December 1/05 11:01 am - Norba Schedule Change, Unique Calendar Offer

Posted by Editor on 12/1/05
 

Change of Date for 2006 NORBA National Series
Courtesy USA Cycling

USA Cycling announced today a change in the previously announced 2006 National Mountain Bike Schedule.

The opening round at Frank G. Bonelli Regional Park in San Dimas, Calif. that was originally scheduled for May 5-7 has been rescheduled for April 22-23, 2006.

The rest of the six-race series remains unchanged:

2006 National Mountain Bike Series Schedule

April 22-23: Frank G. Bonelli Regional Park - San Dimas, Calif.
June 10-11: Sugar Mountain Resort - Banner Elk, N.C.
June 17-18: Mount Snow Resort - West Dover, Vt.
July 8-9: Deer Valley Resort - Park City, Utah
August 5-6: Brian Head Resort - Brian Head, Utah
August 12-13: Snowmass Resort - Aspen, Colo.


Unique Calendar

We ran into a long time member of the Canadian cycling community, Rene Cormier, at the Interbike trade show. Rene started with Chris Dekerf, and gradually moved onward and upward in the bike industry, eventually ending up as Director of Marketing at Rock Shox. He then decided to take some time off to motorcycle through North, Central and South America! Now back in Vancouver for a while, Rene is raising funds to continue his motorcycle odyssey, and sent us the following e-mail:

After 20 border crossings in North, Central and South America and 75,000 kilometers, I am back in Canada for 10 months preparing for the second half of my around the world trip by motorcycle.

Fixing the motorcycle, repairs to clothing, and poring over maps are taking up my time as I ready myself for an autumn 2006 departure to South Africa. After the east coast of the African continent, it is over to India, Pakistan, Afganistan, Russia, Mongolia, Korea, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, and New Zealand. Or there abouts.

I realized early on that my original timeline of 3 years was in no way adequate for a trip of this magnitude, and it will be likely double that by the time I roll back to Canada. This, of course, doubles the budget as well.

To help finance the rest of the trip, I have produced two calendars with the photos from the first 2.5 years of the trip that I am selling. The two calendars come in a set, one calendar for 2006 and one for 2007 for CAD$40 (USD$30).

Each calendar has over 60 photos, complete with the history and location behind each photo so you can get a real feel of traveling around the world by motorcycle. Traveling through the photographs or the stories will allow you to experience the scorching sun and butt sweat of southern Honduras, stunning 16,000' mountain passes in Peru, eating guinea pigs, and drinking beer made of human spit and yucca root in Ecuador. All from the comfort of your own home. There are even maps for those that never did well in geography!

Can you help out with my trip and purchase a set? Perhaps also there is somebody that you know that would appreciate these? Motorcycle folks are the obvious catagory, but also travelers of all types or people interested in cultures and scenary other than their own would also enjoy the stories and pictures.

Too expensive, you say?

Keep in mind that those 'Cats Playing with Yarn' or 'Famous Lighthouses' calendars are often CAD$15 (USD$10) so I am not that much more money. In fact, since you only get 12 pictures in those other boring, generic calendars, it could be argued that - per picture - my calendars are a fifth the price! And I don't mind adding that my travel kitty needs the money more than all those other kittens in the Yarn calendar put together.

Your cost works out to 5 cents a day (4 in the USA!) and I will also cover any postage and handling costs to get these to your door.

I accept PayPal in Canadian or US funds. See here for details: www.renedian.com/calendar.html

Many thanks,

Rene Cormier
www.renedian.com