One last post from Kory.

Hello Friends,

In life, I love that there are many roads to choose from. Each has
it’s own traits and the variety is what keeps us going. With that in
mind I am excited to announce that I have sold Joyride Bikes. I look
back at the results of the efforts I have put in over the years and
reflect with fondness that my best successes have been helping to make
cycling a real part of people’s lives. I’m fortunate to be able to
consider many riders in the Valley as friends and that that list has
grown during my time at Joyride.

The new owner of Joyride Bikes is a Cache Valley native, Wayne Wheeler
and his wife Cory (that should cause some confusion!). Wayne brings
many years of bike shop experience to the table. He has ridden with
and worked on many Valley residents bikes while at Al’s Sporting Goods
and knows the bicycle industry well. He is a seasoned mountain biker
and will be a familiar face to many. He’s easy going, and super
excited to share the stoke of cycling with new customers and friends.
Go in and say ‘hi’, he is usually smiling which should make him easy
to spot.

Not everything will change for me. I’ll still be involved in the
bicycle world. I’m opening a small custom fit studio in North Logan
called Confluence Fit Studio. One thing that will change (I’m greatly
looking forward to) is that I’ll be out there much more often
alongside many of you pedaling the ribbons of asphalt in our beautiful
Valley.

It has been a pleasure and a privilege helping each of you with your
cycling needs. I look forward to many miles on new roads to come.

Kory

Back to the Future...

Anyone who lucked out and got to grow up in the 80s remembers Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future. Remember the 'Hoverboard'? It was awesome! I allowed our protagonist to successfully keep up with a train, evade hooligans and look good doing it. We all swore we were going to get one as soon as they came out in 20 years or so. I still haven't seen one on Mythbusters yet but Jones Snowboards has taken matters into their own hands.

The Hovercraft is the closest board I've come to that mimics the idea of effortless surfing over and above all on the mountain. At 156 cm it defies what your collective experience tells you. It floats. In the deep and in the steeps it rides high and lets you slash and carve your way. It is short and maneuverable and extremely playful. Still fairly quick edge-to-edge this is an all-mountain shredder. Tons of setback, a short-almost vestigial tail; and a long, pronounced nose combined with directional rocker changes your expectations for the better.

Where I was most impressed was in questionable snow conditions with sun-exposed icy slopes that hadn't seen a storm in a while, chop and crud with lots of tracks; the board still made the conditions fun. The board rose above the crud and powered through the chatter to make a barely-salvageable day enjoyable. The short tail will not land like a board with a longer tail and takes some getting used to. That said this board is amazingly versatile. It may not be the only board but anytime the conditions require a tool that can save the day and make snowboarding more fun - the future is now.

Great Customers

Our customers are great. We love having the best customers in the area. People who are passionate about what they do and want to maximize their enjoyment of cycling and share that enthusiasm with others as well as introduce new comers to the sport. Our customers have many choices and we appreciate them selecting us to help them with their needs.

Retail business is an interesting way to spend the day. It's never boring. We are usually busy and see all types of requests and sometimes see problems that have no solution while being presented by someone wanting an answer 'right now'. Yesterday we were busy in the shop and missed greeting a customer and helping them out. Unfortunately he was in the store for under five minutes and we hadn't greeted him yet. We strive for better and fell short in this instance. This customer very clearly let us know that he didn't appreciate our lack of responsiveness to his presence. As he headed out the door he yelled a couple of things about our lack of service and his disappointment, that we were losing business etc. We were a little stunned at his outburst but at the same time we were trying to finish what we were in the middle of to try and attend to his needs. He was correct, we were slower than we should have been in acknowledging his needs and his expectations were not met. In retail it is truly impossible to be all things to all people.

Today is another day and I just had another experience that makes us appreciate our customers even more. Tanna had some work done on her bike a month ago and was going through her credit card statement and realized we had undercharged her repair by $100.00. That's a good chunk of money for both her and us. She came in today with her repair ticket, explained what she thought we had done wrong and asked to pay the full balance of her repair. I shouldn't be surprised. I am very appreciative. At the same time the contrast in transactions in two days was kind of shocking. Most people are honest and appreciative. Frequently, people set courtesy aside when they are upset.

