Chris the Biking Penguin

This Day in History...

2012-01-24T00:02:00.001-08:00

1984. Very special to me.
Tyra Christine Miranda
and, look what I found in with some old papers from the late 80's

Robin

2010-05-17T01:42:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday!!!!

You are with me each and every day.

Hey Tiger!

2010-02-09T01:33:00.003-08:00

This is for you, so you know you found the right penguin.

I'm always happy to help a fellow cyclist. It only took 8 to 10 minutes to get back home.

Have fun!

Happy Birthday Tyra!

2010-01-24T11:54:00.001-08:00

The title says it all. Well, all I feel like saying to the world at large.
I love you.

Happy Birthday

2009-05-17T14:45:00.003-07:00

...to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday dear Robin,
Happy Birthday tooooo yoooooouuu!

Mini Bike Winter 6 Stuff

2009-02-22T13:36:00.002-08:00

I picked up some kind of cold while in Portland. It was starting to have effect Sunday night/Monday morning. Now it is quite bad with sinus congestion & a bit of a sore throat. It is making me too tired to do my Mini Bike Winter wrap up. So just check my 'photobucket' page for the few pictures I took down there. Plus, a little video clip to entice you, also from MBW6.

Random Ramblings

2009-01-31T09:25:00.003-08:00

I went to Critical Mass yesterday. I hadn't been in ages (September), and I was sure in need of some bik-eraderie. I talked to a few people about going to Mini-Bike Winter (trying to persuade them to come). They want to, but as usual most people have concerns about being able to pay rent, and can't always do these things. So we shall see what transpires. I met a first time Critical Masser named Dakota (a silly name unless one is of aboriginal descent from that area).

I have a ton of bike stuff to do. Not just prepping for MBW, but my regular bike stuff. I've been riding my (current) main bike(Brodie Quantum) as a single speed, but not by choice. The derailleurs crapped out just over a month ago, and I'm stuck in 23rd gear. It makes for some tough hill-climbing. The derailleurs are OK, just need some cleaning (a lot for the front one). But the shift cables are fucked. Probably the cable housing too. The brake cables & housing need replacing too. And ditto the chain, chain-rings, and cassette. I have the stuff (got cable housing last night, after Mass, at MEC). I have another Brodie hardtail to rehab. A previous 'owner' painted it dark green over its original dark blue, without masking various parts, so it looks rather scruffy. I want to get rid of the overspray, and ideally all the green paint, without wrecking the blue. That is the smallest job. I still haven't finished the work on my original Brodie.... and then there is the other Brodie hardtail I disassembled to repaint, but only got as far as the primer coat before the weather turned too cold...... and I have a zillion other projects on the go or planned. It's nice and sunny today, so mebbe I'll git sumpin' done.

Random Update

2009-01-24T10:25:00.002-08:00

Work is deathly slow theses days (apart from my recent training of a new employee, but that's another story). We're no longer allowed to do any personal internetting on the dispatch computer (since mind November when some idiot 'killed' the computer, the 2nd time in 6 weeks. It had to be taken away by the techie & wasn't returned for about a week.). So I brought in a half-dead laptop recently for internetting. I have to stave off the boredom somehow.

Mini Bike Winter VI is coming soon, so I'll be off to Portland again Feb. 12->16.

On Thursday I picked up a couple of full-faced bike helmets (free), so unless I find a cheap motorcycle FF helmet very soon I'll be using one of them Zoobombing in P-town.

I haven't been to any bike events since the Halloween Alleycat, and it is getting me down. I've missed so many Midnight Masses & Critical Masses. I might not even be ale to attend "Carded" tonight (although that isn't a 'bike' event, alot of the bike crew will be there).

Jan. 20th was "Pengiun Awareness Day", of course people need to be more than 'aware', but if I explored that topic fully I might 'accidentally' contravene a few sections of the C.C.C., so maybe some people ought to 'beware' MWA HA HA HA!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Tyra

2009-01-24T09:30:00.002-08:00

25 years.

Sun-day Ride

2008-05-18T11:26:00.005-07:00

Hah! Great ride this morning. I was on the Alex Fraser approach at 05:27, at Cliveden Ave on the other end 05:31. I've never blasted across it that fast before. I got to work at 05:59. I felt great, and could have kept going for much more. The surprising thing was how fast the ride was eventhough my legs were really tired. Yesterday I rode home from work as well (minus the bus ride through the tunnel. And I had a chance encounter with RedSara & Robert on their way to Point Bob. Bonus.) in the heat, and I hammered it because it's fun that way.

Happy Birthday....

2008-05-17T06:00:00.000-07:00

RESM

Bike Bike Bike...

2008-05-13T20:28:00.009-07:00

...was Rad Rad Rad. (Anglo/German pun). Saturday May 10th. OK, I didn't go to all the events as my elbow was acting up. But there was polo and bike games, specifically mini-bike games. I really wanted to be there, but discretion is the better part of valour. So I prepped myself for the movie night/dance party at The Chair Factory. The said same Chair Factory of other bike events, most notably the Mini-bike "Thunderdome" of Velomutations 2006 (see "Six Drink Rule" for more details, & check youtube for videos).

As usual, The Chair Factory didn't disappoint. First it was the bike movie shorts, as compiled by Ranae. There was quite the mix of older and newer stuff. Those old 'public service announcement' 'educational' ones are funny, in a bizarre way. I really liked "Tag" with (now "our own") Khaled Ben-Rabha, and of course the B:C:Clettes vs. Sexy Back video. I've seen their "Sexy Back" routine before, but the video has a new twist to it. Really cool.

Now, the dance party. I suspended the "Six Drink Rule", and when the dancing started I had only had one 'Spark', and was starting on my second. I don't recall when the dancing started, but I didn't stop until 03:15-ish. I spent the next 1/2 hr (abouts) casually picking up cans & glasses (and there were a lot of them!!!). Then I left. I checked my watch just before I went to get my bike, and it was 03:45. Then I very slowly rode to work (both because I didn't want to get there too soon and because my legs were bagged from jumping about almost non-stop for some 5.5 hours, or whatever it was).

Riding the bike route on E 10th Ave west of Clark Dr was pretty cool. The cherry blossoms were falling like giant pink snowflakes. They were all over the road and cars, and in the air.

I arrived at work an hour & change early. The morning was mostly OK. I had periods of chipperness, and some periods of extreme exhaustion, but I got through it without any mishaps or errors.

Not Missing

2008-04-21T18:34:00.004-07:00

Just in case you checked here to see if I am missing or not, no, I'm not missing. (Although some people missed me, I was missing to them...... whatever). What is missing is my free-spirit. OK, it isn't actually "missing", but it is being depressed by the weight of all the people asking me what happened. It is tiring me out. I went away to recharge my batteries, and all this nonsense is making me want to go away again! So. if you read this, don't ask or e-mail me anything about it! I will recommend as an alternative that you watch the "Bat for Lashes" video "What's a Girl to Do?"

I too have a cunning plan.

2008-03-11T16:31:00.004-07:00

So, even though I usually don't post anything when I am on the hinternet, I do check the blog stats. One thing has piqued my interest is the number of people who find this blog by Googling "ways to lessen my ecological footprint", or words to that effect. However, these people don't seem to be that interested in following through with their searches, because most of them click out after just a few seconds, and don't check out the link on ways to reduce it nor the link on measuring one's carbon/ecological footprint. Most unusual. Thus I have decided I need to come up with some eye-catching way to get them to look at that for which they are looking. (Isn't proper grammar fun!!). Perhaps some racy pictures with overlaid text. I'll have to work on this one for a bit. I'm also working on a piece about cycling clothing, that is to say clothes one wears whilst cycling. Some people think spandex/lycra wearers scare away average people from riding bikes, thinking that they too need to wear the stuff and they might not want to do so. I say this is bullshit, but more on this later. What I'm writing will be fairly lengthy (I've already started it) when finished.

How about a floodplain map of the Lower Mainland, for a start. OK, just for fun, here is a Sasquatch mask (Bukwas).

No Real Change

2008-02-25T20:15:00.004-08:00

So, work is the same, unfortunately, as no new trained dispatcher. I had 2 days off the week before last, but only 1 day last week, and this week will get only 1 day off. This really is a drag. Too tired to do much of anything else, missing Mini Bike Winter (I had to wait until Saturday to check the interweb to see what people had put up about it. Too PO'd about missing it all). From all the accounts it appears that it truly was an epic year.

On Saturday after work I went to Kits (well, Broadway & Balaclava) to get coffee for David, then decided to ride East. Hah! Racing traffic is fun. But cripes! I hit nearly every traffic light/pedestrian controlled intersection on the amber too late to blow it, so it was more of traffic leap-frogging. But I still was faster than the cars. This one particular Honda Element was trying to beat me (I could see it as the guy looked at me as he went by, and then I looked at him as I past him 2 blocks later. This was repeated several times until I left him for good at Willow. A little later I stopped in at MEC, as I thought there was something there that I wanted but could not remember. I saw Ted at the bike counter and he invited me to his "Beerbecue" that evening. I accepted (a little R&R never hurt), plus I remembered the items & purchased them. Later on at the beerbecue some of us were looking at some MBW pics on the web. Yeah, I really missed out. It sucks big time. So I hope to get lots of time off after a new dispatcher is hired/trained so I can do some fun stuff. Perhaps the PDX'ers will go to Maryhill WA soon, that would make a good road trip.

Tried to watch a travel show (while working) on Melbourne (thinking of you BN) on TV. Of course that is when things got busy so I couldn't see much of it.

Energy Level

2008-02-11T17:11:00.000-08:00

Energy Level IIII In words, going down. I'm really bagged from doing extra work. Week 3 of six days/week as somebody got fired (for misconduct). The really bad part is this might effect my plans for attending Mini Bike Winter V!!!! I'll probably have to find my own relief instead of just getting the time off as before.

R.A.D. (Ride Art Drink)

2008-02-10T20:50:00.001-08:00

No, this is not a recap, but just saying that my pictures are up on my photobucket album RAD. You can follow the link to the right, or if that is toooo hard, just click here.

Sheldon Brown, Ride In Peace

2008-02-07T18:35:00.000-08:00

Like so many others, I was stunned and dismayed by the news of Sheldon Brown's passing when I heard of it on Monday.

I first 'discovered' Sheldon in July of 2006, when I did a web search, of what I do not recall, and one of the returns was his article about "Igor" and included his winter use of packing tape on his helmet vents. At the time, I just thought this was some random site of somebody's cycling stories, and amused myself with his "Silly Hats" article. A couple months later I searched for something technical, and Sheldon's site had the answer. I was bowled over. So much info, all in one place, with just about every question one could possibly have answered. I became an instant Sheldon fan. Most days that I went online included a visit to Sheldon's site. Since I don't access the internet at home, sometimes I would be anticipating going to work (????) just so I could look up something by Sheldon.

I grew up at a time when kids cycling for fun/transport was the norm. Most of us had single speed bikes with coaster brakes, some had fancy 3-speeds, and only adults might have a 10-speed. I rode bikes a lot as a kid, stopped for awhile in my teens, started back up in late teens, off again in early twenties, started back again in very early thirties (but only occasionally), and for the past 9 years have been cycling 'full time' as a self-propelled person. So I've ridden lots of different types of bikes of varying quality, and while I'm no expert, I can say I like just about all bikes. Bikes are fun, as well as utilitarian. Biking is even more fun if one can do one's own repairs, especially minor ones. Who wants to be afraid of being unable to fix a flat tire? There are people who are afraid to ride a bike because of the fear of a flat tire. Yet this is the easiest of repairs that anyone can do. Six year old kids can do it. Now how does this relate to Sheldon? Well, since I can do some really minor bike repairs, I wanted to do ones a little more complicated that naturally arise from being a high mileage commuter. Enter Sheldon, Bike Guru Extraordinaire.

This is very rambling, but let me just say that Sheldon made my cycling life better. He really was inspirational in a low-key kind of way for me. While he had a vast knowledge, he wanted to share it freely for the betterment of all. He truly will be missed, and his spirit will most definitely live on in the hearts of cyclists.

Bikes Inside 2008 & more

2008-02-03T18:05:00.000-08:00

It is so hard to keep with this at work, so I'll try for a very brief recap.

Feb. 1st was R.A.D. (Ride-Art-Drink), which pretty much sums up what we did. The bicycle themed art at the gallery was pretty cool stuff. I didn't take any pictures of it as that would be de trop, not that that stopped others from doing so. The DJ & music was pretty good, and as I have posted before on the "Six Drink Rule", I actually danced, or some unreasonable facsimile. I'm sure that the "Sparks" which Jeff Lost gave me (reimbursement for a previous consumption) added to the energy level. I left about 23:55 in order to catch the 351, and got home about 01:15. Prepped some stuff for going to work (wakey wakey time 03:00 for 04:00 departure) and cooked & ate some food.

Feb. 2nd wake up was reaalllllly hard. I was almost out the door at 04:10, but I forgot a couple thiings and had to get my mini trailerised. After all, one cannot "microcross" without a mini, and I hadn't take it to work ahead as I had previously intended. So, it ended up that I finally left at 04:30, Oopps! Now normally that would just mean a hard ride to arrive 5mins. late, no biggy, but towing a bike trailer loaded with another bike (because although it is a mini, kids' bikes are made way too heavy- cheap materials) takes more effort. I bungeed it on as I hadn't rope handy (I should have taken the 5mins to get it. In the long run it would have been faster). I had to keep my pedalling very smooth or the trailer would lurch (cause: bungee). Another "haste makes waste" factor was forgetting to check the tire pressure on the trailer (when I got to work I found that the trailer tires were almost airless, maybe 5psi). I was completely drenched when I got to work (no, there was no precipitation) and my legs were about to fall off. My right calf started to cramp a couple of times during the ride. (work was the usual). After work I reconfigured the mini/trailer set-up so it was more stable, then rode to Expo Bld @ Carrall St for Microcross. Again I was hurrying as the reconfiguration took much more time than I had expected. I should have expected that the race would start late, but it was even late by Biker Time (variously expressed as VBT - Vancouver Biker Time; BST - Biker Standard Time; PBT - Pacific Biker Time; ZT - Zoobomb Time). Now my legs were truly bagged. It was cold waiting for the action. There were 20 racers, and about 40-60 spectators (umm, somewhat fuzzy re: #'s, but there were way more than I expected. It was really cool having such a good turn out). (The racing contingent and spectators include many Portlanders/Zoobombers up for the festivities. Quite a few of us took it as a warm-up for Mini Bike Winter V.) We had to go through a tricky course, winding asphalt path, up & down hill in soggy slippery grass, though a sand pit, up stairs, across a pond via cement flagstones, and it was dark by the time we started.

The racing was pretty fun, and surprisingly tiring. Thrills, Chills, Spills, for what more could one ask? Afterwards we (OK, not everyone, but a large group) went for dinner at a sushi place on Main just S. of Broadway. Then we went to the Bikes Inside party itself. More silly bikerness, dancing, indoor biking hoonery (a mini-tall crashed into me, and one of its brake levers jabbed me in the ribs painfully hard, but no actual injuries). We finally left about 3am, a group of us headed for kits. Jeff Lost, Kimmers & I were heading for Kimmers' UBC dorm, so were went along the False Creek bikepath to kits with the others. After a while at Kits Beach, a few crazies decided that is was necessary to go skinny-dipping (temperature was barely above freezing by this time). All said and done, we spent about 1/2 hour at the beach. The main posse headed for The Naam; Lapis/Tackler, Shawn F & RevPhil went back to their crashpad, J-L, K & I sojourned westward. After some tiring hill-climbing with icy winds, there was 1 more adventure: trying to get into the elevator at Kim's. Kim went ahead, the Jeff got in the second car (with MTB), then the trailer & mini (still conjoined) vertically, then me & the BRC. It was 04:15 by now.

Sun. 3rd - Woke up ~ 09:45, got up a bit later. Had tea & toast after a bit of re-hashing the previous events. I left for work @ 11:37, about 1/2 an hour later than I intended. It appeared that I added some entertainment for several posses of roadies while I travelled SW Marine Dr.

Facebook

2007-12-10T17:52:00.000-08:00

Don't send me invitations to do quizes, tests, compare this that and the other thing, blah blah blah. I only set it up to see how fast the "virus" would spread. I don't use it except in that I know a couple addicts that I can contact through it rather than a regular e-mail. I only check it when I get notification e-mail to my regular e-mail address that somebody sent me something. Unless you are the particular "addict", don't expect any reply at all. (Oh, addict #1, this wasn't directed at you, but to everybody else, but I still don't want invitations).

Ecological Footprint, Carbon, Electrical Power-Plants &c.

2007-12-10T17:11:00.000-08:00

Before my previous post, oh so long ago, a was going to post this link and blog about it, but didn't get around to it, so here is a brief version. CARMA, CARbon Monitoring for Action, has an extensive listing of all the world's electricity plants and rates them, and power companies and other related things. I found it very interesting. So now people can find out how "green" their power is, and quite frankly most peoples' power is "red", and once people know how bad their power is, they can change things by taking appropriate action. That action may be to switch power suppliers, if able in the particular circumstances, lessening consumption (which should be done in any event), or making their views known to the power Co.'s and governments to effect a change. I encourage every to do so. It doesn't take long to send out an e-mail (less time than it does to blog!). Calculate your Ecological Footprint too, and figure out more ways to lessen your impact, and then do it. It doesn't do anybody, including yourself, any good not to lessen your impact, and it is easy to do.

My Bad

2007-11-20T21:40:00.000-08:00

Ummmm...... pictures from the Craigslist ad. But it is reaalllly nice. Deep 6 the BRC BioPace experiment. Who needs a really heavy spare when there is a light Brodie. Too bad about the colour though.

One Never Knows

2007-11-18T07:44:00.000-08:00

Checking my "site meter" is quite interesting, especially when someone has found my blob by doing a Google search. The search parameters that people use are funny at times. The latest one "finding out which neighbour has unsecured wifi", from Surrey, BC, using Shaw Cable internet, and computer particulars include: Keyboard language, UK English; OS Windows XP; browser, Firefox; monitor resolution 1280 x 1024 and 32 bit colour. With the search parameters including "neighbour" spelled properly, its no wonder my blob came so high on the results. But what would be really interesting is to know what other 'hits' this person decided to visit.

Ha! One of the search hits is quite funny, read on.

So I've been riding the BRC for just over a week now. I decided to test it out further. I just couldn't resist 'testing' empirically my BioPace® crankset. I'd heard (read) some pro- some anti- stuff about BioPace, and Bec mentioned a friend of hers who will spout off a big dissertation (anti) at the mention of them, but I really need to find out what my knees think of them. So far no difference from round chain rings, and high cadence spinning seems to be no problem, even fun. The claim that BioPace rings cause chondromalacia made me look up the affliction, and most of it is rather dull. Mainly because most of the sites I checked just say it is ...bla bla bla... joint pain in the knees... bla bla.. soft cartilage..., but one site was different. Pretty funny actually because it states that chondromalacia (soft cartilage) patellae is a misnomer, because the cartilage under the knee is the thickest and softest in the human body in order to cushion the knee, and other details. More on this story as it unfolds...... Nothing more noteworthy to note. "Research" consensus, use BioPace if you like it, don't if you don't. Those who claim it hurts the knees are just saying that they heard its bad, didn't even hear it from an actual source, no actual evidence of it doing so.

