News

Making a List…

By
Local Ride Bike Shop
 – December 17, 2011Posted in: News

Whether you are giving to a cyclist or you are a cyclist who wishes to receive useful gifts this holiday season, check out this handy list of must-have’s for the two-wheeled pedaler. We have it all at Local Ride Bike Shop.

Helmet – Help your favourite biker keep their head. Did you know cycling helmets need to be replaced after every major impact (i.e. crash) or every 3-5 years? Check out our great selection of adult and kid’s helmets starting at $26.95

Lights – Light up the life of your #1 cyclist with an array of ultra-bright LED lights. Being visible to drivers is uber-important, so we have a selection of front and rear lights that will light up bike and rider like a Christmas tree! Lights start at $9.95

Pump – Get the pedalhead on your list pumped for 2012 with a new bicycle pump. Whether it’s for a schraeder or presta valve, road, mountain, hybrid, or BMX bike, we have a pump that will work. Pumps start at $27.95

Push/Run Bike – Add balance to your tippy tot’s life with a push bike. Designed to teach kids how to balance before they pedal, these popular mini two-wheelers are the best way to teach a child to ride a bike – and skip the training wheels! Available in blue, pink, and black. Giant Pre Push Bike $128.95

Cycling Shorts – Give the the gift of comfort to the avid rider you love with a pair ergonomically designed cycling shorts. Well-fitting shorts will reduce chaffing, pressure, and discomfort while in the saddle and allow your cycling sweetie to have a more enjoyable two-wheeled time. Cycling shorts start at $59.95

Electric Hybrid Bike – Someone special on your list who loves the idea of biking regularly, but is afraid it’s too hard? Give the gift of freedom and mobility with a Giant Electric Hybrid Technology bike. These battery powered pedal-assist bicycles are a fantastic way to get around. Giant Twist Express on sale for $1,199.95 (regular $1,699.95)

Shoes – Who doesn’t like new shoes? Whether you are Secret Santa for a spinning buff, mountain biker, roadie, or a cycle commuter, we have the shoe that fits. Come check out our large selection of cycling shoes, with prices starting as low as $40!

Cycling Computer – Can’t figure out what to give your data head biking buddy? If he loves numbers, he’ll love a cycling computer that will give instant feedback, including current speed, distance, time, and more! Computers start at $39.95

Stocking Stuffers For Your Fav Cyclist

By
Local Ride Bike Shop
 – December 16, 2011Posted in: News

With only nine days to go before the big day, you might be starting to scramble in the shopping department. If you have a cyclist on your list, here are some great stocking stuffer ideas available at Local Ride Bike Shop that will make your biker smile…

BBB Race Ribbon Gel: Road bike need a makeover? New handlebar tape is the easiest and cheapest way to make a bike look (almost) new again. Plus, BBB’s Race Ribbon Gel has a comfy gel insert for extra cush. Lots of colours available. $13.95

Cateye loop lights: Perfectly sized for in a stocking, these tiny but powerful LED lights clip onto virtually anywhere on any bike to make sure your beloved biker is visible on the road. $15.95

Park IB-2 mini-tool: Small, but stacked with 11 tools that will allow the cyclist on your list to make vital bike adjustments while on the go, plus it fits perfectly in a pocket… or a stocking! $22.95

Giant TORQKEY: Keep your avid pedaler’s carbon bike bits safe from accidental over-tightening! Give the TORQKEY – a small, easy-to-use 4-5-6mm hex bit torque wrench. $11.98

Tri-Flow Superior Lubricant: Tri-Flow is a multi-purpose bicycle chain lubricant made with Teflon to ensure bike chains run smoothly in any conditions. Cyclists always need chain lube, so Tri-Flow is a no-brainer! $6.95

GORE Ozone 2 leg warmers: Keep your rider covered this winter with GORE Ozone 2 leg warmers. These snug insulating legs will make cold weather rides more comfortable and their versatility means favourite cycling shorts can become cycling pants! $65.95

Shimano Dura-Ace pedals: Want to make it the best stocking ever? Just add Dura-Ace pedals! These high-performance road pedals are gorgeous and the bearings roll so smoothly, they virtually turn themselves. Their new design includes carbon fiber for a lighter, stiffer pedal – you can never go wrong with that! $399.95

