Feeding Your Cycling Addiction #4

It’s only about a week away from the shortest day of the year … and then the days will start to get longer give us more time to do our favourite thing … ride our bikes!

I am writing this at about 6am … just got back from gym where my friend Robert helped me to keep my body ready for when the long riding days come … on my way back from gym my car showed it as 7 degrees. No wonder our night rides are not attracting huge numbers. You must be a true cycling addict to go out at night in temperature below 10.

Our official shop opening has come and gone and the feedback has been wonderful. A big thank you to all of you who made the effort to join us on this important day. Sandra Sailer’s presentation also stimulated much discussion and we will have her around again soon to talk to us more about mental preparedness.

This coming weekend a group of us are going to Port Edward to take part in the Sardine Classic and we are staying at Clearwater Trails for Jan to take us across to Transkei on Monday where he has build an awesome trail of around 35 km. Accommodation at Clearwater for Sunday evening is all taken, but you are welcome to join us Monday morning for our Transkei jaunt. We aim to leave Clearwater at around 8h00 on Monday morning to be back around lunch time …

BIKES

Just too remind you, we stock the following bikes:

·         Merida www.merida-bikes.com

·         Cannondale www.cannondale.com

·         NINER www.ninerbikes.com

·         Ellsworth www.ellsworthbikes.com

·         Titus www.titusti.com

·         Ibis www.ibiscycles.com

 

This month it is Cannondale’s turn to get the spot light.

This piece below I took straight of their website … please take the time to read this. It is great and one of the main reasons we have chosen to represent this brand. Cannondale is arguably one of the most innovative and sought after bikes in the world!

Our Philosophy.

We fight to be different... not for the sake of being different but for the sake of being the best. For us, like you, it's the secure click of a cleat meeting its pedal.

It's the first pedal stroke with anticipation of a long ride churning within.
Its the first breath inhaled.
It's the precise moment just before reaching the apex of a long climb, and the exhilaration of conquering it.
It's the thrill of going down...fast.
It's finally getting through that technical section and then nailing it every time thereafter.
It's the "endo", the road rash, the challenge, the thrill.
It's staring at convention and then disrupting it all to create that unique, spectacular moment in time called your ride.
It's when you realize that between you and your bike, there is nothing you can not accomplish.

For us at Cannondale, it's building, testing and rebuilding; making it better in the process, never settling for "good enough". It's knowing it, verses guessing it and using the world's greatest athletes to prove it. It's having such high standards and expectations in how we want product to perform that we are relentless in our pursuit.

It's not about superfluous welds or fancy etchings, it's about performance, innovation, superior product. Does it contribute to the ride? Does it do what we want it to do? When we step back and look at our work, the answer is easy... it does, and we feel it everyday, knowing you'll feel it too.

Our Mission.

"Our mission is to create innovative, quality products that inspire cyclists around the world." To succeed in our mission:

• We strive to exceed the expectations of our consumers, retailers and business partners.
• We believe our people drive our success and act accordingly.
• We work together as one global team.
• We act with respect, responsibility and integrity.
• We produce a stream of innovative, quality products.
• We devise flexible manufacturing processes that enable us to deliver those innovative, quality products to the market quickly and then back them with excellent customer service.
• We limit our distribution to the best specialty retailers in the world.
• We stay lean, remain competitive and entrepreneurial.
• We promote from within whenever possible.
• We concentrate on detail, because the last 5% is often the difference between success and failure.
• We continuously improve everything.
• We govern our every deed by what is ‘just and right’.

The History.

1971 – Cannondale started in a crowded loft above a pickle factory.

1983 – Launched its 1^st touring bike

1984 – 1^st Mountain bike with aluminium frames that got the industry to sit up and take notice

BUYING A BIKE FROM US

·         If you buy a bike from us and you don’t like it, bring it back and we will get you unto something more to your liking. We have a 14 days return policy.

·         If you buy a custom bike from us, you have the above benefit, as well as you will never have to pay for labour on your bike again.

ACTIVITIES

14/15 June:     Sardine Festival and Clearwater Ride (See above)

20 June:         LIFE-IN-MOTION 5 hour MTB enduro – Unfortunately we had to cancel this event as our sponsor did not come through for us. We are however still going to have a fun afternoon at Bushview MTB Park and will have all our demos there with some spot prizes. Come and join us for a relaxing Saturday afternoon of MTB fun followed by a braai.

27 June:               Giba Gorge Challenge

28 June:               Glengarry Classic (brrrrr)

5 July:                   Indlovu Super Classic (This is a great event for the whole family)

11 July:                 African Champs (This event is taking place at Mankele in Mpumalanga … it is an unbelievable place to ride your mountain bike and it is definitely our aim to have a shop weekend here!)

Every Tuesday: NIGHT RIDES

We leave at 17h00 and are back at 19h00. Riding the Cedara Forrest at night is magical! If you want to join us, but don’t have a strong enough light, drop us a line and we will see what we can do to get you to experience the magic of night riding.

Every Wednesday: MORNING RIDES

Leaving our shop at 8h30 … for those of you lucky enough to manage your own time. This ride is for the social minded … come-on, spoil yourself. Take a mid-week break, come and ride with us.

Just a reminder, we have a number of demo bikes available. Please give us a call to book your ride if you have always dreamt of owning a bike that your friends can drool over.

We are working on our website and if everything goes according to plan it should be up by the time you receive the next “feeding your addiction” newsletter. We are planning something extraordinary with our website and believe it is going to become one of the most visited sites if you are truly addicted to cycling … but more about that next time.

See you at Clearwater!!

Johann and Gordon