B.C. Lions vs. Saskachewan today. Making for limo silliness. Thankfully the rest of the limo biz is slow today, AND my shift is over soon after the game starts. Its alway the mess afterwards that is really annoying.

Unconquered

2007-11-12T16:21:00.000-08:00

Well, I didn't take out the Vainqueur today. With the wind storm howling away last night I didn't feel like working on the bikes. I thought that I would get the chance this morning, no such luck. The wind was even stronger (ah well, there'll be lotsa free firewood lying around now), and combined with rain the conditions were hardly ideal for working outdoors. But the worst part is; now that I've decided to get on with reducing the pile and not get more bike stuff, I see all kids of cool stuff out there (Craigslist &c.). The rain stopped in time for going to work.

Not an Epiphany

2007-11-11T13:13:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to do something about my bike "collection" for a long time. It wasn't even intended to become a collection, but it has. The original intent was to resurrect the rescued bikes (a scene just came to mind: in a parody of Life of Brian, when the Roman governor is prepared to "welease" a prisoner, a bicycle mechanic rushes forth and yells out "welease waleigh". I know its weak, but 7:20 of work can addle the brain), and then get rid of them (or keep a nice one or two). It has only worked with one, mainly because it didn't need resurrecting. So Friday afternoon I took a look at the pile, dragged out a likely 'victim' and attended to it. A Giant Rincon mountain bike, an older one, CroMo tubing, 21.5" frame, 1" threaded steer tube with quill type riser stem and straight handle bars. The wheels & tyres were good, I checked the tubes (three pin-prick punctures which I patched). But for the real test, I rode it in to work Saturday. Ow my back pretty-well describes the result, but that is only because my back doesn't like such an upright riding posture. For any other 5'10" to 6'2" person it would be fine. The gears are reasonably smooth (21 speed, indexed rapid-fire). Round 2, Saturday evening I hauled out victim #2. A much smaller MTB (haven't measured it yet), "BRC" make, "Gonzo" model, also 21 speed,but with a BioPace triple crankset. Alas, its tyres' sidewalls are thrashed, but I pumped it up nonetheless for a test ride (whilst air seeped out). OK so far. So I swapped out my Brodie's wheels for further testing. Not too bad, kinda fun. A very road bike like posture required due to the size, but much closer to what I normally do. But by the time I was half way to work I really wanted different bars. All in all a satisfactory performance (1 hr 43 mins ride time). Oh yeah, I did have a boo at a weird old French bike (Vainqueur Type Normandie), quickly repaired the rear brake and contemplated riding it with the Bridgestone's wheelset, but changed my mind. That test will come later.

Not an Update, just the usual.

2007-11-04T13:03:00.001-08:00

( Oct 26th, late afternoon) Suffice it to say I arrived in Blaine after the flight, but did not quite get back home in time to make it down to Critical Mass. Too bad. Went down to the Anza Club in time for the after party, but there weren't too many people there. I had forgotten about the SkyTrain Party that was happening as well, and a bunch were on it, I hear. After chit-chatting for about an hour (freezingly cold outside), I bussed it back home. Work in the morning, the usual stuff.

Saturdays ride in was pretty good, despite the cold, until I got to about Knight St & Westminster Hwy (I figure it was) where I got a puncture. Front tire, for a change. I noticed it as I was about to go over the 99 overpass. The tire was a little squishy. However I was just able to make it to the gas station @ No.5 Rd (the pressure went down quickly), and made a quick tube swap (and removed the offending shard of glass plus a sliver of metal that would have become a puncture in a day or two). With the air hose handy for re-inflation, I was on my way. Work was pretty much the usual, but I didn't really feel like working. Its surprising how a little break makes one feel like not working.

Sunday was pretty well a repeat of Saturday, only I got the puncture in the rear tire, a little bit further down the road before it happened and the leak was slow enough for me to "limp" in the rest of the way without the repair job (but I did that at the end of my shift).

Monday was Simon's return (as I mentioned before)

Tuesday I worked (bla bla bla)

Weds came in for the special task at work, and left shortly before 4pm. In my hurry to make the bus in to work, I neglected to tighten the cleats enough on my new SPD shoes, and consequently lost one of the little Allen wrench bolts. So I headed to a bike shop in Richmond to get one. That took a little while, the guy scrounged around for a while, but he found one. I rode to the bus (98 into town) and put the cleat on while on the bus. I was on my way in for the Hallowe'en Alley-cat, but I needed to get a Roman Candle (as part of the entrance fee). I didn't think I would have time really to shop around, so I hopped off in Marpole to hit up a store I previously saw selling fireworks. The Sally Ann store is there too, so I quickly perused its wares (got a pair of Primal shorts with built-in cycling shorts for $5, but didn't see anything else which tickled my fancy). Then I bought 2 roman candles; the plain-jane 8-ball for my fee, and a fancy schmancy bigger one for Guy Fawke's Day (please to remember 5th of November...)

(running out of time here)... so the race was really fun. I'll do a recap later, but for now if you want to read a little about it, you can check the thread on the Fixed Vancouver Forum.

Did nothing Thursday the 1st. Friday did some shopping.... and got another flat! Work was slow Saturday, did some internetting. Today the same, I even got another puncture! Oh Joy! But I was able to make it in without having to do repair work while on the road. Hit the gas station again in the nick of time. And now it is 8 minutes to my shift's end. Repair time!.

The Un-Update

2007-10-30T21:11:00.000-07:00

I said more to follow, but then I decided to take Monday off work so I could greet Simon on his return to town after his European tour (see Midnight Miles for details). So no update yesterday. Then today I got sidetracked at work (something about having to work, I'm not too sure about it, then other internetting has to be factored in), and I'm going to have to work a bit tomorrow, but not the kind where I have time to do personal internetting, so the real update will have to wait, if I do it at all.

Homeward Bound

2007-10-28T12:46:00.000-07:00

Fri. Sept. 26th - Ate breakfast and spent the morning visiting and being sociable (rather than going to a store and buying my 48hrs alcohol limit. I saw 8.o% "Tilt" for $1.49). I intensionally didn't bring anything to eat for lunch as I was unsure of what my stomach's reaction would be for the upcoming flight ~13:00. Went to the Bend Municipal Airport (KBND) east of town (not far). The pilot arrived right at 12:50 as arranged, and we went out and I watched as he did his pre-flight inspection. When that was done & bags (1 his, 2 mine) loaded, we taxied to by the end of the runway, waited a short while for another craft to land and exit the runway, then turned onto the runway itself, opened the throttle, a very short acceleration and we were in the air. The plane, a Cessna 172S (tail N326ME), rose quickly, the ground dropping away.

Then we started rolling and yawing with the wind. I did not like this part. I wondered if I were in for 3 hours of roller-coaster-like terror. Its bad enough on the not-amusing amusement park ride where one can see what motion is coming, but these jumps up & down and side to side, rolling and pivoting unexpectedly are not what I like.

We climbed up, and up, and up some more. Finally the motion settled down. KBND is 3,456' above MSL, and IIRC, the buffeting stopped around 7,000'. We still went higher, for better fuel economy. The view was pretty cool. I couldn't look down for about half an hour, but ahead and to the sides was OK. The volcanoes in the area looked more impressive from the air, but were still quite a ways away. We were soon cruising along at 11,000' altitude and ~100knots (varying with the slight tailwind we now had. Airspeed fairly constant 90 knots, groundspeed 105->115 knots. (more to follow, shift ending soon. check "CBP's Picasa" link to the right for pictures, lotsa pictures)

Walking Around Bend

2007-10-27T10:48:00.000-07:00

So Thurs 18th I spent the afternoon walking from the east side (stopping here and there) to downtown, and to the west side (getting back to base around 18:30). Stops included:
1. saw a store called "Longboard Louie's" - I thought it would be a board shop (duh) but it turned out to be a Mexican food café (go figure). (Later on saw another one. Must be a franchise)
2. Humane Society Thrift Shop - scored a really cool penguin T-shirt, brand new from Christ Church, New Zealand.
3. a bicycle/snowsports goods consignment store - got a couple items and dropped off a Momentum Magazine.
4. looked at a municipal bus stop pole/schedule ($1.00 per trip, no transfers. $2.00 all day pass. Only 6 routes for the town, but most of it pretty well covered. No Sun./Holiday service, only half service on Sat.)
5. the local Visitors' centre (got a couple brochures).
6. had a smoothie (bought at a store before my walk began) sitting on cement wall during my downtown wandering.
7. lunch in a crêperie (but it was a bagel with lotsa filling stuff. Really good).
8. a record shop (got a Nick Cave double CD).
9. the public library (1hr on the internet).
10. walked though a park on my way to...
11. ...a bicycle shop (a pretty good shop, cool stuff, didn't buy anything) chatted for a bit and dropped off another Momentum.
12. decided it was time to return to base, but spotted another bike shop 2 blocks later and went in.... lotsa snooping on the bargain table (got some deals), got some free stuff (but weight prohibited me from taking more), handed out another Momentum and had a good conversation with the guy there.
13. a bakery beside the bike shop (got a couple raspberry scones. Mmmm... yummy).
14. ...another bike shop (1 block away) beckoned, but I resisted due to time (it was 17:50), and returned to base.

Had dinner, the usual evening visiting stuff. Then to bed.

Bend OR

2007-10-24T16:36:00.000-07:00

So We left ~23:48 (some 'about', eh?) and arrived 07:45, with only 1 gas stop & 2 pee breaks (all that tea, water, & energy drink I had). It sure does remind me of Kamloops and some other Okanagan places (as it should, pretty much the same geography but further south). Especially the pines. The weather is great today. Nice and sunny, about 20C outside (I guess). Rode around a bit on Marc's road bike (nice & smooth, very light). Tomorrow I plan on walking around, now that I get the general layout of the place. Maybe pick up a beater that I don't have to worry about, and ditch when I'm done, as I'll be coming back the day after tomorrow. I met a South African woman just after she fell of her bike (I saw her getting up slowly, and another woman not on a bike was there), so I went over to see if all was OK. She was on a Kona "Jake the Snake" that she got a couple days ago (also with a Chrome messenger bag which she said had some beer & wine bottles which surprisingly survived the crash. She had a good sense of humour. The crash would have been really bad if any bottles were broken). So I wished her & the Springboks well after a little chat.

Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention that a little west of Bend (west of "Warm Springs" too) there was this plateau (btw, it was completely dark at the time, the moon had set too) sort of area that stank like cat pee. Some weird local flora, I assume. The stretch of road which smelled was several miles long .

On a Bender

2007-10-23T19:20:00.000-07:00

...or make that, Off to Bend, OR.
So, I won't be at Midnight Mass on Thursday, but should make it to Critical Mass Friday.

Helen Brown/Evelyn Woods version

2007-10-20T10:06:00.000-07:00

(if you don't get the reference, Google-it)
Sept 23 - the entourage arrives atop Mount Seymour, the road is 11km long and the elevation change is pretty good for bombing (but presently I can't recall how much). We all get out, several of us water the bushes, we get our bikes ready, ride around a bit, scope things out, take pictures, passers by watch us amusedly, get one of them to take a group picture. When we are pretty close to doing the 1st run I remember that I have my cheapo digital video camera & mini-tripod with me. So I duct tape it to my handlebars and video run #1 (very bumpy footage). The run was fantastic. A 15 min bomb, sharp corners, other bombers passing & passing still others, some bumps which were a bit tricky/hazardous, a few cars passing dangerously (especially a trio of them from California, I almost ran into the rear of the 3rd vehicle), some passing relatively safely. When most of us reached the bottom someone said we should the van/pick-ups to block for us next time. Then a minute later the last ones arrive at the bottom, followed by our 3 'support vehicles'... and then a long line of cars...hahaha. But they didn't get delayed too much. The speed limit down the hill is 60km/h, with the corners much slower, so if someone were doing the legal maximum it would take longer than 11 mins to reach the bottom, and we did it in 15 mins (OK, some faster, some slower, but not by much).
We climb back in the vehicles and go up again, shuffle who is driving down, I pass my camera on to Morgan who mounts it on his bike, and we go again. Just after we start, I stop as a piece of duct tape had managed to stick to my rim (potential braking hazard). Just as I get going again I see & hear some confusion in the pack, and someone goes down. I get there, one of the Portlanders (Julie, although I didn't know her name at the time) had done a face-plant. Nasty. Broken teeth and quite a bit of blood (but at the time she thought her teeth were knocked right out. We spent a while in vain looking for them), and no insurance. Much of the pack was in front of the accident and carried on down the hill. Of those who stopped, some went went downhill in vehicles and a few by bike (as I did). I took it easy for the 1st little while, but hen I decided it was silly to go slow (the extra drag from sitting upright) as the vehicle with Julie was behind me. I thought they might go on ahead so we could take Julie to a doctor right away, but they were staying behind me. Soooo, I crouched down low and went full out, did nice technical cornering, and picked up quite a bit of speed. I caught up to a bunch of them (bikes and vehicles, 'ours' and others) and passed them.
At the bottom, we decided to go to a clinic in E Van, but it closed at 6pm and it was now 7pm, so we went to VGH. Julie was in a confused mental state, so it was just as well we went to hospital, who knows what unknown injuries she sustained. Had the clinic been open, they probably would have suggested the hospital too.
I went with the group to VGH, which included Maitland & Portlanders, & others went home (my mini with them). After a while of hanging around emerg., all but Julie & 1 friend went for pho. After eating and walking to VGH, I carried on to the bus home. For news on Julie, check here.
(so much for this entry being a speedy finish)

Since then, usual Critical Mass on Sept 28th (what is up with the cops hanging around now! July, August & September now, but they always stayed away. Now they are riding at the back of the pack, about 6 to 8 of them.). Some of us went to The Naam instead of the after party, some went home, rode back DT and dropped off one of the group, and carried on to Katie G's place. Crashed there for the night (thanks KG!).
Had a Thanksgiving dinner @ Frances' a day early (Oct 7th) as I had to work on the real Thanksgiving Day, found another bike on the way home the night of the 8th (put out with the garbage collection but with a "free" sign on it), a nice old Raleigh in excellent shape (only missing a QR skewer up front, and I have since garnered a buyer for it).
Went to Midnight Mass Oct 11th (when I found the prospective buyer) and the monthly MC3 ride Oct12th (and finally after a few aborted attempts picked up my mini from Lyle).
The weather was good Sun. 14th, went riding with Bec, spotted a cool mini at a 2nd hand shop (she tried it, I tried to try, but my SPD shoes were too slippery on the plastic pedals), ended up going to dinner with her and one of her housemates, and then over to a friend's for drinks. It was quite the multi-lingual affair. Much much later we went to catch the bus home...Oops! Sunday Service = Super Suckage. Bec & friend missed the last bus back (cab time), and I missed the last SkyTrain (and didn't want to wait 1 hr for the 1st Night Bus, 1hr to Whalley plus 45mins ride home) so I rode straight home (2hrs 10 mins. Tired + under the influence = slow time, but still not bad.).
Tues 16th went back to town before going to work to buy the mini (overpriced @ $20, but why not. It'll be worth it in fun later on).

The Work-Less Party masquerade ball is tonight.

Trying to Finish It Off

2007-10-08T19:48:00.000-07:00

...(meanwhile, back at the ranch) Sept 22 sometime after 9pm and we all had our prizes from the alley cat race, we headed to the Velomutation party at 2nd & Manitoba (the party was supposed to be at Pedal Play's place, but somehow the fire dept. heard about it and came for a surprise inspection of the venue. They nixed it. So it had to be held somewhere else.). The good news about the new venue was that it would be better for the performances and more room in general, the bad news that this place would be keeping ALL the monies generated by the bar. Since it was a PEDAL fundraiser, this was bad news indeed (at least the gate receipts wouldn't too bad). The idea hatched by many was a significant BYOB element and bar boycott. Unfortunately the venue operator had other ideas. We got the word shortly before heading to the party that there was a bag-check at the door. After socialising for awhile without, I went within. There were 2 different rooms with music, one of them was the one with the bar. The other was dance/performance area for our purposes, but it was just a big empty warehouse area, decorated with bike-themed items. There really isn't too much to say about the party, other than it was great, so were the performances, and I was struggling to stay awake as I had been up for about 40 hrs. Ok, it was about 39.5 at the start of the party, and 44 when I left. I rode to Anna's place to crash for a bit before riding to work. When she saw that I came on the mini, she was shocked. Anna (and a belated thank-you for the concern) had been trying to get me to come back with her for about an hour because I looked about to collapse (so she said, and I have no reason to doubt her). I think she was afraid I wouldn't be able to make it to her place (near Knight & Kingsway) without some serious mishap. But we did, in quite good time, and I zonked out promptly (arrived 0240, lights out 0245, and I guess asleep 0250). I was a little worried about waking up as I had forgotten previously to charge my phone and thus the battery was dead. My only working alarm (ever since I changed the battery in my watch, its alarm won't work?) had no juice, I was seriously sleep deprived, and needed to be up in 2 hours. I figured I would need an hour to get to work, the extra time due to lethargy, the cold, not being able to ride quickly for fear of irreparably damaging my seatpost (which bent a bit during the Alley Cat), plus I was going to go Oak St rather than Knight St bridge (less elevation climbing). Amazingly enough, I woke up just at the right time, and was out the door at 0500. I didn't have my jacket, nor arm nor leg warmers, and it was chilly and the air damp outside. I snitched a plastic bag from Anna's recycling and put it inside my jersey to cut down on the wind chill. I really wanted a newspaper for the job (insulation as well as windbreaking), but all I could see were the damp/wet ones outside. Not what I wanted. After stopping at the Mohawk in Richmond for milk for my breakfast cereal, I arrived at work right on time.

After work, which was the same old stuff, and fairly busy but not too bad, I headed North again on the mini. Unfortunately I was delayed a little leaving, by about 25 mins (I forget why), and was going as quickly as I dared considering the seatpost. I stopped at Himalaya Restaurant on Main by 49th for some samose (plural of 'samosa') for my afternoon's food supply. I did have some fun on the ride, zipping down Main northward from about King Ed, past stopped traffic and such, bombing down the hill from 12th to 2nd. When I got to the vicinity of the Via rail station I made a few phone calls to contact those going on the "Alpine Bombtastic" down Mount Seymour. No luck. Just hope that they are sufficiently behind schedule to catch them

(more tomorrow)

irRegularly Scheduled Update Delayed

2007-10-01T21:30:00.000-07:00

Umm, sorry, but I still haven't finished the story of September Bike Fun, and CM has occurred again, I have more pictures to upload (maybe tomorrow), and I still haven't done anything with the "Mountain Bombtastic" (AKA "Sey-Bomb") video. And I haven't written up my 'incident report' for Sunday (Yes, there was an 'incident'), I blogged instead.

