I first met Andrew around 20 years ago shuttling Cypress. This was back in the day where there were only a few crews riding Cypress, mostly due the crappy equipment and constant crashes. My crew was a small outfit of 4-5 on any given day shuttling in cars with bike racks. But there was this one other crew of 4 or five that had this one loud, happy go lucky rider who drove a minivan with the seats taken out. That rider was Andrew. Our crew would cross paths with his crew, join for a shuttle or two every so often. Those rides were always a gong show of laughing and crashing. Andrew had a habit of flying down a trail and “yard saleing” into the forest. Causing fits of laughter for everyone. Man those were fun rides. Our equipment worked poorly, bikes had 68 degree head angles, brakes were shit. And Andrew was always laughing. We would randomly see each other on the hill, crews would join, then we would not see each other for months. This was before chat groups to organize rides…..
Then I did not see Andrew for a number of years but started to run into him again at Whistler. I was up a lot in the 2010’s with my son so would see Andrew with his expanded crew running laps on Crank it Up. We would do a lap but then not see each other for weeks or months. Andrew was always just happy running laps with whoever was around.
It wasn’t until a few years ago that I started to run into Andrew again on the Shore, when he started seeing his now wife Kaede. One day as I was pedaling up Fromme at my usual glacial pace, and I came upon another slow rider… Wait is that Andrew? And it was. He was with Kaede showing her all the gems of Fromme. Chu and I chatted like we had not missed the last number of years being busy with life and not seeing each other.
After running into each other a few times, we started riding together again. Every week, sometimes many times a week. Seymour, Cypress, Squamish, Pemberton and even a few days at Whistler. Over the last few years I must have ridden with Chu around 75-100 days a year. We traded bike parts, sold each other bikes, and I watched as Chu and Kaede’s online presence grew. I was injured last year, not riding much but when I came back Chu was not only riding with everyone, literally, but he also started the Once a Month Free Ride Club. A way of giving back to everyone and bringing his stoke of riding to all. And in a nutshell that was always Chu. Happy, spreading his passion of riding to all, encouraging you to try something, but not pushing you if you just were not feeling it. You could tell he knew how to work with people and that he just got how to help you progress. He was always smiling, always laughing. And that is what I will remember.
April 9, 2024, 10:32 a.m. - jason
I first met Andrew around 20 years ago shuttling Cypress. This was back in the day where there were only a few crews riding Cypress, mostly due the crappy equipment and constant crashes. My crew was a small outfit of 4-5 on any given day shuttling in cars with bike racks. But there was this one other crew of 4 or five that had this one loud, happy go lucky rider who drove a minivan with the seats taken out. That rider was Andrew. Our crew would cross paths with his crew, join for a shuttle or two every so often. Those rides were always a gong show of laughing and crashing. Andrew had a habit of flying down a trail and “yard saleing” into the forest. Causing fits of laughter for everyone. Man those were fun rides. Our equipment worked poorly, bikes had 68 degree head angles, brakes were shit. And Andrew was always laughing. We would randomly see each other on the hill, crews would join, then we would not see each other for months. This was before chat groups to organize rides….. Then I did not see Andrew for a number of years but started to run into him again at Whistler. I was up a lot in the 2010’s with my son so would see Andrew with his expanded crew running laps on Crank it Up. We would do a lap but then not see each other for weeks or months. Andrew was always just happy running laps with whoever was around. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I started to run into Andrew again on the Shore, when he started seeing his now wife Kaede. One day as I was pedaling up Fromme at my usual glacial pace, and I came upon another slow rider… Wait is that Andrew? And it was. He was with Kaede showing her all the gems of Fromme. Chu and I chatted like we had not missed the last number of years being busy with life and not seeing each other. After running into each other a few times, we started riding together again. Every week, sometimes many times a week. Seymour, Cypress, Squamish, Pemberton and even a few days at Whistler. Over the last few years I must have ridden with Chu around 75-100 days a year. We traded bike parts, sold each other bikes, and I watched as Chu and Kaede’s online presence grew. I was injured last year, not riding much but when I came back Chu was not only riding with everyone, literally, but he also started the Once a Month Free Ride Club. A way of giving back to everyone and bringing his stoke of riding to all. And in a nutshell that was always Chu. Happy, spreading his passion of riding to all, encouraging you to try something, but not pushing you if you just were not feeling it. You could tell he knew how to work with people and that he just got how to help you progress. He was always smiling, always laughing. And that is what I will remember.