Reach for the sky is happening Oct 22.

This will be happening at the "Country Club" Reel Theater on Overland in Boise. Thursday, Oct 22. Details to follow, but for now we're just getting the word out. 

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We are very excited to be a part of this, and filmmaker Ryan Cleek will be on hand for chatting. Don't know what it is? Here's the trailer. We hope to see you there and stay tuned for more info.

Hidden Chemicals in our everyday lives. Wouldn't you know it, Patagonia is once again in the lead on this sourcing issue in our industry.

This is reproduced from The Robin Report, and specifically Warren Shoulberg. In full disclosure, we did not write it, but we liked it, so have a read. Link to the original is here. 

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The “F” Word

by Warren Shoulberg

I have seen sheets—high-thread-count, perfectly percale, cotton as soft as a baby’s bottom—made…and it’s not a pretty sight.

Can you say formaldehyde?

While all kinds of cause celebs are breaking out over what goes into the food we eat, we are starting to see the first signs that the same thing is happening in the products we use in our homes. Be it furniture, frying pans, crystal glasses or—most recently in the headlines—wood laminate flooring, the same demographic factors that are impacting food are descending upon the home furnishings business.

We all know what’s going on in the food business. Whole Foods started the movement for people being interested in where their food comes from and what happened to it when it was grown, raised or otherwise transferred to your kitchen.

The impact of Whole Foods is irrefutable: Walmart is now going organic and it doesn’t get any more mainstream than the Boys from Bentonville. Next up were the fast food restaurants. Chipotle stopped serving pork when it couldn’t guarantee a steady supply of properly sourced meat. Other national chains have followed, even including McDonald’s, which announced recently it would stop serving chicken that had been dosed with antibiotics. It doesn’t get any more mainstream than Ronald and the Hamburgler.

It’s What’s Inside That Counts

This movement to know the provenance of what you are putting in your mouth is now spreading to what you put in your home. Not that this is entirely something new. The state of California—as with many things— has been in the vanguard of the product safety movement particularly as it relates to the individual components that compose finished products. All the way back in 1986, the state passed what is generally known as Proposition 65, which had to do with cancer-causing elements and chemicals in a variety of items, from drinking water to glassware and ceramics. The law immediately became a source of contention between suppliers and legislators, and despite decades of debate and no doubt some serious lobbying, the law remains on the books.

So when you buy fine lead-crystal wine glasses or handmade ceramics, somewhere there in the small print you’ll see some legal gobblygook about the product meeting—or sometimes not meeting—the Proposition 65 standards. Other household items like paint and non-stick cookware are also regulated in assorted places and are often the target of well-meaning zealots ranting and raving about their hazards. Not being a chemist—or a painter or much of a cook for that matter—I can’t tell you who is right and who is ranting.

Sheets Happen

Which brings us back to those sheets. Before the industry largely moved offshore during the last decade of the 20th century, just about every sheet sold in the country was made here. And they were made in huge, highly efficient and largely automated textiles mills in the American Southeast. They were also made with tons and tons of chemicals. The process of taking raw cotton — and sometimes polyester — and making it into a soft, fluffy piece of fabric you sleep on involves lots of steps and lots of processes.

And lots of chemicals…including the aforementioned formaldehyde. I never quite figured out exactly what they needed the formaldehyde for and I tried to accept them at their word that it was washed out before the sheets were ready to be put on your bed. Me, I thought I was done with formaldehyde when I got out of 10th grade biology…you know, the one with the frogs.

A Flawed Floor Story

Now Lumber Liquidators wished it was done with formaldehyde back then too. The company is in a tailspin affecting its business, its stock price and perhaps even its very survival because of the chemical. To say it has been floored by what’s happened over the past few months is both a terrible pun and the understatement of the year. Founded in 1993, Lumber Liquidators grew to more than 200 stores in 46 states and became the darling of Wall Street and a favorite for budget-minded home remodelers.

It all came crashing down earlier this year when 60 Minutes did an investigative piece charging that the company’s laminate flooring contained high levels of formaldehyde. Now, there is no federal standard on formaldehyde levels in products like flooring, though there is one in…wait for it…California. And according to the 60 Minutes investigation, flooring sold by the store did not meet that standard even though it was labeled as such.

It wasn’t long before the stuff hit the fan and Lumber Liquidators was on the defense. First it said it wasn’t true and its products met the standard. Then it mailed out test kits to customers. Then a major retailer, Lowes, announced it was dropping one of the company’s laminate flooring products from its stores. And then in early May, Lumber Liquidators said it was pulling its Chinese-made flooring products even though it said the vast majority of its test results showed it was within World Health Organization standards. All the while, its sales have continued to tank—18 percent in March—and the stock has done even worse, dropping more than 60 percent since the TV report.

