Cumberlandworx 2025: Day 0 & Day 1
I pedaled home from my shift last night at full throttle. Hammering. “Murder legs,” as my friend Hulklyn Lifttrees calls them. Firing my friction shifter smoothly between all six gears. Schwalbe Amazing Alvin tires singing. Lights on. I eschewed my usual routes for a more direct, straight-up but still a quiet car-light assault on my commute.
The remains of a gorgeous pink-fade-rose-gold-fade-blue sunset lingered to the west, and between the brilliant light and my burning legs, I managed to escape my typical trip-packing anxiety. At the least, for a few minutes.
It was a long ‘Day 0’ of sorting out our bicycles and gear, pedaling to work, turning wrenches, and pedaling home. Still, at any moment between then and the second climb on our first little jaunt this afternoon, I would have told you all our bikes were dialed. Thankfully, that’s true for NJP’s and The Clairebarian’s rigs.
Single-speeding ruins everything. And in my case, after ride one, there’s a brand new creak coming from my crankset, my chainring, or my brand-new bottom bracket. My money says that it’s not the Shimano XT cranks. I’ve not had any issues running Shimano Pressfit BBs in the ArctuHawk, so the most likely next-step solution* is removing my cranks and doing a clean-grease-tighten of the chainring interface. Thankfully, I have the tools with me to do that.
After my fellow-traveler-induced braking woes at Cumberlandworx 2024, I decided on a new strategy with spare parts this year. Swaps rather than repairs. Not guessing at what bits & bites we might need. My pack is prepped for pretty much every on-trail eventuality, and we’re well tooled for most multi-day mechanicals I’ve come across.
I have a shifter, a derailleur, and a couple of brakes. Oh, one spare 27” tire and one spare 29”. Every bike in our household uses 11-speed chains, so that‘s easy. I’m not going to jinx myself by saying I’m prepared with a fix {even if temporary} or to limp along any issue I’ve come across on a road trip to date. I mean, I didn’t bring a spare crankset, and there‘s always something new in brokenbikelandia.
*{As I typed this, I heard Jeff ‘Rabbit’ Carr’s voice in my head: “Just turn your headphones up.” But Jeff, I don’t ride with headphones. “There’s your first problem, then.“
”No One Has Ever Gotten Divorced Over A Bicycle… I’ve Done The Research.”
Three bikes, three pairs of shoes, three packs, three pairs of knee pads, three helmets. I mean, who knows what all we forgot to pack, but we’re ready to ride at least. Mostly. I still needed to hit up a local Comox Valley shop for a trail map*. UROC has a couple of options that are carried locally.
Arriving on the border of Cumberland, we made our historical stop at the Roy’s Towne pub, where everything is excellent, and sat under a trellis heavy with grapes while shoveling in a whole day’s worth of sustenance. Hawks and eagles circled overhead. There was a breeze off the nearby ocean. Our table was warm but shady.
From lunch, we went into divide and conquer mode. The fam hit up groceries, and I meandered down to a local shop to pick up the aforementioned map. It was there that I heard the greatest line ever delivered by a staffer:
- Customer ~: “Do you have any demo e-bikes you’re selling off?“
- Staffer ~: “Not at this point in the year, but I can show you one of the excellent options from <brand X> or <brand Y> that we carry.”
- Customer ~: “No, thanks. If I spend 8K on an e-bike, my wife will leave me.“
- Staffer ~: “No one has ever gotten divorced over a bicycle… I’ve done the research.”
- Customer ~: “Uhhhhmmmmm.”
*{I know this might sound funny coming from the typings of a semi-pseudo-Luddite like myself, but I’m feeling a strong pull away from live-and-online mapping towards something simpler.}
Stocked with supplies and equipped with a map that we probably could possibly might not need, having been here a few times, it was onward to Cumberland. Claire’s had the opportunity to hang out and ride with a handful of rad groms in the years we’ve been coming. This time around, some awesome repeat Cumberlandworx friends from B’ham are here riding bikes as well.
So on a hot afternoon, that was lovely in the trees, especially when moving, we headed into the forest to ride a couple of the classic short loops. Including a double on Claire’s favourite trail from our first ever visit, Space Nugget. I love the unique character of different riding areas, but I maintain that every place needs a Space Nugs. Ferda Groms!
This is my first time in many years riding a non-rigid bike in Cumberland, and the Arcturian is by miles the most aggressive bike I’ve ridden here. Second place is either a 140mm over-forked Honzo or my Waltworks V2 {Rigid/29+}. Either way, it’s been a lot of fun so far. Opening up new line options on trails I’ve ridden dozens of times before.
More on that experience, and who knows what, come Day 2.
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