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COME ON! JOIN US!
 Whatever the reason we ride, we do it together, we make friends, we encourage and laugh with each other and we make every day better by doing something positive that just happens to be unique, healthy and FUN for all involved. If thiskind of inclusive activity sounds appealing to you, please take a moment to read more about our little club right HERE and then perhaps check out what rides we host on our "rides" page right here: 
MEMBERSHIP REQUIRED
 This is a non-negotiable. All riders must be current, paid-up members. We hold bring-a-buddy events a few 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.
FEES & MEMBERSHIP OPTIONS
The membership fees for 2011 are multi leveled.
Associate Membership:
Simple, join the club, come on weeknight and weekend city rides, enjoy yourself and wonder why you didn't just pony up the extra twenty dollars to become a full-fledged member. (of course we're only partly kidding about some of the above) Seriously, this is the perfect membership if you're either [a] cheap or [b] are not too sure about this "bike club" thing.
Associate Membership: $29.95 plus taxes
Basic Membership:
So you want more out of your Bike Club? You want to ride the city, you want to get involved a bit more and heck, even ride more? Well then let's do this! The City Membership allows you the same privileges as the associate membership but also includes in-store discounts as well as front-of-the line tech shop privileges and a few other perks that make this our most popular membership option for those who only ride in the city or on weeknights.
Basic Membership: $49.95 plus taxes
Epic Ride Membership:
 You want to get out of the city, you want to see more, explore more, Ride More? you plan on "drinking the kool-aid" and embracing Gord's Bike Club herd concept (where we look out for each other)... Well then our second-most popular membership, the Epic Ride Membership may be for you!
Organizing Epic Rides takes quite a bit of a toll on our limited resources so we've been forced by pesky economics to charge a bit more for those wishing to partake on weekend out-of -town Epic Rides. Please note that you must
still oblige by Gord's Bike Club Ride Etiquette and our Rules of Engagement.
Wondering if you will be able to live up to the low skill standards we've set for "Epic Rides" then worry not, If you find yourself incompatible with our Epic Ride structure we'll gladly refund you the Epic Ride upcharge from a City Membership. After all, we're all about relaxed fun with zero pressure.
For those who are new and/or not familiar with the structure, it's pretty simple: If you sign up for an Epic Ride Membership, simply introduce yourself at a city ride (that's the most daunting step) to the ride leader and start making friends. Epic Ride members are required to get along and have a healthy sense of humor. Once the ice is broken it's all good, you're ready to join us on the next big adventure.
Epic Ride Membership:
$69 plus taxes
 Club Builder Membership:
First things first: A "Club Builder Membership" is a little bit about drinking the cool-aid, about taking ownership of the club. You know, supporting the cause.
As much as all our other memberships are about being part of the club, this level is about owning the club. Anyone can join at this level, we're not too picky, the more the merrier.
We used to call this membership the "Trail builder" membership, but some folks were confused since everyone (at every membership level) is encouraged to help build trails. Just made sense to call this membership level what it really is: Club Builder.
Our Club Builder membership is something of a club within a club...
These are the folks who have a vested interest in seeing this club grow, prosper and continue to carry-on its mission to introduce folks to this wonderful sport we love and carry-on its work in keeping trails open, bridges built (so we don't get too wet) and rides happening.
While every single club member has a part to play and a voice in what we do,
Club Builders are our steering committee, these guys and girls are the ones that step up when the club needs them and their extra $30 goes a long way to help us out in our trail-building and club building efforts.
Gord's Bike Club Club-Builder Membership comes with many extra perks designed to reward those who are dedicated to helping us build more places for us to ride. This elite group of boys and girls (think Team America World Police) who
need as a qualifier nothing more than to want to help, want to contribute or have grown bored with gardening.
Yes, the selection process is lax beyond comprehension and the short list of prequalifyers includes no skills whatsoever other than to have a good sense of humor and poses's the desire to help.
Club Builder Membership: $99 plus taxes.
Trail Builder Membership:
Like to build stuff? Enjoy the smell of chainsaws? Like building ladder bridges? Do you know your way around a shovel and a hoe? If you've answered yes to any of these and even if you have never met a hoe in your lifetime, we need your help! A "Trail Builder Membership" is somewhat synonymous with "the grunt patrol".
Be forewarned: a Gord's Bike Club Trail Builder Membership is not for everyone! One must first have (as we state often on here) a sense of humor and NOT be a crusty old bastard (we already have enough of those).
Your Trail Builder Membership
comes with substantial discounts on stuff you're likely to need for building trails (the dude or dudette in the Club Builder is ... like Dakine packs, Extra Bike Gloves, Bike Shoes, Socks, Clothing and such... PLUS it includes an Epic Ride Membership, special recognition on the website, priority on epic rides and inclusion in trail building classes and other neat stuff.
All trail-builder memberships come with at free "Trail Builder" T-shirt.
Trail Builder Membership: Add $10 plus taxes to any membership.
RULES
Rides are organized by volunteers and all are governed by our Rules of engagement and our Ride Etiquette.
WHEN DO WE RIDE? (SCHEDULE)
We currently hold rides on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays Saturdays and Sundays. more might be added as demand dictates. Click on the hyperlinked days above to see what we're doing ride-wise on what day or simply check out the following link for our complete ride listing on our ride page HERE. In case you've noticed, we do stay somewhat vague on scheduling... until you're in. THEN you get 4 emails a week with ride updates and ride invites and exact departure times and ride destinations.
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 compulsory, 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).
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. |
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 exclusively open to Gord’s Bike Club "Epic Ride" 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 outlign how your usual "Epic Ride" unfurls:
[E] Once we arrive at destination, everyone gets ready, we unload the bikes and head off onto the trails.
THE RIDE ITSELF is no race-pace 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.
THE COST While we do require that you have an "Epic Ride Membership" in order to join us (see Membership options for details) on Epic rides, there are costs such as vehicle costs, the racks that are on it, the staff that we often pay to guide and ride-support the group... Sure we split the gas... ($20 per person, $10 for your bike) 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 overly 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).
SUPPLIES & SUPPORT It's not often that someone has run out of food and or water on an epic but it does happen. Even if your super-prepared (which is what we'd expect)... crap happens. Often. So we must be able to rely on each other... And we always take care of each other.
RIDE WITH COURTESY AND PATIENCE 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.
