Events

Registration for the Brompton US Championship • 2013 has been open almost a month now, and—as you can see above—the competition is all over the map. We are glad to see that many of the Minnesota-based competitors who took part in last year's race have chosen to return and that so many others from across the country have decided to make the trip to join us here in Minneapolis.

Many of you have told us you've already begun your training programs: ranging from getting out on your Brompton to practicing your Windsor.

If you don't yet see your home city city on the map, we have good news for you... there are still a handful of FREE T-shirts remaining when you use the special coupon code available at bromptonuschampionship.com.

We can't wait to see all of you at the starting line on June 23!

p.s. If you're not yet a Brompton owner, you might be interested to know that the wait time for special orders is just 5 weeks as of April 29, 2013. So, not only will your Brommie be here in time for race day, you'll even have time to get a bit of training in ahead of time.

If you've been reading about our upcoming Tiny Bike Shop Concert this Saturday (and the launch of the much-awaited Boda Boda from Yuba), you may be wondering—What's all the buzz about an Urban Bee Hive Tour? Why bees? A little context may be helpful. Kristy is the Owner, Co-Founder of the Community Bees on Bikes, Head Beekeeper, and Biker for the Beez Kneez. She does it all. And, she does it all by bike.

The Beez Kneez LLC was established in December 2010 as Minneapolis' first bicycle-powered honey distribution business. Kristy's background is in beekeeping, education, and farming and she's a graduate of our own University of Minnesota. We met Kristy through this year's Powderhorn 24, where we fell in love with her mission and her m.o. The mission of the Beez Kneez has two parts: To deliver the sweet people of Minneapolis local, raw and unprocessed honey in a sustainable manner, and to educate and raise awareness about the honeybee's vital role in our food system. After a moment or two of talking with Kristy, you'll see bees and bikes just make sense together:

• Beekeeping with bikes is lighter on the environment
• Minneapolis is one of the best cities in the nation for commuting by bike
• In the midst of health epidemics like diabetes, bicycles serve to promote a healthier lifestyle
• And, in the words of The Beez Kneez, "We love bees, bikes, riding bikes dressed like bees, and dressing our bikes like bees!"

As you can see from the map above, The Beez Kneez has hives just about everywhere you'd want to bike in the very center of Minneapolis. It's a true urban operation, and pedal-friendly at that. Hence, our Urban Bee Hive Tour by bike with you and yours. We hope to see you there. This will be a family-friendly, bee-friendly, cargo bike-friendly ride. So bring your bike, bring a friend, and get buzzing with us this Saturday at 2:00 p.m.

(Remember: each participant in our Urban Bee Hive Tour will receive two tickets with which to enter our Boda Boda giveaway, to take place at 8:15 p.m. following Saturday's Tiny Bike Shop Concert. Must be present to win. Stop into the shop between now and Saturday for details.)

This post has been brought to you by the letter B.

All Photos © The Beez Kneez. All Right Reserved.

Join us Saturday September 29th for a full day of bike goodness at Perennial Cycle, culminating in our 6th Tiny Bike Shop Concert in partnership with Banjo Brothers and a drawing to win a FREE step-through Boda Boda Cargo Cruiser from Yuba.

We welcome back Brianna Lane, who'll be playing with a full band this time around. Last fall Brianna rocked this Tiny Bike Shop with friend and fellow cyclist Peter Mulvey as a part of their annual pedal-powered tour. This coming Saturday we're excited to host Brianna Lane and the Navigators Club, who you may have seen around town at the Amsterdam Bar & Hall, the Dakota, and the always bike-friendly Aster Café. As those of us who've seen her know, Brianna Lane is a gifted singer/songwriter in true Americana form. She writes and performs on an acoustic guitar as well as a banjo. The Star Tribune's Jim Walsh calls Brianna “…a star in the making. She’s poised, ambitious, a great writer, a soul singer of the first order, and an accomplished guitarist.”

