New Poll - What kind of mountain biker are you?

If you're viewing this post online at our blog, then you've probably noticed the giant poll sitting right above this post. I'm a sucker for polls, and I hope you are too.

I'd love to know a bit more about the people that read my blog. Are you a cross-country workhorse? Do you prefer to ride the lifts? Do you go it alone, or with a group?

Let's hear it!

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Weekend Wrenching: The Pre-Ride Checklist

This is a post I thought you might like from my friend Robb Sutton over at Mountain Biking by 198. If you're a passionate mountain biker you should definitely subscribe to his excellent blog.

Although we here in the Great White North are still blanketed in the white stuff, I know many of you are still riding or getting ready to ride. Enjoy this informative post!

Mike,
Sacred Rides

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It's time! Finally! The weather has cooperated enough and you and your group are heading out on a weekend epic. This isn't your regular Tuesday romp in the woods. This is going to be a ride to remember as you all suffer through some incredible mountain riding. These are rides that create memories. The views, the single track and the fellow riders are told in stories for years to come.

There is only one thing standing in the way of an incredible ride and a frustrating day out on the trail...mechanicals. Follow this pre-ride checklist to make sure that you don't have issues out on the trail. Take some time the night before to go thoroughly over the bike and bring a prepared steed to the trail.

Check Tire Pressure

This check needs to happen the night before and trailside before the ride. Air pressure is a funny animal. As the weather gets warmer, air expands and increases pressure. As air cools, it compresses and causes smaller air pressures in your tubes/tires. Check your air pressure to make sure it is at your desired setting. This is the perfect time to check for leaks or abnormalities in your tubes and tires. Change them the night before instead of finding the problem at the trailhead or even worse...while riding on the trail. If you need some help with determining what pressure level is ideal for your riding...check out this post.

Check Derailleur Alignment/Shifting

Nothing is more annoying on a ride than shifting that just won't cooperate. Place your bike in the stand and go through the gears. Make sure that each gear change is crisp and that there is no clicking or jumping at any gear location. After you are sure you have it correct in the stand, take your mountain bike out on the road and test it under load. Especially with full suspension mountain bikes, your shifting can act differently under load than when in the stand. Make adjustments as needed with the barrel adjusters, and reset the cable if it just will not shift correctly. Be sure to clean the entire drivetrain of any debris and re-lube the chain.

Check Shock Pressures

Just like with your air pressure in your tires, air pressure in your fork and rear shock on your mountain bike change with the weather and over time. Double check all of your pressure settings and sag. Typically, you want to run around 25% sag on the rear suspension for a cross country ride. This is measured by stroke length using the supplied rubber o-ring on the rear shock shaft. I will normally check these pressures during pre-ride preparations and carry a shock pump with me on the trail.

Check ALL Bolts

Imagine you are blasting down your favorite section of blissful mountain biking singletrack. You get that tacky soil, Superman feeling and nothing can go wrong or slow you down. All of the sudden you hit a small jump or rock and the handlebars flip around! You can't react in time and it's over the bars for you! This could have all been avoided! Just check and make sure all of your bolts on your mountain bike are securely fastened the night before the ride. I recommend using a torque wrench for this but even hand tightening is better than doing nothing at all.

Double Check Saddle Height and Levelness

Is levelness a word? If it isn't...it should be. Make sure that your saddle is at the correct height and that it is level. This will make your ride much more enjoyable and it will increase your efficiency on the trail.

Check All Axles

Check your quick releases or thru axles to make sure they are tight and secure. This one should be pretty self-explanatory!

Check Frame and Cables

Before every long ride, I do a once over of the entire frame and all of the cables to make sure that everything are in working order. Normally, I clean the bike first using Suzuki Wash so I can see the areas that may be stressed or cables that are frayed. Two things I do not normally carry with me on long rides are extra cables and a spare frame. Catastrophic failures in either area can end a great day on the trail quickly.

Check All Brakes and Brake Lines

Make sure your brakes are adjusted correctly and are ready for a full day of riding. With post mount disc brakes, it is extremely easy to adjust the calipers, so I normally readjust them before every long ride. IS mounted brakes are a little bit more involved by using washers to set the caliper positioning, so as long as they are not dragging…I leave them alone.

After The Bike Checklist

After I have gone over the entire bike, it is time to get everything together for the ride. What do I bring with me? Check out this post for a complete listing.

Getting everything ready the night before these mountain biking adventures makes my morning much more enjoyable. I am able to get my coffee, load the bike and head on my way. Trying to scramble the day of gets my morning started the wrong way and takes away from the overall experience. Is there anything else that you guys do the night before a long, epic mountain bike ride? (pray for the legs to get through it…)

A new day in America and the world

Warning: this post has nothing to do with mountain biking. Sorry - sometimes I realize that there is a world beyond two wheels and dirt. If you want something mountain bike related, check out our YouTube channel, chock full of cool mountain bike vids from around the world.

