Summer has officially begun, and with it came the annual Summer Solstice XC race in Bragg Creek, Alberta. The course doesn’t vary tremendously from year to year, and there’s good reason — It’s a near perfect compliment of aggressive sustained climbing, long winding descents and of course some great views of the foothills/rockies. This year there [...]

As I get closer and closer to the Transrockies, my training rides are getting longer and longer. What used to be a 1h30min ride 4 days a week, has turned into a 2h, then a 3h, and now they’re pushing 4hours. The pace of these rides isn’t manic; it’s more sustainable and consistent and this [...]

Ken and I were out for a ride yesterday. It was supposed to be an epic shred through the Edmonton river valley from my place to Terwilliger (a singles-track mecca) in the south west of the city. The ride there went to plan – including both of us surviving our own spectacular spills. Ken’s slide [...]

Epic Battle #1 When I first stated looking into bib shorts I found myself generally ridiculed, both by my wife and more significantly my friends – One of which referred to my set up as a “onesie”. As I spoke to more and more cyclists however, the bib short consistently rose up as as the “pro” [...]

   Canada Cup, Edmonton AB – 2009 from Sheldon Smart on Vimeo. Although I wasn’t in this race, despite planning and training for it, I did get to watch some wicked national level racing, and cheer on some of the locals guys that I know. Dana, sorry about your chain, man… You were killin’ it [...]

Ever found yourself leaning back in your chair dreaming about how great it would be to open your own bike shop? I know I have. A lot. Bike shops are one of those magical places to me. The second I walk in and smell the rubber, I get excited. That might sounds a little funny, [...]

It’s not often I run across things that satisfy my inner dork as well as well as my inner rider, but when I came across these QWERTY keyboard handlebar grips, I was in dork/rider bliss. It’s a happy Wednesday. via SwissMiss

Ken and I raced the Iron Lung XC last weekend in Canmore, up at the Nordic Centre. You couldn’t really choose a more picturesque local. Canmore is a really beautiful place. I drove up Saturday night and got to Ken’s around 7:30pm, just in time for dinner. Kerstin, Ken’s better half, not only cooked up [...]

The G8R marked my first solo endurance event and though I wasn’t flat out nervous per-se, I was a little anxious, especially in light of feeling a little blasé about my performance at the Perogy/TransStony (link) a few weeks prior. That said, I had pre-rode the course with the Dead Goats on Thursday, and though [...]

This coming weekend (Saturday June 13th) is the first ever Canada Cup race in Edmonton. The course is through the Edmonton river valley pretty much right below dowtown. Though I’ve lived here all my life, I still find it hard to believe that we have so many miles, and miles of great mtb trails right [...]