Surly riders are tough as...

Just when I was feeling all tough about putting the time on the trainer I come across this:



Tougher than me that's for sure.

Only in Brackendale

On Saturday I decided i needed to get out on the bike. It just needed doing. Just before I left the shop I had heard the power was out in some parts of the 'hood. I thought nothing of it as it was snowing and these things happen some times when it snows around these parts. About two minutes into our ride we came across this:


So yeah....this poor bugger fried himself on the power lines near Barr's pond. Something to add to the list of things that cause power outages in Brackendale!

Music for the Holidays

What I can understand of this I like. I will need to take my Irish friend Pete up on his offer to translate further........not really very PG fair warning.




Instant classic!

BC Boy across the pond

BC boy Craig Richey is in Belgium racing World Cup Cyclocross. This is his first trip over and he sent this update the other day:

From: craig_bike@hotmail.com

Subject: The Belgium Report Date: Mon, 22 Nov 2010

Howdy,

I have been in Belgium for close to two weeks now and things as going pretty well. The house where I am staying (The Chainstay) is great and the quaint town of Oudenaarde is surrounded by some great riding.

A few days after arriving in Belgium I decided to do my first race, the Superprestige Hamme-Zogge. It had rained steadily since my arrival and there was widespread flooding the weekend of the race. I actually found this a little bit encouraging because it meant that this huge amount of rain was not normal. It did however mean that the race was going to be a mud fest. The major cross races here are held in little towns and a huge number of spectators (10,000+) come out the big races like the Superprestige series. Pretty much Cyclocross in Belgium is the equivalent of Hockey in Canada. I have 37 UCI points and am ranking 104 which got me called to the start line around 35th out of the 45 starters. The course was pretty cool with three huge flyovers and tons of mud. There was so much deep mud that all the riders were forced to run major sections of the course. Of the nine minute lap I probably spent four minutes running. Under the 80% rule I was pulled with three laps to go and finished 28th. The news paper title the next days was “Sven Nys Swims to Victory.” It was an eye opening experience and was most shocked by how many kids were at the race cheering. Watching the live coverage after the race was also a great learning experience because it allowed me to compare my techniques and decisions with the best riders in the world. Turns out some of my decision making needs some work as I was riding (trying to ride) a few mud sections that the front guys were riding. One of mud bog attempts was shown on TV. The weekday between the weekend races was spent training with my house mates Rene Birkenfeld, Gabby Day and Shaun Adamson. Rene and I did some great cyclocross skills practice at the nearby lake. After the ride when I was trying to get my bike clean I realized that my equipment is taking some heavy abuse here. On Saturday I opted to do a local pro race for riders not ranked in the top fifty in the world. The race was in the town of Laarne and turned out to be one of the bigger “B” races. Based on my world rank I was called to the line first but was not able to hold that position for long. The course was through a corn field and not a North American style course. It was flat, and bumpy with a bunch of man-made ditches that were hard to ride. I rode ok and finished 14^th out of the fifty or so elite racers. For just a little local race it was comparable to a UCI pro race in the US with 500+ spectators. Sunday was the Superprestige Gavere. It is a cyclocross classic and is considered the Paris-Roubaix of cyclocross. The promise of crashes and lack of rain brought out hoards of fans. The technical course was hilly with lots of slippery rutted descents, preriding I was able to ride everything and loved it. At the start line I was optimistic that I could have a good ride. Unfortunately it was not my day and I was plagued with problems from the start. A huge pedal slip at the start left me standing with both feet on the ground as the field rode away. I was able to catch up and move up a bit but ended up in no mans land, chasing a good group in front of me with stragglers losing ground behind. On the 4^th lap my derailleur hanger broke off and I had to run to the pit zone. I have two matching Blue Norcross SL bikes which are super nice bikes but I only have one pair of Dugast Rhino tubular tires, the gold standard for mud tires. So in the pit I had to take my other bike which had mix condition tire, they packed up with mud and the descents were like trying to steer a truck with bald tires down a hill in a snow storm. I had a pretty good crash, glancing off a crash pad into a tree. The crash unhooked my rear brake making the next descent even more sketchy. I finished the lap but all the issues cost me a lot of time and was I pulled, finishing 27^th. The crash was apparently the best one of the day because it was replayed in slow-motion on TV a few times. http://bit.ly/aq9NwN @ 8:40 At a bike shop today someone recognized me from the crash on TV yesterday. Publicity is publicity I guess. Now I just need to rest up, work on bikes, and find some more mud tires. Next up is the Koksijde World Cup on Saturday. Hope everyone is doing well. If you are not interested in these ramblings just reply with "Unsubscribe" in the title and I will pull you off the list. Craig Richey CyclocrossRacing.com p/b Blue

