[dc]Y[/dc]ou may have noticed a few changes to Tailwind Coaching and The Daily Grind over this past holiday weekend. Namely, there's a pane on the right side of the site that contains two links to new site sponsors. RoadID and Competitive Cyclist have come on board as sponsors of the site, and specifically of the Tailwind Coaching Podcast, which will help to mitigate the cost of hosting and bandwidth for future podcasting ventures.
A little information about the new sponsors I hope you'll support:
I've long been a user of RoadID and a proponent of carrying sufficient ID and contact information with you while riding or training. With the recent rash of injuries on the road, including the death of Amy Dombroski while training in Belgium, it's more important than ever to carry sufficient identification with you on your rides. This is especially true when riding alone or in more remote locations. A RoadID is the perfect tool to ensure that your identification is with you in the event of an accident. By wearing a wrist, ankle or dogtag type ID, the chances of it being missed by emergency personnel is slim, which will result in more thorough care and quicker notification of friends or family in the event of an accident. My partnership with RoadID will allow me to further advocate for the peace of mind that carrying ID allows for.
Competitive Cyclist is a leader in the high end online bike retail industry. While I'm always an advocate of shopping locally at your LBS, sometimes shopping online is necessary these days. Not all LBS are able to stock the range of items you'll find online, and it's rare to find a LBS that carries the variety of brands that a retailer like Competitive Cyclist does. Of course, the ability to stretch your dollar further (an important concept in these tough economic times) is always a welcome plus. On top of the ease of buying online, from a huge selection of brands and product lines, Competitive Cyclist has one of the best customer service departments in the online retail world today. Having purchased from them a number of times and having had to use their customer service to resolve a couple of small issues, I can safely say that Competitive Cyclist is one of the best bets for online shopping available today.
Check both links on my pages (off to the right hand side, underneath my contact/"follow Coach Rob" pane) periodically for great deals on all kinds of equipment and help support the Tailwind Coaching Podcast (proceeds from affiliate sales go to web hosting space and bandwidth.)
