BC Bike Fit!

BC Bike Fit provides a valuable service to cyclist of all levels. Whether you are a commuter, cross country racer or weekend road warrior proper positioning on the bike allows the rider to be more comfortable, more efficient, and more powerful. This allows the cyclist to perform up to their potential preventing overuse injuries that can result from poor alignment.

A BC Bike Fit session will go through a head to toe custom fit process focusing on the foot pedal interface. Take the guess work out of, “how should my bike be set up?” Start your season with BC Bike Fit and you will ride and feel like a champion!

All BC Bike Fit customers receive a complimentary pair of Smartwool cycling socks.

For more information go to www.bcbikefit.com

To book an appointment call Dave Howells 604-988-2770

Or email dave@bcbikefit.com

A VERY DIRTY DIRTY DUO!

After months of warm, dry weather, the weekend of the Dirty Duo got nasty! The result: SNOW, SLUSH AND LOTS AND LOTS OF MUD!

I woke up that morning listening to the pounding rain and at 4 degrees figured not many people were going to show up. However, my goal was to get some experience racing, ride hard and finish strong. So I had to suck it up and get out there!

I figured the Dirty Duo, occuring so early in the season was a great time to learn about racing, and learn I did.

LESSON #1: KNOW YOUR COURSE
I thought I knew the course but as I travelled along Circuit 8 and no longer saw any yellow flags, I realized I had made a wrong turn. Unfortunately Circuit 8 is about the muddiest trail on the North Shore and can be somewhat frustrating. So even though I had a great start, I wasted a huge amount of energy and time. "@#%&!" I was furious with myself and attacked the downhill but knew that it would be impossible to make up that lost time. I had to let that mistake go, refocus and just move forward.

LESSON #2: SPIN
I generally like to use my middle chaing to climb, but in a previous race cramped horribly. For the Dirty Duo I decided to try a higher cadence and switched into Granny for Old Buck and BP. The result: my legs did not cramp and I was ready to go on Ned's! Lesson learned.

LESSON #3: ITS OKAY TO GET OFF YOUR BIKE
Just after the Severed trail head along BP we started to hit snow and slush. I was feeling good but my tires were sliding all over the place. I was thinking, "Do I waste my energy trying to stay up or just get off?" I decided on the latter and noticed everyone else did too! By the time we hit Ned's there was a good layer of snow. I have never walked those first two wide bridges but decided to cross them beside my bike. My pride may have been a bit hurt, but my body made it across without injury.

LESSON #4: SUPPORT YOUR FELLOW RIDERS

It was me getting the support this time. This guy in the picture, whom I have never seen before, cheered me on through that last incredibly challenging, muddy climb up Richard Juryn. He even waited for me so we could race down Lilloet road and finish together. It made me feel AMAZING. I have to remember to provide this kind of support to a fellow racer in the future.

(Note: The two Finish photos are thanks to photographer Don Scott http://www.donsphotos.ca/)

LESSON #5: ENJOY YOURSELF OUT THERE!

Why do we race? If you can't enjoy it, why do it? Eventhough I messed up in Circuit 8, my feet and hands were totally frozen, and I had been eating mud for over 2 hours, I finished feeling incredible! I felt I had accomplished something. I can't wait to race again.

Goooo Team!

Lets get out and ride guys! I've been hogging Kimbo all to my self on Friday mornings. What can I say, the guy is a legend, and a pretty cool guy!



With day light savings in place the days are noticeably longer, but not yet long enough to start our Tuesday after work staff rides. Instead, Kim proposed that we share our Friday rides with the rest of the staff. I was resistant, but willing to compromise.



The trail conditions have been getting better and better since the oddball snow fall that came down on our trails like a wet blanket... of snow.



But, things have changed and the ground is dry in most places on the trails. Very dry actually. The trails are in great shape and are looking to be ridden.



On such a stellar day, with top notch trail conditions, who was going to sleep in? Not me. Steve, Kim, and Dave showed up to ride. What do ya know, we all have Santa Cruz Nomads. Woah!



