Cycling Clothing for Long Lasting Comfort
Designed & Sewn in Durango, Colorado USA... Tested the World Over



August 2005
Previous - Jul 2005
Next - Oct 2005
A big Howdy to everyone and welcome to the 13th Boure newsletter. Summer is nearing its end and that means the Boure Ride Week is right around the corner. We are in transition between the summer tourists and the college students who have just arrived. The weather is excellent this time of year making it a wonderful time to visit and catch warm 70-80 degree days and cool (sleeping weather) nights. If you haven't visited Durango during September and October we highly suggest it. The crowds are gone, the restaurants have room and the riding is great for road or mountain bikes. Use the Boure Bike Fest as an excuse, you won't find a better ride to cost ratio than our ride week! Read on to see how to save money on your bike clothes and try to figure out if you are a racer or rider in Drew's world.

As always we encourage one and all to write with suggestions or comments regarding this newsletter or the web site.


1. The Third Annual Boure Bike Fest week has a schedule, September 18-24,
2. Racer, rider, tourist, win the ride, who are we?
3. The 2005 Thermal Team Jersey is in,
4. You do know who he is, but how long can he last?
5. The inevitable price increases and how to take advantage of that information,
6. The other stuff.


1. We warned you last newsletter and the time is nigh. We hope you'll come ride with us, we have people interested and threatening to come from Connecticut, Texas, Arizona, Florida, New Mexico and possibly California. Ned will be attending the Sunday and Thursday rides and will try to fit in the Coal Bank and Dolores Rides. Ned has called some of his personal buddies who want to do a fun ride. We hope to have some of the notable Durango Pros drop in on several rides. You may get to hang out and ride with Olympian, Todd Wells; National Collegiate Champion, Matt Shriver or National Professional Road Champ, Chris Wherry. Last year, well known naked indoor trainer rider Bob Roll showed up, with a vintage team kit and bike. See it by clicking HERE.

Please share this info with any friends, discussion groups or your local cycling club in case any of them want to come. All rides can be done from Durango although you can remove some mileage on a couple of days by driving or catching a ride to the start from Wade or another rider if you need help. The only ride that requires a commitment is the Mountain Bike ride as we arrange for a shuttle to the top of the ride to make it mostly downhill.

Here it is in summary, the link to the full schedule is below.

Boure Bike Fest week is scheduled for September 18 to 24, 2005. These rides are not supported and are for fun. This is not a race, we just want you to join us while we do a week of our favorite Durango rides, during the (usually) warm and dry mid-September. Riders of all abilities are welcome and we have chosen rides that show off the local scenery and variety of terrain. Most rides have longer additions, or short cuts, to match your needs.

We can't force you, but we highly recommend helmets, we will be wearing ours. They are required for the Durango Wheel Club rides. Although we will provide any assistance we can, please be self supporting for road food, water and clothing. If you forget something, the local bike shops are very complete and happy to help.

*Remember that any plan is subject to change by weather requirement so we need to know who will be here and how to contact them if required.*

We will send more specific instructions on the ride locations and any changes to those people who request additional information, so unless we hear from you by e-mail or phone we won't be sending any more information to the general populace. When we see what number of people will be here we will finalize our social plans for non-riding events. If you decide to show at the last minute (highly encouraged), call us (888-889-9242 or locally 247-0339) and let us know so we make sure you are up-to-date for the rides.

The general plan for the week, which is very fluid depending on who shows up and the logistical challenges which may arise (weather, road closures, etc). We have a designated place for breakfast where we will start the ride, but certainly one can be enjoyed without the other.

Daily Schedule:
Breakfasts will commence around 7:45am, which allows for time to digest before we start to ride at 9:30. If you choose to skip breakfast or have other plans, that is fine, we will leave from the breakfast location at 9:30.

Sunday. September 18, 2005
Trimble Loop-Lemon Dam
*Ride with Ned Day*
Meet at Bread Bakery, but PLEASE don't leave a car there!
45 miles

Monday September 19, 2005
Coal Bank Pass (or Molas Pass)
*Ride with Ned Day*
Meet at Oscar's Restaurant
75 miles (or 90 miles)

Tuesday September 20, 2005
We are not planning a ride this day as we expect many people to attend the Durango Wheel Club Tuesday night Worlds, as described by Tom Danielson and Todd Wells in VeloNews. Additional information as requested.

