Take A Kid Mountain Biking Day

TRIPS FOR KIDS VANCOUVER

Mountain biking adventures for youth from low-income families

Trips For Kids Vancouver in partnership with the IMBA would like to invite you to our First Annual Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day Event!

The event will pair one experienced adult from the Vancouver mountain biking community with a youth to participate in various workshops promoting skills, safety, and responsible outdoor recreation. Following, we will offer a free BBQ as well as tons of great games and prizes! The aim of this event is to provide an opportunity to the youth of Vancouver to spend the day with a positive role model while acquiring skills, confidence, and above all to HAVE FUN!

When: Saturday, October 6th, 2007

Where: Pacific Spirit Park at UBC

Tentative Itinerary:

10:00am: Meet and Greet
Pair up Mentors and Kids
Fit bikes and helmets
Split up groups
Welcome and Itinerary for the day
10:30am: Workshop 1
11:30am: Workshop 2
12:30pm: Snack Break
12:45pm: Workshop 3
1:45pm: Workshop 4
2:45pm: BBQ at Meeting Spot
BBQ provided to all participants
Urban Skills Demo by Pro-rider Ryan Leech
Prizes
4:30pm: Pickup

Workshop Stations:

1: Downhill Skills (Douglas Fir Trail) JS Therrien Professional Downhill Racer

Turning
Absorbing rolls
Choosing a line
2 timed runs

2: Bike Maintenances Ride On Again Bike Shop

20 minute demonstration
Teambuilding competition (Working as partners to take a link out of a chain, chains a tube, etc.)

3: Technical Skills Workshop Endless Biking Workshop

Dirt Jumps, logs, etc.
Balance, agility

4: Cross-country circuit Dana Starritt

Ride through Pacific Spirit Park
Climbing and descent skills
Orienteering Race

We are currently seeking interested participants (Kids and Mentors) as well as volunteers for all aspects of the event including, food, workshops, promotion (computer skills would be great!), general organization and anything else you might be able to offer! We are also looking for donations for food, equipment rentals, and prizes!

If you'd like to volunteer as a mentor then fill out this form and email it to fleurie@tfkvancouver.org. Feel free to send an email with any questions you may have as well.

H2V On Daily Planet

It's not online yet, but when it is check out the September 24th episode of Daily Planet for a re-cap of the H2V ride with some great footage of the guys riding. Way to go H2V!

Canuck Place Adventure Race

The 2nd annual Canuck Place Adventure Challenge went off on September 8 2007. The nerves were setting in as the teams and individual races gathered their equipment, set up their bikes, and made sure they had plenty of water.

The sun was shinning as John Henry and I made a splash in the first leg of the adventure race with KAYAKING! We started off with the rest of the racers and soon found ourselves at the back of the pack paddling along. However, we made it around Jug Island and victoriously back to the beach. With the help of our race support team, Jay Irwin pulled us to shore and rid us of our lifejackets and paddles.

With our hearts pounding we made our way to our most feared portion of the race; the BIKING. I know, why are we afraid of the biking portion when we are obviously professionals? Well it's the intense pressure of having to succeed. Well we did succeed and "lightening thighs Cromack" aka John Henry the Bicycle Man lead the way up the hills beating me every step of the way. We climbed and climbed and climbed our way out of Deep Cove and up Seymour Mountain to Old Buck (finally time to go down!).

Well as we made our way back to Deep Cove we found ourselves smiling and laughing again as we passed fellow racers and knew we were onto our third and final leg of the race: TREKKING. John Henry and I laced up our running shoes and set out to climb up to Quarry Rock. This root infested, rocky climb could not scare us away. We "trekked" our way along the course, chatting to fellow races and having a great time.

As we ran across the finish line we felt a sense of pride as we had completed the event!! We completed something that we were afraid of; we crossed the line and smiled the entire way. The event raised $170, 000!! Thank you to everyone who donated and supported Canuck Place Children's Hospice.

A very special thank you goes out to my fearless partner John Henry. I don't think there is anything this man can not do. If you ever get the chance to ride with him, or just have a coffee with him at the store you will realize what an amazing person he is. Thank you for being my team mate, and for allowing me to be a part of the exceptional JH family!

Emily Cross

See more pictures online here.

H2V Update: Quebec and Beyond

Well the legs are sure getting heavy now but I must admit the terrrain hasn't punished us like it could have. Besides a few shifts of rain the team has managed to pull ahead of schedule with some serious hard work.

We have met some great people so far and been warmly received throughout Canada. The scenary, when we get to ride during light hours, has been absolutley unbeleivable and at times breathtaking. We live in an amazing country.

