Protect Ya Neck!

We have just brought the Leatt Brace in the store , and we're all pretty excited about it. It has been referred to as the helmet for your neck, and that is exactly why we brought them in. We want to offer people great bikes, and the best accessories for performance and protection. Leatt Brace has been produced from years of development.
We are currently stocking the adventure brace at $349.99 because it allows you to protect yourself at a reasonable cost. The Club and Sport braces will be available for order at this point if you have a carbon fiber obsession!

So think about it, and protect ya neck... also a good Wu-Tang song.

-Scott

8 Hours of Independence

8 Hours of Independence – Philomath Oregon July 4
1 Lap = 6.5 miles (10.4 km) and 1100 ft (approx 400m) http://www.mudslingerevents.com/flat-mountain-8hr-711/

Race Summary: It was hot! 60 Riders lined up to battle it out on a fast and flowy course that provided some steep ups and fast descends. This was the first 8 Hours of Independence, and as always OBRA put on a good show. The goal was to ride as many laps as possible between 10 am and 6pm.

Alena and Dean Irvine used this race as prep for Trans Rockies in August, and Mike and Andy Traslin lost an opportunity at a mountaineering trip so they figured an 8 hour race would be a good substitute. In the Pro Men’s field Mike and Andy Traslin came in 3rd and 4th completing 11 and 10 laps respectively. Alena had a consistent race, with the help of friends Eric and Julie who fed and kept track of lap times, and won the women’s overall completing 9 laps. Dean won the Cat 2 men’s category despite fixing a flat on the last lap and completed 10 laps. That is 102km and 4000m of climbing! Not a bad day.

The Giant Anthem bikes continue to impress us with their climbing ease and ultra smooth descending ability!

Sunny Cypress Sunday

It was a sunshiny day on Sunday, and riding was must. But where to go? There was a chance that I would try and get a couple other people to make a 5 hour trek to Silverstar, travel to Whistler, or ride Cypress. When did I last ride Cypress?
Cypress it was! My friend Ryan Grimstad was in town to take a few laps off the locals before heading to work for a while, so we hooked up for a rip! Ryan had his minty green, custom, Chromag Gypsy to ride... Jealous!

You might think that a hardtail is not well equipped to the Cypress trails, but Chromag knows whats up when it comes to geometry for their bikes and that buttery chromoly ride. Ryan Ripped 5th Horseman on his Gypsy like he was on a roller coaster track.
We also ran in to Jonathan, a tourist from Switzerland who bought his fresh 2009 Giant Glory DH from us. We had a great lap with him. He's not from around here, but you wouldn't know that by the way he rides, he didn't turn any trails down.

It was a great ride, now to get more Sundays off.

-Scott

Custom Builds

We've always loved building custom bikes for people, and this years we've had the opportunity to build some awesome customs for our customers.
This Driver 8 is brand new, but you might think that you saw it as a prototype up in the bike park or on the shore last year... This customer actually bought a red Driver 8 frame and stripped it him self.
The bike turned out great! A few changes like Saint cranks, Elixir CR brakes, Maxxis Minion tires, and a Chromag Fubar OSX made this one special rig.

Troy Lee Designs Rep, and Red Bull marketing master Cody Swansborough build this trick Evil Revolt to please the eyes and smash the babyheads. Red Boxxer WC, and direct mount, as well as matching Sram X0 derailleur and Hope Seat clamp tie this bike together.

The custom that makes the biggest statement is this go green or go home Evil Revolt that we build for a customer early this month. We were all surprised at how well all the different coloured green parts came together on the bike. Twenty 6 Ti axle Rallaye pedals stand out from the crowd, as well as the 6-pack wheel set. We added the green overlap decal job for a touch of style.

These sweet rigs make a good day even better, and worth all the effort when to see them come togther and put the biggest smile on the owners face.

-Scott

BC XC Provincials – June 28

Sunday June 28th was a great day for mountain biking in Vancouver. The BC XC Provincials took place on SFU’s Gear Jammer and Mel’s single track trails, while The BC Bike Race started and ran through some of the classic North Shore trails.

A few Steed Cycles riders raced at Provincials while Kim made the leap to 7 days of racing at the BC Bike Race. The highlights at provincials included Matt Green’s 3rd place finish in the Elite Men’s race a slim 45 seconds back from the top of the podium. Alena Irvine won the Senior Women’s race by just over one minute.

