Viking Cat Video and list of finishers

After much frustration I finally figured out how to convert a VOD file to a Mpeg/Avi and was able to download Mitch's excellent video of the Viking cat 2009 into one of the video sharing sites:

Viking Cat 2009 - Click here for this week’s top video clips

Here's the official list of finishers:

1 Tegan 1:04
2 Scotty (one second behind)
3 Ben/Kevin/Jeff
4 Simon
5 Jenny (the only lady to race in this years Viking Cat)

6 Rick (The honorable provincial coach of Alberta)
7 Justin (horns)
8 Shayne (beericorn)
9 Andrew (fastest full suspension racer...well there was only one)
10 Mitch (Cinematographer extraordinaire)
11 Angus
12 Cristoph
13 Adrian/Jaimie (out of towner winner of "dead fucking last")

Weekend report and other rambles

Last weekend was filled with bikey fun. On Friday, there was an alleycat, art show and Mystery Ride. On Saturday there was a polo tournament, prom ride and the bike riders ball, and on Sunday there was a fantastic breakfast-chill out and Bike porn, allegedly followed by a "Birthday Suit Ride." Good times were had by all, except for a brief moment of discontent had by Reverend Phil of "Bike Porn" when he got clocked in the face by some jackass on the Selkirk Trestle. Apparently the said Jackass just wanted some piece and quiet to smoke a joint, and was offended by all the peaceful riders on the "Midnight Mystery ride," and by Rev. Phil in particular because he was riding a 16" zoobomber. If anyone can point out to me how that whole scenario makes sense, please comment below. Anyway a very strange thing to happen, especially in Victoria.

In other news I read Bike Snob's post this morning and was led all over the Internet on strange links, one of which led me to the Vittoria website which sports this picture of Thor Hushovd:

Take a close look at Thor's helmet... not only does it illustrate the stylists poor knowledge of Viking attire (these wings would be a Roman influence i suppose) but the helmet, although cleverly disguised is stunningly similar to the Viking Cat trophy, modeled here by this years winner Tegan:

Perhaps Hushovd will join us next year, with his "Vittoria" helmet. But if he does he will be limited to 34/16 singlespeed gearing. We certainly hope he shows up. To continue on the Viking/Norse theme...check out Norse Cycles' website that I stumbled upon this morning as well. Pretty reasonable pricing and a nice name and logo. Also check out Kriacycles, a new builder in Iceland. Kria is the Icelandic name for the Arctic Tern. Again, nice bikes, nice name and nice logo.

Kevin Bacon, alleycats, bike rider's ball...

Great race last night, kudos to Nate (a former Rider's employee) and Henry(?) for laying out the race. Below is Justin's manifest for the race, note that he has had all stops signed for...very good Justin. The alley cat was mostly disaster free. No big crashes or anything although both me and Justin managed to puncture one of our beers and soak our bags, a shame in it self but better than eating pavement.
We placed somewhere in the middle of the pack and could have done a bit better if the guy at our last stop would have been there when we arrived. We had a lot of fun and I have to say that the highpoint of the race for me was to see Justin do a Flintstones brake in the underground parking lot at Mayfair, sparks flying everywhere from his cleats.


The race took just over an hour to complete and afterwards we went to the art show and enjoyed some refreshments, and reveled in the bike culture. The good folks of the Bike prom had some bike videos playing on the screen including the cult classic Quicksilver:


Tonight is the Bike Rider's Ball at White Eagle hall in James Bay (90 Dock St.). Doors open at nine and there is an $8 cover. there will be a performance by the Velo Vixens, costumes, awards for the alley cat race, and live music. Should be good.
And to clear the cobwebs out of your head on Sunday, it would be perfect to go and see "Bike porn 2, bikexplotation." See flier below.

A momentous day, two nightrides, and upcoming alleycat

photo: courtesy of Dan Smith

Last Tuesday we went for a night ride like most Tuesdays. The conditions at Hartland are unbelievable right now and everything is dry and tacky. This results in an even more enjoyable ride than usually. Partly because of the awesome conditions and partly because it was simply about f'in time, me and Shayne finally cleared Switchbacks. Double whammy, 2x10! A momentous day indeed... I couldn't help but exclaim: Yeahhh!!! I've finally slain you, you evil bitch of a climb! and Shayne said something like: "mumble mumble this thing is f'in awesome, it just wants to climb," as he sat down and looked at the Stumpjumper demo bike that we just built up. The Stumpjumper sat well with Shayne, apart from a slight miscalculation on the first drop of Small craft warning, which caused a bent wheel and a puncture. After we got that kind of straightened out, it was not an easy task to keep up with Shayne as he mashed the pedals on that stumpy and generally rode it like he stole it. Somebody has got to break it in right? I was calling him all sorts of evil names until finally settling on speedy stanchions, as a twist on his known nickname, dirty.
We had the privilege of riding with Dan Smith and his buddy for awhile, and Dan Showed us the correct way to attack the pizza drop. I told him that I might do that sometime after I grow up.
Mr. Smith is powered by an air/beer cooled nuclear reactor so he can't stop for too long at a time unless there is beer (this can be an inconvenience when riding with the Rider's Crew as we are all christians and puritans and don't touch alcohol, cough cough) so when Shayne was doing minor surgery on the stumpy, the Dan Crew took off and was not to be seen until after the ride. We also had a new rider with us that night, Lisa from Australia and she did well by her country. Our crew consisted of Me, Justin, Andrew (current RSC trophy holder) and Shayne. Justin tried a couple of times to take the crash trophy from Andrew but did not manage to crash in a spectacular enough manner. A valiant effort none the less. Justin has a special routine when crashing and it goes something like this: Uh oh (universal) ...CRASH!!! "Hahahahahha" sproing! back in saddle and ride. He is indestructible that little ninja, and fears nothing. "I believe in nazing Lebowski" (insert German accent).