No doubt there will be lots of lawsuits and legislative committees holding hearings over the next several months. And there has already been one pretty big corporate casualty: CEO Robert Lynch suddenly resigned in mid-May under circumstances that are not quite clear yet. It’s likely that the retailer will survive, though it will probably have taken some more serious hits before it’s all done.

Chemicals Compounded

But all of this is going to impact the way home products are going to be sold going forward. The people eating at Chipotle and Panera are the same people who will be buying couches and rugs and frying pans and sheets and the industry better understand this.

Which is why a couple of basic observations are critical here:

1. Retailers and suppliers have to know where and how their products are made. It isn’t enough to know that the factory isn’t polluting or exploiting underage workers or doing it all in unsafe facilities. Now it’s going to matter what went into that product. This is going to be a huge adjustment for a business raised on petrochemical components.
2. None of this means a return to domestic manufacturing. Factories in the U.S. are every bit as capable as their Asian counterparts of making products of questionable natures. The race downward in product quality—driven by a relentless focus on prices led by Walmart—is going to require a major mental reset. Consumers have shown they will pay for a better version of a product if the supplier and/or retailer can give them a reasonable explanation why. Dyson did it to Hoover, All Clad did it to Farberware and the list goes on.
3. Finally, when someone blames the Chinese for making sub-standard products, stop the person and tell the truth: We taught them everything they know about making modern commercial products and they are just doing what we told them to do. Back when the country was building its sourcing business in the 1980s and 1990s, if we had told them to make the good stuff they would have been more than pleased to oblige. But we told them we wanted crap.

So, the rules are changing in home furnishings as they are in food. And they are changing fast when it comes to manufacturing processes, components and ingredients.

Remember the old DuPont marketing slogan, Better Living Through Chemistry? You don’t hear that so much anymore, do you?

About Warren Shoulberg

Warren Shoulberg is editorial director of several home furnishings magazines and has been reporting on the home business for a long time. He is currently working on his next book, Stupid Business.

A quick report from Team Rhino Rush. Yeah buddy!

We can't believe the Fall season is upon us! This has been one of best years yet in terms of rider strength, teamwork and development. We've truly met our goal of supporting great riders who are great people.

ON THE ROAD

Bogus - Every year the Bogus Basin hill climb serves as the benchmark for all Treasure Valley Cyclists in pursuit of the sub hour ascent. This year we had Five riders do the sub hour Bogus! Congrats to Jackson Swanson, Brent Gorman, Justin Mayfield, Eric Gregg and John Salmon, for attaining a great accomplishment.

Twilight Criterium - Every year in July you can feel the excitement downtown of our largest Road cycling event of the year. This year was no different as we looked to give the city of Boise a great show and hopefully earn some spots on the podium. Paul Warner, our top Cat 1 rider had a great showing in the Pro-1 field with a pack finish behind the stunning battle between United HealthCare and AltoVelo.

In the 1,2,3s Nick Lee, Ian Megale, Andrew Harris, Jackson Swanson and Gary Davis put on a great show with constant attacks while capturing multiple prems; despite the rain right before their race.

Unfortunately in the 4-5s the myth the man, the legend Chris Haskell got caught up with a lapper and took a solid spill, shown below, captured by his own gopro. Don't worry though, he has said he will be ready for Cyclocross season!

Baker City - This was one of the hottest years on record for the team. The heat combined with the 14 thousand feet of climbing over the four days was a true test of grit for the guys. In the 1-2s Justin Mayfield led both Paul Warner and Jackson Swanson through the grueling, steep Elkhorn Mountains. 

In the 3s Ian Megale and Eric Gregg gave quite an impressive performance.

Both earning points to upgrade them to cat 2 for next year! Ian placed 4th in the criterium and Eric was 2nd in the TT!

Ian doing throwing quite the bike throw

ON THE DIRT

Jug Mtn 9-5

Zach Powell teamed up with his good friend and long time local pro Josh Oppenheimer to dominate the mens duo field. The two were the only group of the day to complete 12 laps. Our own Lucy Collins made her debut to the mtb marathon scene as well. She finished third behind seasoned pros Amanda Carey and Jana Repulski. 

Lucy cruising through the mountains of McCall

Mtb Nationals

TJ and Zach were able to make the trek to Mammoth Mountain this year for Mtb Nationals. TJ had a great race in the Cat 1 40-44 age group placing 12th. Zach was competitive in his field as well despite a poor start.

As I mentioned, Fall is here, which means cyclocross is upon us. We hope to see out at the races with a cowbell and tasty beverage; as this is one of our favorite times of the year!

