Audrey Duval is a 4’11” woman and came out west to learn English. Well that was a success. Then her entrepreneurial spirit got her moving in a couple of directions before she settled on Mountain Bike instruction by qualified and passionate women specifically for women.

Following a couple of Bike/yoga retreats, Shred Sisters is launched and since then hundreds of women have learned the skills needed, in a safe environment, to progress and develop their confidence on the trails. What is striking with Audrey, beyond her wonderful nature and honest laugh, is her passion for teaching, her deep understanding of her market, and her ability to meet the needs.  Give a listen and learn more about the woman behind Shred Sisters. We had a great time with the interview and you will too.

As a bonus, I took 5 minute at the Golden 24 to interview two of Golden's female riders: Kat Coatsworth and her daughter Roxy Coatsworth. I have included this short interview in the middle of the Podcast. What a great event the Golden 24 was!!

If you want to know more about Shred Sisters or register for a course then follow this link: https://shredsisters.ca/

Want to know more about the Golden 24 then go here: https://www.transrockies.com/golden-twofour

In this episode my guest is P.A. Couture who in 2018-2019, bikepacked  26 000 kilometers from Punta Arenas Chili to Santa Cruz California. In this podcast and you will hear about the culture of bikepacking, the people he met, the travel stories that happened, and what it is like to travel free, with no set plan and not knowing where you will sleep the next night.

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Just so that you are aware ahead of time, suicide will be mentioned a couple of times in this episode. It’s not my story to tell, but if you listen right to the end of the episode you will hear P.A.’s story. Thank you for sharing P.A.. One way or another, most of us, or all of us, are affected by suicide. I encourage us all to find the courage to talk about it. If you would like to learn more then I encourage you to participate in one of the trainings offered through Livingworks. It's worth it:  https://www.livingworks.net/purchase

A colleague of mine, Sean Larson, recently said: “the best cure we have (for suicide), appears to be connection”. Let’s keep connecting and checking in with one another. If you are having your own thoughts of suicide, then please talk to a friend, a loved one or someone you trust. Failing that call 911 or suicide hotline: 1-800-784-2433

Peace to Marie-Christine and Jeremy as well as their family, friends and communities around them. 

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“Ride your bicycle, allow yourself to get lost
Beautiful Pierre, you are the boss
You got to learn to get happy along the way”

The music throughout this episode is courtesy Tom Jarman @itstomjarman. Appropriately, the words above are to be found in the outro music. He modified the lyrics in his arrangement of Diamonds and Gold by Langhorne Slim which you will hear throughout the episode. Tom is a bike packer that P.A. met on the road, he has 50 000 kms under his belt, and you’ll hear about him in the episode. https://www.instagram.com/itstomjarman/

Here’s the resource that P.A. talked about for finding routes and it is also a fantastic resource for all things bike packing: https://bikepacking.com/

P.A. also mentions the network of shelters for bikepackers in South America called CASA CYCLISTA. You won't find a website or an APP. It's all word of mouth and at times can be found on social media sites. Keep and ear out for it. 

What’s P.A. up to off the bike? He’s running his own company specializing in building house foundation out of ICF. The company is called Bang Bang Contracting. You won’t find it on social media, you'll have to go find him. You can find information about the ICF product he is using here: https://www.nudura.com/

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This podcast has been made possible due to Small Neighborhood Small Grants Golden and the Golden and District Community Foundation. 

The artwork was created by me using Procreate thanks to the guidance of Hannah Fishlock. 

Organizations who support the podcast include:

The Golden Cycling Club
HIgher Ground Sports
Derailed Sports
Selkirk Bike and Ski
Kicking Horse Mountain Resort Bike Park
Glacier PhysioLab

Meet Casey Vanderhart. He is responsible for grooming the fat bike trails in Golden. The first part of this podcast is recoded live on my phone while snowshoe packing Schacher with Casey. Sound quality is a bit sketchy at times, I’ll learn how to record outside in motion, but the conversation while packing trail is great you will get to learn the ins and outs of trail prep and grooming. It takes dedication and knowledge gained through experience and is a passion in and of itself. 

In the second part we have a conversation in his garage at home surrounded by moto trophies, a unicycle and the Snowdog for grooming the trails.  Casey has clearly discovered the freedom of cycling and you will learn about his beginnings in motocross and then his development through literally ALL the different kinds of in biking in Manitoba. 

Good family decisions brought him to Golden and he was most definitely ready for mountain biking in BC. Along the way he has also discovered the beauty of simply being outside packing the trail whether it’s peaceful time on his own or a fun outing with his family. Enjoy!

Épisode 9 of The Bike Culture Podcast, a chat with Carl Labonville.

If ever you have had the chance to chat with Carl then you know that you are going to hear an awesome voice from a passionate human who is going to take the time to talk with you about one of his favorite topics, bikes. His knowledge goes deep, very deep, and what he doesn’t know he will seek and discover. In this Episode we will be discussing the mechanics of bikes. 

First of all you will hear about the place of biking in Carl’s life, did you know that he has trials skills?

Then you will hear about what goes into making a bike, how the industry works, simple ways to care for them with some sidebar discussion into the geopolitics of price, working conditions and quality. 

