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That’s right folks! Spring is here, the water is flowing and many of the rafting outfitters have put out the OPEN FOR BUSINESS sign! My inbox has been filled with many newsletters this week from Rafting Outfitters with this announcement…don’t delay in booking that perfect trip.

We hope you will take advantage of our Adventure Sports Directory to find the perfect Whitewater Rafting trip for you and your family. You can search by State, Trip Length and even by River. Start your adventure today!

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Did you miss it?

We had a BIG Announcement last week at the America Outdoors Association Confluence in Reno. If you missed the show or haven’t heard the buzz here is the skinny:

Marketing Medley and OutdoorMind have formed a strategic partnership making OutdoorMind the biggest and most comprehensive marketing company for the outdoor industry. This partnership will allow OutdoorMind access to all the resources of Marketing Medley to extend services to their large client base. Terri Berbena-U’Ren, co-owner and face of OutdoorMind, is excited at the prospect of teaming up with a large scale marketing firm to strengthen their dominance in the outdoor industry.

Though Marketing Medley continues to provide marketing services to all businesses current and future, they will be creating opportunities through OutdoorMind to help outfitters grow their business. OutdoorMind will focus solely on outdoor industry driven businesses as targeted marketing for the outdoor industry.

We have many exciting announcements coming as the end of the year approaches. The excitement and growth that has been experienced by Marketing Medley is a direct result of their ongoing philosophy that “great businesses aren’t created by themselves, they are made with the collaboration of great minds”.

Maverick Business Adventures Offers Entrepreneurs and CEOs  The Chance to Play Hard, Network Together and Pay It Forward

Celebrity Business Icon Joe Sugarman – Direct Marketing Legend to JoinMaverick Business Adventures Ultimate Baja Experience This January 

POTOMAC, MD, November 19, 2009 – How to steer a steady course over a bumpy road takes on double meaning during a Jan. 26-31, 2010 Maverick Business Adventures® outing where participants will climb into custom-built Baja Challenge race cars for three terrain-chasing days over parts of the famous “Baja 1000” course interspersed with group sessions focused on navigating current business challenges. 

Insights from direct marketing guru Joe Sugarman will augment business building and networking meetings directed to the unique times and opportunities for entrepreneurs during a troubled world economy. 

Maverick’s “Ultimate Baja Experience” includes three days of wild off-road adventure driving starting outside of Loreto, Mexico and ending in Cabo San Lucas with highly seasoned Baja 1000 off-road driving champions. Participants will follow part of the famous Baja 1000 course along mountain roads, ocean-view vistas and untamed trails not accessible to most others. Along the way, time is spent sharing business ideas and case studies bringing personal breakthroughs and new opportunities. 

The trip fee of $12,995 per person includes all accommodations (single occupancy), meals, off-road race vehicle, professional guide, chase support crew, fuel, safety equipment, driver’s orientation and spare parts. 

Celebrity guest and business icon Joe Sugarman has been described as one of the greatest direct marketing legends alive. “He’s a true innovator having been the first to use toll-free numbers to sell electronics and the one credited for introducing the U.S. to cordless phones and calculators,” explains Maverick Business Adventures (MBA) founder Yanik Silver. “He then moved on to sell 20,000,000+ pairs of BluBlocker sunglasses and he’s still going strong.” Sugarman will be with the group for the entire Baja adventure offering one- on-one time and private access to a true marketing pioneer and giant. 

In Cabo the group will close out the adventure with a business session and an optional program for local young entrepreneurs. Members refer to the Young Entrepreneurs session as one of the highlights of their Maverick Business Adventures experience. 

Yanik Silver believes in “paying it forward” to inspire and financially support young entrepreneurs. “It is the creative thinker, the risk taker, the out-of-the-box dreamer, the young entrepreneur who will lead this world into the new economy and renewed age of prosperity,” says Silver. “One of my real passions is helping young people and turning on the lights for them to see a different direction in their life.” 

MBA is the first and thus far the only membership to gather successful, like-minded entrepreneurs and top achievers for adrenalin highs and case study networking. Part of the MBA mission is to also give back and help empower future entrepreneurs. MBA gives money and provides live and virtual educational products and programs for aspiring entrepreneurs sourced in communities where adventure trips are held. Five percent of gross revenues go to self-sustaining charities selected by the members. 

MBA founder Yanik Silver believes that getting outside the office and tackling new challenges provides the right fuel for innovative, breakthrough thinking. A self-described “adventure junkie,” maverick internet entrepreneur and self-made millionaire, Silver has found that his own life-changing experiences such as running with the bulls, bungee jumping and high altitude sky diving have brought a profound sense of accomplishment and led to clarity in ideas and focus. This inspired him to create Maverick Business Adventures® for like-minded entrepreneurs, CEOs and business owners.  

MBA member and manufacturer Mike Lally of PCB Group says that these trips take “work hard / play hard” to a whole new level.   

“What we found here is a group of like-minded individuals. We’re not all in the same business; we’re not doing the same things and that’s part of the beauty of it. But everybody is here to work hard and play hard, so you get a very intense group of men and women. You don’t get to meet someone like that in an evening or over a round of golf,” he says. 

Maverick Business Adventures® is structured to be an exclusive group and membership is by-application-only, limited to forward thinking business men and women with proven abilities and success. Silver stresses that the focus is not on corporate team building or motivational development. Instead, members will be invited to join all-inclusive adventure outings that encourage the type of high-level networking and powerful connections that can only occur outside of normal business settings. For details on the group and how to apply for membership you can go online to www.MaverickBusinessAdventures.com or call 240.744.0165.

OutdoorMind was in Salt Lake City again this summer for Outdoor Retailer.
One of the booths I stopped by was Feetures! Performance socks. Ok, I do love socks and own several types; cycling, hiking, crew, shorties, ankle…I think you get the picture….

They were introducing fresh new colors to the No Show with Tab style socks. These fashion-forward colors add a splash of excitement to one of their most popular styles. Previously only available in White, the No Show with Tab now comes in Pink, Light Blue, Gray and Black. I really liked the look and feel. They feature an ultra light cushioning, no blisters and seamless toe. The sales staff was happy to supply a pair, in pink, for me to try!

I recently had the opportunity to try them cycling and have to say they are now my favorite cycling socks! They keep my feet cool and dry and I had no ‘hot spots’ which I sometimes get with other brands.

I would highly recommend you get a pair (or several pairs) soon!

BicycleTour.com Announcement – September 2009

 We are very excited to introduce you to our newly designed BicycleTour.com Directory!

 Featuring the same great searches for your favorite Events and Tours, you will also find links to: Bike Clubs, Bike Tips/Safety, Bike Associations and some bicycling gear thrown in for good measure.

 Featured Tours and Events -

This area is reserved for all of our bicycle touring companies. A listing on ASO gets you an additional listing in the Bicycle Tour Directory…a bonus!

 In celebration of our BicycleTour.com relaunch, we are offering Introductory “Specials on the Sponsored Spots” (located on the bottom of the page on BicycleTour.com)

Receive a 20% discount the first time a one-month “Sponsored Spot” is purchased.

Call or email us today to get started!

 To view full announcement, go to BicycleTour.com Announcement 2009

Since July is Tour de France month, I thought I’d spotlight a bicycling jersey company. I met the owner Jen Benepe of Hotvelociti Cycling Apparel last year. I loved the fun and colorful designs of her women’s jerseys and was happily given a women’s jersey to try out and review! It was awesome and is now one of my favorite pieces! The fit was great, material soft and comfy and I think I actually rode faster……
Learn More……

If you don’t already subscribe to this newsletter you should! There are usually some really great articles about the outdoor industry that are very positive.

An excerpt from this week’s talks about promoting local vacations and the rise in campground reservations;

Surge in Campground Reservations
Creates Opportunities for Outdoor Businesses

More evidence is emerging that Americans are turning to the outdoors for a respite from tough economic times, or perhaps because of them. Advance reservations for nearly 89,000 campgrounds on federal lands were up 26.1% for the period of January 1 to March 22 compared to the same period last year, according to data from the National Recreation Reservation Service. The overwhelming majority of the reservations came in online via reserveamerica.com. Read more…..

