On surly packaging

I received a nice pack from Surly the other day which means that I really have no excuses anymore for not getting my Bianchi back on the road. The Surly Components look great and the bearings in the rear hub feel super smooth. I also really like the packaging they came in. The hub came bubble wrapped, but the lock ring and the cog were twist-tied onto a piece of recycled paper with the Surly logo printed on it. The three parts were then delivered in a brown paper bag, and it looked more like a sandwich was in there rather than bike components. I think this is a cool choice of packaging and one that illustrates the company's commitment to the environment. Or does it? My co-worker pointed out that the homey packaging might be to make the company seem like a Mom and Pop operation, and then went ahead insinuating that it's not anymore. This might, or might not be true but I think that the idea that Surly is all about simplicity comes across pretty clear with the packaging. As an added bonus a paper bag breaks down in a landfill and it does somehow suit the company. Perhaps it makes me a sucker for marketing, but I loved it. I got Steve our Zen master mechanic build the wheel for me for a six pack the other day, and now i just have to put the whole thing together. I'll post some pics of the resault once it's running.

On getting back on the horse, and SunRace/Sturmey Archer's three speed fixed

I had my first "post crash" ride into work on Friday. What a great feeling! Even though I have to take it slow and look extra carefully for bumps or potholes in the road. I wouldn't say that I was getting fat by not being allowed to ride like Jehuda at the Kickstand when he lost his bet with Joe and had to drive to work for a week: But I was definitely getting cranky...Oh yes, there's some serious crankiness going on, I don't only feel like an old man, I think I'm morphing into one. Old and bitter. I bitch at the television, people in traffic and at mostly innocent people in the service industry that the old man feels should rather work in dish washing or somewhere their stupidity is not forced upon the innocent public. So far this has not caused any serious collisions in my day to day life, but those close to me keep a safe distance, as ironic as that may sound. There's nothing on this earth that's more relaxing to me than a few hours of riding hard in the woods. Except for Morphine perhaps or other strong opiates, but we're talking legal and socially acceptable here. Anyway, without the bike riding, my mind goes bonkers and the mood turns sour. But now that I can at least ride Basil to work I feel much better. On a different note, I stumbled across this hub the other day on the internet and I have to say I'm quite excited about it. Three speed fixed seems like a fun idea, albeit not a new one. I'm going to try to get my hands on one of these when they'll be released and use it on the Bianchi. In the meantime I'm ordering a Surly flip flop hub and I'll be riding that whenever I'm feeling like I don't want to think about gears. This hub is a new version of the venerable ASC hub made by Sturmey Archer somewhere close to the middle of the last century. This one is made by SunRace/Sturmey-Archer, but SunRace bought the ailing Sturmey in 2001, I believe. The fact that Sturmey is now made by a Taiwanese company upsets some people, but it has been said that SunRace is creating better products than Sturmey was towards the end. The fact that they're bringing back such a unique hub is also encouraging and hopefully we'll see a lot of interesting stuff from SunRace/Sturmey in the future.

on half-wearing helmets and weirdness

One of the strangest phenomenons that I come across in the cyclist's behaviour is the cyclist who rides around with his/her helmet somehow attached to the bike or their backpack, instead of riding with it on their head. In Victoria I see this all the time and I just can't for the life of me make any sense of it. It's kind of like remembering to bring a gun to a gunfight but insisting on fighting with a spoon or something. It's bizarre. Now I know there are people out there that will tell you that studies have shown it's actually safer to ride without a helmet than with one. I think what they're trying to convey with those studies is that a person driving a car will give a person that does not wear a helmet more room, and respect than they will give a rider in full kit. I'm sure this is true, since the driver probably reasons that a rider in full kit will sort of know what he is doing and therefore it's okay too speed by him with only inches to spare. This is nonsense of course, but I can see that this might be the case. Nevertheless, if you're riding around with a helmet in the first place, why not store it on your head? It's not only the most logical thing to do, but it also kind of helps out if you crash and hit your noggin and not to mention that helmets are super awkward and annoying to carry in other places than your brainpan. I'm the kind of rider who hates rattles and squeaks and unnecessary junk on my bike. I could not ride with a u-lock dangling from my handlebars. I can't really use racks and panniers either and I certainly cant ride with my helmet flapping on my handlebars. But even if I did not mind all these things and rode around on a squeaky, rattling hulk of a bike I'd still wear the helmet on my head. Not doing that is so stupid that it boggles the mind.

on ironic injuries, stupidity and new projects

It's ironic that I injure myself just over a week after I write about commuting safely to work. It's the kind of thing I always worry about. I'll say things like, yeah I haven't had a fall in ages and then I have a yard sale on the next ride. Or I'll say that I don't get sick very often, and then I come down with pneumonia. I didn't think karma was after me since I had a spill on one of the night rides recently, but riding home after a few drinks with no front light is just stupid, and a prime example of what pushing your luck can bring you. Not only was I a bike ninja, but an inebriated one at that. This is very dangerous and I soon found out. A silver sedan cut me off two blocks away from home (he probably never even saw me), I slammed on the brakes, slid into the curb and flew over the handlebars. Half an hour later I was at the hospital.

I'd like to state here that I generally don't ride after a few drinks. In fact, I'm a bit bothered by the prevalence of posts and articles on the net that endorse that sort of thing. This time however, I took a risk, and paid the price. My excuse was that I needed the bike for the Cyclocross race on the following day, and that I did not want to go through the hassle of getting a cab and stuffing the bike in the trunk. Yeah well, instead I have to deal with the maddening hassle of missing the rest of the Cyclocross season and not being able to ride a bike for at least a month. Common sense sometimes abandons me in the times of need. It's a personality flaw.

