Saturday, January 31, 2009

Chevy can teach! (apparently...)

So the women's bike maintenance course went off without a hitch....which surprised the crap out of me. Really, i excpected the whole thing to be a gong show of immense size....

not to toot my own horn, but i got rave reviews from all the ladies out there...which is a good thing for me...i'm not what you'd call comfortable speaking to a crowd....and also a good thing because it means i'll be doing another course soon! I'm thinking next month sometime, perhaps the month after. Also, after several requests from the ladies, i'll be doing a more advanced course. It'll cost more, but there'll be fewer people and everyone will get some "hands on" time on their bikes. anyhow thanks to all the women for showing up, you were a great class to teach and made it very easy for me to say yes to doing the whole thing again.
Until next time kids....

Friday, January 30, 2009

What a fine picture of a Rainier bottle

So, I came across the photo below on the bike snob's page:
I immediately thought: "How can I get away with posting this on the Rider's blog?" Well, since I'm a Raleigh owner (yes my rain bike/commuter tank is a 1987 Raleigh Record) I knew about the resurrection of Raleigh down in the states. Unlike here in in Canada and Raleigh's native UK, the bikes in the states are not to be sneezed at. Whereas in Canada and the UK they're just cheap, heavy, and altogether unappetizing pile of mangled aluminum and steel sold at Canadian tire and the comparable junk mongers in the UK. In the states they actually have some interesting models, moderately priced and made (assembled) in Seattle. See their site here, and their blog here. Since I follow their blog I knew about the Raleigh Rainier Singlespeed cross bike (yes Tyler single speed, not fixed gear), and LO! there's my bike connection and therefore I can post the above artistic portrait of a beer bottle without the hint of shame. Haha!
Check out the full story here.
On a side note, you used to be able to get Rainier at Logan's for a very moderate price, but I have to say I'm more of a Lucky or Pacific man myself. But perhaps we should hava a stop at Logan's on Pedal and a Pint night just to experience the splendour of the Pacific NW brew. Cough cough...

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Veer playing at Victoria Film Festival

Where/when
Wed, Feb 4th 7:15pm
Capitol 6


For you movie buffs out there, Veer is playing at the Victoria Film festival on Feb. 4th. Veer is an exploration into Portland's bike culture which completely outshines our own here in the "bicycle capital of Canada." This will be a world premiere of the movie and thus I must suggest a pedal, movie and a pint on Wednesday. Should be an interesting and inspiring movie.

Rider's on Facebook again

Just making sure that everybody is aware of our return to Facebook. Our presence there has been minimal over the last couple of years, but from now on we'll post rides and other events there as well as on this blog. Everybody is welcome to join our group, post pics or rant in the discussion forums. So sign up and be notified whenever something is going on. There's a link on the right or you can use the link provided below:

Dude, where's my van?

To the ass-face who stole the Rider's van sometime between 640pm last night and 850am this morning, you are a jerk. To whomever took our beloved chugging beast, i hope you get that nasty flu that's been going around.

Yes, this is a sad day. Our surly little indomitable van has been taken from it's loving home here at the shop on cloverdale. We've had some good times in that beasty....summertime rides after work, post-ride tail gate bbq's, picking up bikes (and Red Barn goodies!) from the warehouse....oh he will be missed....

and to the douche-bag who stole our van....you're a douche!

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Night Ride!

Chevy (resident shop ninja) wore 300 layers and the required ninja-mask to evade recognition by the Hartland Ronins and aide with breathing. 'Cause ninjas don't like cold air you know.
Rick was running his vintage Kona with style and had lots of fun. Hopefully he'll become a frequent night rider with us.
Rick and a very winded Halldor at the bottom of Switchbacks
Laurence striking a pose, very posh.

Night ride was great last night like always. The park was dusted with a couple of inches of snow but it was not too cold. Laurence joined us for the first time out after her "bar fight" in Cumberland, and Rick Thiessen joined us for the first time. Like usually it was colder in the parking lot than in the woods, which made for an interesting combination of crunchy and slushy snow. We missed Ryan's and Tyler's "entertaining discussions" on the ride, and Nomad Nic Hardcore Nicholson could not make it this time (a very rare occurrence) which made us all feel kind of empty inside and we started to question our own existence for awhile there.

Cowboy logic of the day: Good judgement comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgement.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

North Saanich Pump Track / 80's cinema





Well it's my first post... uhhh... ever, on any "blog". I'm not even really sure what a "blog" is. It sounds like it should be the name of the swamp in "The Princess Bride" where the R.O.U.S.'s live. (If you don't understand that reference then you haven't lived).





I thought I'd start by talking a little about the 'North Saanich Freeride Park'. The first Phase is open, a beginner pump-track. A few of us decided to check it out on Monday so we piled in to the truck and headed out. The very fact that this track exists is a very good sign for the future of bike parks on the south island. Municipalities are afraid of the unknown and this park will set a precedent for this kind of bike facility in our neck of the woods. It will make it easier for future bike-parks to be built, because land-managers will be able to see on paper that this sort of facility is viable. For this reason alone, the park deserves the support of all the riders, and parents of young riders, in the greater Victoria area.



Ok, so how is the track to ride? Advanced riders won't be entertained all day, but for beginners it will teach some excellent riding fundamentals. Pumping transitions and carrying speed through corners are two of the best parts of mountain-biking and This facility is excellent for learning these skills in a safe environment. As for us, we rode the track for an hour and a half or so, trying to make up new lines and avoid falling in the muddy part of one berm. (I failed at the latter). We had a great time playing in the sun on our bikes and all agreed that the track is an excellent starting point for the overall ambition for the park.


After having our fill of the track we returned to our respective domiciles for showers, then met for some beer, (and stair-decending races), at the S.IM.B.S agm. Good times.







Saturday, January 24, 2009

Nooohhhh!!!

Not much to say today so I thought I'd just post a video here that often comes up in various conversations at the shop. Such as: Shayne: I's there any coffee left? Halldor-"no, this was the last of it." S: Nooohhhh!!!! H: should I make some more? S: Yeeeeessss!!!

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Trail Map

Ok, so my brain finally kicked in today. In light of this fantastic event, I decided to search out a trail map of mt. tzouhalem in duncan....and i found it on Fat Bastards ( http://www.fatbastardsbc.com/maps.html). So here it is kids, the key to unlocking a sweet wicked ride is now yours (though bear in mind that this map was done in 2006 so not all the trails are marked on it).
click here to see the map in all it's glory
Have fun kids, and remember to keep the rubber side down.

Laser show on wheels

Yes, yes, I'm a commuter. Not only is that our biggest market but biking to work for me is not something done out of necessity, I do it because I love it. I rarely if ever, have a bad ride to or from work. This seems to be the case with most people that commute by bike, they do it for the exercise, some like it because it's environmentally friendly and others find that it is a great way to relief stress. But most of all, it's fun. Nevertheless, some people get intimidated by traffic when their riding on the streets of the city, especially on streets with no bike lanes. So why not ride around town with your own bike lane wherever you go? I Came across this gimmicky thing on Trek's Commuting Blog:
This concept product would use a laser to project a bike lane on the street behind your bike at night. Thus alerting drivers of your presence on the road, and hopefully give you a bit more space on the shoulder. And yes, that's right I said "laser." How cool would it be to have a laser on your bike?
Light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.
...On your bike. Sweet!

contrary to the picture I would recommend riding with a helmet and lights when riding at night. In spite of all their awesomeness, Lasers don't protect your noggin.

Dr. Evil: Okay no problem. Here's my second plan. Back in the 60's, I had a weather changing machine that was, in essence, a sophisticated heat beam which we called a "laser." Using these "lasers," we punch a hole in the protective layer around the Earth, which we scientists call the "Ozone Layer." Slowly but surely, ultraviolet rays would pour in, increasing the risk of skin cancer. That is unless the world pays us a hefty ransom

Women's Wrench Class

All right, so I got a fatanstic response to the women's clinic on bicycle maintenance. Thanks to all the ladies who signed up! I have met the minimum numbers required to run the class, so if you've not gotten a chance to sign up yet, fear not! I'll take people right up until the day of. I just had a deadline to make sure we had the minimum number of people to actually put the class on. I know it's a short, hardly informative post this morning, but cut me some slack....i woke up at 8:58am this morning and still made it to work on time to open at 9am...i'm just not feeling very creative right now.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Hartland night ride report


The conditions were great last night at Hartland. The park is dry and clear of snow, and the trail maintenance crews did a great job last Sunday. We came across a few of their repairs on the ride; they had cleared fallen logs of Centerfold as well as widening the trail where it had been eroded by the stream that sometimes runs down that trail. They had also done some work on Switchbacks and most noticeably on Twister where whole sections have been built up, sanded and the water redirected off the trail. The new rolldown into a berm on Who's yer daddy is fun too, and should add speed to that section of the trail. Other parts we rode had been cleaned up as well, and it's obvious that the trail maintenance crew got a lot done. This, in conjunction with the dry condition and nice weather resulted in a great ride last night. 6 of us showed up, and it was nice to see Ryan and Tyler back out on the night rides, and their "domestic bickering" made for excellent entertainment on the climbs. The rock features were bone dry, which is a rare treat in the winter, and it even looks like this dry weather will keep up all week so Sunday should be a good ride if anyone is up for it.

