We have a strong cycling culture at the LTP Sports / Norco offices. Daily lunch road rides roll out for much of the riding season, and post-work mountain bike adventures aren’t hard to come by.
Of course, we ride to stretch our legs, soak up the sun, and get some face time away from the desk – but as a competitive bunch, many of us also ride to Strava!
Located on the banks of the Pitt River and surrounded by country farm roads, our Western HQ has a variety of road loops to keep things interesting and plenty of local segments to battle for King and Queen of the Mountain status.
Most hotly contested is the NPL Sprint. With over 3,000 attempts, the 1km sprint outside our front door includes a 90-degree turn and has a headwind with enough consistency you can put money on it.
The NPL acts as a sort of hazing for new riders at Live to Play / Norco – in fact, when I first started, I was told by a fellow MarCom teammate that my probationary period would end only when I had earned the title of QOM.
So when the ride is though and we roll in to the parking lot, high fives are followed by a quiet frenzy to upload and see if you bested yourself, or your riding partners that day.
But is there a time to unplug? To cruise GPS-free and forget about how you stack up against locals on the leaderboard? When you’re always crunching data or racking up kilometers for the latest mileage challenge, it can be difficult to chill out and stop to smell the cherry blossoms!
So what’s your ride style? Do you Strava, or prefer to find tech-free peace on your bicycle?
If you Strava, join our LTP Sports club and share your #AdventureBeginsHere!
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Rachael Raven is the Web Content Coordinator for Live to Play Sports and editor of livetoplaysports.com. Read her blog for observations about the cycling world, including happenings around LTP’s Port Coquitlam office! More about Rachael here.