Extreme Riding in Vancouver

I have never done any riding in Vancouver so while on a trip to see the Eagles in concert(they were excellent, played for 2.5 hours) I decided to try out some of Van's finest riding. I joined up with an old time Holy Wower, Jerry Bella, and we took on the steeps and gnarls of the Stanley Park bike path.

Notice the fine steeds that we rented at the Reckless Bike shop. These babies were made from the finest aluminum that money could buy and would prove to be just the ticket for the extreme riding the park had to offer.

So off we went to test our skills on some urban extreme, riding the first rental bike I have ever ridden. The seat was like a couch(very comfy) the shock was purely cosmetic but the bike had a nice cushy feel to it even though it creaked a little and the stem was a touch loose. Ahh a set of stairs, this thing should be able to handle a 4 stair drop, and it did without a whimper. A nice friendly cruiser. The scenery was fetching, aided by a sunny day in Vancouver and the kilometers flew by without much effort.

As we approached the Royal Vancouver yacht club(nice boats) and about as far away from the rental shop as we were going to get, Jerry says "Hey try and ride along that curb ". Feeling quite confident I rolled up onto the curb and continued along for about 50 feet (my usual) when I decided I should hop down to the lower level(8 inch drop, glad it wasn't more). Upon landing the Budwieserish ditch tube on this beach cruising baby snapped and left

me standing(thank goodness I was moving at my usual slow pace) with two pieces of bike held together by shift and brake cable.

WOW never had a catastrophic failure like this before. I thought I had lost weight. Observation of the break revealed a previous crack( oxidation was evident). Remember those stairs? Things could have been a lot worse.

Lesson, beware of rental beach bikes and extreme riding in Vancouver.