Goldstream Sports Fairbanks Alaska

Dirt Rag Magazine has a few folks  out riding Trek bikes in France for the 2011 Trek Product Launch. Here’s an article by Justin Steiner about shiny new bikes and how much he likes them

In my one long and grueling (at times) ride aboard the Fuel EX 9.9—top of the line model with SRAM XX parts—I came away pretty darn impressed with both the efficient pedaling and technical capability of the EX. I haven’t ridden a bike this light—something like 23 lbs. with pedals—in ages and had forgotten just how wonderful they to pedal.

When the trail turned technical and/or pointed downhill the EX continued to be an eager player. The combination of the DRCV rear shock and the new fork tuning certainly seems to play well together, though I hesitate to base too much of my opinion on a fork that really hadn’t even had a chance to break in yet. Full Article

from Bicycle Retailer & Industry News:

The United States Senate has passed the U.S. Manufacturing Enhancement Act of 2010, better known as the miscellaneous tariff bill, or MTB (H.R. 4380).

Bicycle companies will benefit from lower tariffs on tubing, speedometers, road and hydraulic disc brakes and certain rims and cranks.

“This bill will make it cheaper and easier for American small businesses and manufacturers to make their products here at home and compete around the world,” said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) “This legislation is exactly the kind of smart, targeted relief U.S. companies need to create and maintain good-paying American jobs.”

As reported, the bill restores duty relief for a cornucopia of sporting goods, including bicycle parts, outdoor footwear, snow sports equipment, volleyballs, rubber basketballs, leather basketballs, synthetic basketballs, and golf bags that expired on Jan. 1, 2010. The bill also included several duty suspensions on waterproof breathable footwear, ski and snowboard equipment and footwear.

Read Full Article

TRAIL MAPPING PROGRAM RELEASED FOR PUBLIC USE
A Fairbanks-area trail user recently released a beta version of a program he is working on
called TrailMapper.
This is a web-based trail-mapping program that uses Google Earth and allows
users to add trails. Currently, most of the trails in the program are from interior Alaska,
but the program is set up for use by trail users statewide. As more users contribute trail
data this will become a very useful tool. Alaska Trails, a statewide non-profit trail group,
is helping facilitate development of the program.
To access the program go to: http://www.trailmapper.org
Click the link “Help” for a short tutorial. You’ll be prompted to download the
Google Earth plugin. It’s about 5 megabytes.
Because TrailMapper is in its beta version, it’s critical to give feedback to its
developer, Tom Clark (aksnowbiker@gmail.com). This is a volunteer effort and Tom is
busy with other projects for the summer, so further development and bug fixing is likely
to be delayed.

Many trails are already on the system including the Ester Dome Single Track and the Goldstream Sports Classic Ski Trail.

100 People Donating $100 Needed ASAP

We have an opportunity to increase our original plan for the summer from 5 miles to 6.6 miles but we need more funding. We have flagged the entire 6.6 mile loop but will need to cut the length if we do not receive more funds.  Please donate now. Larger donations are welcome, as are smaller donations.

People interested in donating money to the project should make a donation via PayPay (http://www.alaska-trails.org/get_involved/onlinemembership.html) or send a check to Alaska Trails; P.O. Box 100627; Anchorage, AK 99510. Alaska Trails is a 501(c)(3) non-profit group, so donations are tax deductible.

Volunteers are also still needed for the project. Volunteer work parties are being held Thursday evenings. To be put on the notify list contact Geoffrey Orth (geoffrey.orth@alaska-trails.org). Joel Buth, owner of Goldstream Sports and another organizer of the project, is leading weekday sessions behind the dozer and excavator Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. People interested in helping with those should give Joel a call at 455-6520.

Usually at least once every season Joel goes a little nutty.  We try to appease him with chocolate and epic rides, but usually the only remedy is a good blowout sale!  So, we have slashed prices on select bikes, this includes a rare slash on select comfort bikes, a whole swag of mountain bikes, a ton of Madone road bikes, Triathlon bikes, and even BMX bikes!!

We hope this helps Joel regain his sanity after an amazing early bike season!

We ask you to print out this newsletter and bring it with you with your wish listed bikes marked.  The list will help you better decide on the right bike for you!

Listed are the bike models, sizes, quantities and prices.  Enjoy!

BMX Bikes

Hybrid and Comfort Bikes

Mountain Bikes

Road Bikes

This year I have started going to the BMX track with my kids. Luke is having a blast racing and Nicholas is enjoying riding on practice nights. He will be racing soon as well. I ride and some times race, its a blast.

Every one is welcome and the first night is free.

 Practice nights are on Mondays from 6-8 and races Wednesday 6-8. Helmets, long pants and long sleeves are required.

More information at the Far North BMX Blog

Unfortunately, riders that could not wait until the trail dried out before riding it have in effect vandalized what they love. The trail now has deep wheel gashes in the berms and the water drainages have been backed-up by ruts. It will take many hours of work to fix the damage done to this point.

The trail was built to sustainable standards, meaning that the entire trail was built with a five degree out-slope on the tread, grade reversals, drainages, and other construction methods of preventing erosion. The five degree out-slope is vulnerable to damage, especially during the first year, because the trail has not had enough time to fully harden. When ridden in soft conditions it forms a groove in the line most ridden by users. The water then runs down the groove and erosion becomes a serious problem. The best line, usually the most ridden line, becomes an erosion rut. All areas where this rutting occurs will need to be re-graded if the trail is to last for future riding enjoyment. The repairs will take many hours of hard work and manual labor.

Don’t be a trail vandal! Please stay off the trails until they are dry, and the trail has a chance to harden.

If you have ridden the trail this spring, please come and volunteer with us this summer.  Contact us at Goldstream Sports for days and times of volunteering.  The more help we have, the easier it is to build and repair the trail, and everyone can enjoy a fun and beautiful trail.  Thank you.

I am attending a meeting this morning to look at plans for a Down Hill Bike Park at Birch Hill. If all goes as planed it will make use of the ski lifts to get bikes to the top and provide gravity courses for those who want to launch themselves off the top of the hill over jumps, drops and more. More info will be coming soon.

The Ester Dome
Singletrack project just got another financial boost.
Alaska Trails was awarded $5,000 from Bikes Belong to help build the singletrack
project on the flanks of Ester Dome. The money will go toward construction of another 5-mile
loop that will encircle a 3-mile loop and half-mile loop built last summer. This is the first grant
Bikes Belong has awarded to a project in Alaska.
The Ester Dome project features the first singletrack trail built in the Interior to sustainable
standards. It has received two Recreational Trails Program grants and a lot of local support,
including from Alaska Trails, Goldstream Sports, Fairbanks Cycle Club, National Park
Service – Rivers Trails Conservation Program, Gold Hill Imported Beer & Fine Wines, Golden
Valley Electrical Association, and Running Club North. It also received a substantial donation
from Ben Barton, a local trail user.
While the project’s singletrack trails have been built with intermediate level mountain
bikers in mind, they are open to non-motorized use and have attracted hikers, runners, and
snowshoers.
In granting the award, Bikes Belong noted that the singletrack trails will help reduce user
conflicts on the motorized multi-use doubletrack trails that already criss-cross Ester Dome.
Bikes Belong, based in Boulder, Colorado, is sponsored by the U.S. bicycle industry
with the goal of putting more people on bicycles more often. It has nearly 400 members—
bicycle suppliers and retailers combining resources to improve bicycling in America.
For more information the group see: www.bikesbelong.org/.