With Dave directing the team we carried on, on our pedaly adventure in the sun, eventually ending up at work... sadly. I would have love to take this ride to the next level, but someone has to pay for these bikes.



I can't wait to get back on an xc bike again and ride with my favorite companions until I collapse from exhaustion, or satisfaction, whichever comes first.

-Scott

Cranking Out The Carbon

Race Face has always made cool cranks, from the original Turbine cranks, to their newest Sixc series carbon cranks. Its nice to know that a home-grown brand is producing some of the hottest technology for bikes at the moment.
The Sixc series is an all-mountain directed carbon component system consisting of a 28.5" wide carbon riser bar, and a couple different options of carbon crank systems.



I've been fortunate enough to get my hands on a set of these sexy cranks in a 170mm length, and 32T/22T/Bash configuration that I'm mounting on my Santa Cruz Nomad! Race Face posts the weight of the 175mm 22/32/44T cranks at 760g! 10g lighter than Shimano's XTR cranks, impressive. Race Face cranks out the Sixc cranks locally, giving them ultimate control over quality.
It nice to see innovation like this, but Race Face has gone the extra mile and added crank arm boots that you can choose to run to avoid scratching the ends of your cranks when pedalling through rocks.



The Sixc cranks include in house machined rings to ensure quality shifting. On my cranks, a lightweight aluminum bashguard protects the middle ring and adds clearance. There is also a neat ring guard available on the three-ring model to keep your teeth sharp, straight, and shiffting well.



Spinning on sealed cartridge bearings, jammed packd with Phil Wood grease, the cranks spin smooth and freely. The waterproof Phil Wood grease is pumped into the bearings to ensure that their cranks keep spinning smoothly, even through our harsh West Coast conditions.



Installation is a breeze, the cranks instal with an 8mm allen key, and requite little effort to instal or remove. The system offers 3mm of chainline adjustment for the best chainline to make shifting optimal.



Once mounted up the Sixc cranks look badass! The cranks have a smooth profile, nice unidirectional crank look, and clean graphics. The crank boots are a nice feature esspecially on an all-mountain bike. Replacing the stock Shimano SLX cranks with the Sixc cranks, I shaved just over a half-pound, my Nomad now weighing 31.92 lbs!



Out on the trail the Sixc cranks felt stiff, and responsive, and shifted crisply. Mainly I didn't have to think about them, they provided smooth silent service. The first ride was great, I can only expect the same in the future...

-Scott

Mmmmm.... new bike for me!

Its been a while since I've owned a bike, especially one this nice. I drove from Kamloops down to Steed Cycles and back in one day just to buy this 2010 Giant Reign 0.


It has 6" of travel front and rear and weighs in at a scant 28lbs. I once dreamed about the day when a 6x6 bike would come come in at about 30lbs. This bike easily surpasses my previous expectations.

I swapped out the stock Giant bar to a gold Answer ProTaper DH bar cut to 30". The stock Giant branded bar is very nice but I wanted something a little wider ....and GOLD! I am currently testing tires for Maxxis and put on some prototype Ardent 2.4" tires that I just received recently. I was really surprised at the quality of the stock Giant seat post and stem. I was expecting to swap those out but since they are both light and well designed there's no way I'm throwing away money on something else.

Time to get back into shape!

Carbon Done Right

Recently I noticed an article on bicycling magazine's online website of Giant Bicycle's carbon production process. Many people don't know just how large of a company Giant is. Yes, they actually make all of their own bikes. They do not farm out production to other companies. They make their own aluminum tubing, and they even make their own carbon fibre. Whether its a Defy Alliance 1, or a TCR Advanced SL 0 Giant manufactures their carbon for frame production from a spool of thread!
When looking for a road bike you might not being thinking of who actually made the bike that you are looking at, but you might be interesting in knowing just how well its made after reading the bicycling article.
If you are concerned about your health, you probably want to know what goes into the food you eat. This is somewhat similar. How good, how clean, is the carbon frame that you are looking at buying? It may look good on the outside, but that doesn't mean its a quality build on the inside. What this means for Giant is that they have complete control over every detail of their frames. Not just how it looks, or how stiff it is, or what parts come on it. But how light it can be, while maintaining strength, being laterally stiff, yet vertically complient, and assuring that the frame will last.

