Saturday, November 28, 2009

What's happening at Riders.



Over the last few days at Riders an event so rare that it occurs less frequently than a full moon on February 29th has been unfolding...




...The guru of the shop, Steve, has been cleaning his bench.




If you had a part of your bike replaced in the last fifteen years at Riders Cycles, chances are that the broken component has spent the years in between then and now in what must be considered "Broken bike part purgatory." aka Steve's bench.

-Photograph of Steve's bench, circa 2001



You see, the problem is that Steve doesn't throw things away... He merely takes things apart, thereby turning one relatively large piece in to several smaller ones. Once he has turned his ten big items into 78 small items, he then "organizes" then into storage on his bench.

After 18 1/2 man hours of cleaning, Steve's bench was looking....umm, well, you could see the top of the bench.

Today Steve tackled his 'box o' hubs'.


-I managed to snap this pic of some of the derelict hubs as Steve was disassembling them for "re-organization"

At any rate, I look forward to the completion of the great clean-up... sometime in 2010.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Cyclocross mania!

Crosselent! Crosstastic! Holy cantilever brakes Batman!

The last Race of the Cross on the Rock series is on Tomorrow at Shawnigan School. We'll be heading up there en masse. Frankencross will have the great company of four Treks. Justin, Mitch and Andrew ride XO-1's and Shayne rides a bitchin XO-2. I put an old 8-speed bar end shifter that I found in the Dungeon on Frankencross, so hopefully I'll have a bit more speed on the straightaways and a little lower gear for the climbs. We'll be bringing the Van up there and will set up a tent and some chairs so feel free to come visit and have a beer or two!
In the meantime check out some vids to get all hyped up for tomorrow!



Thursday, November 19, 2009

"...For example, asking the roadies if they have put on a few pounds because they are looking a bit tubby." -Bwahahaha

I saw this interview on Cyclocross Magazine's website and I'm publishing it here in it's entirety. Bad breach of publishing rights but hey, at least I'm advertising their magazine right? Geoff Kabush rocks!

"This is what you’ve all been waiting for from Pro Cyclocross Rumors and Rumblings: this season’s transfer whale. Last year it was Sven Nys and Erwin Vervecken, this year, an Italian makes the first major splash in the transfer market. Also, take a chance to get to know Canadian Cyclocross Champion Geoff Kabush of Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain. All that and much more!

Geoff Kabush has won some of the biggest bicycle races the world has to offer. Just this past season he reached a pinnacle in his career by winning the Bromont Mountain Bike World Cup in Bromont, Canada. Kabush’s World Cup victory stands alongside numerous cyclocross victories, including multiple Canadian National Cyclocross titles. Kabush, who rides for Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain, has been a consistent podium threat this year in the sport’s major events, and has been for some time now. Kabush will look to the podium once more this season at the Stanley Portland Cup, the final stop on the USGP tour, on December fifth and sixth, where he will draw his season to a close, hopefully with a win.

I had a chance to chat with Kabush this week, and we’ve got that interview for you today. What’s your favorite race of this season been so far? What about of all time?

Favorite cyclocross race…probably Granogue for the course, Portland for the atmosphere. I love the technical speed on the hills in Granogue; kind of getting tired of fairly flat and soft courses. I can’t wait to hear the drums beating in Portland. That really gets me fired up to pound it out in the mud. Favorite race so far this year is probably the Planet Bike Cup in Wisconsin. It was a really well laid out course, I just wish we got a few more thundershowers during our race and not on the ride home.

2) You’ve just won a big race, what’s your ultimate post-race meal?

Ultimate post race meal after a win…It would probably start off with a nice Belgian beer right after the race; maybe some pumpkin pie or something salty. Then I would go get cleaned up and meet up with everyone at a relaxed restaurant for some good grub….probably something saucy, maybe a gourmet burger, with more drinks, and a simple, maybe, chocolate desert. I say a relaxed restaurant because after a race the engine is usually still burning and I start sweating bullets when the food goes in. Once I get really soaked, I like to slick my hair sideways like Freddy Mercury. I have actually had some good sweat-offs with TJ.

3) What’s your biggest career achievement to date?

In my cycling career it would have to be winning the MTB World Cup this year up in Bromont. On the cyclocross bicycle I guess it would have to be winning the Gloucester GP back in 2004. It has been a bit too long since I have won one, so I hope to change that in Portland.

4) If you could be anything besides a bike racer, what would it be?

I am a big sports fan so if I couldn’t be a bike racer I probably would have chased another sport….maybe soccer, or ping-pong. Maybe poker: the pay-outs seem to be higher.

5) How did you get your start in cyclocross? What’s been your biggest influence?

I think I did some of my first cyclocross races down in Seattle with a couple friends, Pinner [Andrew Pinfold] and Carter Hovey. That was in ‘97 when the SuperCups were going off. There was a lot of excitement around the races so it left a little bit of an impression. I started getting into it again about five year later with my teammate Peter Wedge; he was one of the original godfathers of Canadian cyclocross who stuck it out in Europe so I learned a lot off him.

6) What was your first bike?

First real cyclocross bike was a Yellow “Jake the Snake”

7) If you could win one race, which would it be?

I would really like to win a USGP in Portland. I really love hanging out there, drinking coffee at Albina, breakfast at Gravy, and I love the atmosphere at the races. I will have a lot of family and friends coming down from Canada as well so it would be nice to win in front of them.

8) Who do you consider your biggest rival?

