The other weekend the Norco crew went over to the sunshine Coast to help out with a skills weekend for the Sprockids. The Sprockids is an organization that gets kids out  mountain biking, how great is that! I can’t really think of anything better. The weekend started with a little ferry ride over to an area of B.C. called the Sunshine coast. I jumped aboard the Jay Hoots mobile and had some good old fashion catch up time with Hooty. Even though I had been in school all winter we didn’t miss a beat and we were back laughing and joking around like nothing else, I knew it would be a good weekend. On the ferry my new team mate Sam was eating sausage wrapped in ham and bacon…. all three food groups?

We arrived at the Sprockids skills park and they were waiting for us, kids of all varieties, just pumped to ride their bikes. My part was to take them on a little trail ride and teach them how to corner through a berm. All the kids were excited, and I have to say that they  have some great trails in their park. One trail called Mr. Smiley was a super sick little freeride trail – I only wish it had been longer! This is where I got the kids railing a berm and rocking a few skinnies. Now that being said the skill level was diverse but some of these kids were on fire! I mean doing pretty big drops, a foot or two, but on pretty simplistic steel rigid bikes, no suspension there!

After doing a bunch of laps with the kids, it was BBQ time so I stuffed myself with 3 hot dogs Mhhhhm… After the BBQ Sam and Hoots put on a little jump show, of which I was a spectator, due to early season jitters. Then we did a little group ride through the upper Sprockids area. Wow what a climb, not to mention we may or may have not ended up on the wrong trail that kept going up! The funny thing was the “wrong trail” was so clean and nice, like freshly raked. My theory is that bears were raking it at night and it lead straight to a den were we would immediately become bear food… Animals are smart. We eventually turned around and had some wicked fast and fun downhill!

After this there was another BBQ at Doug Detwiller’s house, the founder of the Sprockids program, where I may or may not have been rumored to have mistakenly picked up dog poo with my bare hands… It was an awesome BBQ though and I was stuffed. Thanks Petra! We then headed off for a good night’s sleep at the Up The Creek bed and breakfast in Roberts Creek to save up our energy for the next day of riding. No partying of any sort with the Norco crew happened that night.

Sunday we ripped Robert’s Creek, and for those of you that don’t know, it’s amazing like super, super, super amazing. This is the area where the Coastal Crew filmed their Kranked segment. There are so many awesome trails over there, you will just have to go over and see it yourself, but don’t tell too many people . After a day of shuttle laps I was totally done. It was so much fun to ride with Hooty and Sam, as well as the rest of the Norco crew. We jumped back on a ferry and headed from the coast back to the mainland. I love the ferry and there was an incident with soft serve ice cream that will never be spoken about again…. I always keep it classy.

DK

Mace has signed on as a sponsor for the final BC Cup race of the season. Held at Kicking Horse resort, just outside of Golden BC if you can make it this is one race you don’t want to miss. But enough from me we got a press release from them yesterday and I figure we should share the info, so here you go.

April 28th, 2010, Golden, B.C…. Kicking Horse Mountain Resort is pleased to help present the ‘Western Open’ downhill race on August 28th & 29th.  The race is the BC Cup Finals and the first ever dual sanctioned Alberta and BC Cup race.  Online pre-race registration is now open at cyclingbc.net and to help get racers motivated to sign up early SE Racing, Kicking Horse Mountain Resort and Cycle Path Calgary have teamed up to build a sweet pre-registration perks program.

“It’s all about getting racers pumped up for one of the biggest race events of the year” states Stephen Exley, Race Director for the Western Open.  “The racer perks program is developed to help spread the prize benefits to everyone who attends the event.  With a prize draw, free cow bell and Spank Puff frame there is no reason to wait till the last second to sign up.  Kicking Horse Mountain Resort has also stepped up with a special pre-race training ticket for all pre-registered racers before the race.”

The pre-registration prizes are provided by Cycle Path Calgary.  A new prize will be drawn every month leading up to the Western Open along with a grand prize Spank Puff Frame will be given away at the pre-race patio shakedown on Saturday August 28th.  This month Bill MacEwen from Vancouver BC has won a Maxis Minion DH front tire.

The Kicking Horse Mountain Resort Bike Park is extending a 50% discount on day lift tickets to all racers who have pre-registered for the Western Open.  Proof of registration is required for all racers who are planning to take advantage of this discount.  The bike park opens for summer operations on June 11th (Fri, Sat & Sun), with seven day a week operations starting June 25th.  Along with a great racer training ticket price, the park will be hosting an extended play every Friday with the last load up at 7:45pm.

Kicking Horse Mountain Resort and SE Racing have scheduled the Western Open for August 28th & 29th, 2010. Last summer KHMR was the host of the Western Cup and set a staggering precedent for future circuit downhill races. The re-worked Pioneer Race Course proved challenges to experienced racers and thrilled spectators. Moving with the momentum of last year’s unique event, the 2010 race will embody similar course elements with the addition of celebration events in the plaza.

Proceeds for the race will go to the Love for Lola Foundation, which will assist with the Exley’s daughters rehabilitation.  A healthy, active two year old who was stricken with a rare virus, which attacked her brain, leaving her with lifelong disabilities.  One year ago, Lola was unable to hold her head up, and now she’s running and playing. Her story is posted at www.loveforlola.com and www.ourloveforlola.blogspot.com.

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.

Have you ever seen two men ride one bicycle, one standing on the other’s shoulders as they go around in circles doing a wheelie?  How about a women standing on her handlebars, which just happen to be upside down drop (road) bars, and then proceeding to execute consecutive 180 degree spins while riding in a circle? To borrow from Will Ferrel, it was “mind bottling.”

Until two weekends ago I had never seen such things, nor entertained the notion that people might actually try and succeed at these odd gymnastic feats on a bicycle. It was like a circus clown car accident, I couldn’t help but watch, and with at least eight shows over two days, I caught a lot of Artistic cycling. It is incredible what these riders can do on a bicycle.

This was just one show that was featured at the Seattle Bicycle Expo.  Ryan Leech was there spreading his good natured Trials stoke. There was also a grade five unicyclist club that performed their routine. And there was the show itself, which had over two hundred exhibitors, a photo contest, food and more.

I love it when I get the chance to attend a show like the Seattle Bicycle Expo, there are so many things to see and do and an eclectic mix of people to talk to that all have one thing in common – a love of cycling. Sure, we all come from different backgrounds and harbor different ideas of what makes the perfect ride or bicycle but we all love to ride. It was an awesome show.

This weekend, March 13-14, Mace Gear will be at the Seattle Bicycle Expo. Showing off some of the new 2010 gear we are kickin off the season at the “largest consumer bicycle show in the United States.” Put on by the Cascade Bicycle Club and in a brand new venue, the bicycle expo promises to be a great time for everyone. Food, photos and tons of new and exciting gear, there is no lack of things to do and see in Seattle this weekend. If you are in the area then stop by and come and see the Mace booth located in the Norco booth #301, just across from Mace rider Ryan Leech who will be performing at the show.  Hope to see you there!