Wow, what a day Jan. 20, 2009 turned out to be. Yesterday I sat with about 80 other people at the Centre for Social Innovation and watched Barack Obama get sworn in as the 44th president of the United States, on Martin Luther King day. The significance and timing of his inauguration was not lost on any of the people there, nor on the nearly 2,000,000 people who went to Washington to watch it live. The fact that it happened just a little more than a generation later after King's "I have a dream" speech is simply stunning. It proves once again that in America, anything is possible.

And while anything is possible in the grand ole U.S. of A., what is certain is that America is hurting right now. From a deep economic meltdown, to two seemingly interminable foreign wars, to a worldwide ecological crisis of which America is playing a major role, there is no shortage of doom and gloom purveyed on the screens and news pages of our neighbours to the south. America is hurting.

Which is why Barack's inauguration speech was such an amazing piece of writing and oratory. To offer hope in the midst of despair is no easy feat, yet Obama and his 27-year-old speechwriter Jon Favreau managed to do just that. Brilliantly penned by Favreau and flawlessly delivered by Obama, the speech was made all that more remarkable by the contrast it offered to 8 years of the Bush administration. Instead of fear and division, the speech inspired hope and reconciliation.

As I listened, I found myself getting swept up deeper into the Obama myth. There is something about him that inspires us all and touches a deeper human chord. Everything that I wanted to hear from a U.S. president - that was so sadly lacking during the past 8 years - was there: addressing climate change, promoting peace and understanding worldwide, adopting a more humble stance in the world, sowing sustainable economies, addressing domestic and international poverty... everything I've ever wanted to hear from a political leader and a wonderful image of what a just and peaceful world would look like, and America's role in it.

Whether Obama and his administration can pull off what he has promised remains to be seen. Yet something more important than just one man and one government has emerged from this election: the notion of responsibility. This was a topic Obama touched on several times in his speech - the notion that it is not just America's president and its government that has a responsibility, but its citizens as well. Echoing JKF's "ask not what your country can do for you..." speech, Obama's oratory reminded America's citizens that democracy is not a top-down institution, but one that springs forth from the roots, and that democracy must be practiced every day by its citizens, in the practice of community involvement, engagment in the political process and more importantly, in looking out for one another.

I am looking forward to seeing the changes that occur in America and in the world over the next decade, and I know Obama will play a big part. Hope springs eternal.

What did you think about the speech? Send me your comments!

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Mountain Biking Turns 30 - What's Your Story?

The sport of mountain biking is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. Hard to believe it's only been 30 years since Gary Fisher and friends starting racing down Mt. Tam with their modified cruisers. What an evolution we've seen in just one generation.

There are now dozens of companies around the world making mountain bikes, and my company Sacred Rides Mountain Bike Holidays is just one of hundreds of mountain bike tour companies around the world offering adventures to people willing to pay a few bucks to explore the world on their bikes. There are mountain bike trails and clubs in almost every country in the world. Pretty amazing how the sport has grown.

Finding out that the sport is turning 30 caused me to reflect on my first experiences with mountain biking. I didn't get into the sport until I was about 20, way back in 1991. My first bike frame was an aluminum Balance (I don't even think they're in business any more) and I ordered it from one of those mail order places in California, then painstakingly and lovingly built up the frame part by part. It took me about 2 months to finally get the thing together, since I was learning on the fly. it had 1" of front travel on one of the original Manitou forks and top of the line cantilever brakes that were useless in the rain.

But once it was complete, I couldn't tear myself away from it. I was in downtown Toronto, not exactly the hotbed of mountain biking, but I took every chance I could to ride it: around town, on the local trails, to class, you name it. I was in love. Here was a bike that could take me anywhere. To say it changed my life is a bit of an understatement. These days, I mountain bike for a living, traveling all over the world in search of the best places to ride. I no longer ride a Balance (our new sponsor is DeVinci and I can't wait to get my new rig), but the thrill is still the same.

So what's your first mountain bike story? I'd love to hear your experiences with your first mountain bike and how you got into the sport. Leave your comments below!

Mike

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Best Adventure Companies on Earth

I know I've already posted this news, but I'm so freakin' proud and excited about this I can't resist doing it again: Sacred Rides has been named one of the 2009 Best Adventure Companies on Earth by National Geographic Adventure magazine.

The annual ratings were just posted on their website this weekend, and we came in highly ranked in the cycling/biking category: #18 of 59 outfitters. Not only that, but we were the top-ranked mountain bike company on the list (the companies above us on the list are either road biking, touring or multi-sport adventure companies).

