GRAVEL BIKES CIRCLE BACK TO THE FUTURE ON ANY KIND OF ROAD By Sheila Ascroft Gravel bikes are made for cyclists who love their road bikes but want to get off the pavement. They meld mountain biking and cyclo-cross with long-distance riding on back roads and trails. Gravel riding is not new, just a return to what cycling once was. A hundred years ago, all bikes were “gravel bikes,” since most roads were unpaved. Think about how you rode just about anywhere on your bike as a kid. These bikes offer that same delightful go-anywhere option.
Unlike the models of the past few decades with skinny tires that only handle smooth surfaces, gravel bikes have wide, sturdy rubber. Such tires can handle freshly graded gravel, rough chip seal, deep sand, ditches or pitches, muddy farm lanes or wooded trails covered with leaves. All you need is the handling skill to match the bike’s ability! Gravel bikes look like road bikes with their lightweight frame and drop curve handlebar, but usually have a mountain bike’s cantilever or disc brakes to allow for the wider tires. They
Teknē Cycle Club wants cyclists with the right stuff By Sheila Ascroft Ottawa-Gatineau’s new Teknē Cycle Club is looking for members with spunk. Its president, Matt Surch, 36, has raced mountain bikes, cyclo-cross and road bikes for 22 years and has a clear view of the club’s shared culture. The club has “a diverse group of riders, from cadet to master, who share a passion for cycling and a common perspective on what matters: camaraderie, audacity, generosity, and community. Many of us race, some of us don’t. We ride together. We support each other. We give back to the community,” Surch says. So, what does “teknē” mean? Surch calls it “embodied practice,” in harmony with technology, an ancient Greek concept that blends art and theory. “Teknē permeates everything we do with intention. It is mindfulness brought to how we move our bodies in space. It is how we incorporate our tools – bikes – into our movement and expression. Teknē is pedalling because pedalling feels good. Teknē is knowing that there are many ways to pedal. Teknē is the embrace of the human drive to strive, improve, refine, and share lessons learned. Teknē is what makes cycling beautiful and is why we ride.” At the start of this year the club had about 35 members, all sharing this philosophy of the bike, “people who want to have fun with cycling … whether you want to race or just
enjoy mellow rides, the club’s purpose is to help cyclists improve themselves, and to practise cycling together,” Surch says. “Folks who are looking for a ‘race team’ in order to progress in their ‘career’ and then move along are not the sort of folks we are looking for. We invite in cyclists who we’ve come to know by doing the same sorts of riding, racing and events we do.” New members have to be nominated by an existing member, endorsed by two other members, be approved by the board of directors and get past the club’s “no assholes” policy. What this means is whether a prospective member would find equivalent-skill club cyclists to ride with, and whether Teknē members would want to ride with them – and whether they’d contribute to club events and the cycling community. It costs $45 to join and club members have to buy a club uniform kit, still under design. On June 14, the club’s Ride of the Damned celebrates its seventh edition, an event Surch organized for the Tall Tree Cycle Shop before he founded Teknē. Born out of a desire to share challenging routes off the beaten track, this ride emphasizes adventure, not competition. It takes teams of four to six riders north of Ottawa over rolling hills and through rural Quebec, covering paved and dirt roads far from traffic and big-city life.
also have a longer wheelbase and lower bottom bracket (for stability) than a typical roadie. It’s up to you whether to add fenders or get a face
The apex of the 155-kilometre route is the Paugan hydroelectric dam close to Low, Que. This massive structure tops a series of ascending dirt roads and provides a spectacular view of the Gatineau River. Beyond it, riders travel along lake shorelines and past farm fields and descend to Wakefield, where everyone stops at the Pipolinka Bakery. The 100-kilometre Cascades Loop, a short version of the Damned, crosses Wakefield’s covered bridge. Ride proceeds go to an as yet unnamed regional charity. Another major club event is the Double Cross, an appetite catalyst hitting the roads every Thanksgiving Monday, a rally/randonnée through Gatineau Park to Wakefield and back. It’s open to all kinds of trail-worthy bikes – cyclo-cross bikes with big tires, drop bar mountain bikes, regular mountain bikes, and even fat bikes are all fair game. But the route is specifically cyclo-cross-bike friendly, so it’s tame for BIG tires. Featuring road, trail, and Pipolinka Bakery, it’s an 88-kilometre loop. The Teknē Cycle Club is supported by Giro Sport Design, Woven Precision Handbuilts, Mad Alchemy, Brodie Bikes, Greg Cosgrove Design, Swiss Design Group and Absolute Black.
Matt Surch
20 I ottawaoutdoors
www.ottawaoutdoors.ca
