EPIC RIDES Obviously,
an Epic Ride may mean a whole lot of different things
to different people. For us, and Epic Ride means an all-day ride that begins with friends getting together at Gord's on Donald, loading
up the Gord's truck with our bikes, driving out to some of the best mountain-biking anywhere and taking our time to enjoy the experience. We make it a point to not take ourselves too seriously and yes, we take lots of pictures. We do this almost every Sunday from April to November with the odd Saturday thrown in here and there for good measure.
In order to ensure a positive experience for all, Epic Rides are more a gathering of friends rather than an anonymous organized ride. Bikes and social skills must be in good working order. Patience and a healthy sense of humor are mandatory. It's simple, due to the nature of the rides where we spend an entire day out in the wilderness depending on each other for everything from encouragement to first aid and tech support to everything in between, Epic Rides are
by invitation only and are exclusively open to Gord’s Bike Club members who have participated in a few WNR’s or TNR’s beforehand.
So you're still curious about these EPIC RIDES you've been
hearing about? Allow
us for a moment to take the time to explain to you why
we're selective about who we bring out on our Epic rides.
(yeah, we're selective. It's not a god given right that
all club members get to join us on Epic Rides, it's kind
of a perk) I know, I know... Sounds elitist and exclusionairy
but really, it's not. We're just being carefull we don't
end up way out in the bush with someone everyone wants
to hurt. You know the type. Heck we all know one of these
guys (yes, they are more often than not... guys). Milton
from Office Space mixed with The girl from American Pie
(the one who went to band camp) mixed with Jason from
TCM (all five versions)... We've been there, we're leery
of going back... It's just no fun.
Please don't take this the wrong way... We're an inclusive
bunch... But we have to be responsible about the process.
If you have freinds, a sense of humour, if you're respectfull
and you can get allong with other people, you're a shoo-in.
Here are a few more reasons we are very picky about who's
invited on these rides:
1. The ride itself.
It's no MCA loop-o-rama... We go out for 4-6 hours and
it's 1 loop far away from where we park... You have something
happen to you or your bike out there... You're walking
back for at least two hours... And since WE DON'T LEAVE
ANYONE BEHIND, we want to make sure the people who come
are able to ride the trail and have fun doing it.
2.
Who last worked on your bike?
All the bikes that go out MUST go through our tech-shop
at some point... so we don't have to deal with stupid
mechanicals 4 hours into the ride... Folks who deal with
other shops, for example, are beyond our control as far
as that goes. We simply want to make sure your equipment
works. Yes, you can still join us if you have your bike
serviced elsewhere (like your kitchen)... But be prepared
to carry it out if there's nothing we can do on the trail
to fix it.
3.
Cost.
While we don't charge anyone for joining us on Epic rides,
there are costs such as the Gord's van, the racks that
are on it, the maintenance that goes into the van, the
staff we pay to guide and ride-support the group... Sure
we split the gas... ($10 to $20 per person) But how does
one put it? The expense, time and effort we put into organizing
these rides... Something has to be put back in... And
that's where being a customer of Gord's comes in. To be
frank, at the risk of sounding over capitalist, we're
keen on reserving our resources for our customers or at
the very least those interested in supporting our business.
They get first crack at coming on the ride (we limit the
amount of riders for safety and enjoyment's sake) We're
sure sure you understand where we're going with this...
Buy an extra water bottle from us if you've never shopped
at Gord's before... Become a customer... Just for the
Karma of it all, just to help us pay for all this (including
this website).
4. The trail.
We're VERY serious about preserving the unspoiled nature
of this trail and the delicate balance that exists between
the riders and land users/owners in the area... That's
why there are no published maps of some of the areas we
ride anywhere.
5.
Supplies & Support
How often has one of us ran out of food and or water on
these things? Even if your super-prepared (which is what
we'd expect)... crap happens. So we rely on each other...
And we always take care of each other... To bring someone
in who has no regard for that would just plain suck...
The simple fact that we've not had one of these people
on a ride in quite some time is a testimony that most
folks are nice... And also that we're hyper selective.
