Last week we wrapped up another fantastic month of riding our bikes every single day as part of the #30daysofbiking event.  This is the third year that we’ve kicked things up a bit over here at Loving the Bike, and added an extra dimension with our points system.

There was a lot of great riding that took place and I loved seeing all the pictures posted on our Facebook Page.  Now it’s time to award some prizes and thank our great sponsors.

Not everyone on Team #LovingtheBike submitted their point totals to us, so we’ve based things on those who gave them to us.  Congratulations to all of you who took part in #30daysofbiking.

Top Point Getter – Julie Starling

Julie receives a fantastic prize pack from Clif Bar, as well as one of The Sufferfest training videos.

Runner Up Point Getter – Mark Beaconsfield

Mark receives a video from The Sufferfest.

Most Points by Team #LovingtheBike rookie – Ryan Werenka

Ryan receives a training video from The Sufferfest.

A huge thank you goes out to Clif Bar and The Sufferfest for their support and for providing the great prizes.

We’ll be back to do this again next April.

The winners in our Hottest Piece of Cycling Ass Photo Contest have been determined.  Yes, this one was just a little controversial…but also a lot of fun.  Good job to all of you who submitted your butt photos….it takes a lot of guts to do that.

The voting round finished on Friday night and in the end it was these two butts that got the most votes.

Congratulations to S.R. and K.W. (we’ve left everyone anonymous in this contest)  who will receive a full kit from the guys over at Twin Six.

Favorite Female Butt – S.R.

Favorite Male Cycling Butt – K.W.

The Runner’s Up….and More:

We had a request to post an album of hot butts, so here are the runner’s up as well as some of the other cycling ass photos that were submitted.

No, this is not a joke.  No, we have not been hacked.  Yes, we are asking you to vote for your favorite piece of cycling ass.

A couple weeks ago, we invited you all to submit a photo of you (or one of your riding buddies) wearing cycling gear…..but we wanted to photo to focus on the butt region.  I honestly wasn’t sure how many of you would take us up on this, seeing as it’s sort of a touchy subject….but the response was fantastic.  Turns out that many people actually do like sharing pictures of their ass.  Or maybe it was the sweet prize pack from Twin Six that enticed them to enter.

We called this contest, “The Hottest Piece of Ass” and man did I hear feedback on my choice of title.  Here at Loving the Bike we’re a pretty clean cut website, so it’s no surprise that this stirred people up.  But that was sort of the idea.  We wanted to add a little shock value.

Okay, so we randomly selected 3 male and 3 female submissions and have posted them for you all to vote.  Like we mentioned last time, big or small…and anyone who pulls on a pair of spandex or cycling shorts is a champion to us.  We hope you feel the same way.

Vote now, and come back to vote tomorrow and Friday.  Then we’ll count up the votes and award the male and female with the favorite Loving the Bike butt.

Vote for your favorite Female butt

Vote for your favorite Male butt

Okay, so who’s butt looks best in a pair of cycling shorts or bibs?  Which booty looks the nicest in commuter or mountain bike shorts?  Who’s got the hottest piece of ass?

Yeah, this contest is so hot it was in serious need of a name with attitude.  We’re looking for photos of the hottest cycling ass out there and want to award the most bodacious male and female butts.

If you know anything about us over here at Loving the Bike, you’ll know that we’re just having some fun with this contest.  We’re a fan of all butts…big or small….and anyone who pulls on a pair of spandex or cycling shorts is a champion to us.

This contest is not just for those perfectly rounded butts….everyone is eligible to enter, and win.

Contest Details:

• Send us a photo of your butt in cycling apparel….whatever you ride in (if you’re the thong cyclist from Austin….well, so be it).
• Or, send us a photo of one of your cycling buddies who has a fantastic cycling butt.
• We’ll keep things anonymous if you want, so just let us know and we won’t post the name of who’s behind that wonderful behind.
• Send in the photos to Darryl@lovingthebike.com by Noon on Friday, March 29th.
• Photos will be put up for voting on Wednesday, April 3 and our readers will determine who’s worthy of top butt honors.

Best Ass Prize Pack:

Thanks to the great guys over at Twin Six for supplying the prize packs for our “Hottest Piece of Ass” photo contest.

The male and female butt with the most votes will receive a Twin Six jersey, bibs, and socks of their choice.  Yeah, one for each of the top “best ass” vote getters.