Not all is bad though, and recently I acquired this elegant Raleigh that will be my commuter once I've healed up. It's a 1987 Raleigh Record that's actually made in Canada. Or so it says on a sticker on the frame anyway. Perhaps it means that it was assembled here, like is the case with so many of the Canadian brands. On a side note, Raleigh has seen better days as a bike company and nowadays they seem to be mostly making department store bikes which are soooo not worth the Raleigh badge. It's interesting to see that the Canadian and UK websites advertise themselves as junk mongers, whereas the US one seems to have a bit more ambition. But I degress, the bike is a nice old 10-speed, well not nice maybe since the Record was sort of the entry level road bike and as such, does not sport very nice components at all. However the frame is nice and it's barely been used at all. The guy I bought it from claims he bought it new in 1987 but never really rode it much. I'm inclined to believe him. The frame is ridiculously big at 65cm bb to top of seat tube, but not very long at 61cm c/c top tube. It rides nicely and I love the forgiving flex of steel on the road. I have an old 7 speed road gruppo that I think I'll throw on this one along with some aluminum rims, longer cranks, nicer hubs, wider bars and some full wrap plastic fenders instead of the heavy steel ones that are on there now. That should drop the weight a little bit and I'll have a nice winter commuter. It will be called Basil, as in Fawlty, and I look forward to fixing this one up. The Bianchi which coincidentally is also a 1987 model will get a different treatment as that one will receive the Sugino Messenger cranks I bought for a bottle of Crown Royal, and will be my singlespeed/fixed stupid fun bike.

Shoulder seperation, ac joint injury

Until I'll be able to type with both hands, this blog will grind to a near stand-still. I'm hoping to be able to type again after a few days, T3's only do so much.

on commuting

It came as a surprise to one of my co-workers the other day when I told him that I stop at every red light on my commute to and from work. He said he just loves to weave in and out of traffic, and was quite taken aback when I told him that I don't really do that anymore, unless I'm in a big hurry. Nope, I'm all about riding safely these days, and I think it sort of just happened naturally to me. I think I've picked up those habits from reading about how to commute safely, in various bike magazines, and on websites. Some of it has just sort of presented it to me as the best way to ride, for me anyway. The way I ride most of the time, is not only the safest way (in my mind anyway) to get between places on my bike, but it is also the most laid back and stress free way of doing that. I ride aggressively when I need to, I take the lane, I don't ride close to parked cars I always filter to the front on stoplights (unless someone has their right-hand signal light on) etc. Most of the time however, I try and treat the other commuters (cyclists, drivers or pedestrians) on the road with the same respect that I expect from them. Interestingly enough, it even bothers me in the rare instances when people do me special favors because I'm on a bike. For example, I came to a four-way stop today, and there was this lady in a Toyota Camry that came to the stop sign well before me. Now, if I come to a stop sign at the same time as a car I usually go first simply because I accelerate faster. But this time I saw that she came to the stop sign ahead of me so I grabbed the brakes and made eye-contact with the driver, trying to imply that I saw her and was expecting her to go. She didn't go. She looked at me and waved me across, thinking she was doing me this huge favor. At that time I had slowed down to a stop, lost all my momentum, and then had to get going again to cross the intersection while she waited. If she would have just gone ahead like she normally would, my timing would not have been messed up, and both of us could have been able to cruise through that intersection in a far more fluid and efficient manner. I thanked her for the courtesy though, even if I wasn't too pleased with her. I should probably mention here that I contradict myself when it comes to stop signs. I stop at all red lights, but stop signs I regard as slowers, not stoppers. You see, we cyclists are using our own energy to propel us forward, and it takes a lot of energy to stop completely at every single stop sign. So even though I stop for red lights, I don't stop completely at stop signs if it's not busy. Then again, nobody really does that anyway, unless there is traffic that makes them stop. Sure enough, people slow down and look around carefully before going ahead, but in all honesty, not many of us really stop. My excuse for not stopping is to conserve my energy, my tires and brakes. At the same time I believe that cyclists see their surroundings better than drivers, and that notion should account for something. There are no b-pillars in our line of sight, right? But back to the red lights and my bewildered co-worker. "You seriously stop at every red light," he asked me. "Well, yes I do, unless I'm making a right turn," I said. "I practice my track stand." This made my friend understand things a little better. To him, my lame commuting ways all of a sudden seemed like a game. Which it is to a point, it's the "no foot down commuting game," and it's fun. Not to mention useful, as improving your balance on the bike is going to be helpful in every aspect of bike riding, weather it be mountain biking, road racing, or just going to the store to get the paper. www.yehudamoon.com

