Canadian Cycling Magazine

This time of year, my mind wanders like a bikepacking route with no flow. It goes here, then there, trying to include everything, but not really amounting to anything. Put another way: I’m in the early stages of planning, scheming and looking ahead to days of open roads and trails. What else is there for a cyclist in midwinter, apart from the trainer and the cross-country skis? The idea of a bikepacking route having its own type of flow is in Christina Palassio’s feature, “Explore Better.” Like many interesting ideas, it feels obvious, but also insightful when it’s presented to you. Of course a good bikepacking route should have a flow to it. There should be variety in terrain and sights. I realized that I plan my road rides with a…

Editor Matthew Pioro matthew@cyclingmagazine.ca Senior Editors Dan Dakin, Kevin Mackinnon, Dean Campbell Associate Editor Andre Cheuk Photo Editor Matt Stetson matt.stetson@gripped.com Copy Editor Rebecca Tucker Art Director Warren Wheeler layout@cyclingmagazine.ca [Roseander Main, roseandermain.com] Production Artist Warren Hardy MTB Web Editor Terry McKall terry@cyclingmagazine.ca Web Editor Matt Hansen matt.hansen@cyclingmagazine.ca Podcast Producer Adam Killick Web Developer Sean Rasmussen Digital Operations Dmitry Beniaminov Publisher Sam Cohen sam@gripped.com Editorial Director David Smart dave@gripped.com Advertising & Sales Andre Cheuk andre@gripped.com Account Managers Joel Vosburg joel@gripped.com Lorena Jones lorena@gripped.com Circulation Manager Robyn Milburn robyn@gripped.com Social Media Nikita van Dijk nikita@gripped.com Subscribe Send $20.95 (1 year) or $38.95 (2 years) to Canadian Cycling Magazine PO Box 819 Station Main Markham, ON, Canada L3P 8L3 or call: 1.800.567.0444 Submit Manuscripts, photographs and other correspondence are welcome. Please contact Canadian Cycling Magazine for contributors guidelines, or see them on the web at cyclingmagazine.ca. Unsolicited material should be accompanied by return mailing address and postage. Canadian Cycling Magazine Tel 416.927.0774 Fax 416.927.1491 cyclingmagazine.ca Gripped Publishing Inc. 75 Harbord St., Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 1G4 Copyright 2023 Gripped Publishing Inc. The contents of this magazine…

Fasthouse Hooper knee pads $140, ogc.ca These Hooper knee pads by Fasthouse offer top protection and are pedal-friendly, too. Speaking of friendly pedals, if one wants to spin up and say hi to your shin, the Hooper has that part of your leg covered as well. To keep things from getting funky, you can remove the pads easily and pitch the sleeves in the wash. Buzz Rack BuzzyBee H2 rack $270, damourbicycle.com BuzzRack’s BuzzyBee H2 is a versatile rack that lets you haul everything from a kid’s bike to a carbon-fibre dream machine. Set a bike’s wheels in the trays and secure the down tube with a pad and strap. At $270, this well-built rack comes in at a great price. Goodyear Vector 4Season tire $105 (tube), $110 (tubeless), rlanctot.com The streets get extra crummy in winter and early spring, especially…

Return of cyclocross nationals ushers in the next generation When the 2022 Canadian cyclocross national championships landed in Victoria’s Layritz Park on Nov. 26, there was a solid list of favourites expected to contend for the elite titles. “Everyone knew Michael van den Ham was the guy to beat. You don’t win the race three times and not come in considered the favourite at the fourth,” said CHC Armada’s Tyler Clark. It was the 22-year-old Clark, though, who earned his first elite national title in a muddy showdown with Quinton Disera and Gunnar Holmgren. Clark was part of a wave of young riders, hungry for the first opportunity to race for the maple-leaf jersey since 2019, who rose up to unseat the established pros. The shift on the women’s side was even more stark.…

The owner of this steel Apollo Capri fell in love with this bike more than 40 years ago. “In North Vancouver, my dad had this exact model in a different colour during the late ’70s,” says Eric O’Brien of Collingwood, Ont. “I used to jump on it and blaze away with newfound freedom while he was away at work. This was during the 10-speed craze of that time and that’s why this vintage model means a bit more to me than the average ’70s 10-speed.” The Apollo bikes were brought to Canada by Fred Deeley Imports Ltd. The Deeley family was mostly known for motorcycles, especially Harley-Davidson, but pedal bikes were part of their outfit, too. The Japanese company Kuwahara was behind the Apollo brand. (Kuwahara, famously, made the BMX bike…

We compact riders do have some perks. Our tiny bikes look faster. We get to throw our bikes in the back of the car without taking the wheels off. There’s always plenty of room in our bike bags to pack extra gear when travelling. The icing on the cake is that we’re a terrible draft so we are always invited to sit in. But it’s not all slipstreams and packing wins. Gravel race plate arts and crafts What you’ll need: one standard gravel race plate, a multi-tool with scissors borrowed from some random person in the parking lot and extra cable ties. Instructions: fold the top horizontally, cut along the bottom and be careful not to cut the timing chip. If the plate is still rubbing on your tire, fold and cut once…