Sella Ronda Bike Day 2009

Hello from Val Gardena, Italy. This might just be the most beautiful place in the world. Today was Sella Ronda Bike Day. The Sella Ronda is a 55 km loop in the Italian Dolomites that includes 4 mountain passes; Passo Gardena (2137m), Passo Campolongo (1875m) , Passo Pordoi (2242m), and Passo Sella (2244m). (Profile here) The roads were closed to all motorized traffic from 0900hr to 1530 hr to celebrate Italian cycling.

At least 10,000 cyclists participated starting from various locations on the route, mostly riding in a clockwise fashion.

We (my son Blake and I) started from St. Christina shortly after 0900hrs and climbed from here to the Sella Ronda, a further 350m of climbing. The weather was perfect, about 12C, sunny with the occasional cloud.

The atmosphere was very relaxed with bikers on all forms of 2 wheels, from mountain bike to road bike, from kids on 20 inch wheels to tandems towing kids in trailers. There were lots of road teams out for (I assume) recovery rides and the occasional hammer head blasting up the road. The descents were quick but not race fast as the various bikes and caliber of riders required a degree of conservatism.

The scenery was spectacular as we basically circumnavigated a dolomiti massif. Many of the restaurants, cafes, and refuges went out of their way to provide exceptional service to the many riders. Blake and I stopped for lunch in Arabba, a town about half way through the ride and grabbed a sandwich to fuel our ascents of Passo Pordoi and Passo Sella.

The same route holds the Maratona dles Dolomites race in early July. The winning time in this year’s race was 2:02:50. Blake and I rode the route in 4:55:00 with a stop for lunch and many conversations.

Any day on a bike is a good day, and celebrating Italian cycling along the route of numerous Giro I’talia’s makes it that much better.

Tour TransAlp 2009: Day 4

Happy Canada Day from the Tour TransAlp 2009!

Our start today was in Solden, the site of the opening round of the FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup.

(Profile here) Directly out of town we hit the major climb of the day the Timmelsjoch; 23km long with 1250m of elevation.

We slowly ground our way up to the top, the last 200 to 300 meters cut out of the snow banks. Another world!

At the top our support team had their ghetto blaster blasting out “Oh Canada” and the entire “pre” feed zone painted up in the red and white.

Like good Canadians they had our water bottles embedded in the snow banks so that they were good and cool for the descent off the top.

And oh… what a descent! 1800m over 25 km. Not a single hill to slow you down. Ripping around switch backs at the top and blitzing through km after km of snaky turns. I looked at my speedo once and thought I didn’t want to know how fast I was going. It just went on and on. I don’t think I have ever had that much of a rush riding a bike. The ultimate high!

Once to the bottom we leveled out a little bit and pushed our way into Naturns, the whole day taking just over 3 hours to complete. This must be our rest day, tomorrow we start what I think is the crux 2 days of the race. First, over Stelvio (difficulty 194, Cypress is 76), and then 180 km day with 4 major passes including Passo Gavia, the site of many Giro I’talia memories. (Results here)

Tour TransAlp 2009: Day 3

Day 3 saw the 1100 riders in the 2009 Tour TransAlp head from Ischgl, Austriato Solden, the site of the opening events of the FIS Alpine World Cup. Once again the weather was stellar. (Profile here) Just like yesterday, the day started with a 20 km neutral start, only today it was all downhill. When we reached the first climb, the race would be on. As in past days, we discussed again whether it would be better at the front or the back of our start block as we descended the first 20 km. We elected for the back but as soon as we started it became abundantly clear to me that this was the wrong decision. So began a rather tiring next 90 minutes.

I headed for the front to avoid what I felt was a very dangerous situation as the neutral pack descended at close to 35 km/hr. Obstructions caused quick braking situations and I felt that it was way safer to be in front of the majority of riders than behind. Dave held back and we became separated. The first climb appeared and I was up it in a flash, immediately starting to gap out on the C block riders. Unfortunately, Dave was not with me and knowing we had well over 100 km ahead of us I pulled up and waited for Dave to appear. Minutes seemed to go by very slowly, and more and more of the riders that I knew passed me by. Where was Dave? Eventually it became clear that I was now seeing the very back of start block D and I knew that I must have missed seeing him go past. Oh My God, now comes the hammer as I have to try to bridge back to his group. Off I went full tilt, passing riders left and right for the remaining part of the climb, many times doing it cyclocross style by riding up the grass beside the road. Who says mountain biking skills cannot contribute to road racing results. Thankfully, I quickly hooked up with a very fast rider who had flatted on the downhill start and had even more distance to make up. Between the two of us pulling for 60 second bursts we, caught Dave and the rest of the TNA team as they started up the Pillerhohe 42 km in. What a way to start the day, and certainly not conducive to having a strong finish.