Track Cycling World Cup #1 Astana Report

By
Local Ride Bike Shop
 – November 14, 2011Posted in: News, Team Local Ride/Dr. Vie Superfoods+

by Gillian

In the first week of November, my Local Ride/Dr. Vie Superfoods+ teammate, Jasmin Glaesser, and I travelled halfway around the world to the first UCI Track World Cup in Astana, Kazakhstan as members of the Canadian National Track Team. The Canadian squad for this competition was comprised mainly of development riders, and although Jasmin was coming off a very successful Pan American Games as a member of the gold-medal winning Women’s Team Pursuit, neither of us had ever attended a World Cup race before, and were both eager to get out on the track and show the world what we could do.Team Canada in Astana – LR/Dr. Vie’s Gillian (3rd from right) and Jasmin (far right). Photo: Steve Sleep

Unfortunately, actually getting on the track in the first few days would prove more difficult than we had anticipated, as none of the Canadian team bikes made it to Astana until the Wednesday prior to competition. Monday was spent riding rollers in the hotel basement on US Sprint Coach Jamie Staff’s road bike (turns out one size does fit all!), then on Tuesday the entire team was outfitted with some rental bikes, courtesy of the velodrome.

By Wednesday, we were very well-rested and raring to go, so upon getting the excited phone call that our bikes had finally arrived, the entire team piled into the first shuttle bus to the track. Our mechanic, Sandy, and team manager, Jonny, had the bikes built and ready to ride in record time, so without further ado, we all hopped up on the track for some warm up efforts.

A view of the Astana track. Photo: Steve Sleep

Thursday was race day – the Women’s Team Pursuit qualifiers were first up, and the Canadian team of myself, Jasmin, and Julia Bradley was the last team to start. With very minimal time spent practicing together, and only one training session on the track prior to the race, we rode a good race and more importantly, gained valuable experience for our next international competition.

The next evening, after watching the opening ceremonies from the Team Canada pen, I was up on the track again for the Points Race final. This was my first big mass-start race, and I was very motivated to ride hard and get a good result for the team. After winning the first sprint, taking 3 points in another, and then gaining a lap with a small group, I was well-placed for a podium position. Unfortunately, with 8 laps to go I was caught up in a crash and didn’t score points in the final sprint, finishing the race 4th overall with 28 points. I was disappointed initially, especially after sitting in second place for most of the race, but I’m very happy to have finished in the top five at my first World Cup.

Over the next two days, Jasmin won the Scratch Race and placed 4th in the Points Race on her way to finishing an amazing 7th place overall in the Omnium, capping off a successful campaign by the Canadian Team at the first World Cup of the 2011-2012 season. Huge thanks to our mechanic Sandy Gilchrist, team manager Jonny Evans, videographer Steve Sleep, and coach Richard Wooles for taking care of every last detail and allowing us to think about nothing but racing and making the most of this incredible learning experience!

Guadalajara 2012 Pan-Am Games Report

By
Local Ride Bike Shop
 – October 31, 2011Posted in: News, Team Local Ride/Dr. Vie Superfoods+

by Laura

The Pan American Games are the second largest summer sporting event in the world, next to the Olympic Games. Being only 10 months before the next Summer Olympic Games in London, we thought it would be a wise idea to get some Major Games experience.

Local Ride road racing teammates, Steph Roorda, Jasmin Glaesser, and I headed down to Guadalajara, Mexico for all of our first Major Games representing the Canadian Team. I was selected to compete in the individual time trial, team pursuit, and road race.

The time trial course suited me well with four turnarounds (lots of standing starts!), four times through a cobbled, round-a-bout, and 20km total. It was mostly flat with some long sections of (deceptively hard) false-flat inclines. I was excited to be selected for the time trial as I really love to time trial, yet I have had little international racing opportunities.

Pre-riding the course was near impossible as it was situated in the bustling, heart of downtown Guadalajara (pop. 1.6 million), thereby I made quite a few technical errors on my first lap. But I cleaned up my ride considerably to negative split my second and final lap. The finish line was through The Arcos Vallarta (an iconic roundabout similar to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris) and about 4km from the final turnaround. This is where the Cuban rider that started 1 minute ahead of me was within my reach. It is amazing how much more you can suffer when you have a carrot! I had a lot of people along the course cheering for Canada and that was so very special and motivating. I finished the ride only 20 seconds back from the winner and won a bronze medal. I was ecstatic! Going into the time trial, I did not know if a medal was within my reach as most of the names on the start list were unfamiliar to me. All I could do was ride as hard as possible and see where where I stacked up. It was a great start to the Games.