Wednesday September 21, 2005
Durango to Dolores
Meet at Kennebec Cafe in Hesperus (12 miles west of town)
70 miles (*or 95 miles)

Thursday September 22, 2005
Hermosa Creek Mountain Bike Trail
*Ride with Ned Day*
Meeting place to be determined
18 miles of single track, plus about 10 miles of dirt and paved roads

Friday September 23, 2004
Ignacio-Bayfield Loop
Meet at Carver's Bakery
70 miles

Saturday September 24, 2004
Baker's Bridge-Old Shalona Valley Loop *Vintage Bike Day
Meet at Bread Bakery, but PLEASE don't leave a car there!
30 miles

We sure hope you will come join us for some fun social riding in our beautiful town. Please come and join us for some fun rides and a tour of the local breakfast joints...


2. "Hello. My name is Drew and it's been 15 years since I've shaved my legs."

The late season cycling committee meetings in Durango have been abuzz with talk of a Durango Wheel Club Championships, or something like that. Impetus started with an all-comers ride that would feature the length and difficulty required to crown a worthy club champion. Remember, Durango features many former World and National Champions, two current National Road Champions, the current Colorado State Road Champion, a prominent member of the Discovery Team (presently touring in Spain), and many more talented, aspiring cyclists who reside just below that lofty level. So the thought went that it would require a hard race to determine a worthy champion - 100 miles, maybe an unpaved section, plenty of climbing, perhaps packs of vicious dogs to thin things out. But others countered that having a fun-oriented tour would be better for getting everyone involved and increasing membership - and prevent the bitter disappointments associated with racing and getting dropped. Really?! So after much discussion, a compromise was struck and the week of October 11-15 will feature three not-quite-so-hard road race events. A 30-mile race that will mimic our Tuesday night rides, a 17-mile time trial on Thursday night, and a 35-mile road race to the summit of Coal Bank Pass on Saturday morning. An omnium points system and competitive racing will dutifully crown a men's, junior's, and women's Durango Wheel Club Champion. There will also be equally intense Club Championships for the many recreational riders which will take the form of B+, B-, and C level championships. (For full definitions of these categories please refer to our club's 120-page manual, unfortunately only available in French)

This all got me thinking (and spouting off) about the difference between Durango's racers and recreational riders. I know we're all competitive, and we all want to do well in our race, tour, or group ride. And somehow all of those events, from race to fun ride, still tend to end in furious sprints. Being a former racer, but with more friends who are recreational riders, I've put together a primer to try and help clarify things.

How did you do in the race/tour to Silverton?
Racer: Well, I got dropped before Coal Bank and got into a group that finished 5-10 minutes back. Time? I'm not sure, somewhere between 2:15 to 2:20. I think our group was sprinting for about 20th place.
Rider: I timed myself in 3:05:21 from the Rec Center, or 2:58:23 from the old start at the Iron Horse Inn. Of course, that includes an extra 2 minutes, 48 seconds to ride the 6 extra blocks they recently added through Silverton. So, really my time was 2:55:35.

Are you happy about your race/tour?
Racer: Not at all! I wanted to do much better. I've trained hard and did worse than last year. I think I may sell my bike and get a job.
Rider: Yes, very! I finished a little slower than last year, but I beat my riding buddies and they had to buy the beers in Silverton. I think I'm going to buy a much nicer bike and quit my job so I can train harder.

Who won the training ride?
Racer: Ned.
B+ Rider: Some sandbagger from the A ride.
B- Rider: Some sandbagger from the B+ ride.
C Rider: Some sandbagger from the B- ride.

And apparently, shaving your legs is no longer reserved for bike racers. It's now part of many a Durango man's summer hygiene program. I'll be leaving the hair on my legs for now. By mid-October it will come in handy in fending off the snow flakes.


3. We are finishing with our PRO short sale. But, you can still take advantage of a discount on our most popular short if get your order in before Thursday morning, September 1st (before Wade gets back from his trip to Albuquerque to see the Dave Matthews band).

If you haven't seen it yet the 2005 Boure Team ThermoSensor jersey is in. It features solar absorbing and dirt hiding black sleeves.


