We’re altering our usual Fast Facts Friday post and mixing it up this week with a little something to keep you on your toes.

By now you’re well aware that Bell Sports is ever-present in the world of cycling and skateboarding. What you may not know is that Bell is part of the Easton-Bell Sports family. If you play baseball or softball, then there’s no doubt that you’ve heard of Easton.

Carlos Ruiz, catcher for the Philadelphia Phillies

And you may know who Easton is, but did you also know the following interesting facts about the history of baseball:

1) In 1876 the National League begins play with eight teams: Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Stockings, Chicago White Stockings, Cincinnati Red Stockings, Hartford Dark Blues, Louisville Grays, Mutual of New York, St. Louis Brown Stockings. (Interesting Baseball Facts)

2) The longest game of baseball recorded to date took place in Boston on August 16, 2006 and was between the Red Sox and New York Yankees. The game went the usual nine innings but lasted four hours and 45 minutes! At long last, the Yankees won. (Baseball Almanac)

3) Easton arrived in the aluminum bat scene in the late 1970s, introducing a baseball bat with the strongest grade of aluminum on the market at the time and is credited with significantly increasing the popularity of aluminum baseball bats. (Baseball-Bats.net)

4) Baseball stars from the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) played the first All-Star Game in 1933. (FactMonster)

5) The San Francisco Giants’ Tim Lincecum won the Cy Young Award in November of 2009 for the second straight year, emerging from one of the tightest votes in history to become the first repeat winner since Randy Johnson (2001 and 2002). (ESPN)

And, in honor of the inaugural month of this year’s baseball season we have a special giveaway for you today! As a “thank you” to celebrate our one year anniversary as a community, we’re giving away two tickets to see that very 2009 Cy Young Award winner, Tim Lincecum, and the rest of the Giants take on the St. Louis Cardinals tonight (played at AT&T Park in San Francisco with a 7:15 pm first pitch)! And, as an added bonus, it’s “wearable blanket” giveaway night if you’re one of the first 20,000 fans to enter the stadium!

Much like the selection process for the All Star Game, we want to hear from the fans for this giveaway. Here’s how to enter (Please follow our two-part directions carefully):

1)      Leave a comment on this post telling us who your all-time favorite baseball player is.

2)      Post this link http://bit.ly/cfoCzW into either a Twitter or Facebook update.

The contest ends at Noon PT, and the game starts at 7:15pm PT, so be sure to get your comments and social media updates in before the deadline.

Good Luck!

Lincecum enjoys a wearable blanket, and you can too!

Today is Earth Day 2010 – the 40^th Anniversary of the celebration. This week also marks the one-year Anniversary of the Bell True Fit blog! A year ago we started this blog in an effort to raise awareness about Bell’s advances in the bicycling, snow sports and fitness industries, while paying homage to Mother Earth. In doing so, we unveiled our True Fit technology: a perfect combination of science and human experience that resulted in the best fitting helmets ever. We kicked off this blog with a Bell True Fit helmet giveaway and some Earth Day awareness.

Since last April we’ve held numerous giveaways, offered invaluable helmet and biking tips, and covered off on some of the most relevant helmet and biking-related news with our Week In Review series.

Unlike a newspaper, radio or traditional TV sitcom, a blog is not a static thing … it requires human participation and interaction for it to be successful.

You’ve participated in our surveys and contests, you’ve shared your favorite biking trails and locations, and you’ve offered unparalleled insight into the minds of the bicycle community. So, on this anniversary we’d like to thank our community. Meaning, we thank YOU for all the different levels of collaboration offered to us over the past year.

We thank The Full Mommy for her review and giveaway of a Bell True Fit helmet last spring. TG Daily Dads and Grads Product Giveaway was a hit with the guys last summer.  Last fall we conducted a survey asking if you allow your children to ride their bicycle to school. During the winter we asked what your favorite holiday traditions are. Both times we gave a helmet to one lucky commenter. And of course who could forget our twitter contests where we gave away three sets of Tony Hawk RIDE video games and Bell True Fit helmets! We hope the winners @MomMostTraveled, @davesniadak, and @MissingLynxx are getting good use out of the video games and helmets.

While your participation here has helped our blog become a Web destination for the bicycle community, your engagement with our Facebook and Twitter pages has also made Bell True Fit one of the highest followed in the social web.  ‘Thank You’ to all of you who commented on our blog posts, wrote on our Facebook wall, or “ReTweeted” our Twitter updates. Without you this blog would not be possible. Your engagement helps us decide what kind of content you’re most interested in for yourself and others in your own social networks.

