This is The Last Drop
Much like many cycling clubs, The Last Drop has its own origin story. Our story laid the foundation for culture and community that has evolved to what we know and love today.
As described in our story page, TLD began one cool morning in late June of 2021, when Nate went for a Stanley Park ride slightly earlier than usual at 5:30am. Riding through English Bay, he came across another cyclist, wearing all black, riding the same bike as his, the Cannondale SystemSix. This is a hardcore, all aero, true enthusiast's bike. The cyclist was Zack. After a few kilometers of riding casually side by side and exchanging compliments, they entered the park entrance. The conversation went quiet, the focus dialed in, and the pace started to increase. As expected, this became an all out effort race around the park where each rider took turns pacing and leading, their speed nearly matching. After a long effort and many watts later, they coasted down the hill from Prospect Point, coming to a stop at the bottom where the circuit ends. "Let's do this again", "Agreed". The rest is history.
One of the most inspiring part of leading a riding club is seeing these unique individuals come from all walks of life, bringing their own stories and wisdom to enrich the community and strengthen the team. Being an "ultra-early" riding group, we have the unique talent of attracting equally like-minded, crazy passionate individuals who want to get the most out of themselves each day. Our club is full of these personalities that we hope we can eventually share more of some day. But for now, we'd like to present the stories of our Founders, Zack and Nate, plus the Ride Leaders that were elected as the most inspiring members of the group.
Nathan Chan (Nate) - Founder
Cycling for Nate began not long ago in just 2020, when he joined his fellow coworkers from Toyota in riding through the pandemic. This was an escape from the busy life he leads which soon turned into a passion as he pushed himself to get stronger and losing over 40 pounds in the process. Nate took this passion to inspire others around him to join as well, which later became TLD.
Nate is a lifelong entrepreneur. By day, he works for Destination Toyota in Burnaby as a Financial Services Manager. But outside of this, he is also the founder of Catoro Cafe, a Vancouver cat cafe and rescue centre. In addition, he does freelance web design, photography, and now managing The Last Drop Cycling Club alongside Zack.
His goals for 2023 are to continue growing and developing TLD as a club and a brand. As for on-bike goals, a sub 2:15 Prospect Point Climb is on his radar!
Zack Tom - Founder
Zack loves cycling - whether its a coffee ride, sweating it out together on a group Zwift workout, or simply sprinting with the crew! Throw in some competition and there’s likely no challenge he’ll turn down - just prepare for a sweaty hug afterwards (win or lose).
He’s always been a bit obsessed with sport and fitness - playing ball in his youth, weightlifting through adulthood, and for the past 2 years being dedicated to becoming stronger on his bike. For him, The Last Drop is family - he loves to build others up and crack jokes mid-climb.
Zack is a Marketer and has spent his career helping build brands. Having spent time in Toronto and San Francisco, he’s worked at J&J, P&G, and PwC Consulting. Currently he’s the Head of Marketing at Plative Consulting.
His goals for 2023: Make the club a welcoming space for all cyclists. Design some badass kit. Steal some neighbourhood KOMs. And make the podium at the Whistler Gran Fondo St. Regis Race portion.
Jamshed Colah - Board Member / Ride Leader
Jamshed is a passionate cyclist, loyal Vancouverite and lifelong learner. "Cycling not only represents a graceful and rewarding sport but it has pushed my mind to be more resilient in all aspects of my life, so every career challenge, personal road block or difficult human experience is just another mountain to climb or PR to achieve - the gradients are just change ;)"
Jamshed is currently the manager of capital philanthropy for the St. Paul's Foundation - supporting the evolution of healthcare delivery and research based health outcomes in British Columbia
As for 2022 goals, to grow my muscle of humility and strength my overall ability to be a teammate and leader within The Last Drop Cycling Club.
Jonathan (Jon) Li - Board Member / Ride Leader
Born and raised in Vancouver, but now a suburban dad out in Coquitlam! Cycling has been such a long and exciting journey with its many ups and downs. I'm an athlete at heart who's usually overly competitive, but always trying to find time to meet and share my joy of cycling with new folks who are falling in love with the sport for their first time.
I'm a recovering accountant! Started my career articling at PwC with a background in accounting and finance. Now I work remotely for a tech start up in software sales providing solutions for finance professionals around Financial Planning, Budgeting, Forecasting, and Analysis!
On the bike goals:
- Sub 40 on Cypress - Shed to Powerline Segment
- Sub 55 on Seymour - Seymour Hill Climb Segment
Bianca Hayes - Board Member / Ride Leader
In 2022 Bianca is planning her second Trans Canada ride to raise money for Ovarian Cancer. Check out more on Bianca here!
Peter Nguyen - Ride Leader
Born in Fredericton, NB, but raised in Vancouver, BC. I started cycling back in May 2020, as many others did as a COVID summer hobby. Got hooked pretty quickly and even managed to find a group of like-minded cyclists to help channel my competitive nature. Most people like mountains for the climbs, I like them for their descents.
