Once in a while people ask me how I got into the cycling industry and what they can do to help open doors for themselves. My answer is simple: follow your passions.  From the beginning, I had no idea where I would end up but I knew it would have something to do with cycling, so I just kept riding.

When I finished high school riding was a daily event, responsibility was a distant, abstract notion and trails ran like veins through the forest straight from my front door. In the winters there was skiing every day and parties at night,  in the summers there was riding every day and, you get the picture.  Yes for seven seasons I spent my time deeply entrenched in the Whistler bubble. Sometimes I would escape for a semester of learning or a winter in New Zealand. But  seven years slipped by in what seemed like months and then one day I decided I needed a change, a drastic change  -working in a shop was good but it was time for something more.

When I came out of high school I had no idea what I wanted to do, well, other than ski and ride bikes so that is what I did. When I came out of Whistler I knew exactly what I wanted to do; get an education and one of those real job thingys, you know, the ones that everyone is always talking about. So I did two big years of school and was flushed into the workforce with the masses, but I quickly found I missed the cycling and skiing lifestyle because I didn’t fit into a normal work environment- apparently not everyone wants to spend their time talking about bicycles. I know, I am as surprised as you are.

Somehow, with a little luck and some skill I found my way back into the cycling industry, this time with a real job. Yes I would have my cake and eat it too. And, what a tasty cake it turned out to be. I never expected to end up where I am now. These days I ride and I work and it is the perfect combination.   There are still trails close to my front door, though I don’t ride them everyday, but they are there. It took some time but I found my way into what I wanted to do.

What was the seceret? Well, this story all comes down to one thing:  following your passions. People are more than willing to offer advice about where you should take your life, but being riders makes us different – we are used to following different paths. As long as you keep to the path your passions take you there is a better than good chance that you’ll find what you are looking for, even if you don’t know what it is you are looking for at the time. Keep on riding.

It’s Monday morning and my head is still a little bit foggy, I’m sipping a double espresso as the sun splashes in through my living room window. Last night I found myself in Irish pub in downtown Vancouver watching one of the most highly anticipated hockey games of the last four years – the Canada vs. USA Olympic hockey game.

In 2002 Canada declared a strong victory by winning the games in Salt Lake City and I still remember the cheers of elation that filled households, offices and streets from corner to corner of this fine Country. You see, hockey is kind of our thing. We have other things here too, you know; like Poutine (French fries with cheese and gravy), maple syrup, strong beer and in the cycling world a lot of great places to ride a bicycle – we also invented basketball but it’s not really our thing anymore, we did start it though.

Yesterday, as I made my way through thick crowds of ecstatic Olympic fans, and came into view of the Olympic Cauldron sitting next to the ocean with the mountains in the background I was once again reminded of one other thing: Vancouver is an awesome city, especially if you are a cyclist.

For those who love to get around on two wheels there are few better places to be.  Lined with bicycle paths and lanes and often boasting temperate, perhaps a little wet, weather most days it is quicker to get around the city by bike than in a car. And the city has been actively boosting its cycling commitment with new infrastructure. Having a great city to cycle in is one of our things.

Perhaps cycling in the city is not your thing. Maybe you’re looking for All-Mountain, Freeride, Downhill or Cross-Country trails. We have that too. We have more than the world famous North Shore Mountains. We have Burke, Eagle and the Woodlot just a stone’s throw away, and if you take a bit of a drive Squamish, Whistler and Pemberton are lined with trails winding their way through the mountains and valleys like thick veins – our city is surrounded by a vascular system of trails. Having great trails to ride is kind of our thing.

Yes, you should come here. You should ride here! Here in Vancouver BC nestled in the in the coastal mountain range we have a lot of things. This morning as I sat in a bit of a groggy daze I realized that here in Vancouver we have a lot of things. Hockey is our thing, yes, and last night we were put to shame when we lost a game that we really wanted to win. But we may still get a rematch against the USA hockey team to prove it. But this morning I was stoked we had more than one thing:  If you love to ride a bicycle this city is one great place to be.  It’s kind of our thing.

A short while ago -and by a short while ago I mean last weekend- Ben Kaufmann, a Norco team rider was riding a park in Montreal when a mishap sent his head for a quick meeting with the coping on a new feature. His Mace helmet proved its worth and he walked away unscathed. But check out the damage, without a helmet I doubt he would have walked away.  Well, he tells the story better than I can check out the email he sent below. Oh, and all the pictures are courtesy of Ben.

” Hey guys!
Hope you had a Great weekend! Mine was pretty good -I guess. I went for a big day of riding up in Montreal on Saturday. We rented out the Taz Saturday night which was a blast! Before we went to Le Taz we rode UAB (Ugly Ass Bikes) which was so so. I felt so naked on my bike because it had been a couple weeks. I wasn’t feeling comfortable on my bike at all. After a couple hours I was feeling a bit better but still not great. I went for a Fufanu on this new sub wall just getting warmed up for hopefully an over ice pick to back over:

My brakes slipped and I did a half back flip to head smash right on this coping!! Rang the head super hard off the coping but got right up after and realized that somehow I wasn’t concussed. I was stoked! I felt that Helmet take every bit of the blow. Unfortunately, but fortunately, my helmet has a giant dent in it now. I don’t think it’s a safe thing to keep riding it. Let me know what you guys think.
Otherwise the night was really good. We went to Le Taz after and I had a blast. I felt normal on my bike and learned a few new moves like wall ride to no hander’s and re learned how to grind up big rails again. lol. I hope to go back to UAB to get some photos and video done in the next few weeks. Here is the damage to my helmet and a giant banner that you guys put up at Le Taz. Looks really good!

p.s. That helmet is amazing!!

Cheers Guys.

Ben Kaufmann

It is always amazing to me just how quickly the seasons go by.  It is even more amazing to me to watch what appears to be a shift in the seasons…  I am a believer in global warming. And it is interesting to watch how Mother earth is responding to her human infection.  In the last 5 years of riding and building I have witnessed the seasons migrating 3-4 weeks down the line from their original calendar dates. October sure acted like September this year and I think that trend is a year round ordeal that keeps shifting.

It is really hard to grasp the current state of the environment and even harder to figure out what you can do to be a part of the solution. I know my truck, excavator and chainsaws aren’t easy on the air.  The other side to that, however, is that I have a motorcycle I ride to reduce the amount I drive the truck, and my truck and excavator are both used for building skills parks and trails both of which promote cycling. I guess I have come to grips with the fact that I have a justification for my fossil fuel addiction. And I am not sure if everyone has taken a hard look at their own lifestyles to do the same.  Industry and government need to take a stand in order to be responsible leaders, yet we as consumers don’t pressure them to do so, where are our community leaders?  Where is the support from us as neighbors in municipalities to make this happen!!!?  Why is no one listening to the experts and man o man why is it that when I get a bag of chips only the bottom ¼ is full??? What is the frickin deal?  Make smaller bags or fill the big ones but stop wasting… I digress.

Pheeew…  I have had quite journey since the last blog and I think I might be a bit pent up…

Completing the final bike parks for the season thru September and October we shifted gears and went into trail building mode.  I then  spent time at the Nordic center in Canmore to build and XC trail and then building hiking trail for Parks Canada on a remote island and just recently I got back from building riding trails in Puerto Rico. Wowsa, life is quite a ride.

During the fall I also found a bit of time and busted it to Interbike and got super busy building and filming for the next Norco video short to be released in January 2010.  The vid is sic and I can’t wait to hear people’s feedback on it!

While in town filming I spent a bunch of time cruising the bike park in Hinton. Check out these two links: click here to see the Hinton bike park at the hoots site, and click here to see the Hinton bike park site.  And after 2 seasons I finally went after a gnarly line that I had been thinking about since originally building the drop zone…

I also have been testing a new prototype frame that whoops butt!  It is an all mountain bike with a 6” platform and it is around 34lbs. This bike is so fricking rad!  I am so stoked to be on it and man I have been tearing it up.  I think I am riding the fastest and gnarliest I have ever ridden on this bike. Granted one has to remember that a mountain bike is not a ‘chuck it’ bike but this thing schooled almost all of Whistler and shredded Canmore climbs.  I have sent it off 25’ drops and 40’+ jumps while turning around lifting up the seat and cranking for an hour uphill at ridiculous speed and comfort. Sure hope this bad boy makes the 2011 line up it will be hard to touch.

Here’s a cool progression: This years Mountain Bike Operations (MBO) program has 28 students in it and everyone is so keen and passionate about riding and mountain biking that I am revved!  We have already completed the basic building course with the advanced course happening in April.  I have heard that resorts and bike industry are really looking at this diploma as a huge asset when evaluating applicants for jobs. So cool!!!  Legitimization of our sport requires education and I am stoked that Cap University can offers this wicked cool course.

I am still rep’ing the Mace products and just wanted to throw it out there that everything so far is still on the solid.  Durability is becoming a mainstay of Mace and I am now finding that I can use Mace stuff in other sports as well.  I always have Mace gear on when moto’ing or sledding and even rock the armour when snowboarding now…

Aight. Huge amount of info, Rad amount of time. Get out there and grab some adventure and I will keep my eyes peeled for you! Happy Holidays and may Santa bring you all new bikes!!!

Hoots

A short while ago we were faced with a problem.  Carrier pigeons are only able to carry 2.5 oz when properly trained, and not one piece of our clothing weighs this little. You see, we have an awesome group of stores that carry Mace gear in the USA but it is a small group and we couldn’t secure distribution to expand our base. The net result was that we were seeing demand for our product but couldn’t get the product to the consumer. It was quite the conundrum; so options were considered.

A pigeon carrier system was briefly considered after someone had read a Wikipedia page about a German apothecary using pigeons to deliver urgent medication.  But due to their inability to carry large loads great distances and a fear of bird poop ending up on the packages it was quickly abandoned. Next we considered hiring an intern and giving them a Volkswagen Kombi van full of Mace gear and Kraft dinner to deliver our gear around the States. An intern’s dream, we thought. But there were labor board issues, even though it was an intern, so we had to keep searching. Then it hit us,  an a-ha moment was had when we realized that we could partner with a dealer that could sell our wares online.

And that is exactly what we did. Now if you live in the US you can purchase Mace gear online at Fanatikbike.com. No pigeons, no interns hopped up on Kraft Dinner, just a simple and easy way to get our gear anywhere in the USA. Check it out and let us know what you think, because we are pretty excited. We also have a link on the USA Mace site through our Dealer and Distributor tab.