Archive for February, 2010

If you live in BC, there is a pretty good chance you have heard about the whole HST debacle. The British Columbia Government will be charging consumers an additional 7% on bikes through the initiation of HST. There are some things that should not be taxed and Bikes are one of them. The only thing HST will do is deter people from cycling.

Come on  out Wednesday March 3, 2010 to the Legislature in Victoria BC and show your support. Bring a bike, and stage at 12:00PM.

We’ll see you there!

To learn more about the event and sign the petition please visit http://www.squeakywheels.ca/

Well, 2010 is now in full effect!

Winter Olympics in my Home town, no snow to speak of and a blanket of people about converging on Vancouver, Lower mainland all the way up to Whistler…

I am out!

With the amount I travel I do in so many cool places combined with how awesome my job is I figured that I could sail through life at full charge, ready to handle all the daily nuances without issue…  Apparently this is not true and I found myself pretty burned out after an incredibly successful 2009 season went down… hmm what to do??

Surf trip to Costa Rica! Yeeeha!

Almost 3 weeks of traveling around Costa checking it out, holing up in cool places surfing on sand break,  busting beach time Frisbee in hand and checking out the local medical system after my Sting Ray encounter… Wow! Sweet mother earth thru sand and surf!  Man I could feel the layers of stress peeling off, almost as fast as my sun burn, YIKES!

Sunset blessings!

Of course no trip is as fun as when you can recreationally ride mountain bike and that’s just what went down!  While in Las Vegas for the Bike Show I met young gun Philippe who ‘sent it’ lap after lap in Boulder Canyon.  It turned out ‘big P’ was from Costa Rica and when I let him know I was considering the possibility of visiting his country he offered to meet up and show his favourite trails.  Enter stress relief trip.

A 4×4 road to the middle of ‘no where’ 10,000 feet up ended up ‘somewhere’ in a town called Providencia where the village welcomed us with open arms!  Providencia embraces bouldering and Mountain bike and they have a 10km downhill trail including several other trail options, most of which are very advanced steep ass trail, GNAR!!!!  Two days of riding and I still wanted more!

Tica (local) riders Cristhian and Philippe tearing it

As luck would have it there was a bouldering competition so I got to check that out as well, man how cool… There is no major hotels or restaurants, however comfortable sleeping arrangements and GREAT food from the local bar (both breakfasts and dinners) were easily arranged.  We met Great people in Providencia and it was very accommodating to mountain bikers, they were stoked to have us ride their trails!

Grrrrr gnarly trail alert! Wish I could scream ‘WICKED’ in Spanish!

I was offered the lead instructor job position for the trail building component of the Mountain Bike Operations Course at Capilano University.  After a lot of consideration I have accepted the position and am now hitting the books trying to get my teach on so I can kick butt on information delivery for the students!

MTB ops group

April will be the advanced trail building section of the course so I will be on the Sunshine Coast working and SHREDDING all month!!!! Sweet!!!  Stoked to hit dirt with the Coastal Crew while there, the coast is just so cool..

I continue to put mileage and wear on my Prototype ‘all mountain’ bike and my Mace gear which both are equally loving it!

This Top secret ripper will twist your nipples raw!!!

New updated rear stays on the bike have got it nailed and the last round of feedback on the gear has got me stoked that Norco and Mace development departments are listening!  SIC!   I love my job!

I love my job!

Hoots

The concept of training wheels as a learning tool is on its way out… The Runner is the new way to learn how to ride a bike. The Runner is a kids bike that has no pedals, no cranks and no BB. It is a bike that a child can use to push themselves around and learn balance at an extremely young age. Being able to sit down and touch the ground gives the safety of training wheels with the freedom and valuable skill of balance a full on bicycle offers. Kids as young as 2 years old can jump on a runner and will never look back!

If this was around when I was a kid, maybe I wouldn’t have gotten to know the rose bushes so well???

This video was provided by Dylan Dunkerton of coastalcrew.blogspot.com

Norco full suspension bikes have featured adjustable travel for quite some time. In fact, VPS stands for Variable Point Suspension, referring to the adjustable travel. The travel is adjusted by moving the shock position between points A and B. For all 2010 Norco bikes with adjustable travel Point A is the long travel position and Point B is the short travel position. In the 2010 lineup there are several bike that offer this adjustability such as the LT series, Fluid series, Faze 2 and 3 and the Phena. Each of these bikes has two travel options as listed below.

LT 6.1, 6.2, 6.3 – 137mm – 158mm

Fluid SE, 1, 2, 3 – 116mm – 143mm

Faze 2, 3 – 100mm-120mm

Phena – 116mm – 143mm

When adjusting travel between settings on many bikes there are adverse affects that can reduce ride quality or decrease performance. Not on a Norco though… when you change the travel on any of these mentioned bikes the head angle, and BB height remain constant. The only difference is the change in travel and a more or less progressive shock stroke. I.E. The long travel mode has a lower leverage ratio and more progressive stroke. The result – short travel is a linear, more XC type ride while long travel is a more active, agressive setup.

Thanks to Steve Bown for asking to learn more on the matter

Dustan

photo by Taylor Leigh

Today was a typical day in the mountain bike world on Vancouver Island, and a testament to what makes our sport so great. My friend (and amazing filmmaker) Aaron LaRoque and I decided to go shred and film at Mt.Prevost in Duncan and, like usual, we had no idea how we were going to get to the top of the mountain. Riding the road up would take us a few hours or more with the camera gear and hitching a lift with the local gun-toting rednecks was the only other feasible option we could think of to get to the top. We were ok with that, but of course, not overly thrilled.
On our way into Duncan we stopped by “Experience Cycling” to buy a tube and one of the employees heard us brainstorming about how we would get to the top of the hill. He immediately chimed in that it was his lunch break and that he’d drive us to the top. We couldn’t believe it, but of course, we didn’t refuse.
This is what I love about mountain biking. Like most sports, it’s a thread that ties strangers together but unlike some sports, riders always want to help each other out and spread the love of the sport.
As most of my friends know, one of my favourite things to do is surf, but you would never be able to go into a surf shop and have an employee volunteer to drive you to their secret spot! It just wouldn’t happen. That person would be chastised by his or her peers and probably not allowed back at the break. Ok, maybe that’s a little extreme, but I’ve heard of much worse things happening at my local break.
In mountain biking however, it seems like everybody is there to help everybody else have the best time possible. There is little territorialism, and even where there is (like at the dirt jumps), it’s minimal.
So thanks to Matt from “Experience Cycling” for being such a great example of what mountain biking is all about. Your Toyota Tacoma was much more pleasant than sitting in the back of a Bronco with a gun rack.

Darcy