Photo Details:

• Photos must be of butt area only.  We don’t want faces in the pictures.
• High quality photos of at least 700px work best, but we’ll take any resolution you have.
• We welcome submissions from all over the world, but only able to guarantee delivery of winning prize pack to those located in North America.  We’ll do our best to get prizes delivered should the winner be from outside this area.
• Photos must be originals of you (or taken by you).  Any submitted photos peeled off the internet will not be considered.
• Loving the Bike has full authority to post any pictures submitted on our website or social media sites.
• Only photos and submissions that meet these rules and regulations will be considered.

This is going to be fun….send in those pictures by March 29th.

It’s time once again for #30daysofbiking, and 30 days of good times on your bike.  About the only thing better than spending April riding your bike all 30 days, is being a part of Team #LovingtheBike and all the goodness that comes along with it.

For the past two years we’ve taken part in this challenge as a team by creating our own points system and prizes that are separate from the basic #30daysofbiking experience.

If you were part of Team #LovingtheBike two years ago, you’ll remember how we were crowned #30daysofbiking champions by the guys at Bicycle Radio.  Last year’s Team #LovingtheBike competed within our own participants, and it was Julie Starling who came out on top.

Never heard of #30daysofbiking?  Well, my buddies Patrick Stephenson and Zachariah Schaap created something so incredible when they kicked off #3odays in 2010 and I’ve been a part of it since the whole thing began.  It really has grown in to something incredible and taking part in some friendly competition with Team #LovingtheBike has made it even better.  This year I’ve been asked by the #30daysofbiking guys to be one of their PR dudes and am proud to spread the word and get people involved.  Find out more about the challenge at www.30daysofbiking.com.

It’s not necessary to be a part of a team for #30daysofbiking, and the whole purpose of this event is to get people on their bikes and promote cycling….but if you want to add another dimension, we’d love to have you take part in this with Team #LovingtheBike.  The “extra dimension” is that we’ve added our own little point system which adds to the fact you’ll be riding your bike for 30 days in a row….and it allows us to determine who obtains the most points and wins prizes.  More details below.

Registration for #30daysofbiking just opened today, so it’s time to sign up.

Join the Team:

Co-captains for this year’s Team #LovingtheBike are myself, @PedalmanTO, and @steviedexter…and we’d love to have you as a part of the fun.

Here’s what you need to do in order to get yourself onto Team #LovingtheBike for #30daysofbiking:

1. Register for #30daysofbiking by going to www.30daysofbiking.com.
2. In the “REASON(S) FOR PARTICIPATING” or “WHY I RIDE” section of the sign up form, put down that you’re riding for Team #LovingtheBike.
3. E-mail darryl@lovingthebike.com to let us know you’ve joined the team and include your name, e-mail, and twitter handle.
4. Tell your friends to join our team….tweet it out and spread the word.  ”I’m on Team #LovingtheBike for #30daysofbiking: http://wp.me/p1oH5M-27i”.
5. You’ll need to register and e-mail us about it by March 28th to officially be part of Team #LovingtheBike and get in on the winning.

Prizes:

Last year we gave out a nice prize pack to the team member who racked up the most points and we’re doing the same thing this year.  We’ll have some prizes for the runner’s up as well.  The prizes are great, but from the responses of last year’s teammates the most rewarding part of all this was the fun and good times we all had together during the event.  Thanks to Clif Bar and The Sufferfest for supporting our team with prizes again this year.

Point System:

Each of the 30 days you’ll have the opportunity to gain a maximum of 5 points.

Final Word:

It’s very important to make sure throughout the month that the “30 days of biking” message is the main focus.  Loving the Bike has chosen to implement the “30-days of biking” challenge to motivate, excite, and challenge its readers.  We encourage other groups, org’s, clubs, shops, manufactures to take the challenge themselves and see how they do.  The ONLY winners here are those who accept the #30daysofbiking challenge and give it their best.  Fun between groups is welcomed and even encouraged.  Our scoring system can be used by other “teams” as a standard to compare results.  All that matters is having fun, challenging yourself….and riding your bikes.

Let’s do this, Team #LovingtheBike.

Our friends from GoBicycleTouring.com are here to tell you about their brand new website, and how you could win yourself one sweet European Bicycle Trip.

Go Bicycle Touring

GoBicycleTouring.com is a new online and in-print directory of the best guided and self-guided bicycle tours in the world.  Whether you’re an urban cyclist, a road racer, a mountain biker, or a casual Sunday cyclist you’re sure to find a bicycle touring experience that will make your wheels spin at www.GoBicycleTouring.com

Bicycle touring, defined as the act of riding your bicycle for an extended time, allows you to combine your love of pedaling with the excitement of travel.  While bicycle touring can be individual and self-organized, many travelers enjoy a guided tour where the logistics of the trip (gear and support, food & lodging, safe and enjoyable routes, etc.) are per-arranged by a tour company of their choice.  An organized tour lets you fully focus on enjoying the cycling, the spectacular views and the local cuisine while getting the most out of your holiday.