We hope you’ll continue to visit our site and provide the invaluable feedback that you do.

Be on the lookout for more contests, and once again THANK YOU for being a part of the Bell True Fit family!

Happy Earth Day 2010!

As a provider of safety helmets for a variety of sports from professional to novice for adults to toddlers, we take pride in bringing innovation to our customers to create a safer experience on the hill, bike path, slopes, or just out on the driveway!

Bell True Fit helmets are designed for biking, however the Bell family also offers customized helmets for a variety of activities including power sports,  bicycling, and … skateboarding. Normally we blog about bicycling and all of the elements that surround it, however over the course of February 2010 we’ve been discussing skateboarding, in particular Tony Hawk, a whole lot.  

Since February 1, 2010 we’ve given away two Bell Hawk skateboarding/BMX helmets, and two versions of the new video game Tony Hawk: RIDE – one for X-Box 360 (congrats @MomMostTraveled) and one for Nintendo Wii (congrats @davesniadak).

While we don’t have the ability to give everyone a helmet or video game, we do have one more game/helmet combo to give away to a random – and may we add, in our opinion, lucky – twitter participant. Today marks the end of our third and final giveaway contest, and we’d like to say CONGRATULATIONS @MissingLynxx. You have won a new Bell Hawk helmet and Tony Hawk: RIDE for X-Box 360!

Thank You – everyone – for participating in our February twitter contests. We hope you’ll stick around to read our blog, and just want to say: be on the lookout for future contests!

Sincerely,

The Bell True Fit Team

There’s something enriching about watching an Olympic athlete stand on the podium and receive their medal. After years of practice, relentless dedication and an unwavering desire to be the best in the world, these athletes glow with a sense of fulfillment when they take the podium to receive their medal. Even the most hardened of competitors are affected, in some way or another, by the medal ceremony, as it enshrines the winners’ name in Olympic history. Today’s Fast Facts Friday touches on Olympic medals and medal winners.

1) The last Olympic gold medals that were made entirely out of gold were awarded in 1912. The Olympic medals are designed especially for each individual Olympic Games by the host city’s organizing committee. Each medal must be at least three millimeters thick and 60 millimeters in diameter. Also, the gold and silver Olympic medals must be made out of 92.5 percent silver, with the gold medal covered in six grams of gold. Let’s start with some figures: there are roughly 2,500 volunteers at the games, there are more than 10,000 media members at the games, and there are about 5,000 officials and athletes participating. (About.com)

2) Bob Richards, two-time Olympic pole vault champion became the spokesman for Wheaties cereal in 1958, and since the 1960s hundreds of athletes (Olympic medalists and other professional athletes) have been shown and promoted on Wheaties boxes. (Wikipedia)

3) As of Friday, February 19, 2010 the United States is leading the medal count in the 2010 Winter Olympics with six gold, five silver, and seven bronze for a total of 18 medals. Germany has four gold, four silver, and three bronze for a total of 11 medals. And Norway is in third place with three gold and silver each, and two bronze for a total of eight medals. (Vancouver2010.com)

4) The all-time medal leader for all Olympic Games from 1896 to 2008, including Summer Olympic Games and  Winter Olympic Games is the United States with 2,511 medals. To put this number into perspective, the second and third place countries in the all-time medal count are (the former) Soviet Union and Great Britain with 1,204 and 736, respectively. (Wikipedia)

5) UPDATE: Easton-Bell sponsored, two-time Olympian Natalie Darwitz, who is serving as the captain of the 2010 U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team, moved into the record books on Thursday when she broke the U.S. women’s record for most points in an Olympic hockey tournament. Darwitz is now at 11 points (four goals, seven assists) through three games. Next up for Darwitz and the Americans is the medal round, beginning Monday against Sweden in the semifinals. Records are great, Darwitz says, but these next two games will define her tournament more than any statistic. (USAHockey.com)

Do you have an all-time favorite Olympic athlete? Was there a moment, medal ceremony or otherwise, during the Olympics that moved you? Let us know by leaving a comment below! And don’t forget to enter our giveaway contest for your chance to win a Bell Hawk Helmet AND Tony Hawk: RIDE for X-Box 360 – contest ends 02/23/10! Check it out here.