Vancouver Island Cyclocross

Russel Anderson hammering on his way to the expert category win in the 3rd race of the Cross on the Rock series. For more pics of the race please take a look at my shots here: 1, 2, 3. And pictures of the 2nd race at Juan de Fuca here: 1, 2. I raced in my first cyclocross race on the weekend. That will make a total of three races I've done on a bike, one Alleycat, one Super D and one Cyclocross race. Hopefully there will be many more to come. The Cross on the Rock is a set of cyclocross races on Vancouver Island, BC and the goal of the organizers is to introduce people to the sport. Therefore the rules are slack and there's great atmosphere at the races. You can race whatever you want to. If you want to race a full suspension 29er, go ahead. I've seen anything from full carbon cx rigs, road bikes and even a touring bike with aerobars which the Bike Snob would most definitely not have given his seal of approval. This time I even saw a Santa Cruz Nomad, which seemed slightly out of place to say the least. So after watching the last race I figured I might as well try this cyclocross thing out, and see what's so great about it. I brought out my Cannondale M500. That Cannondale started out as my mountain bike in Iceland and has been my singlespeed commuter for a few years here in Victoria, and enjoyed a second life as such with chopped bars and slicks. But now it was time for it's third life, so I threw on a flat bar (which is 4 inches wider than my commuting bar), as well as a pair of Bontrager Jones XC tires that came with my Fuel EX-8 and were kicking around in my apartment. After stealing the Shimano DX pedals off the Fuel, the bike was close to being ready. I tried to think of a good gear ratio to run, and was advised by various websites to run a 2:1 ratio which would have meant and 32 tooth chainring in the front since I'm running a 16t in the back. By looking at what was offered stock on commercially available single speed CX bikes I saw that most were running 2,3 to 1 ratio, or 18t cog and 42 tooth chainring. I had heard that the race coming up would be a fast one, so I went with a 36t ring in the front giving me a ratio of 2,25 to 1, "and I even have smaller diameter tires than those CX bikes," I thought. I was worried that the ratio would not be fast enough for that course and I'd be spinning like crazy the whole time. These worries turned out to be unfounded. There was a loooong hill on this course and I had a really hard time with it to say the least, so as my vision was blurring and I had slowed down to nearly a stand still on the last lap, I was certainly thinking about how nice a 2 to1 ratio would have been. The only thing that got me up that hill that last time was picturing Geoff Kabush's amazing show at the last race, as I reported on in this blog. I thought: "if Geoff can ride up unrideable hills, I should be able to ride this lame ass incline one more time," and that got me over the hump. I was so drained by then that I could not get any closer to the leader and had to admit defeat and be happy with 2nd place, some 40 seconds behind the leader. That was in the beginners race mind you, and those four laps we did were peanuts compared to what the other categories did, but certainly enough for me. In fact, I'm surprised I didn't puke. After I sort of caught me breath, I grabbed my camera gear and photographed the rest of the races that day, which was fun as always, even though it was a little bit harder than usually, not only because my legs were reduced to jelly, but also because of the unusually long laps, which meant a lot of running around for different angles. A good day at the races though all things considered. Here's my Cannondale before and after cx modifications. Some adjustments will need to be made to the bike before I race it again, the chain slipped under heavy pressure and I'd love to get some skinnier tires for more mud clearence and lighter rolling weight. These have peaked my interest.

Night Riding

Every Tuesday night I go night riding with a group of friends. This week I did not feel like once was enough, so I got my coworker,Andrew, to go out with me on Thursday as well. I've been meaning to take a picture of this particular part of the Southridge trail at the Dump, and since it was just the two of us it made sense to do it on Thursday, I'll try to do this again in the future and have other riders light up the trail as I'm shooting so it won't be this dark.

Geoff Kabush kicks ass

As I mentioned in the last post it the cycling facilities at the Juan De Fuca Recreational Centre have been in danger of being leveled for an indoor soccer facility. Everything is still unclear about the velodrome, but the Greater Victoria BMX association managed to strike a deal with the WSPR that runs the facility, to save one of the BMX tracks on the site. This means that the recreational BMX track that is next to the Velodrome will still be flattened as planned but the new one, built in 2007, will be totally redone to work better with the younger age democratic that is the biggest part of the BMX Vic. users. The track will be flattened and drainage issues will be dealt with, and a new more moderate track built possibly as early as next spring. That is most likely great news for the BMX community in the area, although it is possible that some of the more advanced riders will be peeved about loosing the more advanced course. So, it looks like one of the three cycling facilities has been saved, but the other track, and the Velodrome still face demolition. That work will not commence until the court case is settled and hopefully the court will decide that it should not commence at all. On a lighter note: The Cross on The Rock Cyclocross series on Vancouver Island are in full swing. The second race took place on October fifth and I had the privilege of being able to attend. The series are cheap for competitors (I believe about $15) and the racers don't need a racing license. This and the added interest in Cyclocross in general, resulted in a great race with over 80 competitors in 4 skill divisions. The events are free for spectators, and I can't really think of a much better use of my sunday afternoon than to go watch a bicycle race. I have to admit that I'm not all to familiar with who's who in bike racing, weather it be road, mountain or cyclocross, but I was exited to get to see Wendy Simms (kona) the four time Canadian CX Champion, and the olympians Geoff Kabush (Maxxis), and Errine Willock (Webcor). Geoff was amazing and a crowd favorite as he rode up the "unrideble" run-up. I watched him do that two times with a smile on his face the whole time, and he did it with such an unbelievable skill and ease that I was blown away. I think he just did it because he could, since running up would probably have been quicker, but what I show! Here's a picture of Geoff climbing the run-up, I don't think I'd make it up that on my mountain bike and its 2,35" tires, but Geoff made it look easy on his skinny tubulars. I heard cheers from the crowd after I moved locations to get a more complete photographic documentary of the race, so I can only assume that he rode up that hill on all of his ten laps. The great thing about photographing Cyclocross is that you can catch every competitor at all parts of the course, that is if you're willing to work for it and run about a little bit. I had a great time at the race and by the looks of things, so did all of the competitors. I've fallen for just another part of the cycling world, and I'm now dreaming of a Cyclocross bike. In the meantime I'll cobble together a bike to race in the beginners race this coming Sunday. It'll be my first Cyclocross Race and my third race of any kind on a bicycle. I'll be racing my trusty old M500 Cannondale mountain bike with a singlespeed set up. I won't be winning anything, but I'm sure as hell going to have some fun, and then I'll shoot the rest of the race after competing.