Participation in organized bicycle tours is growing rapidly as people of all ages and backgrounds have begun looking for fun, physical and entertaining ways to:

• Meet new people and make new friends
• Enjoy delicious local foods and drinks
• See the world’s most amazing places
• And create experiences they will remember for the rest of their lives.

Created by Darren Alff: the famous bicycle traveler, author of four popular cycling books and the man behind the #1 Google ranked “bicycle touring” website in the world (BicycleTouringPro.com), GoBicycleTouring’s clean, modern design makes it easy and fun to search for incredible bicycle touring experiences all around the world.

The GoBicycleTouring.com website went live on January 1st 2013, yet it already boasts over 100 tour listings in 30 countries worldwide.  Define your search by location, price, difficulty, total tour length, and average daily distance and discover remarkable tours in exotic locations like Australia, Laos, Kenya and Hawaii!

To celebrate the official launch of the website in the new year, GoBicycleTouring.com is giving away 3 FREE European bicycle tours! Winners are selected in random drawings on February 1st, March 1st and April 1st. The prize tours include a “Taste of South Bohemia” tour in the Czech Republic, a “Camino de Santiago” tour in Spain and a “Challenge Tour” offered by Bike Switzerland.

Take a few minutes to fill out the entry form and enter for a chance to win all three bike tours! http://gobicycletouring.com/giveaway

We hope that you enjoy this new bicycle touring directory as much as we do… it’s certainly all about loving the bike, and loving it while traveling too!

Check out www.gobicycletouring.com to find your ideal bike tour today.

Give us your suggestions of how we can get more people out on bikes, and win one of these cycling t-shirts with a fantastic message.

A few weeks ago I was contacted by the guys over at Ban-T Shirts and asked if I’d like one of their new bicycle themed shirts.  I’d actually seen the design floating around social media and definitely thought it was something I’d like to wear.

It seems like all I ever wear is cycling t-shirts, and although I love being a walking billboard for the bike…..I’m also quite particular about which ones I put on.  A t-shirt has to be totally comfortable and feel good in order for me to wear it on a regular basis.  It can be the most super cool bicycle shirt ever, but if it doesn’t feel right I won’t wear it.

That fact is often a worry of mine when a new shirt is in the mail, but when this one arrived I was very happy with the fit and I’ve added it to my rotation.  As for what’s on the shirt?  Yeah, it’s pretty cool.  Would you like one of your own?

These t-shirts are manufactured and printed in the USA, made of 100% organic cotton, and if you don’t win one here you can get one of your own at http://www.bant-shirts.com/bicycle-t-shirt.htm.  They come in men’s and women’s sizing, and it’s also available in a hoodie.  Oh, and they’ve got a couple other cycling themed shirts over there as well.

Win a T-Shirt

Thanks to everyone who entered.  We’ve randomly selected a winner and the t-shirt goes to Michael Hayes.  Congratulations, Michael the shirt will be out to you soon.

They crew over at Ban-T Shirts want more people to get on bikes and they have this quote to help promote it: “Get on your bike, stay healthy and let’s keep our cities quieter and cleaner.”

Leave a comment below with your quote or suggestion for getting more people to ride bikes, and you’re in to win.  The contest closes on Monday at Noon EST.

Last month we held a contest to help us pick a tagline for Mocha Spoke which will be opening up soon here in Grenada.  We had a bunch of great suggestions and maybe we’re just being picky, but have yet to find the winner.

We’ve got a great prize pack for the person who gives us the tagline we end up using for the business….have a look at what we have to give away:

• Road ID eCard ($35 value)
• Hydrapak bottle or flask (your choice)
• GU Electrolyte Brew Tablets & mix of traditional GU products

To help you out, let me try and explain a little bit more clearly what we’re looking for.  First of all, the name of the business is Mocha Spoke which already implies that we do coffee and bikes.  The business is a full out cafe that also does bike tours, rentals, and repairs.

There is going to be a lot more coffee drinkers than bike people who come to our business so we don’t want to set anyone off who isn’t digging the bikes like we are.  But we want a tagline that suggest that we have kick ass coffee and we’re the place to hang out….but also want people to know that we’re bike lovers and have everything for this market as well.