Thugs for Cancer

2007-10-01T19:59:00.000-07:00

So, on Saturday the 29th I had to work in the afternoon. I leave the house and just 10 seconds before I get to 16th, a trio of motorcycle cops (RCMP) with lights flashing blocks the intersection, and two of them then proceed westward. I look down the road to the east and see a mob of motorcycle cops, bicycles, vans/trucks coming up the hill by Earl Marriott, very slowly I might add. The cop gestures to the east, to ask if I were turning that way. I shake my head, then point west. He does nothing. So I start to turn, and he barks out "NO! YOU'VE GOT TO WAIT!!"

WTF??!! I'm in no danger of mowing down the slow moving peloton, and he and his cronies have to block the road 1/2 mile & more ahead of them. The next intersection over is a main one with traffic lights, the bulk of the time it is green for the direction the thug posse is heading, and when there is cross traffic, the lights change briefly. Now there is a bunch of cross traffic (both ways) wanting to go through their lights but are being blocked. Eastbound traffic which could have proceeded before the lights changed, but are being blocked from going through in the OPPOSITE direction (and obviously the other side of the road) as the thug posse and could not possibly interfere with them, yet these dumb fucks think they to cause disruption before their mass ride gets close to actually "needing" to be escorted.

I could see that these slow-pokes were not arriving any time soon, so I hoofed it to the next intersection (blocked), went the only non-blocked direction, cut through the hospital access road to get past the blocked bit, but now more of the goon troupe has pushed west past my new position so I have to go west on foot on the sidewalk again to the next intersection (also controlled by lights and blocked by cops, well ahead of the cyclepack), turn left again and ride 1 block south, ride 2 to the west, 1 north again, and I get to Johnson & 16th just in time to witness the latest move of thuggery to the big traffic centre to block it off prematurely. Everybody sat for 3 minutes before the 1st wave arrived. More motorcycle cops. A van. A pack of 10 cyclist in matching gear/bikes. A large truck. A car. More motorcycle cops. Then they turn right and head north. What could have been a minor traffic delay became a big snarl because there was nowhere for anybody to go. Now it is true that it was a minor inconvenience (I was in danger of missing my bus until they decided to block 152nd so it couldn't arrive either), but when it needed not be any disruption, nor did it need as much escorting as a visiting Head of State with a risk of assassination.

Plus, what on Earth possessed these morons to call their ride "Cops for Cancer"? Which cancer are they promoting? Lung? Colon? Or just their self righteous attitude that it is OK to shoot unarmed prisoners in the back of the head, whilst in a jail cell, and say that it was in self defence? I say "Cancer for Cops" like these.

On another tack. In the August issue of Momentum Magazine, there is an article by Sheldon Brown along lines I have believed about bike-a-thons. I don't support them because a long distance bike ride is fun, not a "penance" like the bike-a-thon promoters seem to think. Read the article (it is a short one, just takes a minute or two).

The Fun Continues

2007-09-24T17:33:00.000-07:00

So, to update/continue the weekend wrap-up...
Friday Sept 21 - The Bike Porn event was a scream. After work, it was raining, so I waited a bit for it to improve before heading to the W.I.S.E. hall. I went catch the 98, but instead of the 6-10 mins frequency Translink claims, no bus for almost 1/2 hr. I was about to ride away when it finally approached, I could see that it had only 1 bike on the rack, good, but it was not in the curb lane, bad. It was jam-packed and just kept on rolling, so I saddled up and rolled myself. The reason I didn't just ride initially was that I was carrying a lot of stuff with me. Some for me, some for Bryce.

I arrived in time despite the bus, to see a large group of cyclists outside the hall milling about, many of them Portlanders & Seattlites. I locked my bike and went inside. Hanging out before the show, taliking to lotsa peeps, having a couple drinks, then on with the show. The presenters were RevPhil & Ifny, who were in very good form. The live performances were great. I especially like "The Creaking Planks". I've seen them before (but they're never the same. I mean that the performers vary a bit, not just the material). The songs are absolutely hilarious, not to mention good music. Then came the headliner, RevPhil's movie "The Pornography of the Bicycle" ( see bikeporntour for more blogging of its travels). Ummm, how to describe it.... I can't really. There were many bike short films, some by Rev Phil, some by others, and almost all involved bicycles. The one that didn't, about the San Fernando Valley Illegal Soap Box Derby, was pushing the edge of technicalities, as some of the 'soapbox' racers were made with bicycle wheels. But it was good. OK, so there was another that to the untrained eye might not have appeared to be about bikes, but the fist was just the warm up for the saddle. I leave it cryptic intentionally. OK, I can't resist, it was bikeporn. After that there was an auction, and I outbid, Turbo I believe it was, for a pack of Portland goodies, but I lost out to a combined effort for another one that included a bunch of legal papers from RevPhil's arrest/trial etc from last years World Naked Bike Ride (Portland edition). Then we did a little clean up (other volunteers did the real clean up) before the Naughty Negligée Night Ride. Nobody was naked, a bit to cold, or not enough fortification. I wore (besides my helmet, gloves & cycling shoes & socks) my thigh-high cycling leg warmers, underwear, & back-pack. I think it had the right effect because I did get a few comments/looks/shouts from some passers-by.
We ended up at Trout Lake after a while, socialised, some people went in the lake (what else would one expect when there are Zoobombers present). Later we went for pizza @ Commercial & Broadway and hung around there for a while. I had 2 full cans still in my pack, and not wanting the extra weight on the ride home, I gave them to Morgman, put on my duds, and rode.

As always, I love my solo rides home in the wee hours. They are great. I would love to share them with others (1 person at a time). Everyone should do a solo night ride. 1 minor glitch this time. I misread my watch, and didn't realise the implication until I checked it when I got to Whalley. 03:05, 50 mins more to ride, no time left for a pre-workbound-ride nap. And the wind picked up when I had another 15 mins to go. So, after getting home, I fed & watered the cats, had a big drink, changed to fresh cycling togs, and was gone again.

The ride to work was not too bad despite the wind and my very tired legs, until I hit the Alex Fraser. I had a really tough battle to stay upright. The cross-wind was almost the worst I've had to fight going across a bridge (the worst time was when going over the Patullo a couple years ago. I almost ended up on the road infront of heavy truck traffic). When I got to the Westminster Hwy,the wind was head-on. The best I could manage was 19 km/h, as low as 12 km/h at times, instead of my usual 28->32 km/h. So, I ended up 30 mins late.

Sat Sept 22 - Work was the usual. Went to Pedalfest riding the mini, saw some people, but it was just a pause on my way to CARcass, which was already in full swing. I got there in time to see some events ("tubes of despair", "panty racing" [no, that is not racing panties]) and participate in the "Balloon Smackdown". I came pretty close in the smackdown. I was in the last three going when I got body-checked off my mini (while going pretty fast I might add) during the 'audience participation' part (we 3 were finding it hard to get at each other), and decided to rescue my partly broken helmet blinky rather than remount my bike and carry on before someone popped my balloon. It was lots of fun, even with the bloody knee & elbow. CARcass isn't CARcass without blood. The "main event", CARcass itself, was injury/blood free this time, oddly enough.

After CARcass came the "G'Day Mate! Almost All Aussie Hustle Alley Cat". It was my first Alley Cat style race, and I did it on the mini (of course, only having the 1 bike with me), and it was fun. I missed one check-point. I mis-understood the instructions AND my passport style manifest. There was a small-wheeled exempt check-point, and I thought it was that I could miss 1 of the 6 check-points, my choice. Oh well. I still got a prize for my paper airplane making skill at one of the check-points. I picked a reaallly cooooool high pressure 700c tire from the goodies pile when my turn came.

(more to follow, gotta go)

September = Fun

2007-09-22T08:14:00.000-07:00

Well, bike fun at any rate. Work is slowing down as the tourist high season winds down, so now the new computer system is being tweaked for implementation soon (it has been pushed back a few times for technical reasons). So work isn't fun. Tedious, yes.

Sept 13th was Midnight Mass. A bit of a fiasco. Didn't get very far before a newbie drops his chain. I stop to help out, his buddy stopped, the pack didn't. Called "hold-up", they didn't, not the protocol. After chain is back on, we start to boot-it to catch-up, the chain breaks. He says go on ahead, I'll switch bikes at home, & then phone to meet. Well now the pack is truly gone. We can find no sign of them, and the destination was a little vague, namely "let's hit some parking garages downtown". We cruise around looking for garages which have hoots & hollers emanating forthwith. Nada, niente, rien. Not at the usual spots. Oh yeah, besides me, the other 2 are also newbies (friends of broken chain), and are from Squ'ish (you know, up the coast a little, before Whistler), so I'm having to lead them, and the couple times the crew did parkades, I wasn't there, so I have no idea as to the most likely spots. Anyhoo, we decide to hang out by the former Plaza of Nations (no more roof, sigh) down by the water til the chainless one calls. Eventually he does show up, and after a bit more we go riding along the bikepath, under Cambie Bridge, then over it, along the False creek path to Granville Island. The suggestion is made to go to the "Granville Island Mountain" (yeah, that's what he called that lump of dirt. Kinda funny). So we do. And Lo and Behold... the missing Massers (OK, most of them, it had a few other splinter movements before we got there, I was later told). So a few cheers and story swaps and it is getting late (if we didn't find the main pack when we did, I was about to head for the 02:09 nightbus. As it was, I left shortly with some of the Eastward rollers and caught the same bus when it got to 10th & Kingsway, made it home for a 1.5 hr nap before getting up for work.

Fri sept 14th, worked extra, MC3 ride after going home to change bikes (to the new blue Norco). The ride ended up at Kits Beach in the dark. After chill time, Siegels Bagels, rolling eastwards to a burrito shop on main, more chill time, I just barely made it to the last 351 Granville & Broadway, and another 1.5 hr nap before riding to work again. And guess what. I felt great both days despite the lack of sleep. Mind you, I forgot to set my alarm next night, and overslept. But I only slept a total of 8 hrs

(YVR not co-operating, it's busy & I am having to work)

Fri 21 sept - the party/fun/games begin, the kick-off for Velomutation/Velofest etc. was the "Bike Porn" night. (add more later)

This 'n' That

2007-09-09T07:55:00.000-07:00

August 31st - got called in to work, @ 0415, as the day-shift guy was sick, so I had just enough time to get my stuff together and make the 0500 bus to start @ 0600. Being the last Friday of the month, Critical Mass was on my mind. On Thursday I had been mulling over what to do for CM. Now CM is always fun, but I like to change things up a little now and again. So I thought I would hit the road around Noon, ride to Bellingham (as the people at The Hub had been so welcoming to us for the B:C:Clettes' Velo:City Tour kick-off back on the 17th) and check stuff out there for a while followed by CM in B'ham (which does have one, albeit small). But the call to work nixed that plan. So, on with the in town plan. Race home after work, drop off my stuff & Brodie, grab a few CM supplies (liquids, for the throat. All that yelling is thirsty work...) crescent wrench, duffel bag &c., the mini, and head for the bus. This time after the disassembly I hopped on the 345 and then SkyTrain. During the train ride I reassembled the mini so I got in with plenty of time. No more of the hoping the bus will get to town on time (Friday traffic) and then the reassembly. It took a while before I saw any of the "usual suspects" (those whom I know). After a while of the socialising, I saw 3 CoV bike cops on the edge of the gathering, and after talking about it with Brycycle, we saw a few more. By the time the Mass left (about 18:25, a little later than usual, maybe the late departure was due to the cops. Some people were wondering why they were there. We've not actually had a "Police Presence" like this before.), there were 8 bicycle cops in all. I had still some 'Sparks' brought back from B'ham, so I drank it in the relative safety of it being an unknown entity. It was a pretty good ride. The cops didn't cramp our style. A group of 4 stayed at the very back of the pack, and the others 'mingled' individually on the periphery. They only intervened in a couple incidents that I saw, and I heard of 2 other things (1. a very irate/apoplectic motorist was on the verge of assaulting some corkers when the 4 cops who had been at the back moved in to settle the guy down. 2. Some twit on the Burrard St bridge tried to do a U-turn right in the midst of our mid span pause, so 1 of the fringe riding cops came over to get the guy to stop. 3. I heard that a drunken rider took a little spill while we were in Gastown, and his packpack spilled out a bunch of empty beer cans onto the road, right in front of the rear group of cops. 4. Somebody I know was spotted with a single beer can and was made to pour it out.). During the post-ride gathering at the Anza Club, one of the riders reported that the cops appeared to have had more of a work-out than they are used to. It is kind of funny, because CM is such a sedate ride, even if it does last 2hrs or so.
In the Anza Club the theme was Virgo (or other virginal things), and there were some funny interpretations thereof. Zodiac temporary tattoos, fortune cookies (all fortunes had to be read with the inclusion of the phrase "...in my pants"), cherries (for 'popping'), plus costumes. The band that played first was lead by my namesake (except, oddly enough, his last name wasn't 'Penguin') (so I introduced myself later). I took some pictures (that reminds me, I have a tonne to upload) in the club (none of CM this time) of some lovely ladies (because I have a 'photographic memory- if I photograph them, I'll remember them. Unfortunately I didn't come up with a timely mnemonic device to remember their names!! Ooops!)
When I finally left the club (delayed by a few mins by a last minute discussion) it was a little after Midnight, and I raced (which is a lot of work on a mini) to the bus. Got ther with a minute to spare. ARRGH! No change, only paper ('cuz I went passless for August, and I used my last ticket getting to town) so no fare. I found this out as the bus is arriving, and I still needed to disassemble the bike. Oh well. Let it go, as they say. So I rode to Stadium Station to catch the SkyTrain to Whalley & the last 321 (I don't remember buying a ticket at the station, nor stopping anywhere to get coins, but I did, 'cuz I have the transfer!?).
While at Stadium Station, I had a few admirers of my mini. One of them asked if I could actually ride it (Hah!). Well I showed him! And unfortunately I also showed the video monitoring station. No sooner had I zipped down the length of the platform and back than a voice over the PA tells me no bicycle riding in the station. Killjoys. Ah well, usual train trip-bus ride home and a 1hr nap before getting up for work.

Sept 3rd - worked as usual, so I missed the Mini-bike Monday/Welcome Back B:C:Clettes ride!!!!!!

Sept 07/07 - 7pm Chris Mass (notice that it is four sevens when written). A whole bunch of Chrises and pseudo Chrises went for a ride. We left a little late as it was also Momentum 'Chris' Walker's birthday picnic. Went up Main st to QE Park, hung around for a while before meandering our way to Kits beach. Hung around some more. About 2215 I headed for Bec's, as I had something to give to her (from before she went North). There was a pot-luck at here place for the residents & their guests (which I could have attended had it not been Chris Mass) earlier, and there were still quite a few people there. I enjoyed some interesting conversations/discussions and just after Midnight I headed for the bus, escorted by Bec. Unfortunately my head was a little fuzzy, and I had it in mind that there was 1 more bus, since we decided to stop & chat, and, well, there wasn't (which I found out right away checking the schedule on the pole). So we went back, I crashed on the hide-a-bed, and rode to work @ 0500. Oh, yeah, forgot to mention that I did Chris Mass on my new ride. An old Norco road bike. 700c wheels, 18mm tires, 14 speed. Smooth, fast, and nimble, but mind the little rocks and bumps or its pinch-flat time!
(a slow day for a change at work, only it has just started to get busy, so I gotta go)

Aug 17th

2007-08-21T19:32:00.000-07:00

(it is a little calmer at work now, so a few quick words)
On Friday the 17th, after doing 6hrs at work, I hopped on the bus to White Rock and headed to the border to catch up to the B:C:Clettes & supporters on their way to Bellingham for the roll-out of the Velo:City Tour. The group had a head start on me, but I was through the border crossing in about 8 mins. I caught up to the group about 1/2 hour south of Blaine (15km by road route) and we meandered our way to Bellingham, a 45km trip from the border, but the group had ridden from the King George SkyTrain Station before that.
We rode around, some of us ate burritos, checked out some of the scene in town, snooped in "The Hub" bike co-op (which was hosting the 'Clettes' performance), went on a Sparks/Tilt run. Later watched the bands play and the ladies do their routines, the usual party stuff. I was intending on riding straight to work around 01:30, but Jeff Lost had to go home early, and I got a ride with him & Kim so I was able to catch a couple hours sleep at home before riding to work.
I have some more pictures to upload, but have yet to do so. I haven't been taking enough pictures recently.
Upcoming events: Aug 23rd. Midnight Mass, Aug 31st Critical Mass, Sept 7th Chris Mass, Sept 21-23 Velo-Mutation (also CARcass Sept 22)......

Very Busy At Work

2007-08-12T10:02:00.000-07:00

It is the height of the cruise season, so I don't have time to blog. I'm doing the usual bikey stuff: Critical Mass, Midnight Mass, various activities/parties/rides that come up. Check the lynx to the side, including Picasa for pictures I've uploaded. Some of the things have been photo'd but not blogged, so one can get a feel for it. Also, check out the B:C:Clettes' site.
I got another bike, an old '70's Norco road bike with a Manganese-Steel alloy frame & super skinny 700c wheels/tires.
Decided not to buy a bus pass this month and ride to work each day (still busing home).
Check out the upcoming Chris Mass Ride
Different version here

the past 10 days...or so.

2007-07-07T06:23:00.000-07:00

Been very busy @ work, no time to blog. I get about the 1st hour Sat & Sun AM that is slow enough to do other internetting, but I'm not usually inspired at that time to blog. If the Muse does not make her presence felt, no blog.
June 28th. Went in to E Van. to watch "Bike Shorts", after the show was going to get something to eat before Midnight Mass, while chatting afterwards with Jeff Lost, we were going to go together, started to ride with Red Sara just to kill a bit more time. Ended up Jeff, Robert, myself & Sara @ her place chilling, listening to the rain. Around 23:30 Jeff & I put on our rain gear (it was pissing out) and rode of to M. Mass. When we got to the park, the few who were there were across the Drive under a store awning. We waited till 00:15 to see if any more latecomers would arrive (a few did just @ Midnight, but not later), and the 16 or 18 (I sort of counted them) of us left. In that number was Shawn Granton from Portland. (He came up for a break after Pedalpalooza, & was also @ Bike Shorts, and wanted to see first hand our Critical Mass). I wasn't too rainy by then, but enough to be noticeable. After riding for a while, we stopped for pizza. After some postprandial peripatetic pedalling, we ended up at one of the little plazas by False Creek in Yaletown, and chilled some more. It was no longer raining, and the time was 03:00ish (I think, my recollection is a bit fuzzy, with cause). Jeff and I were the last ones to leave, and he invited me to crash at "his" place (really Kim's UBC dorm). So we head that way. Thanks to some last minute ingestion of Wiser's, Jeff was having an exceedingly difficult time remaining upright. And it got worse as time went on. It was a slow ride, with multiple crashes (once he crashed into a parked car. Despite the blood and the scrapes, no serious injuries). Unfortunately Jeff had not told me pre-imbibing our 'crash' destination, and we followed one of his "realisations" of where we should be going. Not being able to do any fine manoeuvring, Jeff hit a pothole, and got a pinch flat. While he lay in the wet grass at the roadside, I attempted to repair it. The light drizzle didn't help. The patch didn't take, I didn't want to try again, so we walked (continuing in the wrong direction). Jeff (you see why we call him Jeff "Lost") suddenly realised, correctly this time, where we should be headed, and was able to give, for him, precise directions. Turn around, head back where we were, and continue on westward. While doing so, I noted Jeff's rear tire was going flat too. The pothole got the rear as well, but not as hard. It took a long, long, long time to get to the dorm. Jeff had to rest periodically, including a 45 min nap in the grass at the corner of NW Marine & West Mall. We finally made it to Kim's residence at 06:05 (she was away on a field trip). What a babysitting job that was. Jeff, you owe me big time, buddy! ( and Kim, my sympathies. I know you get stuck doing it too).