Velodrome in peril at Juan De Fuca Recreational Centre

The second race of the Vancouver Island cyclocross series took place in Victoria last weekend. The location was the Juan De Fuca recreation centre, wich is managed by the West shore parks and recreation. The race was a great success and a blast to watch, and I'll write and post about that in the next few days. However, at this point, I want to mention some sad things about the area where it took place. In many ways the recreational area is great. It has a huge indoor swimming pool, Two ice rink arenas, and everything from a Lacrosse box to a Par 3, nine hole golf course. All in all, it's one of the most impressive sports complexes in the Greater Victoria area. However, what makes this one special and sets it apart from the others is the attention they have given to Cycling in the past. There is a velodrome there (1 of 2 in BC and 1 of 7 in Canada), built for the 1994 Commonwealth Games, and two BMX tracks one of which hosted the BMX qualifier for the 2008 Olympics. The West Shore Parks and Recreation which is run by representatives from the City of Langford, The City of Colwood, the District of Langford, the District of Metchosin, the District of Higlands, the Juan De Fuca Electoral area and the town of View Royal, has decided that they need to add an all weather soccer/rugby/CFL arena to the existing facilities. Their choice of location is odd to say the least. They intend to build this complex on top of both the velodrome and the BMX track and have no plans to replace the facilities they intend to tear down. This plan is ridiculous, and when announced to the municipalities of the WSPR there was not even a detailed estimate of how much this would cost. The elected officials in the surrounding municipalities did not seem to annoyed by that, and bleated their support like the good sheep that they are. That is to say all but Mayor John Ranns of Metchosin. Not only did he consult with cyclists in his electorate (which no other mayor bothered to do), and of course the cyclists shot the idea down, but he also had independent parties put together an alternative plan for the all weather field that would not include tearing down the velodrome or the BMX track. Mayor Ranns idea, utilizes one of the three existing outdoor pitches for the all-weather field, and proposes repairs to the infield of the velodrome on the basis that that field is one of the most used field in the sports complex, since it's size is perfect for youngsters and for recreational sports that don't require the full size courts. The Victoria Velodrome society has also launched a lawsuit against WSPR to try and prevent the Velodrome from being torn down. While this is going on, the velodrome has been fenced off and closed until further notice. Hopefully the WSPR will see that there is a need for the cycling facilities. Not only because team sports are not suitable for everyone, and that the BMX track is a great place for kids to get into cycling, but they're also taking away training facilities from some of the nations best cyclists. If the WSPR decide to go ahead with this plan it would be just another blow to cycling in the Greater Victoria area, and we are supposed to be the "Cycling Capital of Canada." Not that we deserve that moniker anyway, but it would just be nice if there was something that indicated that things are turning around for the better not for the worse.

Breaker of Legs

I spent my summer in Iceland, and since I was not at all focused on this blog during that stay, my readers only got a glimpse of the riding that is to be had on that jagged rock in the North-Atlantic. Since these rides were not portrayed for the readers of this blog as soon as they happened I intend to just throw a photo and a caption from that time on this blog every once and awhile, to mix it up with whatever is happening here in Victoria. This is a shot of our last ride in Iceland before I left for Canada again. The trail is called Leggjabrjótur in Icelandic, which rougly translates to Breaker of Legs. It's an old trail, that has been in use for hundreds of years, and is one of the last legs of the old national routes to Thingvellir where Althingi (the icelandic parliament) resided from 930 ad to 1799 ad. This trail is a part of a vast network of trails all over Iceland that lead from one area to the next, and given the fact that the horse was the only mode of transportation apart from walking, these routes often take the most dircect routes possible (shortest) , no matter if a mountain or two get in the way. This is one of the reasons why mountain biking is so good in Iceland. The network of these trails that are laden with history and hundreds of years of use are there to be ridden, but have seen a very limited amount of mountain bikers, and in some cases none. Apparently the trail used to be quite rough, hence the name "Breaker of Legs". However, thanks to a renegate bulldozer operator who wanted to improve the trail, it is much better now albeit not as historically correct. The Bulldozing madman was not allowed to finish his work for environmental reasons. Evidently he did not bother to ask anyone for permission. This was a great ride, even though we got pummeled with rain for about two thirds of the ride. We were prepared for the rain and the riding was good and the scenery was stunning. My brother and I have a system on which we base the quality of the trails we ride. It's pretty simple: If we ride 70% or more and walk 30% or less, it's a good trail. This was a great trail, about 85% riding. Below you can see my brother smiling loud, even though he's soaked to the bone. We rode for just over four hours in total solitude and piece. We saw swans, geese and smaller birds, the quintessential and ever-present sheep, but no humans.

The the reward for riding in the rain for hours is scenery like this. I know it's a cliche but... This is my church.

music videos with bikes

I like seeing bikes in music videos, it makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. I love the angst and darkness of this video as well. Right up my alley. Night riding season is upon us, happy trails everyone.

Trail scouting

I went to look over our trail the other day. Previously I had marked out a trail, using the natural flow of the land and existing sheep tracks, that led me into a ravine. The Ravine looked good from where my marks ended but once I was past that last marker, the flow could not be continued. A boggy creek bed greeted me with sections of loose gravel littered with baseball sized rocks. So I had to backtrack and look for an alternetive route. After a little searching I found another sheep track that was somewhat more obscure and less traveled. Turns out I can utilize that track to take the trail over a little creek and up a sandy hill which will take the trail right to the 4x4 road leading down to sea-level. The problem is that now I have a little creek to cross, and a section of land where there is a natural coldwater spring. To continue the flow of the trail I'll have to build two ladder bridges that are sturdy enough for us to ride on, yet light and simple enough for me to be able to carry them up there alone and assemble them on the spot. I think a big backack is going to be needed. I think I'll try to make prefabricated "flatpacked" bridges that I can carry in the backpack. This will be interesting, and when that Is done I'll have a 10 minute, rideable and flowy singletrack. Nothing groomed and fancy, but still fun. Then there's just the other 4 km left!

Here's a picture from my first scouting trip this summer. I was looking for an alternitive route up the mountain. I did not find it. the trail is actually under the snow where the Ex-8 is napping. Ive been looking up there through the binoculars and the snow is gone now.

Yehuda moon, a cartoon worth checking every day.

My brother pointed this cartoon out to me. It's funny as hell. I love the "steel is real- guy" vs. the Rodie. They're friends with a common interest but a totally different attitudes towards cycling. Perhaps the funniest thing about this cartoon is that it is such an accurate portrayal of the stereotypes that I've come across. www.yehudamoon.com This adds to my daily dose of cycling related material.

