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.

Winter Olympics in my Home town, no snow to speak of, and a blanket of people about to converge on Vancouver, Lower mainland all the way up to Whistler…

I am out!

I thought that with the amount I travel I do to so many cool places combined with how cool my job is that I could sail through life at full charge, ready to handle all the daily nuances without issue… Apparently this is not true and I found myself pretty burned out after an incredibly successful 2009 season went down… hmm what to do??

‘Surf trip to Costa Rica! Yeeeha!

Almost 3 weeks of traveling around Costa checking it out, holing up in cool places surfing on sand break, busting beach time Frisbee in hand and checking out the local medical system after my Sting Ray encounter… Wow! Sweet mother earth thru sand and surf! Man I could feel the layers of stress peeling off, almost as fast as my sun burn, YIKES!

‘Sunset blessings!’

Of course no trip is as fun as when you can recreationally ride mountain bike and that’s just what went down! While in Las Vegas for the Bike Show I met young gun Philippe who ‘sent it’ lap after lap in Boulder Canyon. It turned out ‘big P’ was from Costa Rica and when I let him know I was considering the possibility of visiting his country he offered to meet up and show his favourite trails. Enter stress relief trip.
A 4×4 road to the middle of ‘no where’ 10,000 feet up ended up ‘somewhere’ in a town called Providencia where the village welcomed us with open arms! Providencia embraces bouldering and Mountain bike and they have a 10km downhill trail including several other trail options, most of which are very advanced steep ass trail, GNAR!!!! Two days of riding and I still wanted more!

‘Tica (local) riders Cristhian and Philippe tearing it up’

As luck would have it there was a bouldering competition so I got to check that out as well, man how cool… There are no major hotels or restaurants, however, comfortable sleeping arrangements and GREAT food from the local bar (both breakfasts and dinners) were easily arranged. We met Great people in Providencia and it was very accommodating to mountain bikers, they were stoked to have us ride their trails!

“Grrrrr gnarly trail alert! Wish I could scream ‘WICKED’ in Spanish!

I was offered the lead instructor job position for the trail building component of the Mountain Bike Operations Course at Capilano University. After a lot of consideration I have accepted the position and am now hitting the books trying to get my teach on so I can kick butt on information delivery for the students!

‘MTB Op’s Municipal moments…Council chambers anyone?’

April will be the advanced trail building section of the course so I will be on the Sunshine Coast working and SHREDDING all month!!!! Sweet!!! Stoked to hit dirt with the Coastal Crew while there, the coast is just so cool..

I continue to put mileage and wear on my Proto type ‘all mountain’ bike and my Mace gear which both are equally loving it!

– ‘This Top secret ripper is da bomb!!!

New updated rear stays on the bike have got it nailed and the last round of feedback on the gear has got me stoked that Norco and Mace development departments are listening! SIC! I love my job!

– ‘I love my job!’

Hoots

If you have looked around the internet on the subject of bicycles and helmets you would notice that there is a bit of a debate going on over the merit of helmets, and whether or not they should be mandatory. Well, Mace has always believed in the safety of helmets and the importance of protecting ones cranium form impacts and injury. Which is why when the opportunity to team up with a not-for-profit organization whose goal is to get helmets on the heads of those who otherwise might not wear them, we were in.

The Prohab Helmet Society was started by Dustin J. Bromley and Renee N. Le Page. They started the Society shortly after they witnessed what was at stake when you throw your leg over a bicycle and pedal off without a helmet on your head. A close friend and fellow avid cyclists was the victim of a cycling accident. The friend wasn’t wearing a helmet when the accident happened and as a result suffered a brain injury. This was as they say a wakeup call, and Dustin and Renee went to work, and a couple of months later they came to Mace to see if we would help; so we got on board.

They just got 35 Mace C4 Mace Lite helmets and will be looking at getting more soon. It is an exciting time and we are glad that we could help because we have always believed that wearing a helmet is a good idea and now that many more heads will be protected when they go for a ride.