Black Friday Bike Tool Deal

Hi All,

Anyone looking for a deal on Park Tool stuff, Jenson USA has them 20% off.

http://www.jensonusa.com/Park-Tool?pg=100&s=z

The nice thing with Jenson is that the $ amount you see at checkout is what you pay, no duty, taxes etc due on receipt of goods.

Also, shipping is very fast too.

Another Cool Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZyvnlu4VL4&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Thanks Jonathon

Cool Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=855dmbFQ_j4

Thanks Derek

Wednesday Night Ride

Just a friendly reminder for the ride tomorrow night.
If you dont feel like riding, come out for a hike.  Take a camera, enjoy the forest!!!

6pm at Mono

Photo Sums it up

Upcoming Ride Guide

Date: Wednesday November 28th, 2013
Location: Mono Cliffs
Time: 6pm

This week we are gonna do 2 things... there will be the group ride in the snow, and there will also be a hike... so choose your discipline...

Photo From Johnny and Karen

Hockey Night in Canada's SongQuest

Hello All,

Anne has asked me to send this along to everyone.  Take a read and a listen, and pass along to any and all your friends.  Even send it to people you dont know!

I listened to it last night and it was really really good!!!!



I wrote a song about hockey and I entered it in the CBC and Hockey Night in Canada's SongQuest competition to find Canada's next great hockey song.  My tune, titled "Hat Trick Hank", can be heard at: 

http://music.cbc.ca/#/play/artist/Anne-Thomson/Hat-Trick-Hank 

Give it a listen and feel free to share it widely.  The more listens, likes, playlist adds, and votes the song receives, the more likely it is to get noticed by one of the judges. 

Thanks!

Anne

Wednesday Night Ride Reminder

Date: Wednesday November 20th, 2013
Location: Mono Cliffs
Time: 6pm

Just a friendly reminder for the ride tonight at Mono Cliffs.
Hope to see everyone out there

Part Deal - Crank/Bottom Bracket

Hi all,

For anyone in the market for a new Crankset, Merlin Cycles out of the UK has a good deal on one set up for 2x10.


Merlin Cycles - X9 Crankset w/ GXP BB

Merlin is also great if you want to build up a set of wheels.

Upcoming Ride Guide

Date: Wednesday November 20th, 2013
Location; Mono Cliffs
Time: 6pm
Still Dark, and gonna be a tad chilly, so bring lights and warm clothes.

In the coming weeks we are going to start having some hikes go on the same time as the rides.  Keep an eye on the Blog to be up to date on what side activities will be going on during the rides.

Beer Review: New Belgium Brewery Fat Tire Ale

Remote beer review on location in Sedona from Karen and Johnny.  

So what can be said....we've all had this beer, we all love this beer and we all want this beer.  It's got a bike on the label, has beer in the bottle (which in case you've forgotten, is tasty) and is usually consumed in great bike riding and beer drinking locations with great friends. For those who haven't had it, it is an amber ale, moderately hoppy and did I mention it's tasty...

First impressions, well it was a long time ago when we first had this beer and the impression was such that there seems to be a annual pilgrimage to get it again. I don't think that means we have a drinking problem but more like we just like good beer! 

Beer rating: 5 out of 5 (it may have something to do with the happy hour scenery)

Would we buy a case of it: bought one, drank it, gunna buy another

Was (is) the beer hoppy:  med hops

Would you recommend this beer to others: Yes. And hint, hint...If you like this beer you should definitely show up, rain,snow or shine to the next weekend ride!

IMBA Trail Build Report

This past weekend Senn & Bernie attended the trail building course offered by IMBA, in kalapore. 
Lots of interesting information that was learnt. Also lots of shoveling , raking , cutting trees , and dirt & rocks to be moved by wheelbarrow 
After a long day , a lot of fun , meeting new people ( not all trail builders are bikers ) and a new appreciation of trails.
I would highly recommend this to everyone. And also to support IMBA. 

Poll Results

Well based off of the Poll results, we will keep the blog going as is... As for photo sharing, we are in the works for a tvg website.  The idea is to use a photo share site, like Flickr, or something along those lines to allow fellow riders to share their ride photos, build photos, etc.

I'll post a new poll shortly!

Fat Tire Trail Report

Date: Wednesday November 13th, 2013
Location: Mono Cliffs

We had another smaller ride, on the dark and chilly night.... Tyler, Mike (aka Awesome Mike), Mark and Senn made it up to Mono for the night time semi snow and crunchy ride.  Yes this is a Fat Tire Trail report, due to the reasoning that I was riding the good ole fat bike..

