Huge Congrats to Mark Stevenson, Guitar Ted Productions, and everyone associated with the Trans Iowa for winning the Grinnell Tourism Experience Award from the city of Grinnell, IA for 2014!

When we found Grinnell, we found a home for the event, and I have not found any good reason to leave Grinnell since.

Head over to Guitar Ted’s blog for the details!

Cycle insurer ETA has a story about a nifty tag-a-long trailer for cyclists. Wooden Widget, who already produces small, collapsable boats, has created the Foldavan. Think of it as a pop-up for bikes.

Additionally, ETA commissioned the development of the Qtvan. It is a more rigidly constructed tag-a-long more in the vein of a teardrop but for bikes.

I’m thinking Qtvan for touring and Foldavan for endurance racing. No? In the immortal words of Scott Thigpen, “Are you trying to win or something?”

Legendary endurance racer and TD and TNGA finisher Ray Porter has passed away. Ray had been battling cancer after a mass was found on his liver just months ago. He was fierce and as anyone knows who rode with him, a strong rider. You can get more details about Ray’s struggle here and look for updates with information about how you can help his wife Gina and the family.

*UPDATE: Here is some information from the NeverStopPushing Facebook page. They are continuing to take donations to help cover costs for Ray’s family.

A couple of anonymous friends purchased 1,000 of these wristbands and donated them for us to sell. Because the wristbands were donated free and clear, 100% of proceeds will go to Ray and Gina (Dykes) Porter. You may purchase your wristband in person with cash from Della Bird or Todd Brashear or via PayPal to dtbrashearATatt.net. If you use PayPal, please be sure to include the quantity of bands you’d like and your mailing address in the Messages area.

Each black, silicon wristband features bicycle tire tread and the orange tagline of Ray’s race team, NEVER STOP PUSHING.

The price? At least $3. In the interest of raising a meaningful amount of money for Ray and Gina, we’re asking you to give whatever amount you feel is right – $5, $10, $20 – you make the call. Just please make sure it’s at least $3. Shipping for PayPal orders is free.

As has been widely reported over the last 24 hrs, Cafe Roubaix will be keeping it’s name. Mike Sinyard of Specialized called Dan Richter yesterday agreeing to work out a deal to share “roubaix” with the shop.

Pressure came to bear on Specialized as the bike community rallied around the little shop that could over the past several days. Twitter and Facebook was teeming with support tweets and posts. T-shirts were being sold, funds being gathered, and boycotts were threatened. As we noted here yesterday, ASI eventually chimed in asserting world-wide rights to the trademark for “Roubaix” and saying it would license the name to Cafe Roubaix. Between the PR mess and the questionable trademark authority, Sinyard was faced with a battle that he probably didn’t want to win.

Read more here.

That’s just one of many memes exploding on social media regarding Specialized Bikes’ litigation against Cafe Roubaix Bike Studio. In case you’ve been out bike packing the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, Dan Richter is being forced to change the name of his bike shop because Specialized owns the rights to the word “roubaix.” Never mind the name of the French village behind the curtain or its storied place in cycling.

Dan Richter, an Afghan-War vet battling Post-Tramatic Stress Disorder, named Cafe Roubaix Bike Studio after the French villa as an homage. Specialized Bikes markets the word “roubaix” under it’s S-Works Rubaix line. So the stage was set for what Specialized lawyers feel is simply defending a trademark. Life, however, is never so simple. Read more here.

For many, this is one of many litigious actions by Specialized under somewhat specious conditions from Mountain Cycles “Stumptown” to Horst Link litigation and more. The biking community will continue to debate these decisions but by far most see Specialized’s continued use of lawyers as detrimental to cycling as a whole. Others see it as hypocritical given that Specialized started off by taking Ritchey designs to the masses. Probably the most poignant expression of disapproval comes from this open letter to Specialized’s Mike Sinyard.

You can show your support on the “Roubaix Belongs To All Of Us” page on Facebook or consider a donation to the Cafe Roubaix Indiegogo fund.

The community continues to show its disfavor. The Specialized Facebook page is riddled with references to the story. And various homages to the growing PR disaster are being shared among cyclists. Here are a few:

Storied endurance cyclist Mike Hall shared the “New Paris-Roubaix route” on Facebook.

Our title inspiration:

And even some top-tube decals:

And more: