calgary 2012 in pictures

three guys set out from peg city heading west

Mike in the back, not happy

 First stop at 1am in MooseJaw

 Bikes next to the bed is the only way to get some rest

 in the crazy wind and rain the wiper blade tried to make a break for it. luckily a good bike mechanic can fix anything with a zip tie

 half way, one case of red rain in

 best form of advertising, wrap a hay bail in a beer label

 sorry guys, we're already jam packed

 world's largest tipi? We decided that doesn't qualify

 100km/h winds tried to rip the bikes clean off the roof

 broken chain the night before the competition

 1 hour before comp, it starts snowing

 last minute preparations to get Mike's bike ready for me to use in the competition

 the comp took place at Blackfoot Mototrials Park

 slippery tire death section

 street tires in the mud

 picked up a new chain from MEC to get this baby back up and running

 shredding it up at Max Bell Centre

 rocks plus snow and ice =

.... falling

 -7 C rides call for timbits and coffee

 6am, back on the road

 a view of the roof

 when man's best friend gets sick of sitting at home

 too much driving killed off Mikey

who's fat?

On Wednesday Adrian and i decided to take our fat bikes out for a trail ride before the snow came in.

Tons of fun was had.

We brought my go pro as well.

Lots of filming took place.

At some point my go pro mount snapped.

We spent a lot of time retracing our tracks

Eventually it was found in a pile of leaves.

 I named the video "Needle in the hay" 

Today i woke up to the white stuff out my front window so i decided it was a good day to throw on the few new bits i got for my pugsley.

First off i got a set of deore touring levers that feature a longer lever blade.

 I also got an Xt front deralieur and shifter, thus eliminating the need for me to swap out my summer 29er gear for the winter fat tire gear.

 Chain Clearance is a little tight in the 28-36

 As a note to anyone setting up a disc brake, PAY COMPLETE F*&%$NG ATTENTION!!!
I was talking to someone and got my finger caught between the rotor and fork. Luckily i pulled back as it happened so it wasnt too bad in the end. I spent 10 min applying pressure while swearing to get the bleeding to stop.

That is all for now, Tune in next time when we might just mix Fat bikes with our other cycling passion....

Rum Fu Friday

So this is the time of the week that i like to experiment by combining two things i love just to see what happens. The two ingredients i choose are Kung Fu movies and rum, so the result is always pure awesome.

this week i have chosen the film The Four, mostly because it is the most recent film featuring Yifei Liu, whom i first saw in The Forbidden Kingdom. It can be watched on youtube here

The rum for this week is Rondiaz 93  (46.5%)

Although this rum boasts an award winning Barbados aged taste, it's produced in Princeton, Minnesota. When trying a new brand of liquor, i prefer to take a straight shot in order to get a real undiluted taste. There is a definite vanilla flavour to this rum, but the after taste eludes to a good hangover tomorrow...

been a while

Wow, so it has been a long time since there has been a post here. That's not to say there has been nothing note-worthy to post, just that as of late i have been slacking. Anyways, these last weeks i have been trying to organize some filming shoots to wrap up a peg city trials video for this year but it just doesn't seem to be working out. There are several locations around the city that i have been eyeing up and on a scouting ride last week, i took these pictures to give you a little teaser!

Hopefully the weather will hold and i can these lines canned!  Stay tuned folks

"Which way to Stead?!?"

So this Saturday i will be embarking on my first ever bikepacking trip. Its not a long trip and probably isn't that difficult for most people, but for me it's gonna be hard. The idea is to ride from my apartment in downtown and make my way up the transcanada trail on the way to Stead, than camp over night and race the next day before heading back home.

From my door to stead it should be aboot 96km to reach my destinastion in a direct route. Not necisarily a long ride however, but also probably the longest i have ever done and this time i will have to carry a tent, sleeping bag and all the other items i will need for two days on the bike.

 This will be the first time using my new sleeping bag and tent (which i am quite excited aboot) as well as my frame bag. I've chosen to ride my Pugsley setup with 29er wheels rather than my flash. I think the larger wheels will be advantageous for the long open stretches of non-technical terrain, filled with sand and gravel.

More pictures and story to follow!

fresh coats

i recently met up with Paul at villain motorsports  and got my fat rims and echo frameset painted. He was great to deal with. Very reasonable pricing, quick turn around and the quality of work is top notch.

 rolling darylls in blue, did a really good job of covering up the swiss cheez look i gave em

 Red Wine w/ a silver metal flake. no matter what lighting i use pictures don't do this color justice. Best looking trials frame i've owned, kind of a shame it won't look this good for long...

 Paul did a really good job of masking off all the important parts

now if only i can find time to build it up