Are You Ready?
October 14, 2009
As we roll from summer season over into fall and winter, I have just one important question to start off this month’s rambling: Are you ready to give up your bike riding? If the answer is no, that leads to question #2 -- are you ready for Winter? Are you ready to ride in the wet? Are you ready to ride in colder air temperatures? And are you ready to ride in reduced visibility or even the pitch black darkness?
If the answer to any of these is no, then it’s time to start re-thinking your gameplan. Please don’t become one of those many riders I have barely seen over the past month (or NOT seen is more like it) that are still using their bikes for errands or commuting, but are absolutely invisible with no lights or reflectors on them. I shake my head as I like to give em props for still being out there riding, but wondering how long it will be before someone tries to take them out. Come on now, wanna get hit?
Note: All the following links are not just shameless plugs to supporting companies. These are products that I have paid for myself and use. I wouldn’t recommend them unless I really did LIKE them. And I do...
Wet Weather... well, like someone much smarter than me once said, there is no such thing as lousy weather, just poor clothing choices! So true. I know on those dark and dreary mornings, I pull on a waterproof and windproof shell jacket for my pedal. I can layer up under it when the weather gets colder, but for now a simple base layer and the jacket suffices. When I start working too hard (I try not to) I’ll zip open the pitt-zipps, and pull down the front zipp for some extra flow-through ventilation, if not, keep it all sealed up. Check out axiomgear.com for some GREAT riding jackets.
Keeping dry below the waist is easy too. Simply bolt a set of fenders on. Don’t cheap out with mini or shorty fenders, embrace the fact that you don’t want to get wet AND know that it is way easier on your equipment if it is not getting waterblasted on every ride. Check out these bad-boys fenders here. axiomgear.com Great spray coverage, complete with mud guard flaps front and rear AND a reflective strip down the center. Cool, stay dry and be seen!
Colder Temperatures... Really, if it is cold but still dry, it isn’t too big a deal. As above, adding to the sealed outside layer with an additional jersey or even a thin fleece warms things up pretty quick. The key to enjoyable winter riding is "sweat management". Try to work just hard enough to have fun and move along, but not too hard so as to work up a big sweat. Unless of course you have a short commute and can hop into a shower and/or change fully when you get there. Keeping the hands warm has got easier over the years with some great development on nice full finger thicker gloves or even mitts. Check em out here. axiomgear.com I have and have used both. Check out the Lobster and Claw gloves… I use the Stormfront for more wet weather riding.
If it is really cold and you need to cover up more or stay dry, the Stormfront pants rule as do shoe covers, headbands or beanies you can wear under your helmet. Check them out here: axiomgear.com
Seeing and Being Seen... LOTS of great stuff out there on that. My personal choice is to run a BLT Super Doppler rear light. This light is SO BRIGHT,
blt-lights.com there is no way a car is going to miss seeing and avoiding you. One set of 3 AAA batteries last me a whole season of riding and the light is durable and light.
As I ride in an area that I need light to see where I’m going (I do a cool forest trail ride pretty much every morning where there is NO ambient or streetlights) I saved my pennies and bought a Light & Motion Seca 400. I can’t believe how strong and long running this light is. bikelights.com Yes it is big bucks, but this light has extended my riding season to year round.
I’ve gone one step further with lights and added a helmet light to my mix too. I am running the Light & Motion Stella 200 for my top light. Between these 2, I can see everything and can’t be missed.
So, in a nutshell, if you want to keep on riding all winter there is ways to do it. You CAN still have lots of fun on your bike, or keep it functional for commuting or errands. Don’t give up or hang your bike up just cause it’s wet, dark or cold. Embrace it and go play.
Safe travels! Remember… never forget the fun of riding (even in the winter).
Steak Sauce
Why I Love My Bike
October 14, 2009
Love is a strong word that signifies not only an emotional bond but also deeper connection that goes beyond superficial attraction and companionship. Love is formed around a relationship that is intertwined at one’s roots and aligned with personal morals and ideals. Love is something that shapes character and evolves over time into a broad, all-encompassing connection. If I had to describe one thing that shaped my childhood, and guided me to where I am today I would describe my bike. If it wasn’t for my bike I would not be who I am, I would not be where I am and I would not be heading in my current direction. If it wasn’t for my bike I would not be me.
Growing up, I was fortunate enough to be a part of the Sprockids youth cycling club. This is a program founded in Western Canada that gets kids on bikes. In addition the kids are able to learn environmental responsibility, leadership skills and much more. It was because of this program that I started mountain biking and purchased my first mountain bike, a 1996 Norco Magnum. It was on this bike and through the Sprockids program that my love for two wheels took off. It was riding my bike that let me be as free as I wanted while learning the skills that would become so important later in life.
