.com

Well, well, well. Look we did. Our little event team, you, and 3499 other good people. Nice work, folks. Nice work.

In all seriousness, everyone at Bike Monkey wants to issue a heartfelt thank you to everyone who took part in a fantastic inaugural run for Levi Leipheimer’s King Ridge GranFondo. Every rider exhibited a sincere happiness and contagious excitement. It was thick out there and we all felt it. Much of the great news that we heard about the event is owed to participants who brought the best of themselves to bear on what used to be just another Saturday in October. Thanks too to all our amazing volunteers: 600 people working like machines for some pasta and a t-shirt. Color me impressed. And while I’ve got the platform, big thanks to Levi for laying this at the feet of our team and asking us to run with it. We’re all still glowing. Seriously.

2010 is going to be here before we all know it. Stay tuned to this space to find out the latest in what’s brewing for next year. This here newsletter will be your information pipeline, so sign up your pals too. We’ve set the bar high and now we’ve really got to get to work.

A date for next year will be announced in a couple of weeks, but registration won’t open until after the 1st of the year. In the meantime, we wanted to pass along a bit of housekeeping, just so no opportunities get missed. Shoot us an email if you’ve got any other questions, concerns, or feedback. You know we’ll be here.

Economic Stimulus Even A Tea Bagger Would Love:

1) “Ride With Levi” t-shirts are still available. So are Camelbak’s GranFondo Podium water bottles. As are special GranFondo editions of Bike Monkey magazine. Hey, are those a box of Ride With Levi socks? Hmmmm. What to do…what to do. Bundle it, young capitalists, that’s what! Get on the bus people, and enjoy the post-Fondo blowout. For a paltry $50 bucks, plus shipping, you can get a rad water bottle, an exceptionally flattering t-shirt, an ankle-grabbing pair of socks, a black hole compressible grocery bag, a Chain Condom (see below), and a GranFondo issue of the oft-heralded Bike Monkey magazine. [UPDATE: The GranFondo 6 Bundle is sold out!] All items were made for the first running of Levi’s GranFondo and this opportunity is already starting to fade. For those of you less interested in the whomping value this represents, each of the constituent goods are available in the online store too (except for the socks–gotcha!). Get it while supplies last, good people. And speaking of periodicals…

2) Bike Monkey magazine is available to all you freewheeling Fondo-philes at the special low price of $10/year, rather than our usual $14. For those of you with your head in your heart-rate monitors, you may have missed the rising tide of this fine quarterly publication. We’ve got interviews, ain’t-it-trues, bike news, and biased views. Bottom line is, we at Bike Monkey want to tell the story of the bike. Maybe that’s 20 questions with Marla Streb. Maybe it’s how Guatemalans use bikes to hull corn and pump water. Maybe it’s a filmmaker’s journey as he rides across the heart of Africa. Maybe it’s about how a local rider had to use his cycling socks as toilet paper once. Full disclosure: your newsletters are written by the magazine’s editor. You got me, okay? Now leave me alone and go subscribe. Click it here and lay down this beat: LEVIGF09

3) We’re putting together an all-in-one poster of the Fondo routes, suitable for framing or bathroom wallpapering. It’ll be a beautiful reminder of the agony and ecstasy you put yourself through last Saturday. You’ll be looking at an 11″ x 14″ sized map all for the low, low price of $10, plus shipping. Don’t have the wallspace? Buy one, keep it for 20 years, then pull it out to annoy your grandkids with tired old stories about how you were there way back when it all went down. These kids today. No respect, I tell ya.

4) Galoshes. Pencil erasers. Rubber johnnies. The goalie. Jimmy hat. Call it what you will, but we’ve still got some GranFondo Chain Condoms available. They’re part of the bundle mentioned above, but also for sale all on their own. We had these things up for $25 bucks at the event. Now they’re $20, plus shipping. Roll on over to the coin op in the men’s room. Contain that drivetrain, son. Don’t make a mess wherever you put that bike. Oh, and ease of use? Yep, it’s velcro-ed for your pleasure.

