 |
|
|
|
 |
 |
Questions
about the MTB Club? Ask JF at JF@Gords.com, he'd be happy
to reply to your query. |
|
|
|
 |
Gord's Ski & Bike
2 Locations to serve you better!
[L1]
2 Donald St
Winnipeg, Manitoba
CANADA | 204.284.2952
[L2]
1765 Kenaston Blvd
Winnipeg, Manitoba
CANADA | 204.269.2952
info@Gords.com
1.877.GORDS.61 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
 |
The gang, in the dark at, you guessed it, Ingolf: Photo JF Ravenelle
|
A FEW RIDE RECAPS
Curious to read about how some of rides unfearl? Here we'll post random ride recaps, n no particular order and clearly written by biased individuals with no concept of grammar, punctuation or capitalization, even.
Sit back, relax, leave your OCD in your pocket and allow us to regale you with tales of sweet bike rides amongst friends.
NIGHT TIME
IS THE RIGHT TIME
 We're big fans of riding in the dark. Ride the same trail in the dark and it comes alive with a much greater intensity and an increased level of difficulty. Plus nothing beats roaming the city at night on a bike with ten or so other riders... (or for that matter riding out in the Whiteshell in the middle of the night). Provided you have the adequate lighting system it's truly a great cycling experience that one absolutely must experience once in order to crave it again and again. 
EAGLE HEAD LAKE
 No, there is no such lake on any map... It's a name that we gave to an unnamed lake near the trailhead of a special project of Gord's Bike Club. You see, it's one thing to sell bikes (and damned good bikes at that) but altogether another thing to make sure our customers have somewhere to ride said bikes.
That's why we're so very much involved with IMBA and why we spend so much time and money building and maintaining trails. Eagle Head Lake is our baby, our pride and joy... probably because we created it from scratch. We've been working on it for the better part of a year now and it's simply awesome! Yes, it's quite a bit technical and yes, it's 2 hours outside of the city but man, is it
worth it. Open to everyone, it's probably best savored on one of Gord's Bike Club's infamous Epic Rides...
PANORAMA!
Before I start, let me make you a promise that I’ll do my very best to try and modulate the superlatives during my daily recount of our annual 6 day trip to beautiful Panorama Mountain Resort. After all, who wants to read seven paragraphs a day laden with the overt and repetitive use of the words wow, amazing, killer, awesome, sweet, fantastic, sensational, jaw-dropping and incredible?
JUNE 28 2009 RIDE RECAP
 First our Weekly Epic Ride; After obsessing over where to go and the stupid weather… watching the weather radar and clearly seeing that East was not the way to go because of substantial precipitation… In the spirit of the Clear-Lake Massacre (where we decided to ignore not one but two GPS units) we decided to go East and see if perhaps we could will the skies to
be cooperative. Well as you may have guessed our will is no match for mother nature and the skies did indeed dump onto our sorry asses. And rain, and rain and a few moments of non rain followed by hurricane-force winds and the cutting,  disposal and removal of a dozen fallen trees (let’s not add up the many trees that we were not able to move from our path) … we ended up having
a phenomenal ride and setting the following benchmark: We have determined that 17 degrees and rain is lots of fun to ride in. Fun it was. With treacherous slick rock and insanely slippery bridge sections and great, great riding buddies we came back to the truck unhurt and smiling… very happy we decided to not give in to the urge to drive back home (we had turned back to drive away when I thought “we’ve never driven home from a ride before… this NOT something
I wanted to set as a precedent”). Get a damned rain jacket and ride in the rain… it will set you free! Check out the pics here.
 Second on the docket was Cat and Jenn Holmes’ first triathlon of the year in St Malo… Cat and Jenn proving the theory that training and preparation are for pussies (Neither Cat or Jenn had swam for over a year) Proof positive: Cat simply dominated the sprint distance and beating every woman out there (quite the feat when you’re made aware that she swims like a boat
anchor and runs like she’s pulling a plow)… That’s all well and nice but what we really care about (being a bike club and all) is that Cat managed to beat EVERYONE except 5 men in the bike section… not bad for a girl that trains for road riding by mountain biking. Congratulations Catherine (I call her Catherine… It pisses her off so I recommend you do it too). Kudos to Jenn (aka Bleeder) for managing to crash on the run just so she could meet some cute paramedic
(amazing what the girl will do for a guy in a uniform)… Oh and let’s not forget Darci, our newest photographer and official support team for Gord’s triathlon team Horbatiuk/Holmes. You girls rock! Check out the pics here:
CANADA DAY RIDE RECAP
 Gord's Annual Canada Day Ride was an absolute success!... Ingolf was absolutely amazing, the company was superlative and the post ride beverages and bacon wrapped BBQ'd smokies were delicious thanks for being a great cook, JT!)… We made a new friend in Stephen Semeniuk from Dryden’s bike club “Dryden Ghost Riders”. Stephen came out, sampled
Ingolf, helped us clear a dozen trees that had fallen onto the trail and proved to be one hell of a good riding buddy. We’ll be sure to visit him and the great trails he waxed poetic about soon as we plan to drive out to Dryden for some riding in the near future.
 I’d also like to take this opportunity to raise a glass to veteran club member Carmen Reynolds who decided to get back on her bike after having given birth to the lovely Gabrielle just 5 weeks ago… To say that she used to ride with us lots would be an understatement, Carmen is a big part of why Gord's bike Club is what it is today. 
What courage to decide to make Ingolf her venue to get back on the saddle! I’m sure she’d be the first to thank her partner Shawn for making it all possible as he drove out with her and their two beautiful girls so Carmen could feed Gabrielle, jump on the bike and get back in time for the next feeding. What a guy, what a family… quietly proving that having kids need not not spell the end of the love of a sport. What teamwork. You guys are an inspiration. Way
to ride like a champ Carmen. We're all very proud of you and happy you came out riding with us!
Check back soon for more!
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
| 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.
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 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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Attention all bike lovers! Gord's is very proud to announce that we'll be offering