June 29 - At 09:05 an upstairs acquaintance stopped by to see if Jeff wanted to go for a ride, needless to say Jeff was comatose.
Noon, Jeff gets up and makes pancakes. Between then and 4pm I eat 4 of them. A bit of batter got on the burner, so burnt starch smoke did its usual trick on me, instant migraine. I still had it when we left @ 16:50, heading for Critical Mass. I was hoping to get there by 5pm (wanting to leave sooner, but with a migraine I couldn't focus on speeding up Jeff) for the "Blessing of the Bicycles" at the Cathedral, but no luck. Jeff had to take his "pretty bike" instead of the fast one (the flats from the early morning still awaiting repair) so it was a slow go, and then I got a puncture while we were going down Burrard St. We got to the Art Gallery at 17:30. There was already a massive horde there, and it continued to grow until we left about 18:15. I'm sure the unsettled weather kept quite a few massers away. Needless to say, it was a huge ride, being bicycle month. I took a bunch of pictures. They are on my Picasa page. I didn't hang around for the after party this time.

June 30th - Slept in a bit. left home 0428, arrived at work 0600, 1 hr 32 mins. My best recent (last couple years) time, but boy did I ever have to hammer it.

July 1st, Dominion Day. left home 0358, got to work 0540, 1 hr 42 mins, a veritable cruise. It was a great ride. After work went down to Crab Park where the Bike Bee had been invited to do another Velo-Deco as part of the festivities there. We packed up around 4pm, but didn't actually leave till about 4:40, and stopped by Pidgeon Park, where there was some musical entertainment. We hung around there for a while, then went to David Lam Park in Yaletown for some more music. It was part of the Jazz Festival (I didn't know that's what it was until we got there). The music was pretty good, but most certainly wasn't jazz.

The rest of the week has been pretty much as usual. July 7th, a very leisurely ride in to work. The weather was fantastic. I really took my time, at least it felt like it, 1 hr 45 mins. It sure makes a difference when the load is light and the sun comes up early. I love riding in like this. We'll see what the rest of the day holds. See you soon Jenn.

A little Catch Up

2007-06-26T17:49:00.000-07:00

So it has been a while since my last entry, and not too terribly much has happened. Just the usual work/eat/sleep/ride where required other than June 17th, which was the 1st of two "Car Free Days" on Commercial Drive.

On the 17th I went down after work, intending to volunteer my services if needed for the "East Van Chopper Fest" section of the event. I didn't sign up for a spot because, well, I forgot to do it sooner. But they had all the bodies neede to finish off the day, so I just wandered around to see what was there. There were lots of booths/tables etc. of various groups. I was a little hungry, but buying $5.00 smokie hotdogs and $3.00 bottles of water/juice is against my principles. Those prices were unconcionable. After about 30 45 mins I was back where I started, and met Bec. She had just arrived, so we wandered around together for a while, participated in some of the activities, and had coffee. We saw a lot of people we knew, chatted with them, just the usual socialising stuff.

I saw a really cool plush penguin in a toy store (but the store closed 15 mins before I noticed it). It was a crested penguin, but without looking at the tag I would not be able to say if it were a specific one or just a generic one. Since most of the crested penguins have yellow crest feathers and this one's crest was orange, and the "face" was black not white, it most resembled a Maccaroni Penguin (eventhough the crest's position was a little off). This was an exciting developement, actually, and besides providing inspiration via Bec for something else (it's a secret for now), it stuck in my mind as something to purchase on the 24th (eventhough I could come back sooner). Anyhoo, I took a few pictures of the Chopper Fest area, and later in the week put them on Picasa. I also put some other old pictures up.

Saturday the 23rd the weather was not too bad, considering the forcast and what it was like on my ride in to work, so I sent out an e-mail to see if anyone was available to go for a ride. Robert was, so we met down at The Gazebo, hung around for a bit, then we went off to the north and rode down by the harbour and eastward, under the 2nd Narrows bridge along the trail behind capitol hill. At Fell & Hastings we parted, he went back to town, and I went south along Kensington to SkyTrain and then the 321 home.

Sunday was really wierd. The weather was just spitting a bit on the ride in (although at first it was rainy before I started out and partway into the ride. Just enough to make it really grimy whenI had to change a tube, thanks to the usual shard of glass about the size of a piece of pencil lead tip). But about an hour after arriving, it started pissing out. Rain; no rain; clouds; wind; more rain; sun; clouds; rain; clouds; sun; rain....on and on changing frequently. I thought for sure my trip to purchase the penguin would be a soggy one. But then around noon it cleared up enough that it looked like the rest of the day would be sunny. When my shift ended, I began to clean the grime off my chain. It took a while. So just as I was finishing, it began to rain agan. Hard. I went back inside contemplating just going home, got on my rain gear, and waited for a bit. The clouds were moving north, so I waited some more, and there was a clear area to the south. All in all, abouth 30 mins after it began pouring, it was clear again. So I decided to go penguin hunting after all. Arriving at the store, it wasn't there in the window loike it had been last week, and the clerks didn't seem to know what I was talking about when I decribed it, in great detail. Then one of the clerks asked if I was sure it was their store, and not another one. Ooops! There was another store 1 block up. I went up the drive and found the right store. It didn't make much difference. No penguin on display, no penguin inside with the other plush toys, but I knew it was the right place because there was a tiny plastic penguin in the window as I had remembered (I have its twin already), and there was a clued-out clerk who didn't even know they had had a plush penguin (nor that there actually was a plastic penguin in the window). She didn't know when they might be ordering more plush animals..... not a star employee in my opinion. I'll have to find out when someone with a brain is on shift to make sure I get my Eudyptid (Crested Penguins are Spheniscus Eudyptes _____ ). Then when I was about to leave, Jeff Lost called, so I went and met him, we had coffee, but there wasn't time to go for a ride as David wanted me to join him and Tim for their usual Sunday at the Greek restaurant.

So I took the bus home (funnily enough, I met another of my local co-cyclists who happened to be in town, also waiting for the bus. He was already at the stop. We were chatting while waiting, and I told him I was heading back to go for my birthday dinner, so he said that if the bus only had 1 spot available, as his present to me, he would let me have it. 5 mins later, that is what happened). David came and got me and we went to Langley, ate and home again much later.

I Love My Bicycle

2007-06-15T04:24:00.000-07:00

Yes, it is true, I love my bicycle. Without it I would not have experienced so many things and met so many wonderful people. Amazing things happen when travelling by bike.

Earlier "today" I was feeling a little down. Previously, I had been looking foward to today's Midnight Mass ride, but as the days wore on, my mind was not that enthused about anything. But, there was one person I was hoping would be there, eventhough it was statistically doubtful, thus I stuffed a few necessities into my pack at the last minute and left for the bus.(Apart from giving some transit help to a couple visiting fom Vancouver as to the best/fastest way to get home, it was uneventful. Usual "Scum Run" nonsense.)

Arriving at Grandview Park, there were some of the usuals and a few new people. It is always refreshing to see the new ones. One of them was sporting a very familiar rear blinkie. I had lost the blinkie from my red helmet in Stanley Park after the MC3 Performance Ride, and Ren, who was sporting "it" had been to the ride. So I asked her if she found it in the park, and she had. She was surprised the I had "guessed" correctly, so I told her how I knew and the specific battery that was within it (a "Pure Energy" rechargeable alkaline AAA). But since she had no other rear light, and was using a borrowed front one, I told her it was OK. I wasn't asking for it back, I was just glad to know that someone who needed it had found it. I chit-chatted with various people, and was feeling much better. About 00:07, one of the new people was anxious to leave, and since it didn't look like we were waiting for anybody else, I told her "then call out 'Two Minutes!'", which she did, but not loudly enough. So a bunch of us started yelling it, and some asked where we were going. Leanne did a little prep talk about MM etiquette for the virgins, and we headed of to New Brighton Park. We got there, hung out for a bit, then the unsurprising suggestion of taking a skinny dip in the pool was voiced. At first nobody did, then one, and another, and a 3rd person started to climb the fence, disrobe, and take the plunge. Eventually more joined, for about 8 in total. The water was sooo nice and warm. Just a little above skin temp, not too much chlorine, just perfect. After a few mins swim (about 5 or so) we got out. After hanging out some more, we left to go downtown somewhere. We stopped at the little park with a small pier down by the helipad just east of Canada Place, And chilled some more, and I took a few pictures (will upload to Picasa soon)

While we were there, I had a little chat with one of the newcomers, and as we all were leaving for the next stop (who knows where), the two of us happened to be at theback of the pack, and we continued a pleasant conversation (I digress, but I forgot to mention that it started between New Brighton and the pier). We went under Canada Place, up the ramp, and onto Burrard. We were still at the back of the pack, and the main peloton was heading south. But the charming young lady with the blessèdly happy name (wink wink, nudge nudge) was asking me where East Van was from there, and she wanted to go home. So after inquiring as to its locale, I offered escort duties. Which I did.

What was so amazing, well, one of the many amazing things, because we really had a great chat along the way, was that her place was on a corner lot where one of the streets was her namesake, albeit in another language and a different inflected form. It would be like a person named Rocher living on a street called Petrify.

Ah, well, I started off intending to wax poetic about my bike, but no longer feel like it. Suffice it to say that my ride home was uplifting. Truly great. (And I'm not taliking about it being only 2 hrs again, which it was. HAHAHAHA, take that you slow-poke night bus. I didn't actually race it because I was not exactly in the right place when I started my solo ride, but checking my watch, I lefted 'Blessèdly Happy' at 0225, and was home at 0414. A 10 min solo equivalent back-tracking at that time of day would put me on the edge of Downtown, so I would have beat the bus again. Maybe next time I will actually get to race the bus.) So you non-pedallers, GET ON YOUR BIKE! Your body, mind, and the planet will love you for it.

Update

2007-06-12T00:32:00.000-07:00

If you already looked at what was in my Picasa web albums, look again. The "MC3 Performance Ride" & "Mixed Bag O' Trix" have been updated.

a taste...see CBP's Picasa for more

2007-06-10T12:48:00.000-07:00

MC3 Performance Ride

2007-06-09T05:01:00.000-07:00

The 2nd Friday of each month is the Margaret Charles Chopper Collective (MC3) ride, and this month's ride, being in "Bike Month" (yeah, I know, EVERY month is bike month, but this extra fun stuff that happens in June is to entice you non-cycling, poluting, flubber-butts, out of your Stupid Ugly Vehicles to do something meaningful, on a bike. Anyway, check out B.E.S.T. for more info on "Bike Month"), is/was "The Performance Ride". So I decided that I would take the mini as more fitting with MC3 than the Brodie. But it needed a little bling. I took some of the retro-reflective material I brought back from Velo-Deco and glued it to my tires, so it looks like a giant sized gear on the sides of the tires. It was time consuming, but fun, in a way.

Adornment completed, and extra time for anything else thrown out the window by being accidentally waylayed by Johnny next door, I stuffed my few "supplies" and fewer supplies into my knapsack, hopped on the mini and headed for the bus stop. When there, I went through the usual wheel/pedal/seat-post removal, stuffed the bikey bitts into the bedraggled hockey bag, and waited for my chauffeured coach to arrive. It did, either 7 mins early or 23 mins late, I didn't ask which (didn't particularly care either as I was extra early to do the diminution job). Given that it was a Friday evening, and the bus rarely leaves early, even by 2 minutes, I guessed it was late, but that happened later. The trip was quite fast, the driver didn't spare the horses. After the Broadway stop, I pulled the bell cord to get off at 6th Ave, then ride to the Science World meeting spot. But he didn't stop! So I thought he must have had a bit of a lapse and would let me off at Davie, but he kept going, zooming up Seymour St all the way to Robson St where somebody else had previously asked him to stop. Some others were also puzzled and had thought he would be stopping, but diddn't. So a whole bunch of us got off, and a few pointed out the number of stops he missed, and he said words to the effect of '..I missed a stop? What do you mean?' Oh well, it didn't really make a difference to me. I reassembled the mini, put the tools and bag back into my pack, went along Robson, around the outside concourse of the Marshmallow-In-Bondage, to the seawall bike path by the now demolished Plaza of Nations, and on to Science World. Lots and lots of people there. More arriving all the time. We were probably about 300 strong by the time we left. We went on an interesting zig-zag route through Strathcona to an unused parking/truck loading area next to an old building in the Clark & Powell vicinity. The locale had 2 slopes on either side of the loading area, making a sort of really broad half-pipe. So a little bmx action took place (as planned). When we left, I went over the jump portion 2x, but with caution as my previously thought ideal straight handle-bar now seat-post isn't strong enough (bent while bombing Stanley Park during last critical mass). We went downtown, via Alexander St and Gastown. The people in Gastown liked us, the car divers maybe not, but who cares about them. On to the plaza beside 200 Granville.

As we arrived, a security guard calls out to us that we are on "Private Property", and as such must respect the private property.......by walking our bicycles! It was quite funny. 1 overweight late 50's security guard telling a cycling horde to dismount. We were going to anyway, as this was the spot for the next performance. But people started dismounting a tad earlier than I would have normally expected. But hey, its Vancouver, nobody's likely to do anything to anybody anyway. A few people did, individually go chat with the guy. The usual, '..hey don't worry, were just here for a little harmless fun for a bit, then we'l be moving on.' Bryce did a little "spoken word" bit. Not so much spoken, but warbled in a quasi-sorta-song-like fashion. Extemporaneously. Bike themed. Then the B:C:Clettes did 3 numbers.

We moved on, security watching, as I called out to a few to stop kicking their beer cans and pick them up (after all, for these things we are supposed to follow the "no trace" rule. Pack it in, pack it out). They did. We stopped next (oh, yeah, it was just starting to get dark now) at the little park north ft of Bute @ Hastings. Hung out for a little then Kablamo! took the stage, doing a mock Revival Sermon, bicycle themed. When the mock-minister invited members of the 'congregation' to take part in the Eucharist, some people came up and joined the line, did their bit, and after about 10 people had done so, they started thowing things at each other, and some of the items made their way into the crowd. They were small tomatoes. A flurry of flinging took place. Then we moved to the next venue.

Which was the little plaza at the entrance to Stanley Park, between Georgia St and the water. Here, after a bit of chilling, The Brakes performed. Well, 4 of them, as Midnight Simon is also a Brake, and he is in Europe. James misplaced his performance mini, so he did his part of the routine without it until Morgan found the bike and gave it to James in medias res as it were.

After that, it was into Stanley Park for some partying. Music, dancing etc. in the woods. With the Pedal Play sound system. One slight hitch. A few of us, myself included, were trying to herd together the tail-end stragglers so no one would get left behind. The problem was the people ahead didn't check behind and went too far ahead, and we didn't know exactly where we were going. We went where we thought they were headed, no sign nor sound. A couple of cell calls and we had directions. Unfortunately they were only partially correct. Well, now I, and about 10 others, no which path NOT to go down in the dark. the "shy" men wouldn't even say if a large bunch of bikes went by earlier, they just turned their backs to us as we approached (except for 1, and that was after we passed obout 12 of them, spaced apart.) It took a while before we had our answer and turned back. Another 2 cell calls, revised directions and an escort from the party to meet us, and we arrived. Lotsa music, loud, bass, powered by car batteries and bicycle powered generators. Lighting via a couple of Tiki style torches and a ton of tea-lights (some in paper bags to be lantern-like). As the night wore on, the crowd thinned. I helped in the great tea-light round-up at the end, and left when there were only about 10 people still there packing up things. I had a bit of trouble finding my bike, but not to much thnaks to my retroreflective tires. It was 0140. Found my way out of the park 0145, next NightBus to Surrey Central would leave 0209 and arrive 0315, which meant I would be late ('cuz I don't think I could do the North-South run in 45 mins on the mini) since I want to leave White Rock no later than 0415. So I rode the mini to work, via Beach, Pacific, Burrard Bridge, Cornwall, Arbutus (going up the hill between 1st and 2nd aves, a guy yells out to me "BMX? High Five as you go by." So I did. And another guy asks me as I go by "Are you Catholic?"WTF?), West Boulevard, Arbutus, SW Marine, 70th, Oak, Oak St Bridge (0240 I was mid span), stop at the Mohawk just off the bridge for foodstuffs, and I was at the office 0255. As it turned out, the graveyard guy was sick, and had been trying to get ahold of the 'emergency' dispatcher (one of the owners' son), unsuccessfully, and was very pleased to see me. So after resting for an hour, I took over 2hrs early.

I took a bunch of pictures, but the cable is at home, so they'll have to wait.

random items, sorta

2007-06-03T01:28:00.000-07:00

OK, so its 0130, and I just got back home,and I have to leave for work in 2.5 hrs, and some tings, EtOH quasi inspired came to me, familiarisation is an amazing thing. there are things I can do inebriated on a bicycle which I should not be able to do, because of the "reduced motor skill", but I still can do. Like, oh, who cares, this was a silly blog subject.
I hope Kendra's kitty is OK.
The "Electric moon banana ride", or whatever it is called, sucks like Ottawa vacuuming out tax dollars. What is with these people, are you into having fun or just another hammer-head ride, 'cuz I can hammer it by myself anytime, I want to have fun on a late ride. Sorry Dale, I tried to stay between groups to see where everyone was headed and be a pointer for the latter riders but it didn't work. Friggin' maroons. They were no fun. So I packed it early and headed for the bus.
Beck, I hope you found the Kitten Shack OK and get to bomb tomorrow (today). ZOOBOMB!
RED, where were you, we waited and waited, but you didn't arrive.

for you, jennifer

2007-06-01T00:47:00.000-07:00

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5267894961075966307
You might have seen it anyway, but it's funny.
I have uploaded a bunch of pictures to my Picasa account, http://picasaweb.google.com/bikingpenguin
I still have more, but this is a start.