Skateboarders and gamers rejoice! Bell True Fit and Activision are announcing the third and final video game/helmet contest giveaway! Today through Monday, February 22, 2010 we’re offering you the chance for you to win a Bell Hawk helmet and Tony Hawk RIDE for X-Box 360.

On February 1^st we announced the first of three contest giveaways, each for the chance to win a Bell Hawk skateboard/BMX helmet and, the latest and greatest skateboarding video game, Tony Hawk: RIDE. At the end of the first week we gave away a helmet and RIDE for X-Box 360. Last week we offered the chance to win a helmet and RIDE for Nintendo Wii.

Everyone’s participation in the first two contests has sent thousands of people to our blog, and helped us grow our twitter following exponentially. Thank you all very much for your participation.

Today we are happy to announce the winner of last week’s contest: Congratulations @davesniadak of Eagan, Minnesota! You are the lucky recipient of a shiny new Bell Hawk skateboard helmet and Tony Hawk: RIDE for Wii.

With February more than half way over and with two contests in the books, we still have one more helmet/game combo to giveaway …

For the next seven days we’re giving you the chance to win Activision’s Tony Hawk: Ride for X-Box 360 and a Bell Hawk Helmet! A value of more than $160! This is your last chance to win an X-Box version of Tony Hawk: Ride and a Bell helmet. 

Skaters will enjoy using the game’s unique skateboard peripheral (shown above) which is covered with motion sensors to simulate riding an actual skateboard.Similar to using the balance board in Wii Fit or Shaun White Snowboarding, the peripheral means you’ll have to ollie through challenges, pump for speed in the half pipe, and balance to accomplish tricks. There’s no sitting your way through levels in RIDE.

Entering the contest is easy: All you have to do is follow (@BellTrueFit) on twitter and retweet (RT) this link: http://bit.ly/cC37op

We’ll announce a winner on Tuesday, February 23, 2010.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the first and second rounds, and good luck in the third and final round! Tweet ya later!

The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21^st Winter Olympics, kicked off this morning in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The games run from February 12–28, 2010, and more than 80 nations are competing in 15 winter sports events. At least 10 of these sports require participants to wear helmets, including ski jumping, snowboarding, speed skating, luge, and bobsled. Canadians, Olympics groupies and winter sports enthusiasts alike have been anticipating today and the next two weeks since 2003 – when Vancouver was announced as the host city. If you are unable to make the trek to the Pacific Northwest to cheer on your country’s athletes, we’ve assembled a few facts and resources to help you stay up to date on the games from the comfort of your home.

Read the rest of this entry »

In partnership with Activision, on February 1st Bell Sports kicked off the first of three contest giveaways: for a week we asked you to engage us on twitter (@BellTrueFit) for your chance to win a Bell Hawk helmet and the video game Tony Hawk: Ride for X-Box 360.

After sifting through the twitter messages, we’ve randomly selected a winner: Congratulations to @MomMostTravelled! You are the winner of a Bell Hawk skateboarding/BMX helmet and an X-Box 360 version of Tony Hawk: Ride!

The Bell True Fit sweepstakes continue this week and for the next seven days we’re giving you the chance to win Activision’s Tony Hawk: Ride for Nintendo Wii and a Bell Hawk Helmet! A value of more than $160!

Like X-Box 360, the Wii version of Tony Hawk: RIDE uses a skateboard peripheral (shown below) covered with motion sensors to simulate riding an actual skateboard in the game. Similar to using the balance board in Wii Fit or Shaun White Snowboarding you’ll be on your feet grinding and shredding your way through the game. No sore thumbs!

Entering the contest is easy: All you have to do is follow (@BellTrueFit) on twitter and retweet (RT) this link: http://bit.ly/abqqFR

We’re excited to be offering you a chance to win a Wii version of Tony Hawk: Ride, and remember that we’ll be giving you another chance to win an X-Box 360 version next week!

Thanks to everyone who participated in the first round, and good luck in the second round!

Hopefully all your cards have been sent, your house smells of fresh pine needles and colorful lights are shining brightly in and outside your home, because today is Christmas Eve! Everywhere, people are busy singing carols, doing last minute holiday shopping, wrapping gifts and getting ready to spend quality time with their families and loved ones. The eggnog may very well have already started flowing, the ugly sweaters in full effect and children across the United States are anticipating a busy morning of digging through stockings and tearing through apart wrapping paper.

