29.

My Birthday is tomorrow. I imagine lots of you are sitting around wondering what you could get me for my birthday so I will post an entry for Fat Cyclists site. He has a lot of great ideas.

50 Gift Ideas for Cyclists

11.20.2006 | 2:32 pm

Last year, I made the case that if you want to get your favorite cyclist a present, you should forget being creative and buy her/him the stuff s/he’s always having to buy anyway.

I still think that’s a good idea. I don’t think you can go wrong with buying a cyclist any of the following:

1. Tubes: Find out what kind of tubes the cyclist uses, and buy a bunch of them. It’s really nice to have a stash of tubes sitting in the garage whenever you need one. This isn’t all that great of an idea if your cyclist friend has switched to tubeless.

2. Genuine Innovations’ Microflate: An inexpensive, sturdy, tiny, easy-to-use threaded CO2 (or propane, as it turns out) cartridge valve. I really don’t understand why anyone would use anything else.

3. CO2 and Big Air! canisters: Make sure that the canisters you buy are compatible with the valve your friend uses.

4. Sports food / Sports Drink / Gel: If you know what they eat, drink, or ingest (I have to say “ingest” when talking about gels, because neither “eat” nor “drink” is the correct word), buy them a bunch of it. Be careful you know the correct brand and flavors, though. As an innovative twist on this theme, maybe try giving them some Matisse & Jacks Bake-at-Home Energy Bar Mix. They work as well as store-bought bars, are easy to make, and taste an order of magnitude better. For now, you get free shipping if you buy five or more boxes, which seems like a good number to give as a gift.

5. Helmet: This is something many cyclists replace too rarely. Be sure to get the right size.

6. Messenger Bag: Everyone needs a messenger bag. My good friends at Banjo Brothers make great ones for an excellent price

7. Entry fee and commitment for support at a race: If your cyclist races, this is a very nice gift indeed

8. Smartwool Socks: Several pair of the same kind, so that as the cyclist wears them out, they’ve still got matching socks.

9. Lube: Be sure to get the kind your cyclist has settled on. It’s nice to have a year’s supply of lube sitting in the garage, just like it’s nice to have a year’s supply of tubes in there.

10. Shoe cleats: Do you know what kind of pedals your cyclist uses? Buy a new pair of cleats for those shoes. Most cyclists go through a couple pair of these per year, so they’re nice to have.

11. A Floor Pump: When getting started with cycling, most cyclists pick out a cheap floor pump. Then they regret it. But while those cheap floor pumps never quite break — allowing cyclists to discard them in good conscience — they never really work great, either. Go to your local bike store and ask the mechanic what pump they recommend for someone who uses a pump every day (road cyclists in particular pump their tires up before practically every ride), and you’ll give a surprising, exciting gift. I am not kidding. Cyclists love a great floor pump.

So thats that. Ray and I have been planning on going to Scottsdale to do some shopping since we don't have great stores here in Prescott. We are going to go down tonight, stay at a hotel and then spend tomorrow shopping. I am stoked, I think we are going to have fun. Plus there is a whirlpool in our room at the 3 Palms so thats fun. Cheers.

Chris

PS
4 8 15 16 23 42 are from Lost and the new episode was airing last Thursday night. So thats what they were if you were one of the few who didn't know.