The Pillerhohe was one nasty climb with quite a few sections approaching 15% gradients. The temperature was very high and we started to see a great deal of suffering as the heat and the combined efforts of the past 2 days took its toll. Can you say tick, tick, tick, BOOM!!!! Dave was starting to get his legs and was really flying. It seemed it was all I could do to stay with him on the climbs. The next 30 km were over in a flash despite some roads on the down hills that seemed more suited to the mountain bike TransAlp than road racing. Eventually, all that remained was a long 40 km uphill slog into Solden. We put our heads down and pushed the pace as high as we dared pulling past several other trains as we approached the finish.

Once again as soon as we finished our great support team of Jeremy and Clive had the recovery drinks and roast chickens waiting. The daily pasta party saw then get an award for their efforts at helping not only us but any rider who needed assistance. Once again, thanks to all the volunteers who make these events happen! You know who you are. Tomorrow is hump day. The race will be one half over. (Results here)

Tour TransAlp 2009: Day 2

After the cramping issues of Day 1, and a night of worrying by my partner that we were in for a very long TransAlp, Day 2 came off almost perfectly. (profile here) We made today BC Bike Race Day. We also had a great surprise from our support crew in the middle of a long day.

A long neutral start of almost 20 km allowed us to get our legs warmed up before we started racing for the day. Today we headed from Imst up the valley to St. Anton, the site of several FIS Ski World Championships. Once through the ski town we headed up the first pass of the day, the Arlbergpass, a climb about equal in difficulty to Cypress Mountain.

When we reached the top we started a very intense downhill of about 55 km. The pack riding and pace lines set up! The speeds we were pushing over this distance rarely allowed me to get any food or drink into my mouth as I was afraid I would cause a big crash. Eventually the gradient turned the other direction and things calmed down a bit to allow us to eat. Thankfully, the long neutral start had allowed us to get our energy levels topped up before things got into crazy mode. It also helped that our amazing support crew set up our aid station at the most opportune location to allow us to power up for the rest of the day. They also provided a great deal of comic relief and really settled us in for the final push of the day.

I do find the pack riding very mentally draining. It seems I have to concentrate all the time to make sure that I understand what is happening around me. If there appears to be a sketchy rider in your vicinity, it makes it even worse. There was much discussion at dinner last night as to what is the ideal position to be in, front or back. The long neutral lead outs in the morning are great to warm up the legs, but with all the speeding up and slowing down as the pack maneuvers around cars etc., the risk of crashing can be high. Front or back? We will see as the week goes on what is better.

The last climb of the day, the Bielerhohe, was again a brute. I lost count of the number of switchbacks heading up the front of the pass, but the view back down the valley was spectacular. Once up the initial climb, we passed a large reservoir and most of us thought the climb was over. Not so! A second reservoir was farther up the pass, and the in between section had several nasty 12 to 15% section to test our metal. Once over the top it was a quick downhill to Ischgl, although many of us suffered through rain showers on the way in.

Once again the support crew came through!!! Chicken in the finish area. Yeah!!! Day 2 down!!! (Results here)

Tour TransAlp 2009: Day 1

Day 1 is over and what a day it was. The weather improved and for the first day we saw not a drop of rain. The sun broke through on multiple occasions and helped raise everyone’s spirits even as the gradient of the climbs tried to knock them back down. Sonthofen put on a great start and we had a neutral roll out for about 8 km before the race was on.

Racing began at the bottom of the first big climb; (profile is here) the Oberjoch and pretty much everyone pinned it up to the top. Once up to the top the pack riding began and we motored through some rolling terrain. It was pretty cool looking down at your speedo and seeing 40+ km/hr as we booted along. The race started to sort itself out as the faster riders in the deeper start blocks started to move their way through the field, and the slower riders from the early start blocks made their way to the back. As a team, Dave and I learned some early lessons that being at the back of a pack or a pace line was not the ideal place to be. Although initially it seemed like everyone on the line was riding at the same pace, it soon became obvious that the weaker riders would collect at the back, and if the grade or pace increased just a bit they would be popped. If you were behind them by the time you had a chance to move around them, it became a real challenge to bridge back up to the faster group ahead.