Nic Nicholson and Lucy showed up just to barbecue our meat which was incredibly nice of them to do. Nic couldn't ride since he's looking for a new place to live, which takes priority over riding at this time.

If anyone knows of a three bedroom place for rent for young, soon to be parents from England. Shoot us an e-mail and we'll rely it to Nic and Lucy.

Last night we had another night ride to say farewell to our crew member Ryan "Lavadome" Wickham, who's moving to Campell River for a few months at least. It was a bare bones ride with just three riders: Me, Ryan and Jess who's visiting from Colorado.

Justin is ready for carnage.

In other news there will be a kick-ass alleycat tonight like we've mentioned before. Me and Justin will be riding and there will be a Bike art show afterwards, and fermented hops. Be there or be square.

Danny MacAskill and nightride

This guy's ok.

Nightride tonight. The conditions should be perfect and there will most certainly be beers and bbq afterwards. Should be epic.

Trial Building & Road Rides

I had an awesome time building a new trail at Hartland with the SIMBS trail building crew this morning. About 20 people showed up; which means the trail is coming together quite quickly. We were working on building a few very solid berms, armouring some turns, and there are two wall rides planned for this new trail. I find it exciting to be a part of this project. Being able to mold the trail into something we think riders will enjoy. The next SIMBS TM (Trail Maintenance) will take place May 17th. Rider's Cycles will be sponsoring this TM so expect tons of awesome swag. We will be working on the course for the up coming Island Cup Series Super-D Race on May 24th. So, please come and help us make sure the race course is in pristine condition for the all the racers; but more importantly for the Rider's Team and our star rider Mitch. Mark the date on your calendar and don't forget to RSVP Chris so that you get the sandwich you want.

After getting a flat, getting lost on the way to the trail we were working on; after all the hard work, a great lunch, and winning some sweet swag (no one went home empty handed) I headed out for a ride. I road with fellow trail builder Scott and his pal Brian. The weather was beautiful but I didn't expect that Scott had the energy for a two and a half hour ride. Needless to say I was exhausted when we finally arrived at the parking lot. However, I really enjoyed the ride. I got to see another trail I had never ridden, along with a really good workout. I also finally worked up the courage to roll down the drop on Inventive. Not a big deal for most at Rider's Cycle, but that drop had been plaguing me for months. Next on my "Just Do It List" is to drop off that rock.

Yesterday was SIMBS's Membership Drive. Here are a few excerpts of a letter from the President of SIMBS, Scott Mitchell:

"The membership drive went well on Saturday. We signed up 24 members not quite the same numbers as last year but definitely worth the time."
"Greg C and Andrew L deserve a big thank you for helping out with the table."
"Craig Gillette won the trip to Sunrise Ridge..."

Congratulations to Craig for winning the draw prize. Thank you to all those that stopped by the table get a membership, to renew their memberships, or just to say hi. I would also like to thank Tyler J. and Suzanne D. for hanging out with us.

Just a reminder to all the roadies out there; the Rider's Cycle Monday Evening Road Rides are underway. Meet us at the shop about 6pm. They usually take off when Shayne has finished closing the store; generally about 6:15pm. Tomorrow will be my first official group ride so I'll see you all then.

Life is great on two wheels.

On alleycats, downhills, zoobombs, super-d's and fixed gear bikes

There's lots happening in the next couple of weeks. Tomorrow there's a downhill race in Nanaimo, next Friday there's an Alleycat in Victoria. And for you adventurous people who venture off the island every once in a while, there's a Super D in Burnaby next Sunday.

In other news; the cycling IQ at the shop here took a quantum leap forward (or backwards) this week as Mitch is slowly building up his fixed gear bicycle and Justin has managed to gather all the parts for his and just needs to assemble them. Chevy also has a fixed gear on order so things should get interesting this summer. Those three bikes will be a source of joy and pain and all round good times in the near future. But the explosive growth in fixed gear ownership at the shop is not the only thing that is ruining our already bike polluted minds. As previously mentioned on these pages there is a weird interest in Zoobombing here at the shop and we've been planning to do an "unofficial" Rider's Zoobomb for quite some time. Me and Shayne bit the bullet yesterday and picked up the first three 16" kids bikes for the Rider's Zoobomb pile. We're hoping to have at least six or seven bikes in the pile so everybody in the shop has a ride. The idea is to operate this pile of zoobombs as a co-op and everyone pitches in for apehangers, streamers, banana seats and other stupid things to pimp out the bombs. So be ready, the riders Zoobomb will be upon us soon. Start looking for a bomb to add to the pile and join us for a fun filled evening, involving high speed downhills, ridiculously small bikes, beverages and stupid costumes.