G3 Ski Graphiks Contest!

Congrats to my friend Kathryn Whiteside from Revelstoke for her amazing “G3 Saint” Design! Her artistic Graphic Designer skills paid off since she won the last round of the 2011 G3 ski Graphiks contest! In addition to getting a new pair of skis, her design will be the top sheet of Limited Edition of G3 Saints.

I’m super happy for you Kathryn! You Rock!

The contest is still running until December 31^st. If you have ski design ideas or want to see what others have been presenting and vote for your favorite design, follow this link:

http://www.g3skigraphiks.com/entry-info-template

Good Luck!

Gear Testing: Rab MeCo Baselayers

I was very excited when I heard that Rab was working on a new kind of baselayer for this season! Like a lot of people, I have been moving away from poly-pro because it does not only stay wet but it also smells very bad over time.

Wearing merino wool quite a bit, I appreciate the fact that it keeps you warm even when wet and does not smell. The only down sides are that it takes a while to dry, it’s not only pricy but also not very durable.

Now what’s exciting about the new MeCo baselayers is that they have the same great qualities as the merino wool layers but have increased durability and dry 5 times faster.

But how is that possible you will ask?

To be a bit more technical, MeCo is composed of blend of 65% pure merino wool and 35% Cocona. Cocona is a type of polyesther, which is coated with Activated Carbon coming for the combustion of Coconut Shells. The blend allows for not only great breatability but as soon as a drop of sweat hits the fabric, it spreads just like a drop of water on a tissue. So the sweat has more surface area to dry therefore, the fabric dries pretty quickly.

Also, the fabric does not smell. The Cocona is an antibacterial fabric activated my warmth. So the more you sweat, the less your layer smells! MAGIC!!!

So I did a bit of a test because I wanted to see for myself.

Recently, I was invited at the ACMG Annual meeting for a gear presentation so I thought it would be a great time to test the baselayer. On the first day, I put my short sleeve 120 MeCo T-shirt on for a typical 3 hours of activity (mix indoor and outdoor as I get really sweaty working-out inside). Then I used my same layer the following day for a 1600 hill climb under 27 degree blistering sun! No need to say that I was sweating a bunch there! I came back to get changed before a meeting and to my great surprise, my layer was dry and still looked and smelled fresh so I but it back on for the ACMG meeting I was attending on behalf of Rab. The following day, same t-shirt again, after a long trail run under warm weather, I came back to the hotel to shower and went back to the ACMG meeting still wearing the same shirt for my presentation. I was starting to feel a bit self conscious by that point but the T-shirt still looked and smelled fresh. It’s fair to say that after this experiment, I was not only convinced but totally in love with the new baselayers!

They are available in 2 thicknesses 120 and 165. Short sleeves, long sleeves, zip neck, long pants 120 & 165. You can find them online at : http://us.rab.uk.com

Or at you local Valhalla Pure Store.

Rab Clothing @ the Annual ACMG Meeting

Rab/Integral Design/ Pod Sacs, sponsors of the ACMG

Photo Credit: Ken Belanger

G3 2012 Graphik Contest

Another season, another chance to get your RAD graphic on a pair of G3 skis!

Every year, when September comes around, it’s a sign the ski season is getting closer. Even if a lot of us have been thinking about skiing since the last time we had our skis attached to our feet, the fireweed changing color, the day getting shorter and the cooler mornings are obvious signs that winter is on it’s way!

For yet another season, G3 just launched their popular “Ski Graphik Contest.” This is a great opportunity to get creative and design a graphic for your favorite G3 skis. It is pretty simple. Dig for the artist in you, yet your idea on paper, post your sweet design at : http://www.g3skigraphiks.com, and watch how the public respond to your design as the winner is the graphic which receives the most vote.

You can find all the rules and details of the contest at: http://www.g3skigraphiks.com,

Also, take a second to have a look at the new ski selection for 2011/2012: http://www.genuineguidegear.com/gear/skis

I’m thinking the “Infidel” may be a wicked ski for just and other amazing season!

29er or no 29er?

