After a long ride the right active body and skin care products can be welcome relief, but this week SPORTIQUE – the maker of skin care products – announced that it is celebrating its seventh year of success with another kind of relief. The company is kicking off a fund-raising effort to benefit World Bicycle Relief.
From May 1 to July 30 purchasers of SPORTIQUE Century Riding & Chamois cream or SPORTIQUE Warming Up Massage Oil will receive a 25 percent discount off the retail price, while every dollar from the sales of those two products be donated to World Bicycle Relief.
World Bicycle Relief Official Website
SPORTIQUE Official Website
A lot of bicyclists are doing some climbing during their commutes, because Colorado and Montana lead the way with new gold and silver level bicycle friendly communities according to the League of American Bicyclists. The group has just named its largest round of Bicycle Friendly Communities (BFC) yet.
There is no shortage of mobile phone cases on display this week at the International CTIA 2012 in New Orleans. The trade show for all things mobile certainly has the phone covered in more ways than one. But anyone who has used a cycle mount and a hard shell knows that the two don’t play well together. The hard shell is ideal for protecting that smartphone on the go, but it seldom fits in most handlebar mounts. 
Police officers aren’t just coffee and donuts, and many communities have put patrol officers on bicycles. While it would seem that a fast road bike would be the way to go, police officers need a tough bikes for the mean streets. At last week’s International Police Mountain Bike Association (IPMBA) Conference Safariland introduced its newest bicycle for the police. And like many dirt riders, they’ve gone to the 29-inch wheels.
Earlier this week we reported on the new 3T Integra stem that allows for an aerodynamic seating of Garmin Edge devices, but if the thought of replacing the whole stem is too much, the Quarq Low Pro 500 mount ( MSRP: $35) might be worth a peek. Designed exclusively for the popular Garmin Edge 500, the mount offers a sleek seat for the cycle-computer that puts the device front and center of the steam. The mount will be out this summer.
Not a week seems to pass when we don’t hear about a bike light of some sort, and this week comes the Blink/Steady, a bike light that features a small unobtrusive design and yet seems to be secure enough that it would be a hassle to try stealing. It attaches through a set post to deter would-be thieves.
As efforts are made to streamline every last part of a bike something has seemed a bit odd – namely those cycle-computer mounts that sort of ruin the sleek lines and look a bit like a tumor on the handlebars. But last season 3T introduced an integrated steam – fittingly called the Integra. Now comes word that the stem will be used this season by the Team Garmin-Barracuda in this season’s pro cycling races. 
Having a tire go flat on a bike is not a pleasant experience. The resulting situation can range from a minor inconvenience to a major catastrophe. A majority of the time it is just an annoyance that interrupts the momentum of a good ride or a possible chance of placing well in a race, but this problem can be virtually eliminated for less than $70.