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Questions
about the MTB Club? Ask JF at JF@Gords.com, he'd be happy
to reply to your query. |
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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 |
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The gang at Garbage Hill : Photo JF Ravenelle
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THE RIDE LIST
 Gord's Bike Club Offers several rides during any given week. From organized rides to impromptu rides that we email our membership about as they come together. We mostly offer Mountain-Bike rides with some road-rides here and there (Ryan will let us know when those start up soon). Here, for you to peruse, is our list of rides complete with their respective website links.
We currently run 5 "open" city rides as well as an by-invitation-only Sunday Epic Ride. Weeknight Rides are open to all provided you're a member and you agree to adhere to our simple, common-sense derived rules of engagement:
Please keep in mind that no ride is guaranteed to happen. While some of you will ride through sleet, hard rain and snow, all Gord's rides are weather dependant and subject to change and/or possible cancellation (things come up, like ride-leader availabilities, scheduling conflicts, special events and such). While we try hard to make every ride happen, you might want to call ahead, just in case.
Tuesday Night Family Rides
When: Tuesday Nights 6:30pm at L2 (Kenaston) Starting May 06 '08.
What level: Novice and up.
Ride Host/Leader: MikeTwo, Dean3, Carmen (volunteers welcome).
Ride Pace: Easy going, Trailer and Trail-a-Bike friendly. Accompanied, accomplished kid riders welcome (all riders must be Gord's Bike Club members).
Tech Support: n/a (bring your own tools, tube and pump).
Ride length: 2 hours
Open to: All club members.
Trail Selection: Mostly packed/paved trails, Fort Whyte, Assiniboine Park.
Synopsis: Great starter ride for rank newbies, relaxed pace, easy terrain.
Website: http://gords.com/bikes_club_tnrr.html
Wednesday Night Rides
When: Wednesday Nights 6:00pm at L1 (Donald) Starting April 16 '08.
What level: Intermediate and up.
Ride Host/Leader: JF, MikeTwo, Gavin, Dean3, Coppens.
Ride Pace: Moderate pace fractionaly increasing as the season progresses while always riding to the slowest rider (all riders must be Gord's Bike Club members).
Tech Support: All WNR's feature full tech support. Staffed and Paid for by Gord's Ski and Bike.
Ride length: 2.5 to 3.5 hours.
Open to: All club members.
Trail Selection: Wide variety of trails, selection based on number of participants and group ability.
Synopsis: The grandaddy and most irreverant of all our rides, WNR's are like "JR Ewing": the ride most people love to hate. "Too many people", "Not fast enough", "Not technical enough" yet it is by-far the most popular ride we run. Attendance regularly hovers between 30 and 50 riders. A very social ride, WNR's always culminate with a late-night stop for food and beverage.
Website: http://www.gords.com/bikes_club_wnr.html
Thursday Night Rides
When: Three times a month Thursday Nights 6:00pm at L1 (Donald) Starting April 24 '08.
What level: Intermediate and up.
Ride Host/Leader: JF, Dean3, Coppens.
Ride Pace: Moderate pace fractionaly increasing as the season progresses while always riding to the slowest rider (all riders must be Gord's Bike Club members).
Tech Support: n/a (bring your own tools, tube and pump).
Ride length: 2.5 to 3.5 hours.
Open to: All club members.
Trail Selection: Wide variety of trails, selection based on number of participants and group ability.
Synopsis: An overflow ride that was born of the success of the wildly popular Wednesday Night Rides, Thursday Night Rides are a tic faster, slightly less formal and a wee-bit more rambunctious than WNR’s. That being said, fear not we still strive to leave no-one behind while making sure laughter and irreverence are a key component.
Website: http://www.gords.com/bikes_club_tnr.html
Thursday Night Ride Clinics
When: Once a month, Thursday Nights 6:00pm at L1 (Donald) Starting May 1
What level: All abilities welcome MUST PRE-REGISTER by emailing JF@Gords.com.
Ride Host/Leader: JF, JL, Rodney, Coppens and others
Ride Pace: Bike skills instruction.
Tech Support: n/a (bring your own tools, tube and pump).
Ride length: 2 hours +
Open to: All club members.
Trail Selection: Forks
Synopsis: An informal gathering of riders with talent and riders without followed by an exchange of ideas, tips and techniques... This is how some of us get better.
Website: http://www.gords.com/bikes_club_rideclinics.html
Saturday City Epic Rides
When: Every Saturday afternoon at L1 or L2 Starting April 26 '08.
What level: All abilities welcome, Ride tailored to participants MUST PRE-REGISTER by emailing JF@Gords.com.
Ride Host/Leader: JF, Cat, Varies
Ride Pace: Depends on participants.
Tech Support: n/a (bring your own tools, tube and pump).
Ride length: 3 hours +
Open to: All club members.
Trail Selection: Varied
Synopsis: New for '08, our Saturday rides were designed to cater to those poor folks who can't make weeknight rides. We'll have guest ride-hosts throughout the summer including a girls-only ride once a month.
Sunday Epic Rides
When: Every Single Sunday Starting April 27 '08.
What level: Intermediate and up MUST PRE-REGISTER by emailing JF@Gords.com.
Ride Host/Leader: JF, Gavin, Cat, Rocky and Reeko.
Ride Pace: Marathon pace depending on participants, time of year and ride location.
Tech Support: n/a (bring your own tools, tube and pump).
Ride length: 5 hours +
Open to: Invited club members, must have attended several city rides and taken the time to introduce themselves to ride leaders.
Trail Selection: Outside of the city, Whiteshell, Spruce Woods, Riding Mountain, Ontario, Brandon Hills and other destinations, Technical and varied based on destination.
Synopsis: 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. 4.5+ hours of picture taking, laughing, constant nattering, great views, great company, friendly ribbing... oh and amazing biking.
Website: http://www.gords.com/bikes_club_epic.html
Here's to riding together soon!
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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 unique and FUN. If this sounds appealing to you, please take a moment to read more about our little club on these pages starting perhaps with our "rides" page here: 
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.
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
$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
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:
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).
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. |
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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.
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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.
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Attention all bike lovers! Gord's is very proud to announce that we'll be offering