: CLIFF MILLER and Pepper Sterling give the Brodie a test run before the big race. The race will be
run at Alice Lake for the first time and is expected to attract 400 riders and 1,000 spectators.

IN THE interest of maintaining the
high standard of hands-on journalis-
tic verisimilitude you’ve come to

. expect from your correspondent, I,
who hasn’t been on a bike since 1

L was a 13-year-old paperboy and

-who has been reluctant to share

* “my”. hiking. trails with bikers,

finally got’on one of these new-fan-

© gled contraptions, borrowed from

'. Wit’s true, you never forget how to”

“ride a bike; _ :
fi bikes have improved astonishing-

‘ly since-the three-speed Schwinn. :

- -:Everything Outdoors Ltd.

I went for a ride over, part of the
course with SORCA’s Cliff Miller

"and Pepper Sterling, new art direc-

_ tor at the Squamish Chief newspa-

‘per and'a veteran road-race cyclist

:. turned bushwhacker. ,
: [ discovered:

: Was State-of-the-art;

- B flying down forest trails on one

(of these rigs is intoxicating and

SEVER

344, LONS

potentially addictive; and

B there has to be serious improve-
ments in ‘saddle technology imme-
diately. :

As a partner in Everything
Outdoors Ltd., which offers: moun-
tain-bike tours of the area, Miller is
used to novice riders and he gave

me some valuable style pointers: .

rest your thighs, not your butt, on
the saddle; this takes the weight off
your arms, improves handling,
decreases your chances of going
head-over the bars when braking,

and it and vastly increases your

chances of ever having children or
walking normally again.

As for the “good mix of terrain”
on the course, I enjoyed the pot-
holed service, road and the undulat-
ing powerline trail, but | was glad ]
took his advice to walk my mount
down the rock ’n’ roll precipice.

“My husband goes over the edge
here all the time,” Pepper said

Craziness helps mountain biking

blithely, having whooped her way
to the bottom of her own first clean
descent, improved by SORCA
groundskeeping,

“Actually, the ground is pretty

soft down there,” Cliff assured me,
unembarrassed by what was evi-
dently first-hand knowledge. “The
hard part is finding your bike in the
bush.” .
You don’t have to be crazy to
race bikes over such terrain, but it
helps. {f you’re unfamiliar with the
area, Everything Outdoors runs
mountain bike tours that will put
wind in your hair, bugs in your
teeth and gravel in your shorts and
-give you a starting point for your
discovery of this mountain bikers
paradise. ($45-550 for three hours,
bike included). Whether you live to
ride or just “like to watch,” pencil
yourself in for “the Brodie” on the
June 18-19 weekend. For more
information, call 1-898-4199,

OUR LEASE HAS

G REDUCED - MUST GO!

M-E

May 22, 1199420

TPA et

IF YOU think you're a hell-
on-wheels, off-road mountain
biker, you’ve got a month to
tune your legs and bike to
prove it June 18-19 at Alice
Lake Provincial Park, just
north of Squamish.

HIGH ADVENTURE
by John Moore

“The Brodie,” as bikers call this
race (sponsored by Richmond's
Brodie mountain bike company),
attracted up to 350 competitors
annually in the three years il was
held at Roberts Creek on the
Sunshine Coast.

This year, for the first time, the
meet will be hosted by the
Squamish Off Road Cycling

Association (SORCA) and is‘

expected to draw up to 400 riders
and 1,000 spectators.

Brodie’s Megan Kureluk
explains the change of venue:
“There have been same concerns
that the Roberts Creek site might
be logged, but that's a bit of a mis-
conception.

“The real reason for the change
is that we were looking for a more
central, accessible site. Riders from

Vancouver Island, for example,

were having to make two ferry trips
to compete.”

The rugged Squamish area, pen-
etrated by an extensive network of
logging, forest service and power-
line roads, tracks and trails already
being discovered by off-road bik-
ers, was a logical choice, +”

“Besides, SORC4 president
Clitf Miller is irresislibly enthusi-
astic,” Kureluk adds.

Miller himself has nothing but
praise for the positive attitude of

‘Speciali

He Fte i

B.C, Parks staff whose input
helped SORCA design a challeng-
ing 10 km course calculated to put
minimum strain on the sometimes
frayed relations between hikers and
mountain bikers,

“B.C. Parks has just been super-
cooperative,” Miller says geateful-
ly, acknowledging that, “They
could have made it hard for us if
they wanted lo. But they're com-
mitted to making mountain biking
co-exist successfully with other
recreational activities in this area.”

Sections of the course dat are
within the park boundaries are in
the areas‘least used by hikers.

B.C. Parks is closing the popu-
lar Four Lakes Trail to mountain
bikers for the weekend (hikers
only), and closing the gravel access
road to the upper park start/finish
area to vehicle traffic. Everything
Outdoors Lid. of Squamish will
provide free shuttle service for
spectators from the lower park to
the start/finish line.

Although there will be no sex
segregation in the Sunday, June 19 -
races, novice class riders will do
two laps of the course starting at 11
a.m. and experts will do six laps
starting at 1 p.m.

Entry fee for the race is $25.

Registration of competitors
begins at noon on Saturday, June
18, at the Squamish Civic Centre
and continues until Sunday, June
19 at the race site.

Since this is a “points race”
toward the B.C. Cup and:is sanc-
tioned and insured by Cycling
B.C., riders must have a licence
from the organization or obtain a
single-day licence at the site to
compete.

For more information call
Megan Kureluk at 270-4209 or
Cliff Miller at 1-898-5195,,

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Pare

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JON MAY 24h OUR ADDRESS WILL BE OB4-4) 01

1877 Marine Dt.
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