ONE TRAIL AT A TIME There's no doubt to us that we have to give back. And since what we do is ride a lot, why not do something not too altruistic yet beneficial for everyone who rides... We decided we'd build, maintain and save trails.
All our Gord's Bike Club members are also members of IMBA (International Mountain Bike Association) and as such we have a duty to take care and build the trails that we need in order to continue riding our bikes.
The following is a small sampling of trailbuilding and trail maintenance we've been involvd with. A chronicle (kinda) of our efforts to secure and enhance sweet places to ride.
We hope you'll find our trails, bridges and other efforts worthy of sampling... We also hope you'll consider joining us.
Eagle Head Lake
In 2007 Gavin, Cat Andrew and I came upon this rock ridge on our way to the north entrance to our famed Ingolf loop... We stopped for a few minutes, unloaded our bikes and pedaled around just long enough to realize that we had to come back one day... and explore this amazing piece of real-estate.
Our first visit to "Eagle Head Lake" (as we've decided to call the trailhead) in 2008 was a real eye opener. It was indeed what we thought it would be... and so much more. We mapped out a loop of the lake that we named Karla's loop... lots of sweet terrain. Exceptional, jaw dropping vistas, we just had to come back and do some more exploring.
July 6 2008 we did just that. Armed the token Newbie (Brian) vets and semi-vets Tony,Andrew, Gavin, Scott Sinclair, Gavin, Karla, JT and JF we set out to not only ride what had already been mapped but to also press forward to see if we could access our "slick rock" holy grail... What we bumped into went beyond the original plan... a simply fantastic climb all the way to the Cross at the top of "Gord's Peak". What came next was simply awesome. With the help of Karla (and let's not forget Andrew's GPS) we came oh-so close to what looks like some pretty amazing riding ahead... Great riding, unexpected terrain, some hiking and a great contribution from all that came out... Nothing is quite as exciting as coming around a corner onto a lookout with a view few humans have ever laid eyes on... and you're riding your bike... WICKED! check out the videos here and read more about Eagle Head Lake here
Bog Bridge to Pine Ridge: Sometime in 2007 we decided to head out to Falcon Ridge for an exercise in MTB bridge building... There was this bog... never fun to cross on foot and hardly passable by bike that we wanted to circumvent... So we thought "let's build a bridge!" and so we did... Here's the story that ensued: I hope y'all had a great long weekend devoid of stuff like bogging down your 4x4 pickup truck in calf-deep mud and clay in the middle of nowhere with no hope in hell of rescue. I hope you spent your Sunday doing something else than taking about 5 hours to dislodge said 4x4 by using various methods such as jacking up each wheel in order to place wood and rocks under each of them in order to move forward inch by inch while trying not to sink knee deep in previously mentioned muck ... utilizing techniques like praying and using 5 friends to push.
Once finally out and comfortably back at the ski chalet (generously supplied by the owners of Falcon Ridge). You might have thought to yourself "let's go back" and spent the rest of the day building one bitchin' bridge that you spent Monday (right after the deluge) completing. Well that's what Gavin, Kelvin, Dean3 and JF did (with much help getting the truck out from Annandale and Les).
Indeed we got JF's F150 unstuck deep off-road while doing recon for our latest trail-building project: A troublesome near-impassable bog on one of our favorite pieces of trail anywhere. Thanks to the generous donation of lumber from Michelle A. and Gord's as well as the much appreciated loan of a Stihl chainsaw from ABC tools on Regent (thanks to our Bike Club member Kelvin "ultimate" Dyck). We're quite proud of the final outcome, this bridge rocks.
Gord's Run to Togo:
It was a long time overdue. For Gord's MTB Club to get out there and do some much needed trail maintenance. The call went out to the club mid summer 2006 and 18 volunteers stepped-up and made it happen: Our first trail-building and maintenance experience. We picked one project and decided we'd start small with the reclaiming of an old, unused trail that winds along the red river between the Norwood bridge and the River City car wash. A trail that a Gord's Employee (Ryan Loiselle) and a few buddies started half a decade ago.
Check out the map lower down.
We decided to name it Gord's Run to Togo in part because the trail ends on Togo Avenue, site of the original Gord's Ski Centre... way back in 1961, in the coat check of what was then the Winnipeg Ski Club. It's been an ongoing project ever since. We've laid down well over 200 feet of wooden bridge, spent many, many hours bushwhacking and grooming
and we're still far from being done.
The next phases of our little project will include more trail maintenance, to build and lay down more features and complete the extension of our
newly reclaimed trail all the way to Togo Street (where the Winnipeg Ski Club used to reside. Site of the original Gord's) as well as the building and installation of even more ladder bridges.
Read lower as we log the major trail-building moments (the minor stuff we do needs-not be chronicled).
May 31 2007
We spent a bunch of JF and Jeremiah's money getting lumber (thanks for the donation Jeremiah)
to start the build on 5 bridge sections for later install on Gord's Run To Togo. At the end of the evening we'd built some of the nicest ladder bridges... Can't wait to install them next Tuesday. Thanks to Darren, Les, Jeremiah, Jenn2 and anyone else that was there (brain gas).
June 05 2007 I went to visit Carmen and her new baby girl and shortly thereafter proceeded to meet up with the gang behind the River City Car Wash. Shannon, Chris G, Garth, Jeff N, Les, Jason, Rodney and Cody... All showed up with tools and smiles for a evening of trail-building. We stopped by Gord's L2 to pick-up what the gang had build on Thursday the 31st of May. What a great team of volunteers... and what a great job done we installed the bridges, got a little creative and voila! The bridge looks fantastic and Jeff, Chris and Rod all proclaimed it to be nicely rideable. I can't wait until our next ride to try it out.
Check out the pics HERE.
May 25 2008 Chris Endo, Catherine, Justin, Scott, Gavin, JF and Jared spent most of our Sunday afternoon and evening building wooden ladder bridges that we promptly took out to Gord's Run to Togo to install... $300+ of wood and screws (paid by Gord's and funds we raised at Gord's Bike Club Open House) a great big thank you to John and Chris D who, even though they couldn't help out due to prior commitments and freak injuries, still drove over to L2 with supplies and power tools for us to use (thanks guys!). The end result is nothing short of kinda cool. Two new large bridge sections of varying technical difficulty that are sure to challenge us all. Check out the video below.
Make sure to check back for more updates.
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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-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.
Sometime in 2007 we decided to head out to Falcon Ridge for an exercise in MTB bridge building... There was this bog... never fun to cross on foot and hardly passable by bike that we wanted to circumvent... So we thought "let's build a bridge!" and so we did... Here's the story that ensued: I hope y'all had a great long weekend devoid of stuff like bogging down your 4x4 pickup truck in calf-deep mud and clay in the middle of nowhere with no hope in hell of rescue. I hope you spent your Sunday doing something else than taking about 5 hours to dislodge said 4x4 by using various methods such as jacking up each wheel in order to place wood and rocks under each of them in order to move forward inch by inch while trying not to sink knee deep in previously mentioned muck ... utilizing techniques like praying and using 5 friends to push.
Once finally out and comfortably back at the ski chalet (generously supplied by the owners of Falcon Ridge). You might have thought to yourself "let's go back" and spent the rest of the day building one bitchin' bridge that you spent Monday (right after the deluge) completing. Well that's what Gavin, Kelvin, Dean3 and JF did (with much help getting the truck out from Annandale and Les).
I went to visit Carmen and her new baby girl and shortly thereafter proceeded to meet up with the gang behind the River City Car Wash. Shannon, Chris G, Garth, Jeff N, Les, Jason, Rodney and Cody... All showed up with tools and smiles for a evening of trail-building. We stopped by Gord's L2 to pick-up what the gang had build on Thursday the 31st of May. What a great team of volunteers... and what a great job done we installed the bridges, got a little creative and voila! The bridge looks fantastic and Jeff, Chris and Rod all proclaimed it to be nicely rideable. I can't wait until our next ride to try it out.
Check out the pics 
Chris Endo, Catherine, Justin, Scott, Gavin, JF and Jared spent most of our Sunday afternoon and evening building wooden ladder bridges that we promptly took out to Gord's Run to Togo to install... $300+ of wood and screws (paid by Gord's and funds we raised at Gord's Bike Club Open House) a great big thank you to John and Chris D who, even though they couldn't help out due to prior commitments and freak injuries, still drove over to L2 with supplies and power tools for us to use (thanks guys!). The end result is nothing short of kinda cool. Two new large bridge sections of varying technical difficulty that are sure to challenge us all. Check out the video below.
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