It all started in 2009 when Sports Basement co-founder and super-human Eric Prosnitz was coaching his daughter’s soccer team. He wanted to have uniforms made, but found that they were prohibitively expensive for the average Joe. Here’s where the super-human part comes in – instead of writing their names on some tees with a Sharpie, Eric decided to do something about those mile-high uniform prices.  You see, Sports Basement already offers screamin’ deals on sports gear and equipment, so it was pretty clear to Eric that we should also offer screamin’ deals on printing, so that team uniforms could be available to all. Thus, Sports Basement Custom Orders and Uniforms was born!

Naturally, because we’re Basement-y, we took this uniforms idea and ran wild with it. “If we can print team names and logos,” said Cynthia Lee, our SB uniforms magician, “why, we can print anything in the world!” And so it began. Race hats, event tees, outerwear with company logos on them, matching hot pink sorority fleeces, reusable tote-bags with pictures of puppies on them, our imaginations have no limit, and neither should yours!  Here’s a sampling of the magic we can perform:

Team uniforms – Here’s where it all began. Jerseys for soccer, basketball, cross country or even badminton, as well as shorts, warm-ups, hats, gym bags, anything that you’d like to emblazon with your team name or mascot. Click here for team uniform info.

Group apparel – Put your company logo onto a top-of-the-line softshell jacket, or put your club’s logo onto technical tee-shirts. Find apparel in our stores or we can custom order it for you then print it. The possibilities really are endless.

School spirit gear – Any high schooler can tell you: senior year just isn’t the same without a senior sweatshirt! Show your school pride with custom tees, sweatshirts, jackets, or anything else.

Race and event gear – Make commemorative tee shirts for your fundraiser, or get technical tees for that marathon you’re planning. Click here for more info.

Swim gear – We do swimsuits, parkas and swim caps, too!

To get started visit our website at sportsbasement.com/uniforms. If you have an idea that you don’t see listed, don’t hesitate to contact us at sub@sportsbasement.com or 415.437.0100 x7143! We want to make your custom apparel a stylish reality.

Your easiest option is pre-cooked, pre-packaged, dehydrated food. We sell lots of these pouches by Backpacker’s Pantry, Mary Jane’s Farm, and Mountain House. The major benefit to these foods is that all you have to do is heat water, throw it in the pouch, and wait about 10 minutes. They’re also lightweight and easy to pack. But you do sacrifice some flavor and will consume a lot of salt. Spice up these meals by bringing a few seasonings and other lightweight goodies like sundried tomatoes, nutritional yeast, or parmesan cheese. You could also get a dehydrator and make your own meals at home.

Another way to get dehydrated ingredients is to hit up the bulk foods section of a grocery store. Places like Berkeley Bowl and Rainbow Grocery are great for this! I’ll often combine soup mix flavors or bring uncooked rice and dehydrated beans. One of my favorite meals is falafels with hummus. You can find dry mixes for both of them- just add water, oil, and some pita bread. Frying the falafels takes a few minutes, but it’s worth it.

You can also try more complicated meals. Bring foil packets of chicken, curry powder, bouillon cubes, a can of coconut milk, and dehydrated veggies for an awesome curry dinner. I also adore a good tofu veggie stir fry using soy sauce and peanut butter, over rice. Bringing freshies (fresh food) will weigh down your pack, but can be a really nice treat. My friend and I recently packed in two steaks on an overnight trip! Something as simple as an apple or orange a day can keep your food blahs away.

Lunches and breakfasts are easy. Crackers with summer sausage or hummus, tortilla pb&j, trail bars, or croissants with tuna- from a foil pouch, not a can- are all good lunch options. Oatmeal is a favorite for breakfast. You can even bring dehydrated milk and eat cereal like at home! Another option is to get a pouch of dehydrated eggs and add instant potatoes, soyrizo, or both.