Thanks to Skookum and to Colby, Giant Rep, I had the chance to demo one of those so called 29er this week. I have to say I was quite excited to have the chance to make up my own mind on a potential new toy of choice? So what better then a test drive to get to the bottom of things? I was trying very hard not to let other people’s opinion change my own before even mounting the large metal horse…My first thought as I rode it home from the shop was, “Wow, this is a lot of bike!”

Ride #1: I decided to go for a mix of trails that I really like and that I know well just to see the difference in the handling. The trails of choice were Richard’s liquor, Logging road to MacPherson Parking Lot, Stimulus there and back, Black forest to TNT, Root Canal & Berm Donor to Tantrum… a bit of everything!

Ride #2: You can’t find out if it races well until you race with it! I rode the Toonie Race with the 29er, which was a perfect course for it with a mix of logging road climbs, none technical but sustain climbs and a fast descent through TNT & Root Canal. It was interesting to see the difference in feeling!

Here’s what I was mainly looking for during both rides:

-How well it would react in mellow none technical climbs and even flat terrain?

-How it felt going up steep longer climbs on more technical terrain?

-How it would react in the many undulating Revy Trails?

-How well we can pump the bike and be playful with it?

-How it reacts in tight switch-backs up and down?

First Impressions

On ride #1, I was like a kid on Christmas day! I could not wait for the end of the workday so I could go out & play!!! I had a lot of fun testing the bike but it certainly not took too long to notice quite the difference. The 29er X2 I tried was a 4” travel bike as well as is the one I currently ride. That being said, it felt to me like there was more suspension to it. Just more play absorption wise and more forgiveness to it that my Giant Anthem X2.

The geometry took a bit to get use too with a shorter head tube and a slightly shorter stem. Also, a few times during the rides, I would bump the bottom bracket, which is lower then on 26” bikes.

Climbing on logging Road: If you like powering through climbs instead then spinning at a faster RMP , this is a bike for you. I felt like once you got the momentum and the leg strength to push in the climbs, the bike was moving quite well. On steeper & longer steady climb, this is definitively more of a workout! With the different geometry of the bike, I found myself quite a bit more forward, nose right over the handle bar in order to finish the steep climbs. Off the saddle, the frame geometry do allow for great energy transfer and great grip and easy to recover from slipping on rocks .

Climbing on technical: I felt that even if coming with a great momentum into a technical climb, it was hard to carry it through. Normally, you would lower the gears and spin your way through. I felt like the wheels of the 29er were getting stopped easier on the obstacles making it harder to carry speed and harder overall.

Flat Logging Road: Oh, you can go fast on those. With the 3 rings in the front and the 10 gears in the back, once you are on your way, there’s nothing to stop you!

Flat Technical: If the front makes it, the rear will follow very well whether it’s slightly up or slightly down. I found it was easy to move the wheels around quickly enough to avoid obstacles & roots. Even if bigger, the bike is easy to swing around.

Descending Logging Road: As for flat logging roads, you can travel at quite impressive speed on this bike. It’s just a matter of knowing the limit of the narrow tires when cornering at high speed on loose gravel.

Descending Technical Trails: I was actually quite surprise how the bike felt while descending. It is more forgiven then my Giant Anthem and almost felt like a 5” travel bike. It is certainly less nervous then a 26” 4” travel bike which is a big positive. One thing, just make sure you stay behind those big wheels because if you happen to go too far forward for whatever reason, it is pretty hard to pull it back. I can’t imagine going over the handle bar with a 29er. It would be a long scary slow motion fall!

Switchback Climbs: I was surprise there too as I thought those tight corners would be hard to negotiate. It was quite easy to swing the bike around and push through curves and even lean into them. That being said, I think unconsciously, I was probably picking a wider line then usual but it worked just fine! I can see that it would be harder to keep a more direct line through tight “switchies”.

Switchback Descents: This would take some getting use to for me. I was trying to corner the bike as usual and felt a bit hesitant to let it fully go especially where corners were leading to technical terrain. I found myself having to slowdown before the curves way more the usual and taking more time to accelerate while getting out of them.

Pumping and Playing: I was a bit disappointed with the pumping and pushing, as I love to do it in order to generate speed and get over things effortless. I felt the bike was a bit more sluggish and would not respond as well and as fast as the Anthem for example. It’s also harder to play with the bike, as it seems like it wants to go forward and stay upright most of the time.