4. Many of you know Ned Overend as one of the most approachable World Mountain Bike Champs ever. Ned has had a long and illustrious career and continues to race at a very high level today. What you may not know (you'd must have stepped out of touch with the world for a bit) is that Ned just turned fifty (yep that's 50). Recently Ned was featured in VeloNews Issue #14 (the one with that young guy Lance Armstrong on the cover after the Tour, going "Out On Top") and in this very nice article in CyclingNews.com.

For those of you who are over 50, you know that life and cycling can be more fun than ever, for those of you who may be a bit younger and wondering how long you can keep this up. Well, let Ned be your inspiration!


5. Economics 202, the short version. We have always searched for the best possible materials and, as many of you know, we have been successful. This is partly due to the fact that we purchase some of our materials (spandex, stretch fleece, chamois inserts, to name a few, from European sources). As you are aware, the European Union adopted the Euro as a standardized monetary unit several years ago. When it first came out, the U.S. dollar was very strong and while it started at a dollar per Euro, shortly thereafter we could buy more than one Euro per dollar. In fact, December of 2003 you could buy 1.17 Euros per dollar. Since then, things have changed. When last I checked, you could only buy .8075 Euros per dollar. What this means is that our suppliers have been demanding more dollars for the same materials. Roughly 44.9% more dollars for each Euro. In addition, while somewhat low right now, there has been consistent inflation which slowly increases the value of our materials beyond the simple exchange rate.

What does that mean to me, you ask, and rightly so. Well, we are going to have to raise our prices and some will be increased more than others. We have done everything we can do to hold down prices and we are thankful that you have appreciated the excellent quality of our clothes and the relative low prices we have maintained for many years. (I recall recently seeing an e-mail praising the fact that a happy customer could buy two of our long lasting high-end shorts for the price of one of our competitors).

So here is the word to the wisest among you. Prices are going up and will affect the clothing items which use the highest cost European materials (thermal gear will be hit the hardest). The price increases will happen before the end of the year. So, Smart Money says (he is some guy my best friend's mom knows and quotes regularly): buy the thermal gear you are thinking about sooner than later. While the dollars will be smaller, there will price increases nearly across the board. So our advice to you follows Smart Money: get what you want and don't wait.

We wish this weren't happening but, quite honestly, we have had the same prices for years on most of our products and these adjustments are long overdue. We hope you understand and we believe that our customers are smarter than the average consumer and consider our long lasting clothes and excellent customer service to be worth their hard earned dollars.


6. Many of you are eBay fans and realize that scarcity causes prices to go up. Recently a fan of the Orange and Black 2003 Boure Team Jersey saw that we were discounting them in Wade's World. He thought he might offer us a lower price. Well, maybe if it had been a day of no sales, I might have taken that offer. As it was, he nearly missed out on the last of the jerseys. Luckily, after and e-mail or two he decided the sale price was good enough and got the second to last one. I suggest that you keep an eye on Wade's World. As people are finding that part of the web site the sales are increasing and the deals are diminishing. There was over three years of accumulated deals in there, mostly one of a kind items. I still have lots more coming but, each one is a jewel for the right person.

We are still collecting entries in the story telling contest so if you have a yarn to spin or a good story to tell on a friend, we would love to have you send it in, we are sure your friend would like it too. Take a minute, jot it down and e-mail it to <mailto:info@boure.com>info@boure.com. We will award prizes to the best stories and announce their names (if they let us) early next year. So far all the entries will receive prizes but, we hope for more stories so we have to choose the Lantern Rouge.

Here is another definition we find appropriate for the Durango club rides. We found this one to be particularly humorous:

"I'm out of shape." Translation: I ride 400 miles a week and haven't missed a day since the Ford administration. I replace my 11-tooth cog more often than you wash your shorts. My body fat percentage is lower than your mortgage rate."

As always, thanks for reading!
Ned, Wade, Drew, Laverne, and Jacque




Bouré Home Page | Cycling Clothing & Gear | Bouré, Durango, Etc. | Ned Overend's Page

E-mail us with any questions or comments at:
Bouré Bicycle Clothing
98 Everett St, Ste B
Durango, CO 81303

www.boure.com

Bouré Privacy Policy