A lot of the ingredients I’ve mentioned can be used for multiple meals or as a snack. Peanut butter is a great example because you can add it to almost anything, even your morning oatmeal, for a little protein pick-me-up. Make a ‘chocodilla’ for dessert using a leftover tortilla and chocolate chips from your trail mix. Get creative! One night, instead of dumping my leftover rice-cooking water in the pristine backcountry, I made some tasty horchata by adding some of the cinnamon and brown sugar we’d brought to season oatmeal.

Before you leave home, throw away any excess packaging, but write down cooking instructions. Also, be sure you know how to use your stove (and any other new gear). If your meals require only boiling water, the Jetboil Flash is lightweight, easy to use, efficient, and almost magically fast. For more involved meals, I like bringing the GSI Compact Scraper to use as a lightweight spatula and to make cleanup a breeze. Whether you eat out of a pouch or cook a five-course meal, find a nice spot with a great view to eat your meal.

For more tips, come in to any of our stores and talk with a backcountry specialist. We’re here to help!

Ah, summer. Just the word alone brings to mind the smell of sunscreen, the taste of fresh lemonade and smoky barbeques, and of course, the mad hullabaloo of kids home for summer break.  Spend some quality time the your little wunderkind by engaging in the ultimate summer activity – bike rides!

Get your kids into two-pedaled power as early as possible. Here’s our complete list of options to get your kid’s feet off the ground and onto some pedals.

Bike seats

Start ‘em young! You’d rather be on your bike than trapped in a car anyway, so get your toddler accustomed to being outside and wearing a helmet by strapping her comfortably into a bike seat on the back of your commuter. Keep in mind that she’s riding right over your rear wheel, so she’s going to get the brunt of the bumps in the road. Keep it steady and slow, and consider deflating your rear tire a bit to add some cushion to your ride.

Trailers

Great for carting the wee ones to preschool and back, a trailer has room for two kids up to around 6 years old. It’s a bit more stable than a bike seat is, since it stands on its own, and there’s no fear of your kid tumbling down with you if you take a spill. However, they’re low to the ground, so avoid streets with too many cars. A faceful of exhaust is not exactly a treat!

Balance Bikes

It’s a bike without the bulk: literally nothing more than a frame with wheels. No pedals, no gears, no brakes, nothing but the ability to roll! Toddlers can handle a balance bike as soon as they can confidently walk. They’re great for helping your yellow-jersey-winner-to-be practice balance and coordination, and give him a sense of independence: after all, this is his very own bike!

Trail-a-Bikes

But the push bike isn’t exactly a viable transportation vehicle. If you want to include your darling on longer rides (or even bike tours!) then a trailer bike might be the option for you. It attaches to your seatpost or rear rack, basically turning your bike into a tandem. This gives your child pedal power but maintains your control over balance and steering, which is a pretty sweet middle ground for kids up to about 7 or 8.

Training Wheels

There comes a time in every kid’s life when they really absolutely have to have their own bike. All their friends have one, and you’ll be the total meanest parent to ever exist ever if you don’t let him have one too. Roll out the training wheels, ’cause this is about to get real. Balance is an intimidating factor for a lot of kids, and training wheels really help ease your kid through that transition. Once he’s got the whole pedaling thing down pat, those suckers can come right off. Then you get to have that classic parenting moment where you run behind holding the seat and then send him off down the sidewalk, independent at last. It’s a real tear-jerker. What’s the post-Kodak term for a Kodak moment, anyway?

Kids’ Bikes

She’s practically an adult now, what with her ability to ride a bike completely free of your assistance, but don’t think you can just pop her on your old beater and call it a day. It’s tempting to get a bike for your kid to grow into, but the truth is, if she can’t ride it comfortably than she probably won’t ride it at all. If you’re unsure if your little darling is going to fall in love with biking, try out a rental! Our Presidio and Walnut Creek locations rent kid’s size bikes.

Now, cycling with the mini-me is a little different than bombing hills solo. You’re probably super stoked on your bike, but he might need a little more encouragement. Beyond all the classic safety tips (wear a helmet, stop at intersections, walk your bike across streets) it’s important that you show enthusiasm for riding. If you’re excited to go outside and have a biking adventure, chances are your excitement will be contagious. And nothing guarantees a lifetime of health like a love of cycling. Just look in the mirror if you don’t believe us!