Consider who makes your next bike, no matter what name is on the outside.

-Scott

Dirty Duo Win! Solo and Team!

Chris Downie lacing up his shoes at the start, ready to rumble;
he's got the right socks and hair cut for the job!

The 10th annual Dirty Duo kicked off yesterday at 8am sharp under a VERY wet sky and some of the wettest, bitter cold conditions in Dirty Duo history! Being the 10th anniversary, 100 more participants than usual arrived to test their North Shore mountain spirit!

Steed Cycles racer, Lina Augaitis is all smiles at the start line, and ended up
2nd in Co-ed division with fiance Andrew Dye

The classic Dirty Duo event that started 10 years ago by Mike Wardas was all about pre-season suffering on a 25km rugged trail run followed by a 30k technical mountain bike ride. Surprise, surprise, lots of people thought it was a grand idea. I caught the bug 7 years ago and now have completed 8 Dirty Duo's!
In the team category Chris Downie as the runner and myslef as the biker managed to complete the grueling course in 4:08- 1st place! It was so wet and muddy that the course felt painfully slow in some sections, not to mention the bogged down feeling of being soaking wet and cold.
Steed Cycles racer, Mike Murphy enjoying the status of 1st place in the ultimate Solo division!!! Nice work Mike!

Bit of mud out there.

Connor pounded a plate of lasagna after completing the 25k run in 3 hours. Super proud of Coneezy who despite not having the training in him to really pull off the run comfortably, did it anyway and laid the beats to his poor legs, pinning it up and down the rugged terrain, battling the conditions! Way to go buddy, doing your Scottish ancestors proud! It should be a platter of haggis and a pint of stout while donning the wool kilt with the family tartan! I felt I should have had the bag pipes blowing when he was running across the line.

Oh yes, and the Blur XC Carbon...what a gem. I wouldn't have enjoyed the race the same without this baby! The super stiff carbon frame hammered those climbs and at 23 pounds soaking wet, could be shouldered and run with through the snowy sections with a smile.
I saw this hooligan, Biluk, roaming around the event. Some say he was there just to rouse the masses and cause trouble. I'm not sure but I caught him chatting up all the ladies and saying all sorts of inappropriate things. Jokes, Jokes, no-no, Jamie was shredding the course as Connor's partner and they had a grand old time! Viva Dirty Duo!!!

Thanks again to Heather the race Director who put on an amazing event! I hope for the next 10 years we can be participating with the same kind of early season vigor and excitement as the first 10 years!

-Kimbo

Get the Lead Out!

Imagine the horrible, awful, painful, irony (ok, maybe just the irony) of toiling, day after sunny day, on a series of paintings depicting the very trails you longed to be riding. Imagine illustrating the ladder bridges and rock ramps of your favourite North Shore trails in the finest of detail, each rock and board lovingly modeled and glazed to perfection. This was my life for the past few months as I prepared for a show of my artwork at a local gallery. The only riding I was doing were “research rides” for my paintings, camera and sketchbook in hand, stopping frequently to document some aspect of the trail – the seriously “no-flow” kind of ride. I love painting, but I love riding more, and I was in need of a major “fix” to bring my life back into balance. I also needed some kind of cathartic episode, both physical and mental, to swiftly replace the art muse with the trail muse.

The day after I hung the show (@ Cityscape Community Art Space, 335 Lonsdale, until April 10th), balance was restored. I had let some riding buddies know in advance that on that day, I was planning to leave the house in the morning with a pack full of snacks and water, and to ride until it was time to pick up the boys from school, approximately five hours later. My plan included a classic XC ride of a linked series of North Shore trails spanning both Seymour and Fromme Mountains, and including many of the trails that I had just finished painting! I recruited three friends, Heide, Michelle, and my 2010 BCBikeRace partner, Colleen, who would join me mid-morning.

