Opinion/Analysis

Fifty riders braved the inclement weather for Campy's annual toy drive and ride this past Saturday in Carlsbad.

First, apologies are in order to Jeff Shupe, SRAM’s chief operating officer, and John Nedeau, SRAM’s director for OEM sales. They had taken a couple of hours out of a hectic schedule last Friday to take me through the company’s factory.

While in Taiwan last week, TAITRA arranged a two-day schedule of factory visits in and around Taichung, as well as Tainan City. We made stops at JD Components, Ideal, Kind Shock, CST/Maxxis, SR Suntour and Rikulau—a new domestic supplier for titanium and steel complete bikes.

Over in Taiwan for a preview of the Taipei Cycle Show as well as to visit a handful of factories in Taichung.

Thanks for all the great stocking stuffers we received from everyone.

For Dave Neiswander, director of World Bicycle Relief's Africa operations, WBR's microfinance program speaks to his financial background. A former investment banker in Washington, D.C., who moved to Zambia three years ago, Neiswander said combining the best practices of microfinance with quality bicycles is a way to spread millions of bicycles across Africa.

Just wrapped up a whirlwind tour of Bay Area bike companies with BRAIN sales guy Peter Kirkpatrick. We made good use of our two days—started in Marin County, cruised over to the East Bay before heading south to Santa Cruz and Scotts Valley, then made our way back up through San Jose and San Carlos. Along the way, we saw folks from Swobo, Marin Mountain Bikes, WTB, Panaracer, Bianchi, Ibis, Blackburn, Giro, Wordlock, Look and Ritchey.

Today we traveled by bus to Keembe, a rural community about an hour and 15 minutes away from Lusaka. The area has special meaning for WBR because it's where they tested bikes sold in Zambia before designing their own. F.K. Day said they saw a lot of bike failures there. It's also one of the areas WBR has been in the longest. They've been on the ground there for over two years as part of the RAPIDS program to provide World Vision caregivers with a bicycle.

I started out writing about the actual Ride for the Roses—which has now evolved into the Livestrong Challenge. After observing the events of last weekend, I realized that “it’s not about the Ride.” The weekend is a “gathering of the tribe,” or in Lance’s words, “the army.” This is Lance’s “Obligation of the Cure.”