To have a look at what’s already been suggested, have a look at the first round of ideas: Click Here.

Let me know if you need me to point you in a better direction, otherwise please leave your tagline in our comments section.  We hope to find the winner soon.

We’ve got a winner….actually, winners.  Congratulations to @shinyredthings for supplying us with the winning tagline which was derived from a suggestion by Julie Starling.  Since they both had a part in the winning tagline, we’re going to split the prize and give them each something great:

Adventure is Brewing

We’ve got a pile of cycling socks to give away from the guys over at Darn Tough Vermont, and would like to tell you a little about them as well.

There’s no shortage of bike sock companies out there, but when I came across Darn Tough at Interbike I was impressed by the company and the quality of their product.

The crew over at Darn Tough told me all about the research and testing they’ve put in to provide a durable sock with the right thickness and comfort to satisfy us cyclists.  As far as I know, they’re the only sock company out there with an “Unconditional Lifetime Guarantee”:

“If our socks are not the most comfortable and durable socks you have ever owned, return them for another pair or your money back.  No Strings.  No Conditions.  For Life”

I’ve honestly never been too concerned with the socks I ride in.  As long as they’re comfortable and look cool, I wear them.

But just recently I had a pair of my favorite socks totally start to fall apart….and they were only about a year old.  So I took a closer look at what Darn Tough had to offer.“

Because they are made with 17.5 micron Merino wool yarns with 1441 stitches per square inch, they are soft, strong, and last like forever.  Okay, I won’t bore you with all the details of what makes these socks so darn tough…but if you’d like to find out more be sure to check out www.darntough.com/darntough.html.

If you could use another pair of great cycling socks, be sure to enter our giveaway below….or simply head over to your nearest REI and pick some up.

Win Some Socks

The Darn Tough giveaway is now over.  The response was awesome and thanks to all of you who entered to win.

We are totally buried in socks and want to give our readers the chance to try out a pair from Darn Tough, so we’ll keep giving them away until they’re gone.

Leave us a comment (including your sock size) about the worst pair of cycling socks you’ve ever owned and what made them so awful. Include a picture of them as well if you like.  We’ll randomly start sending out pairs immediately.

Darn Tough’s market is primarily the USA so they’re only able to send to those of you located here. Sorry to the rest of our readers, but winners must be located in the United States for this one.

I’m sure I’m not alone in hoping that the next generation continues to work towards better harmony between cyclists and drivers, and that people continue to love riding bikes.

I’m not the biggest bicycle advocate out there, but I try my best to promote cycling as a way of life and how riding a bike can lead to a greater and more fulfilled life.  Today I want to celebrate the next generation of cyclists and give away a very tiny version of our Loving the Bike jersey.

This past summer we did a run of jerseys and kits and now have several cyclists around the world proudly sporting our brand as they ride through their hometown.  These kits were designed by our very own, Stevie, and they look amazing.  The folks over at Champion Systems took the design and created one hot kit….and I swear that it makes me windproof when out riding in it.  Probably bulletproof as well.

Both of my boys have one of these, and now I’d like to give away a jersey to someone else who has an up and coming cyclist…or who knows of a child out there who would look great wearing one of these.

I only have one extra to give away, so unfortunately the size of the jersey is limited.  The dimensions are as follows, and likely suitable for someone around 3 years old (give or take a few months).

A: 12 ”

B: 16″

C: 9″

D: 16.5″

Enter to Win:

The contest is now closed.  Congratulations to Tom who receives a cute little Loving the Bike jersey for the young cyclist in his life.  Thanks to all of you who entered.  Oh, and thanks to those of you who added the great pictures as well….we need all those kids in Loving the Bike kits.  Watch for another order run  in the Spring.

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment telling us about your little cyclist and why they are deserving of this Loving the Bike jersey.

Social Media Bonus:

Receive one bonus entry by posting the following on your social media networks (maximum of 4 entries if you leave a comment and do all of the following):

Twitter – “I just entered to win a hot looking kid’s #LovingtheBike jersey: http://wp.me/p1oH5M-2PW”

Facebook – “I just entered to win a kid sized Loving the Bike jersey and want to tell the Facebook world all about it: http://wp.me/p1oH5M-2PW”

Google+ - ”I just entered to win a kid sized Loving the Bike jersey and want to tell the G+ world all about it: http://wp.me/p1oH5M-2PW”

Contest closes on Monday at Noon EST and we’ll select a winner soon after.

We currently don’t have any more kids or adult size jerseys and kits available, but if we have enough interest in them we can always do another run.  Contact me if you’re interested.