A couple of days later was the women’s team pursuit. Steph and I have been members of the Canadian National Team since 2009, and were excited to have Jasmin Glaesser join us in wearing the Maple Leaf (for her very first time!). In the qualifying round, we were first up and this was without a doubt, a little nerve racking. We were a medal favorite in this event and we were having to set “the time to beat.” We gave it everything we had and broke the Canadian record with a time of 3:25.093. After sitting through seven more teams set qualifying times, we had made it through onto the Gold medal final against Cuba. Yes, we set a faster time than them, but we knew we could go faster and we had to – Cuba was going to put up a fight in the final. We changed our race plan slightly and with the temperature of the velodrome reaching almost 30 degrees Celsius, accompanied by the adrenaline of making it into the gold medal final at a Games and a packed stadium (including Canadian track legend Curt Harnett), we were able to shave 3.6 seconds off our initial time. We won the Gold Medal and set another Pan American and Canadian record of 3:21.4 (only 1.8 seconds off the World Record).

I personally have raced for Canada ever since a women’s team pursuit has been sent to compete at an international level, and our Gold medal ride was the best one yet for Canada. It was technically near flawless and we went faster than we have ever gone. But this is only the beginning. There are more great things to come and records to be broken in the next 10 months leading up to the 2012 Summer Olympic Games for the Women’s Team Pursuit.

Pumpkin Cross Draws Record Numbers

By
Local Ride Bike Shop
 – October 25, 2011Posted in: Local Ride Racing, News, Team Local Ride/Dr. Vie Superfoods+

The Fifth Annual Pumpkin Cross BC Cup Cyclo-cross race presented by Local Ride Bike Shop drew a record number of participants to Maple Ridge’s North Alouette River Greenway on Sunday for a sunny day of cycling madness for the whole family.

“For Pumpkin Cross’s fifth anniversary, we were treated to uncharacteristic sunny skies – not overly spooky, but definitely appreciated,” said race organizer Barry Lyster. “The dead salmon strewn around the part of the course closest to the river did add some scary, stinky ambiance to our Halloween décor.”

Dave playing some congo beats

The event saw over 150 racers in a wide range of categories from beginner to elite, navigate the challenging and fun course, which featured slick grassy corners, dismounts over equestrian jumps, and spooky Halloween-themed obstacles like the Spooky Forest, the Coffin, Lezyne Lake, and the Giant Leap of Faith. Twenty excited kids between the ages of two and 12 took to their very own kid’s course located right by the start/finish and the MC for maximum visibility.

“We succeeded in making this edition of Pumpkin Cross better than ever. In addition to record attendance, the costumes were fantastic. I really thought that was Gene Simmons out there racing a cyclo-cross bike. And the ironic giraffe made everyone smile, not to mention the horse,” said Lyster.

“Local Ride mechanic Dave added a great atmosphere to the team tent area on the far side of the course by the barriers with his congo beats.”

Epic battles unfolded in the feature races of the day: the Open Women’s and Elite Men’s competitions. In the women’s event, 2011 UCI Mountain Bike World Champion and Olympian Catharine Pendrel (Luna Pro Team) of Kamloops bested the defending Pumpkin Cross Champion, Maple Ridge’s Jean Ann Berkenpas (XPREZO-BORSAO) after the two duked it out at the front for most of the 45-minute, five-lap race.

World Champ Catharine Pendrel – photo courtesy Doug Brons

“It was great to see Catharine [Pendrel] join us for Pumpkin Cross. She’s such an inspiration and a true ambassador for the sport,” said Lyster.

In proper Pumpkin Cross spirit, Pendrel was dressed as a fairy, while Berkenpas chose to honour the top female cyclist who inspired her to pursue the sport. In her retro Team Canada gear and accessories, she held a striking resemblance to Olympic medalist, multiple World Cup winner and World Champion Alison Sydor à la 1995.

Completing the podium were Kelly Jones (North Shore Sports Medicine / BSP / Cannondale) in third, Coquitlam’s Sandra Walter (Local Ride Racing) dressed as a giraffe in fourth, and Jenny Lehmann (Local Ride/Dr. Vie Superfoods+) of Vancouver in fifth.

With her third place ride, Jones retained the overall BC Cup lead after three events in the six-race series.