Midnight Mass May 24th

2007-05-26T07:35:00.000-07:00

For Royalists, May 24th is the REAL Victoria Day. (Just a little aside). I headed to MM with purpose. To make sure that Simon's baby has a life of its own. The 1st one while he is away. I arrived 23:40, mere seconds behind the first arrival. It was his 2nd one (his 1st was last summer) so he wondered where all the people were. Sure enough, 23:47 a few more arrived, and by 11:55 there were at least 20. The atmosphere was a little subdued, being Simonless I presume, and people seemed a little hesitant, not sure how it would turn out. There were some new faces, a good bunch of regulars, and some newer to MM in the past few rides.
At a couple minutes past midnight, somebody asked when the ride would leave. Another person responded with 'then call "5 minutes" '. Then Kati J showed up, and I said "here's Kati J, we can go now" and another person seconded the motion. A few people made the roll-out call of "2 minutes", somebody else called "5 minutes", and another started calling numbers randomly, like a rocket launch count-down that had been jumbled. But we actually started rolling about 00:10. Destination 'Oak & 33rd'.
So we go along Commercial and turn onto 10th Ave, nothing unusual in that, after all 10th is a bike route, but the leading riders pull into the China Creek skate park. There were a few boarders there, eventhough it is pitch black, no lights, and we start talking with a couple of them. Then a couple bikes go for the bowls. I took a couple of spind too. Never having visited them in daylight, it was kinda eerie, a black abyss when going over the edge, then the bike light is at the right angle to shine into the bowl and then the bike is in the bottom, and speed nust be maintained to get out the other side or to ride the bowl itself without sliding down sideways. If you don't go fast enough you can't ride at an angle which will allow full pedal rotation, and if you can't pedal fully, lack of speed means side-slipping into the bottom, and not enough speed to ride out of it. It was a fun little detour, but it didn't last long, only 1/2 dozen or so tried it, them we aboandoned it to the boarders.
Onward to our quest. At Oak & Douglas a few stopped as the lead goup carried on, and asked if we weren't going to "The Ghettodrome" (alias 'The Crescent' to motorists and Shaughnessy residents). The response was 'no, Oak & 33rd, we can always come back if it sucks'. Further along Oak st we attained 33rd, and Eric Hamber S.S. in particular, noting the oval track. In we go. After stopping briefly to extinguish headlights and putting rear ones in 'steady' mode (no flashing) we boot it around the track a few times. OK, so not EVERYONE did, but most went around at least once. After testing the track a bit we hung out as usual. As the night went on, a few people departed bit by bit till it was suggested to go for food. About a dozen of us headed for the Naam again. Some turned left at 12th some at 10th, but I like going down Broadway at this time of night (it was only about 01:30), so I did. Then when I hit Arbutus, I felt like doing something different. I was at the Naam 2 weeks ago with the gang, why not go to Seigels. So I did. Only problem was that I didn't know Seigels is no longer 24hrs. I check my watch, lots of time to catch the 02:09 NightBus back to Whalley. Went to Vanier Park, took a few pictures of the city lights and their reflections from English Bay, then cruised over Burrard Bridge, down Hornby to Dunsmuir and wrong-wayed it over to Howe, put my bike on the N19's rack, and waited for the driver to get back. Had a nice conversation with another couple waiting for the bus. At 02:15 we note that he's a little late, and just then he arrives. The woman had been saying that they usually leave right on time, and then notices that their bus isn't one of the ones in line. Turned out their's waits south of Dunsmuir, while all the other are on the north side, and it had left already. Ah well, they'll only have another 20 mins or so to wait now.
The bus driver sits for a bit, and we don't leave until 02:20. The run was quite busy, therefore quite slow. But that just meant we didn't have to wait at the various 'timing points', and arrive Scurvy Central 03:23. I arrive home after a 48 min ride. Some time in the future I'll have to race this guy. Without telling him of course.

One More Reason to Hate Anaheim Mighty Ducks

2007-05-23T19:03:00.000-07:00

'Cuz now I have to hope Ottawa wins the Stanley Cup!

Add'l Add'n

2007-05-23T14:59:00.000-07:00

So last night after I got off the bus I checked out where the bikes were left for pick-up, and yes, the one I didn't take was still there, so I wheeled it home. Maybe I'll hack it up and make a skookum trailer out of the pieces. Also, the 2nd one's handle bar looks like a perfect fit to be my mini's new seat post. Hah! Full leg extension here we come!
It's nice that our neighbour's WiFi is more predictable these days (wink wink, nudge nudge)
1st day off of 3, errand day, 'cuz tomorrow is Midnight Mass, and Friday Critical Mass (THE PIRATE RIDE! YAAARRRR!!!). Oh yeah, this evening is a pre VeloDeco gathering. What is "VeloDeco"? Check the Bicycle Bee link the the right.
JE(A)F: Woodward Hill is the one on KGH from Colebrook Rd to 64th Ave, Johnston Hill is the one on Hwy 1 from the Port Mann Bridge to the 152nd exit, and for further knowledge, Peterson Hill is the one on KGH from 128th St to 108th Ave (East of the Patullo Bridge).
Ripped a couple of CD's and scanned the booklets for David.
Well, I'm off shopping for now. I need comestible supplies.

Another addition

2007-05-22T20:24:00.000-07:00

On my way to work I found 2 more bikes somebody on the Surrey side of 16th had put out curbside with the recycling. But I didn't have time to take both back home, so I just took one. Perhaps the other will still be there when I get home. They were older mtb's, ladies frames, steel, not bad shape mechanically on cursory inspection. Good chopper material.

Carrying on the week-end's activities (read scans 1st)

2007-05-21T16:41:00.000-07:00

So I watched the polo Saturday, looked like a lot of fun. But as I really couldn't risk accidental dammage to my main ride ('cuz bike polo can be hazardous to your bike's health) I didn't join in when any of the games started. I t did rain off and on, at one point enough for me to put on my rain pants. I did have some left-overs from Fri. night, so I drank them (4). I took a few pictures, I'll put them up on Picasa soon. Ditto for Fri's BBQ. Eventually the last few players started to pack it in, and I headed for the bus. It was into the hourly service time, so I had to wait 45 mins, and got on @ 19:11 Broadway & Granville. Got home an hour later, had some bulgur again, and went to bed.
Sun. 0300, alarm goes off. I'm still tired and I have preparations to do, but I decide to wait for alarm #2 (0315), same again, but for #3 @ 0330 I actually get up. I have my pre-ride drink (an own preparation of Creatine, açai powder mix (from Nu Greens, has other stuff in it), Glutamine, Chromium/Vanadium, and some other pre-mix I can't recall at present, mixed in juice). I pack up my breakfast and put in in my pack, along with my ride drink, stuff I might get around to doing during the slow times at work, snacks, lunch, cameras, etc., put on my gear. Doing these things while tired takes alot longer that it should. Now it is 0400, what I consider ideal departure time. But I was hoping to rig some way of taking the mini with me for "RolloDerby" (like rollerderby, but on mini-bikes). After about 15 mins I thought I had it all set, but when I tried it in the driveway it became obvious that it wouldn't work. So more time wasted as I detatch the mini and put it back in the house. A quick time check, 0422, eeek, gotta hammer it all the way now. The usual removal of now superfluous clothing at KGH & 144A, time check KGH & #10 0445 means I've made up some time, but I'm still behind schedule, got out my drink early @ #10Hwy & 138th (the street doesn't actually go through, but one can see it through the trees), on 128th turning left onto 72nd its now 0500, and I should be at Scott Rd, so I'm doing OK now, as long as I can keep up the pace. I boot it down 72nd averaging 37km/h, but when I hit the downhill by 112St I'm up to 60km/h (I think the car behind me that is inchingly gaining is surprised, I past by him/her at stopped at a cross street a ways back). I know 60 really isn't that fast, but when carrying weight it makes a big difference to the handling, and that hill isn't steep enough or long enough to go much faster than that. The weather starts to change as I'm on the Alex Fraser, so mid-span I put my jacket & pants back on as well as reverting to the full fingered gloves. The sidewalk is wet, so I can't go more than 35km/h down the other side (when dry it is safe to do 42km/h). I get accross the footbridge over Hwy91A at 0525, meaning I'll get to work on time. When I make it to Westminster Hwy west of the 91 overpass I settle in to a 30km/h-90rpm groove which lasts all the way to Sidaway/Jacombs. Cool. Usually I change up my cadence and gearing because it feels better, but this time I really hit "the zone". I felt great. I had been travelling on the bike path on the South side of Westminster, but now I had to change to the right side. I didn't do it when the path ended because of traffic (didn't want to spoil the groove), and now on the Frontage road at Sidaway there was more traffic, including a cop car, so I had to stop & hit the "walk" button. When I restarted my legs didn't feel to co-operative at first, but then it was OK. The groove was gone, but I still maintained a decent speed, varying from 27->32 km/h., and got to work with a few mins to spare. Time check 0556. 1 hour 34 mins. My best "loaded" time yet. About 6 yrs ago I did 1hr 25 min trip, but I wasn't carrying any weight, and I had slept in and was going to be late. Younger legs + incentive = better time.
The work day was pretty much the same crap as always, unfortunately, and it pissed rain most of the time, and still was when I left. So not having the mini was OK, I just went home. After a while I made a fire from the willow I stashed away the other day. I was looking forward to tomorrow (today) with a planned group ride from E Van to Sasamat Lake before going to work.
Unfortunately, when I got up at 0800 I had a kink in my back, and its muscles were sore, so I decided not to go after all. Reported such on the Fixed Van. forum, had breakfast, and went back to bed. Got back up at Noon, went to work, and here we are in the present tense. Ahhhh, holiday Mondays! Extra slow (how else could I finish this long narrative), and real money to boot.

Kickball & Bar-B-Q

2007-05-19T09:09:00.000-07:00

So the day started off OK, as the weather was co-operative, except my mood was not. Thus I did not get up til after noon. With the shortened time available to do stuff, I prioretised. 1. Improve spirits by checking my bike out (needed some air in the tires) and riding around a bit just outside the house. Then did the same for the mini. Felt better. Next was to attend to the cheapo trailer. I tightened the spokes up a bit while making sure they were close to true (the tires still seem a little suspect). Then I put them on the trailer, bolted on two pieces of tubing, and popped it into shape. Now to attatch it! #@*&^$*@!? thingy! Had to play around with the clamp to get it to work. Stupid thing. At last for a test ride. Wasn't too bad. Didn't have time to do a disassemly to remove the nylon kiddie-carrying capacity. I suppose that will follow soon though. With the prospect of rain forecast, I then tackled the lawn. Finished it in the nick of time, just as the first few droplets arrived. Then I moved a bunch of the firewood (put it in big buckets) to under the sundeck. I left the twiggy bits still in heaps. Have to tend to them later. So into the house for a quick clean-up and dash off to catch the bus to town. OK, to Surrey Central, as time-, schedule- & weather-wise it would be better to do that and then the SkyTrain rather than 351 & ride east.
I was a couple mins behind so I raced off in hopes it wouldn't be too far ahead. As I crossed 152nd on KGH I saw the bus I wanted off in the distance, just approaching 148th/32nd Div with the Black Forest on the far side. Now I knew I had just barely a chance of catching it. I would need a little bit of luck. So I crouched and hammered it. After I passed Fi's old Starbucks and came to the trailer park, the bus had just passed Crescent Rd, and was heading for the Bailley bridge, nobody at the stop to slow it down, eeek! My only hope now was for the Park & Ride to have people to catch him there. Racing along, the light changed against me at Crescent Rd, so I nipped off to the side by the golf driving range entranced, arround a car stopped to leave the Range, hop the curb back onto the road, accross the bridge's "sidewalk" (in quotes because it really isn't what one thinks of as a sidewalk. The width is barely 6" wider than my handle-bars), but oh no! as I'm about 5 seconds from turning into the Park & Ride, the bus is just starting to pull out, so quick plan B, keep on going on KGH to the stop @ 40th Ave and hope that traffic slows its exit from the P&R. Frequent shoulder checks AOK. No bus yet. When it comes into view on the overpass I'm mere seconds from the stop. Almost out of breath, I board the bus.
The rest of the bus/skytrain was just the typical "scum run" riff-raff nonsense/banality.
I get off at Nanaimo Station, it is really raining now. In my hurry to leave, I left my rain-pants behind and had no leggings, but at least I had my booties. I put them on and headed for Trout Lake. Got there, crossed through to the other side by the rec centre, and there, by the tennis courts under a tree is Kim, with the barbeque. So I approach, the time is about 1845, I'm theoretically 15 mins "late" PDT, but about 90 mins early VBT. Simon was aldeady there, but not in sight at the moment. A few minutes later Andrew (I think his name is) showed up with the ball. A bouncy rubber one, pink, with "Girls Rule" printed on it. Just purchased for the occassion. Over the next 40 mins a few more people show up, it is raining more, so we decide to head to the east side of the lake where ther is a shelter. Simon leaves a note on a found kids mini-bike telling any more arrivals of the relocation. The barbeque tank was severly lacking in plenitude. After another while and more arrivals, a C3H8 party headed by Simon left for said same gaseous substance. Of course all the while people are quenching their thirsts.
(running out of time at work, very busy today, the nerve!). Anyhoo, almost no solid food was brought, so afew, including myself, went to Safeway for supplies. When I got back, eventhough is was really dark, the kickball game was in progress (the rain stopped while on the way to Safeway). (ARRRGHHH! Renée Fleming problems! The stage door is locked and the Diva can't get in to rehearse!)(shift over, gotta go)

I started this "yesterday", so HBD2RESM,ILU!

2007-05-18T00:11:00.000-07:00

Darn funny colours! The scanner wouldn't detect the fluorescent orange.

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

2007-05-16T12:25:00.000-07:00

Click on pix to view full size. All paper used was the back of a junk fax.

Last Thursday's MM

2007-05-14T19:25:00.000-07:00

So I went to the Midnight Mass ride Thurs. 10th, and it was a "Themed" ride. "Dressed for Success" it was called, meaning dresses for all & sundry riders was de rigeur (OK, so a few didn't wear dresses, but most did). On the grounds of self incrimination I can't go into full details of my garb, but it was 54% angora. I wanted to be at the meet-up for a bit of socialising 1st, so I left on the 22:30 321 &c. and arrived Grandview Park 23:45 (the slight delay due to "dressing" after I got off the SkyTrain and a shooting necessitated detour @ Commercial Dr & Gravely St). The "founder" of Vancouver MM, MidnightSimon, is of to cycle parts of Europe soon, so this ride was one of his send-offs. Be sure to check his progress via the lynx (Midnight Miles) to the right. http://picasaweb.google.com/bikingpenguin
to see my pictures of the ride & more.(and click on this picture to see it full size.)

After the usual pre-ride fortifications (mine was rum which had a huge cinnamon stick macerating in it for 5 days. Mmmmm, sssinnymon.), we went to QE park, rode around there a bit in the parking lot (it has some fun features for urban skilz, inebriated style), chilled, conversed &c. Some people left sooner than others, and I left with the last group. The gate to the parking lot was open when we went in, but locked when we went to leave. A bit of a surprise, but in a way funny that nobody tried to kick us out when they went to lock the gate. Its not like we would not have been noticed, and we could hardly have been confused as a threatening group, but I digress.

As we were going back along the Ontario bike route, I was contemplating whether to go straight downtown to catch the Night Bus to scurvy central, or risk 2-bikedom rackage when it arrives Kingsway & Broadway. Then I noticed, when we were nearing 12th ave, that Simon Was still with us. I thought he had peeled of the pack sooner as I hadn't seen him when we left QEP. So I decided to go with the pack to The Naam. Wouldn't be much of a send-off to be one of the early departers, 'cuz the others would probably have way more opportunities to say adios amigo.

Eventually the 10 or 12 of us left the Naam, heading E on Broadway. The last of the other riders finally peeled off to their respective locales, Bob of You Never Bike Alone, at Nanaimo St. The time was 04:08. I went straight east, stayed on Lougheed all the way to Gagliardi, south to Cariboo rd, and carried on through Bby, NW, Sry &c like before. I had made such good time getting to scurvy central that I didn't wait for the 1st 321 S-bound (which would have been faster) but carried on home to see what my time would be. Arrived home 06:02. Ride time 1hr 56 mins. It was a great ride. Only had to stop twice (KGH @ 88th, & KGH & #10).

April Showers?

2007-04-02T18:42:00.000-07:00

So if April showers bring May flowers, what do April Flurries bring? 'Cuz we's gots a bunch o' sno' thi's'morn'n' . I took a couple of pictures, but the stupid computer at work can't handle the # of pix on my camera's card. I connect it, and 5 mins later it still hasn't loaded them (not even transfer, just showing what files are on the card, not even thumbnails, just the list). So mebbe later.

For JE(A)F, I'll assume that was a request. I did know the origin of the quote, sort of, previously and could have found if I felt so inclined (which I'm sure you know), that is why I'm taking the comment as a request. I'll burn you a copy and sent it your way. How are the Shreddies/Vector supplies?

Surrey Critical Mass

2007-03-25T09:46:00.000-07:00

So an inaugural Critical Mass was "organised" and it took place yesterday. There were about 50 to 55 riders (I counted 50, but could easily missed a few while we were milling about pre-ride, and a few more could have arrived after I counted; somebody else counted 55). We started of from "City Central", formerly known as Surrey Place Mall, outside the SFU Surrey tower just south of the Rec Centre. We went North along 135A st (past the former Stardust Roller rink where I worked back in '83-'84) to 104ave, East to East Walley Ring Rd, South to Fraser Hwy, East to 148th St (but not before an 'incident' happened while going by Green Timbers, by 144th), North to 100th, East to 152nd, North to 102A, left turn into the mall parkinglot, rode around a bit in the lot making noise & showing our signs to people etc., back out to 152nd North from 102A, West onto 104th all the way back to 135A st and to City Central to complete the circuit.
The ride went pretty well generally speaking. The rain was just a drizzle at the beginning, and about half way through it stopped. A few 'notables' showed up (Bob Bose on a fixie, the local MLA, a neighbouring MLA's spouse...).
To see some video bits of the ride, check out Bob Alstead's cliphttp://www.youneverbikealone.com/surrey-critical-mass-inaugural-ride-20070325 including the "incident". It was pretty freeky, but I could see it developing. I was quite sure that some serious carnage would result.

Quote of the Day

2007-03-19T15:28:00.000-07:00

So I was in the South Pointe parking lot, having just purchased my wedge-fries &c. for lunch on the way to work, and I came to a 4-way stop at the same time as an oncoming vehicle (a black Chevy Cavalier thingy, like the one Fi's Jeff drives) and another vehicle, on my right, had just arrived before us. Naturally the one on my right goes 1st as per R-o-W rules, and then I start as soon as he has gone past. But the stupid MoFo Chevy starts to turn left into me, and he doesn't have his turn signal on. Needless to say I yell at him "SIGNAL! SIGNAL!" And then the moron, who had his window down, calls back "But you're on a bike though." As if my being on a bike meant that he didn't have to comply with the MVA, RSBC. He was just lucky I was in hurry to catch my bus or I would have gladly apprised him of his intellectual deficiencies.