Like the previous statement says, there was snow on the ground still at mono, not much, but enough to have some fun.  The starting climb had ice nicely all over it, which makes it slick for some, not for fat bikes.... Our ride consisted of the normal loop, less the upper loop, and a short urban ride up to the pub, and the playground to have some fun out there....

Needless to say, the ride was a lot of fun, a little cold, but overall more fun than cold.  For anyone hesitant of riding this time of the year, dont be.  Dress a little warmer and you will be fine.  There is plenty of traction still on the trails.

We had a lot of good laughs, and everyone except for Mark forgot their beer.. we will make it up next wednesday for sure!

Weekend Ride - Saturday

Date: Saturday November 16th, 2013
Location: Palgrave - Parking per below map
Time: 9:30am

Hi All,
sorry again for the early ride, but I have a wedding to go to and can only sneak out for a morning ride.
Below is the map of where we are parking (End of Duffy's lane) you will see the parking lot off to the left side.

Hope to see everyone out there.


 
View Larger Map

IMBA Trail Build - Kolapore

Hello Everyone,

Bernie brought up that there is a free trail build school happening this weekend up in Kolapore.  The cost is Free, so that part shouldn't deter anyone.

I apologize for the late notice on it...  Below is a link to the schedule, and RSVP if you are interested in attending.

http://www.imbacanada.com/tcc/schedule

I know currently Bernie has already signed up for the school.  From my understanding, it is half a day in a classroom setting, with the other half working on some trails..

Should be a fun and very beneficial day for sure.

Thanks

Friday Night Event - Chrissy's 29th Bday

Date: Friday November 15th, 2013
Location: Mono Cliffs Pub
Time: 9ish (come sooner or later)

Chirssy is turning the big 2-9 this week with a celebration happening at the Mono Pub. There will be beer drinking, with the end result being some dancing, with or without the pole...

Festivities starting around 9, but head over earlier if you want to eat diner, or a little later for a pint or two.

It's not a surprise party, so you don't have to avoid Chrissy for the week...

See everyone out there!

Jennifer and Jeff

Lest We Forget

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields. 

John McCrae

Upcoming Ride Guide

Date: Wednesday November 13th, 2013
Location: Mono Cliffs (See Below map for parking lot)
Time: 6pm ride start
If you plan on coming out and running a little late, let Tyler know.  Text works best, if you need my cell fire me an email.

Bring Lights - We start at night... it's dark at night.

Weekend Ride Reports

Date: Saturday November 9th, 2013
Location: Albion Hills

We started the ride nice and early, around 9:40... we did loose William at one point, but it turned out fine... Tyler, Mike, Jamie, William and Mark did the fun tour through albion.  The conditions were actually not bad at all for us.  A little chilly, but no precipitation.

We rode the majority of the trails, except for the few that are across the road... if you know albion you know what i'm talking about... If you dont ride albion, you probably should.  It's a fun little spot to do a ride.

End of the Day we had a great ride, great weather, and the afternoon still to do work around the house etc.....

--------------

Date: Sunday November 10th, 2013
Location: Dufferin Forest

This ride was changed from Copeland Forest to Mansfield due to the weather conditions that were reported by Don up north.  So we showed up in the parking lot expecting a small group ride, which turned out to be a very large group ride to my surprise.  The final count of riders were 14, plus 1 runner, 1 hiker and 1 dog.

I must apologize for not remembering everyone's names... The ones i can remember were, Tyler, Bernie, Jamie, Chris, Judy, Reese, Sarah, Michelle.... I would keep rhyming off names, but I know I would be getting them completely wrong, so again I apologize.  Johnny hiked and did some trail maintenance, and Karen Ran.

Our ride ended up being the Mini Manchulada.  Same as the day before we had a great ride.  A lot of fun as always, and the weather for the most part agreed with us.  A few scattered showers, but nothing too crazy. We had a few stops for a shot of Fireball Whisky (Thank you Sarah).

After the north of 20 loop, we split into 2 groups, to finish the mini manchulada.  From talking to Bernie Chris and  Judy in the parking lot, Judy cleared all the skinny's and majority of logs in the forest!!! Awesome job Judy!

I think everyone had fun, i know I did.

A little chilly at the end of the ride for the beer in the parking lot, but all in all a great day.

