Group rides are awesome

A double paceline

Whether you regularly ride with a group, or this is your first group ride, we want to make sure this weekends Skatelife GranFondo is a great group ride for everyone.
There will be lots of time for us all to ride as a single group, as well as time for us to ride in smaller groups determined by rider strength.
The biggest rule is that no-one needs to ride alone. If you are feeling slow, we'll make sure someone sticks with you, or you can make use of the support van. The purpose of the ride is not to isolate riders in the pack.

To give us a fun experience & to increase our efficiency we will ride in a paceline as much as possible. If drafting is new to you no problem. We will help you with some practical tips. Also, I've linked an article about group rides from our friends at Just Giver Cycling Club. We will be using the same guidelines for our ride.
Of course there is also lots of fun to be had through the weekend with some sprints, hill climbs, etc when you wanna go hard.


Can we find one more...

We have a great number of riders this year with 9! It will make for a good group ride.
I was thinking, wouldn't it be great to add one more rider to make a nice round 10?
If you have an idea of who this rider should be, let us know & we will work hard to fit them in as #10.
Start bugging that friend right now & we'll see what happens!

See you Saturday!

speed metal & fast eating

Peter is only smiling so he can get more mud in his teeth (photo IanHylands)

Congratulations to SLGF rider Peter Sinclair for a great showing in this weekend's Test of Metal race in Squamish.
Despite a day-long downpour, Peter laid down a speedy 3.05 hr ride to take 28th place overall in a field of over 900 competitors!

Nice work Peter!





Hungry to ride? What to eat during the SLGF.

On a long ride like the Skatelife GranFondo the last thing you want to be dealing with is bonking from either too little or too much food during the day.
Here are some helpful tips from ultracycling.com on how to eat on the big day.

On the morning of your ride

"Novice riders tend to either eat too little before a big ride, fearing an upset stomach, or else eat too much, fearing that they will bonk. Today is not the day to figure out what to eat before riding! You should experiment in training, and on event day have a tried-and-true plan of familiar foods and fluids. Some cyclists prefer a light breakfast the hour before a century or brevet; some prefer food at the starting line; others have learned to wake up at 4 a.m., eat a bowl of oatmeal, and then go back to bed.
Drink plenty of familiar fluids up to two hours before the ride so you have time to absorb the water and urinate the excess. Drink one more glass 5 to 15 minutes before you start riding. If you are used to having coffee or tea in the morning, do so today as well.
Don't forget to bring your foods and fluids that you prepared the night before."

Some of the scenery to come this weekend.  
(photo Notice Quiet Nature Photography, ©Sherry Robinson 2009)

If you want to pack your food in the van for the day, bring a bin to put your stuff in. The van will make several passes past the group through the day so food will never be far off if you need it.
We will also make a brief stop for lunch in Kamloops after 90 km. Our stop will be close to a few shops & cafes so you can pick up something to eat, or pack a lunch to keep in the van. 

See you all next weekend!

Fueling the Fondo- Coffee time

Cafe for Contemporary Art

A big thank you to Cafca- the Cafe for Contemporary Art who will be keeping us fired up at the Skatelife GranFondo, June 23-24.

If you are in North Vancouver, don't miss the best coffee in town. They are at 140 East Esplanade- half a block east of Lonsdale.

Check them online here, or see you there!

Wild horse crossing / Horse power

Wild peloton action close to Logan Lake

Wild Horse Crossing

The other day I was talking about the Skatelife GranFondo route to someone who regularly travels through the area. I thought it was a bit unusual that the first thing he mentioned about the roads was to 'watch for the wild horses on the road between Cache Creek & Merritt'. So I looked into it & turns out he's right. The highlands around Logan lake are home to over 250 wild horses. I don't think they will be any trouble, but it would be fun to see them during the ride. Keep your eyes peeled!


Horse Power

Everyone has their own system to prepare for a long ride like the Skatelife GranFondo. If you are looking for another pre-ride training idea, or need some guidance in your training, check out this article from Bicycling.com.   They suggest a variety of rides each prep week including a long ride, a steady ride, and a speed ride to build strength & endurance for the event. Check it out.

Updated poster- and registration page!

