We all know how hard it can be to find that perfect gift for the cyclist that seems to have everything. Our list will be sure to make your favorite rider light up with joy. 

Spurcycle Brass Bell $50 Silver, $60 Black. These beautiful, made in America bells are the envy of every cyclist. With the trails having a bit more traffic these days, every rider should have a respectful way to announce themselves. Whether you are a mountain biker, road rider, or daily commuter the Spurcycle is absolutely perfect. Brass construction, unparalleled tone, and fully rebuildable if you take a bit of a tumble.  

Silca T Ratchet Kit $50 Every cyclist needs a multi tool that allows them to make trail side repairs. The Silca T Ratchet replaces cumbersome foldable multi tools with a classy ¼” bit based package that includes all the most popular sizes to make necessary adjustments. The included extension takes the hassle out of those hard to reach fasteners. You can add the optional torque kit for those more sensitive bolts or add your own bits for those one off adjustments that are unique to your bike. 

Skratch Labs Hydration Mix & Honey Stinger Waffles $1.50-$20 Fill the stockings hung by the chimney with care with the yumminess they actually want! Riders love having all natural, nutritious morsels to fuel their next adventure rather than candy or coal.  

Wolf Tooth Morse Cage $25 Stainless, $70 Titanium. The folks at Wolf Tooth Components have teamed up with the iconic King Cage of Durango, CO to tweak their proven cage design by adding a bit of vertical adjustment to allow clearance for small frames, frame bags, suspension and just improved ergonomics. Timeless design and flawless function are everything you need in the perfect bottle cage. 

One Up Components Aluminum Flat Pedal $145. With the resurgence of flat pedals across all disciplines of cycling the last few years, there’s a good chance that you have a cyclist on your list that is hoping these are under the tree. Aluminum body, Cromoly spindle and oversized bearing offer durability. While 10 replace pins per side and a wide, contoured body keep your feet where they are supposed to be. Available in a variety of color options to match your rider’s steed and their personality. 

Unior 2 in 1 Brake Tool $25. This is the tool that no one really thinks about until it saves the day. The multi stepped pad spreader clears the “OOPS! I squeezed my brake” issue with a breeze while the clever slit helps tweak the rotor brake to straight when a bent rotor threatens your ride. Ask our mechanics and they will tell you, this is one of the favorite tools in the shop. 

Panaracer Gravel King Tires $50-60. Every cyclist needs new tires. The Panaracer Gravel King comes in widths from 26-50mm and in the Slick, Semi-Slick, and Semi-Knob versions to fit the needs of any multi surface rider. Too many options? The 38mm Semi-Slick is our go to for Colorado gravel. 

Feedback Sports Pro Elite Stand $290 w/ Travel Bag . While walking through the pits at any professional bike race you’ll likely notice this shiny red workstand under the vast majority of team tents. For good reason. Aluminum construction to resist corrosion, folding base to save space and make transport a lot easier. It’s height adjustable to comfortably fit any size mechanic and the quick release clamp is gentle on parts. No more flipping your bike upside down in the garage to work on it. 

DNA Cycling x Alpha Bicycle Co. Wool Socks $18. Whoever said they didn’t want socks for Christmas, never had a pair of these. The made in America, 6” cuff, super comfy, breathable and naturally antimicrobial wool blend make these the go to on all but the hottest days.  

Saris M2 Smart Trainer $500. For the dedicated cyclist in Colorado, riding indoors comes with the territory. Instead of whittling away at the workout watching Caddyshack for the millionth time, give your favorite cyclist the gift of training and racing virtually. This trainer allows the rider to sync up with racers and routes from around the world and actually enjoy the time riding indoors.  

Stan’s No Tubes Flow CB7 Wheelset $1400. For that special someone that has been extra nice this year, they deserve carbon wheels. Stan’s No Tubes pioneered tubeless technology and no one does it better. The Flow CB7 fits the bill of what modern mountain bikers both want and need. Just a hair under 30mm inner width pairs perfectly with tires from 2.3-2.5 inches wide while the carbon rim keeps rotating mass to a minimum and significantly increases lateral stiffness. Backed with a 7 year warranty, your favorite rider will be rolling in style for years to come.  