Thanks to everyone that came out, it was a great way to spend a Sunday!

Thank you to Judy for the pictures!!

New Sunday ride

With Copeland cancelled we are gonna ride Mansfield instead at 1230.
Short tour out there.

Cancelled - Sunday Ride Copeland

Due to the weather up north today's ride at copelands is cancelled

MORGAW Seat

A new seat design.

http://www.bikerumor.com/2013/11/08/morgaw-plans-to-build-the-suspension-into-the-seat/

Thanks Jonathon for the link

Beer Review: Amsterdam Brewery

Oh yes, another Beer review... Well this one was done a few months ago, just took me that long to snap some pictures, etc.

The below picture is what the youth of today call Beer Flights... well that's what Amsterdam Brewhouse calls it.  When you are there they give you 4 samplers, which in total equals 1 pint. There are 4 different "Flights" hence 4 pints.  You think 4 pints is nothing, but surprisingly they hit you good.. it could be the higher alcohol percentages, or the quickness of the drinks, but either way you will notice it.


Please note, I am going to apologize for the incoherent writing on the paper.  We may have had a fair amount to drink prior to writing....
The ratings below go from Bad to Good....  If you click on the flight tour, hopefully you can zoom in enough to look at all the beers. There were some copies on different rows, which meant you just drank the beer twice.

All the Beer that you drink on the Flights

Dodin Belgium Style IPA

Oranje Weiss

416 Local Lager

Raspberry Wheat

Fracture

Tempest

Market Pale

At the end of the Day, doing the Beer Flights at Amsterdam Brewhouse was a great time, and recommend anyone to go down there.  With a large patio looking over the water, watching the planes come in and out of the island airport, you can make a day of it and have a lot of fun and drinks.  The Brewhouse is family friendly, and if memory serves me well, the food was really really good too!

Rating: 5 out of 5 For Beer Tours. 

Beer Rating: See Above.

Weekend Ride - Updates

Date: Saturday November 9th, 2013
Location: Albion Hills
Meet at the Fountain for 9:30am.
Ride Type: Fun, Fun and More Fun!!!
Length: Prob 2hrs... We have stuff to do in the afternoon...

-----------------

Date: Sunday November 10th, 2013
Location: Copeland Forest
Time: 12:30pm - Ride Start
Ride Type: Fun, Touring, Biking....
Current Weather: 8C and Sunny

This weekend going to be heading up towards Copeland to try the trails there.  See below map for where we are parking at.

Horseshoe Valley and Pine Ridge Road you should see the cars parked there.


View Larger Map

See everyone out there!

Skinny Tire Ride Report

Date: Wednesday November 6th, 2013
Location: Mono Cliffs

Well with the snow the weather guys the ride reports will be become skinny tire and fat tire reports...

Anyways, last night a few of us kept the dream alive for a ride every week all year.. Tyler, Mark T, and Mike A (a for awesome), went out in the misty rain to do a nice cruising ride at mono.  We did avoid the rocky sections due to the weather, but we still had a great time.

Temperature wise it was very comfortable, not too cold, not too warm, and with a slight mist in the air, overall it wasn't too bad.  The trails were slick, and muddy, but you adjust your speed to accommodate the conditions.

One change to riding this time of the year, you start the ride at night.  So please make sure you have charged batteries before you start!

Weekend Ride: Sunday November 10th

Date: Sunday November 10th, 2013
Location: Copeland Forest
Time: 12:30pm - Ride Start
Ride Type: Fun, Touring, Biking....
Current Weather: 8C and Sunny

This weekend going to be heading up towards Copeland to try the trails there.  See below map for where we are parking at.

Horseshoe Valley and Pine Ridge Road you should see the cars parked there.


View Larger Map

See everyone out there!

Poll..

If you have not noticed there is a Poll on the right side of the screen.
It's been brought up a few times to add a Team Van Go facebook group.
Put your opinion in by voting.  If you dont vote you dont have a say!

Friday Night Entertainment

For anyone who is free this Friday November 8th, Ann is playing at the Mono Cliffs Pub.

If you have not been to the pub before you are in for a treat.  It is cozy, in the basement of an old building.... Don't worry about the construction happening out front, you can still get in and go down to the pub.

If you have never heard Ann play, you are also in for a treat.... She plays a mix of music from Mumford and Sons, to Serena Ryder and the Mahones...

She hits the "stage" at 9:30-10pm..

If you need directions hit the email button on the left side of your screen.

