Woodcock Cycle

Cafe’s are an integral part of cycling culture, and Peri helps carry the caffeine torch as a barista at The Yellow Derney Cafe.

Like most of us, Peri has been riding her bike since she was a child, riding around her neighbourhood with childhood friends and dodging cracks in the road. But it wasn’t until she was 18 that she discovered a personal passion for the sport after inheriting her dad’s old road bike.

“I never saw him use it, but I loved it. That was when I started feeling more like a “cyclist”. I didn’t have to share a bike with my mom anymore, I had my own bike I could take for long rides whenever I wanted to.”

Since then, Peri has taken to bicycle commuting nearly every day. “I like that it lets me build exercise into my daily routine,” she said. “Especially commuting to work. It takes the same time as it does to drive. But when I’m biking to work, I just feel more aware of myself, of the weather, the world. I feel more connected.”

But Peri doesn’t stop cycling when the work day is over. After joining her more experienced cycling friends on her first long-distance gravel ride, she started competing in gravel races within Manitoba, like Purgatory and Glacial Grind.

“My first year racing in Purgatory, I really surprised myself,” she recalled. “My goal was just to finish, but I placed fifth. The year after that, I didn’t place as high, but shaved a whole 25 minutes off of my previous time, and I felt much stronger as a cyclist.”

Peri rides a Cube NuRoad as her primary steed for commuting and gravel riding. More recently, she has taken to pushing herself in road cycling, and purchased a Cervelo Caledonia from the shop to propel her training forward.

“Honestly, I feel so cool when I ride the Cervelo. It’s just so light, I’ve never had such a speedy bike before. I feel like the fastest person ever.”

If you’re curious about getting into cycling, Peri doesn’t mince words.

“Just get a bike and go. As long as you have a bike, you’re a cyclist. Don’t worry about anything else.”

We hope everyone enjoyed everything Bike Week in Winnipeg had to offer, and we hope the events through the week have inspired you to ride your bike more this summer (and beyond)!

Nicolas, better known in the shop as Nico, is one of our knowledgeable sales associates at Woodcock Cycle, as well as our resident bike fitter. He lives and breathes cycling, and from daily commutes on city streets to podium finishes on his mountain bike, he knows a thing or two about getting the most out of a bike.

Nico's obsession with cycling kicked off in Brazil while he helped build the downhill mountain bike course for a local race, when his friend encouraged him to enter the race himself. While his skills at the time were modest, he had an absolute blast. In cycling, he found a community and a scene where he could thrive.

“In Brazil, if you don’t play soccer, it’s hard to fit in with a group… and I was really bad at soccer,” he recalled. “But after I started racing, I realized I was way better as a cyclist, So I decided I would do that.”

Before he left Brazil, Nico placed 5th in the downhill hardtail category of Brazil’s national mountain biking championships, and his race career has continued to progress since coming to Canada, taking home Manitoba’s provincial championships hosted at Bison Butte in 2023.

More than anything, Nico simply enjoys riding his bike.

“I do my best to ride every day, I rode every day last winter as well. I just love riding,” he says. “It trains my cardio and my legs, and keeps me healthy. My commute from Sterling Lyon is especially beautiful. It’s a 22km round trip, and when I follow the Green bus route, I barely touch motor traffic through the whole route.”

Nico commutes to work on his trusty Kona Rove AL, a versatile and accessible set of wheels that we love to recommend to customers dipping their toes into gravel biking for the first time. “It’s my jack of all trades. Summer riding, winter riding, gravel races, road races, everything.”

Nico also rides his Kona Hei Hei cross-country mountain bike, a classic in the Kona line-up that is the perfect balance of speed and playfulness for trail networks across Manitoba. “It’s my main race bike, it’s the one I take to all of my mountain bike races.”

For folks looking to take their first dip into cycling, Nico strongly recommends a hardtail mountain bike as a first bike. “They’re the most versatile type of bike out there. They can do a little bit of everything, from roads to gravel to trails, and there’s a lot of options available at every price.”

Most importantly, finding a bike that is a perfect fit has never been easier.

“Back in the day, it was complicated to fit someone for a bicycle,” he said. “These days, everything is made with purpose, and bikes fit a much wider variety of people.”

June 8-12th is Bike Week in the City of Winnipeg, and to celebrate, we’re sharing how cycling has impacted the lives of some of our passionate employees, from their commutes to work to their lives off the clock.

Thank you to the 100+ who came out to our Bike to Work Day pit stop! We had a ton of fun Habitat for Humanity celebrating cyclists and cycling culture in Winnipeg.

A big thank you to also goes out to St. Leon's Gardens for the fresh fruits and veggies for St. Mary’s cyclists, and to Bike Week Winnipeg for organizing this great event every year!

If you’ve had a warranty claim in the last few months, you’ve probably been looked after by our staffperson Bruce. He puts a lot of care and energy into making sure our customers are looked after: *almost* as much energy as his passion for cycling itself.

Bruce’s earliest memories of biking were those of him riding with his brother on (now vintage) Graco MX 1000’s, bikes that were designed to look like old 70’s motocross bikes. Today, they’re a bit of an absurdity. But back then, Bruce recalls them being an absolute riot.