The 60-minute elite men’s race saw fierce competition for the top three positions between Kevin Noiles (Sportique), Andrew Pinfold (United Healthcare), and North Vancouver’s Kevin Calhoun (Rocky Mountain Factory). In the end, it was BC Cup leader Noiles, who snapped up the victory ahead of a mulletted Pinfold and a hard-fighting Calhoun. Sven Sturm (Red Truck Racing) dressed as Zorro and Maple Ridge’s Mike “the Bumblebee” Berkenpas (Local Ride Racing) finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

Costume contest winner Rich Machhien

Perhaps the most important and spectacular competition of the day was the annual Pumpkin Cross costume contest with the winner determined by popular vote from the crowd. This year, the voting for three costumes in particular was extremely tight. Finally, when the ballots were counted, it was Local Ride Racing’s Richard Machhein of Port Coquitlam, dressed as a horse complete with jockey and long, flowing tail, who took home the top prize Kicking Horse Coffee gift pack. The first and second runners up also earned valuable Kicking Horse Coffee prizes for their fabulous get-ups. One was ACDC’s Angus Young, complete with an electric guitar, which he played during his race as he rode no-hands on the flat open sections, the other a very convincing version of Gene Simmons from KISS.

Glenowyn Carlson (Team Alliance) raced well to win the 45-minute Master Women’s competition, despite dropping her chain twice. Barb Zimich (Zimich Performance Coaching) took second spot, followed by Local Ride Racing’s Jeanine Ball of Vancouver in third, and team mate Sue Weston of Pitt Meadows in fourth.

In the Master 1/2 Men’s race, Bob Welbourn (Cannondale CX West) schooled some tough competition in the form of Chris McNeil and Kim Steed (Steed Cycles) of North Vancouver to take the win. Maple Ridge’s Roy McBeth (CanWii) finished 17th in the category.

Wai-Ben Wong (Glotman Simpson) scored the win in the Cat 3/4 Men’s race after playing cat and mouse for most of the race with fellow podium-mates Adam de Vos (Oak Bay Bikes) and Maple Ridge’s Brett Wakefield (Local Ride Racing). Machhein’s winning costume may have hindered him in his debut cyclo-cross race, but he was happy with his day. He finished 17th.

Keith Wilson of Kamloops won the Master 3/4 Men’s race, using his impressive technical skills to gain the advantage over his competitors. According to Wilson, he dismounted only once during his entire race, when most people were off their bikes to surmount obstacles four or five times per lap. This was not the case for Wilson, who bunny-hopped the double barriers and rode up the Giant Leap of Faith cleanly in each of his six laps. Jussi Jaakkola and Chris Sayers finished second and third, respectively.

Port Moody’s Ryan Newsome, a.k.a. Shrek, was Local Ride Racing’s top finisher in the Master 3/4 Men’s category, with an eight-place ride. Maple Ridge’s Brian Griffin (Team Alliance), who broke his hip last spring, rode to an impressive ninth place. Ryan Jeans (Local Ride Racing) of Port Moody finished 29th, with Paul Craig (Local Ride Racing) of Pitt Meadows in 36th.

Kristin Campbell took top honours in the Citizen Women’s race, with Rosemary Gin and Amy Saari-Roth taking second and third spots.

Paul Nash of Giant Bicycles

Dylan Doubt (Poler Stuff) won the Citizen Men’s competition, followed in second position by Andrew Tuovinen and Gary Bone in third. Paul Nash (Giant Bicycles), General Manager of Giant Bicycles Canada, dressed as a knight, finished 15th in the race, despite a costume malfunction, which necessitated the removal of his pants with the help of supportive bystanders.

Maple Ridge’s young cyclo-cross star, Maggie Coles-Lyster (Local Ride/Dr. Vie Superfoods+), sped to an easy victory in the U17 women’s category, passing countless riders in other categories along the way in her colourful hippy outfit.

The U17 Men’s race was stacked with the attendance of the Team Squamish youth squad, which swept the top five. Luke Di Marzo (Team Squamish) won the race, with Ethan Toom (Team Squamish) and Carsten Lapointe (Team Squamish) rounding out the top three. Pete Whalen (Local Ride Racing) of Pitt Meadows finished sixth.

The Halloween-themed cyclocross mania called Pumpkin Cross was made possible by the following fabulous sponsors: Local Ride Bike Shop, Giant Bicycles Canada, District of Maple Ridge, Cycles Lambert, Lezyne Engineered Design, Pedros Tools, Kicking Horse Coffee, Maple Ridge Equi-Sport Centre, and Pedal Magazine.

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