Cowboy logic of the day: A good bike is never a bad color.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Group Road ride!!!!


With the snow gone and the streets a little cleaner (still need lots of work) it is time to pull the bike out of the trainer and hit the road! I must admit I am some what responsible (other than Mother Nature) for the death of the road group ride and apologise to the hardcore's that have been jonesin to get back in the saddle with the Rider's Crew. But back by popular demand the group ride will begin again, whoooooo!!!!!! The inaugural group ride will be February 8th (weather dependant) as I will be away the week of the 25th to 1st at a 5 day Fit course in Montreal. So if you want to come out and rip off 40K at a reasonable pace meet me at 12pm Sunday Feb. 8th at Rider's Cycles and we'll spin like we're riding the Tour de Victoria.

Happy high cadence and energy drink cheers,

Shayne

PS. Keep an eye out for the newest group ride "Pedal and a Pint" which is in the works.

SIMBS AGM

Reserve Monday night the 26th of Jan. off for showing up for SIMBS AGM. 7pm at the Victoria Event Center at 1415 Broad. Bike lockup at ChainChainChain and beers overflowing. Bring cash for renewing your membership, buying raffle tickets for swag and for beers.

Night ride tonight! Allthough I'm feeling a little rough around the edges I think I'm going to try and brave the night ride this evening. At least 3 guys from the shop will show up plus whoever else is up for it. Shayne is out of commission with a messed up foot from fighting and kicking a Mountain lion in the groin on his way to Picaflick to return some dvd's, and Chevy can't make it because she's hanging out with the cool kids, plotting world domination and going over plans for their cool Freeride park in North Saanich. For us other geeks who just ride bikes and don't mess with lions or the elite, we'll be at the hartland parking lot at 7 as per usual. Dead animals and beers go down nicely after a ride in the dark.
By the way, even though no pictures we're cought of Shayne's apparently epic fight with the Lion, I stumbled upon another Badass...well, uhm Ass, kicking some kitty's, yes you got it, ass: Check it:
BAD ASS!!!

Saturday, January 17, 2009

ride report

The ride last night was interesting, since it was about as foggy as Ozzy Osbourne's memory of the late seventies. It was pretty cold too, but as usually the top layer came off as soon as we hit the woods. Must have been at least 4 degrees warmer in there. It was a cloudless night and the stars were out in full force, which always adds a little extra to the experience. Usually when we pulled over for a break, the lights would be turned off and we would watch the stars through the trees. The fog got in the way in the lower parts of the park, but once we made it to the top of Snakes and ladders we enjoyed clear skies. I was happy to have my cheapo halogen light mounted on the handlebars since the foggy parts would render the helmet mounted lights kind of useless. This made some of the descending a bit more demanding than usually and all of a sudden you had to rely on memory along with your eyesight.

A good ride all in all, but Justin took the stunt of the night price with his spectacular up hill endo.

Cowboy Logic of the day:
If you get to thinking you're a person of some influence, try ordering somebody else's dog around.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Night riding, again


Where is your helmet Slim Jim?

Riding without a helmet is not cool. Night riding, however, is very cool and as the passion is great here at Rider's, we're going for a second night ride this week tonight after work. Chevy was so disappointed that she couldn't go on Tuesday that she thought she'd go tonight. Justin is so pumped after his first night ride, that he's eager to get back out there in spite of saddle sores (ouch!). Since they're going, I am too, as well as our superstar biker/mechanic, Mitch.
Hopefully this weather will keep up for awhile so everybody can get back in the saddle and enjoy the delights of riding at the Dump.
Like Shayne says: keep the rubber side down (unless you're going of some sweet jumps!).

If you want to join us, you're more than welcome to tag along. We'll be at the dump by around 7pm.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Mountain Biking is Saving the World!


