Month: June 2016

This article was originally published on Tenth to the Fraser

With apologies to the Eagles, there’s a new kit in town.

Actually, the Fraser River Fuggitivi road bike group has been rolling up and down the hills of New Westminster and beyond for about five years. But this spring the squadron has achieved a milestone coveted by every collective of roadie riders; they’ve got kit.

That’s cycling speak for fancy custom-designed jerseys and shorts emblazoned with the team’s name as well as the logos of various local sponsors. They’re not just riders anymore; they’re rolling billboards for an elite selection of supportive businesses. They’re also ambassadors for the city (minus the talent competition or commitment to wave from a parade float).

The Fuggitivi was formed by New Westminster roadie and New Zealand expat Guy Wilson-Roberts. He lives along the Quay and he got tired of trudging up the city’s interminable hills and rolling all the way into Vancouver to join a peloton of like-minded weekend athletes. By the time he got there, he was already pooped and of a mind to head back home.

So he put out a call on social media for fellow riders to come to him.

A few did. Those early pelotons were pretty modest; sometimes Wilson-Roberts’ group ride was just him.

But his persistence paid off; the group is growing.

This year there are about about 20 Fuggitivi (it’s the Italian word for fugitive) escaping the responsibility of their everyday lives twice a week for a few hours of freedom on the road; the group does a long ride of about 80-100 km every Sunday morning and a shorter, more intense climbing ride on Tuesday evenings.

There’s plenty of advantages to riding with a collegial group:

1. Camaraderie

In a group, you never ride alone. Unless you’re off the back early on a major ascent like Mt. Seymour. Then you’re left to the bears.
Actually, a good group ride will often splinter into smaller pelotons to accommodate different paces. And confuse the bears by giving them too many options.

2. Beer

The FRF’s official hashtag is #moremilesmorebeer. And more refreshing than the Wayans’ brothers’ movie Mo’ Money.

3. Mechanical assistance

See how the group pitches in to help a fellow cyclist who’s flatted get back on the road as quickly and cleanly as possible. Face it, best to leave the complicated repairs to the expert wrenches at The Original Bike Shop (shameless sponsor plug #1)

4. Beer

Yes, some FRF rides make pitstops at craft breweries. Heck one of the group’s sponsors is a brewery!  It’s in our DNA.

5. Aerodynamics

Riding into a cool headwind, it’s actually an advantage to be off the back. Because that’s where you’ll be able to take advantage of the rest of the group slicing a path for you through the breeze. You can conserve about 30 per cent of your energy that way, giving you more endurance to bend your elbows for no. 6. Some group’s call such opportunists a “wheel suck;” in the FRF, that’s just smart riding.

6. Beer

Really, it’s just a four-letter word for carbo-loading.

7. Sightseeing

Every week a new captain is responsible for the ride’s route. That means discovering new ways to reach familiar destinations. And sometimes subjecting your lithe road bike to knee-rattling gravel. That’s called channeling your inner Flandrian.

8. Um, beer

A traditional post-ride beverage favoured by cyclists is a radler. It’s a refreshing mix of beer and fizzy lemonade. It originated in Bavaria, where the drink was called a radlermass, which means “cyclist mass.” Lore has it an innkeeper just outside Munich was running low on beer during a cycling party, so he extended his dwindling kegs by mixing in lemon soda. BTW, Steel & Oak mixes a killer radler (shameless sponsor plug #2).

9. Food

Cycling burns calories. We know this because our Garmin computers tell us so. Ride 100 km with your buddies and eat whatever you want the rest of the day. Especially if you crave delicious tacos at El Santo (shameless sponsor plug #3).

10. Yup, beer

According to Bicycling Magazine, beer is an excellent natural source of folic acid, which helps reduce the chances of developing a cramp as you ride. If you stay cramp free, you’re less likely to try to ride through it and risk injury because your suffering body wasn’t up to the challenge. Unfortunately that means you won’t need to be taking advantage of the excellent rehab care at Trailside Physio anytime soon (shameless sponsor plug #4).

11. Cool swag

Cyclists were wearing cycling caps long before it was cool to wear cycling caps. FRF’s cycling caps are amongst the coolest around. They’re even made by one of the group’s own members, Richard Lee of Red Dots Cycling (shameless sponsor plug #5). Richard also designed the FRF’s stylish new kit.

12. Navigation

When you ride with the FRF, you never get lost. Especially in Delta, the Bermuda Triangle of Cycling. Nobody gets lost in Delta. Ever.

13. Beer

You’ve read this far; you’ve earned a beer. Then, oil the chain on your road bike, join the FRF and enjoy more beer.

To learn more about the Fraser River Fuggitivi, check their website or follow their Twitter feed @frfuggitivi. Cap’s The Original Bike Shop also conducts group rides on various days.

The following article was first published on The Big Ring

Strava has forgotten who I am.

It’s six days into June and I’ve yet to throw a leg over the Lapierre. And already my mileage barometer has forsaken me.

I’m working again. That means trying rediscover a balance between working, riding and life.

A new job means adjusting to new routines that have a ripple effect on other aspects of our busy lives, like getting Little Ring to and from daycare, when to get groceries, managing household chores, finding time to binge-watch Silicon Valley. Too frequently in the past few weeks, it’s been the riding that’s been left behind.

My mileage on the bike is taking a hit.

In the months after my newspaper closed, I settled into a pretty simple routine; I still got up at 5:30 a.m. to shower and prepare breakfast for the family, get the household going. Once their days were established, I put time into scanning job sites, targeting possibilities, preparing resumés, drafting cover letters as well as crafted stories for my various blogs and freelance accounts to maintain my writing and social media chops. If there weren’t any other pressing errands, I was then free to ride.

Minus the niggling little problem of no income to replenish a dwindling bank account, it was a good routine that kept the household in order, my spirits up, my legs fit and my Strava account active.

While searching for new employment, I kept an eye out for opportunities that might allow me to commute by bike. As a journalist, I’d been denied that chance my entire career because we’re pretty much on the job once we step out the door, and during the drives around town or on the way home. That meant packing along the camera gear in case I was diverted to some sort of breaking news story or last-minute assignment. Or just scheduled to cover something on my way in or from the office because it was convenient.

A number of FRF members are regular bike commuters. I look at their Strava accounts with envy; those 20 km pedals to and from work really add up. And inevitably they’re the guys off the front during our weekly recreational rides.

My new gig is a 400 metre walk from home! Which is awesome! But doesn’t afford me the chance to join the bike commuting culture.

I’m four weeks into the new position and I’m still getting my legs under me. Now I just have to figure out how to get those legs pedalling more frequently.