Are you ready to ride?

You’re registered and committed to ride and raise money, and you’ve trained for months to make this happen. You’ve put in your miles, now make sure you’re ready for everything else ride-related.

Over the years we have been huge fans and supporters of the ride and we’ve put together some resources to help you out along the way.

Your fundraising. We’ve described all the ways we can help you raise money at our Fundraising Tips & Ideas page. Have other creative ideas? Share them in the comments!

Your bike. We’re pretty sure you already have a bike. But are you as happy as you can be with it? We offer complete professional bike-fitting services at all of our stores. Give us a call to discuss your options and make an appointment.

Your gear. We’ve put together a packing list based on our collective years of experience riding and roadie-ing. Remember that in addition to bike gear and apparel, our stores also have camping and travel necessities that will make your life better off the bike.

Your Orientation Day! We’ll be running a free shuttle between our Bryant Street Store and the Cow Palace during orientation on June 1. The shuttle runs every half hour until 4:30pm, and it’s available to ferry you between orientation and our send-off party in your honor. Our party starts at 2pm, and we”ll have tutu making and manicure stations, great Basement deals on bike clothes, a bike tech on hand to answer any pre-ride questions and delicious snacks to munch on. Stock up on any last-minute items, corner our cute bike mechanics and explore the store that all your Northern California riders already know and love!

America’s biggest race kicked off to a stellar start on May 12th down in the sweltering heat of Escondido, but the world’s top cyclists are making their way north to our more temperate climes this week! By Friday, May 17 the peloton will have hit San Jose, and the fun will truly begin (for us, at least). Yeah, we Basementeers are not ashamed to admit that we are the hugest cycling nerds in the universe, and neither wind nor rain nor broken chains will keep us from cheering on our favorite teams! We’ll be donning our favorite jerseys and polishing our lucky cowbells to a mirror finish all week, and we want you out there with us! Here’s our schedule of events:

Sunday, May 12 – Stage 1: We stared at our TVs in wonder at he grueling 11,000 ft of climbing that Lieuwe Westra managed to conquer. (Congrats, Lieuwe!)

Monday, May 13 – Stage 2: Murrieta to Palm Springs. For us, this involved more TV watching, and a good deal of smartphone checking, followed by the most epic bike commute home ever as we strived to be like our idols, simultaneously thanking the heavens that we live in the Bay Area and not 100+ degree Palm Springs.

Tuesday, May 14 – Stage 3: In a fit of fanaticism for Peter Sagan’s sweet sprint skills, we’ll probably buy ourselves a new Cannondale team jersey, and continue to stare open mouthed at our TV, doing sprints on our rollers.

Wednesday, May 15 – Stage 4: More sweet sprinting action at the end of this stage, no doubt! It’s all flat when the cyclists pull into Santa Barbara, so this is definitely one to watch. And we will be. Constantly.

Thursday, May 16 – Stage 5: From Santa Barbara to San Luis Obispo, the tour creeps ever closer to the northern end of the state! Our eyes are glued to the TV while our we start prepping for…

Friday, May 17 – Stage 6: Finally, the Tour hits San Jose! We’ll be out by IBM’s Silicon Valley Lab in San Jose in our trademark huge green tent, with bikes, raffles and all kinds of excitement, screaming ourselves silly and generally having a great time. You’ll be there. We already know it.

Saturday, May 18 – Stage 7: The peloton races from Livermore up to Mt. Diablo in one of the biggest climbs of the race. Over 10,000 ft. of climbing, and nearly all of it is in the last 20 miles! The tour website states that the race may very well be decided right here in this stage. We will totally be there to see it! Afterwards, join us at Sports Basement Walnut Creek for an after party from 4pm to 7pm!

Sunday, May 19 – Stage 8: The thrilling conclusion of the Amgen Tour of California has the peloton traveling through San Francisco, and literally right by our front door at Sports Basement Presidio (where we’ll obviously be screaming our heads off) and over the Golden Gate Bridge, which will be only the third time ever in history that it’s been closed to traffic. How awesome is that! The Tour ends in Santa Rosa.