The video is worth a watch. I have huge respect for the leap of faith it must have taken to go over there and have a go with those guys! Follow his results on your favorite Cycling site and drop him a line if you want to get his updates.

Burnt out on bike videos

I have come to realize I am burnt out on bike videos, or rather I thought I was until I saw this:



Shout out to the folks at drunkcyclist for bringing this fine piece of film to my attention.

Survived my one and only cross race of the year yesterday in Port Alberni. Huge thanks to all that made the race happen. The course was sick and we all tasted some glorious pain. Here is a clip of my friend Justin on one of my favorite sections. Enjoy.



Can you feel the pain?

Deep thoughts.

It was about this time of year 4 years ago I started planning the opening of my bike shop. At that early point I had only a rough idea of how it would all come together. It felt good to be planning for something I REALLY wanted. Lets just say, doing what you really want to do is something easier said than done. With the help of a few key people I was able to convert a falling down old barn into a funky little bike shop. Amazing.


Fast forward 3.5 years and....this summer I decided it was a good idea to start again and move the shop to a larger location. This was a daunting task as unlike the first reno I would have to try and keep one shop operating while renovating an other. This defines the term "burning the candle at both ends". On the very first day I sat in the new space and thought about what it was going to take. I knew from the beginning I would not have been able to do it by myself, and that's about all I knew. As I started the project an amazing thing happened...People started to show up asking what they could do. Now this may sound normal but this was not normal. First it was normal stuff like help lifting or moving some stuff then it changed. People started donating whole days to the effort, then donating material and equipment. Now I am not talking about one or two people there were many many days where there was an entire work party of volunteers giving their energy for the cause. I have never opened any other kind of store but I am willing to put money that if I was opening say a video store or a clothing store or a cell phone store the help would not have been there at all! The shop as it is today could not have been built without the help of the community and the generosity of my family and friends. This is something I will not forget. There was a quote some place in the middle of the chaos that stuck with me "There is a new church being raised in Brackendale." ( I believe this was my friend Eric). I think that about summed up what was happening. The people new what they wanted and they new to have it they needed to help create it.

The Republic was built by the people for the people and I am lucky to have the honor of being in charge of the show.

Earlier this week I was presented with two awards. REPUBLIC BICYCLES won BEST BIKE SHOP along with FRIENDLIEST STAFF. Both of these awards are awesome in their own way. The best bike shop one is amazing. There are two other RAD shops in town and to be voted the best of the three is amazing. What really amazes me is the friendliest staff award. This is not the friendliest bike shop staff we are talking about it is for the friendliest staff in town period. This is crazy! I do my best but man there are some friendly people in this town.....All I can think of is these same people I spoke about above might have had something to do with it either the people themselves or the feeling they brought with them.

Thanks for all the good vibes, I will do my best to honor the awards....or perhaps there has been some kind of mistake!?!?

Thanks again and happy trails,

Armand

Enjoy some photos of the process:

Been busy!

I have been very busy over the last while on a rather large project. Check it out here:



Still lots to do but you get the idea. Grand opening planning is going well. Details to follow shortly.

Happy trails !

Stepping out once in a while is a good thing!!!

So i wrote a great post here earlier today.......then the internet Gremlins ate it. So what you get is this instead!!!

The long weekend led to some great bike adventures. Leaving Brackendale isn't so scary after all! I headed to the North Shore to go for a cyclocross ride. The Shore gets such a hardcore reputation from the all the free rider hype that it scares off a high percentage of people on bicycles. Not me!!!! Equipped with my trusty 'cross bike I set my sites on the shore and let loose.




The view from the office!





This stretch is as rad as it looks. No cars ever on this section of road. RAD!!!!!






The road ends in these rocks if you go the wrong way! The right way leads to sick 'cross bike single-track for a few Km's.