The first descent was too cool. Ripping down the hill at 60+ and having the road “mostly” controlled allowed you to dive into the corners and rip out the other side. My anxieties about pack descending did not prove founded as my speed was pretty comparable to those around me and there were not a huge numbers of riders cutting across my line.

The scenery was spectacular, especially as we rolled out of Stanzach. Exiting the town, we were on a straight section of road and could see ahead the first several km of the last climb. It was quite intimidating as it was cut into the side of the mountain, and basically heading straight out of the valley. The last climb was a brute, with several kilometer long sections of 12-13% gradients. The last 2 km were particularly daunting as it switched up the mountain with little kickers every few 100 m. The 20 km long descent off the other side was almost as crazy with speeds in excess of 70 km/h. I personally have never reached those sorts of speeds on a bike and I have to admit that a few times I was quite nervous about the possibility of flatting. In the end we made it to Imst. One day down, six more to go. (Results here)

BC Bike Race Stage 7- Done!!!

Kim Steed shattered at the finish of Stage 7

The final stage of BC Bike Race was in Whistler with the start and finish at Creekside. Off the line we went up, up and yes, more up. The lung popping climb was over 600 meters until we started to decend. I was happy to see everyone including the pros, being forced to hike a bike within 5 minutes of the start. I think the scenery was amazing, but I had a hard time seeing as blood kept tearing up in my eyes.

Amazing trails up on Whistler mountain for XC that I'd never ridden! Grant Lamont the course designer is seriously sadistic though, there were more climbs in a short stretch of race course than I have seen before. Grant was quoted at the start as he rubbed his hands together with a big smile, "These guys are really going to suffer today, ha-ha"!

Being the last day everyone was antsy to get this race completed and the pace was fast off the line and I was in the red zone for most of the day.

For the first time in the week I found myself nursing a front flat tire at 16 k's into the race, stopping a couple of times to re-seat the tire or top it up with air. I managed to make it to the final descent at the 1 k to go before it exploded on a tight steep corner. Turned out I had a big slice in the side wall and the tube had popped through. I did a quick change and pinned it to the finish but lost about 3-5 minutes fixing it.

At the finish the BC Bike Race creator Dean Payne awarded every finisher the BC Bike Race Belt Buckle to show off at every opportunity. I'll be wearing mine with pride!


Results-
On the final day after 22 hours of riding, Duncan Gavin pushed past me into 6th place and with the flat repair time, I lost the 2 minutes to Chris Peariso who came 7th, then me in 8th overall for the week!

I had a great time stage racing for 7 days straight! I have always wanted to do one of these races and now having done it, would come at it with a stratagey that seemed to work well.

• Start every day with a relaxed open mind and be prepared for anything the day brings.
• Study the course map and get a clear idea what the geography and course distance have in store for you.
  
• Drink at every opportunity and eat every 45 minutes during the race.
• Stop at every aid station and refill bottles and pockets with gels.
  
• Don't go off the line hard, stay focused on staying out of the red zone for the first hour at least. It's not worth it and you'll only burn out and have a bad day, not to mention suffer the next day.
• Every day eat a big breakfast and dinner, and go to bed as early as possible.
• Every day get a deep tissue massage!!!
• Drink water and lots of it after each stage to get hydrated for the next day.

These are just a few pointers, but anyone planning on entering one of these events for the first time, I am happy to give some tips to finish with a smile!

Thanks for all the support of friends, family, and BC Bike Race!

Kimbo

Here is a video from Dave Norona of Day 7-

BC Bike Race Stage 6

Richard Dustan knackered at the finish line

Today's ride was a mix of Test of Metal and the Gear Jammer course in Squamish. Most of the riders are now getting really tired and it is becoming harder and harder to hammer every climb. I struggled on all the ups and had to resort to hike a bike when I normally would have powered up some of the steeps. Today's weather was a hot 30 degrees and drinking a lot of electrolites was a must at every opportunity!