See everyone there.

Weekend Ride Report

Guest Ride Reviewer: Bernie

Location: Agreement Forest (Guelph)
Date: Sunday November 3rd, 2013
Distance: roughly  38 k
Length : 9:30 start 5:20 Finnish  (couple breaks)
Technical : hardest terrain I've ridden in a loooong time.

The rock gardens on the Niagara escarpment are in my opinion , just as hard , sometimes harder technically than our rides in Arizona & Utah.  This trail handed me my ass. But it was fun & the local riders were a great bunch to ride with. Skilled & fast yet knew how to keep it fun. Thanx to all of them (and ute) for showing me their trails ( and waiting for me : )  The day of course ended with raising a glass of beer! Would I recommend this ride. ?  I'd recommend to anyone to challenge themselves & go beyond their comfort zone , wherever that trail may be. 

New Bigger Badder Fat Bike....

Yup, just like the header states, Ibis has decided why not push the envelope on a bigger badder fat bike...  Take a look at the below link, check it out... Only problem would be finding a rider for that size of bike...

Ibis Maximus

Thanks for the link Derek!

Cool Link

For anyone who doesn't ride a Heckler, heres another way to be one of the cool kids.

Bottle Opener

Great thing about it is that it acts as a headset spacer!! What's the worst that can happen!

Thanks for the Link Jonathon!

Beer Review: Baron Bohemian Tmavy Lezak

Yes yes folks, it is time, once again, for the  (drum roll) Team Van Go Beer Review!!!  It's been a little while since I tried a different beer, seem to be stuck drinking Hops and Bolts, or Moosehead or something that I still have in the fridge....

This time the review comes to you via, Derek... well via a beer from Derek, which in turn he was given by someone else... Regardless, this beer comes to us from the Czech, through British Columbia.... The beer is a Baron Bohemian Tmavy Lezak... yes that Baron Bohemian Tmavy Lezak beer that everyone has heard so much about...

My initial thought on the beer was "Thank you Derek, that was very nice!"  I brought it home and had it in the fridge for a few days before I was thirsty enough to drink it... When poured into a glass it has the appearance as shown in the picture below... For people that are blind, it has a nice brown appearance, similar to a nut brown ale... me describing this in writing on the internet probably doesn't help the blind though...

The first taste started reminding me of a different beer, but to be honest I cannot put my finger on it... The beer was not hoppy but there was a distinct malt flavour.  The end of the day the beer tasted similar to a nut brown ale, just a little heavier.. 

The problem with this beer is that you cannot get it locally... This one you can only get out in British Columbia for some reason.

Beer Rating:  3.75 out of 5 (Nothing special, but still a very nice drink)

Would you buy a case of it: Probably not, reason being, I dont live in BC.  

If you lived in BC would you buy a case of it:  Still probably not.  It was good, but I would buy other cases of beer probably before this one. 

If this was the only beer available, would you buy a case of it: Yes

Was the beer hoppy: Nope... Malty but not hoppy...

Upcoming Ride Guide

Date: Wednesday November 6th, 2013
Location: Mono Cliffs Park
Time: 6pm
Bring Lights!!
Ride Type: Fun.
We may do the new trail... we may not.... who knows, see how people feel..

---------------------

Weekend Ride Report

Date: Sunday November 3rd
Location: Duferin forest

We had a good showing for today's ride, Johnny hiked, Karen ran with max, and we had Tyler, Emily, Chris, illona, Ian, Chris and Judy on two wheel peddal machines.

For anyone who missed out, other than the cooler temperatures, we had a great ride!! After the wind storm on Friday there was some new downed trees, but nothing too crazy... Well other than the one right after the teeter totter on the lollypop stick.

The ride was shorter than last week, with us only sticking to the lollypop loop... On the trails by 11am, finished around 1 pm... The forest was bussling with people from horseback riders, to other riders and 175 kids doing an orienteering event.

The end of the day finished with a pint in the parking lot which is always a good finish!

Cheers to another great ride

Weekend Ride Reminder!

To all, remember that the clocks change, to give everyone that much needed 1hr of extra sleep.

So the ride on Sunday will be 11am, after the time change... so if we didn't have a time change, the ride time would be noon I think, but now that we have the change it's at 11am Eastern time zone... Or if you are in Newfounland, the ride time would be 12:30pm, due to the time difference, but regardless, 11am in Mansfield for the ride sunday.

See everyone there.