Big change, in more ways than one

Well, it's been so long since I've posted here that if I had any readership I would feel obliged to apologize for my laziness, but since I don't, I wont. In stead I'll just pretend that my last post was posted yesterday and I'll continue with that in mind. In my last post I mentioned a quantum leap in my cycling life. That leap is this one: The Trek Fuel EX-8. And yes I know the seat post is ridiculously long. My legs are as long as my wit is short, and Trek does not make a bigger bike than the 21 1/5" pictured. So far I love that bike, although I'm not sold on the forks and the quality of the paint is appalling. The paint basically chips if you sneeze at it which blows if you travel a lot, or are subject to colds. What happened soon after I got the bike, however, is that I left my cushy job at Rider's cycles in Victoria to go work at a community newspaper in my native Iceland. So in essence I left the lush forest riding of Vancouver Island for the stark riding that goes on around here, on the somewhat more northerly island of Iceland. Not many groomed bike trails around these parts, more like old horse paths and sheep trails. Those can be very good mind you, but our biggest enemy in Iceland is the wind. I find that nothing drains me as fast on a bike, as the wind. Except for maybe the wind, in your face, WHILE going uphill. Mountain bikes are not built to slice through the wind and it almost seems like the way you sit on a mountain bike, you're meant to catch the wind. Especially with those goofy super-wide bars that are all the rage these days. You kind of look like a sailboat on two wheels going backwards into the wind. It's pretty inefficient. And perhaps a pretty surreal mental picture for most. But in spite of the wind which has very few trees to slow it down, there is some good riding to be had in Iceland. The central highlands are basically an untapped source for incredible mountain touring, there are countless hiking trails leading up and down mountains, old postal routes (think horses), hydro line access roads etc. Lots and lots of all mountain riding to be had if you're willing to brave the somewhat temperamental elements. The interest in Freeriding and trail building in general is on the rise in Iceland as well, and hopefully I'll be able to ride a couple of the trails that are being built here this summer. I'll report on that on these pages. These trails are being built in forests, of which we have a few, even though approximatively three-quarters of the island are barren of vegetation. Yup, kind of hard to compare that to BC. The barren landscape holds some intrigue for trail builders though, and I'm currently trying to clean up a little line that's 6km downhill. Mind you it's 6 to get up there too, but can be done on a 4x4 access road that has a gentle slope to it-plus about 40 min of a punishing hike without a trail. To create a groomed trail that spans that distance would be impossible in the short time I have here (two months left). But what we're trying to do is to utilize trails that have been created by sheep throughout the ages. The good thing about those, is that sheep take the most efficient way from a to b, not the straightest. So you can get some pretty curvy and flowy trails by using the engineering skills of the half-wild marshmallow that are called Kind in Iceland. Belief me though they're not kind. Just stubborn and tough as nails. Occasionally you'll hear a newsflash on the radio. "Two Germans went missing in the vicinity of Landmannalaugar, their tent was torn and some sheep trails mixed with dragmarks and blood lead away from the tent. The Germans are presumed dead. The hunt for the killer sheep has not yet been successful."

Bike Prom and Alleycat

Well, it's been awhile since I've posted here, but life got in the way. Since my last posting, a lot has happened in my life, both on the bike side of things and elsewhere. One of my goals for 2008 was to compete in a bike race, which is something I have never done before. So on April 25th, I entered my first alleycat race. The race was held in connection with the bike riders ball of 2008 in Victoria, or the Bike Prom. The race took the competitors from downtown Victoria, to the upscale neighborhood of Oak Bay, some ten minutes away, where we had to find the answers to 28 clues outlined on the back of a map that we all got. The clues were difficult and in obscure places as the race director grew up in this area and new all the cool alleyways and hidden places. My strategy was to do the course backwards and I hammered straight up the hill on my Cannondale ghetto-singlespeed machine. I was off to a flying start, and until the third clue I was doing good I thought. The third clue turned out to be a tricky one though: "Under the light post awaits a friend, who is he?" This was a clue that I don't think anyone got. Apparently, with the right set of eyes, a tree below a light post was shaped like a Giraffe. This escaped me. I rode around in circles for a good 20 min looking for this damn clue but could not find it. A gentleman named Phil made fun of me and gave my some encouragements in the form of a shot of whiskey every time I passed him on my frantic circle around the city block looking for the elusive Giraffe. On my third trip around I thought that the question must be a trick one, and that this likable character with the whiskey flask was in fact the answer to the question. The race directors would probably have given me the right answer for that one. This giving gentleman it turned out, was Rev. Phil Sano who was responsible for bringing The Pornography of the Bicycle to Victoria. Bike Porn is a collection of shorts on the rather racy subject and would be screened later that evening, and below you can see him engaged in the fine game of bike polo the day after, sporting colorful underwear. Anyway after finally giving up on the giraffe I mashed the pedals through the rest of the course alone since everyone else was stuck on the Giraffe at the other end of the race. I answered the last clue and hammered back to the Project thinking I was going to be on the receiving end of the questionable "Dead Fucking Last" award. Turned out I was in 11th place out of about 25 riders, which would not have been so bad if it wasn't for the fact that a group of riders gave up on the competition part of the race and went to the pub instead. But the race was an absolute blast. There was a good after party as well, since this was the prom weekend in Victoria organized by the Bike Prom crowd. There was a show on bicycle related art as well as the aforementioned screening of Movies. Also there was some beer, and later, when the beer was all gone, there was some red whine. In other news I've just undertaken a quantum leap in the Bicycle world, simultaneously discovering full suspension mountain biking, disc brakes, cycling shoes and clipless pedals. More on that next time. The crosswords await, and the dreamworld. Lame? Yes I know, my lameness is infinite.