The concert starts at 7 p.m., but we'll be celebrating the launch of Yuba's new Boda Boda Cargo Cruiser from open to close. We'll kick off the day at 9 a.m. with Boda Boda test rides open to all. Try one out for a chance to win one at the end of the night! You'll have many chances to get your name in the drawing for the Boda Boda step-through starting right now:

• Test Ride the Boda Boda - Earn 1 ticket
• RSVP for the Event on Banjo Brothers' Facebook Page - Earn 1 ticket
• Show us that you LIKE Perennial Cycle on Facebook the night of the event - Earn 1 ticket
• Participate in our Urban Bee Hive Tour with Beez Knees - Earn 2 tickets
• Join us for the Kidical Mass Ride - Earn 1 ticket
• Get your picture taken trying on a Walz Cap between 5 and 7 p.m.  - Earn 1 ticket
• Put pen to paper and tell us how you'd use a Boda Boda in your every day life - Earn 1 ticket

See below for the day's full schedule.

Celebrate Cycling with Demos, Rides, Food, Music & a Chance to win your very own Boda Boda!

• 9:00 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Test Rides // Try out the Brand New Boda Boda from Yuba during the morning and early afternoon hours
• 2-3:30 p.m. Group Ride // Join us for an Urban Bee Hive Tour with Kristy of the Beez Knees.
• 4-5 p.m. Kidical Mass Ride // Families and kids of all ages (that means you!) will gather at 3:30 and take off at 4:00 for a Kidical Mass Ride around Lake Calhoun.
• 5-7 p.m. Red Wagon Pizza + Vendor Booths // Grab a bite and chat with local business owners about how they use Cargo Bikes every day!
• 7-8:15 p.m. Tiny Bike Shop Concert // Brianna Lane and The Navigators Club take the stage for a rollicking concert in an incredibly intimate setting.
• 8:15 p.m. BODA BODA Drawing // There'll be lots of opportunities to enter to win a Yuba Boda Boda during the day. Must be present to win.

***Post-show pub crawl sponsored by Artisanal Imports and Banjo Brothers***

There's been a whiff of fall in the air this week! Here at the Shopcast, we've been talking Back to School; tomorrow marks the start of the Minnesota State Fair; and the Brompton World Championship (BWC) came to a close on Sunday—capping off Summer 2012, which began for us in earnest with the Brompton US Championship & Open Streets here in Minneapolis on June 10. We were proud to send two Minnesota-based US Champions to the BWC, and we were ecstatic to learn how well both Susan and Wallace did at Blenheim Palace this past Sunday. We hope you'll enjoy these photos from the Brompton World Championship 2012 and stories of the event, as told by Susan and Wallace themselves.

It was a magical day at Blenheim Palace on Sunday. We got there early and the place was buzzing. Tons of people and a big expo all set up and everybody jazzed. There was a small photo shoot with various Nat'l Champs — it was fun to chat and meet Japanese, Korean, Austrian, Mexican and Swedish racers. We were in and out of London a few times on the train during rush hour and and the number of Bromptons was amazing! —Wallace

I ended up wearing the linen US flag handkerchief that [Best-Dressed Judge] John Meegan from Top Shelf gave to me on my helmet instead of in the pocket and people cheered for "The American." That was Fun! —Susan

The day was so hot and sunny that they made a special ruling that jackets were not required. I had a good race [Wallace is being modest here, he came in 15th WOW! out of hundreds of racers]! There were 700+ racers in 6 waves, 2 laps on narrow roads, 22 minutes flat out. It was a combination of a sprint, time trial and road race on narrow, winding, rolling course around a 300 year old palace. —Wallace

England was fantastic. As for the race results, here's how I did: I won 1st place female for the Sprint and I also got 1st place female for the "Brompton Treble"!  The Brompton Treble means having the best average time out of those who participated in all 3 events: biking the Marathon's 26.2 miles, the World Championship's 9 miles, and the Sprint's 300 meters. The prize for the "Brompton Treble" was a trophy of a Brompton crankset and pedals; it looks quite solid and it's super cute. I also got a free night at Stokes Place (which looks like a palace!)... We'll have to use it when we return for the Brompton Race next year! I can't wait! —Susan

Way to go, Susan & Wallace! We can't wait for next year, either! You can read more about the Brompton World Championship 2012 on in Brompton's BWC recap and see the full results here. Don't miss the full album of photos on Brompton's Facebook page.

All images © Anna Batchelor for Brompton Bicycle Ltd.