Editor’s note: We’ve got another new contributor for this week. Alan Wu is an avid cyclist and he runs SpokeWrench.com, an online specialty bike shop that caters to the high-end bike user. Based near Ottawa, Canada, Alan has raced many 24-hour endurance races on teams of varying size, but this year he’s going to push himself to the limit when he teams up with friend Marc Levesque to try and conquer the Trans Rockies Challenge.
In this writeup, the first in a series of stories leading up to the race, Alan documents the start of ‘Project Trans Rockies’ and describes the process of selecting and building up the bikes that will be used for the race.
This year, I’m participating in the TransRockies Challenge and the first thing that I’m going to write about is the bike build I’ve put together for the race. In addition to giving me a test bed to try new parts, I feel that I have something that will work extremely well for the Trans Rockies Challenge, and all around for that matter.
Keep in mind that the goal of this project bike was to build something that will be at home for all day backwoods type riding or at a 24 hour enduro race. Light weight wasn’t the highest priority because of durability concerns but a downhill bike with 9″ of rear wheel travel wouldn’t fit the bill either. I wanted something that could be pedaled up the hill and still handle the downhill afterwards. Read the rest of this entry »
6 Comments »
In my last installment on the Trans Iowa endurance event, I touched on my quest for a decent map and how gravel roads are not very well documented in Iowa. This week I’ll discuss the significance of that and tell of some of the successes that we got out of the event. Read the rest of this entry »
No Comments »
The International Mountain Biking Association has released its Canadian newsletter for April. It addresses the IMBA Summit / World MTB Conference, trailbuilding information, an International Trails Day preview and more. Have a look. Read the rest of this entry »
No Comments »
In my most recent installment on The Biking Hub, I described how the idea for the Trans Iowa endurance event was hatched. This week, I’m giving you a behind the scenes look at how the route was laid out and planned.
Since the total time that passed between the basic idea for the event and the opening of registration was about two weeks, I did not have much time me to devise a route! And my job became even harder when I had to figure out what to do a whole state full of gravel and dirt back roads… Read the rest of this entry »
2 Comments »
There are new endurance races popping up all over the country these days. The typical 24 hour events have been joined by ultra-marathon, point to point excursions, and other types of suffering as well.
Some of you may have asked yourselves, ‘What causes someone to start one of these events?’ While I can not answer for every event out there, I can tell you about one of them. You see, I help promote one of these little gems. The event is named Trans Iowa and I am going to share with you the story of how it got started. My hope is that perhaps some of you will be inspired to try putting on your own event or, at the very least, you can see from a event organizer’s perspective about what it looks like on the “other side of the fence”. Read the rest of this entry »
1 Comment »
We came, we rode, we smiled.
It somehow seemed appropriate that our final trip of the year to Ray’s Indoor Mountain Bike Park, located in Cleveland, there was wind, cold temperatures, and plenty of rain. It is, after all, because of the nasty winter climate that made Ray Petro decide to open an 80,000 square foot North Shore-style playground in an old warehouse in West Cleveland, Ohio.
For the past two years I have been organizing bus trips from St. Catharines, Ontario down to this one-of-a-kind riding centre, located about four hours away. While the logistics of running this type of trip are pretty crazy, the end result is 40 or 50 guys and girls taking a full-size coach bus down the I-90 through New York, Pennsylvania, and into Ohio.
I’ve never been able to enjoy the party atmosphere that is the bus because I drive a 24-foot truck packed with tens of thousands of dollars worth of bikes but I figure if I’m the one organizing the trip, I only trust myself to be responsible for everyone’s rides on the way to and from Cleveland.
When we arrive at the park, we ride for a good six hours before heading home and, by the time we’re done, everyone is completely exhausted and smiling from ear to ear from the experience. Read the rest of this entry »
5 Comments »
Since the International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA) opened its doors in Canada two years ago, the interest level north of the border has been growing. I’m a member of IMBA and a big supporter of the efforts they’re making to improve existing trails and fight for access issues.
Starting today, we’ll be posting some monthly news from IMBA’s Canadian branch, which is located in Collingwood, Ontario. Each news item has a link at the end of it where you can get more information. Read the rest of this entry »
No Comments »