Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Canadian Invasion: Andrew Shandro does Copper Harbor

Who is that masked man?
Okay so total disclosure I didn't even know who this guy was. Never heard of him. Who-drew Shan-what? 

But Copper Harbor Trails Club president and lead trail builder Aaron Rogers had asked me to come up and work with the club again during Memorial Day weekend's Ride the Keweenaw event. I believe in Rogers and the crew in The Harbor who are bettering their world with the sweetest bike trails in the region and am glad to help out. Trek and the International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA) were sending pro riders, but I didn't really care about that because tons of friends from all over the region were going to be there, and folks I've been wanting to meet for years were going to be there and my sister-in-law is going to watch the kids and there's going to be music, beer and food--and biking. Heck yes I'll be there.

Turns out Shandro is sort of a big deal. As in legend. As in cover of Bike magazine this very month...riding in Nepal. Gulp. I meant to Google these guys so at least I had something semi-intelligent to say but, well, with packing gear and cameras and kids and dogs and chickens and blah blah blah, it never happened. Didn't matter. Shandro was super chill, happy to answer stupid questions. He's a dude with kids, wife, house, etc. (no chickens though) that just happens to rip on a bike for a living. Very glad to have had the chance to meet and ride with him. And dang can he ride.

There's so much more to tell so look for a few more posts in the future. In the meantime, here's a quick edit from the 1,200 images made over the weekend. Thanks for looking!

Shandro, center, Keweenaw Adventure Company shuttle



Andrew Shandro, On the Edge, Copper Harbor, Michigan
Andrew Shandro heading Downtown, Copper Harbor, Michigan.
It helps when the light is nice, Aaron Rogers and Andrew Shandro on The Flow
You can't handle the whole Shandro; The Flow, Copper Harbor, Michigan
"Fun trails, these are really fun trails," Andrew Shandro----->Aaron Rogers
Fast trail, big lake; Shandro on The Flow, Copper Harbor, Michigan.
I think the technical term is "braap" right Hansi?