5 ~ Sunday, June 18, 1989 — Lynn Valley Echo

Mountain bikes proving popular with

MOUNTAIN BIKES — those fat-tired, sturdy bikes that
are showing up on streets, trails and schoolyards — have far
surpassed their road bike counterparts in sales and general

popularity.

“You can’t sell road bikes
anymore,’’ says Mark Peters,
owner of the 16-year-old Lynn
Valley Cycles.

According to Dave Lewis of
Reckless Rider, mountain bikes
took over from road bikes about
three years ago, because they’re
easy to vide, simple to use and
comfortable.

The rider of a mountain bike is
in a more upright position than
when on a 10-speed, allowing
greater visibility.

Versatility is also a feature, as
the mountain bikes, with their fat
tires, are equally adaptable to
street riding and to off-roading on
trails or logging roads.

And when confronting the
North Shore’s hilly terrain, the 18
or 21 speeds offered by most
mountain bikes are, for many
cyclists, a necessity if they’re going
.to make it to the top of the more
challenging climbs.

According to Tony da Roza of
Sportsmen’s Bike Supplies in
Edgemont Village, it’s the bike’s
ability to gc off-road that is mak-
ing it popular with families who
are concerned about riding in
street traffic.

While many of his customers
buy bikes for the whole family,
usually in the $300 to $400 range,
he also gets a range of single peo-
ple, from teenagers who spend
$600 for a bike to 60-year-olds
who purchase a mountain bike to
take to their cabin at Whistler.

“Even the elderly people are
getting into it,’’ agrees Robert
Edworthy of Cap’s Bicycles on
Marine Drive.

Edworthy doesn’t see the moun-
tain biking boom as a fad that’s
going to fade. ‘‘It isn’t something
that’s going to run out,’’ he says
confidently. Last year alone, his
store sold close to 2,000 mountain
bikes.

The only people buying road
bikes now, he says, are competitive
riders and triathletes.

When picking out a bike, buyers
will find themselves faced with a
wide range of prices, from the
mid-$200s up to $2,500 — or more
if the bike is custom-made.

While there is no need for most
tiders to buy at the top of the

Local trail access

MOUNTAIN BIKES are adaptable to a wide variety of ter-
rains, from paved roads to rocky trails, but it is sometimes
difficult to sort out the rules and regulations stating on

which trails bikes are allowed.

“*It’s not a hard and fast, black
and white thing,’’ said Jim Slater
of the North Vancouver District
Parks Department. ‘‘The onus is
on the bikers,’? he noted, to find

area in which they can cycle
witheut endangering pedestrians.

Slater emphasizes that bikes are
not allowed on any fitness trails in
North Vancouver District, and that
bikers should try to stay away
from the parks altogether.

They can, however, bike in the
B.C. Hydro powerline right of
way, although they stand the
chance of rubbing shoulders with
the equestrian riders who also use
the area,

Martin Moore of the North
Vancouver City Parks Department
telis a similar story.

All trails in city parks are off
limits, he says — ‘‘there’s just too
much foot traffic.””

And according to a spokesper-
son at the Provincial Ministry of
Parks, biking trails at Cypress and
Seymour Provincial Parks are also
limited. .

The only trails bikers may use at
Seymour are the horse trails near
the base of the mountain and the

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LYNN

3050 Mountain Hwy.

VALLEY SURPLUS

Old Buck fogging trail that begins
just up from the Parks office.

At Cypress, bikers can use the
logging road, which can be access-
ed across from the West Van-
couver Works Yard found épprox-
imately 1 km along the Cypress
Bow! road after turning off from
the highway.

The logging road continues from
this point up to the Alpine ski area
at Parking Lot #5,

One area set aside for the sole
use of bikers is the road leading
through the Seymour Demonstra-
tion Forest (see article page 4). The
paved road, which also leads to the
Seymour dam and fish hatchery,
has proved popular for bikers of
all ages and abilities.

The _Baden-Powell trail, which
runs from Deep Cove to Howe
Sound, is not open to bikers.

For information on enjoyable
toad trips in the Lower Mainland
and its surroundings, a number of
books are available that detail
routes, mileage, stops of interest
and traffic conditions.

HIGH PRICES. *

983-2045

(across from 7-11)

range, Edworthy advises that ‘‘if
it’s under $400, it’s not a mountain
bike.”

“It’s kind of foolish to spend
less than $600 this year,’ he says,
explaining that the hyperglide
gears that usually come on the
$600-and-up bikes allow riders to
shift gears much more easily, and
will no doubt be on all bikes in the
future.

At Reckless Rider, most of the
first-time mountain bikers buy in
the $600 to $800 range, says Lewis.

While many people are buying
the bikes simply for recreation or
transportation, Edworthy has a tip
for those who are interested in im-
proving their level of fitness.

Keeping up your cadence — or
number of pedal revolutions per
minute — is ‘‘real important” in
developing cardiovascular en-
durance, he emphasizes,

While racers are often pedalling
at 110 rpms, Edworthy e2dvises
recreational cyclists to learn to
work the gears in order to keep
their cadence at « minimum of 60
rpms, Other experts recommend a
cadence of between 80 and 100.

More information about the
sport of biking can be obtained
from the Bicycle Hotline Informa-
tion Service, 731-7433, or the
Bicycling Association of 8B.C.,
737-3034.

limited
However, there is currently little
information forthcoming to guide

mountain bikers who wish to take
their steed off-roading.

photo Mike Wakefletd

MOUNTAIN BIKES can be secn more and more often on streets. in
playgrounds and on trails. With their many gears, they make it much
easier for even novice riders to tackle North Shore hills. Robyn Brown
(left) and Jody Bell, above, demonstrate correct hand signals that should
be used whenever riding in treffic. .

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