Thanks Cpt Fun/Warchild

2007-03-12T18:00:00.000-07:00

Man, does Gabe ever come up with The Goods. Check out these clips.

The Guy is Jean-Yves Blondeau, AKA The Rollerman. Here is another clip found by Gabe (similar vein, but not The Rollerman).

Stuff to check out

2007-03-11T07:58:00.000-07:00

I know you really want to see what happened during Mini Bike Winter, so this is a reminder to check out the YVR Bikerazzi link to the right. It has a whole ton o' stuff organised (mainly by Yours Truly, but lots of other people had to post their stuff first for me to be able to link it). I still haven't got around to splitting up my Chariot Wars Death Match video into smaller chunks. My 28 min "clip" is toooo long for Youtube, so I'll have to break it into 3 pieces minimum (thanks to their 10 min max rule). I have put all the clips together and made a DVD for those who would like one. Ask and you shall receive. Ditto my digi-pix. Its hard to believe that MBWIV was only 3 weeks ago. It seems like it is so long since I was in Portland, chugging Sparks etc, cruising around on my mini, meeting all sorts of new people. It really makes me wonder why I come to work. Dealing with morons all day is a real downer. And worse than that, it is in an industry which exemplifies excessive consumption, not just of fossil fuels, but of many things. I'm surrounded by wastrels (except for my favourite reservationist). Oh well, at least I get to go to another Bike Bee planning Pot-Luck this afternoon après-travail.

Blog Hiatus over, for now.

2007-02-25T13:19:00.000-08:00

It is 12 days since the last post, but I was a little busy. I decided to go to Portland for Mini Bike Winter IV ( Feb 14-19, but I wasn't going to be there for it all). Which meant that I had to finish prepping the mini by Thurs 15th when the 1st batch were leaving town in order to get a ride. We left the vicinity of The Pink Palace about 23:30, and arrived in Portland (PDX) at our crash-site (AKA The Kitten Shack, home of the previously mentioned Agent Lapis) at 04:15. I left Portland Mon 19th 09:15. In between was one BIG, LONG, ACTION PACKED FLURRY of MADNESS and PARTYING. I had thought about blogging the gory (litterally) details, but I was too tired afterwards that I needed recovery time. And now that nearly a week has gone, I don't really feel the urge to blog it. So go to the Midnight Mass blog (check lynx on the right) and let Midnight-Simon tell you his version. I have a bunch of pix/video not uploaded to any site, but I'll get around to it eventually. Note, while Simon has a 6 min. taste of the Charriot Wars Deth Match, mine is 28 mins long (just excuse my giggling in the background [when you eventually see my video] as it was extremely funny and wild, plus I was under the influence of Sparks*). My shift is coming to an end, gotta go.

Climate Change

2007-02-13T19:35:00.000-08:00

Triane, of the Recyclistas in Victoria (www.recyclistas.ca) came to the Winter-Bee, and did a little talk about making Zines, as they had received some sort of grant to publish one about climate change, and then asked if any would like to submit something for it. Well, my creativity doesn't kick in at someone else's behest, it just comes on its own, unbidden, randomly. But on the bus ride home, I was inspired. My brain came up with a virtual epic. So I had to pare it down to 1 sheet of legal sized paper. Here it is (but it will be hard to read unless you double click each image to see it full sized).

Something Funny

2007-02-13T18:51:00.000-08:00

Back in early December, it was so cold, Mr Cat needed a sweater (although he didn't quite believe us).

Winter Bee Wrap-Up

2007-02-13T17:51:00.000-08:00

So the Bike Bee, winter version AKA the Winter-Bee, was held Feb 10/11, for those who didn't check out the link, and it was held just around the corner from Gilly Gilly bo-hilly (for those who know the song, yes I know it should be Gilly Gilly bo-billy), and I even saw Gilly & Megoon on my way to a pre-bee planning meeting. We did a variety of "winter" (Wet Coast style) workshop/maintainance things, socialised, and generally had a ton-o-fun (and it wasn't even CH3CH2OH powered)

Bikes Inside party, the brief version

2007-02-05T21:14:00.000-08:00

It started 20:30 Sat 3rd, ended, that is to say I left, @ 04:47 Sun 4th., I finally felt recovered ca. 16:00 Mon 5th. I don't have enough time left in my shift for the full story and work both.

Un-Race

2007-02-05T19:41:00.000-08:00

So a while back on the "fixedvancouver" forum (www.fixedvancouver.com) there had been a bit of discussion of an informal race in traffic, only start and destination predetermined. It boiled down to a "lets meet 17:30 at the art gallery fountain fri feb 2 and see what happens".

I went there, so did a few others (about 8 total) but some of them did not come to "race". With excuses like "I didn't bring a helmet" or "I brought the bike with no brake" or "I have to be somewhere else at XX:XX, and there isn't enough time" or "I can't race, I'm too old" (I guess I covered all their excuses). Of course my sarcastic side came out immediately to ask why s/he didn't bring a helmet/bike with a brake, quit wasting time because if we had left by even 18:00 the "race" would have been over by now (we didn't actually leave till 1845), and as to age, the over-the-hill decrepit person was some mewling wet-behind-the-ears 29yo.

The four of us who decided to make a go of it were "Alex", a 17yo on a 'cross bike; "Camillo", a mid 20's (I guess) bike messenger on a fixie, "Clancey", a 36yo (I think he said, but maybe 35, mid-30's anyway) high-school teacher on a flip-flop SS/fixed hub, and I on my Brodie (a significant disadvantage technologically unless a lot of hill-climbing AND soft ground is involved). The destination we chose was the UBC pool, by the old bus-loop.

We headed off down Howe St in some very heavy traffic, I was the last one to hit the actual street, but by the time we got to Davie St, I was ahead by several car lengths. It was quite a thrill, zipping along at the edge of the curb past the stopped cars, between two lanes of moving traffic, but only moving 1/2 the speed of the bikes (eeeeyyikes! that was close! A transit bus on one side and an SUV on the other!), nipping around the right-turner... I was still in the lead as I was crossing the Granville St bridge, and a couple of times I thought I heard something behind me, but still nothing. Then, as I turned my head to do a shoulder check before moving into the lane to take the Fir St off-ramp, I see him. It's Camillo, draughting me, and the he passes as we take the off-ramp. I almost catch him at Broadway, but he is just a bit ahead. I catch him at Burrard St (red light, lots of traffic), and we blast off again ASAP (just before the light actually goes green). Same thing happens at Arbutus. I looked behing us both times to check for the other 2, but no sign. Did they have worse traffic luck, or take a different route? Unfortunately, the sprinting and icy cold air was not a good combo for my lungs. At Vine I had to back off considerably, to a slow cruise pace to be more precise, about 24km/h. My right lung felt like it was going to explode with every exhale (inhaling wasn't too bad, oddly enough). My legs were fine, but my lungs were done. After a little while I was able to speed up a bit, but not very much. Broadway was a mess because of roadworks in the Macdonald area, which slowed me down to a sub-lung pace. Single lane, stuck behind a mini-van which insisted on hugging the curb, but was too erratic in its lane placement to risk a left-sided pass (traffic was only 1 lane each way). Finally I was able to get by when she had to stop for a person who didn't know how to turn his wheel for a right turn (or so it would seem. There was nothing to prevent him from completing the turn).

I plugged along, past Alma, zig-zagging at Highbury to 10th Ave and on to UBC. I stopped at the lights at Wesbrook Mall. There was no traffic at all except for the 2 vehicles beside me also on 10th W.bound. I couldn't see any of the other cyclists there, so I decided to wait for the lights. I shouldn't have. It took 2 minutes, no lie; I checked my watch. So when I got to the pool, Clancey and Camillo were already there. No Alex. Clancey got ther 1st (he went Cornwall, Pt Grey, 4th, Blanca, Chancellor) and Camillo arrived 2 mins later (according to Clancey) and I another 7 mins after that. Alex arrived about 3-5 mins after me. If it hadn't been for the icy air and waiting @ Wesbrook, my timing would have been much better. But at least this "old" geezer wasn't DFL. We all agreed that the 1st bit in all the traffic was the most fun, and decided to do something like it 1st & 3rd Fridays. We all rode back, more leisurely, and I said goodbye at 6th & Granville, to wait for the bus home.

Belated CM rehash

2007-02-03T08:38:00.000-08:00

It seems a little odd to post 8 days after the fact, but I haven't had much chance before now, or when I did have the time, I didn't feel like it. So, as per usual I headed for Critical Mass on Friday last (Jan. 26th). But what wasn't usual was that I had done a day shift (0600 -> 1400) as somebody was away on holiday. Plus, since I didn't want to be lugging around all my workday impedimenta and I had left behind something I wanted to bring to CM with me, I went home after work. The problem was that I got delayed leaving work (an unfortunate trend. Newbies!), and the bus was 25 mins late after I got to my stop. So it ended up that I only had half an hour between getting off the one bus, and getting back on another to town. What especially annoyed me was that I could not find the item I had left behind!

Ah well. So I got to the art gallery and began to look for a guy with a Montreal Canadiens tuque. Oh yeah, at the last Bike-Bee meeting somebody accidentally took my left bootie, and left his right bootie behind, so we had arranged for a swap. I got to the VAG about 15 mins later than anticipated (again, the bus. I got back on the same one I had been on, but after its turn-around. So he was only 15 mins late now as he didn't take his break @ Crescent Beach). Anyway, I was scanning the crowd for said same tuque from the steps overlooking the fountain, occassionally calling aloud "Andrew" (that's right Kreskin, the left-bootied one was named Andrew). Plus I was conversing with some of the regulars. At last, a minute before 6, the swap was consumated.

The ride itself was mostly like the others, see some regular faces, chat with them; see some new faces, chat with them too. Unfortunately, one of the regulars and Bike-Bee'er, Skyler, had a crash on his fixie (wrecked the front wheel, did a bit of a number to his face from what I hear), and the ambulance had to be called (he's OK now, I hear). Of the people with whom I chatted, a guy in a kilt (he was cheating. He had bike shorts on beneath it.) and a young woman in trews (after all Jan. 25th was only the day before), another young woman ("Britney") from Colorado (attending UBC. She's been here 2 years now) was riding an old Girls bike (pink, woven wicker basket, banana seat, streamers in the hand-grips. The bike cost $5, ditto the basket, and $6 for the streamers), and une jeune fille française très enchantée qui s'appelle "Anne-Sophie". She was on a unicycle. It was quite a big one. The wheel looked like it was 36". It also had a looped handle which went from beneath the seat to somewhat infront of the seat. On this handle was a brake lever! It was equiped with a V-type brake. So I asked A-S about it. She told me it was for going down steep hills. She had only been in Vancouver 2 weeks at the time, and was staying in a hostel. The funniest part was that I was able to guess her hometown (Aix-en-Provence), and the next place her family lived (Grenoble) before they moved to Paris. And the only clues she told were that she was from SE France and she had also lived near the Alps (first she said she was from the SE, and then said she came to Vancouver because she missed the mountains. I asked "the Pyranees?" She said the Alps. So I took a stab at Aix, and asked if when she was in the Alps if it were Grenoble. Well, after that I was in like Flynn (or perhaps it was my linguistic brilliance, my dashing white hair, my charming personallity, or the loan of an Allen key). Anyway, it was fun talking with her (she understood my French perfectly well, but wanted to practice her own English) and I wished I could stay longer after the ride ended @ the ANZA club. But I had been up since 0400 (it was 2045 when I left), had to be up @ 0300 2 more days. A-S said she had been riding a unicycle since she was 6yo (I would guess she was 22yo). In the summer she and a group of 11 others (of whom she believes only 2 are bicyclists) are doing a big unicycle tour in Southern Europe. Starting in Slovenia, going into Italy, Corsica, France and Spain. Oh Oh. Blogger to be down soon. Gotta stop now!!!!

WiFi's Back, for now at least

2007-01-24T22:40:00.000-08:00

So I have some intenetting of more import than blobbing to the world. So just check out the latest from my lynx.

Emergency Repair

2007-01-23T20:29:00.000-08:00

So the past few days riding with the wow in my rear wheel has been driving me nuts, itching to get a chance to try to fix it (earliest opportunity will be Wednesday). I was on my way to the bus stop, trying to get in a bit early to have a chin-wag with my "supervisor", when I hear 'ssssssSSSSSSssssssssssssSSSSSSSSSsssssssss' repeatedly. A tear had developed in my sidewall (thanks again to that pothole) and now the tube had ruptured there. Changing the tube would be pointless, so I hoofed it to O'Hagan's to get a new tire. No dice. All out of 26x1.5 tires, not just the slicks I wanted. No narrow 26"ers. A batch is arriving in the AM, but not much help now. I didn't feel like going a bit further on to S.Sry Cycles and trying my luck there as I would now only have enough time to effect some MacGuyvering, change tubes, inflate, and get on the bus (the earlier one I wanted to get pulled away just as I got to it on my way to O'Hagan's). I headed for the garbage cans by the bus stop for materiel. I was hoping for something like a plastic/foil wrapper. But before I got to the garbage, I found in the parking lot behind it a plastic cap from a bottled water carbuoy (an 18L jug). This was just the thing (well, maybe a little too skookum, but it would work). So after installing the new tube (as I always cary a spare), I wrapped the plastic strip around the tube at the point where the tire was ripped, and re-levered the tire into place. Re-inflated the tire to 40psi and headded for the bus. It arrived about 9 mins later. In Ditchmond, at a gas station, I put in another 10psi. Not as much as I would normally have in it, but it would not be good to have the full 65 in such a situation. Now I have TONS of bike stuff to do tomorrow!

Wow

2007-01-21T10:24:00.000-08:00

AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yesterday I figured out why my bike felt funny to ride. The rear wheel has a "wow" in it. I hit a small pothole the other day (there are so many new ones from the recent snow/freeze etc). The wow almost caused me to wipe-out yesterday morning, part blame also to the black ice. On its own the black ice gave me a few episodes palpitations.

Default

2007-01-21T08:49:00.000-08:00

No, the title has no significance to the content of the posting.

Last Friday on my way home from work I had a bit of an adventure. My 8 hrs was up @ 4pm, although the stuff I do now on Fridays doesn't have a precise time like the dispatch schedule, but I got held up by a last minute item that cropped-up. So by the time I change my clothes and headed out the door it was 4:45, got to the bus stop just a few mins after 5pm (I didn't ride quite as fast because my bike felt wierd. Something wasn't right, but I put it out of my mind for the time being). I just missed a bus, but being Rush Hour I knew another would be along shortly. I hopped on the 354, but not too far along after Hwy 17 I could see a lot of traffic. We were only going about 80km/h because it was starting to back-up. Not a good sign. By the time we got to the Hwy10 overpass I could see the 99 was a parking lot just ahead, and the bus was pulling off the freeway (but was in a long line to do so). I wondered what was up as the 354 does not pull off @ "Matthews" like the 351. After the bus got to within a couple lengths of the traffic lights he told us that the 99 was closed up ahead and that all the busses were being diverted.

We got over the overpass and I could see that traffifc was heavy, but moving. But VERY Shortly afterwards slowed down to 20 km/h, and then became stop & go. Darn! I could have got off the bus and ridden, but now there was no place for the bus to pull over "safely" to let people off it. After crawling along averaging 10 km/h, we got to Scott Rd, and he let a bunch of us off there. I misplaced one of my gloves, so it took me quite a while to find it in my gear, and then hook-up my lights and pannier. As the traffic on this part of #10 was a bit better, by the time I caught up with the bus I had been on it was at 132nd St. A few few 10's of metres later traffic slowed down to a jogging pace at best. I passed several busses, of particular note were the two 351's. the 2nd one would have been the one for mee if I had left work on time. And with the mess he still had to crawl along in, he would have made it to my stop about an hour after I arrived by bike! Hah! It was really fun passing all those miles of almost stationary cars. And to top it off, some idiot cabbie tried to by-pass the King George "parking-lot" by leaving it at the southbound foot of Woodward Hill to get to Colebrook Rd. His ill-advised, through the remaining snow, Cross-Counrty adventure ended about 30metres from KGH and about 10metres short of the gravel access road (the old KGH before the Colebrook overpass was built) that leads to Colebrook. Hah Hah!!

Darn that freekin' WiFi neighbour

2007-01-20T11:32:00.000-08:00

For the past couple weeks my interneting has been limited to the 4 days a week at work. The unsecured network of the witless neighbour has not been available. The signal is too weak to connect. The network shows up for a few seconds and is gone. Very frustrating when you try to use someone else's internet but can't! I think the person must have changed the router's location, and something is interfering with/blocking the signal.

I've started working another day per week. (Egad! 5 days a week! you say, How on Earth can one survive with only 2 days off per week? I don't know, but I'm starting to find out.) It wouldn't be so bad if things/people didn't keep cropping up to use up my valuable down-time. And this weather! It has been a big time-sucker-upper. All the de-salting, re-lubing, packing around extra clothing/gear, not to mention the extra travel time required to get from A->B.

Untitled

2007-01-08T21:37:00.000-08:00

Arrghh! After some 15hrs or so of sleep, woke up to a sore throat, sinus congestion, and other nasty symptoms of a cold. Went to work (oh joy), browsed the net, and found this funny video

http://tvinjapan.com/blog/2007/01/06/the-long-tail-of-bicycles-over-lakes/

Back soon.

The Pressure Is On

2007-01-07T11:04:00.000-08:00

Well, it has happened. My blog has been noted by a "member" (as "membership" is not defined) of the velogencia. I have handed out a few of my cards which had this blob's (sic) URL, and I thought I had told her about my blob, but I guess I was mistaken. I assume she found it from the lynx on the Midnight Mass blog. OK, I know this is a little convoluted, if Midnight Simon listed it, wasn't it "noted" before? Perhaps, but since I know for sure that I gave him my card ( & KatieJ), he could put up a link without actually checking the blog itself. So now it's been noted, I'll have to "produce" a little more regularly.

