10/31/2007-Wed - Halloween-Willow Springs Kickoff Show
11/1/2007 -Thu - South Yuba River-Campfire
11/2/2007-Fri - Nevada City-Peaceful Valley Farm Supply 2pm…more…

Xtracycle Co-founder Kipchoge Spencer is stepping down from his role as Xtracycle president, to follow his long-time dream of taking the show on the road. His band, the Ginger Ninjas, and fellow bike musicians SHAKE YOUR PEACE!, along with an 8 person support crew, are going where none have yet pedaled (as far as we know). Setting off from Xtracycle HQ in the Sierra Foothills, they’ll make their way to southern Mexico over the next four months, carrying all of their instruments and their state-of-the-art 800 watt human-powered sound system — on their bikes, sans auto, going slow and promoting the bicycle as toy, tool, solution, trusty steed, and liberator. They invite you to connect with them in your town, send suggestions about places/people of interest, follow their progress and learn more about why??

Having recently had a child myself, I’ve been fully obsessed with the myriad ways bikes and bike makers attempt to haul small people on bikes. Mark came into the Emeryville office last week and asked a few questions and then casually asked if I’d like to see his bike… I was blown away. The bike he showed did not include the cute kids pictured, but it did feature the childseat which Mark fashioned himself from 3/8″ marine plywood, nylon straps, a beautiful padded seat with Koi print fabric, and even a classy Asian style woodcut behind the seat. I ran into Marc on the road with his son yesterday and he told me that he and his son were loading up the Xtracycle and going camping in the Berkeley hills this weekend. Hat’s off to you Mark — an inspiration to parents and cyclists everywhere. –Nate

Many people tell us that one of the best parts of riding an Xtracycle is the amazing people they meet along the way. Some of you are lucky enough to live in places with lots of Xtracycle riders. Others of you may be the first in your town to ride one. Either way, you may want to connect to the Xtracycle community online, either to get questions answered, plan a trip, or just chat. Here’s a run down of the tools we’ve set up to help Xtracycle owners connect with each other.

1.The Roots Radicals Yahoo Group This online group has been growing since 2001, but has really exploded in the last two years. It’s a great place to get quick answers to questions like “What kind of bike should I choose for my Xtracycle?” “What kind of tires should I ride in the snow/rain?” Xtracycle staff participate fairly lightly in this group, so the answers you’ll get are coming straight from the community. Using the Yahoo Group tool, you can receive group posts in your email inbox as they are written, or in a daily digest, or by scanning at your convenience on the web.

2. Our semi monthly (emphasis on the ’semi’) email newsletter — Once every couple months we publish the best and most interesting content from the entire Xtracycle landscape, including the testimonials and stories you send us after your amazing adventures. Receiving this newsletter is a great way to stay connected. (It’s also a great way to get newsletter-only deals.) When you sign up, you’ll notice that the Xtracycle Bicycle Lifestyle News is one of a handful of newsletters in the Bicycle Lifestyle Network. You’ll also see newsletters from our fellow inventors and bike culture comrades. Sign up for the ones of interest to you.

3. Our online forums. These forums have similar content to our RootsRadicals online group. Occasionally, there will be some duplication, but the nice thing about the forums is that they are structured hierarchically, so it will be easy for you place your question or post in a way that helps others find it, too, and searching is easy. The quality of the information available on both our RootsRadicals list and our forum is sometimes astounding. Check out this customer-submitted post about kickstand designs.

4. Our blog. Yup, the one you’re reading right now. We post company updates, customer stories, developments from our product designers, and episodes from our own bicycle lifestyle. It’s good for a dose of inspiration during a work break. If you’ve got a bike blog with an Xtracycle focus, let us know and we’ll list it in our blogroll.

5. Xtracycle on Flickr, YouTube, and MySpace. Major online communities like Flickr have their own Xtracycle scenes happening. If you’re already using these online services, you might be pleasantly surprised how much Xtracycle energy there is. Here are a few places to start:

Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=xtracycle&w=all

MySpace: Pages and people mentioning Xtracycle

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=xtracycle&search=

6. Our online photo albums. We encourage you to post your photos in the appropriate album on our user photo gallery, or on Flickr (please tag them with “Xtracycle”), or, if relevant, directly in your forum postings.