Carl grew up in a time of biking when the gear wasn’t ready for what people wanted to do so there were a lot of repairs along the way. From this grew his passion for finding ways to keep people rolling. Why? Because life is just better on a bike.

This interview takes place in the shop of Higher Ground Sports:  
https://highergroundsports.ca/

And you will hear the expresso machine of the Handlebar Café churning away in the background. 

A huge thank you to ALL the bike mechanics out there. Thank you for keeping us rolling!

In this episode you will hear a story of the development of MTB in Golden through Nate’s experience who grew up through it all. You’ll also hear about the evolution of tech, he even met Paul Brodie while buying one of his bikes in Golden, and the development of racing in BC. From wheelies in the front yard to psychosis, we cover a lot of ground and along the way you will even get a couple of tips about taking care of yourself through gravity riding. His personal focus is now on riding for fun and fitness, and the highlight is being a father of two riding with his son.  Early on he discovered the sense of freedom that you get from biking and he has pursued and shared that ever since.  

Golden is an incredible town situated between the Purcells and the Rocky Mountains in the East Kootenays of British Columbia. Bike Culture is alive and well from strider bikes, to pedal bikes, to three wheelers and to adaptive bikes.  

This podcast has been made possible due to Neighborhood Small Grants Golden and the Golden and District Community Foundation. If you have a great idea to add to our community then get in touch with them here:https://www.goldencommunityfoundation.ca/nsg 

The original composition titled Okapi Dance 2, was donated by Bill Usher, the Executive Director of Kicking Horse Culture in Golden BC. 

The artwork was created by me using Procreate thanks to the guidance of Hannah Fishlock.

Organizations who support the podcast include:

The Golden Cycling Club

HIgher Ground Sports

Derailed Sports

Selkirk Bike and Ski

Kicking Horse Mountain Resort Bike Park

Glacier PhysioLab

Downhill mountain biking and competition is alive and well in Golden.

In this episode I have the pleasure of talking with Finnegan Craig and Cody Wharton, two of Golden's top young riders. In this episode you will hear about how they ride bikes, have fun with their friends and push each other to ride stronger and more efficiently in competitions. Their aim is to get to the world cup level and they are having a damn good time on their way there racing in the Dunbar Summer Series and the BC Cup. You will hear stories of great friendship, fantastic trips, great family time, great support from Selkirk Ski and Bike  and their ability to encourage one another to both raise their level of riding and their level of character. These guys are awesome and I was truly impressed with what they had to say.  Enjoy getting to know them.

I brought back the music of Cadence Schmidt  to make it a fully Golden Secondary School Episode. The youth of today are doing amazing things, pay attention...

To get an idea of what the Dunbar Summer Series looks like, check out this video of Nationals at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort: https://youtu.be/IMGbaRfOP4w

BC Cup at Coast Gravity. Since I'm focused on youth, here's a video of the event through the eyes of an 11 yr old participant: https://youtu.be/ecp8WNKHGKE

World Cup. There are no lack of videos. I chose this RAW video to link so that you can really get a feel for what these riders are doing.... it's super gnarly. Huge props to Cody and Finn for what they do: https://youtu.be/OjnL3WFedQ0

Want to follow their progress? Check them out on instagram:
#finn_2612 
#cody_wharton1

David is  a father of 4 kids, he is the co-owner of Higher Ground Sports with his wife Lolli Gagnon (the boss), and he is the Executive Director of the Professional Mountain Bike Instructors Association (PMBIA). In this episode he shares his passion for instruction and coaching. There is no doubt that he loves riding, but anyone that has taken a course with him will tell you that he loves teaching just as much. After completing a degree in Physical Education from the University of Sherbrook and achieving his level 4 with the Canadian Association of Snowboard Instructors (CASI), he became a level 3 instructor with the PMBIA. He was his own first student, applying everything he learned to his own riding, then started teaching others, and ultimately teaching instructors. You will hear incredible personal stories of his journey with biking, racing, burning out from biking, and his journey back to his passion and becoming a leader in mountain bike instruction worldwide as executive director of the PMBIA. You may even pick up a tip or two!

For information about the 12 week indoor training program that David is offering or the special offer with the purchase of a smart trainer; please contact David Gagnon at: 

[email protected]

Higherground Sports: https://highergroundsports.ca/

PMBIA: https://pmbia.org/

Zwift: https://www.zwift.com/ca

Elite trainers: https://www.elite-it.com/en

David’s 12 week program

Island Restauraunt: https://www.facebook.com/The-Island-Restaurant-301290000879

In Episode #5 I interview Joel Falardeau about his Mountain Bike Project. 

Joel was getting bored between snowboard seasons when he finally discovered mountain biking. He has delved deep into it over the last 6 years putting in thousands of kilometers.

The aspect we focus on in this interview is the bike itself and it’s individual parts. Joel has embarked on a project to build a mountain bike choosing parts  from smaller manufacturers, that build locally (build and sell where they live), and that are both durable and serviceable.

Give a listen to his philosophy and passion for this project, and learn about a number of different manufacturers that you usually don’t get to hear about. Geeky and fun, we even make time to talk about parenting as soon enough he’s going to be a dad.

