END OF WINTER PARTY THIS FRIDAY!

SPECIAL GUEST CHRIS CARMICHAEL!

ZICKMAN ON A YELLOW BIKE?

NO ICE, NO POLE 2 POLE! SORRY BUNKIE.....

Belo News

February 18, 2012

Battle Creek, Mi. – As we have been saying for the past few weeks, an annual tradition in the world of cycling is the Team Active End of Winter Party at their store in Battle Creek. This annual event has become famous both as a great show of new gear and a celebration that cycling season is right around the corner. However, the other thing the party is famous for are the Celebrity Guests!

You won’t want to miss this year’s edition, as anyone who is anyone in local cycling will be in attendance.

In addition to our intrepid hero, the Sharkman, the special celebrity guest this year is none other than Chris Carmichael!

Carmichael owns and runs Carmichael Training Systems, an on line training program available to all athletes.

Everyone knows that Carmichael has been the personal coach for seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong as well as George Hincapie, ice-hockey player Saku Koivu and swimmer Ed Moses. Wikipedia reports that athletes under his tutelage have reportedly won a combined total of 33 medals in the Olympics, World Championships, and Pan American Games. In 1997, he joined the Union cycliste Internationale (UCI), the international governing body for cycling headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland as the Olympic Solidarity Coaching Instructor. He is a regular contributor to both Bicycling and Velo Magazines.

But that's not all!

Carmichael is also a former competitive cyclist and member of the U.S. National Cycling Team (1978–1984) and competed in the 1984 Summer Olympic Games and was a member of the first U.S. cycling team to compete in the Tour de France, the famous 7-Eleven Cycling Team in 1986.
As a matter of fact, our intrepid hero, the Sharkman had the opportunity to meet Carmichael at his CTS Headquarters in Colorado Springs some years ago and he was so kind, he gave the Sharkman his Olympic Team wind jacket which the Sharkman has proudly hung in the Shark Cove!

The festivities kick off at 5 PM and will run until 9 PM. As usual Team Active will have some great deals on all things cycling and will also have food, beer, and wine on hand. The EOW party is a great way to celebrate the upcoming riding season and an awesome opportunity to reconnect with all your riding buddies.

We are hoping to see a good turn out by the Mighty Minion Nation so……

Be There, Bunkie!

ZICKMAN ON A YELLOW BIKE?

OH, THE HUMANITY!

Belo New
February 18, 2012

Ft. Custer, Mi. – Seven mighty Minions showed up for an impromptu romp in the woods this past Saturday, as the weather continues to cooperate for outdoor riding, even though it has not cooperated for the Pole 2 Pole Race. Zickman reports that Gull Lake has no ice on it, making the race impossible without a wet suit. So no Pole 2 Pole race and as all Cub Fans like to say, “wait until next year!”

But nothing stops the Zickster from getting out and having some fun with the Minions. No, not even the embarrassment of riding his wife’s mountain bike. That’s right, the legendary Zickman, veteran of the Iceman and other endurance racing, showed up on Saturday sporting the bright yellow bike, with green tires, you see in the photo above! Sporting a “gel seat cover” Zickman was unrepentant in his wish to ride this bike. Explaining it was his wife’s bike and he wanted to “test ride it” he maintained that was all there was to the story.

However, in yet another in-depth investigative report, the Belo News has learned the real reason the Zickman decided to come out on his wife’s yellow steed.

It appears that this mighty Minion, this legend of the peloton, the Zickman has taken his beloved 29er apart and has not yet figured out how to put it all back together. Oh, yes, it is now clean. However, it just isn’t a bike at the moment.

As our young Minion rider, Wrongway stated, Zickman will now need to do the “walk of shame.” The “walk of shame” happens when a rider needs to take their bike, in a bushel basket, to the bike shop to be re-assembled. Oh, the humanity of it all!

None the less, riding that yellow mountain bike with a gel seat didn’t stop our Zickman from kicking some butt!

Zickman led the Minions with Bissell Boy, Brewman, Yeti Boy, Stingray, Brewman, Wrongway and our intrepid hero, the Sharkman in tow. It was also later learned that even Hossman showed up, but came late and ended up riding the Green Trail solo.

The riders did a lap on the Blue Trail before attacking the Red, where they ripped through the Amusement Park, where Yeti Boy sustained a flat to his rear tire. In what has been described as a tire changing seminar, (or was he trying to regain some respect in the peloton), Zickman took control and changed the tube in record breaking time using only one tire iron! In a fantastic display of mechanical workmanship, Zickman had the tire changed and inflated in record breaking time! Is this a great country or what!

The Minions finished up and prepared for a photo opportunity at the Trail Head. Zickman asked the Belo News reporter, after he was asked to put the yellow bike in the photo, if there was a plan to make fun of him. Zickman now realizes that Belo News need not make fun of him, he has done that himself!

Here at Belo News, like they say at Fox News, “we report it, you decide!”

See everyone at the End of Winter Party!

Be there!