Barking Spider Mountain Bike Shop - A New Page

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At the crossroads of the Cariboo Connector and Bella Coola Highways and the heart of Ride The Cariboo itself, stands a new bike shop to greet all who venture to the Puddle – The Barking Spider Mountain Bike Shop. Moving from its former downtown location, the shop now sits at the bottom of Fox Mountain and is a stones throw from the Wednesday night watering hole at the Overlander Pub.

We checked in with owner Scott Gordon this week to chat about his move, vision for the new shop and riding in Williams Lake.

C: What prompted you to move?

Gordon: Location, location location as they say. This is the busiest intersection in Williams Lake and perhaps the Cariboo so it offers great visibility for the shop, easy access for riders as they enter town and gets us out of the basement. The biggest factor was better visibility for customers and riders.

C: In terms of brands it seems like you’re staying the course?

Gordon: Ya, we like who we’re working with. We’re continuing with Giant, Scott, Brodie Pivot for now, but we’re always exploring other companies. We tend to focus on the pedal oriented rider, so still staying focused on all-mountain XC and climbing type bikes. We’re also staying with our road focus, which is kind of our thing. We have the Tuesday night road rides going strong, so we’re staying true to that.

C: You do rentals as well, how does that work?

Gordon: For sure, we offer full rental service for trail bikes. We have full suspension ($65/Day) and hardtails ($45/Day). You can reserve in advance, just give us a call and we’ll set you up when you get here. Its been growing the past few years, which is awesome. People come in, get maps and with the new signage we’re confident in sending them off into one of the three networks.

C: What have you noticed in the riding scene over the past few years?

Gordon: Its been growing for sure. With Ride The Cariboo and the efforts of the Club there is a lot more interest and people coming into town. The whole effort has generated awareness of Williams Lake as a riding destination. We are seeing more people coming here to ride, getting maps and staying the weekend. The whole effort around mountain biking was definitely part of my decision to move into this new location.

C: How do you see the role of a bike shop in the overall mountain bike effort in Williams Lake?

Gordon: Our primary role is to get people on bikes and keep them rolling. There is a lot of ‘bike bureaucracy’ in growing the sport, and I think my role is to provide information to people on how to get involved in that if they want. But fundamentally we’re focused on keeping people rolling.

C: I noticed some really nice espresso machines in here….that’s cool

Gordon: Yes they are really nice, and I know you’re a bit of a coffee snob so that extra validation! We’re still dialing in the crema, but we can make a nice picalo latte for sure. We get our coffee locally and have a little hang out spot and a shower so the shop can serve as a hub for visiting riders.