“We did crazy things on those bikes. We jumped culverts, we jumped over ditches, occasionally bailing mid-flight,” he said. “Good thing my parents didn’t know all the things we did with them.”

Today, Bruce is a very holistic biker: he cycles recreationally, he cycles with his wife and his two sons, and he commutes to work by bicycle nearly every day. He’s also a year-round cyclist: on top of gravel biking and mountain biking, he also commutes on his fat bike all winter.

“It’s one of the main things I can do for my fitness right now. My knees are not in a good place, and there’s not many things that are easier on your body than cycling.”

That’s one of the things Bruce loves about cycling: it suits a wide variety of personalities, priorities, and seasons of life. “Cycling never gets boring,” he said. “I’ve known elite, competitive cyclists: they still enjoy slow rides with their casual friends, and their friends can still enjoy riding with them. I could be wrong, but I think that’s harder to say about other competitive sports, like basketball or soccer.”

Bruce knows how to get around on a bike: his Strava data shows that his bike commute is maybe ten minutes longer than his drive. But practicalities aside, he just loves the experience. “Driving just isn’t fun anymore. If I’m biking to work, any frustration from the work day melts away by the time I’m home.”

To someone who was interested in getting into cycling for the first time (or after a very, very long break, Bruce would say, “Just go ride. There’s so many ways to appreciate cycling, and it’s hard to figure that out without getting on a bike. We can talk about health, about fun, freedom, gas prices, whatever. That’s all great. But it’s more than that. It’s something I can’t put into words.”

June 8-12th is Bike Week in the City of Winnipeg, and to celebrate, we’re sharing how cycling has impacted the lives of some of our passionate employees, from their commutes to work to their lives off the clock.

A hot summer calls for cold drinks.

Two new bevys just hit the Yellow Derney Cafe's menu: The Brown Sugar Shaken Espresso, and the Blueberry Iced Latte, so you can stay caffienated without losing your cool.

Swing by the store and try one today!

Elite bike alert: we recently sent a gorgeous bike out the door to it's proud owner last week: the ENVE MOG, in rugged yet luxurious Recon Green.

ENVE is a boutique brand focused entirely on top-shelf frames and wheelsets, and riders who order them in can be confident their new steed stands out from the peloton (though they've probably broken away hours ago).

These bikes come in fully disassembled and are put together with love and care by our most experienced mechanics, like our man Andrew. How would you spec this beauty?

Did you visit our booth at the Birds Hill Duathlon in the Park last month? Time is running out to enter your tickets into our Orca Athlex wetsuit draw! The draw is tomorrow: Swing by the shop by tomorrow at 12:00pm to make your entry, otherwise we can't guarantee we can include your ticket!

You can find the draw bucket by the very cool Felt triathlon bike, to your left when you walk in the front doors. If you're not sure where to go, ask one of our friendly staff!

You’ve seen the Woodcock Cycle Works team on the sidelines at the Birds Hill Park Duathlon In The Park, but we’re also proud of our people tearing it up on the racecourse as well.

Last week, our sales representative Terry Demkiw placed first in the 65-69 age category, qualifying him to represent Canada at the World Multisport Championships next year in Edmonton… and he only joined the triathlon club three weeks ago.

Terry is no stranger to competition, though: he’s been running and cycling for more than 35 years, and competition has been a consistent part of his practice. He qualified for the Boston Marathon back in 2019 (before COVID-19 quashed his travel plans), and just last year, he competed in his first cyclocross race in St. Malo, an experience he described as the most fun he’s ever had on a bike.

“It’s the way I motivate myself,” he said. “I can’t consistently just go out and do something for the sake of doing it. I need a goal to work towards, especially when it comes to running.”

Terry’s win was a team effort. Fellow shop member Camilo lent Terry his legendary Cervelo P4 TT, a bike renowned for one thing only: going fast and smashing podiums.

But unlike the Cervelo, Terry’s real goals aren’t about winning races: they’re about staying in-shape and healthy into his older years, so that he can enjoy his life to the fullest: “It’s about quality of life, not quantity,” he said. He runs 3-4 times a week, typically following no specific training program, commutes on his vintage refurbished Kona mountain bike, and for longer road and gravel rides, pulls out his Norco Search XR.

Swing by Woodcock Cycles today, and we can set you up with your own P-series racing beast, or a Kona that you can love for decades to come. We can’t sell you a lifetime of training though: you’ll have to earn that one all on your own.

That's a wrap for the Bird's Hill Duathlon in the Park! Thank you to all the racers who swung by our booth over the last three races and made the races amazing events!

If you picked up tickets for our Orca Athlex wetsuit draw, don't forget to swing by our store with your tickets before June 2, 2026! The draw will be taking place at the end of that day!

Congratulations to all of the racers, and good luck with the rest of the race season!

Sweat, heat, dust, and bikes: all the makings of an absolutely amazing evening at the second monthly Dig Night at yesterday evening.

We had a huge turn-out of volunteers to shape up the trails, we gave away some great prizes courtesy of HLC and EVOC, and our shop team even managed to clock a few laps before the gates closed.

The weather only gets more gorgeous from here, so get out and enjoy some freshly groomed single track, and don’t forget to join the team at the next Dig Night in June!

📸: Kacper Antoszewski