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Well, just as I anticipated Curt Goodrich Bicycle did very well at the NAHBS. The CG team cyclocross bike won “Best Off-Road Bicycle” at the event. Way to go Curt!

From NAHBS Website

I stopped by Curt's studio yesterday to hear tales. Curt said the event was a smashing success, and had him hopping all weekend. It was exciting to get some much deserved recognition for years of fine craftsmanship. And good to start growing the  Curt Goodrich brand. It sounds like Curt had a great time, but is ready to get back to work (as any good Minnesotan would be). He's building some great bikes and starting his own cyclocross team. Here are some photos I took yesterday, mostly of the winning bike:

One of my friends once commented that Curt Goodrich is the best frame builder you've never heard of. Be enlightened friends, that is changing. Curt has always built a few bikes on the side, but until recently he's spent most of his time building all the U.S. Rivendell bicycles. But now he's broke away from Riv so he can concentrate on Curt Goodrich Bicycles. Lucky for us, Curt's right here in Minneapolis. In fact, Perennial Cycle has partnered with CG for nearly 10 years now. He does our S & S coupler installations as well as our more involved frame repairs.

Well, this weekend Curt Goodrich Bicycles will be displaying some beautiful work at the North American Handbuilt Bicycle Show (NAHBS). In the past few weeks, Curt's been by the shop several times so we've had a chance to see the progress on his pieces for the NAHBS. Wow! He has some beautiful bikes. His studio is just a couple blocks from our warehouse space in NE Minneapolis, so I stopped by the other day to snap a few pics for you. Here's an All-Rounder frame in the paint booth. Sweet bike. NAHBS is a pretty awesome show. While I've not attended yet, I have seen many awesome and inspiring bikes through various galleries online. The event starts today, so in the next few days we'll see a lot of spectacular stuff in the blogosphere -- and Curt's frames will be among the best.

Lucky for us, the largest distributor of cycling parts and accessories in the country is located in the 'burbs just south of Minneapolis. Every day we see the advantages of getting speedy delivery of bits from Quality Bike Products (QBP) for our customers. On Sunday, we saw the true beauty of QBP being in our back yard was so we could ride our bikes to their annual trade event, Frostbike.

Thanks to a late start, the temperature was up to 5º when we hit the road at 10am. (They do call it Frostbike, afterall.) The roads were mostly clear and the Sunday morning traffic was fairly light. I realize not everyone would have enjoyed this, but we're all native midwesterners. It rocked.

The event was packed with dealers, vendors and famous industry types from all over the world (Greg Lemond walked past at one point). Being that Surly is owned by QBP, the Surly booth was a happening place. Civia and Salsa (also Q brands) were showing off their shiny new product lines. We got to see the new QBP brand for '09,  All-City Cycles. This brand is built around a steel frame that is track legal, but is designed to be sold as a hip city bike. The Minneapolis skyline is in the All-City logo as well as lasercut from the rear dropouts. Too cool.

After geeking out on the bike goods and having an awesome lunch (thanks, Steve) we jumped back on the bikes for the 16 mile ride back to the shop. Today, I love my job.

Here's a little video of the gang at Frostbike '09:

Ride details:
-Departing Temp: 5º
-Bikes: 1 Pugsley, 1 Bauer fixed gear road bike,1 Raleigh fixed commuter, one mountain bike and my handmade steel recumbent commuter
-Technical Issues: 1 flat tire (Sara!)
-Mileage: 32 round trip
-Best Schwag: Sigma Hiro Taillight

Peter Eland, bike culture aficionado and editor of VeloVision, has published eight years of top-notch articles. The issue with Dale and Mary has everything from bikes in Phnom Pennhe, to reviews from Cycle 2008 (the major bike show in the UK), some bike reviews, a bike light test, an interesting article on how people pedal their children to school and other eclectic cycle stories.

Velo Vision Issue #32 Article

We're always excited and inspired when the new VeloVision arrives at the shop -- every issue is filled with great pictures and stories that you just don't see anywhere else. In fact, we're so fond of VeloVision that we're the U.S. subscription agent! We also stock back issues. Check out VeloVision on our website here: www.perennialcycle.com/velovision

You can see Velo Vision here: Velo Vision Website

Check out the Gallery of some bike rides Dale and Mary have been out on: