Disclaimer:  Please make sure that if you are riding year round you don’t ride closed trails or trails where you will cause severe damage or erosion. Check with your local mountain biking association for trail closures and usage.

As we got to the trail head it started snowing, heavily. At this point we were questioning whether or not we had come out on the wrong side of the ‘Good Decision’ or ‘Bad Decision’ game. But we were there so we figured we might as well ride. As we entered the trail the conditions were a little sketchy, I managed to miss the first corner and end up in the woods. I picked myself up and realized that this ride would take a little more tact than normal. Oh, I forgot to mention there was already a good half foot of snow on the ground at the entrance, but on the trail the canopy of trees had blocked most of the snow leaving only an inch or two for us to navigate through on the way down.

The whole ride was sketchy, everything was super slick and the roots and rocks were more treacherous than ever. But an hour later when we got to the bottom everybody was really stoked. It had turned out to be an epic day. This ride turned out to be a good representation of most of our winter last year; not content sitting at home or spinning in front of the TV we rode as much as we could; on road, off road, wherever we could (I would like to point out that we never rode closed trails and made sure not to ride any trails where we would cause damage).  But I’ll get to the point.

The whole point of this story is that when things dried up and thawed out again we found that we had all learned a lot over the winter. We had way more control, we were much better at braking, balance and picking lines; what looked difficult before had become a piece of cake. Even when riding around the city you could tell who had been riding all winter; they were more relaxed and more confident. Riding all year round had made a huge difference for each of us, but I will admit that there were rides where some of us weren’t all that motivated, it just looked nasty out.  At the end of every ride, though, no one was left without a smile.

When winter hits it can be hard to work up the motivation to ride, it’s wet, cold and frozen in a lot of places. But whether it’s commuting to work, riding a trail, going to indoor parks or just ripping around town if you want to be a better rider then ditch the excuses and get out on your bike. Get a core group of friends that love to ride as much as you do and then motivate each other to ride, peer pressure can work wonders. In the end it will make you a better rider and you’ll learn a lot about control, trust me. Not to mention you’ll end up with some great stories.

Originally I wasn’t sure whether or not we should be pointing out product reviews on our gear. But once in a while we get questions from people wondering where they can find reviews, so I thought it would be a good idea to start posting them here. A couple of months ago NSMB.com did a review on the Mace Task shorts, Caliber jersey and Gloves. Here is a small excerpt from the review, but you’ll have to click on the link below to read the full review.

“The Mace Task shorts are my new favourite shorts. Notice I didn’t just say “riding” shorts. From the day I got the Tasks, I have spent more time in them than just about any other piece of clothing I own. If they are in the clean pile and it is over 10 degrees, I am wearing them. They are that comfortable…” Click here to read the full review.

After close to 1000 shows over the past five years in front of close to a quarter million people, it looks like I will be upgrading my demonstration obstacles over the winter. The goals are pretty simple; they need to provide a new challenge, be lighter, and be quicker to set up. They need to look professional, and be innovative in some way. I am just in the brainstorming phase right now. I recently checked out this high quality scaffolding system of which many elements make a lot of sense for a trials set up. Check out the photo. These things fold up flat in seconds, so moving obstacles through doorways at schools or theaters will be no problem. They are lightweight and surprisingly stable. The appearance can be worked on, perhaps removing the ladder part and adding sponsor banners. They could even be anodized. The only drawback is that there is some play in the pivot joints, but nothing a few modifications can’t fix. The thing is that I set a very high standard with my current demo obstacles; so to top that will be a challenge!

Next year is shaping up to be a busy one for me. With a two month long school tour through Canada (let me know if you have a school that would be interested), various mini school tours through BC, performances at major events such as The Sea Otter Classic, Seattle Bike Show, and Crankworx,, I’ll be leading a mountain bike and yoga retreat in Whitehorse with Boreal Mountain Biking (more details to come on that soon), a couple different video projects, and of course mix in a few longer term sides projects, and I think the year 2010 will blow past in a flash!

My sponsorship roster is looking strong. Norco bikes is continuing their rock solid support in all I do, I don’t imagine I’d still be doing what I do at the level I do it at if it wasn’t for their encouragement and support; my relationship with Shimano is growing, and I look forward to visiting their Canadian office in Peterborough, Ontario in the Spring during my Trials of Life tour, their head office in Japan also has some ideas for me next season; Marzocchi has been a long time partner and I am excited about their product developments for 2010, it trumps their ’09 offering; I have some projects developing with the good folks at Ryders Eyewear (based in North Vancouver); and my trusty clothing sponsor Mace seems to be progressing their vision and embracing the entire cycling scene instead of just the hard-core. This suits my lifestyle perfectly, I live in cycling clothes for the most part, I haven’t had to go clothes shopping for 13 years now , so using a brand that is developing commuter friendly gear that is still stylish and also worthy of the demand I put on them during a season of shows is a great fit for me (sorry for the pun).

Have a great Fall folks!