Andreas Hestler pinning up a climb

The main pack pulled away at the start and I followed in a string of riders up the increasingly steep climb. I downed a gel and a bar but they didn't sit well. Once we'd reached the top of the climb after over an hour I tried to use flow to keep the speed going but noticed I was struggling to hit the corners fast. Uh-oh. A gap starting forming with the group I was trying to follow, but I couldn't catch them as they appeared at the tops of the hills.

Al Saunders looking for water at finish

After the first aid station I was starting to notice how the heat was affecting the race...ahhh how about way tougher? There were a few open clear cuts we had to ride through that really let us have it. I started really gulping down the fluids but never could quench the thirst. I had fallen behind in the important hydration game!

The profile of the Squamish course

Lucky for me the race ended on a steady downhill and flat grade with only a few ups. I gave it all I had and tried not to touch the brakes, managing to still finish up in 3:23, falling back in time on my competitors in solo but still managing to hold 6th place with only a 1 minute lead on Duncan Gavin and 9 minutes on Chris Peariso for the week.

Tomorrow should be interesting as these two are really coming on strong, where I feel I am fading. The advice given by the veterans is to just race normally and don't go out too hard in efforts of glory on Stage 7 as you could blow up and loose much more time than the couple of minutes. Plus, when you go out hard and get tired, there is more chance of a bad crash that could cost you finishing the last day and force a DNF.

-Kimbo

BC Bike Race Stage 5

Kieth Nichol from North Shore Athletics

Great day on the Sunshine Coast for BCBR! The weather was hot and dry as we worked our way southeast to Langdale from the finish of yesterday's stage. The pace off the line was fast and just like yesterday I did my best to stay with the lead 50 or so riders until we hit the single track.

Tent City at BC Bike Race

The trails on the Sunshine Coast we rode were unbelievable. They are practically manicured japanese gardens; super buffed and built to ride.

There were three distinctive climbs and the last one went on forever! It was all worth the relentless punishment. We wound our way across the Rat Race XC course then down highway 102 into the Ferry parking lot to the finish. Everyone was wide eyed and completely buzzed when they crossed the line, ready to tell stories of the day out.

Michelle Newton after Stage 5

I finished the day in 3:08 and that was enough to put me up to 6th place! Two more days to go; it's going to be hard to keep up the pace but I will do my best.

I have been hanging out and camping with the Endless Crew.
This is the Endless van loaded up with bikes to be taken to the next stage.

The Endless crew- Darren, Kelli, Rick and Chris

Got to go, time for a snack, need more calories!

Kim Steed- Sent via Blackberry

Ph- 604.987.2168

www.steedcycles.com

BC Bike Race Stage 4

Here we are after Day 4's 70k punishment! We started in Earls Cove and worked our way to Sechelt. I started the day in Powell River camping out with my RV crew. We took the 7:15 ferry over to Earls Cove where the start of the stage took place. We were there over 2 hours before the start which was awesome, not to be rushed! Zoltan (the sultan of pain) gave the crew a massage to get our tense muscles loosened up.
The sun was beating down right at the start, cooking the 400 racers like a plate of cheezy nachos...(mmm nachos- this race increases appetite). Off the line we were taken up a massive long steep uphill road climb to the trail. The group instantly split as the fast group took an early lead. I managed to just hang on to the group and we put an instant 5 minute gap on the next group. Not that this mattered as as soon as we hit the tight fast single track the group splintered into a million pieces.
As the trails worked our way to sechelt the short series of climbs were relentless and painfull. There were plenty of open sections that dropped hot, dry, dusty sunlight onto our sweaty sun burnt skin.

Being Stage 4 I am really starting to feel haggard but I will say I am starting to figure this stage racing thing out; well how to pace myself anyways. I am starting at a medium pace and eating and drinking A LOT! Then after an hour and a half to two hours it's business time. This is were I seem to come alive and start picking off riders. Every aid station I refill both bottles and eat a pack of Sharkies electrolite chews. Every hour I drink 1-2 bottles and every 45 minutes eat a bar or gel. It's working so far anyways.

Today it's Stage 5 from Sechelt to Langdale ferry. I am currently in 7th place in Solo with a mere minute off 6th place. I'm not sure if I can keep up this pace but it sure helps when you look around; everyone else is in the same boat.

Having a great time,

-Kimbo

Check out Dave Norona's video of Stage 4-