B.I.K.E and Wired to Win

I watched two bicycle related movies this week. Wired to Win, and B.I.K.E. These movies are very much on the opposite end of the spectrum as far as production goes. Wired to Win uses the Tour De France as a backdrop for a movie that is essentially about the brain. But since the brain is such an amazingly complex phenomenon the short IMAX movie is in no way capable of delivering any sort of comprehensive message about the brain to its viewers. The only thing I seem to remember about the message of the movie is that "the brain learns something every day." Not exactly breaking news there, Bubba. What stays behind however, are the great shots from the race it self. But since I inherently expect these great shots from an IMAX movie, I was greatly disappointed to see shots, that had the potential to be amazing, but were out of focus! In short, Wired to Win would have been better if they skipped the brain stuff and just "focused" on the race. Warning Spoilers.... B.I.K.E had impeccable cinematography, even though the budget for the movie was probably about 1% of the Wired to Win budget. The excellent cinematography is a bit surprising in the light of the rough shape the shooter is in at times, and the circumstances. But that movie misses it's mark, much like Wired to Win. Perhaps it is labeled in the wrong way. It's supposed to be about the main character's (and filmmaker's) infiltration into the Black Label Bicycle Club as an investigative documentary work. I did not feel this was what the movie was about at all. I think it's more of a coming of age - self search kind of a movie. I don't think that Anthony the main character was really trying to infiltrate Black Label in the end, he was trying to join them, to become one of them. He seemed to loose track of his goals and the best thing that happened to him was that the Club did not allow him to become a member. The movie's production, editing and cinematography is excellent though, and a testament of Tony Howard's and Jacob Septimus' professionalism as filmmakers. Verdict: Both movies are worth seeing, but both of them could have been done better.

My new 21 year old Bianchi

1987 Bianchi Campione Del Mondo is not the prettiest bike around. It's built in the black and Red years at Bianchi, but to me the "celeste" green is the only true color for a Bianchi. Is that to conservative of me? Probably it is. So to attack my own twisted values I'll keep the color. In fact, I'll play with it and learn to love it. Blood and darkness. A bike for $50 deserves some coin thrown at it. What do you think? I think I'll go with a black and red theme for this one. If I had the cash I'd black out all the chrome on the bike, get some black drop bars, black stem, seat post, cranks etc. But for now, on my meager budget, I'll go with what I can "afford" (it's always relative isn't it?). Next step for this one is the front wheel of of my cracked frame Peugeot. The shifters etc. will come of that one as well. There is an old red "loaner wheel" at the shop which I can have for little money. Get a red tire for the back, and maybe some red cable housings. What I'll end up with as a short term result, should be a pretty cool 14 speed. But I think some day I'll do this bike up lthey way I want to. It's not every day that you com across a 63cm Bianchi frame, let alone one for 50 bucks. Might as well have some fun with it.

Hacking bikes for less hassle

I travel a lot with my bikes and I know all too well that traveling with bikes is a bit of a pain in the rear at times. There are very few airlines (zoom airlines is one of those few) that have the decency to allow sporting goods on planes for free, and more often than not, a rather hefty fee is to be expected. Air Canada charges $50 for example and others treat bicycles as excess, oversize luggage and charge accordingly. In general, airlines seem to be looking to get to your bucks in any way possible. But that's business I suppose. S and S couplings (sometimes called BCT couplings) are the light at the end of the pitch dark tunnel of flying with your bike. The couplings were developed by S&S Machine Company of Roseville CA. The bicycle torque couplings allow you to break down your bike to fit a normal suitcase. The couplings are placed on the top tube and the down tube and only take minutes to take apart with the specialized wrench that comes with the couplings. This allows you to travel with your bike without any of the typical hassles of oversize luggage, such as extra costs and major headaches. All of a sudden there are no issues with bus drivers, cab drivers or just people waiting in line. No one gets to give you the "stinkeye" because no one realizes that you're traveling with a bike. All they see is another suitcase. S and S couplings have been around since 1994, and seem to be getting more common and popular. The only downside seems to be that the couplers will only work on a steel or titanium frame. The couplings will not affect the stiffness or strength of your frame and they have been approved by big names in the industry, including the lately gossip ridden Greg LeMond. I want S&S couplings on my next steelie, but it will have to be a nice one because the couplings are not cheap to install. According to Billenky Cycle Works which has been "hacking bikes" since the introduction of S&S couplings, the price for a single bike is roughly $450. But perhaps that is a reasonable price. The couplings will pay for themselves in about 5 flights with Air Canada.

DH Nainaimo, and minor frustrations

I finally got around to uploading some of the shots from the Nanaimo DH on March 23. I had some issues with Flickr.com which were holding me back. Case in point; you can only download a limited amount of pictures on flickr unless you go for the pro account which of course you have to pay for. On flickr you can upload 100mb per month, but you can only display 200 pics at any given time. Which means that if I posted the pictures from the 23, the Super D pics will disappear. Clever?...I don't think so. I've left flickr, and I'm sure that a lot of people have as well, and for the same reasons. Lets not forget that flickr like any other photo sharing site is an advertising agency, not a photo sharing site. So why should I pay them for trying to sell stuff to me? Does that sound right? Not to me. And so much for all that. The First Downhill Race of the Island cup season was held in Nanaimo on March 24. The course was in a different area of Nanaimo than the Super-D, and the course was just as impressive as the one in the Super-D. Which means that the good people of the Harbor City have two trail systems, minutes from the downtown core of the city. That's not to be sneezed at. Once again I had a great time photographing. This time I had no bike to ride down the trail so I took the shuttle to the top and shot my way to the bottom, twice. That was a good workout in itself so I assume that the contestants got a lot out of the race. There were 138 rider's that raced that day. 12 Ladies, and in the men's: 27 beginers, 57 intermediate and 42 experts. Quite a few spectators turned out as well, so overall the race was a success. My boss and president of SIMBS, Scott Mitchell, came in sixth in the intermediate class in his first downhill race. Good work Scott! more pics from the race here: http://s304.photobucket.com/albums/nn169/h-gunn/DH%20Nanaimo%20March%2023/

So long, old friend

I sold my Brodie on the Weekend. The purchase of this bike, marked the reintroduction of mountain biking in my life. However, in a few years I had outgrown the bike in the sense that I felt it was halting my progression as a rider. Therefore it was time to move on. When I bought this bike, it was a technological wonder in my mind, you see I have always been a bit low-fi when it comes to bikes. The bike before the Brodie was (and is, it's my SS commuter at the moment) a rigid Cannondale with cantilever brakes. So stepping up to a used hardtail with a Bomber up front and.... wait for it....V-Brakes! Was a quantum leap in my world. I felt I could launch of everything and stop on a dime. That feeling lasted for awhile, but a broken bottom bracket and some hairy moments on muddy downhill sections proved that those assumptions were not necessarily a hundred percent accurate. I later broke the fork as well, a rear hub, rear derailleur, cranks, etc. But those are just parts, and granted they weren't always of top quality. But the heart and soul of it all, the 2001 Brodie Spark frame, kept on ticking. After three years of abuse on two continents, it was finally time to give it up. I'd say about ninety percent of my time spent on that bike was alone in the woods. It brought me into a whole new world of mountain biking, calmed my restless mind, and made me forget about everything, for a few hours at a time. You have completed your mission, orange one. Time to fight somebody's else's battles. Thanks for fighting mine for awhile.

