5 years!

Time flies when you’re having fun! What started as a dream 6 years ago has become one of the premiere mountain biking stage races in the world! Built on trails in my back yard, it has evolved from a point to point race to the current format of finding the best singletrack at each location bringing the most enjoyment and challenge to all who participate.

Volunteering may sound like an easy way out, but for the medical team it’s a full time job.

I’ve been practicing chiropractic for 10 years and have had the opportunity to expand and join my interest in mountain biking and chiropractic into a week of epic proportions. From the hundreds of feet of Rocktape, to the many sprains and strains to working out stiff joints, I spend my days on my feet and my evenings at my portable table.

Our team is epic, the friends you make and the people you meet world wide makes the 5:00 wakeups and the 11pm trailer packing all worth it.

If you have’t put BC Bike Race on your bucket list, it’s time to rethink your list!

2012 registration is going fast, so be sure to get signed up soon! www.bcbikerace.com

Here’s a vid that puts the week in perspective!

So there are so many sites now to record your rides, (recently I posted about “ridewithgps.com) and recently have been turned onto Endomondo. It nicely works for various activities and quickly shares with your friends and on facebook and twitter.

Here’s a great sample ride.

“It’s just over here”

Finding freshly built singletrack can be a challenge at the best of times. When you start late into the evening and it’s still springtime, it’s near impossible! The only saving grace is I have an impeccable sense of direction and have spent many days hiking the area we are in.

We decided to check out a few new trails called Iron Horse, Goat’s Head and Dustwitch. Located on Forbidden plateau, these trails add to the XC / All mountain offerings available. The ever busy Ryder has been doing a great job adding to the network of trails in the area with such trails as Cabin Fever, Gecko, Slither, Catnip and more.

Cycling computers have been a part of riding since the late 80′s creating a very easy way to keep track of overall mileage. While these computers still exist, the development of GPS technology has created very small embedded receivers found in everything from cameras to cell phones.

GPS enabling your rides provides for review using mapping or google earth, sharing with friends where you went, recording and comparing heart rate, elevation, power meter rating, and then correlating with climbs, downhills etc. Overall it’s a lot more information in almost the same package.

For a few years now I’ve been using a Garmin Edge 305 cycling computer, and more recently my iPhone for recording rides. Garmin has provided Garmin Connect, previously Motion Based, but they have changed to Bing Maps recently which are much less detailed in our local area on Vancouver Island.

I often share rides on EveryTrail.com but it is more of a guidebook, where as Garmin Connect and some others accumulate your stats from the rides for calories, mileage etc.

The newest site I have used is Ride with GPS. Clean interface, build routes with elevation data, review your stats and more importantly they use Google maps which are much more accurate and up to date in my location. Here’s an example of the embedded details from ridewithgps.com

Twitter: social networking & microblogging 140 characters at a time…

A little over a year ago we jumped into the twitterverse. While posts by celebrities and teenagers didn’t appeal to us, we gave it a shot. Both @mtnbikinggirl and I had accounts which sat idle for some time. I might have checked it at most once a week, followed a few people but didn’t catch on.

Soon the world of riders found a voice on Twitter, with tweets from the sidelines of Tour de France, Lance tweeting a meetup ride in Glasgow, and some fun commentary of the life as a pro cyclist. We both started following more users and slowly worked through the 46 stages of twitter.

August of 2009, a contest was launched by Specialized Bicycles. The social media project was to join Twitter, Facebook, blog and a few riders together in the Stumpjumper Trail Crew. This seemed to be a catalyst for both of us, leading to more regular checks of twitter feeds, finding common interest riders who also were trying out for the crew, seeing companies try to join in the ever changing customer landscape.

What was interesting for me was my previous work with Norco Bikes on their monthly e-newsletter. Over the course of a year, subscription grew from 500 names  to over 15,000. People have an interest in keeping up with news from brands they like, but cycling companies are often low on public media channels. These new free and user driven modes of communication can put the small shop and the large corporation on the same page.

For the Island Cup Series, we use these forms of communication to keep our racers informed of schedule changes, event info and results posting. It really does a great job of keeping people in the loop!

It’s only been a year, but the new social media channels have opened up some fun and interesting doors!

Travelling is a great way to get a better perspective on the world around us. Oh us Canadians can poke fun at our bigger brother to the south, but there are times we can see great opportunity through their work.

During our recent road trip through the north-western states of Washington, Idaho, Wyoming and Montana, we were surprised with the amount of separate bike pathways connecting communities or traversing busy portions of the city. From small communities like Victor, Idaho to larger cities like Seattle, cycling is getting a better deal south of the border than in our own “cycling friendly” cities here on Vancouver Island.

Idaho has gone so far as to develop rules for where cyclists do an “Idaho Stop” treating stop signs as yields.

Bicycles, Rolling Stops, and the Idaho Stop from Spencer Boomhower on Vimeo.

From small communities like Victor Idaho to larger cities like Seattle, cycling is getting a better deal south of the border than in our own cycling friendly cities.

For more than 3 years now our local community has tried to develop strategies for cycling, which to be honest has had little to no impact on the direction of city planners.

Take for instance the recent expansion of Cliffe Ave. from three lanes to four. A prime opportunity to expand safe cycling facilities was available, but passed by due to lack of interest by planning staff, it fell flat. Momentum Magazine summarized the issue quite nicely.

Our local tourism offices promote cycling and mountain biking, but in many ways we’re behind the trend, and falling further behind all the time.

Here’s some examples of some of the work being done to the South which can be a great resource for our local communities.

Victor, Idaho

- changed 4 lane road trough town into 2 lanes, turn lane, 2 bike lanes and reverse angle parking. http://victorvelo.blogspot.com/

http://www.americabikes.org/Documents/Biking_in_Rural_Communities.pdf

http://valleycitizen.com/stories_news_detail.php?pkStories=216

Ketchum, Idaho

-Bike friendly community – old rail line paved through to adjoining communities

Wilson, Wyoming

-paved pathways through community into Grand Teton Park

Bozeman bike kitchen http://bozemanbikekitchen.org/

We are a cooperative cycling center dedicated to making the use of bicycles as transportation and fun possible for all members of the Bozeman community. We need volunteers of all ages and abilities to help us refurbish bikes. Experienced mechanics needed to mentor new mechanics, and to run work nights. Volunteers will be eligible for free bikes and/or parts depending on the number of hours worked.

Wallace, Idaho

The Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes bike path follows the Union Pacific Railroad right-of-way from Mullan, a mountain mining town near the Montana border, to Plummer, a town on the prairie near the Washington border. More than 71 miles of paved path takes you from high mountain splendor, through the historic Silver Valley, into the chain lakes region, along the shore of Lake Coeur d’Alene, over the Chatcolet Bridge to Heyburn State Park, and finally climbs to the Palouse prairie: an adventure for the entire family!

http://friendsofcdatrails.org/ Map

Rails to trails

“Is he ok?” John asked Teresa as they watched me pick myself up off the ground and check that everything was still attached and in one piece.

While racing down a beautiful descent of Montana singletrack, I came to realize that not all regions have jumped on the 710mm handlebar choice. the lodgepole pines were a smidge too narrow and after clipping my left grip lock-on, I pin-balled for another 20 or so feet down the trail, my bike coming to rest perpedicular to the trail direction.

We were just about finished a great ride with John Friedrich of the inaugural Stumpjumper Trail Crew, and finishing up our 10 day road trip through the northwest US. Bozeman was our final stop before the trip home and a Sunday morning ride near Butte Montana seemed like a great idea.

After being rained out the last few days the sun shone down on us. The trails were very dry no matter what with a base that closely resembled crushed granite. It made for great traction and smooth flowy trails.

Our days of travel and ride at elevation were finally helping as this much climbing would have destroyed us early in the week.

We had noticed Forest Service vehicles in the parking lot and a few horse trailers. The trail maintenance in the area is funded and provides for additional resources not found in our home region. We came upon their handy work as we approached Beaver Ponds.

The trails in Montana were like home with the trees roots and rocks, but in many ways completly foreign to us.

Different than Sun Valley with sage brush and wild flowers, flowing through forests of pine, it was the smooth and buff trail that set this ride apart.

A shared beer at the end, we parted ways and started our trek back to Vancouver Island.

Continental Divide Trail & Beaver Ponds, Butte Montana

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