Hopefully this helps takes some of the stress out of holiday buying. If none of these ideas speak to you, just stop on by. We have plenty of ideas, great accessories, components and tools in stock to fill those boxes underneath the tree. Happy Holidays! 

As we are all learning to deal with what as become the new normal, we wanted to share an idea to help you create a no-sew face mask of your own with items that most cyclists have laying around the house. Stay safe out there!

Full Disclosure: Bobby Wintle (creator, promoter, and the all around face of The Mid South) and I have known each other and been friends for quite some time. These views are my own and obviously may be biased based on my personal feelings. The best part of this country is that we are all entitled to our own opinions. I appreciate you taking the time to read mine.

It was supposed to be a celebration. It always is. The atmosphere has historically been unparalleled from almost anything I’ve seen in the sport of cycling and I’ve seen a lot. You can’t fake what Bobby puts in to this event, the sport, and the community. His passion and the support from the team around him are what makes this event the best gravel race in the country. On top of that, this was a new step forward as what is now The Mid South rebranded in even further support of that community. We as participates joined the Who’s Who of the industry and elite race community to experience it all. But, things changed. Quickly.

We all funneled in to Stillwater, Oklahoma in the days leading up to March 14th. This delineation is important. Days. When things in the World and our Nation, we’re changing by the hour. #socialdistancing wasn’t even a thing. On Thursday the 12th, the tone of a Nation took a hard turn. COVID-19 was beginning it’s spread at an exponential rate. Within hours, Bobby and the race crew were outlining precautions to curtail the possible spread. But the show was still to go on.

As I said, things changed by the hour. By Friday the tone was much more serious. As we arrived in downtown Stillwater, there were no handshakes, high fives, or hugs among thousands of racers, families and support crew. Partly due to rainy weather, partly due to the pending pandemic. What was to be a rider’s meeting and concert extravaganza was a group of maybe a couple hundred standing with distance between and the occasional touching of elbows to greet each other as warmly as possible. After picking up my number and less than 20 minutes of roaming around, I left to retire for the evening.

As I prepared my dinner, I scrolled social media and saw the first people calling for the race to be canceled. People I consider my friends and colleagues, screaming from their digital soapbox that all of us who intended on racing the next day were selfish, inconsiderate and just about every other negative connotation. When in fact, the cycling community that was there was the opposite. We did care about our fellow cyclists and the town of Stillwater. I had already washed my hands and used hand sanitizer more than 10 times in the hour since I arrived. I made the decision (as did many) to not congregate at the venue. We had rented an AirBnB in lieu of staying in hotel with masses of others. We had brought food and committed to eating in as a way to avoid some crowds. That evening I packed my bags with the intention of riding the 104 miles entirely self supported in an effort to minimize contact with other riders or the folks that do graciously volunteer their time in support.

In my mind, the risk to myself or the community was minimal at that point. Riders from areas in the country that had already seen the devastation of the virus, in large part stayed at home. When I left home, there wasn’t a confirmed case in our area. The risk of me transmitting to other racers or the people of Stillwater was minimal since I came from an area where there hadn’t been any infections. There hadn’t been a confirmed case in Payne County, Oklahoma. There were 1,896 total confirmed cases in the United States at that time. There are risks in everything we do in life, including riding a bike. My opinion was that the risk was worth taking. The majority of the risk that me and most others were taking was in traveling to the event. That was done well before any calls for cancellation.

Bobby and crew were taking as many precautions to protect us all as they could. Additional hand washing stations were noticeable from years past. Hand sanitizer was literally everywhere you even had the opportunity to stop. Bobby had publicly sworn off his famous finish line “Bobby Hug”. As we lined up the crowd was noticeably smaller. I’d estimate that the delayed start had less than half of the previous year’s attendance. People were spread out to give each other their personal space. 6 feet or more before the guideline was such.

