Sometimes in our “Doors Open” series we get to write about a shop that literally just opened its doors! In the case of Spokeman Cycling that happened only 45 days ago when owners Larry Buzzard and Greg Souder welcomed Huntington, Indiana cyclists to their shop.

The shop carries the full Jamis line of road, mountain, triathlon, commuter and comfort bikes, as well as Lightspeed and Look lines. They’ll also carry our Hincapie line as well as Castelli and Sidi Footwear.

Spokesman is open Monday-Saturday from 10am to 6pm.

Spokesman Cycling
227 S. Jefferson Street
Huntington, IN 46750
260-504-2449
www.spokesmencycling.com

For Hincapie Sportswear it's important to us to be partnered with world class professional athletes. Pro athletes compete in the longest and hardest events in their discipline. In these events, they test our products in the most extreme circumstances. We then take their race feedback and use it to improve our current products and develop new ones.

Hincapie triathlete Anna Cleaver recently traveled to our Boulder, CO office to spend some time with our product development team and share with them her pro race experience and give feedback on our triathlon apparel. Here's what Anna had to say about her trip to Boulder.

Three days is just not enough time to spend in Boulder. The place is simply stunning. Thank you so much to Hincapie Sportswear for letting me work with them in Boulder last week. It was a privilege and I had a ball.

First stop was the office. The objective of the trip was to work with Morgan on the female line of clothing for next season. We made some great modifications and additions including cut, colour and fabric. I think we nailed it and I am SO EXCITED to see some samples of what we created. We had many discussions about length, fabric, pockets, cuts. We even came up with some potential new product ideas.

>> Read the rest of Anna's entry on AnnaCleaver.com

Ringling Bicycles is a family owned shop in sunny Bradenton, Florida, offering an extensive array of bikes, gear and apparel.

Owners Dave and Julia Holt have more than 20 years of experience in bike racing and triathlons, making Ringling a lifestyle as much as a business!

Ringling also has a full fleet of rental bikes for visitors looking to take a spin.

If you’re in town, stop by the shop or jump in their Wednesday night group ride starting at 6PM.

Find Ringling Bicycles online at www.ringlingbicycles.com or in person:
Ringling Bicycles
3606 Manatee Avenue West
Bradenton, Florida 34205
941-749-1442

You already know George loves to ride and we recently learned how George loves to rock. We want to help you rock AND Ride by giving away our brand new Equipe jersey and bibshort plus a 6-month subscription to streaming music service Rhapsody.

Rock and Ride contest details:

• Contest will begin at 1PM EST on 4/17/2012 and end at 11:30PM on 4/20/2012. Winners will be announced on 4/21/2012.
• To participate on Twitter, Tweet your favorite pre-ride song and favorite ride to @hincapiesports and @Rhapsody.
• To participate on Facebook, post your favorite pre-ride song and favorite ride in the comments to this post.
• One winner each will be chosen at random from Facebook and Twitter posts.
• Winners will email us their jersey size and email address and we’ll do the rest.

The Equipe Jersey.

Check out George’s thoughts on music on the Rhapsody blog and his top 10 playlist.

On the eve of what’s arguably the most iconic classic of the year we set out to chronicle most epic Paris-Roubaix-style races around the country. These are where the hardest of the hard men come out to romp on parcours that crush dreams, smash fancy carbon rims and place dental work at risk. In other words, on a scale of 1 to 10, the 11s.

George in the 1994 edition of Paris-Roubaix

In no particular order, here’s what we found.

Boulder Roubaix
This weekend will be the 17th running of one of Colorado’s greatest races. The 69-mile course is a test of endurance with paved & gravel roads, more than half of it unpaved. For an extra challenge, Mother Nature can also throw inclement weather into the mix. Who loves mud???

Cone-Azalia Classic
This Michigan spring classic “separates the men from the boys, the women from the girls, and the hand-built race wheels from the factory training wheels.” A 75% attrition rate is common and the race has never ended in a bunch sprint, with solo moves typically yielding the winner. The 10.5-mile circuit features 4 miles of unpaved roads with loose gravel and stones… got 27s?

Copperopolis Road Race
Held the day before Paris-Roubaix, the 32nd annual Copperopolis Road Race takes place in the Northern California foothills, seemingly at the edge of civilization. The course is a mix of Flanders and P-R with a pair of 2-3km grippy climbs per lap, crosswind-buffeted false flats, sharp rollers, and no shortage of roads that look and feel like they were bombed out in WW2.

Tour of the Battenkill
Self-proclaimed as “America’s toughest one-day race” it’s also one of the largest, drawing 2,500+ riders to take on the best (or worst, depending on your POV) that the Battenkill Valley and village of Cambridge have to offer. While pavement is often in short supply thanks to multiple dirt road sections, scenery is not. This year the BMC-Hincapie Sportswear Development team will be heading north to take on the toughest in the US.

Hilly Billy Roubaix
Since Hell of the South happened last weekend the Hilly Billy Roubaix seems like a fitting addition, especially with the promoter’s suggestion to bring CX bikes and it taking up to 6 hours for some to complete. We also can’t help but love the route description: “Road conditions may include missing bridges, car-sized potholes, gravel, mud, black top, cow paths, and maybe a piece of road kill or two.”

Let us know what you think about this lineup and if we left any out!

George recently spoke with the folks at Rhapsody about music and how it has fit in with his career as a professional cyclist. Read their post to find out what music George likes and how he got his first guitar.

Rhapsody: http://news.rhapsody.com/2012/04/02/rhapping-with-cycling-legend-george-hincapie/

Michigan endurance junkies have a new hotspot for high-end gear and apparel thanks to Level Multisport’s new store in the heart of downtown Birmingham, Michigan.

Owners Adam and Christine Rosender are the powerhouse husband & wife duo behind Level and competitive triathletes in their own right. Chad Mahasian will bolster their team with a strong running retail background.

Christine, Chad (middle) and Adam>

Level will specialize in serving triathlon’s swim / bike / run customers but also have plenty to offer cycling enthusiasts with Orbea bikes, Hincapie Sportswear, and numerous other premium cycling product lines. They also will carry a full line of running and cycling shoes.

Visit Level Mulisport online at www.facebook.com/LevelMultisport, or in person 528 N Old Woodward Street in Birmingham, Michigan. 248-709-1449

We receive a note this week from Hincapie Athlete Chris Foster on his first race of the season. He spent several days last month training with the BMC-Hincapie Sportswear Development Team and looks like his hard work is starting to pay off. Chris travel to Costa Rica for his first race of the year and came home with a fourth place against a very strong international field. His result also puts him in fourth place in the Rev3 Triathlon Series.

Chris training with George and the BMC-Hincapie Sportswear Development Cycling Team

Here's what Chris says about his first race of the season:

I've been working on a new type of swim stroke that has me using less energy, but at a higher speed (always the goal, I guess!). From the gun, I had a great start, right in the middle of the fastest guys, out really relaxed and easy--holding my new form. The difference was after about 400 where I can sometimes fade, I still was able to hold a really good pace with no extra effort. Through the first lap, I never felt like I was holding on for dear life or ever out of my comfort zone. I fell into a good small group that wasn't necessarily climbing all over each other. We got out of the water on the first lap and were only down off the leaders like 20 sec or so. On the second lap our group kind of split apart and seemed like we got a bit lost in the sun or something, and I think their lead stretched out a little more (splits still aren't available). Near the last 200m I was really working to hold on, but I hung in ok--still without really burying myself--I was out with two ITU guys and Richie Cunningham from Australia. The leaders were some of the fastest swimmers in the sport, but they hadn't made a huge gap!

Had a great transition and was out onto the bike quickly. I worked up the big hills and rode aggressively through the technical sections out of T1. I hit the flats and fell into a very solid pace. I was able to keep hammering this way for the whole ride and ended up catching the whole field except Cam Dye. The work I've been putting in the last few months (putting in massive miles, and training with members of the BMC Cycling Team) really paid off. We hit the technical section before T2 as a pack of about eight guys, but by the time we were through, I had put a minute on everyone except one athlete from New Zealand. I had an awesome transition, and went off to the run in 2nd place with a minute on the next serious contender. Certainly my best swim/bike showing ever.

Out onto the sandy (a mile or so on the beach) and very hilly course, I fell into a good pace with the intention of trying to catch Cam Dye who had a couple minute lead at that point. Fortunately, the top three men had a mountain bike escort leading through the people, the chickens and the confusing course. Unfortunately, my escort wasn't 100% on the course and ended up leading me the wrong direction for about 40 sec. Once we realized the mistake, I rejoined the run course and my minute lead had disappeared--I was suddenly running right with Manny Huerta, a top prospect for the US Olympic Team. We stayed together, shoulder to shoulder for roughly four miles, but my big effort on the bike and lost time on the run definitely cost me in the heat, and I faded a bit at the end.

I finished with a very strong 4th place at an incredibly competitive international race. I feel very encouraged by my result, knowing that I had probably my best swim/bike combination in my career, and that my run will fall in line as it always does when I put in more speed training as the season winds up. Despite fading a bit at the end, I consider this race my best early season start--really showing I am on the right track for my strongest year yet.

Chris’s next race will be in Miami in two weeks at the nautical South Beach Triathlon. If you are at the event, please look for Chris and cheer him on. You can keep up with Chris this season by following him on Twitter.

As a pro cyclist, a lot of hard work and time on the bike is spent during the winter in preparation for the upcoming racing season. In creating an apparel line, the same type of behind-the-scenes hard work and preparation takes place. Work on our new Spring line began well over a year ago as our design team started with product sketches and technology research. Now after months testing, revisions and prototypes, we’re happy to give you the 2012 Spring Collection.

Product testing this past summer near our factory on the roads outside of Medellin, Colombia. We had Julian Rodas and Janier Acevedo from team the Gobernación de Antioquia - Antioquia Indeportes to help us.

Here’s some highlights of my favorite pieces from the line.

	The Gran Premio Kit Our team has taken the race-proven custom Velocity line worn by the BMC Racing Team and sublimated it with Hincapie racing graphics. It’s a great way to experience our custom race clothing without having to be on a team. And it’s available for men and women in several different colors.
	T2 Triathlon Collection Just like the Gran Premio kit, we’ve taken our successful custom triathlon clothing and made it available for men and women in our retail line. This is the same gear Gwen Jorgensen, Anna Cleaver, Ben Collins, Chris Foster and Drew Scott will be competing in at the pro level.
	Shorts made with coldblack® Our black shorts this year use an amazing technology called coldblack. In a nutshell, the coldblack tech causes the black fabric of our cycling shorts to reflect sunlight the way a white fabric would. It gets blasted hot in the summertime here in South Carolina, and the coldblack really helps. If you want to try out coldblack, start with the Power shorts for men and women.
	Women’s Jet Jersey This jersey really captures what our brand is all about. It not only looks great with its black and white color scheme, plus it’s made with super comfy fabrics that feel great to the touch. Sorry guys, this is a women’s only design.

I’m really proud of the new line and I hope that you will have many great rides in the gear this spring.