The riders have ridden with sponsor cyclists including Accu Chek and Sanofi Aventis. These people, some of them coming more than two hours to come ride with us, were just epic and so inspiring in their own right. Accu-Check Team Leader, Daniel was a joy to ride with and Keith got to ride with Francois and Martin from sanofi-Avenits, who were helping teach French swear words when we rolled through some rather poor sports in their cars.

Matt and Richard, in Rider Van 2, have been pulling heavy loads over night as it was their time to shine so to speak and today we are rolling through Ontario at great pace. Willie even hit over 100km/hr at one point!

Sorry the webcam isn't working but rest assured we are doing well and having some fun.
Live to ride.

Willie, Team H2V

Pre ride routine and a little visual of rider van 1

Kyle Balagno photo op near van.

Accu Check Team in FLAT area outside of Montreal

Willie Cromack

H2V Update: Like Riding Between Two Black Curtains

New Brunswick is done and man was it the craziest cycling experience.

Rider Van 1, consisting of riders Kyle, Keith and Willie did the night thing right through New Brunswick. Putting up with a three hour ride at race pace is one thing but not being able to see anything was a totally different ball game. We road from 11:30pm to 8:30am and man was it dark. As we road into Quebec we were riding into clouds so even a little light from the moon was non-existent.

It was like riding with a Clydesdale's mask on and the only thing you could see was your own light on the van in front, your shadow from the lights of the van behind and the ever present flashing lights of the van every half second blinding you. At points we became a little motion sick as we were unable to tell if we were going up or down the terrain. What was even more irritating was that the secondary routes we took went all the way to gravel roads. At one point Kyle should have been on his mountain bike as the pot holes were relentless and the gravel road went on for at least 10km. Thank god for our new Specialized Armadillo Elite tires! New Brunswick needs some money so they can get some road work done.

These were some lonely rides but despite our weird conditions the boys really hammered New Brunswick and even averaged around 100km each. Really very good.

Anyways, we are really looking forward to the daytime rides as at least in rider van 1 we feel we deserve them. As we speak, Matt and Richard are rolling an amazing pace through a very flattish section of Quebec on our way to Quebec City. Things are right on pace...maybe even ahead.

H2V Update: D-Day

Well the team is finally on the road. After days of waiting and months of preparation we have left Halifax to begin the assault on the guinness record and raise awareness for Juvenile Diabetes.

Leaving halifax could be one of the greatest riding days of the teams lives.

We got up early and that is even after most of the volunteers has spent the enitre night loading the food and supplies plus making sure the Winnebagos, our home for the next 9 days, were outfitted perfectly.

Arriving in Point Pleasant Park where we were to dip our tires and depart we were more than a little stunned to see a stage and the Premier of the Nova Scotia ready to send us off with great fanfare. it was a brilliant start to the journey and we even had a bagp[iper playing traditional music as we dipped and left. Our MC was the radio host who the previous day had interviewed on air at Rock 104 and then the mayor's assistant officially declared September 14th Team H2V day. It was amazing and the day has been glorious.

We left the city to one of the coolest things I have ever doine on a bike. Teams of riders road with us through city centre with a full police escort. Now I'm no Tour de Frnace rider but I'm sure those guys like the fact that cars are stopped at any and all intersections including the highway so a bun ch of cyclist can go through. It was awesome.

Discovery Channel followed our progress and we were alll interviewed so hopefully after this little ordeal there will be some legacy of the ride left behind via interviews and media so we can keep a long term goal of rasiing money continuouisly alive. We are definitley paast $800,000 and money seems to be coming in fast and furiously. Millions is the goal and the cure will come in time.

Each rider has almost done a full shift and so far we are right on schedule. Everyone puttiing in about 100km in their 3 hr shift. Now the tough part will surely come as within 12 hours we are right back on the bikes.

Nova Scotia is in the rear view mirror and we are a serious way through New Brunswick. So far so good.
Talk to you all tomorrow and check it all out at www.teamh2v.com.

Willie Cromack
Team H2V

Mayor's Assistant announcing Team H2V Day

The team dipping their tires in the Atlantic Ocean

Riding out of Halifax with the peleton with a full police escort

Discovery Channel filmer with Willie in the mechanic's Bago

H2V Moving To Base Camp

Team H2V :: Coast to Coast
9 Days, 5 riders, 6000km, 1 Goal: Cure Juvenile Diabetes

Moving to Base Camp 1

Well Team H2V has arrived to their Halifax base camp and we are getting ready to begin the epic journey of racing across Canada in 9 days.

Team H2V is a team of 5 riders aiming to set a Guinness Record for a trans Canada trip while raising necessary funds and awareness for Juvenile Diabetes. Currently Team H2V has raised a staggering $800,000 for JDRF.

