Matt Lapointe eats, sleeps and breathes mountain biking.
“If I’m not at work, I’m usually on my bike,” says the group ride co-ordinator for the Black Sheep Mountain Bike Club.
Lapointe rides six days a week, and anywhere from seven to 15 hours each week depending on the time of year. His rides last anywhere from four hours when training to eight hours for his longest race.
“I just love the speed. I love being out in the dirt.”
Lapointe is one of about 150 members of the Black Sheep Mountain Bike Club, which formed in 1998.
The club started with a group of high school students unsatisfied with the short racing season in the high school series.
“When it was done for the summer – it ends at the end of May – there was no more racing for them, so they started their own mountain bike club,” Lapointe says.
The club was named after Stephen J. Cannell’s 1970s TV show Black Sheep Squadron about a group of Second World War fighter pilots.
Lapointe has been a member of Black Sheep for about three years and said the club is open to all ages and all skill levels.
“Our club has a great camaraderie so we hang out with everybody from five year olds to 65 year olds, so it’s a really great mix of people.”
Black Sheep hosts a series of cross-country and downhill races throughout their season, which runs from May until the end of September.
They also do group rides on Sunday mornings at Centennial Park.
While many of the group rides are Centennial Park, the club also uses the trails at Mount McKay and the Shuniah Mines. For the avid enthusiasts, there are also trains and races in Nipigon, Dryden and in the U.S. in Duluth and Minneapolis and Wisconsin.
Lapointe says people can ride for the fitness aspect of cycling, but you don’t have to be extremely fit to get out there and do it for fun. While he trains six days a week, some people just come out once a week to ride for the enjoyment of it.
“There’s a whole gamut of people out there.”
One way to check out the sport and the Black Sheep club is to come to one of their races.
The first event of the season is the fourth annual Paradis Classic, a gravel road race in Stanley at 885 Harstone Dr. The race begins at 11 a.m. and there’ll be a barbeque afterwards.
There will be two routes, a 28-kilometre and a five-kilometre loop.
Also this month is the Mud n’ Mayhem Festival on Sunday, May 27 at Centennial Park. Registration starts at 9 a.m. with the races starting at 11 a.m.
Lapointe says the Mud n’ Mayhem Festival is their first big race of the year, which usually draws the most number of riders.
There’ll be a barbeque, games and races in different categories. All abilities and ages are welcome.
The sport is easy to pick up, but the gear can be expensive.
An entry-level mountain bike can cost between $500 to $1,000, but top-end bikes can run anywhere from $10,000 to $12,000.
“You can spend until it hurts,” says Lapointe, who owns several bikes that cost on average $4,000 to $5,000.
“I put a lot into this. But you don’t have to.”
For more information, including membership information check out the Black Sheep website.
On Twitter: @JodiL_reporter