Thank you all for the support this year, we would not be the great team we are without the great sponsors we have!

All the best!

The LBC Board

Seven Cycles for the Long Haul

This from our friends at Seven Cycles, "We had an email from a photographer friend, based in Europe. It said, "Have been out shooting PBP (Paris-Brest-Paris) and was amazed at the number of Sevens I saw." Then we were researching recent posts about the New England Randonneurs' summer brevet series, looking at results and times, and it struck what a high percentage of the riders were on our bikes.   It seems everywhere we look at the longest, hardest rides the sport offers, our bikes are disproportionately represented. We hope it's because we can offer serious riders the exact blend of performance and comfort they're looking for, and that few, if any, production bikes provide the sorts of features and options that make big adventures so much easier. Whatever the case (like Seven riders are just a little crazier than the general cycling populace), it feels good that the harder the ride, the more likely the rider is to choose Seven."

Because Seven does a lot of custom bikes, and you don't tend to see them sitting on the sales floor, it might be easy to forget that they're some of the best bikes out there. Big adventure riders, we're here for ya.

This here...is quite a bike.

Yesterday (8/23/15) we had a very successful Giant Bike Demo at Camel's Back Park, with many riders getting out on multiple bikes. Thanks to "Giant Demo Driver" Brad Pastir and everyone who showed. 

The surprising revelation of the day: Most people who thought they wanted a 5.5" travel Trance Advanced, and then rode a Trance and a 6.3"-travel Reign in secession, came away saying, "Well, the Reign pedals just as well with more travel...it's overkill for here [in the Boise foothills], but that's the bike I want." And guess what? No one was missing 29" wheels. All day. 

To each their own, 29-inch wheels make a ton of sense to a lot of people and on a lot of terrain, but if you have yet to try out 27.5, we think you owe it to yourself. Luckily, both models will be part of our in-store demo fleet very soon.  

Absolutely DO NOT try to insult the
Justice League right now, Drunk Aquaman

As for the "Stories" part of this Stories-post, I don't have a picture of the guy, because when he arrived the queue was substantial and we were busy getting people out on bikes, but let me paint a picture for ya. Imagine it's about 8:30am on a smoky Sunday and the Giant truck is posted up at the end of 9th street; the backside of Camel's Back. As we're unloading bikes, a man stumbles out of the woods with a duffel bag. He's quite fashionable with some designer jeans, a button down shirt, and suit-style vest. Problem is, he's not fit, neither the shirt nor the vest are buttoned, and he's having trouble negotiating how to get over one of the least formidable wooden fences I've ever seen. 

It takes him a handful of minutes but eventually he makes it over to the demo area to start chattin us up about bikes. At least, I think that's what he though he was doing. We fielded a barrage of questions relating to what we were doing setting up shop near his hallowed pond in the first place....until a green cab pulled up. Don't know if this was pre-arranged or what because dude didn't have a cell phone. He throws his bag in the trunk, slaps his face to dust off his beard, asks us for a light [that we didn't have] and away he goes. Weirdest thing I've seen in a while, but "too weird to live, too rare to die," I guess.

The Liv bike demo is next week, Monday the 31st. Hope to get all the ladies out for that one. Call us at 208/336-3854 to reserve your bike ASAP. 

Mountain Bike World Cup DH - The last race of the year (almost) streams Saturday Morning

For those of you who like and follow World Cup DH mountain bike racing, Val di Sol will be streaming on Red Bull TV Saturday morning at 6:30 Mountain Time. This is the final stop on the World Cup circuit, the only other being the World Championships in Andorra in 2 weeks (World Champs is not technically a World Cup... so there's that).

There are tons of compelling stories playing out this year, as Josh Bryceland (AKA "Ratboy," "The Rat," or "Miami Bryce") came back to form to win a few weeks back, but maybe isn't exactly 100% after his crushing ankle injury at last year's Worlds. Luckily, the kid hasn't lost his accent (the best in the biz).

Meanwhile Greg Minnaar is perennially at the top despite the whole pesky "aging" thing (the man is a professor), both the Athertons have won here before (understatement of the century), devout-American Aaron Gwin is capable of winning on any weekend (pray for him), and then there's the new crop of youngsters hanging out at the bottom of the podium every week just waiting to punch through (these include Troy Brosnan who qualified first, and my favorite up-and-coming-Frenchie Remi Thirion, who does already have a World Cup win, so maybe he's not so up-and-coming anymore, but it doesn't really matter because he's out with injury).

Watch the course preview to get you pumped, and tune in tomorrow. Top women should be at about 7:15 and I'd say the top men go off at about 8:00.

It's not that early.

Two separate events coming up. Giant on Aug. 23rd and LIV on the 31st.