The day started a little wet and misty, but surprisingly mild for this time of year. I set out solo from home, riding up through neighbourhoods to the St. Mary’s trailhead on Lower Fromme. My route included the Dempsey Trail, Baden Powell to Mountain Highway, down Natural High and Lower Griffin, then by road to the rendezvous point where I picked up my friends. We continued east over the Seymour River, across the Bridle Path, up Old Buck, and up Baden Powell and Cabin Trail to Ned’s. The trails were a little muddy in parts, but not at all slippery, and my summer tires (which I was too busy to switch out this winter) performed admirably. There we were, four women in our forties, playing in the woods on our bikes on what turned out to be a fabulous early March ride…ideal!
Our route continued down Bottletop, and up Twin Bridges. As the clock ticked down to zero, we finished the ride with a quick lap on the Juryn trail. I have done other “big” rides that would make compelling stories, but this one, coming on the heels of a major creative effort, and with a great group of women, was uniquely meaningful. The ride was perfect, and even though it represented the opposite extreme to painting all day, it achieved my objective of restoring a sense of balance and reestablishing my connection to the bike. I will pick up the paintbrush again soon, but for now, the trails of the North Shore and southwest BC are my canvas!

WTF is with the Weather?

I believe that this time last week it was warm and you could pretty much ride as high as you wanted on any of the mountains on the shore. This past weekend, it all got turned up-side-down! Snow, WTF, where did this come from? The whole of the Olympics there wasn't enough snow to hold "winter events". Now we're facing bike trails that ride like ski slopes.

But, it is all doable. If you have the right gear, you can ride year round. I suited up for a ride on Saturday morning to face whatever the trails had to offer. On my was up the Fromme fire road I was immediately confronted with snow. I was equipped with my trusty Sombrio Vapor jacket. It's light weight and water proof to keep me dry, without affecting how I move on the bike. I always wear my Sombrio Wildcard shorts in the winter, and heavy rain. They keep me warm and dry without overheating. And, recently I've been able to try GORE bike wear's Gore-Tex socks! Cold feet and fingers can make a great ride really uncomfortable, especially when you can't feel them! The GORE socks go over a pair of regular socks (wool is a must for any winter or wet weather occasion).



The GORE socks really helped in the slush, snow, and running rapids that I encountered on my morning ride. However when water is splashing up your legs and running down, some is bound to get past the tight collar of the GORE socks. I'll take them on other rides to suss them out, but I blieve that when combined with pants they would work best!

-Scott

Race The Ranch BC Cup DH #1

We just opened registration for the Race the Ranch BC Cup downhill in Kamloops.

Sign up here: www3.telus.net/2010rtr

The race will take place at the Bike Ranch public bike park on April 24-25th, and will be the first stop of the BC Cup series for 2010. If last year's turn out is any indication, it will be the most popular race on the BC Cup circuit. This year, we are expecting numbers to increase to about 400+ racers! There will be long line ups at the registration table, so beat the rush by signing up early.

I have been busy building a new more challenging course, called "Pale Rider", that appeals to both beginners to elite level riders alike. It is almost complete, but open for practice right now. The feedback has been great so far with local and out of town riders riding it regularly since I opened it only a week ago. Its been a cold wet spring in Kamloops which means the epic dust of last year's course should be next to nothing this time.

Support racing in BC and support Steed Cycles for supporting my work at the Ranch.

Wayne Parsons

Light Weight!

Stan's ZTR rims have been around for some time now. Initially lurking in the shadows of curious bike geeks, Stan's rims are now being spec'd on off the shelf brands. They have obviously earned this reputation somehow, but what makes Stan's rims different than any other rim? Stan's rims offer a few benefits over other hoop offerings. ZTR rims are all about tubeless, and low weight. They offer a low sidewall profile to get the most volume out of a tire's casing meaning a larger tire, with more volume to enable to to reduce pressure and increase grip, without going to a larger tire. The bead-hook design on the sidewall allows you to run any tire tubeless and create a tighter hold on the bead of the tire to reduce that chance of "burping" air. In combination with their light weight, bead-hook desing, and volume producing low-rim sidewall, a Stan's rim can build a killer wheelset for many mountainbike applications.