As we rolled out, the storms from the previous night continued to be relentless. Less than 15 miles in, it was evident that the day was going to be much less about a race and more about shear will. My choice of competing in this year’s race on a singlespeed, looked to be fortuitous as I rode past hundreds strewn across the roads with broken derailleurs, dropped chains, and those attempting roadside repairs. Those lucky enough to ward off mechanical disaster were fighting their own mental demons in an effort to keep moving forward.

Somewhere around 3 hours in as I made an valiant effort up a short but steep hill, I heard a loud POP! After a brief Oh Shit! moment, I realized I was still moving forward. In the days conditions the area’s signature red clay mud clung to every surface of body and bike. I figured a small rock had momentarily become lodged in my drivetrain and worked its way out. But nonetheless, onwards.

At this point I feel the need to state that I don’t ride many of these big events with a computer any longer because once race day comes, I can’t necessarily change the speed at which I’m going. The fitness is what it is and the conditions are what they are. If I feel good I push harder. If I feel the need to pace myself I do just that. When I see the finish line, I’m done. Pretty simple.

As I rode in to the halfway point, I could tell by the day’s light that I was well behind my predicted schedule. There is a bit of smooth pavement that allowed me to collect my thoughts. Just then I felt some sort of feedback coming from my drivetrain. I probably felt it a few miles earlier but wrote it off to the conditions. I coasted, looked down and wiggled my foot side to side. My heart sank. I know my equipment is well maintained and a single speed is a pretty simple machine. I soft pedaled to town with the thought of attempting a fix. When I stopped to put a wrench on things, it was all tight. As expected. Unfortunately that meant a bigger issue. The carbon crank arm had come unbonded from the aluminum interface with the cranks spindle. Sound technical? Well, just know there is no roadside repair for such an issue.

Just then I saw my friend Danny and he informed me that he had been one of the unfortunate to lose the mechanical battle with the conditions. Just an hour earlier I had seen what I thought was my buddy Will’s bike on the back of one of the famous rescue Jeeps suffering a similar fate. I wasn’t quitting. I have never quit a race in my life. I’ve conquered longer miles, more elevation gain, mixed disciplines of cycling and running and now was attempting a course that I’ve previously beaten, but with one gear in some of the most epic conditions I’ve ever faced. All of this in an attempt to find my personal limits.

If the crank arm literally fell off, I had the number to call for help.

So I headed out of town. Alone. Many had called it quits in Perkins if they had made it that far. I settled in for the second half of the day which is arguably the harder than the first. Things got difficult. The morning rain let up and turned what was once was a sloppy mess in to what seemed to be thousands of suction cups between my tires and those red dirt roads. Every pedal stroke caused further failure of that crank arm. “Wobble, Wobble…Wobble, Wobble”. I went stretches of time with out seeing another soul. Going deep in to a mental dark place while shoving mud covered gummy worms in to my mouth in an attempt to dig my way out of an equally physical dark place.

I’d remembered some of the scenery from the previous year. I knew I was probably 25 miles from the finish. I buried the thoughts that those miles would likely take me two and a half hours. Any sun there was had started its descent. The climbs get steeper and more frequent. The crank arm was getting worse which required me to dismount and walk some sections in order to limp it to the line. But I was moving forward. One inch, one foot, one step, one mile.

About that time I lost any semblance of what time or distance was. The sky was just different shades of dark and grey. Every stretch of road looked the same. As I trudged up what could have been the 40th or 400th roller, a gentlemen came past and said “10 more miles!” Hell yeah! I was going to make it. Even if I had to pedal one footed, I could do that for 10 miles.

As he rode out of sight, I found myself in a bit of company. I briefly talked Thai food with a guy from Iowa. I encouraged a young man that was running some of those climbs in road shoes and soft pedaling the backside as he nursed a makeshift singlespeed to his own finish. Just then, I saw what is in my mind the “famous” Welcome to Stillwater sign at around 5 miles to go. It gets smoother from there. The paved surface and gradual descent are the reward for the previous 99 miles of periodic torture.