On saddle versus off saddle: In addition to the previous comment, I personally like to ride off the saddle when wanting to feel light on the pedals while going through flatter to descending technical terrain. On the 29er, I felt like it was a bit of a waste of energy and was on the saddle more then usual. I would not feel efficient being up on the pedals, which carried the feeling of travelling at lesser speed.

Like I said, I usually ride a Giant Anthem X2 which I LOVE. It’s only a 4”travel duel suspension but I find it perfect for the majority of the cross country trails here and around BC. I use to ride a Giant Transe X1 for the longest time and loved it as well. Only when I started racing did I pick the Anthem. So my background and with it my opinion is probably quite different then a freerider or someone who has been loving their 6” travel bike. In my opinion, this is a great option if you are riding a bit of everything and would like a bike that is quite light and agile. For my own liking, I would probably stick with the 26” and consider buying a 29er as a second bike for less technical rides and races. Even if I had a great time on it, I feel like it was quite a bit more work for the reward. But that’s just me. I think with different background, people may have very different opinions. I would be very interested to hear what people think so please feel free to leave your comments!

See you On the Trails!

Single Track Love!

The Gearjammer is another fabulous event part of the Hells of a Series in the Sea to Sky Corridor. This is the event that started it all for me…! Friends have been telling me about mountain bike racing and fun it is and back in 2008, I decided to enter my first ever mountain bike race. I did not start with the easiest one that’s for sure since the Gearjammer is a point-to-point 47 kms race (now 52 kms point-to-point). What makes it event more special is the fact that the milage is mainly covered on single tracks!!! YAAA now that’s what I’m talking about!

Since 2008, religiously it seems, I've been following the tradition and making yet an other trip to the Coast to get a “Gearjammer” fix. Crankworx was also a great reason to go on a road trip and be part of the excitement.

The weather on the Coast has been the same as here in Revelstoke, rainy, cold and wet. Fortunately, to day of the race the sky was blue and the sun was shining. At around 10 am, racers started to show up at the start area near Alice Lake Provincial Park. It seemed like the attendance was lower this year then in previous years. After racing at the Test with 800 fellow mountain bikers, 250 seems slightly quiet… I’m still wondering why is it that the Test is more popular the Gearjammer but that another matter altogether! The race started at a slower pace, which was quite surprising. This race has just the perfect start, from the Highway, racers made their way up the pavement all the way to a double track. From there, there are en

dless opportunities to pass and be pass. The double track goes back to logging road, where, if you are a slow starter, you can start hammering and if you are someone who explode from the start and quickly die, by that point you already fall back. The endless single track goodness start after about 20 minutes of wide road and keeps you going till the end! Some of the trails were Ed’s bypass, Dead End Loop, Bob MacKintosh’s fast descent, Mike’s Loop, Track from Hell, Then back up to Rock & Roll and connecting to Skookum & Power Smart. With all the rain, Skookum and Power Smart were a bit challenging but it was nothing compares to Recycle!!! By that point, the body is starting to feel tired and more then adequate balance was required in order to conserve energy for the remaining of the race! Amazing Pseudo Tsuga was next, wow the work that got put in this trail is just amazing! It’s a nice flowy descent with great burms, a few jumps and technical sections! Wow! Then back on the FSR to climb up to the ever so slippery Plunge. Still alive and on survival mode, we climbed into Crumpet woods for some steady climbing. To our surprise, we took an early right before the powerline climb into a new single-track section that was pretty challenging. By that point, the legs are just about to give in and when looking up, that only thing I could see was more and more climbing… of well. First thing we knew, we were on top of the powerline, and connecting to the last section of the racecourse. A fast rip through the subdivision and down the climbing area brought us to cross the finish line at Rose Park.

Congrats to all the races who completed the event in difficult trail conditions. Thank you to all the volunteers and to my favorite waterboy ever; Michael who gave me an extra bottle full of magic fuel.