Seattle fixies and bike locking

I went to Seattle for a birthday road-trip with my girlfriend this week. She wanted to get of the island and I was all for it. It was all decided on a whim though and the only real goal was to buy some clothes for my girl. So all in all it was a very uncultured, unplanned and un-bicycle focused trip. That's exactly how we wanted it. We wanted to eat good food, shop, watch motel tv's, and be lazy. However, I got to visit a couple of bike stores and the singlespeed culture is hard to miss in Seattle. I spotted these 4 fixie fans on their way to downtown and tried to chase them in our Subaru, while my girlfriend grabbed our point and shoot and tried to get a couple of photos for me. I lost them after two lights as they were way faster than the traffic, even though it was not congested on this sleepy Sunday in Seattle. the day after coming back from the states I went over to Vancouver to check out a school there. Outside the school's building I saw this very sexy Norco. This Norco illustrated three things: 1 Singlespeeds look pretty cool. 2 Bikes are hard to do justice in a photograph when they're locked to a bike rack. 3 The correct (almost, see below) use of bike lock - lock all the removable items you can, or this happens: I'm always weary of this kind of bike racks though. The coat hanger style of the bike rack, is clever and reasonably easy on the eyes. Nevertheless, they are a bit too flimsy to be safe. I've seen a few of those where the welds where the small diameter rod iron meets the bigger tube, have been cracked open. This is easy enough in cold weather. Just stick a two by six in there and use leverage to crack it open. So if you're using those racks. Lock your bike to the big tube, and not the coat hanger, especially not if there's a construction site close by.

Super Downhill in Nanaimo

I went to see the season opener in the 2008 Vancouver Island Cup MTB series this Sunday. The event was hosted by Arrowsmith Bikes in Nanaimo with race insurance supplied through GRMBA . The race took place on the Doumont trails, just east of Nanaimo. It was the first Super Downhill race I've been to, and it was interesting to watch. The competitors are divided into beginner, intermediate and expert. Then everyone in each group starts at the same time, which makes for some interesting riding. It's not easy passing someone when you're riding on a singletrack so narrow that you can just barely fit your bars between the trees. The spectators will also see and hear things that you're not used to in a rece. Like someone saying: "no you go ahead," and stopping to let a fellow competitor get past." This makes for an interesting vibe to the whole scene and, seems to me like a pretty cool way to get into racing. However, one thing is sure, this system makes the race hard to photograph. The racers only went down the trail once, and since virtually everyone in each group comes down at the same time, you only get a maximum of three shooting locations per group. Thats if you're scrambling around franticly, trying to get angles. They way I did it was to ride down the race course and get set up for the beginners on the tight singletrack at the top of the course. Once the beginners were past, I got on the bike again and rode down to the next location and shot the intermediate group, got back on the bike, looked for a place to shoot the experts and when my time ran out, dumped the bike in the bushes and tried to work with what I had. It's hard to plan such a shoot if you don't know the trails. So next time, I'm going to get to the race early and scout locations before the race starts. The trail was not that difficult to ride, and about half way down the trail I felt like I should have raced instead of shot. Who knows, maybe I'll do that in some of the upcoming events in the Island Cup. Once the race was over I got on the bike and rode up the paved road to the parking lot. This road has a perfect slope for wheelies, and I think my camera gear backpack helped me balance on the rear wheel as well. Anyway, these ideal conditions contributed to a personal best in distance ridden on the back wheel. I have no idea how far my wheelie took me, but I spent a few minutes on the back wheel, chugging along in the middle chain ring and first gear. I had a great time at the race in Nanaimo, and the drive from Victoria was relaxing after a stressful week. Next race is a Downhill on the 24th in Nanaimo, again, and you better believe I'm going to be there. More pics from the race here

Penny Farthings on the outskirts of Duncan

I went for a drive with a friend of mine the other day to see a body-guy up in Duncan, about 45min north of Victoria. Cars are kind of my guilty pleasure, even though I don't spend much time on that interest these days. It's something that runs in my blood though, so please don't hate me just because I like cars. I'm really not that bad. Anyway, on our way up there, we came across these crazy looking home-fabricated Penny Farthings. They were basically made of 1 1/2" tubing, some old wagon wheels (or home-made wheels) a tractor seat and some scavenged cranks and pedals. The bikes looked like they were ridable, although they might be a bit on the heavy side. Not the ideal grocery getter, even with those fancy baskets. These bikes were on either side of a driveway, under an arch made from old bulldozer tracks, that had been welded stuck in that shape. Seems like the owner of that place has some time, energy and creative vision to recycle stuff that ends up on his property. Unique driveway, if nothing else.