We'd like to make sure everyone is compatible and having
a good time.
6. We ride for the slowest person
We respect each riders space No rubbing rear wheels, no
blowing past fellow riders at mach 6, no stalling on uphills
and just standing there, bogging down the rest of the
ride, no angry stares and please, no racing... That's
what the MCA is for. Lane discipline and courtesy are
obligatory... So, also, is helping those who need help...
Courtesy is de-rigueur.
7.
Follow the leader
Designated ride leader sets the pace, we all follow and
enjoy... We go ahead of the ride leader when told to but
we keep the pace and wait at the next appropriate flat
or intersection.
8. We take pictures
No bitching about that, it's what we do... Just sit back
and enjoy. It'll give you something to do when you're
laid up with a broken leg later.
9. We abide by Gord's Ride Etiquette
If you need a refresher on the subject, may we suggest checking out our ride etiquette page HERE.
10. We take the risks seriously and we come prepared.
We made a list, it's a long one... Perhaps you won't need EVERYTHING
on it but it seems like we find a way to pack 90% of it
with us on most rides... And even when we don't... We always miss that
one thing we didn't bring.
For the complete
list, click HERE.
12. Enjoy, here's a little video montage of our favorite Epic Ride; Ingolf:
.
WELCOME TO THE CLUB! Gord's Bike Club is a not-for-profit entity that has been around since well before Gord's Ski and Bike... Unofficially, anyways. As Gord Reid (our founder) would lead rides, organize races and help out fellow riders since the 1940's with his patented zest for the sport.
Gord's Bike Club re-emerged in the late 90's as a small group of customers and one shiny new staff member decided to re-inject some energy into a somewhat dormant entity, the Wednesday Night Ride. Everything has snowballed since Gavin, Matt, John, JF and Steve (The Ride) Anderson restarted the whole enchilada in 1999.
Gord's Bike Club, is a non-elitist gathering of like-minded folk who share a gregarious need to get out and ride their bikes with a smile on their faces, a need to escape reality (even if just for a Wednesday evening), a need to be outside and laugh, a need to be active, a need to push the boundaries of their back yard, a need to get less fat.
Check out our 2007 Gord's Bike Club pamphlet by clicking HERE.
Whatever the reason we ride, we do it together, we make friends, we encourage each other ad we make the day better by doing something unique and FUN. Read more about the way we do things by perusing through our list of club-related links just above here.
FEE
The membership fee for 2008 is $49 for a non-racing member, $25 if you are a Kid's of Mud kid... and it comes with a healthy list of perks and shwag... Not the least is a free massage from our good friends at Symmetry Massage Therapy symmetrymassage.com.
MEMBERSHIP REQUIRED
All riders must be paid members.We hold bring-a-buddy events three times a summer for those suffering from commitment phobia and wishing to try out a ride before joining. Each "buddy" must be sponsored by a member.
WHEN DO WE RIDE
We currently hold rides on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. more might be added as demand dictates. (For example: We're planning an early Saturday Morning Road Ride for spring of 2007) Click on the hyperlinked days to see what we're doing ride-wise.
HOW LONG DO WE RIDE
Great question. Depends on the ride... But we rarely ride for less that 2 hours... and then again, it depends on what ride we're on... Some rides are punctuated with many breaks, some, like the road rides, just go. We're very rider-driven so it depends on who's along. Remember, we happily ride for the slowest rider.
SKILL REQUIRED Depends on the ride. Our recommendation, if you're not sure, is to start off with our tame Tuesday Night Family Rides or one of our Thursday Night Learn-to-Ride-Better Rides... Then work up to our Wednesday Night Rides and then just follow your nose. The biggest mistake potential riders make is the perennial "I'll get started on my own and join in when I've done a few rides by myself" it unfortunately doesn't work too well that way. The 'herd' starts off at the start of the season at a very slow pace and then as the season get's rolling it naturally inches its way to a faster pace... So if you want to hop on the train, get on when we're all rusty... the last thing you want to do is hop on a Wednesday Night Ride in October... the train, while still no bullet train, is nonetheless moving along at quicker pace at that point.
