A Week in Vegas...Interbike/Cross Vegas/US Crits Finals...Photo-Cycle.com Pics

Interbike glitz and glam, yawn
The Marzocchi girl kidnapped photo eddie, was it against his will????


Our first of the BIG post Interbike events of the weekend...CROSS VEGAS. This event drew a metric $hitton of people maybe...not sure if that's official but it felt like it. The whole event has huge, huge amounts of energy. Lance's unretirement & attendance threw the event off the hook! What a field of riders & crazed fans, VEGAS STYLE!
Of course, Elvis was on the scene. Every scene, he event changed on the DPA RV....turns out he also loves Dales Pale Ale!
Jen Gersbach rocks the new DPA/Spot skinsuit for the Industry Cup race. Girl throws down & beat a good portion of the men while rocking the Spot Brand Single.
Katie Compton got her cross season off to a blazing start with a win over a very strong womens field.
The Industry Cup, what a beutiful re-introduction to cross racing.
Lance finished his epic day with a 22nd finish. P.S. those cross specialists are fast!
Fashion tips from Old Man Michael Vigers????
Euro pro Florian Vogel leads Ryan Trebon, Thomas Frischknecht, and Todd Wells on a slight dowhill here. This was Frischknecht's last race before his retirement, and he placed a respectble 5th amongst a very strong field. Trebon would go on to throw down a mean attack in the next to last lap and win the race. In the background was the hot spot of the night, the Dales Pale Ale VIP area.
One more from my camera...I don't have a big time flash but it was cool to see Lance race hard from the front row.

Thursday night we pinned it again...broad sliding into Mandelay Bay & throwin' down another 100+ MPH party at the USA Crits Finals. Hilton Clarke stayed hot & the event was SMOKIN'! Under the backdrop of Mandelay Bay & the strip the Dale's Pale Ale RV became a hot spot to catch the backstrech of the race.
The USA Crit Finals, was a one of a kind event. Metal barricades lined the entire twisting course, and was mostly packed with people 2-4 deep in areas.
The Dale's Pale Ale RV was a popular unofficial vip area for prime viewing.
The USA Crit was LIT UP, and had a jumbo tron with coverage from multiple cameras on course.
The crew straight rockin the DPA rig in Vegas.
Yep, The crit finals had the umbrella girls..mmm..Vegas!
Hilton Clarke had his Toyota/United teammate Ivan Stedic pull him through the next to last two laps. When Stedic pulled off, Clarke punched it through the first corner to lead most of the last lap and handily out corner and out sprint everyone else for the win.

We kept the tour rollin' with great riding, oktoberfest Durango style & a skankin good time at Ska brewery's grand opening for their new digs. Catch you with more from our own Picture Rock trail opening and just a bit more from Vegas tomorrow.

Dirt Demo Quicky

What a whirlwind of neon,bikes and beer during our first trip to Vegas for the cycling industry's biggest show. With all the bike porn that comes out of the week in Vegas I figured i'd post some of the personality that tends to be overlooked. It's a quick little group of shots here late night but keep the channel right here for more photo's from us & of course the real deal photos of Photo-cycle.com
Colorado's own dare devil Keith Darner showing the goods.
The Spot Brand Bikes & Maverick area had consistent traffic & a few brew.
Delly's gettin down & dirty so you could ride the Gates Carbon Drive System aboard a Spot Bike.
Dale & Jeremy hittin the Boulder City singletrack.
Our newest superstar Meg shows the what Oskar Blues has in mind.
Chris King get's the eats ready for his post show dinner.
Chopper & Conroy at the Chris King gathering.
That's a wrap...

...what did we do after the show...


all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

Jackson Kayaks takes DPA to Gauley Festival this weekend

If you're heading to this year's Gauley Festival in W.V. stop in at our Lyons Outdoor Games buddies and grab a Dale's Pale Ale. The Jackson crew will be handing out our river ready craft beer in a can as well as doing raffles and merchandise giveaways all throughout the weekend. Check out their website HERE for everything Jackson.

H O P S

We have new video footage on our Oskar Blues YouTube page, including updates from last month’s DNC events. Get a peek at these lighthearted reports HERE.

We printed up some special posters for our events during the Democratic National Convention, they were, uh, inspired by Barrack Obama's iconic HOPE poster below.

These almost-as-iconic HOPS posters were a hit during DNC week and have gained some eager supporters of their own.
Want one for your wall? Hit THIS LINK and grab a print-ready file and print away.
Or order the printed version in pairs (a minimum of two) at our Gear section and we'll send 'em to you for $7.00 per pair.

The Fall Classic - Series Champions in OUR House

The Pro Women's #1 plate resting in the Dale's Pale Ale/Spot Brand Bikes tent.