Based on this year it seems like every race I do I seem to be battling it out with Chris Jones. I wouldn’t really say we are rivals though as we are both just fighting together trying to get to the front. I don’t really know Chris well enough yet to truly heckle him like a rival. My biggest rival, or the guy I like to trash talk the most, would probably be Treboohoo. I like to give a fist to the neck before the race or ask him if I can borrow his brain…because I am building an idiot. It is mostly in good fun but I have one strategy I am not going to reveal until I beat him again; probably in Portland. Hopefully he doesn’t cry.

9) Who is your biggest idol?

Idol is a pretty strong word. I don’t know if I have a bike racing idol. There are guys I really looked up to as role models when I was younger….Dave Wiens, Jonny T, Shandro, and I would like to emulate T-Brown or Ned Overend after bike racing is finished. I am impressed by guys that can reach the top of the sport and still enjoy themselves. I am impressed by Sven Nys’s cyclocross riding but then he kept sitting on my wheel at MTB Worlds so I had to abuse him verbally. Also he was wearing tight jeans and a cowboy hat around after so I can’t call him an idol. I was really into basketball when I was younger, so I was pretty inspired by Steve Nash who, like me, was a relatively short white guy from Vancouver Island. He went on to achieve great things against the odds by working incredibly hard.

10) Got any crazy pre-race rituals?

Before a cyclocross race I like to have some good coffee while trying to come up with a few heckles to use on the start line to break up those awkward competitive silences. For example, asking the roadies if they have put on a few pounds because they are looking a bit tubby."

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Rainy day in Vancouver

I went over to Vancouver on Monday to have my passport expiry date extended. Since I'm heading down to the states next week it's imperative to have the paperwork in order. The Yanks are a bit uptight on the borders. Anyway, even though it was pouring down I decided to take the Soma with me since I could ride around if I was to early for my meeting with the passport person. I also wanted to check out Super Champion, and yes, I don't much care for walking.

Getting on the ferry
There were two bikes on the boat
Only one bike on the Canadaline rapid transit. Each coach has their own "bicycle area" which I was reminded to use. The design is stupid though, in stead of having a system to hang your bike vertically in the space, you're supposed to park it horizontally in those little slots seen just behind my messenger bag. No system to help the bike stay in place either. So not only does the bike take up a space that could easily accommodate 4 bikes, but it can also easily slide out and fall over one some little old lady and brake her toe. Nevertheless, I'm pretty impressed with Canadaline.

Tamara Leigh's photos were on display in the Waterfront station. Really nice stuff!



The Soma found a friend at Super Champion


My travel companion for the day. I'm having a hard time with this one.
The ride back from the ferry was dark and wet.


Friday, November 13, 2009

Cross!!!

Cyclocross has sucked us all in to it's massive (muddy beerstained) gravitational pull. Everybody is pretty much riding a cross bike these days in the store and making it out to cross practice and/or races. The great thing about cross racing is that it is short, and therefore good for us slobs. Also, the cross races here on the Island tend to be pretty technical, which is nice for us mountain bikers. What we lack in speed and endurance we can sort of make up for by not falling off our bikes. This is not a foolproof strategy however as some of us sometimes have a bit of a hard time not flying over the bars and into the bush, or in some other way separate ourselves from our bikes in a spectacular manner. But that's another story all together.
What I was going to write about today was our excellent Remembrance day cross ride. Since we all had the day off we decided to go for a cross ride at the Dump. We decided to ride blue bubble wrap and off we went. In about the first km we had two flats, and we were beginning to think that our supply of tubes would not be enough for our ride. But higher tire pressures and careful riding only made for one more flat for the rest of the ride. We soon found out that trail riding on cross bikes is quite a bit trickier then on the full-suspension rigs we usually ride. Cantilever brakes and narrow tires make for an odd fit in the mountain bike park. But man was it ever fun! Every little obstacle is challenging and we had a few epic bails. Most of us crashed a few times and at the end I had a sore knee, Justin had a sore hand, Andrew was bloodied up and Shayne was really feeling his injuries that he is still recovering from. The only one to escape relatively unscathed was Mitch. Even so, we all made it out and back to the parking lot after a two and a half hour ride, and we all had a blast. We'll definitely be heading out again soon. Cross you bastards!






Tuesday, November 10, 2009

The long road north



this movie is screening at St. Ann's in Victoria on nov 13 and 14 get your tickets at the door for $12 or $10 advance. Tickets available at Capital City Cycles.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Movember

Andrew is shooting for the Ted Nugent
Crazy grandpa Justin
Shane CAN actually grow a Mustache
Mitch is a natural
Halldor dreams of the Stalin

Yes it's on! Movember is upon us and we have a Team: Crosstachers So if you're wallet is bursting or you're just a really nice guy/gal, please donate to our team. It's for a good cause*, probably tax exempt and more!
Just ask Dr. Mustache here
"Well yes people, I'm a medical doctor and I recommend Movember for everybody that frowns too much."
See!!!???
But wait! that's not all you get. Stop by the shop and ridicule us for our upper lip lizard. Shame us for our poor below-nose gardening or praise us on the Tom Selleckness of our Stache. We're already having a hard time just carrying on a normal conversation with each other and it will only get worse. It's worth a visit...

*The money raised in Canada goes directly to Prostate Cancer Canada. Prostate Cancer Canada will use the money raised by Movember for the development of programs related to awareness, public education, advocacy, support of those affected, and research into the prevention,
detection, treatment and cure of prostate cancer.