Orbitz Worldwide Travel named Solvang one of the Top 5 “US Domestic Destinations with International Flair” and the city has been recognized by Sunset magazine as one of the “Ten Most Beautiful Small Towns in the Western United States.”

Solvang attracts over a million visitors annually with its thriving Danish community, unique shopping, distinctive architecture, award-winning bakeries and regional wines….Did I mention the bake shops about 2 per block!

We arrive early in order to get parking. We have made several friends along the way this week and meet up with 2 friends from Santa Rosa who have a spot picked out right on the finish line. You must guard these spots as they become more valuable as it gets closer to start time (some folks even lock their beach chairs right to the race railing!).

The best thing about this stage is that all of the team buses are parked right on the main street so the opportunity to see your favorite rider in one of the local bake shops is high.

This stage is one where you basically stand in one spot, for hours, and wait for each rider to come though. Race leader Levi Leipheimer (AST) took a big step closer to his third consecutive Amgen Tour of California title by acing the stage with a winning time of 30:40, eight seconds faster than U.S. National Time Trial champion David Zabriskie (GRM). Gustav Larsson (SAX), who won silver at the Beijing Olympic Games in the time trial, had the third fastest time, 16 seconds slower than Leipheimer, who padded his advantage in the General Classification over Zabriskie.

Some pics of the highlights-

After lunch at one of our favorite cafes, we headed back to SLO, one more night away from home, and another Tour of California under our belts…till next year…..

I think that today was my favorite day of any Tour of California! The adventure began as we decided to do something a bit different….

During these long stages the riders need to constantly refuel themselves, consuming up to 5,000 calories during the ride. You don’t really see much on T.V. about the “Feed Zones” so we decided to look at it up close today!

We took off down the highway in search of the smaller roads they would be riding. We knew about what mile marker the Feed Zone would be. South of Fresno is very wide open land, with many large dairy farms…we drove for miles in this open space before finally coming upon the road signs. No one was there at all since it was 8:30 am and the racers were not excepted through this area for another 4 hours!!!

So, we opened the tailgate, boiled some water and make coffee and hot mochas J

In case you have never seen this at all, the riders slow down just a bit from the 25+ MPH they are traveling to swing over to the side of the road, while still riding, and grab a bag of food and drinks that is being held out for them…quite a tricky process. They quickly go through the bag and discard any thing they do not want or need…the balance gets tossed on the road (that’s where we come in)!

As cars started to arrive, and a few spectators like ourselves, curious as to this process, we positioned ourselves along the road where we hoped the riders would be going through their food bags. Now, if you have ever stood in line for hours for something good you will understand. The competition was not much, but I was really determined to get a few ‘goodies’. We were pretty certain we were positioned just about right in the grand scheme of things!

Here they came up the road. I saw a few water bottle fly over the road on the opposite side of the road, darn it. No worries they were just about in front of me when one rider tried to fling the bag in my direction, but it was caught by one of the photo motorbikes, darn it missed that one too!

Then, as the main Peleton whizzed by the stuff started flying up the road everywhere. I was across the street at a dead run, grabbing bags, water bottles, etc

Now, keep in mind that:

1)       there are still support cars on the road

2)       there is an older gentleman who is now also caught up in the moment and running stride for stride with me (wasn’t counting on that)!

3)       I have promised a girl who parked next to us that I would trade her something if I got a Rock Racing souvenir

It was a chaotic mess for about 5 minutes and I found myself about ½ mile down the road as the Feed Zone sweepers showed up. They dashed out of their vehicles, grabbed all the swag and drove away…the nerve!

Anyway, here’s a look; (notice the 3 Astana bags? Yes, one of those IS Lance Armstongs!!!

That’s all for today…stayed tuned for Solvang results tomorrow.

PS Jeff Louder rocked again today in the breakaway!!!!