So I'm a pretty avid follower of many blogs and sites on the interweb...helps pass some slower times here at the shop and keeps me up to date on the latest tech and R&D. One wicked thing i stumbled accross is the effect of mountain biking on ecotourism. Turns out us little mud slingers are saving the world one pedal stroke at a time. If you google "ecotourism and mountain biking", you're greeted with a plethora of choice spots all over the freaking globe. From Bhutan (http://www.responsibletravel.com/trip/Trip901976.htm), to Laos (http://www.greendiscoverylaos.com/biking/ps.html or http://www.greentrail-indochina.com/laos/3%20day%20ecotourism%20combination.html), to Peru (http://www.responsibletravel.com/trip/Trip100736.htm) and beyond! I know, it's not just mountain bikers who are getting out there and seeing places in a responsible manner (I use that term in respect to the environmental aspects of your average biking trip, we all know there are less responsible aspects as well). I'm just so darned proud of us for helping turn economies that were based upon illegal poaching and logging into sustainable, profitable, earth-friendly ones where it makes more sense to lead rides, or provide lodgings than go shoot some fluffy endangered something in the woods. So here! here! all you dirty girls and boys, keep on expanding your horizons, Momma Earth is thanking you.

Paradox of the day: Why do people ask the question "Are you asleep?"

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

blood sweat and gears

Shayne doing the stepup on Night Shift

The Crew after a brutal hike a bike, everyone a little winded.


Sweet ride last night! The Dump is shedding it's cloak of snow for the most part and the majority of the trails are rideable now. It's nice being able to use more than your two lowest two gears like the last few rides I've done up there. The snow did not really hold us back except on some of the fire roads where we had to hike-a-bike for a bit. We had some issues with fog though, and that made the riding somewhat complicated at times as the lights only lit up the fog, not the trail ahead. Justin, Shayne and me made it out from the shop, and were joined by Nomad Nic "hardcore" Nicholson who always shows up, kicks ass and takes names. The trails we did were Skull, Inventive, Little Face, Old Payoff, Snakes and Ladders, Who's your daddy, Night shift, and the short cut down to the TTA. The ride took about one hour and 45 min. No major crashes or anything although Shayne was aching for some war wounds and managed to acquire one on his arm while attempting one of the trail features of off Centerfold.


Shayne's war wound.

Justin's first night ride was excellent. He exceeded our expectations and proved that there's good material for a mountain biker in him.

Paradox of the day: Why does Chevy drive a Ford?

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Night Ride!!!

And neither is winter night riding for that matter.

Night ride tonight at the Dump. Show up at 6:45pm in the Hartland parking lot, on the trails around 7pm. Good lights mandatory, post ride beverage, a good idea.

The snow is mostly gone in the lower parts of the Dump, so whoever was using that as an excuse just lost one reason not to show up for our weekly night ride. I went for a good ride on Sunday and even though there was still snow in the higher elevations of the park, the trails below the snow line were starting to clear up. I guess the word got out because I haven't seen the parking lot this busy since the summer. The trails are still pretty slick and there are "refreshing" streams that cross the trails here and there just to cool down your tired little feet that have all but forgotten about this kind of work after the indulgences of the holiday season. Anyway, lots of mud, lots of greasy roots, it will be cold and miserable - just the way we like it. It's winter riding after all, no room for sissies.

Friday, January 9, 2009

Get your trainer on!!!

With winter still upon us, terrible road conditions and all you roadies itchin for a ride, we at Rider's say "it is time to get your trainer on". Nothing feels better than getting in a 80k road ride, but like most of us, you probably don't have a winter bike. So how else are you going to get that euphoric bonking feeling without damaging your $3000 full carbon rig? Easy, you pick up a fluid trainer and ring king! With advances in fluid trainer technology nothing else feels as close to riding on the road. Just think, you can throw a leg over your trustee stead, strap on your Polar heart rate monitor, put in your Hillacious spinervals DVD and throw down 80k with out leaving the warmth of your living room. So if your jones'in for that hardcore road ride stop by and the crew at Rider's will hook you up!

SIMBS events coming up!

For all you mountain biking nuts out there. SIMBS needs our support like always and there are two important events coming up:
  • #1 on January 18th there will be trail maintenance at the dump, and since the weather gods have been a little surly lately, there will be lots to do in the park. There are probably quite a few trees down and the water runoff from all that snow has undoubtedly done some damage. Therefore, lots of people are needed to repair the trails and get them back into shape. So get your ass off the couch and lets fix up the park! SIMBS provides excellent lunches for volunteers on trail maintenance days, so be sure to let them know that you're showing up by shooting them a line at; trails@simbs.com before 9am the previous Friday. Rider's will be sponsoring a couple of maintenance days at the Dump in 2009 and we'll keep you posted on those when that time rolls around.
  • #2 SIMBS Annual General Meeting will take place on January 26th. These are always fun to attend and a great opportunity to renew your membership, make your voice heard on SIMBS issues and last but not least, there will be lots of rad swag up for grabs. Lighthouse will provide us with some reasonably priced brews as well. So be there, or be square!

