THE FIRST RIDE OF 2007 We like to do this every year... Set an official "first Epic Ride of the year" date and then try to beat that date with a "pre" ride and call it a reconnaissance ride... or a pre-Epic Ride... or a just-to-check-things-out-before-we-bring-out-the-larger-gang-ride... or simply what it is: Getting out as early as we can.
For this pre-ride we had the pleasure of having along the lovely Catherine, the riding machine A.K.A. Karla (both girls on loaner bikes) the ever so charming Nat and his swanky new bonnet, Thomas and his hot new X.A.M., Brybunny and his singlespeed XLT, the ever so charming Dan Yurkiw and the perennial stalwarts Gavin and moi, JF... Oh and let's not forget Davis, Rocky, Reeko and the new dog: Kona.
We had hoped to get out last weekend (April 8) and in retrospect we're glad we didn't because there was much snow in the Whiteshell on Sunday. So much snow, in fact, that we thought of turning back a few times (although no one dared utter those words, way to happy to be on our bikes on a beautiful, warm and sunny day). We did, however, bypass the trail between beach 2 and beach 3 by doing the dumbest thing yet: Riding on the ice on the lake. The sketchiest thing we've done yet. The snow was just too deep to press-on on the connector trail so some gomer (me) suggested it... and after tabulating the votes all were in favor of rolling the dice. (turns out the ice was about 2 feet thick ... (except for that one spot by the shore where Rocky fell through)... It was one of those things I don't need to repeat. But it sure was a rush.
Oh and then there's the coolness of having been the first to ride Ingolf this year.
While our ride was 75% covered in either snow or ice we had an amazing time on Sunday and we're confident half of the white stuff will be gone next weekend, just in time for our Official first Epic of 2007.
Here's the vid:
hehe
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THE LONG TRAVEL HOLY GRAIL What we look for most in a full-suspension bike is intuitiveness. When a bike simply does its job, no fuss no muss. Rare is the ride you just jump on and go. Rob and I share that appreciation for that particular underrated characteristic. Many 4" travel bikes deliver that "comfortable hardtail" feel, I'm no expert but I kinda believe that the drama free suspension experience of 4" bikes has something to do with the fact that, well... quite simply, there's less suspension travel... so it's more "buttoned down". Examples of solid, intuitive 4" designs are many including the Jamis Dakar and the timeless Rocky Mountain Element family of bikes.
Getting bikes with more than 4 inches of travel to behave in that efficient, solid, yet lively way is not that easy it seems. Very few "5 inch and up" bikes that we've tested over the years managed to deliver the feel of a 4 inch bike with one or two more inches of travel. Once you get up there it seems that many bikes get wobbly knees or either get heavy in order to counter that long-travel challenge... The less-than-perfect examples simply become "squishy"
When we find that rare combination of balance, poise, comfort and efficiency it's usually very subtle. These bikes rarely jump up and shout "HEY LOOK AT ME! I DO MY JOB INTUITIVELY!" When we find a bike that blows us away we usually quietly look at each other and go "pssst! I like this bike" and ride for a bit longer until we add "hey, I think you should try this bike out, I'd like your thoughts"... all the while smiling and simply enjoying the ride.
To say that 2007 and 2008 have been very good full-suspension test seasons would be an understatement. With 3 sweet new bikes recently inducted into Gord's Long-Travel MTB Hall-of Fame. The Jamis BAM, the Scott Genius and the very bling Commencal Meta 5.5... Joining such superlative squishy icons such as the stalwart Jamis XLT, the Ellsworth Epiphany, the Rocky Mountain SXC and the much loved Jamis XAM.
Life is pretty sweet at Gord's. How fortunate are we to have some of the very best long travel bikes that don't act like big fat spongy marshmallows. Long travel bikes that make you wonder why anyone would ride less.
Listen, if you ride any trail, flat as it may be or steep as you can find... If you're over 19 years old and you want to keep on riding into your sixties and beyond... if you're still riding that hardtail WAKE UP! Give your head a shake. Do yourself, your body and your ass a favor, get with the times. INJECT SOME FUN in your moribund life, get a full suspension bike and join the ranks of those who do more than just ride, join the ranks of those who are having the time of their lives on their bikes, join the ranks of the living. LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO RIDE A HARDTAIL. (We should make a T-shirt!) Check out our full-suspension page HERE
BEST
BUILT
BIKES, PERIOD.
When bikes arrive at our door from suppliers, they're unfortunately
not assembled. We proudly employ highly qualified technicians
to carefully assemble our bikes and pay them hourly. In
fact, we're convinced our bike builds are the best in the
city. Our experienced tech shop staff guarantee it. Our
27 point quality verified assembly process ensures that
your bike will ride well and require less maintenance in
the long run. It's pretty simple: Less down time equals
more fun time.
LE
PHOTO ALBUM
It all started with Matt Goyer (mattgoyer.com) a good friend
and computer aficionado and JF taking pictures here and
there... Enter uber-camera-guy Gavin... Matt started hosting
out pictures on a server... Thousands and thousands of pictures
were taken, an extensive record of all our great adventures.
Unfortunately now password protected to shield the innocent.
Wanna surf the album? simply join the Gord's MTB Club, get
a free Username and Password and BAM! you're in.
GORDS DOES COMMENCAL Attention all bike lovers! Gord's is very proud to announce that we'll be offering Commencal Bikes starting in the summer of 2008! Commencal is a very cool, forward thinking niche bike company from Andorra. (they also hppen to sponsor the ubiquitous Cedric Gracia)... Needless to say we're very excited about this news!
Here's how this came about: Robbie and I were in Vegas, testing our allotted complement of bikes... and since day two was simply overrun with testers, bike companies were struggling to keep up with demand for test bikes. During one lull in testing (while waiting for the Jamis Dakar XAM to become available) I glanced over to the Commencal booth only to see someone about to return a "Meta 5.5" in my size... And since Commencal bikes had always piqued my interest I decided to pounce on the poor guy who was holding said bike. When I rolled up to Catherine and Rob on the Commencal both looked at me puzzled, "but that's
not on our list..." I shrugged, made up some story involving the French and off we went onto our favorite loop or Bootleg Canyon.
JOIN US! We've said it before: It's all about the ride. The ride to Seven Eleven, the ride to your buddies house, the ride we call Ingolf, the ride at Panorama, Fernie, The Seine River, the ride through the monkey trails at Assiniboine Park, the ride with your 30 favorite buddies or the ride with your daughter.
Yes the bike is important. But more important than the bike is the smile on your face. So get off your butt, dust off your bike, throw on your helmet and come riding with us next season! For more information on how we can help get you out, click on the following link:
Listen, if you ride any trail, flat as it may be or steep as you can find... If you're over 19 years old and you want to keep on riding into your sixties and beyond... if you're still riding that hardtail WAKE UP! Give your head a shake. Do yourself, your body and your ass a favor, get with the times. INJECT SOME FUN in your moribund life, get a full suspension bike and join the ranks of those who do more than just ride, join the ranks of those who are having the time of their lives on their bikes, join the ranks of the living. LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO RIDE A HARDTAIL. (We should make a T-shirt!) Check out our full-suspension page 
Attention all bike lovers! Gord's is very proud to announce that we'll be offering 
