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.