The Mountain States Cup Series threw down a classic event to wrap up one hell-of-a series. The Breckenridge Fall Classic has a real deal classic feel, 2 days of racing ending with a 28 mile epic loop. The endurance crew came out in big numbers & with a big thurst to support Maverick Sports reincarnation of the Fall Classic. The weekend went off with perfect weather, good racing and that unmistakeably energy of a series final. In addition to the great vibe & energy of a series final the Dale's Pale Ale/Spot Brand team had a little extra juice crowning 2 series overall champions. What a great season we had sharing great riding experiences with truely good people over the best family of canned beers on the planet. Thanks to all of you who came out to support love on two wheels.
Jennifer Smith doubled on the weekend with 2 major objectives on her calendar. An extra shout of good luck at Xterra National & World Championships to her & Brian.
Erin Huck of Tokyo Joes rides to a 4th place finish in the Fall Classic. She had a consistent season to finish 3rd in the pro womens series.
JG had another consistant weekend wrapping up the Overall Pro Women's Series Championship. Congrats girl!
Chelsea McGowan kills it on her single to win the Women's Mountain States Cup series singlespeed overall title.
A break through year with a 3rd at the 24 hour solo world championships, 3rd at the Marathon National Championships, Jen G takes home the #1 plate and overall endurance series for the pro women!
Garmin Chipotle pro roadie Colby Pierce showed up to have a go at mtn bike racing, Mtn States Cup cross country style. His 12th place gives our top racers some real credibility!
DPA tall man Travis Lukens powers his Spot Brand belt drive onto Boreas Pass Rd and eventually a 4th place in the singlespeed class.
The beer guy chasing Charlie Hayes over 28 miles of good Breckenridge race course.
Charlie Hayes continued his legendary singlespeed ways winning another one on his way to collecting the MSC SS title.

Thanks again to everyone for sharing such a great season with us...with a tear I say good bye & HELLO CYCLOCROSS SEASON!

WORD!

Gravity...its over

Kids just want to race, really. The stoke coming from these groms is amazing. How could you not get excited with a view like this before dropping in?

In a flash of fun the Mountain States Cup gravity events have come to an end as unexpectedly & loudly as the flash of lighting that struck ground & started a small fire just hundreds of yards away from the Sol Visgta expo. 4 days of practice runs & racing at the 2009 National Championship location concluded a great season of gravity racing. Props to the Mountain States Cup for pioneering the G3 format & allowing descending folks more racing options than ever before. Because of the foresight, execution & work with quality venues the MSC series has elevated the game in gravity racing here in the Rocky Mountain region as well as the national scene in general. Here are some images from Photo-Cycle.com, man we've done a lot of racing this year...eddies been shooting nearly of all them. Thanks for the late nights falling asleep on the keyboard brother.

Jacqueline Harmony kept the warp factor high all weekend to ride to a 2nd place overall in the Pro Womens class.
Bitterbrush Cycles Sam Powers learning to rail like a freight train in the extremely competitive and talented Junior X class.Pinner and winner Aaron Gwin from the Yeti/Fox world cup team showed up to smoke the whole field by 10 seconds on Saturday. Gwinny shows top notch form here as he sails over a 35 foot gap jump.
The Silky Johnson may be one of the funnest berm filled runs in all of mtn biking. With an estimated 90 berms, it's easy to get your carve on like this racer. Notice the absence of a chain on this bike. All of the experts and pros elected to run the course chainless for an extra bit of bragging rights and most importantly fun!

Who says fashion and pink are not in with the downhill race crew!
Instead of the typical dh'er braaap, Abigail Hippley let's out a hen sort of baaah cackle as her front tire comes within millimeters of the bridge coping on the Silky Johnson.
Go Ride team racer Naish Ulmer launches another huge jump on Buc Nasty.
Brian Buell setting up to hop in, out, and then over the short bridge on Sunday's chainless Silky Johnson race course.
Aaron Gwinn sends it off the "Thunder Huck" a good 20 feet on Monday's Buc Nasty Course. He would go on to win another race and the overall for the weekend.

One more time...the MSC has upped everyone's game in 2008-PROPS. As the summer officially rides away from us we celebrate the Endurance finals this weekend in Breckenridge for the legendary Fall Classic. Hope to see you on the trail...if not, maybe Downstairs at Eric's for a can of Dale's Pale Ale.

With a tear we say goodbye to the 2008 Gravity crew, damn that's heavy.

We will be hosting the 2nd annual Osktoberfest this weekend in our own little Lyons, CO brew-pub.
We’ll have bands from 2:30 PM until closing, the music is free all day and night, the lineup includes Velvet Elvis, The Dangerfields, Buckskin Stallion and Ash Ganley. We’ll also have a $10 all-you-can-eat buffet of great German-style food, from brats and apple-glazed pork roast to Bavarian-style barbecue.
Wash it down with our new Osktoberfest lager. It’s a German-style treat with a silky body, 5.8% ABV, and satisfying flavors of lightly toasted grains and elegant hops. We craft it with hefty amounts of Munich and North American malt, English Crystal and Melanoidin malts, and Northern Brewer and German-grown Opal hops. It’s a divinely quaffable fall beer that'll make you want to oompah all night long

Here are a few other events we'll be playing the OB role in this weekend, enjoy!
Sept 5 -Emerald Coast Beer Festival
-Denver Brew at the Zoo
Sept 6- Crested Butte Fall Festival of Beer and Chili Cook-off
-Scottish Irish Festival, Estes Park, CO
-SkirtChaser 5K Denver, CO race
-Longmont, CO Octoberfest Sprint Triathlon