5) Remember when you put off that book report in 6th grade that you were dreading delivering in front of class and then it snowed and canceled school for 3 extra days? Remember how you still put it off, then wrote in on the bus ride to school anyway? Don’t do that again. First Endurance had a big time at the GranFondo and thought enough of you all to extend their 25% off deal to any order you folks place until October 20. Hey, you may owe these guys a little bit. You might not have made it home without that First Endurance Liquid Shot flask in your pocket and regular top-ups of EFS energy drink. It’s entirely conceivable that you’d still be grunting up Coleman Valley right now. Cripes. Go to www.firstendurance.com website and drop this code at the checkout: LGF

6) All that stuff in the swag bag that you should’ve gone through but haven’t yet? There’s a coupon in there for Sports Basement. Tossed it out already? Hopefully you didn’t chuck the Flying Goat coupon for a free coffee, too. Bummer. While you can’t get the best single origin espresso shot between here and Portland over the internet, you can still salvage a deal with Sports Basement. These guys are continuing to roll out 10% off of all purchases until October 20. Not compelling? They toss an additional 10% off all these purchase to the beneficiaries of the GranFondo. Punch this in when they want the coupon code: LEVI

Timing Chips/Results:

We’re working on the results right now, so bear with us as they get tossed up on the GranFondo website. I think you were all fast. Especially you. Yes, you. The one in the tight pants and the shiny, zippered t-shirt with all the flashy colors. If you can’t find your name, give us a shout and we’ll see what we can do. For those of you wondering why we didn’t break out the results into Medio, Gran, or Piccolo routes, a lot of folks ended up signing up for one route and doing another come Fondo day. Figuring that everyone knows what they did last Saturday, we didn’t want to muddy the waters by assigning routes to people who may have made a different decision midway through the day. We’ll look at this for next year, but that’s the reasoning for now.

Rough and Ready:

Big ups to the humans who enlisted with our local shops to ride over to the FondoSonoma festival, rather than hulk their way over in Camaros, Gremlins, and Dodge Stratuses (Strati?). No doubt that an arrival by bike was more fun and more convenient, especially with the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition parking every bike that came within 4.7 meters of their eager paws, god bless ‘em. Way to be Trek Store for putting together a sunrise meet and greet with Axel Merckx and an escort service for 12 errant riders, pre-Fondo. We’re also tossing affection toward Echelon Cycle and Multisport for offering up their parking lot and dragging 12 riders of their own over to the Fondo start line. If you’re in the neighborhood, say thanks to these folks for dragging your hides out of bed and getting you a high class escort to the best bike ride going.

Extending Our Reach

Obviously, a lot happens behind the scenes for an event like Levi’s GranFondo. It’s probably not too clear sometimes how people pitch in, but trust us when we say that the Santa Rosa chapter of Bikes For Humanity has helped us out in unexpected ways that take too long to detail in this space. They extended their hand and we owe a lot of the Fondo’s success to them, just take our word for it. For those of you who aren’t aware of this fine group, it goes a little something like this:

Used bikes are collected in Sonoma County in a 40 foot container, then they’re shipped to rural Namibia. Once in Africa, the bikes are distributed and the container is then converted into a bike workshop. Each container holds 350 to 400 bikes, tools, parts, etc.; enough to provide a transportation infrastructure to small, poor communities that have little to no means of transit, save by foot. Ever doubt that the cobweb factory in the corner of your garage is useless just because you don’t ride it? Well, doubt no more. Your used bike can change a life, a family, or even an entire village.

The first container of bikes was shipped from Santa Rosa to Gobbabis, Namibia, in southwestern Africa this past spring. Two representatives from the Bikes For Humanity’s Santa Rosa chapter traveled to Namibia this summer to see the bikes and the workshop. The shipment was a great success and the bike workshop in Gobbabis is up and running, serving healthcare workers, orphans, and poor families in this rural town. They are planning to ship their next container as soon as it can be filled. Of course, that’s where you all come in. If only 10% of the people who rode the Fondo donated that dusty, flat-tired mountain bike in their garage, we’d be done with this round and the container would be shrinking over the horizon, bound for Africa. Give that clunker a chance to be reborn in a place where it can make all the difference in the world. Drop us a line, put Bikes For Humanity in the subject, and we’ll do our best to set you up with a chance to export the promise of the bicycle to those who really need it.

]]> http://www.levisgranfondo.com/2009/10/08/the-route/feed/ 0 http://www.levisgranfondo.com/2009/10/08/envy-causing-grocery-bags/ http://www.levisgranfondo.com/2009/10/08/envy-causing-grocery-bags/#comments Thu, 08 Oct 2009 23:00:05 +0000 admin http://www.levisgranfondo.com/?p=1624 This is the first of their kind–truly enriching to the owner is the outward envy that others will display when you whip this out of your pocket and unfold it to reveal the beautiful GranFondo California bear emblem. “You were there??” people will ask.  Well who cares if you were, you’re doing the environment a good service while making others feel bad.  Who could ask for more?

Available in brown only.

Be cool.

Choose practically any size shirt and receive it in our commemorative brown collapsible grocery bag with a water bottle and copy of the Bike Monkey GranFondo Special Edition.  That’s almost $25 worth of retail swag for just $15. How can you go wrong?

Choose a shirt size.