This morning's ride to work was marginally better than yesterday's. - Yesterday I had a late start due to an unforseen drive-train problem I noted while re-installing my patched tube I had left to cure. So I was hurrying, which of course slowed me down (the usual Haste Makes Waste scenario) and I left @ 0416. I had been hoping to leave early, not 15mins late, because of the wind. But I wasn't worried as the wind was from the South last night as late as 2300. Imagine my surprise to open the front door to get a direct blast from the WEST! The worst direction of all!!! While travelling North, I was fighting a vicious cross-wind, and Eastbound into the headwind was a leg-killer. I had to walk half the distance across the Alex Fraser because it was too dangerous to ride. I got to work 30 mins late, my legs were about to fall off, and my back was killing me. Good thing I keep an emergency supply of Robaxisal as work. By comparison this morning was a breeze, because the "breeze" was from the South. At first I was worried when I got up. I was a half-hour behind, I could hear heavy rain and the wind was howling (there had benn NO wind at 2300 when I went to bed), and I needed to fix my rack. I was getting a little panicky when I was again 15 mins behind and starting in on rack repairs. Then my phone's alarm started sounding. Exasperated ofer another delay, I pulled it out of its pouch on my knapsack shoulder-stap, and flipped it open while cursing the snooze function I had not turned off. The Time, 0330??!!?? WTF? Crap! I had thought it was 0330 when I got up, but it had to have been 0230. And I thought that I was awakened by my alarm, but must have imagined that. Ah well, after a few deep breaths to settle down from my anxious state, I dealt with my rack and braved the elements at the confirmed time of 0347. And thank goodnes the wind was mostly from the South, with a small Easterly component. The highlight of the ride was zipping along the Hwy91 shoulder @ 55km/h. The low point being the excess 20lbs of rain I must have absorbed along the way! Hard to do when wearing regular cycling togs under raingear. I had to change gloves 2x, my knapsack was sogged, and the rain had managed to permeate my rainpants to my shorts (i.e. the padding inside. soggy bum, yuck) and leggings.

Oh well. I survived. I have my Penguin calendar to cheer me up. The one I brought to work is called "Penguins at Play". The other 4 are hanging up at home.

Back In the Saddle

2006-12-30T06:28:00.000-08:00

Well, another month, another Critical Mass ride. I was planning on doing the Midnight Mass on Thurs. 28th, but my belated Christmas dinner at Frances' went a little later than anticipated, and I didn't feel like riding with a full stomach, so I didn't go.

During Critical Mass, a cop decided to cause problems while we were on Commercial Drive. Normally they just ignore The Mass, but this guy for some reason decided to block half the road, and when the majority had gone by, he picked one of the stragglers out and stopped him for not wearing a helmet (it turned out to be the guy's 1st day in Vancouver, moving here from Montreal). So Ifny, who happened to be near the back as well, turned back to see what was going on. Although the cops did not see her actually riding, they decided that they would give her a ticket too for being helmetless (she was, however, wearing bunny-ears and an Elmer Fudd cap and was riding a 14" mini, so it was a farcical sight). When she refused to give her name (as they actually had no grounds for detaining her, since they did not see her riding), they called for a Paddy Wagon, hand-cuffed her (she's 5'3" tall), and hauled her away. They later let her out at Clark Dr & E Hastings St. All this nonsence took over 1/2 an hour, "requiring" 4 cop cars, the Paddy Wagon, and 7 cops.

I went to the after party for a while at the Anza Club, but left a few mins after 10pm as I needed to get up early for work.

I got up at 3am (OK, the alarm went off then. I didn't actually get up till 0330. I think my Christmas present from one of the drivers had only just worn off as I was woke up, because I was really tired). I left just about 0403, and the ride was mostly uneventful. I did get a puncture just before getting to the Alex Fraser, so that took 15 mins to fix. This made me 5 mins late (mainly because my tire wasn't fully re-inlated so I couldn't ride quite as fast. My shoulder still doesn't like using the mini-pump. I guess I'll have to do some re-hab type excercises). And upon arrival, the surprise waiting for me was that the schedule got changed (as somebody quit, and things are in a state of flux for a while) and nobody informed me to come in the afternoon shift instead. Ah well, the company will have to recompense me for the error, and I will leave shortly (as the buses are just now starting to run for Saturday service) and do some errands.

The really annoying thing about the new guy leaving, is that he did it just before New Year's. Now I have to work the afternoon/evening of NYE. But the good news is that afer the new new guy is trained, I will get some different shifts so I won't have to ride in if I don't want to. At least that is the plan. Oh well, enough for now.

Posting Again

2006-12-14T15:25:00.000-08:00

Well, it has been nearly 2 months since my last post, not that there hasn't been anything happening, but I haven't felt like blogging. So I went to Midnight Simon's blog the other day to see what was up there (as I haven't amassed myself midnight-wise in a while, allowing my shoulder extra recovery fro too many long rides), and I note that he has me linked as a blogging biker, so I had better not disappoint those lusting for bike related "news".

I found an orphan bike frame recently, but to make sure is was truly an orphan, I left it for 2 weeks before I took it home. In the interim, somebody else had helped him/herself to the front wheel (it was already sans derrière when 1st spotted). So I now have a mixte frame for the next Bike Bee. I shall take a pic of it soon. I'll post more soon.

Bye Bye Bikes

2006-10-19T17:28:00.000-07:00

Today Red Sara & Midnight Simon came over to pick up the bikes for the Bike Bee. There were 14 frames in all, with only 3 of those not having wheel(s) attached. A nice haul to clear out some of the under-deck area and allow these bicycles' spirits to go free. They will be reborn as choppers, tall bikes and refurbished regular bikes.

Philosophical Point: Are Vegans Allowed To...

2006-10-15T08:52:00.000-07:00

So the East Van Bikerazzi was making an appearance at a do sponsored by the Work Less Party. So I had to make an appearance too. Not only do I Work Less (i.e. a 4 day week), but the bike posse's purpose was to raise some loot for the Bike Bee (see lynx if you haven't done so, it has been updated with its latest bikinfo) to which I'm donating some chopper/frankenbike materiel, and it was a costume party. Three guesses as to mine, and the 1st 2 don't count. I liked my pink chenille socks best (and so did some of the gurlz). All in all it was a prety good party, a bit lame on the beverage choices (perhaps all the Less Working addled the organisers' minds). I tried each of the two beers (yech, at the best of times) they had on tap. If I hadn't seen the tap actually connected to the beer supply, I would have assumed it was directly linked to the settling tanks on Annacis Island. There were some amateur dance troupes performing (one of them the B:C:Clettes) in a sort of contest. Later on I saw at the Propaganda table where the WLP had stuff on display, there were several vegan themed buttons. One of them said "meat tastes like ass", so I got to thinking, are vegans allowed to eat pussy?

MM Oct 12

2006-10-13T11:23:00.000-07:00

So I headed out as usual, and arrived arround midnight. It was a pretty big turn-out. I guess everyone thinking this would likely be the last good weather ride in a few months and decided to make the best of the chance.

We headed S on Commercial, then E on 1st, S on Victoria, E on Vanness, S on Nanaimo, E on Kingsway to Central Park (the kids playground). Hah, it was funny watching all (well, many) of these city riders exerting themselves going up mild grades. Huffing and puffing, swaying side to side like a bunch of flatlanders.

I don't know if it is further evidence of the obesity epidemic in today's society, but all the hookers on Kingsway were, shall I say, large. At one of the intersections (either Joyce or Earles, I wasn't paying that much attention), after the lead group I was in got separated from the 'peleton' and was waiting for them to catch up when the lights change, some guy pulled up in the centre lane beside our group (the rear part, as we were in the right lane), got out of his car and ran across Kingsway. He left his female passenger in the car with its motor running. I think he went to an ATM . It was kind of funny, a group of hookers on the sidewalk, 6 or 8 cyclists on the road, and a driverless car.

After socialising for quite a while in the play ground we decided to leave (a significant portion, perhaps half, had already left in ones, twos, and threes). We bombed down Boundary past The Boot ont on to Grandview, headed west, took the cycle route on N. Grandview. When we got to Victoria and the group amassed, the concensus was 4 Brothers pizza on Commercial. Some lined-up straight away, some hung around outside. By the time I got too the head of the line, all the awaiting slices were gone, and there would be a 3 min wait for more. Some of the outside group heard that all the pizza was gone and did not want to wait for more, so they went to another pizza place. Kind of odd, considering the amount of time to go to the new place and having to line up again, they would have been better off waiting. Oh well. Two slices, $3, and conversation time later, I decided to hit the road. Stopped for a bit to watch the outdoor entertainment. Some drunken crack-ho on a (stolen, no doubt) mountain bike was trying to get leftovers from a few of the guys. One of them said he would give her his drink (a can of Five Alive) if she could read what it said on the side (he had the French facing her). She couldn't. Probably couldn't focus- she was swaying and weaving about. How she managed to get there on the bike will forever be a mystery. The guy eventually gave her the rest of his drink, after the entertainment value ceased. She had been trying to sell the bike for $15, but nobody would take it.

I thought I had allowed enough time to get back to Main & Kingsway to catch the bus to Whalley, but I spent too long on my good-byes. I had neglected to account for some drivers' treatment of "Timing Points" as irrelevant. The Fraser and Coquitlam night buses went by the other way on Broadway when I was halfway between Fraser and Kingsway, and the Surrey one is the last to leave downtown. Yet I did not see it cross Broadway, and I got to the stop right at 0300 the timing point. After waiting 5 mins I knew it had gone already and was debating whether or not to head to meet the 0309 departing Howe & Dunsmuir bus, wait for it, or just ride south all the way. I decided to wait. At 0310 a bus approached, but it was not an articulated one as the last N19 is, then I remembered that there were other N19's that operated only as far as Metrotown, and this turned out to be one. So I took it, figuring I could decide my next step en route. I decided to ride on from Metrotown, figuring the 20mins head-start would make a Queensborough/Alex Fraser route faster. I was almost right. Other variables came into play.

Anyhoo, got off the bus on Willingdon (so close to where we had been in Central Park! Oh the irony), rode to the "BC Parkway" bikepath under the SkyTrain and went East to Griffiths, down Griffiths/Ruble/19th/20th to the Queensborough Bridge, through the residential area to Boundary Rd to the cycle route of the Annacis crossing, swith to the right side on anus island to cross Alex Fraser, along the bike path to by the weigh scales, almost have an accident due to about a dozen bricks pulled out of the path paving, spent a few mins replacing this hazard, carried on by zipping down 91 to 72nd, up the hill (when I got to 116th St, it was 0419, the ETA for the N19 at Surrey Central), carried on my usual route (in reverse) to 128th and then Hwy 10 to KGH etc.

Weeeellll, that darn construction at hwy10 & KGH is always a wrinkle. So I'm going along the shoulder (a designated bike route) when suddenly there are barriers blocking the shoulder and those 4ft tall orange plastic pipe/pole markers right at the very edge of the traffic lane's left and right. Since the motorised traffic here tends to travel rather quickly and there is only one narrow usable lane available, I decided to reclaim the shoulder after the cross-wise barriers are past. I did so and had only been on that portion of the road (the shoulder had expanded in width to be that of another full lane plus the shoulder) for about 10 seconds when for some reason unbeknownst too me, my bike went left and I carried on straight. We went down very hard. I sure am glad I always wear full-fingered gloves at night and I had my leggings on. Otherwise the roadrash would have been nasty. I have a huge bruise on the heel of my right hand, a couple of strawberries on my right knee, and a scrape on my hip. My wrist, elbow, shoulder, ribs and back are very sore. After I managed to recover the odd item that departed company from my bike, figure out why my handle bars wouldn't staighten (they were turned almost completely around, so the cabling etc was binding), I decided to find out what had happened. The fresh asphalt was so black that all my lights couldn't reveal the change in the surface. There was a 2nd layer of it to my right (as I was travelling) and it went left to where the right hand side of the current single lane was. The height difference of these two layers was 4", with a nice sharp edge. It was like angling into a sidewalk. I carried on as per Newtonian laws of motion, as did my baby. Too bad we were following different aspects of the laws. I got the continuing in motion part while my bike was influenced by an external force. So the rest of the ride was much slower as I had to do it mostly with one arm/hand. Got home only 15 mins behind schedule, had some tea and two 222's and stuggled to bed. Of course Mr Cat had to jump on my ribs. Ow! Ow! Ow! Getting up in "the morning" ( just before noon) was difficult. Had to roll out. Couldn't sit up.

Last Midnight Mass

2006-10-12T01:45:00.000-07:00

Midnight Simon has blogged his account of our last ride (the one I started, then interrupted, and final recounting while on bus disappeared into nothingness, and I didn't redo fully). So check out the Midnight Mass blog from my Velolove links. He has posted pictures and a short video clip (I appear at the 4 second mark, screen left. Recognisable by the left-rear pannier on my baby, blinkies under my saddle and on my knapsack, and I'm the only one with bare legs).

here is a little video Simon shot of Bicycle Polo in East Van

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTIQX2rNYlQ

to see some of his other clips, search YouTube for "midnightmass" (his youtube user name), and you will also find 2 "thunderdome" ones, from the minibike madness party.

There is another ride tonight, and it looks like we'll have good weather. So I'd better stop and get some sleep. I have to change my chain and do some work on my rear derailleur. Oh, and I have a NEW light. A really bright 3watt LED. It is actually a very small aluminium flashlight (about 4" long) that I have mounted on a removable handlebar bracket. Now if I could rig up some other mount for the 55watt halogen spotlamp from Canadian Tire (it's just as bright as a car headlight), then I could really surprise some unsuspecting motorised-death-agent-on-wheels. HaHaHa, maybe soon. But not for a MM run, too much light would spoil the atmosphere.

just for pix

2006-10-11T12:41:00.000-07:00

Stupid Bus Patrons

2006-10-09T15:10:00.000-07:00

There is a reason some people call the bus "The Loser Cruiser", it surely does have more than its share of idjits. Like the ones who line up blocking the exit doors so people can't get off the highway coaches 'cuz they're standing in the way. Just step back a pace or two. Or the ones who think that a cyclist who was at the stop before them, but must put the bike on the rack before getting on (it would be rather hard to do otherwise, methinks) is in the line behind them. It usually makes no difference, but it is really annoying. And the people who pull the bell one or two stops too soon, or only 30 feet before the stop they want and blame the driver for missing the stop. Or the ones who stop bus#XXX, then ask the driver how long till bus #XYZ arrives. How about those who stand at the stop for over 5 mins, then get on the bus and say "it'll just be a minute for me to get out my change". WTF!!!! Get your F-ing money out while you are waiting you F-ing moron! Arrrrgh!

Pirate Quiz Sucks!

2006-10-09T14:56:00.000-07:00

Red Harry Kidd. WTF!!! What a dull name for a pirate! And it's not that I don't have any Pirate-like qualities. I've even been involved in pirate sea-battles, weilding a cutlass and all. OK, true that was in a dream, but it was very real. I even got stabbed in the chest with a sword (and it was very painful. Hot-burning sensation).

The Planet You Save Could Very Well Be Your Own

2006-10-05T13:12:00.000-07:00

Every day in the news (Tv, web etc) is another story containing more proof that Global Warming has started. It is no longer an "if" or "perhaps" nor any other variation of "might happen". G.W. is here, it upon us, has already started affecting people/ animals (especially in our own Arctic). It is imperative that everyone do what one can to halt it. Now one might believe that there is little that one individual can do, but think, the current situation is upon us due to individuals. Whether one joins a group to fight it or acts alone, act one must. The planet is depending upon you.

- e-mail your environment minister (national & local), nothing worries a politician more than losing the next election. Don't say you don't have time, skip a blog one day, nobody will mind.

- recycle everything possible, not just what you aquire, but pick up stuff of the road that other morons toss aside. That plastic milk container that bottle pickers don't want is recyclable. take it home and put it in the blue box. Ditto for other things such as newspapers, nails/nuts/bolts and lots more.

- don't flush the toilet for just a pee, let it be. (OK, not forever, but every 3rd time is ok. While water may be plentiful in some areas, the processing of sewage uses a large amount of energy and chemicals. A bucket of sludge gets the same treatment as a bucket of pure water).

- dry laundry on the line whenever possible (yes it can even be done partially when it is cold. Every little bit helps).

- turn off the 'puter when not in use (they really do use a lot when left on, and no, turning them of and on a few times a day does not wear them out any faster. That is a myth). A study in Britain found that Brits leaving electronic equipment (TVs, stereos, computers etc.) on "standby" (which includes things turned off but plugged into the wall, because they are the biggest electricity users in this category), used the energy equivalent in one year to fly the entire poputation of Glasgow to New York (& return) on jumbo jets.

- just because it is garbage/recycling day does not mean you have to put something out on the curb. If your blue box is not full, don't put it out. The truck stopping for your unfilled box is a waste of energy and is counter-productive. Ditto for the garbage. If it is not smelly (and it shouldn't be most of the time), wait till next week. If you have so much that if you waited a week to put it out that you would be over the limit, shame on you! and I mean it. No houshold, no matter how large (even 8 people) should ever in the course of an average week produce more than a small bag of garbage.

More Planetary rescue measures to follow when the spirit moves me. I only include measures which I have done or currently do.

A Crazy week-end

2006-10-05T12:08:00.000-07:00

Sat 30th, ride in as per usual, but left about 10 mins later than I wanted, so I only picked up bottles/cans for the 1st half of the ride, not enough time for the whole trip. 1.5 miles from work I got a puncture. I didn't hear it, but I could feel it right away, my rear tire all squirmy when I leaned to make slight turns. A couple 100 metres and I was changing tubes! Argh! Arrived 10 mins late. When I get in, the graveyard guy tells me of all the 'fun' that happened the previous morning (around 03:30 and on for a couple hrs). One of the morons (who thinks he is some kind of Bindy Johal) and his other drunken/doped up buddies arrive in the parking lot, mill about for a while, and then he takes a handgun out of the car. He and one guy mildly dispute posession of it and the magazine. The other guy fires it into the air 2x. Then they continue their usual partying behavior as if nothing had happened. They were quite surprised when the cops arrived (about 10 cars by the time they all arrived). The morons spent about 2hrs lying handcuffed face-down on the parkinglot. Some of them even passed out/fell asleep. All captured on security cameras.

Sunday, left 8 mins early. 2 miles dow the road I'm changing tubes again. In my haste the other morning, I had forgotten to check my tyre's wounds. The embedded piesce of glass, while not an immediate threat while the tyre was under inflated, had made a new puncture in the replacement tube as I had stopped by the 24hr Esso to pump up to 65lbs. Unfortunately, the spare tube I grabbed as I left was not up to snuff. I thought it was ok, but after installing it and pumping madly, I discovered the error. Not knowing the exact nature of its flaw(s), I went back to the 'original' tube, found the puncture, and patched it. And yes, I removed the shard of glass, and checked for other hazards. When it was all done, I was some 30 mins behind. I could not catch up fully because the patch would not be fully cured yet and unable to take full pressure. Underinflation = more resistance = late again. 17mins. All that crap on the road is next to impossible to see in the dark, even when I have all 3 lights on. I'm going to build some sort of extra bright lighting system, but the negative side is the extra weight. I lug around enough as it is.

Sun/Mon/Tues all crazy @ work due to "limited" fleet size. All limos now 2003 or newer, but the morons didn't believe that the company would stick to it (YVR gave them a 6mo extention, Sept 30 was IT). So now there are so few cars it causes several problems, and the effects all trickle down the the dispatchers. Work is busier now for me than during the height of the cruise season. I have to go in Fri Day-shift while the other guy is at an LRB hearing (about stuff the morons did in July). Groan. I've seen what was in the system so far, and it will be a very crazy, stressfull day. I don't think the other afternoon guy will last much longer. He is actively seeking employ elsewhere.