It's all down hill from here!!!!


Sick spot. One of only a few times I've been to this spot in daylight! This used to be part of my mountain bike night ride commute home from work!

So much candy!!!!!!



Also took the opportunity to satisfy my inner capitalist consumption urges with the very satisfying purchase of a sick new shirt! Wax on wax off!!!! Sand the deck........and so on.

Get out there!!!

Tour hangover

Like many bike nerds I have been completely consumed by all things Tour de France for the last month. I am now suffering from a serious post Tour hangover. Where is my daily dose of bike racing??? I need a fix!!!!

If you are in the same boat check this out. If that doesn't buy you at least a day you may be beyond help. Be sure to checkout the video for the Ronde van Vlaanderen (one of my favorite one day races).
If getting on your bike is the cure to your problem come ride with the Republic Tuesday ride and roll with the bunch in Paradise!!!

Only a month until the Vuelta!!!! We can make it!!!!

Let the filming begin!!!!

Kelly and I hope to document the XC trails in Squamish over the summer. The video above is our first test of the helmet cam setup. This video also documents my first ride on a geared mountain bike in many years.

Enjoy !!!!

More to come....

Motors? Yes Motors!!!!

There has been allot of buzz on-line and in the shop about this video:



I feel that this is convincing proof that such a device does exist but I am not convinced that Cancellara used it.

That said, I recently tested a version of "Bike Doping" being developed locally.



Here is a closer look at the set up:




Testing so far is going well. Further refinement is needed to get it past the UCI inspectors....

Stay tuned !!!!

Classic

I love this song. Read into that what you will....

Friday night action

It started out like any normal Friday night in a small town, a bunch of dudes in spandex loitering in a parking lot looking for trouble.







Killed some time with a little bike ride.




Then.........................?



It got Weird!!!!!!

New bike day!!!!!

I have always enjoyed my own personal new bike days and can remember a high percentage of them over the years. The feeling is always one of both accomplishment in reaching the goal of getting the new toy and anticipating the journey ahead. Bikes have taken me so many places and brought so many good people into my life a new one can only mean ever radder adventures with only cooler people.

In my daily life I get a front row seat to lots of peoples "new bike day". I do my best to remember that each person is finishing their journey of bike buying and starting the journey with their new friend. Forgive me if this post is feeling rather sentimental as this past Sunday it was my daughters turn for new bike day. It was so cool to get her rolling on her first 26"wheel. We went for a great ride and had us a very cool adventure with people we love. I hope this new bike day sticks in her mind for the rest of time as it will for sure stick in mine.




I'm sure my words and pictures don't do it justice....just think back to your last new bike day. It was awesome wasn't it?

Soundtrack for the night

I think this "machine" is what the inside of my head looks like!!!!!!

Big day out.

Today was to be the first Monday the shop was to be open for the season. However I had an other idea...The skies were dark and angry in the morning but as the day progressed the sun came out! So, off to the trails I went. For some reason I have been lacking motivation recently and so when the motivation and the weather lined us as they did I figured I had better get to it!

The trail system in Squamish is unreal to say the least but today I was able to sample some of the work done over the winter buy the local trail builders. Who would have thought my favorite trails could get better!?!? Flurries, sunny skies, Sick trails and a single speed, finish it off with a fire at the river and you have an epic day! Seeing as it was my last Monday off until October I am stoked to have made the most of it.

New shop hours as of TOMORROW:

Monday 12-5
Tuesday to Friday 10-5
Saturday 10-4
Sunday CLOSED

Monday I will miss you!

Thank you, Sidney Crosby.

An other day spent cheering for Canada. This time fruit smoothies and vitamin water replaced the beers as my body couldn't handle the Olympic proportion of abuse I had been giving it. We all know what happened next. OT win over the Americans. This game reminded me of why I don't watch more hockey......the game was unreal but the stress was HIGH!!!!! That and I will also admit here that I am secretly happy when the Canucks loose in the playoffs so I can spend my time riding my bike instead of sitting around drinking beer every second night. Ranting a bit off topic there so.....Stoked the games went off and also stoked we can all get back to what is important. Participating in your favorite sport. I'm going riding tomorrow to celebrate, and to work of my Olympic hangover. See you out there !!!!!

Thank you, Sidney Crosby.