A Bit of This and That

When I write the NSMB newsletter (sort of weekly), I usually focus on the content we put out over the past week or so, and maybe I'll sneak in something that'll be influenced by the weather, the season, or my mood. If you don't subscribe, you might find it a helpful way to be reminded about something you might have missed. What I don't do enough is use it to communicate things that don't make it into articles, or to express smaller ideas or pieces of news. We tend to not like to make our front page look like a poster board in the foyer of a community centre, full of press releases and banal announcements, but that doesn't mean there isn't news worth sharing. For example, if you want to skip my little diatribe down below and hear the latest about OneUp's Clip Pedal saga, you can just click here to skip right on down.

I'm not sure how it popped into my head, but I got to thinking about how differently we play as we age. Well, most of us. Because while it's true that adults don't approach leisure time or the importance of play the same way that kids do, I had a bit of a revelation, which was that most of my mountain biking friends have child-like playful streaks. If it sounds like I'm being kind and doing what I can to avoid labeling them as immature, you're definitely hearing me. But it's a vital kind of immaturity.

The lucky among us were introduced to bikes at a pretty young age. Even as we still had toys, bikes were kind of a transitional toy - the one we'd keep playing with even as we outgrew the things that captivated us when we were 6, or 8, or 10. At some point, for a lot of people, bikes stop being a plaything and take on a different role: exercise machine, transportation device, dust collector. Mountain bikers, though? We don't have to go to great lengths to declare how great our bikes are, even though it'd be enough to call them our favourite toy, never mind our age. We are the very lucky ones, not just to be able to afford the time or spend the money, but to have the physical tools and - I think this is the most vital - the mental wiring to love riding bikes in the woods.

I was thinking about all of this as I loaded up a pack full of gear the other day. Two feet of snow followed by a couple of wind storms in rapid succession means my local trails are about as rotten with blow down as I've seen them in the four years I've lived here. Saw, hatchet, gloves, all went in the pack. I didn't bring the chainsaw this time because part of the idea was a survey - which trails needed work, which ones were ok? Didn't want to get too caught up in larger jobs. Next time. And yes, in this case, I was using my bike as a tool, to help me cover more ground as daylight waned. But it was all in service of setting up this weekend so I could use my bike like a toy again.

Sometimes, as midsummer rides become faster and more eager, I think I forget what riding was like when I was younger, when I had more time - enough to ride every single day. Back then, a ride might be two hours of goofing around in the city - jumping staircases, weaving between fences and gates, racing down multi-storey parkades. It might be a whole hour doing nothing but perfecting the wheelie drop from one specific spot. Or, sometimes we'd load up a car right after work, drive across the Second Narrows bridge, and ride until dark (or well after dark), stopping for food and a beer after, getting back home at 10 or 11, because back then 6 hours was more than enough sleep.

I'm very aware, as I look back over the last 15 years or so, that my mountain bike rides have varied in terms of the people and places, but the purpose often feels singular. It is the pursuit of fun, still, yes, but it's not necessarily as spontaneous. Not as child like. It's a good and noble purpose, what these rides usually are, don't get me wrong. But I have noticed in recent years that, sometimes, it's enough to just get out on the bike, even if I don't cover a lot of ground or ride something challenging. The dog needs a run, my mind needs to clear, I'd better get a good sweat on before I take a shower...we need a handful of chanterelles for tonight's spätzle feast.

It may be the end of the winter season getting to me - injury and deep snow have meant less riding lately than I'd like - but I'm both ready for Spring and real riding and content in the knowledge that every day out on two wheels makes me very lucky, and happy.

OneUp Announces Running Change to Clip Pedal (don't call it a recall)

Strictly speaking, it's not a recall, but OneUp has issued a stop sale instruction to retailers and marked their newly released Clip Pedal as 'temporarily out of stock' on their website. Anyone who has bought the Clip pedal are asked to contact OneUp customer service to choose one of two solutions: they can return their pedals to have OneUp install a new rear binding plate on both sides of each pedal, or they can have the improvement kits sent out if they'd prefer to do it themselves.

Unfortunately, it looks like it'll be 6-8 weeks before they're able to take care of all their customers. I've been in contact with OneUp and they're working to get a replacement kit out to me ASAP - I'll install that and report back on how they're working after that's been done as soon as I can (hopefully a bit sooner than 6 weeks). Here's the preliminary review I published a few weeks ago after I started having problems with them while using OneUp cleats.

Here's the official release from OneUp:

At OneUp, we are committed to providing the best possible products and customer service for our riders. As part of this, we are issuing a product improvement and running change notice for our recently introduced Clip Pedals.

We have received information from our customers that in rare and specific conditions, certain riders may experience difficulty unclipping from the pedal. Whether a rider experiences this issue depends on a combination of several variables, including the type of shoe, the brand of cleat, cleat position and technique. Many riders will never experience this issue. Nevertheless, we have developed an improvement to eliminate the potential for this issue and ensure the best possible performance.

The improvement involves swapping out the rear binding plates on each side of the pedal body, just in front of the binding mechanism. The updated rear binding plates improve the smoothness of unclipping regardless of the shoe, the brand of cleat, cleat position, or technique. Installation of the new plates is a quick and easy process. 
Accordingly, we are offering all customers the opportunity to receive a kit to install the improved binding plates or to return their Clip Pedals to OneUp for installation of the improved binding plates by OneUp, at their option. 

About Us
OneUp Components is a team of 31 passionate mountain bikers based in Squamish, BC. Every product we make  has to be something we want on our bikes at a price we'd pay with our own money. 
We stand by our products, support our customers and take every reasonable step to deliver the  best customer service possible.