iRide 2016 Spring Campaign

Last week Cycling BC’s iRide program concluded its 2016 spring campaign with 2 events taking place at Gordon Greenwood in Langley and Garbaldi Highlands in Squamish.  Highlights of the week included a guest coaching appearance by recent Test of Metal champion and home-town hero Quinn Moberg.

I am very happy I got the opportunity to spend a day with the iRide program. The day was particularly special because I got to go back to my elementary school. I was only planning to be at the school for a couple hours, but I quickly decided that I wanted to spend the day at the school. Seeing the joy in the kids faces was inspiring and humbling – Quinn Moberg

Quinn joined the team on the final day at Garibaldi Highlands and helped iRide coordinator, Ben Chaddock, all day.

Quinn showed up earlier than I expected and when asked, he said that he completed his training ride at 7am so he could come visit. He was very kind and caring with the kids and they were very excited to see him.  Garbaldi Highlands is also home to Lisa Manzini, a local champion for cycling and the organizer of the kids Pedal-to-the-Metal youth racing series. This series is 4 weeks long and builds local students up for the Test of Metal event every June. This year was her 10th year running the series. She still remembers when Quinn raced his first Pedal-to-the-Metal event – Ben Chaddock

After the race, Quinn posted this great reflection on his Instagram page.

The first time I raced the Test of Metal was a pivotal moment in my cycling career. The year was 2009, and it was truly inspiring. The race was hard and challenging, but I felt very successfully and became addicted to improving and becoming a faster cyclist. I feel that my close personal ties to the race are a result from my first time racing being such a positive experience. Along with my early experiences racing the Test of Metal, another important moment in kick-starting my career was watching Neal Kindree and Ryan Edwards race the 2007 edition. At the time, those two individuals were heroes to me and I could not imagine myself ever being able to ride like them. I credit the very beginning of my career to the inspiration derived from those two cyclists. In recent years, both of them have helped me immensely in becoming a better mountain bike racer, and I am proud to call them both friends. To continue this cycle of inspiring a younger individual and then helping that rider become a high level cyclist is something that is dear to me, and my biggest, most important goal in the sport. More meaningful memories include watching my dad compete in the 2006 and 2007 editions; I remember being the one to hand a water bottle to him at the bottom of 9 mile hill and watching him cross the finish line. Handing the bottle to him (which he does to me at nearly every race now) is a vivid memory that I will hold for a long time. Hearing the news that the Test of Metal is coming to an end was very emotional. It has made me think about what the race has meant to me, and lead me to realize that the majority of the reasons I got into cycling were directly related to this race. Thanks to @colleenmcmo, @dmoberg16, @mason_moberg, and @chloemo8; thanks to @emilyyannerose; thanks to my grandparents; thanks to Mike and Kim; thanks to my friends; thanks to Greg Garner of @greggardnergm; thanks to Peter Pearson of Vocari Financial; thanks to @rockymountainbicycles; thanks to @7meshinc; thanks to Sean Daly of Nesters; thanks to Al of @tantalusbikeshop; thanks to Dave of @corsacycles; thanks to Cliff Miller and all the race volunteers; thanks to my competitors.

A photo posted by Quinn Moberg (@quinnmoberg) on Jun 19, 2016 at 7:31pm PDT

The other large event of the week took place at Gordon Greenwood Elementary in Langley, an after-school program for 50 students supported by Pure Form Physio. Students enjoyed the opportunity and good weather with a 4-day program running from 4-5pm each day. A big shout out goes to Arleigh Wong and Dan Sivertson who helped us organize the event and cover half of the event costs. Thank you Pure Form Physio!

At Gordon Greenwood, Coaches Ben ‘Captian Cookie’ Chaddock, Nate Berkheimer (BMX pro rider), Jay ‘Magic’ Delany and myself set up stations of Capture the Flag, Shark Island, Volcano Surf Rider, Tower of Power, Light Bulb, Obstacle courses with mini and big stunts, and “natural terrain 101” around the grounds riding. It was a month’s worth of activity packed into 4 days!

Facebook Album:

iRide summer camps are now available to book. To find out more about these events, please visit our summer camp page here.  iRide is also currently accepting bookings for the 2016-2017 autumn session. Bookings for the 2017 spring will open on September 15th. To learn more, please visit the iRide page here.

To become an iRide newsletter recipient and stay up-to-date on all future iRide events in your area, please go here. If you’re a fan of Cycling BC’s iRide program, check us out on Twitter, Instagram, or Donate to support our programs in your area. To learn more about booking a future event, please contact us at iRide@cyclingbc.net or 1-604-BC-iRide.

IRide wrapped up its spring 2016 campaign with a great week at Garibaldi highlands. Thank you to all our supporters. pic.twitter.com/SXbzZAkVYN

— Cycling BC (@CyclingBC) June 24, 2016

Great week in Squamish this week. Thank you @QuinnMoberg for joining us yesterday. This is our new game “exchange” pic.twitter.com/bU1IfUBEw6

— Cycling BC (@CyclingBC) June 24, 2016