The new 'world champion' SLGF poster

Our registration page is up and running!

Click here, to register as a rider, track online donations, & get more details about the Skatelife GranFondo.

Once you have registered, forward a link to the registration page to people who would like to sponsor you with an online donation. It's quick & easy to give online.
We will be making some minor tweaks to the page in the next couple days to make ride info easier to access, but sign up now & lock in!

Our goal is to have 12 riders join us by raising a min $500 for the two day event. So far we are over half way there with 8 riders confirmed.

If you know anyone interested in a great supported ride for a good cause, get them signed up to join us!
 

Why we ride

There is lots of Skatelife GranFondo info to come, including our registration page, sponsor pages, and some valuable tips about how to prepare for a 2 day cycling tour. But first we wanted to give some perspective on why we ride.

The Skatelife GranFondo is a really great way to raise money to help young people across Canada. Skatelife has found a niche working with a very unique group of youth, skateboarders. We reach out to skaters because most the forty five Skatelife volunteers and staff have roots in skateboarding and understand what a valuable activity it is for young people to grow up with.

Skatelife is more than just skateboarding however. “Having a positive role model was something that was definitely needed when I was growing up,” said Alex Hondas, a Skatelife volunteer from Calgary. “Now I have the chance to mentor these kids through skateboarding".

There is lots more to learn about Skatelife's work with young people. Check our website at skatelife.ca  . Or you can find us on facebook. 
Thanks for your support as we reach out!

A couple route pics

A couple weeks ago I took a drive through the Skatelife GranFondo route & took a couple pics of the terrain. It was a pretty overcast day in late April. When we ride it- June 23-24 we'll see deep blue sky & bright sun!

Dry open terrain between Kamloops & Cache Creek- Day 1 preview

A sign of things to come on Day 2- except we're going up, and it's more than 2 km!

After the peak, it's all open ranch land

the final stretch gradually descending into Merritt

The roads are pretty quiet & decent quality for secondary highways. It will be a great out of the way loop to ride. Looking forward to seeing you there.

Elevations!

After checking out the actual route of a ride, the very next thing I want to figure out is how many hills am I going to be climbing?
Thanks to Map My Ride we have all the details of this summer's Skatelife GranFondo elevations.
Day 1 from Merritt to Cache Creek is actually not a strenuous day of huge elevation changes (save that for day 2!). We will actually lose altitude over-all. Check out the general altitude chart with the expanded categorized climb chart following it.

Overall elevations for day 1

Climbing details

Day 2 is the big climb day. After a 12km warm up from Cache Creek to Ashcroft it's up, up, and away on a 17 km ascent to high country ranch land- and a surreal open pit copper mine. You'll feel like you'll have ascended up into an alien landscape!
Not to worry, from the peak its a great & beautiful cruise South- East for the remaining 70km back to Merritt.

Day two elevation overview

Climbing details

SLGF routes

This year's GranFondo route is an adventure through some less- traveled, but amazing scenery. Having a supported ride allows us to access this terrain which is out of most cyclists access. 

Day 1 will take us through the Nicola Lake valley up to Kamloops for lunch- a distance of around 90 km. In the afternoon we travel the remaining 80 km along the old Hwy #1 to our day 1 destination, Cache Creek.  After a big BBQ We'll be hotel-ing in Cache Creek.

Day 2 is far less km, but more elevation. After a good breakfast we ride from Cache Creek to Ashcroft. From there its climb climb climb up & over the next 15 km. After the summit, the terrain flattens out a bit, then it's a long gradual downhill cruise for the final 60 km into Merritt.

Make plans now to join us for this unique ride through this spectacular arid region of BC. We're looking forward to riding with you!

If you would like more info, or would like to sign up to ride, email skatelife@younglife.ca, or call Dean Dahl at 604 807 3718.

SL GRANFONDO 2012!

Skatelife's second annual GranFondo is setting off June 23-24! This summer's tour will take us on a loop from Merritt to Kamloops, to Cache Creek, & back to Merritt. Book off the weekend now for a fabulous supported 2 day ride through BC's scenic interior!
Contact skatelife@younglife.ca for more info, or call 604 807 3718. See you this summer.