You can follow Joel's process as well as all build developments, new gear,  and products on instagram: www.instagram.com/mtbikeprojek/

Here are some links to the manufacturers that are discussed in the interview:

Made in Canada

We Are One Composites (Carbon Rims and Frames): www.weareonecomposites.com

9point8 (Dropper posts, seat clamps and remotes): www.9point8.ca

Made in USA

ODI (grips): www.odigrips.com

Cane Creek (suspension, headsets, bottom brackets, cranks, etc): www.canecreek.com

Chris King precision components (headsets, bottom brackets, hubs, small parts): www.chrisking.com

Industry 9 (hubs, wheels and stems): www.industrynine.com

Made in Italy

Ingrid (mtb, road and gravel derailleurs, cranks, cassettes and chainrings): www.ingrid.bike

Formula (forks, shocks, brakes, wheels and hubs): www.rideformula.com

Fizik (shoes, saddles and accessories): www.fizik.com

Made in France

Hutchinson tires (mtb, road and gravel tires): www.cycling.hutchinson.com

Made in the Czech Republic

Zoceli (trail, enduro and freeride full suspension steel frames): www.instagram.com/zoceli_bikes/

Mitas (mtb, road and gravel tires): www.mitas-cycling.com

Made in the UK

Hope Components (Frames, hubs, cranks, BBs, pedals, bars, stems, etc):  www.hopetech.com

Made in Poland

Garbaruk (cassettes, chainrings and derailleur cages) : www.garbaruk.com

Ressources

Similar Instagram pages: www.instagram.com/the.european.bike.project and www.instagram.com/north.american.bike.project

This podcast has been made possible due to Neighborhood Small Grants Golden and the Golden and District Community Foundation. If you have a great idea to add to our community then get in touch with them here: www.goldencommunityfoundation.ca/nsg

This episode of Bike Culture features an interview Vera Dorward, who at 81 years of age can be seen frequently riding her E-tricycle around town. Born and raised in Holland, bikes have been always been a part of her life.

Sitting on Vera's back deck in Golden with her dog Peppy, we have a conversation about bikes and life. Vera started biking  from when she was 5 years old in Holland and then when she came to Canada via Montreal and then Vancouver in 1967 (the year of my birth), she surprised the locals by biking back and forth to work every day.  That's hard to imagine when you look at Vancouver now. Later we talk about her transition to riding on three wheels in Golden and her influence on others to ride one themselves. Vera really enjoys biking for the pleasure of riding, the day-to-day practicality and the low carbon footprint. Heck, we even talk about home cooking! In this interview you will be inspired by Vera’s love for life and the three-wheeler within it.

This interview was a huge learning curve for my use of the Blue Yeti microphone. I will apologize for the glitches that you will hear in this interview.  It is a great interview and I am learning, thank you for your patience.

Golden is an incredible town situated between the Purcells and the Rocky Mountains in the East Kootenays of British Columbia. Bike Culture is alive and well from strider bikes, to pedal bikes, to three wheelers and to adaptive bikes.  

This podcast has been made possible due to Neighborhood Small Grants Golden and the Golden and District Community Foundation. If you have a great idea to add to our community then get in touch with them here:https://www.goldencommunityfoundation.ca/nsg 

The original composition titled Okapi Dance 2, was donated by Bill Usher, the Executive Director of Kicking Horse Culture in Golden BC. 

The artwork was created by me using Procreate thanks to the guidance of Hannah Fishlock.

Organizations who support the podcast include:

The Golden Cycling Club

HIgher Ground Sports

Derailed Sports

Selkirk Bike and Ski

Kicking Horse Mountain Resort Bike Park

Glacier PhysioLab

In Episode #3 of Bike Culture, I have the privilege of sitting on the shore of Slocan Lake, opposite New Denver, to interview Sabrina Curtis. 

In this episode we talk about Sabrina's journey through bikes from Saskatchewan to BC and abroad. Sabrina's journey has included downhill biking, adventure biking, cross country biking, 24 hour races, gravel biking and bike packing. We talk about her accidents that have led to head injury and the transformation in her biking goals. As Sabrina has said, bikes have been a part of her injury, but they are also part of her healing. 

Sabrina welcomes anyone who has experienced brain injury to get in touch with her. She is willing to listen and support others. At the same time, she would also like to hear people’s thoughts for ways to improve the support systems available to those living with brain injury (such concussions and head injuries). 

The music this week was provided by Cadence Schmidt, Sabrina's daughter. You will hear her interpretation of Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here. Todd Menzies is the producer. 

Golden is an incredible town situated between the Purcells and the Rocky Mountains in the East Kootenays of British Columbia. Bike Culture is alive and well. 

This podcast has been made possible due to Small Neighborhood Small Grants Golden and the Golden and District Community Foundation. 

The artwork was created by me using Procreate thanks to the guidance of Hannah Fishlock. 

Organizations who support the podcast include:

The Golden Cycling Club
HIgher Ground Sports
Derailed Sports
Selkirk Bike and Ski
Kicking Horse Mountain Resort Bike Park
Glacier PhysioLab