Indeed, the Holidays are heartwarming for everyone, including us here at Bell Sports. This is in part due to some of the aforementioned holiday customs (who doesn’t enjoy a hearty ugly sweater party?!), but also because of all the new bikes being rolled out this season.

We spoke with Santa earlier this month, and he said that, traditionally, a bicycle is one of the first things on many children’s wish lists. Of course, we made sure Santa had our phone number so he could place orders for True Fit Helmets to go with all those bicycles! We thoroughly enjoy the thought of children across the land jumping on a bike for the first time and starting what hopefully turns into a healthy lifetime hobby.

For some tips on how to properly teach your little one how to ride a bike, check out REI’s expert advice. They suggest the most important consideration when teaching a child to ride is that you keep it fun. Some children will pick it up faster than others, and patience is key. For more information, including the proper way to wear a helmet, check out REI’s Teaching a Child How to Ride a Bike.

Another fun and exciting thing to do around Christmas, specifically, is to bake cookies and leave them out near the fireplace with a glass of milk, so as to build anticipation for your little ones. But rather than making them wait up all night to catch a glimpse of ol’ Saint Nick, why not actually track Santa on his journey around the world this Christmas Eve? NORAD, the bi-national military organization responsible for the aerospace and maritime defense of the United States and Canada has been tracking Santa’s Christmas Eve journey’s for more than 50 years. You and your children will easily be able to find out where Santa is at anytime on Christmas Eve at NoradSanta.org.

Also, in case you missed our holiday helmet giveaway that took place last week, we are extending the holiday spirit post-holiday – we’ll be giving away more free goodies early in the New Year! Check back soon for your chance to win!!

On a final note…regardless of what Holiday you celebrate (it doesn’t matter if there are sugar plums dancing around in your head or Latkes on your plate), we at Bell wish you a very Happy Holiday!!

Being in the holiday spirit, last week we posted our first Holiday Helmet Giveaway, and aim to get it out to our lucky winner in time to make a fun and useful gift! As part of the giveaway we asked people about their favorite holiday traditions and what gifts they are most looking forward to giving and receiving.  All they had to do was leave a comment answering one or all of these questions, and they were automatically entered in a drawing to win a free Bell True Fit helmet of their choice!

Well, the results are in, and we’ve randomly selected Martha Renda as the winner of Bell’s Holiday Helmet Giveaway.

Martha said this Christmas is the most special to her because she already has the most wonderful gifts: She is a gradparent who recently received custody of her three grandchildren – ages 3, 4 and 7.

“We are starting over again as parents, but what a wonderful gift we have been given,” Renda said.

We hope you enjoy the helmet, Martha!

Be on the lookout for future helmet giveaways.

Thanks to everyone who participated!

The holidays are upon us and Jack Frost is nipping at everyone’s noses. With Hanukkah starting on Friday and Christmas around the corner, it made us over here at Bell wonder – how many of you could use a new helmet this holiday? A helmet is not the flashiest gift, nor the most expensive, but it is a perfect gift to give that cyclist, bmx’r or little biker in your family – the designs are very cool, and it shows you care about their well being. Even if they already have a helmet, it never hurts to have a spare one for when they want to bring a friend along for a ride, or when an upgrade is needed due to damage (check out our Your Stories Told feature to see firsthand how a Bell helmet saved one man’s life!).

Regardless of whether or not you’d planned to give a helmet to someone this Hanukkah or Christmas, we’re asking everyone to leave a comment below and tell us one (or all) of three things:

1) What is your favorite holiday tradition?

2) What gift(s) are you hoping to receive this year?

3) What gift(s) are you most looking forward to giving this year?

The best part? One lucky person who leaves a comment will win a free Bell True Fit helmet!!

That’s right; we’ll send one lucky person a Bell True Fit helmet (any size, any style – based on availability) just for sharing some of their holiday spirit with us.

Comments will be closed at 5p.m. PT on Thursday, December 17, 2009, at which time we’ll choose one commenter at random, and send them a free Bell True Fit helmet to arrive in time for the holidays!

Want that to be you? All you have to do is leave a comment below. Be sure to leave your name and a way for us to reach you. Or you could always send your comments to us on Twitter @BellTrueFit.

And if you have a twitter account, please also leave your twitter handle in your comment. We can’t give you a free helmet if we don’t know who you are!

Happy Holidays!

Photo courtesey of FocusHack.com