MY FAV SHOPS OF THE NORCAL TOUR....

We stopped at ALOT of bike shops on our trip through Norcal and Nevada. They all were great, some were greater. And it's tough to decifer if anyone was actually "the best", but here are a few that stood out including the shop that went far and beyond to help me out in a tough situation on the road. Here are my favs.

Best MTB Culture and vibe, Yuba Expeditions in Downieville. These guys wreak of MTBism. From building sick trails to having a great shop vibe they are true stewards of the MTB world....with a sick line of rentals as well.

Best roadie bling shop was in Sausalito just north of San Fran. A Bicycle Odyssey has got a MASSIVE collection of high end road bikes. You can sit in the shop for hours just checkin it all out. Alot of Euro trash sweeeet rides as well as custom built beauts.

The shop that seemd to me to be the most excited to be in the biz and who truly promote the cycling culture and lifestyle through their huge turnouts at races and support of the local cycling scene was Kinetic Cycles in Elk Grove, Cali. This is a Specialized Concept Store and Bruce Kaiser just pours out his passion for cycling in every conversation
But the guys and gals that get the top vote from Elgee, and this is based on the shop, the folks and the service that they gave me when I was in a tough mechanical sitation on the road (and I'm sure many shops would have done the same), is Mad Cat Bicycles in Sacremento. Having a bum wheel at the beginning of a long road trip, Mad Cat ordered me a replacement 29er rear wheel, had it shipped overnight, sent my bum wheel back, and had the manufacturer send the replacement to my home town shop so it would be there at the end of our road trip. Many thanks to the staff at Mad Cat.

Best Shop ride of course goes out to the folks at Passion Trail Bikes in Belmont, Cali. as they show up in HUGE numbers and throw down with an Awesome post ride BBQ....

We met alot of great people on this road trip, and one thing is certain, there are amazingly talented riders and great places to ride everywhere you go in this country. Hopefully we will get to visit with all of you again sometime in the near future...