NRG love

In 2005 I had about enough of the racing scene and I needed a change in my life. I thought of the one thing in life that I really wanted to do. I thought about it for a month or so, and decided that I would like to move to a small BC town and do nothing but ride my bike.

A couple months later I was on a plane to the small town of Cumberland, where I rode for a couple days the year before, and scoped out the town. I took a suitcase and 3 bikes, and had a reservation at a hostel.

When I got there it was terrible weather, but I was in heaven. When I say small town I mean one street. Nothing but the hostel a couple bakeries, a coffee shop and a bike shop. I was staying at the Riding Fool Hostel where I ended up living for about 8 months. Living in a hostel for 8 months isn't easy, but I started working there, and ended up running the place for the month of August.

If anyone has ever lived in a small town they know there isn't much to do. I kind of embraced this as I just rode my single speed. Cumberland has some of the best trails in North America. You can ride for days and not ride the same trail twice. So all I did was ride. When I wasn't working I rode. After riding I drank with my bros(ended up drinking a lot actually) and this was my life. It pretty much revolved around these things.



When your riding a single speed for about 20 hours a week, you tend to get fast. After a couple months of just plane-jane riding I started to pick up the pace. I went to Cumberland not intending on racing at all, but I ended up racing more that year than I had ever before.



Mostly I entered Vancouver Island Cups, but eventually some bigger racers entered the palette as well. One being the Test of Metal, the largest continual MTB race in North America. It frequently gets upwards of 800-900 participants. Since my good friend Melissa Dekker was heading over I decided to go, not really knowing anything about the race.

I entered a mountain bike mecca. I could remember being so nervous before the start and thinking "WTF have I gotten myself into. 70km on a rigid SS, I'm going to have a rough day."

The race started and I found myself toward the back being over spun on the SS since it was on pavement. I entered the woods after about 20 minutes probably a couple hundred people back in the pack. Slowly I just worked and worked and worked myself up to the front. The Test is very frustrating on a SS. There is a mixture of trails and ATV/Gravel road so a lot of the time you find yourself over spun. This is horribly frustrating as I worked my nads off in the trails then would get passed by everyone who I just passed when the course opened up.

Despite being overspun for most of the race, I started the 9 mile climb and thought "Holy Crap that's steep" On a Single Speed you cant do anything but pedal. So I did. I pushed as hard as I could. Interestingly enough I started passing a lot of people. Not just jowblows but full on Rocky Mtn Semi Pro riders and the like. It was here while I was bleeding from my eyes, spinning about 40rpm and crying that I noticed someone watching me. I didn't think much of it and kept breaking my knees.(ended up being an NRG west coast rep)

I finished the race, being the first SS guy, which was pretty cool. I can remember being very frustrated by the race. The fact that it could have been so much faster if I wasn't over spun. Food for thought another year I summed it up to.



A couple days passed and I can remember making the oatmeal in the hostel kitchen. Manus came upstairs(the hostel and the bike shop were connected). He said Mike from NRG was on the phone and wanted to chat with me.

We spoke and he said they saw me riding at the Test and wanted to help me out. I never felt more PRO before or since. Within a day or so I had enough Cliff shots to kill a horse. A whole wack of Surly chainrings and goodies, and about 4 SETS of Maxxis tires with the promise of more if I needed them.

The Maxxis Tires were the big thing for me. Anyone who rides half often knows tires are crazy expensive and tend to not last very long. The Schwalbe's I was riding during the Test Of Metal had Duct Tap lining the inside of the sidewalls as thy had blown out about a month before. No Joke. Needless to say I was very happy.

It turns out I had a better Test of Metal than expected. I broke the longstanding SS record at that race. My time ended up being 3.02, braking the old one by about 2 minutes. Its one of those things I didn't really understand at the time.

Over the past couple years the boys at NRG and I have remained close. Even though I continually get further from their market( ie being a dirty SS guy to a full on road guy) they are still willing to help me out. Even this year, I don't know where I'll be, but they still have helped me out with the necessities of Cliff Shots, Maxxis Tires and couple other goodies from Surly and NRG products. All I can do try to spread the NRG love for 'em. Thanks for all the help the past few years guys!