Through racing, coaching, teaching and working my high school career seemed only a necessary evil which separated me from the immense trail network that is found on the Sunshine Coast, a community just north of Vancouver. This is an area that breathes cycling. Mountain biking is at the foundation of the community and through this bond, some of the greatest mountain biking around can be found in the area. Finishing off grade some of the best riding around in my backyard, I found myself heading off to University cramming as many bikes into my cramped closet of a dorm room as possible and getting out riding whenever possible... Long story short, after four years of riding/school, I graduated University and set out into the big, scary ‘Real World’.
In the real world I was welcomed as a part of the Norco Family in Port Coquitlam BC. Through Norco there is little to do with my daily life that isn’t directly related to bikes and riding. With any luck at all a day at the office surrounded by bikes is followed by a pedal around the local trails. Honestly, I don’t know what I would do without a bike and frankly I hope I never have to find out. I have grown up on a bike, I have been raised by a community of cyclists and it is pretty rare to spend a day without throwing a leg over a bike. I love my bike!
Do you love your bike? Email why to: ilovemybike@norco.com
Dustan
7 Days of Exhausting Rest in Moab!
October 14, 2009
Moab is second to none when it comes to epic all-mountain rides. The trails are made up of everything from massive rock expanses to desert conditions, and if you can get up high enough you may even find some alpine conditions. Moab, to say the least is a mountain biking Mecca. If you are going to head out Moab way, you should make sure to be, fit, well hydrated and fueled up. Moab to say the least is a pretty intense area to bring a bike You take this intensity then add a guide - Steak Sauce who has ridden here for the past 25 years. This turns the Moab intensity up from 'hard' to what the local trail maps consider to be 'Dude'!
Day one of our adventures involved a Moab classic, the Poison Spider Mesa. This is a trail that wraps around the land formed by millions of years of water and wind erosion. Climbing up the ridge over countless drops, through deep gullies and grunting up steep climbs is rewarded by spectacular views of the surrounding canyon. Well worth the effort. This is the point in the ride where most stories would end, a tough climb, spectacular view then we head back down a fast descent. But. . . in our case this is where the legend of Steak Sauce comes into play.
As we crest the top of the final ascent. We lightly gasp for breath while the plateau becomes a realization. It is a great feeling to reach the top of an epic ride. But. . . between breaths I make out the unflustered voice of Steak Sauce, "Well, this is where most people think the trail ends." Heck, that is what I was thinking. After all it had been a great ride up and we were all ready for some gravity fun. It turns out that a second trail called Portal winds further out into the desert up to a spectacular pillar that creates a gap in the landscape visible from miles around. This is a great place to stop for lunch and a well deserved break. After all we are about 4hrs into our ride. Post break and snack we continued on a slight climb before wrapping around the ridge and starting to descend. The trail Traverses a ridge is on a semi-exposed rock trail with a few steep chutes and rock drops. Things are getting fun again as the adrenalin starts pumping. This is where the sign shows up. . . It was a little steep. . .
After a quick aside to deal with the so called ‘danger zone’ we were soon enough back on the fast, rocky singletrack winding down towards the truck.
Most people that head to Moab think of Poison spider as a pretty epic 2-3 hr ride. Well, if you pour a little Steak Sauce on that and don't mind a short stint on the pain train, then you get a 5hr test of endurance. It is definitely worth it though, seeing the portal and linking up the descent are some of the best experiences I have had on a bike. If you head out to the area, make the effort and go the extra mile.
On day seven of our Moab vacation we started off with a shuttle heading up, way up. We were shuttled all the way up to Geyser pass by Ryon from Chile Pepper Bike Shop where we were put into the hurt locker and climbed the final leg to over 11000ft in an area called Burrow Pass. This left us gasping for air and itching to ride. This was high, really high and there was 7000ft of descending ahead. Can it really get any better than this?
The air was cool at a mere 3 degrees and ice lined the sides of passing creeks. At this elevation and temperature keeping dry is a bit of a big deal as the water is as cold as the descent is long. Starting off the descent we were in a sub-alpine terrain speckled with evergreens and icy rivers. Soon after we were descending through a vibrant yellow poplar forest shifting to a deep red as we continued on, the terrain in this area is so diverse and varying it makes for an experienced unparalleled. Starting off in Winter like conditions and ending in the desert, where else on the face of the earth can you do that in a single day? With close to seven hours of riding and over 7000ft of descending it is hard to argue that it wasn’t epic and we weren’t tired. The ride is huge and totally worth it. Pack your bags, pack lots of food and even more water then hit the trails. This descent is like no other. From 11000ft to 4000ft and 3 degrees all the way up to mid 30s the range on this ride is astonishing.
These two rides are two small fish in a very large sea of trails. I feel as if I have seen so much in but a week of riding yet I know that I have barely scratched the surface. Time to head home, get back to work and start planning a trip next year. After 7 days of relaxing vacation in Moab Utah, I am Exhausted!
Dustan