DT Swiss 190 hubs are the lightest MTB hubs that I know of. The important detail is that they are high-quality. They are not just, a light hub. They have a high quality, reliable freehub mechanism, allowing for power transfer and consistent engagement and precision ceramic bearing to run silky smooth.



The front hub is soo light at 109g! There is nothing to them, but a light weight, machined alloy hub body and a set of precisions ceramic bearings.



What better to use for spokes than DT Swiss. For this mega-light wheel build our choice was DT's Super Comp spokes. As some of the lightest spokes that DT makes, the Super Comp's retain strength and stiffness that enable them to be applied to the rigors of downhill riding but keep rotating weight to a minimum. Why not go lighter? Well, stiffness would be sacrificed and a certain stiffness is required for a true tracking, responsive wheel.
Alloy nipples are a must a reducing rotating weight closest to the rim.



Since we are using Stan's Tubeless rims we chose to use their "tape-and-valve" method to keep the rims air tight! at a total of 10g with the rim tape, little weight is added to the ultra light Podium MMX 290g rims, again to keep rotating weight to a minimum.



The final product turned out amazing! Aesthetically the wheels are clean, coordinated, and unassuming. You might not look at these wheels as a weapon at first glance but hoist 684g rear wheel and you'll find its lighter than many xc tires!



It incredible to think that with a freehub, larger size, and more bearings the front wheel is only 100g lighter than the rear wheel! But, at 580g Mavic's top end Rsys-SL front road wheel is quoted at only 35g lighter! The wheelset is 1264g, ready to roll and slay some serious grades. With the combination of some seriously light tires, for example Continental's Race King 2.0 Supersonic at 430g each, these wheels will be a weapon for one happy customer!

-Scott

You Can Do It, Put Your Mind To It

Vancouver was alive last night. The 2010 Vancouver Olympic games came to a rumbling close with a Gold medal earned by the infamous Canadian mens hockey team. It seems that in the eyes of most Canadians, that if Canada had not won that gold medal then the whole games would have been a disappointment. We must remember that all the other Canadian athletes put their all into it just to get to the games, and we should congratulate all of our athletes!

Its that drive and determination to get what you set out for that surprised me this morning.



I've been pushing my ass up the Grouse Grind now for a few years. First making the trip up with my dad. But, never have I ever cracked the 40 minute mark up the 2.9km climb. It's one of those exercises that you hate, but you love. Its a leg and lung burning mind warp pushing to get to the top as fast as you can muster! But, once you reach the beautiful peak of Vancouver you realize that you're efforts have been rewarded with one of the most beautiful views we have to offer. Nobody said it was easy...



I was up early this morning, with the option to go back to bed and try and get some sleep, or since I was already wide eyed and bushy tailed, grab a coffee and a some fuel and get some endorphins flowing through my body, and start the day of with a kick!



...I chose option two. It was a beautiful day, and I wasn't just going to pass that by. I grabbed a coffee and a muffin while chatting with the barista at Beans on Lonsdale who thought I must have been tired from partying hard after the hockey game. Off I was to suit up and ship out.



I hustled off to Grouse Mountain, ipod in my ears and stoked on life and coffee! I arrived at the base of the grind, and ducked in to the trail just after another dude. I had good tunes flowing through my head and decided that I was on the chase. I was feeling good out the gate, and put it in my mind that I was going to summit a sub 40 minute time. Why today? I was feeling it, and I had it in my head that I could do it.



Its funny how I could well have thought that I was going to make it to the top in that amount of time, but failed. I don't totally know why I wanted to do this, but I think it had something to do with proving that I could do what I set my mind on. The music was pulling and pushing me up the tough sections where I needed it, like I was chasing someone in front of me, proving I could keep up I pushed on.



On the final leg of the trail I was pushing hard to make the time, I had no idea at that point if I was on track or not. Slipping, and sliding up the sparsely snow tracked end of the trail I was doing my best impression of jogging to the end. My heart pumping loudly above the background music in my head I pulled my phone out of my pocket as I made the last few steps to the end. Reality kicking in as I transferred my focus from the blurred end of the Grind to the clock on my phone, as if I was coming up for air from the deep end of a pool.

38 minutes. Maybe I can make this happen after all...

-Scott