Thursday, January 8, 2009

The Bootie Gospel

One of the best things for tackling the wet west coast commutes are booties. Nothing sucks more then showing up at work after the morning ride only to suffer the whole day in wet socks. Bring an extra pair of socks you might say, and sometimes I remember to do that but usually I don't. Before, this would be a huge problem but not anymore because I've got my booties. So all worries of wet feet dissipate as I slip on the black and yellow shoe smocks. Do they make me look like a goof? Yes they do, but they work great and I'm willing to suffer the fashion faux pas. Let's face it, how cool do I look anyway on a 22 year old Raleigh with full wrap metal fenders and fender extenders? Not very cool at all, would be the answer to that question and therefore I wear my booties with pride.
Most of us at the shop wear the Resistor booties from Sugoi. They're lightly insulated, wind and waterproof, which makes them great for cold weather riding as well as riding on those rainy days so common in the pacific Northwest. A good bootie should be in any commuters arsenal along with a waterproof jacket, and a skull cap to name but two.

"Booties are my saviour, I don't care how gay they look"- Wolfe

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Slushy ride last night

It was a wet and slushy ride last night. There was still a lot of snow up there although it seems to be melting pretty fast. With any luck it will be gone before the night ride next Tuesday. Me and Nomad Nic showed up in the pissing rain and after some deliberations decided to go for a short ride. We managed to ride down to the TTA without too much difficulty, but from the bottom of the hill past the TTA, where a 6feet wide stream was washing over the trail, we basically had to hike-a-bike to Skull trail. Skull trail was actually somewhat rideable although some parts were pretty sketchy. At the top of skull rail we were already sweating after pushing the bikes and overdressing so off came one layer before we hiked up to the top of Niteshift in the torrential rain. Nic and I did our best to ride Niteshift but with the slush and the crusty snow the going was tough. One of us would lead, then catch a rut and be thrown off the trail, then the guy behind usually made it a bit further, seeing the mistakes of the leader. This is how we made our way to the step-up and the rest was actually rideable, super tachnical and lots of fun. We were both running ridiculously low tire pressures, so we were both pretty worried about pinch flats in the clear sections, but luckily we managed to avoid those. From Niteshift we made our way to the Shortcut, and down into the TTA which was quite sketchy as that last part was a gnarly mix of ice and mud, resulting in a unavoidable point and shoot descent .
This would normally have been a short ride, but because of the conditions it took us 1 hour and 40 minutes. All in all, a very interesting ride and lots of fun. Hopefully we'll get some more people coming out next Tuesday.

Friday, January 2, 2009

Women's Only Bike Maintenance Course

Due to repeated pleas from our fairer customers, we're now going to be offering Women's bike maintenance courses here at the shop. Cost is $10/person and the courses will cover things like
  • changing a flat tire
  • basic derailleur tuning
  • chain cleaning and drive train maintenance
  • a very basic bike fit (saddle height/top tube and stem length)

So, the first course is scheduled for Thursday, January 29th at 7pm. Sign up deadline is January 22nd. There's a sign up sheet here at the shop, or you can just ring us at (250)381-1125

I'm teaching the course, so it's a class that's for women by women.
If all goes well I hope to be able to offer the course as often as once a month

Hope to see you ladies there!

And gents, don't despair! We're planing on Shayne teaching a Men's/Co-ed course once a month as well;)

Inagural Post!!!!!

Well, we finally went and did it….we set up a blog. Now all of our staff can put their 2cents up and waste time at work trying to find cool videos and stories to post for your viewing pleasure.

For the inaugural post I thought I’d start by saying it’s still too dang crappy out to start up the Sunday road rides yet. The mountain rides are also not really happening due to the lingering, crusty snow up at the dump. However I know Halldor is dying to get out there, crappy conditions or not. If anyone wants to go for a somewhat sketchy ride on Sunday feel free to leave him a note up here.

And now, for your viewing pleasure, and to make you wish summer was here so badly it hurts.... a little video I poached from the guys at Transition, who got it from Pinkbike....