Val is BRAIN’s newest staff writer. She comes to the magazine with a varied background including stints as a bike shop manager, bicycle tour guide, and race and event director. She also worked as a freelance writer in the outdoor and travel industries. Most recently, she taught women’s clinics and drove a demo van, working with Giant retailers all over the west. An Idaho native who has lived all over the northwest, Val is excited about her recent relocation to sunny southern California, where she can mountain bike, trail run, and garden year round. She lives in Silverado canyon with her boyfriend Brian and their two dogs.
Val Vanderpool
All articles by Val Vanderpool
SOUTH PASADENA, Calif. (BRAIN) — With more than 31,000 Instagram followers, Team Dream Bicycling Team has garnered a global following since it began selling cycling kits, hats, water bottles, stickers and other merchandise on Etsy five years ago.
BROOKLYN, N.Y. (BRAIN) — On Saturday, Dec. 9, 42 bike shops in 23 states and one in Stavropol Kai, Russia, held community events, fundraisers, sales and group rides in honor of the first-ever Bike Shop Day.
BOULDER, Colo. (BRAIN) — A new 20-video series to help retailers teach staff the basics of customer interaction is now available online. The one-minute Customer Satisfaction Training videos cover everything from basic greetings and manners to more specific topics like merchandising and selling service.
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (BRAIN) — With a store count that continues to tick upward at a swift pace, Pedego's dealer event gets bigger every year.
SEDONA, Ariz. (BRAIN) — Well over 100 women from all corners of the country and Canada gathered in this red rock mountain biking mecca for the first-annual Roam Bike Fest.
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (BRAIN) — Bicycle Retailer's Dealer Tour visited Utah's capital in May of 2014. Since then, several shops we visited have added new locations, while one rebranded and another retailer remodeled and reopened three shops as Giant Partner Stores.
SEATTLE (BRAIN) — When REI announced that it would send 16 female employees to Barnett's Bicycle Institute for a women's-only course, the outdoor retailer received more than 350 applications. The two-week course was held at BBI's campus in Colorado Springs, Colorado, earlier this month.
TUCSON, Ariz. (BRAIN) — Following what retailer Seton Claggett described as a brutal five-year legal battle with his bank, TriSports.com is closing.
STATESVILLE, N.C. (BRAIN) — In the months following retailer Jeff Archer's death after being struck by a car while crossing the street last July, the fate of his shop, First Flight Bicycles, remained uncertain.
FARMINGTON, Utah (BRAIN) — Vista Outdoor, which owns several bike-related companies including Bell and Giro, has laid off 57 employees across its portfolio of more than 50 outdoor brands.