a slipup, I love the trails

I finally went out to the Dump, the local mtb park here in Victoria last weekend. The Heartland / Mount Work is a beautiful area just north of Victoria. Beautiful, that is, if you ignore the fact that a great deal of that area is devoted to Victoria's landfill, and that the power lines supplying the city with electricity, slice through the park leaving a treeless, buzzing, electric highway as far as the eye can see. So maybe it's not the most appealing recreational area you could find around here, but mountain bikers take what they can get. And besides, this area actually IS quite beautiful in spite of it's drawbacks and that is Vancouver Island for you. The location of the park, next to the power lines and the dump, is not an unusual one in the mountain biking world, and the thing is, that you can forget about all these things once you're on the trails. The park is managed by the South Island Mountain Bike Society in collaboration with the Capital Regional District. This alliance is a delicate one. Mountain bikers are allowed this one place to legally ride within the CRD's park system of 28 parks. However, this location is not even secure. Every year the CRD has a different issue with the park, and the latest one is an issues with SIMBS's insurance for the trail maintenance volunteers that work in the park on every third Sunday of the month, donating their time and energy to upkeep CRD property. Seems to me that the CRD takes every chance they get to crack down on mountain bikers, who are just trying to enjoy the one park where their allowed to ride. A fair note here is that the Heartland dump, is not even an exclusive mountain biking park, it's a multi use trail system, albeit maintained almost exclusively by mountain bikers. Victoria is dubbed as the "cycling capital of Canada" but the CRD needs to get of it's high horse and treat cyclists better, if it is to stand up to that moniker. Perhaps they're not interested in that. Perhaps the other nickname, "the garden city," requires less effort and is therefore more desirable than anything that might possibly imply that the city is healthy, young and hip?... SIMBS is doing a great job at Heartland and they deserve all the praise and support the can get. The CRD however is looking increasingly sheepish and conservative in all their efforts, or lack thereof, regarding the park. Which is just sad, really. And so much for all that. Where did all that come from anyway? From some deep and wretched place, I'm sure. A place that disappears when I'm out on the trails, along with other worries and annoyances.

New E-zine

Dirt Rag announced the arrival of their DigiRag today. DigiRag is a Flash supported web-version of the Magazine, that enables web surfers to "read" (more on this later) the magazine and flip through the pages just as if they had bought it at their local bike shop. It's in there in it's entirety, including ads with active links. Maurice Tierney, one of Dirt Rag's founders, is quoted in the announcement: "Our goal is to bolster our online presence and to have the complete content of Dirt Rag, and the brand, available in as many formats that make sense." The Dirt Rag team benefits from the added exposure of ads by doing this and the readers benefit as well. It's a good step forward for Dirt Rag in my opinion, and it's cool that you can "read" (again, more on this later) the whole mag just by signing up. What is not cool is the fact that the necessary sign in info is a little too detailed for my peace of mind. Not that you can't fake your info, but just the fact that they ask you for your address and phone number, bothers me a little bit. The reason for this is that they use the same account for the DigiRag as their Merchandise account, in another suave marketing/income bolstering stunt. The print world is tough though, and you do what you can to survive. Power to them. The fatal flaw in the Digi Rag is that once you come across a page you'd like to read(yes now we'll get to it) , you have to zoom in to read it, and once you zoom in you cant move within the page. So what you get is a quarter of a page with no way of reading the rest, this is annoying beyond belief, and made my morning coffee bitter as hell. I'm sure they'll fix this, but at the time being, the DigiRag is useless.

bike to work if you can

I used to work at Mountain Equipment Co-op. The Victoria store has an interesting way to encourage bicycle commuting. Some companies will actually pay their employers to bike to work, but MEC does not spend the members money on that sort of "silliness." No! And it's not the great facilities that put the staff on their bikes, either. There are lockers and showers available, as well as a bike wall in the basement. This helps but it's not the reason for the avid collective commuting. So how do they do it you might ask. What incentive is there for the typical Mountain co-op staff member to bike to work? Well, it's simple really: Nowhere to park your car. You can park your bike in the basement, but if you intend on taking your car, you're screwed. Downtown Victoria has an immense, evil, army of meter maids with red hot ticketing machines that will burn a hole through your organic cotton jeans and merino whool underwear, especially if you're on a MEC salary. And even if you're a good monkey and pay for your parking at the local parkade, you're cutting deep into your profit margin. These simple facts, the central location of the store, and mild climate, all contribute to the staff's will to bike, walk, or bus to work. I worked there for the Christmas season, and biked to every shift I had in these three months, simply because it was the most convenient thing to do. So in light of that, one might think that getting your employees to bike to work is only as complicated as to provide safe bike parking, possibly at the cost of some of the car parking, provide showers and change rooms, and in return, get a more alert and awake workforce in better health. How can you go wrong with that? In the picture you can see Geoff's KHS, the Boss's Redline, Adele's Apollo, my Cannondale, Jim's Mongoose, and Scott's Surly. Good times, nothing beats being able to bike to work, so if you can, do it.

first bike, first post

I've been riding bikes since a very young age and this blog is supposed to be an outlet for bicycle related issues that I come across on the net, in the media or in my daily life. My aim is to have fun with this blog and use it as a tool, and an excuse to dive ever deeper into the swirling bottomless pool of bike culture. That's me on my first bike, a Schwinn Super De Luxe, convertible. I learned how to ride a bike on this one, starting out in the store with training wheels. This bike had a detachable top-tube so it could be sold as a boys or a girls bike. In my case this meant that I could ride it for a number of years, as the stand over hight was almost to high for me when I first got it, and this was even with the top tube off. The first few years I rode it without the top tube, and the last years with the top tube on and religiously keeping it there. I blocked it out of my mind that underneath it all this was really a girls bike. One day I felt like playing with wrenches and loosened the bolt that held the top tube in place... and voila! It was off, I remember being a little shocked and then quietly putting it back into place. Ingenious design, and tough as nails. The frame was built of lugged steel, single speed and coaster brake equipped. I think I remember tightening the chain on this bike once or twice and lubing it, but other than that it was virtually maintenance free. A bombproof ride and kind of cool looking too. Note the two bells on the chrome mustache bars; tres stylish. The springer seat is nice too, you could ride on that thing forever. The Schwinn lasted me a long time, but this was an era when BMX's were all the rage so I got on that wagon in my next step up the bicycle ladder. The next bike would be a BMX but I don't know what happened to the Schwinn. It was probably passed on to some friend of the family.