PICTURES
On certain rides we take pictures. Many pictures. It provides people with memories (with your membership you have access to our entire library of pics... from 2002 until now), ride pictures provides us a tool to promote riding and a healthy lifestyle... And it keeps those rides from becoming races. We've been doing it since day one and we're not intending on changing that just yet... so deal with it and for Pete's sake, SMILE!
REQUIRED HEAD-GEAR
All rides are helmet, patience and sense-of-humor mandatory. If you are a die hard curmudgeon hammerhead who dislikes the company of others and derives satisfaction from incessant complaining and/or the practice of cutting other riders off and showing no respect for your fellow ride participant... If that's you, may we humbly suggest another club's ride instead? For while we profess that "everyone's welcome" we do unfortunately have a distaste for crotchety or impatient folk that make rides unpleasant. We're all in it for the fun of it. No one is forcing those people to ride with us. Come in with the right frame of mind and everyone has a blast. Simple.
GEAR Right after the helmet, you'll need the following: [1] a bike that is trail-worthy (if it says "Supercycle" or "CCM" or "Infinity" or "Jeep" or "Sears" on the side of it, that's not a good sign). Your bike must have functioning brakes, tires and gears and it must pass a summary inspection showing it's in good working order. [2] you'll next need some sort of hydration (most of us use Camelbacks) and some type of food (our rides last a few hours so food and water is recommended). [3] we suggest (these are not mandatory) Bike shorts and gloves (for comfort's sake).
SCHEDULE
Check out our tentative 2007 ride schedule HERE.
Should you have any questions, please contact JF@Gords.com or click on the links above for more information Gord's Bike Club and its unique culture.
WE'RE GOING
RACING
We're looking to add some riders to our ranks. If you feel the need for speed, have a healthy sense of humor about it all and let's not kid ourselves, we're mostly doing this for fun of it all. Simply drop us a line at Racing@Gords.com and introduce yourself to our team manager, Ryan Loiselle. He'll let you know what's involved with joining our racing team.
YES,
RIDE
ETIQUETTE
Formulated
by IMBA, the International Mountain Bicycling Association.
These common-sense rules are recognized around the world
as the standard code of conduct for mountain bikers. If you wish to ride with Gord's Bike Club, it's the law of the ride. For the IMBA rules of the trail with our slight spin on them, please click on the link below.
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:
Gord's Bike Club re-emerged in the late 90's as a small group of customers and one shiny new staff member decided to re-inject some energy into a somewhat dormant entity, the Wednesday Night Ride. Everything has snowballed since Gavin, Matt, John, JF and Steve (The Ride) Anderson restarted the whole enchilada in 1999.
Depends on the ride. Our recommendation, if you're not sure, is to start off with our tame Tuesday Night Family Rides or one of our Thursday Night Learn-to-Ride-Better Rides... Then work up to our Wednesday Night Rides and then just follow your nose. The biggest mistake potential riders make is the perennial "I'll get started on my own and join in when I've done a few rides by myself" it unfortunately doesn't work too well that way. The 'herd' starts off at the start of the season at a very slow pace and then as the season get's rolling it naturally inches its way to a faster pace... So if you want to hop on the train, get on when we're all rusty... the last thing you want to do is hop on a Wednesday Night Ride in October... the train, while still no bullet train, is nonetheless moving along at quicker pace at that point. 
Right after the helmet, you'll need the following: [1] a bike that is trail-worthy (if it says "Supercycle" or "CCM" or "Infinity" or "Jeep" or "Sears" on the side of it, that's not a good sign). Your bike must have functioning brakes, tires and gears and it must pass a summary inspection showing it's in good working order. [2] you'll next need some sort of hydration (most of us use Camelbacks) and some type of food (our rides last a few hours so food and water is recommended). [3] we suggest (these are not mandatory) Bike shorts and gloves (for comfort's sake).
Attention all bike lovers! Gord's is very proud to announce that we'll be offering 
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.