Cycling BC Citizen License for Landed Immigrants/Permanent Residents

Hey guys,
so i had an interesting conversation with Richard this morning regarding licenses for landed immmigrants or permanent residents...apparently he was havig some issues acruing one. Here's the skinny on it. There have been some rule changes this year regarding the licensing, however i spoke with CBC and IF you are a landed immigrant as long as you've lived here for at least 6 months out of the year then they just need a photocopy of your landed immigrant status card, passport, and you need to check off that you have health care coverage in BC. So, yes you can race, it's just going to take a little more paperwork for you than most. This also applies for a UCI license as well.
That is all,
Chev

First Island Cup Series XC Race

Well it's that time of year again....Time to pull out the "little" bike and get those legs a-burninatin'; the first of the Island Cup Series' MTB XC races is this weekend up in Port Alberni. So, for all of you XC racers out there, we hope to see you up there pedaling away like your life depends on it. Some of our club members will be attending and racing. For those of you looking to carpool, feel free to post comments up here and use this place to network yourself a lift up island. Andrew has started a bit of a google calendar for the whole series, here's the XC link with some very basic directions for getting to the races. Sadly the weather looks to be turning on us, you wouldn't guess it with the beeeeautiful sunshine outside right now, but it's suposed to snow this sunday so dress for the worst and hope for the best.
Keep the rubberside down kids,
-Chevs

Bikes for the ladies...

Not a kona, but still a woman's bike

We don't sell Kona bikes at Rider's Cycles...Kona is doing something right though, because parents come in all the time asking for Kona bikes, because that's what their kids like. So somehow the Kona marketing is enticing the youngsters...I could go on a little ramble here on why a Kona might not be a great choice for the kids...but no! We're above such mediocrity here at the shop. Honorable staff here, with good intentions. Heck even my mum and dad ride Konas, but their commute is all of a kilometer or two down to the staples to feed the horses or a leisurely cruise around my village (5k). The funny thing is, that since they live in Iceland, the brand name Kona takes on a bit of a different meaning. You see "Kona" means woman in Icelandic. So this immediately becomes cannon fodder for the humorous types. Not only is my dad ('6,3" /260lbs.) riding a "women's bike." Funny in itself, but if he braves the comments and rides down to the pub, he's in danger of getting the ever popular: "Oh, I can see you rode your woman here tonight...how was that?" Or any variation of the same observation with increasing vulgarity depending on the speakers drunkenness. In situations like those you just have to smile and say: The ride was wonderful!

Rider's Club Mountain Racers!!!!

Hey guys,
so here's the DL on the Rider's Cycles club shtuff this year...we're doing the Royal Stealth Jersey and 661 Evo gloves, Cycling BC mebership and club dues for $156...the license will allow you to race anywhere in BC. If you want to race BC cup and have your points tracked, then you need a UCI licence which costs about another $100. The gloves alone are worth $80 retail so it's a pretty killer deal for gear...the catch is we need to get the jerseys out and printed ASAP so people have them for the first Super D...so get in this week if you want your jersey soon....otherwise there'll be a wait on jerseys to be printed. See you kids soon!
PS: roadies....your kits are being designed and we'll have pricing for you guys sooooooon

Night ride!!!

The weather was not ideal this morning for the commute to work, a bit of rain and wet streets, which made for soggy bottom commute on the Tractor (EX8)...It was not all bad though, at least it was not poring. The weather is supposed to be like this morning for the rest of the day, scattered showers and mild. That's the key word here "MILD." For my commute home last night I did not even wear my jacket and I swear I can smell the spring in the air. Daylight savings time is this Sunday as well so it won't be long until the night rides will actually be in daylight. Compare that to the weather right now where I come from:
So remember to be thankful for the privilege of being able to live here. There are a lot of bad things you can say about Victoria, but the pros definitely outweigh the cons. In 25 min we're out of the city and on the trails, and that's including a stop at the beer store. Try that in any other major city in Canada...Speaking of trails, night riding is tonight and it's looking like it's going to clear up by the evening. I'm going to ride and so is Justin, and perhaps Chevy as well. My wrist is still sore but I'll tape that up and see how I do. I'm sure I'll be a bit apprehensive of some stunts tonight though, as my last RSCT put the FEAR in me.

google petition for bike friendly maps...

There's currently a petition going on the intranet pushing for google to add "bike there" to their "drive there" and "take public transport" options on google maps. To sign the petition follow this link. This option would offer cyclist the fastest route and also take into account other options such as the safest route, or most bike friendly route where bike routes and bike lanes would be utilized.

this is a really interesting petition and would be great for cyclists visiting other cities. I for one have always wanted to take my bike on the train down to Portland for the pedalpalooza. That bike festival is huge and Portland is supposed to be one of the bike friendliest city in North America. But even with that distinction, I think that having everything mapped out on google before I got there would make things a lot easier. So check out the petition, sign it if you feel so inclined and hopefully google will add this feature.

On a side note I'd like all you facebook users to sign up for the alleycat on facebook. Either as attending or maybe, or not attending... this will give me a better idea of how many people are going to show up and then I can take that number to the pubs and see if we can get a Viking Cat special on beers.

A customers new ride...

I just thought I'd share a picture of a new Trek Madone that was built for a customer yesterday. The frame is a 47cm. And I think it's compact lines look fantastic. The customer can not comfortably use a drop bar, so a carbon riser, (yes... riser), bar was installed along with a new set of shifters, brake levers and a higher-rise stem. As I was looking at the parts prior to install, I thought it was sacralige to put a riser bar on a road bike as nice as this one. But as soon as the stem and bar were installed I loved it! The tiny frame combined with the new cockpit reminds me of a 50's cafe racer. I think the bike looks badass like this... plus with a frame this small it almost looks like one could take the bike dirt-jumping... not that one would of course...