The team,
back from Wildcat New-Hamp shire, Sunday River Maine, Bretton
Woods New-Hampshire, Owl's Head Quebec , Chanteclerc Quebec
and Tremblant, vQuebec... Back from having tested every single
ski and board we could get our hands on in order to help
sele ct the very best for you, our valued customers. There's
simply so much to chose from so for us, there's no other
way than to test, test, test and test some more. Read more
about our excellent testing adventures, the crew that made
it the best trip ever and how we go about selecting what
skis and boards to go on our wall. It's a unique process
that we obviously enjoy lots and one that we're quite proud
of. It's amazing that very few shops go about it this way...
But it's the way we go about it. Check out the whole story,
complete with the pre-requisite color pictures right HERE.
Check back often as we add stuff.
.
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-negociable. 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 The membership fees for 2010 are multi leveled.
[1]
The first option is an Associate Membership that can be obtained for $29.95. This membership allows you to join our many organized city rides.
[2] The second is our City Membership. It costs $49.95 and it allows you the same priviledges as the associate membership but also includes in-store discounts as well as front-of-the line tech shop priviledges and a few other perks that make this our most popular membership option for those who only ride in the city or on weeknights.
[3] Our third membership is our Epic Ride Membership. This level costs $69.95 and includes all of the options enumerated above as well as the ability to join us on weekend Epic Rides.
[4] Finaly our fourth membership is our Trailbuilder Membership. This level has a cost of $99.95 and comes with a long list of benefits, not the least is special recognition as a pillar of our bike club. Those participating at this level are key contributors to the clubas their membership fee goes towards trailbuilding operating costs. These folks are thye backbone of our trailbuilding and trail maintenance efforts.
Please note that since the club is a not-for profit we certainly don't want people who join to think it's like Shapes where they are "buying" anything. Your membership fee goes directly towardssome of the expenses of operating the club such as insurance, the IMBA and a few things like Radios, shovels, tubes and ride supplies... ect. Gord's Ski and Bike covers the other 80% of the cost of running the club... Kindly consider that when deciding where to buy your next socks, tires, pump or bike for that matter. One thing is certain, you only get out (of a club like this) as much as you put in.
$10 TEST RIDE
So you have commitment issues that prohibit you from jumping into anything without first dipping your toes in to test the temperature? It’s OK, we’ve finally given into your type and we’re now offering a one-time only Test Ride for a non-refundable fee of $10 (plus tax).
Available only on Wednesday Night Rides, this Test Ride must be arranged at least 30 minutes before the start of any WNR (there’s some paperwork involved). and allows you to join in on our most popular ride for one evening. We hope you’ll take advantage of this great offer and join us! Remember: “Test Rides” are only available on WNR’s.
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 cumpolsory, 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.
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 cat@gords.com and introduce yourself to our team manager, Cat Horbatiuk. She'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 happen 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.
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 
The membership fees for 2010 are multi leveled. 
[4] Finaly our fourth membership is our Trailbuilder Membership. This level has a cost of $99.95 and comes with a long list of benefits, not the least is special recognition as a pillar of our bike club. Those participating at this level are key contributors to the clubas their membership fee goes towards trailbuilding operating costs. These folks are thye backbone of our trailbuilding and trail maintenance efforts.
We currently hold rides on 
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. 
All rides are helmet cumpolsory, patience 
Attention all bike lovers! Gord's is very proud to announce that we'll be offering