As I cruised through town in almost dark conditions, I rounded the familiar corner with a noticeably smaller but probably more enthusiastic cheering section congratulating me. I saw Bobby, as I dismounted and we locked eyes knowing there shouldn’t be any hugs regardless of how proud we were of each other for getting to that point. We tapped elbows and posed for a picture. My day was over. 11 hours, 4 minutes. Yet again, I had finished.

As I look back at photos, I see the photos of Bobby with his arm around some people at the finish. Even though I haven’t seen the photo, I remember him doing the same to me as we posed for a photograph. In those pictures, some people look like it’s an awkward exchange. Others look like it’s welcomed. In the weeks that have passed, I have read interviews, listened to podcasts, looked at all the pictures. I hear people (most of which who weren’t there) call his announcements of expanded precautions “lip service” and “literal bullshit”.

But that’s Bobby. That’s The Mid South. I can’t see how you can have the kind of passion and energy that has made the event what it is and expect that the man responsible for so much of that can just turn it off at the flick of a switch. It’s impossible and shouldn’t be expected regardless of his best intentions.

I know that I wasn’t the only one taking a few extra precautions. I never rode side by side with anyone. I didn’t see anyone else do so either. Yes, the attrition rate contributed to this fact. No, I didn’t see a single snot rocket all day long. Yes, I washed my hands more that weekend than I probably did the entire month previous. No, I didn’t hang out for any more than five minutes after I rolled through the finish line. No one was trying to “pull a fast one over”. Based on the information of a much, much less dire situation on that day, we all made a decision to participate or not based on what we felt was acceptable. So before you get all holier than thou, just look in the mirror and think about all of the things in your life that you have done. Many of which have selfishly put you or others at risk of harm. Then, think about all the experiences and lessons learned that have come from those actions and look forward to becoming a less judgemental, stronger and more experienced person.

While we are choosing to currently remain open for business, rest assured that we have your’s and our employee’s health and safety in mind during these trying times.

After much consideration, we have believe that the smaller size and seasonal nature of our business allows us to safely remain here to serve you.

If you feel at all under the weather, please stay home. If you don’t feel comfortable being in public, we completely understand. We’ll be here when the time is right for you. We have also made this option available to our employees.

Some of the things we are doing to keep everyone safe:

⁃ We have disinfected our floors and will continue to do so on a daily basis at minimum.

⁃ As the weather allows, we will leave our front doors open to reduce contact. When the weather limits us from doing such, we will disinfect the handles after each and every person enters or exits.

⁃ Every bike brought in for repair will be disinfected with alcohol when it arrives and again when you pick it up.

⁃ Our employees have been instructed to wear gloves when working on bicycle repairs.

⁃ Our employees have been instructed to wash their hands hourly at a minimum and as much as possibly needed.

⁃ We are limiting the exchange of things like signing paperwork, keypad entry, etc. When necessary we will disinfect pens, the credit card machines, iPads before and after each customer interaction.

⁃ Employees are keeping a 6 foot social distance from each other and our customers when at all possible. When you need assistance with helmet sizing, bike fit or other services that could require physical contact, our employees will wash their hands before and after each interaction.

⁃ Every bike is disinfected with alcohol before and after every test ride.

⁃ We are canceling our Saturday Group Ride until further notice.

⁃ We are offering a pick up and delivery service to our customers to limit your amount of exposure to others if you feel so inclined. Please call us for availability, pricing and scheduling of this service.

⁃ Pick up and delivery service is available at NO CHARGE to individuals who are considered “High Risk”. This includes individuals or households that include but not limited to the elderly, current or former cancer patients, diabetics, those with heart or lung disease, etc. Please contact us to schedule this service.

We sincerely hope that a bicycle ride by yourself or with your family and a bit of sunshine helps you get through these trying times.

⁃ The Alpha Bicycle Company Staff