The team consists of 5 riders and a huge number of dedicated volunteers including 16 unbelievable volunteers all wanting to drive 24hrs a day for those 9 days. The riders are all business owners, in their own right, and for this to work have spent the last year making sure every section of the logistics to pull this off has been covered top to bottom.

[riders: back row: Richard Alm, Matt Young, Bryan Kelly. front row: Keith Nicoll, Kyle Balagno, Willie Cromack and Taylor Balagno, Team h2V Juvenile Diabetes Youth Ambassador]

This is not about the ride but it truly is the inspiration behind finding a cure for Juvenile Diabetes. Riders Kyle Balagno, Matt Young, Richard Alm, Keith Nicoll and Willie Cromack are all recreational riders who have pledged to help Kyle find a cure for his daughter Taylor.

This is the first message from the road of a series that will keep you up to date on the drama, the challenge, the adversity and the victory.

We landed yesterday and our mechanics from John Henry Bikes, Jason Roszelle and Tom Fagan, went to work to dial in our sweet Argon 18 Platinum bikes with slick FSA kit. The rigs were put together by their expert hands and we went for a early ride on Tuesday in the pouring rain, which of course we thought we had left in Vancouver, to get our legs moving again and to acclimatize to the terrain and time changes.

[Team mechanic Jason Roszelle]

A few pedal strokes and some awesome sights was a a great introduction to Nova Scotia. We are so thankful for all the well wishers and the help we have received in Halifax. Well enjoy the pictures and we’ll talk over the next two weeks.

[Riders Willie, Kyle and alternate rider Bryan Kelly with one of the guards at fort Citadel on Citadel Hill, Halifax]

For those that haven’t seen the videos go to www.teamh2v.com and get inspired. You can also check our web cam and gps tracker their as well.

Willie Cromack
Willie is the owner of John Henry Bikes on the North Shore of Vancouver [www.johnhenrybikes.com] and a Team H2V rider. Check back for his daily blogs from the road and follow along on gps at www.teamh2v.com.

Team H2V Kick Off Party

Thank you for making last night a memorable kick off for Team H2V. Your time, energy and donations have been greatly received and we really owe you all a great many thanks. For those that couldn't make it I've attached a few photos. Cheers and see you in about 2 weeks.

Willie Cromack

H2V Team with BC Premier Gordon Campbell

John Henry Bikes mechanic Tom Fagan with BC Premier Gordon Campbell

Willie Cromack, Gordon Campbell, Sylvia Cromack

Braemar School Speech & Pancake Breakfast with Willie Cromack

Talked about Goals, served some pancakes to all the students and invited all Juvenile Diabetes kids to the front so they could be seen in front of all the other students and so everyone could understand their friends are Type 1 and that everyone needs to do something to help. It was cool.

Willie Cromack

Adventures In Track Racing

So winter is approaching (unfortunately) and even this summer hasn't been that great with all the rain. Pretty soon it will be dark, cold, and wet outside all the time. Luckily this doesn't mean the end of dry, warm, riding though. We're fortunate enough to have the only indoor bicycle track, the Burnaby Velodrome, in Canada (and one of only three in North America). Located in Burnaby, the velodrome is a wooden track with banked corners like a NASCAR race track. The banked corners let you keep some serious speed in the turns and make for a hell of a fun ride.

One particularly interesting aspect of track racing is that it requires a very special kind of bicycle. Track bicycles, aside from tending to have a more aggressive geometry, have no brakes and only one gear that's "fixed" - meaning if the wheel is turning so are the pedals; so no coasting at all. There aren't any brakes for a couple reasons, first you need to always be going above a minimum speed or you'll slide off the track because of how steep the banking is. Second using a brake on the track would be very dangerous since suddenly slowing down would likely lead to you sliding off the track, but not necessarily before the riders behind you smashed into you. The elimination of coasting with the fixed gear forces your speed changes to be fairly gradual. So how do you stop a bike with no brakes that can't coast? You pedal backwards, or try to. Applying force on the pedals in the opposite direction will slow the bike down but this requires a lot of strength and some getting used to.

There are three courses you need to take before you can ride on the track. These courses are called "Learn To Ride" and get you familiar with a track bike as well track etiquette and getting used to maintaining the minimum speed to not fall off the track. Each course is about an hour or so and they typically run once a week, so it takes about 3 weeks to complete the program. After completion you become certified to ride the track any time it's open.

After having completed the three main "Learn To Ride" courses, as well as the optional "Learn To Race" session which covers the basics of track racing, I decided to get myself a track bike. I decided to choose all my components and build the bike myself rather than buy a stock, pre-made bike. The result is the picture above, my track bike ready to ride and as soon as the regular Wednesday night track races start.

So this winter if you get sick of the trainer and sick of riding in the cold then maybe you should come check out the track. See the Burnaby Velodrome for schedules and membership information.