Sacramento CX Series #4

Today, we finally had a CX race with perfect conditions! Rain, cold, a little wind... it was what CX races are supposed to be like. Pics will be posted on our Flickr site soon. go to www.teammadcat.com to see them!

Papa

The Year of Trials!

About 6-7 years ago, I got into a MTB trials riding craze and a few of us would go out and bounce around on our bikes a few times/week. We would go downtown, or to San Francisco quite a few times and look for things to play and practice on. This phase got me really interested in biking skills and how important they are to overall mountain biking and cycling in general. It was during this period of time that I started thinking about teaching skills and started a mental frame-work for how that could be worthwhile occupation. It wasn't until a few years later that I was layed off from CSUS and was forced to put into action, a plan that would involve teaching people to ride, and yes... a job. Long story-short.... I couldn't make it work and came across an opportunity to start a bike shop and quickly switched focus and opened Mad Cat. "The Skills Factory" had to get moved to the back-back burner while we started Mad Cat. Now, almost 5 years later... my passion for trials riding is coming back. I'm still a beginner on the trials bike, but it's soooo much fun and rewarding, not to mention a great workout. So... Why am I babbling? Because I have deemed 2009 the year of trials. I just purchased a 26" trials-specific frame and I want to ride it as much as possible this coming year. For those who are not familiar with trials, let me educate you a little. It's referred to as "Observed Trials" and it's typically a competition to navigate a bike (modified) through obstacles without putting a foot down (dabbing). There are trials-specific bikes/frames out there for competition, or you can modify an existing MTB. I don't plan to compete at all, I just want to play.

Here's a great video of a Ryan Leech, a popular trials rider, playing around in an urban environment. I'll never be this good, but it sure is fun trying...

If you have questions about trials, or are interested in getting into it, come talk to us... "2009 is the year of Trials!"

Papa Cat

Holiday Cheer

Holiday cheer is everywhere.. Today we sold a bunch of kids bikes for Xmas, and quite a few new bikes for people just wanting to buy themselves something fun. The holiday season always seems to help people treat themselves as well as buying gifts for others. "I'm treating myself to an early Xmas gift" is what I hear all the time throughout the month of December. My personal thought is that A) people get a little down when the weather gets a little cold and foggy, so buying something new for yourself is a great way to make the sun shine. and B) Advertisements are running rampant right now inspiring others to spend their hard earned dollars. In any case, we love seeing people getting excited about biking in all facets of the sport.

Happy Holidays and keep your spin on!

-Papa Cat

MTBR Best Bike Shop Award!

We have earned the reward as Best Bike Shop for MTBR, 2008! I had no idea that so many people had given us rave reviews. We do our best to be honest, friendly and thorough, so I guess it's paid off! Thank you for taking the time to notice our efforts!

Click here for MTBR

New Web and more!

We've finally gone live with our new site and I'm fairly proud of it. I've added forums, classifieds, events, products/prices and lots of fun cycling related info. In addition to that, we just brought on Felt Bicycles for the 2009 season. It's going to be an exciting year with new offerings, products and people. Stay tuned!

Traveling'

These past few months have been crazy. Sick family, tradeshows,
vacation and funerals. Erin and I have spent a lot of time going
south, east and everything in between. Somehow we've fit some rides
and races in here and there but the chaos is taking its toll. We need
to chill for a spell. Looking forward to a few weeks of downtime and
good ol fashioned familytime (and more riding of course). :-)

Papa chaos

Sent from my iPhone

The grand hurrah

Erin and a friend at the top of hurrah pass in Moab. We finished with
Jacobs ladder and Amasaback. Epic day!

Reset button- pushed

-mike