What makes me particularly proud about this award is that, unlike most magazine awards, these are rigorously researched (read about the methodology), and a large emphasis is placed on sustainability.

A big thank you goes out to all of our customers, who helped make this happen, and our incredible staff, who go out of their way to make every customer's ride a sacred one!

Mike

development threatens BC's wilderness

For over 13 years, the base for our British Columbia mountain bike trips has been the beautiful town of Fernie. Fernie sits in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, about an hour from both the Alberta and U.S. borders. To the south and east sit thousands of acres of wilderness, including Akamina-Kishinena provincial park and Waterton national park.

I spent years exploring the Flathead Valley when I lived in Fernie in the 90s and early '00s. It's an area of remarkable beauty, and home to some of the densest wildlife populations in North America, including one of the largest grizzly bear corridors on Earth. The area is so full of wildlife that biologists have called it the "Serengeti of the North."

So it was with great disappointment that I received news that BP (the company formerly called British Petroleum that is now rebranded as "Beyond Petroleum") had been granted a land tenure to beging exploring and drilling the Flathead Valley for Coalbed Methane (CBM). CBM drilling can be an intensively disruptive process, and the citizens of Fernie have overwhelmingly expressed their opposition to the project.

Is this a case of NIMBYism? The executives at BP and the BC government would like to paint it that way. In any case like this, the multinational corporations usually paint a rosy picture of the economic benefits and longterm jobs that local communities will receive from the project. Yet the executives have yet to show a significant longterm benefit for the communities of Fernie and Sparwood from the project. The permanent jobs created by the project are minimal, and the bulk of the economic 'benefit' will more than likely flow to BP shareholders, not local citizens.

At the heart of the matter is the right of communities to decide their own future, both economic and environmental. Hundreds of people earn their living from this wilderness, from guides, to outfitters, to trappers, to skiers... you name it. They earn their living from the land in a sustainable way; these jobs will be threatened, and more than a few will be eliminated altogether if the proposed drilling takes place (the project calls for hundreds of drill sites). And thousands of people enjoy this area for recreation, from hunters to skiers, to snowshoers, to hikers, to mountain bikers, to... well, you get the picture.

If you're concerned about CBM in southeastern BC, please check out this video, and write an e-mail to the following people expressing your concerns about the project:

Chris Revingtion, VP at BP Canada: revingcb@bp.com
Jim Prentice, MP Calgary Centre: Prentice.J@parl.gc.ca
Jim Abbott MP, Kootenay Columbia
Bill Bennett, MLA East Kootenay
Gordon Campbell, BC premier: premier@gov.bc.ca

For more information on this issue, also check out the Wildsight website.

Life Lessons, pt II

This is the follow-up to my last post, a list passed on to me by a friend of "Things I've Learned So Far" by an Austrian multi-media designer. The list inspired me to come up with my own list of life lessons, passed on to me by 18 years of mountain biking and 13 years of running my own mountain bike adventure company.

Top 10 Life Lessons that Mountain Biking has Taught Me

10. Look ahead, and occasionally glance back, but always stay present... or you're heading for a crash.

9. Don't be afraid to take (calculated) risks. It's the only way you'll progress.

8. Riding the same trails over and over again will eventually get boring. Explore new places.

7. Exploring new places is fun, but there's no place like home.

6. Speed is your friend, but know when to apply the brakes.

5. Your bike needs proper and regular maintenance to run smoothly. So does your life. Don't be afraid to visit a mechanic if you can't do it yourself.

4. It's OK to get a lift to the top sometimes, but the downhills are way more rewarding when you do the climb yourself. When you get to the top, enjoy the view.

3. You will always take some falls. Falling is an opportunity for learning. Get up, and learn from your mistakes.

2. Stay on the path. Don't impose your own desires and expectations - go with the flow and let the trail take you where it takes you.

1. Every now and then it's fun to ride solo, but mountain biking, like life, is better when done with friends.



What lessons has mountain biking taught you? Leave me a comment below!

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Things I've learned so far...

As the new year gets off to a start, I want to share something that was passed on to me by a friend. It has nothing to do with mountain biking, and everything to do with life. It's a list of "Things I've Learned So Far" by an Austrian designer, and a great guide for the year ahead.

Things I've Learned So Far...

1. Time is ticking away

2. Having guts always pays off for me

3. Living fully in the moment is often elusive but immensely gratifying

4. People always respond to genuine kindness and truthfulness

5. Truly putting others before myself is challenging at times but in the end, always rewarding

6. Ruminating and worrying is a waste of valuable time

7. Expectations are stifling

8. Being open-minded will make me better at everything I do

9. Doing one thing very deeply and carefully positively impacts more things than I could possibly know

10. In the end, everyone just wants to love and be loved

11. Time is ticking away

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What have you learned so far? I'd love to hear it - post a comment below.

Mike

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