Monday, May 20 – yes, there’s more! The race may be over, but we’re stoked to play host to the entire Cannondale pro cycling team (that’s Peter Sagan, and Moreno Moser, and Ted King, and oh my gosh we are going to lose our minds) for an autograph and photo session right here at Sports Basement Presidio.

So get your jerseys ready and keep your conversations to a whisper all week – you’re gonna need your lungs in prime yelling condition for the weekend!

It goes without saying that kids are awesome. They know all the best jump roping songs, and they can do that weird trick with their elbows that we forgot how to do. They’re really, really cool, and we want to be just like them.

Unfortunately, jump roping is hard enough without remembering rhymes at the same time, so we’re officially stuck in adult-land. But all is not lost! If we can’t be kids again, we can at least support kids all we can.

That’s why we’ve set up our revenue-sharing partnership with schools all over the Bay Area.  In 2012 alone this program raised over $133,000 for schools! We want to go bigger and better than ever for 2013, and that means partnering with every school we can.   That’s where you come in: if you don’t see your favorite elementary school, middle school or high school in the list below, and you think they would benefit from a partnership with Sports Basement, please let us know! Email us at friends@sportsbasement.com and we’ll get this party started.

A few days go we received the very best kind of email from one of our CPR trainees. It was one of those emails that gives you the shivers and leaves you smiling all day long. We’re still basking in the afterglow, so rather than trying to explain it, here it is in full:

“I took your CPR class on Monday, and I thought it was amazing! I really enjoyed learning everything.

Anyway- this morning I went for a run with my training group (my full-time job is to manage half marathon and triathlon teams). A man collapsed on the trail, his heart stopped beating, and he stopped breathing. No one there knew CPR. I ran over, started compressions, and told someone to call 9-11. It took about 4 or 5 minutes for the first responders to arrive. I kept up with CPR the whole time- compressions (think I definitely broke his ribs), head tilted back (his tongue really did get all floppy). Everything you taught us was crucial. When the first medic arrived, she had me continue CPR while she got the AED ready. We zapped him with it and he started to breathe on his own. His eyes were all rolled back, but his heart was beating and he started breathing. I had to talk to all of the firemen/police people. The chief of police said I saved his life. They took him to Stanford Medical Center, and I’m still waiting to hear if he’s ok.

There is no way I could have done that without your training. THANK YOU SO, SO MUCH.”

We’re constantly amazed at how much one person can do to make a difference, but in this case our incredible trainee made all the difference in the world – she saved a life!

We offer CPR classes at all of our stores. Sign up if you’re interested in learning how to save lives like Maggie!

Sports Basement wants to take your company mountain biking for a day, for free! That’s right, we’re giving away one of Sports Basement Outdoors‘s one day, all-inclusive guided mountain biking trips (a $6000 value!) to one lucky winner and up to 29 of their favorite co-workers. Start baking cookies for your office staff ASAP – you never know who’s going to win!

To enter, stop by any one of our stores and drop your business card in the raffle box, or send your company’s name and contact info to sboutdoors@sportsbasement.com. The contest ends May 31st, so come in soon!

And of course it goes without saying that there’s way more to a Sports Basement Outdoors mountain biking adventure than just a bike and a helmet – this is the adventure of a lifetime, complete with a skills course, guided, specialized trail rides, a fully catered breakfast and barbecue lunch, and of course, top of the line Cannondale bikes. Sports Basement Outdoors offers other exciting adventures for your office or team as well – get the full scoop here!

The SF Schools raised a whopping $2,887 vs. the SF YMCA’s admirable $1,671, with the South Bay YMCA and WCEF/PEAK teams adding even more money to their total funds raised. “It seemed like every other customer this weekend was shopping to support the schools.” said SB Bryant St. Manager Sara Evett.

But the real winners were undoubtably the 28 charities that raised $39,142 for all their wonderful causes (that’s over $5000 more than last year)! Our Community Team will contact each charity to organize Sports Basement’s donation. Thanks for playing and we’ll see you next year.