In any case, thanks to our customers of all types. There are those we haven't been able to help but we appreciate them letting us have the opportunity. There are those who view our transactions as part of a relationship and wish to make sure both parties are happy with our interactions. This post is just kind of a feel-good note to say thanks to those who give us the chance to do what we love to do. The Discount Tire photo is from an ad than ran in 1975 showing a little old lady who wasn't satisfied with her purchase throwing a tire through the front window of the store. Thanks for not taking things that far.

Tour de France Sale is Back!

Here's how the sale will work. Follow the Tour de France with us and pursue the Maillot Jaune with some of the same equipment being used by the Worlds' best racers. For each day check with us to see who won and on what equipment. The days certain wheels, tires, clothing, bikes and equipment win; we'll have that equipment on sale. Expect 25-50% off some of the hottest equipment going. It's kind of a Bike Race Fantasy for Equipment. If Zipp wheels win today they'll be on sale today and tomorrow for 25% off! Allez!

Borrowed a good article on endurance nutrition...

Since many cyclists struggle with what the nutrition needs are and how to address them on longer rides..

http://blogs.cybersym.com/ultrarunning-biochem.html

Written addressing ultra runners but much applies well to cyclists and other endurance athletes.

Good post by Dayton Crites on Trails we get to Enjoy.

Here's a great little post Dayton wrote on some issues that mountain bikers will have to begin taking consideration of as outdoor recreation from all user groups becomes more popular.

http://bikethebeav.wordpress.com/

Preserving Access
June 6, 2011
by Lonesome Hank

Think of all the miles of singletrack you’ve ridden in your life. Think of the hundreds of thousands of feet of manicured earth you’ve enjoyed, the meters of berm and roller you’ve utilized to defy gravity for just a moment. Adds up, don’t it?

Think of all the times you’ve come across a downed tree, a rockfall, washed out section, or other obstacle blocking the trail. Maybe, if it was in your power, you moved it. Maybe it was too big, you vowed to come back with friends and tools to take care of it. Maybe you didn’t.

Point being, is that for all we enjoy riding the trails, too few of us get involved in the effort of maintaining them.

I’m one of the guilty party too. National Trail Day came and went, and I only found out after the fact that a dedicated crew of trail workers was there, working on improvements all day long. And from what I hear, there were not many mountain bikers.

In Green Canyon, that’s a problem.

That trail is one of the best resources of any Logan or Cache County mountain biker, and we need to show we care about the trails we love to ride. The more we do that, the more opportunities we’re going to get, from eventual access at Beaver Mountain to more mountain bike and freeride specific opportunities in Providence canyon and elsewhere.

But please, don’t be one of those people building imitation north shore features on public land. That does nothing but piss the forest service off, and make it harder than ever to establish more mountain bike opportunities.

If you want to help us create more goodwill with the forest service, and establish mountain bike specific trails that will last several lifetimes – come out and help us build again in Green Canyon. I’ll See you there.

June 11th 8:30am, Green Canyon Parking Lot

Thanks Dayton and see you there!

Thanks for participating in the BeWell/Joyride Sprint Tri!

Thanks to all the participants who came out and helped make the triathlon a success! We had our biggest turnout in the history of the event. We continue to draw a large field of first-time racers as this event is geared toward being fun and welcoming.

The volunteers from the Joyride Bikes Team, BeWell, Old Navy, Nathan and Mike with the music and other organizations along with cooperation from EMT services and local law enforcement allow this event to get better each year. Thanks to Missy and the Sports Academy and Racket Club for being gracious hosts again.

Look for pics taken by Charcie Rebalkin found here:

http://milestonephotography.smugmug.com/Other/Joyride-triathlon-2011/17187190_Fp2jKk#1303846857_bcbsbKW-A-LB

See everyone next year!