I’m currently a practicing RMT (registered massage therapist) based out of both Kitsilano, as well as Fraser street. The majority of my clients are performance based athletes looking to gain the edge in their respective sports. Proper alignment and functionality of the body allows for athletes to push harder, faster, and longer.
My goal is to be able to inspire the people who just started cycling and are struggling with the hills/climbs. Those who aren't the most athletic, and may be too timid to challenge themselves. I'm still far from being a phenomenal cyclist but I do strive to improve myself little by little, each and every single day. Hopefully someone out there can find my journey relatable and realize their dreams and goals in cycling aren't as far from their reach as they might think.
Bernard Facundo - Ride Leader
Like most people, Bernard got into cycling at the height of the pandemic. Beyond just being able to ride with his friends, he saw cycling as a healthy outlet, both physically and mentally. He quickly grew to love the sport and spent most of the week discovering new roads, and conquering old ones to set new PRs.
What Bernard loves most about cycling is its duality: it is both a solo and team sport. It is enjoying a solo ride just as much as a group ride. It is bettering yourself while looking out for your teammates.
When not on his bike, Bernard is rarely seen without a coffee in hand, whether he’s jumping between meetings as an Operations Manager for Westbank or simply winding down. He is also learning photography on the side.
This year, Bernard aims to take his cycling journey one step further by serving as Ride Leader. His goal is to foster continued growth and strengthened camaraderie in The Last Drop, all while besting his current PRs.
Dustin Corpuz - Ride Leader
Athlete at heart and grew up playing soccer competitively. Started cycling in my youth, following my dad and his friends up and down the mountain bike trials of Burke Mountain in Port Coquitlam. Have been road cycling for over a decade, enjoying social rides and coffee shops.
When I’m not wear lycra, I’m a high school teacher at the school I graduated from in Poco. I am also involved in athletics at the school, coaching teams and encouraging student athletes to achieve their goals.
My goal for 2023 is to get the TLD Race Team onto the podium at the Whistler Gran Fondo. My personal goal is to sub 40mins Seymour Mountain Hill Climb.
Eric Mah - Ride Leader
I started my cycling journey like many, during Covid, as a way to try something new and also stay fit. I quickly fell in love with the sport and decided to continue pursuing it as more and more friends joined. I enjoyed being outdoors in the sunshine with friends strolling around the city and also exploring new places on a bike.
My passions in life are living a healthy lifestyle and working hard. I firmly believe that being a nice and kind person is very important in life as it is just too short to keep resentment or bitterness towards anything. Always look on the positive side of things. One of my favorite foods is sushi, and I love hiking, sports, the gym and traveling. I work for the District of West Vancouver in the Building and Development department.
My goals this year it would be to climb Mount Baker again and do Bowen Island. I also want to hit 1,000km total in one week on the bike and lots more food tours around the city
For my off saddle goals, I want to maintain my fitness and keep recreational to maintain a healthy lifestyle. I want to keep encouraging my friends and family to stay active and lead by example. I want to try and work less so I can enjoy other things with friends and family as well.
Aryeh Fayerman - Ride Leader
My cycling journey started off as a young wee lad when my Zaida took me out in a grassy field near my house back in Calgary where he taught me how to ride a bike. Since then, I've often used cycling as form of meditation or as I like to call it, the miles are my meditation as I navigate this thing we call life.
I'm constantly blown away by the love shared by the TLD family day in and day out, and I cherish the moments between miles shared between all the other members of the club whether it is in a coffee shop or chewing my bar tape while I try to hold on to the group during the classic Nitro Saturday drop ride.
My cycling goals for this year are to ride out in the Okanogan Valley for the 1st time being apart of the exclusive TLD x Tuft Camp, share miles with my sister down in Colorado and continue to offer a helping hand in shaping the future of the The Last Drop Cycling Club.
Andrew Do - Ride Leader
I was born and raised in Vancouver and I'm proud of my knowledge of local roads. When Covid-19 shut down my gym I started biking to get some exercise, since then it's been an endless sequence of exploring, learning, riding hard, and questionable purchases.
Off the bike I work in the tech sector and am interested in running, lifting, cooking and eating.
Lucius Chia - Ride Leader
I started cycling in 2014 to go on rides with friends. Bought my first road bike a few months after and started commuting to work, that’s when I met another cyclist on my commute who introduced me to club rides and racing. I joined my first club not long after to get into group riding and started racing in 2016 to improve my skills, the rest is history.
My next goals on the bike would be to do a real bunny hop, ride in Europe, have a 5w/kg threshold, ride with Wout van Aert, the list goes on…
Outside of cycling, I like to travel and there are still so many cuisines I’d like to eat.
If you want a crew that has your back on up to 30 monthly rides, upgrade to Team Nitro! This premium tier has rides for every level - if you love cycling and want to spend time riding with likeminded people, this is the place for you.
