I don't know when you'll be reading this article but I can tell you it was written smack dab between "Black Friday" and "Cyber Monday". If those terms mean nothing to you then congratulations, you aren't letting the commercialism of the holidays get the best of you!

In all fairness I've been sniffing around the flyers in the Sunday paper and the stores' websites a little myself trying to find gift ideas for myself, er I mean for others that these big shopping events inspire. 42" 1080p flat screen for $199?! I don't even have room for a TV that size but that doesn't mean I didn't try to buy one anyway. Maybe it's for the best they were completely out of stock by 12:01am.

What's really disturbing though are the stories on the evening news that always follow the Black Friday madness: people brawling, stampeding, assaulting, and in some cases killing one another to save a few bucks on an item. I'm all for big sales and successful merchandising but come on here, that's just foolishness!

If you've read this far and are wondering what in the world all of this ranting has to do with mountain biking, rest assured, I have a point in here somewhere. This is, after all, MBT's annual Holiday Buyer's Guide (HBG) Issue; that special update devoted almost entirely to products that would make for ideal gifts for the rider on your list (or to pass along as suggestions to the Secret Santa in your life).

Manufacturers are typically quite pleased with the format as well as it bestows exposure upon their goodies just as the world at large is in frantic spend mode. This year we've maintained all that is good about the HBG but decided against simply plastering the issue with gift suggestions and reviews. Sure that method may prove beneficial within the roughly three-week span between when the issue goes live and what retailers consider the end of the holiday shopping season but hey, we're a bimonthly here!

That means the additional 5-weeks that the issue remains current in search engines and in your bookmarks would offer little outside of gift ideas in a time where occasional warm days may be inspiring riders to saddle up and sneak a little New Year's riding into the equation. For that reason alone we decided to sprinkle a little editorial content you come to rely upon Mountain Bike Tales for in with an assortment of gift ideas that we are confident the rider in your life will appreciate.

I generally like to believe that mountain bikers are a good lot of homo sapiens who would never find themselves involved in the madness of these violent sale shoppers making headlines but then again to the best of my knowledge, none of our local bike shops have gotten to the point of promoting Black Friday/ Doors Open at Midnight extravaganzas either. No reason to start now!

Happy & Safe Holidays to all our readers!