As for the results, well check out the following links:

http://testofmetal.com/media/Results/GearJammer/2011GearJammerCatResults.pdf

http://www.squamishchief.com/article/20110724/SQUAMISH0101/110729991/-1/squamish/kindree-collects-gearjammer-win

Picture credit: Simon Chester Fotographique

The Larch Hill Traverse

This one 38 kms epic has been on the checklist for a while! Each year, Skookum Cycle does an organized a group ride in the fall but for some reason, it never really worked out in the schedule. Last weekend, we decided to go down to Salmon Arm and add a check mark next to the Larch Hill Traverse. We started the traverse from Salmon Arm in the South Canoe trail network. We decided to ride some of the single track on our way up to the Radio tower just to make for an even longer ride. The trails were in amazing shape with just enough moisture to allow for good gripping! Out of the single tracks, we climbed up to the top of the active logging road to meet up with the Larch Cross Country Trails. From there, we biked along double tracks for a while connecting the different Cross-Country trails all the way to the warming shack. From there, we covered a bit more of logging road before getting out on some single tracks again. We broke out of the forest on some twisty trail through cut blocks. We had to stop and take a break since the

views looking down the valley at Shuswap Lake were amazing. A thunderstorm made us accelerate the travel pace… (wow thunderstorm… what a surprise…). We kept on following the undulating single tracks on slightly overgrown forest. Some trails section were definitively more flowy then others. The traverse took us on different bits and pieces of single track. Towards the end, there were great viewpoints looking down on either side of the ridge at Mara Lake and Shuswap Lake. The final descent is really what made the traverse. We dropped down 400m of twisty single track with tricky switchbacks. The dirt was gripping just enough and we giggled our way back down to the highway… we were laughing a bit less when we ended up hitch hiking for about an hour under the rain on the side of the highway before getting picked up. Oh well, it was part of the whole experience! I’d say, the traverse is a really fun way to connect Salmon Arm and Sicamous. The trails are fun but sometimes have a bit of a hard rhythm to follow so you have to keep the head up! There are a lot of little descents with sudden steep short climbs, which breaks a bit the flow of the ride. Also, I’m sure with local knowledge of the cross country trails, there is potential to skip some of the logging road riding to make for an extended ride on double or single tracks. In all, it was a fun day and a great opportunity to explore a new trail really close from home!

Local Action!

Last Sunday was one even of the season we all look forward and apprehend a bit; the Skookum Stoked to Get Spanked. I have to say it is always refreshing not to have to travel for an event and being able to sleep in your own bed the night before is also priceless. Everyone who has done this race before know that this is far from being a piece of cake. Even if the milage is not the most impressive of all, there is no rest on this action pack course. The race course was a bit different this year with a variation at the start, a climb including Stimulus and a descent on Berm Donor. A windstorm on Thursday night called for some last minute chainsaw operation in order to get the trails ready. With a wet few days prior to the event, on Sunday morning, the trails we nice and grassy just enough to allow for some fabulous riding. For once, the temps were not +35 with 110% humidity, which made the race slightly easier. In any case, we were out for a bit of suffering and enjoyed the ride. At 10 am, more then 100 riders from the area lined up racing in the different categories (1 lap=sport, 2 laps= Elite, U15 & Lill spank). The course took us down on a fast 2 km rip on Mike’s Loop, than there was a bit of a traffic jam getting on Stimulus. The freight train zigzagged to the top of the switchbacks and back on the main loop, the pack started to spread. As we climbed up Spaceman, people were passing and getting pass a bit but it was way less congested then in previous years! We went down TNT which is a classic really, then onto Break a leg, then up to Dusty Beaver, down Berm Donor , only SLIPPERY Root Canal, and up TNT to Black Forest and to the finish line at the Macpherson Parking Lot… AND we did it all again for a total of 34 kms.

Congrats to Lyndsay Corrigan who was racing for the first time I believe and won her category! Way to go! Also Carol Prince had a great race doing two laps on that challenging course. Don also did very well in his category. On my side, I had a great race compare to last year, just feeling overall better on the bicycle! Congrats to everyone who competed in the race since it was, to my knowledge one of the most challenging race in the BC grassroots circuit. Thank you to Skookum for organizing yet a great event!

For complete Results, go to : http://www.zone4.ca/results.asp?ID=4015&cat=all