Critical Mass Sept 29th

2006-10-05T11:52:00.000-07:00

On the way in, there was another person on the bus with a bike, and when she got of at Broadway I thought 'too bad she's not going to CM'. It is good to have more people, but not too many from The Rock, otherwise we all end up competing for the same 2 rack spots. After I got to the VAG, met lots of recent aquaintances, socialised as usual, and we left about 18:15. As I hit Howe St, there she was, the other WRer. Said hi etc. She got off the bus early to go to the dollar store. All in all it was a pretty good turn-out, thanks to the weather. The ride included 1 naked (weell, almost. he was wearing socks and shoes) man and 2 topless women (all 3 regulars. I've seen them before). It was a little frustrating at first, as the head of the pack kept making turns so we were rather bunched up and going so slow. Eventually we went for a few longer straight stretches. Ended up at the Anza Club around 8 for the after party. Stayed for a couple hours, mostly outside as I had a headache) briefly tried a fixie. Left about 22:00 to catch the bus home.

catchup

2006-10-05T11:39:00.000-07:00

Well, Iknow I said I would fininsh the story, but it will be very truncated. You see, I took the small laptop with me to Critical Mass, And when on the bus, during the relatively smooth highway portion of the trip, I typed out my blob update in notepad, intending to post it when I got downtown (Blenz 609 Granville, free WiFi). I only had a few more sentences to go when just before the Oak St bridge the bus went over a large bump of some sort, my fingers hit an unknown key combination, and POOF! blob gone. 30 mins of storytime vanished and I'm not about to spend $500 on "data recovery" for a lost blob. The Reders' Digest Xtreme verion goes like this:

We left Granville Island, rode out to Kits and beyond to Jericho Beach. Had fun till the cops came. It was all the fault (at least that is the general concensus) of the DRP (Dead Raccoon Posse). Went to Siegels again. Caught the last NightBus to Whalley, rode home.

Another day, another adventure

2006-09-29T15:18:00.000-07:00

So I decided to go off to another Midnight Mass ride, and figured that my logistics lessons of the past would improve things. Knowing that late departures of the group were to be expected, I took the 22:58 321 then skytrain, arrived @ Commercial & Broadway 00:04, booted it up Commercial (passing 2 other late arrivers just north of 1st Ave) and wheeled into Grandview Park @ 00:07. Said a few hellos, including people asking me if I had seen any of the pictures of me from "The ThunderDome" (the name now being applied to the afore blogged Mini-Bike Madness), so I know they exist out in WWW-land, I'll just have to track them down (including a video clip, but I am lead to believe it has not yet been posted). Interestingly enough, there wasn't as much alcohol being consumed as before, and I am lesd to believe this was an unusual non-occurence. One person even admitted this would be his 1st sober MM. Many of the riders stated that their stomachs were still recovering from the various VeloMutation weekend events (little wonder, believe you me).

We left about quarter past 12, S on Commercial, W on 1st (a nice downhill stretch) and the timing was perfect. We hit Clark just a couple seconds after the light went green, blasting through the intersection, along Grandview Viaduct and Terminal to Main St, where we frontrunners waited a few mins for the stragglers to catch up. Due to a slight miscommunication of which seawall route we were taking on our westward jouney, the lead pack headed N on Quebec, the rest all followed, and we had to make a u-turn up the road a bit and onto the seawall by Science World going along the S of False Creek. We got to the Granville Island entrance an decided to have a break. There was plenty of music this time. 3 ghetto blasters.

(time to go, regular last friday of the month Critical Mass. finish l8r)

Six Dink Rule

2006-09-28T20:26:00.000-07:00

So here it is, 6 days after the fact, and I still haven't finished Last Friday's story. I'll try to be brief (this is almost like the TV show M*A*S*H* running longer than the Korean War).

So we arrived at "Midnight Simon's" place. A 2nd floor warehouse in an area best known for poultry processing by day, and hookers by night.It had all the early hallmarks which say "high class". The bonus of many bikes locked up outside just added to the atmosphere. I thought it was odd there were so few bikes about (relatively speaking) when the pack I was with arrived near the tail end. While I was looking for a place for my baby, somebody at the door (well, just inside it when another person entered) said there was plenty of room inside. Puzzled but encouraged, we entered. After struggling through the door, I wondered what on earth the guy had been talking about. It was just a vestibule, with NO ROOM! Then somebody came out of another door from a stairwell, and I remembered overhearing that the place was on the 2nd floor, and another person confirmed. Into the stairwell with my bike, up the stairs, and smack into a bunch of others dooing the same thing. There were bikes everywhere, locked to every spot possible on the handrail, zig-zagging upwards. There was even some wierd ledge/window seat type place (6ft above the landing) that people had/were hoisted/hoisting bikes. Now I was REALLY confused. The guy had said there was lots of room inside, but it looked pretty full to me! So I'm standing on the stairs, dazed and confused, and yet another person says to go inside, there is tons of room there. Skeptically, I mount the lastfew stairs, open the door (another struggle) and enter.

So inside the door is this area about 10x10ft with a ton of bikes piled up in it. I go to find a good spot (as I had my backpack & panniers with me. Planning. I had my stuff for starting my work week with me, and that is a fair bit o'stuff). So as I'm putting my stuff away, i see the totality of the venue. An old warehouse, not converted to suites, but with pockets of impedimenta for daily living arrainged around the outer walls of an area about 30ftX30ft, half a dozen structural pillars in the central area, some couches/chairs TV etc in the very middle, plus easily 150 people (probably more). The various activities included: dancing (VERY loud dance music with a dedicated DJ), talking, drinking, smoking (OK, if it were tobacco, I wouldn't have mentioned it), and ........mini-bikes!

All the Zoo-Bombers from Portland and lots and lots fo the Alley Kitten participants were there, and so were there bikes. Going around and around and around. Circling the central living space, amongst the dancers and hordes of partiers, and those pillars. So I did some dancing (after all, a had surpassed my six drink rule -no dancing before 6 drinks) and socialising, and eventually one of the mini-bikers needed a break, and handed me a bike. What a blast! After my 2nd lap I realised that there was another obstical on the course. Or should I say several. As we were riding, various dancers, et al, would give the passing cyclists sideways shoves to unbalance them. Some people would stick out their feet as if to trip you (and on a little bike the effect was like going over a huge speed-bump). If anyone crashed (a frequent occurence) s/he risked losing the bike to a new rider. There were many multiple pile-ups. The riding was not slow.

This went on for many hours. I left at 03:30 with the last hard-core batch. If you really want, I can show the pictures of my wounds. Although the bruises on my knees don't show too well. The nasty shin scrape is the best. Shortly after I discovered it (hard to imagine I didn't notice right away, considering it is 6in long), before it started to congeal, I tried to lick it, but was unable to get a good taste. I know what you are now thinking, if I were doing yoga, my flexibility would be such that this would not be a problem (I mean the licking, not avoiding the crash, however it was that it happened). I couldn't quite balance well enough, so I had to forgo the autovampirism.

I got my stuff (nothing missing), and rode to work, and had a little rest (not sleep though) as it was 04:30 and I didn't start till 06:00.

All in all, it was a great time. It truly lived up to its billing. Now I must finish as I have to prepare for the regular 4th Thursday Midnight Mass.

A Package Has Arrived!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-09-28T11:23:00.000-07:00

It's like Christmas in September!

More Catch-Up, The Alley Kitten

2006-09-27T01:53:00.000-07:00

Friday, September 22nd, world car free day, after I raced off leaving my blog in mid-post (bloggus interuptus if you will) to catch the 351. Made it in the nick of time (again)(well, actually, if the bus had been on time it would have been in the nick of time, as it was I had to wait 10 mins for it). I arrived outside The Devil's place (666 Burrard)18:50 to watch the start of the inaugural Vancouver "Alley Kitten".

Just in case you didn't check it out from my link, it is/was a bicycle courier style race on little bikes. The Rules being no wheel/tire larger than 18" average diameter (yes, average. But can you imagine a competitor with elliptical wheels!!! The Rules Committee obviously has GSOH). So there was this massive horde of cyclists, big a small bikes, forming on the plaza outside "Park Plaza", a pair of parallel tape lines (black/yellow diagonal bars pattern, like "caution" tape without the "caution") about 15' apart, and as more people start gathering (last minute participants and more spectators) a puzzled and confused security guard comes out. You see, nobody told him, or any "authority" at the building what was going on, nor "asked permission" (as if!!).

He was standing off to the side, befuddled, when one of the organiseres dumps out a whole pile of tiny boxes on the ground between the tape lines. It will turn out that these boxes are single serving cereal packages (various flavours. Fruit Loops, Rice Krispies, etc.) with a sheet of paper attached to their outsides. The courier "manifest" for the race and map (after all, there were out of towners in this race). He came up to the pile and was going to pick one up, so somebody ran over to intercede, explaining that it was all part of the fun and that we'd all be gone shortly. I guess it worked, 'cuz he stayed off to the side. I suppose the guy with the big video camera asking him questions and the size of the throng probably helped ("discretion is the better part of valour" and all that jazz).

Anyway, settup was the participants put their rides on the ground outside one tape line, while they mass outside the other for the start( racers| packages |bikes ). The gun! they run into the middle, grab a cereal packet, remove the manifest, eat the cereal BEFORE they go get their bikes (remember, these are little kid bikes, for age about 5YO) and race of as per manifest instructions (multiple routes of equal distances and terrain) to the various stations/checkpoints where tasks had to be performed, and then on to the secret local for the finish (The Gazebo at Science World).

I didn't have time to secure a little bike, so I wasn't a participant. So after the start I helped to clean up the plaza of the scattered bits of cereal packets (security dude still watching) and other detritus (we left the cereal bits for the birds) and a pack of us went with the "trophy" (in a bin in a trailer) down Burrard to Pender, east to Shanghai Alley, south past Science World to the gazebo, raising a rukus the whole time, hooting and hollering etc. One of our number was the Reverend Phil (yes, an ordained minister) up from Portland. He was quite the sight riding along one-leggedly, crutches in a holster behind his saddle, the other leg in a huge cast (the result of a nasty mini-bike accident, bombing downhill in Portland).

After setting up the trophy in the Winner's Circle (or in this case octogon, the gazebo), were set about waiting for the racers by socialising. Liquid refreshments being the favoured time passer. It didn't take long for the first few to arrive, and I haven't the foggiest idea how long we were there befor we left (I could check the time stamps on my pictures, but who cares. Not I. I had plenty of refreshments, and lots to share. I had more takers than the previous night. We left, where/why I had no idea (I was pretty "refreshed", as were most of the others), but we were heading East on Terminal.

We ended at a little plaza on Clark rear the SkyTrain crossing and set up a little outdoor party with music (amplified. powered by a battery, battery voltage maintained by 3 bicycle/generator combos. People took turns pedalling). When the outdoor party started to break up, I checked my watch, it was about 23:30 and the last 351 home would be at Granville & Broadway around 00:15. HMMMMM, go to the 351 or the next party (at Midnight Simon's place) if I go to Simon's I know I will be up all night. You see, I have to be at work in 6.5hrs. It just didn't make sense either to go home because I wouldn't get there till 01:20, and would have to get up 2 hrs later to leave at 04:00 riding to Richmond. Ifny saw me checking my watch and asked if I was coming to the party. I briefly mentioned the choices/logistics (under 10 sec.) and she thought going to work from Simons rather than home sounded better. So did I (BTW, Ifny won the Alley Kitten, on "The Tickler". It has a fake-fur cover on its banana seat). Ahhhh, the party! It wasn't until 36hrs later that I remembered the evening's list of events included an item marked "Midnight -> late, Mini-Bike Madness". And What madness it was. I'll tell you about it later.

I have a Secret

2006-09-27T01:52:00.000-07:00

...so I can't tell.

Momentum Magazine

2006-09-27T00:42:00.000-07:00

After the Alley Kitten race was over, while we were still @ The Gazebo south of Science World, someone had put out a small stack of Momentum (sorry, I can't write it as a plural, because that would be momenta, which would look silly. Mind you, Lotus afficionados do say Loti as a joke, but I digress) so I was able to get my latest Momentum (Oct/Nov issue) earlier than usual. What a bonus! It always has something interesting in it. There is more than just cycling to it. It is billed as "The magazine for self-propelled people", but it is more than that too. For back issues check out the web site. www.momentumplanet.ca is the place to go. The current issue has an article on a guy from Winnipeg who biked to Kitchener Ontario (2,220 km!!) to attend a Christian arts & social justice conference because he made a decition not to fly, as so many environmentalists do, to out of town/overseas conferences. He then launched a campaign called "de-motorize your soul". On its website is more anecdotal "proof" that cycling is more than just good for the environment. He is the editor of Geez magazine. www.geezmagazine.org & www.geezmagazine.org/demotorize for the spiritual cycling bit.

Catching up

2006-09-26T02:19:00.000-07:00

Well, it does seem rather silly blogging about something 4.5 days after the fact, but here it goes (abridged, not expurgated). Thurs Sept 21st, shortly before midnight, Grandview Park. Chit-chatting with the various people I met last week, encountering new people this week. Finding out a little of what the Portlanders (and what a "ZooBomb" is) are like, meet a Sprockette (mmmmm, chili mango from Agent Lapis) and their various rides. Saying hi to some of the people I recognised from other Critical Mass rides, but who were not at last week's M.M. Eventually we hit the road (Midnight is not a time, but a state of mind, appearently, as departure was around 00:30) heading downtown to showcase the core to our visitors, and give the night-lifers a side show. First down Commercial to Adanac/Union, onto Main to Waterfront Rd via the overpass, under Canada Place, through a parkade (fun to hoot and holler in the dead of night in places that echo)and to the Coal Harbour seawall path. Stop for a bit of socialising, ride down the ramp to a floating walkway (like marinas hve for boat moorage, but no mooring here. About 2.5 ft wide, no railings, and the harbour to either side) and back up the other ramp. Ride up Broughton to Robson,over to Granville, wave at all the crowds OUTSIDE the nightclubs (gee, it must be fun to go clubbing, just think of all that wild time spent lined up outside, sheep lined up to be fleeced), down to Drake, up Hornby, along Davie to English Bay for a long stop. Refreshment time. Considerable quantities consumed of various domestic and recently imported types, plus homegrown. I hope we didn't disturb too badly the guy trying to sleep under the small tarp. The numbers had thinned a little by the time we left for food (after the discussion of where to get what, and some whiners about least elevation gain as possible). I didn't hear where we were going, but it didn't matter to me. We went along Pacific and across the Burrard Bridge, onto Cornwall to Cypress...Siegels Bagels. It was pretty funny, some 30 or so of us descending upon the shop, only 1 guy working there, but eventually everyone had some eats. Some bike games in the parking lot and eventually head east. Cypress, 2nd, lamey's Mill and under Cambie Bridge to 1st, through a parking lot south of Science World, and at Science World I called out my good-byes to those carrying on back to "The Drive", as it was now 03:17, and the last NightBus to Whalley would be coming soon down Main (schedulled to leave Broadway & Kingsway @ 03:30). So I wait for the bus. It arrives. An articulated one, lots and lots of capacity, about 8 passengers on board, but 2 bmx's filling the bike-rack and an unsympathetique driver. So now you know how I know how long it takes to ride to White Rock from downtown Vancouver. And incidentally, before I left I checked the bus' ETA for Surrey Central. When the bus got to Whalley, I was on the Alex Fraser Bridge. So had I been able to board it, I might have arrived home 10 mins earlier than I did.

Your Bicycle Is Your Friend

2006-09-22T16:10:00.000-07:00

One of the advantages of being a regular cyclist is that when transport plans go awry, one is not stranded. I have often wondered how long it would take to ride from downtown Vancouver to The Rock (or vice versa). I no longer am troubled by this weighty of questions. 2hrs 15 mins from Quebec & Terminal, so add another 5 for the DT core.

I had a few errands to do Thursday, so I was unable to attend the kick-off the the Velomutation weekend (bike movies), but was all set for another Midnight Mass. Last week's experience imparting some logistical insight, I was better prepared. 22:28 on the 321, 11:10 on the SkyTrain, arrived Commercial & Charles 22:47. Perfect so far. Lots of people. About 60 or 70 this time. Didn't try to count, it just looked about 2X the size of last group. Not Surprising considering there were about 30 Portlanders up for the festivities (but not all in attendence for Mass) and the extra locals likewise . (Once again I was overly prepared, but considering the 16:00 1hr long downpour, I wasn't taking a chance with the weather. Jacket, rainpants, booties, 4 sets of gloves, and liquid "party suplies". 4 pairs of gloves? you ask? Regular, full fingered light weight, full fingered medium weight, and neoprene wet weather) OOPS! Spent too much time reading other stuff before beginning my epic tale, now it is time to dash for more bikefun.

The End of the World

2006-09-20T03:22:00.000-07:00

The old cliché goes that today is the first day of the rest of your life. Well, here is a sad parallel: Today is the start of The End of the World. Yes, it is true, the end is nigh. Anthropogenic global warming has begun. There is too much momentum behind the sources of change causing the warming to stop it before catastophe will be upon us, unless we all do our utmost to combat the problem. Every minute an internal combustion engine (I.C.E.) runs unecessarily is a minute closer to the brink of disaster, every plastic bag (because NO plastic bag is necessary. There is an alternative to each and every one.) is a few more grams tipping the balance in favour of doom. Every single non-renewable commodity used (or renewable wasted in such a way as to render it non-renewable) is edging us further down the slope into a morass from which there is no escape. And we are all guilty.

The ICE is the easiest target to point out, yet in our Western/Northern society heating/cooling of buildings, residential and commercial, produces more greenhouse gases than transportation. So it is clear that everyone must reduce heating and cooling energy use too. It is very simple to conserve. I know you have heard it before, but often fail to head the advice. This heating season, ask yourself if it is really necessary to turn up the heat, or will putting on a sweater do just as well. A draught causing a chill? Don't seek the thermostat, Stop the draught. Door seals, window film, various insulations and even closing internal doors at night when the heat is turned down. You would be surprised how much warmer a bedroom is with just the closing of its door. Are you only using one room for an hour or so? Don't turn up the furnace. Turn it down and just heat the small space being used. It is cheaper as well as using less energy. Don't be fooled by the appearent expensiveness of electricity compared to gas. An electric heater on Low (usually about 500 watts power level) keeping one room toasty costs less than heating a whole house to moderate warmth. (at 500W for 2 hrs, that's only about 8 cents. I know BCHydro is trying to confuse everyone by splitting the energy use and energy delivery charges, but that is what it is).

Someone recently (and others have done so previously) put it to me that bicycles weren't the answer to everything. I did not respond to it because the venue was not appropriate. But I unequivocally state here my belief that the bicycle, in one form or another, is indead the answer to almost everything. It is so much more than "just a bicycle". You name the problem, and I'll tell you how the bicycle is the answer. A whole host of health problems can be helped. Depression, anxiety, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and hypertension are just the starters. Transportation is obvious, but using bikes for transport solves other problems too. Urban planning and land use, when cyclocentric keeps people and their needs close together so they no longer have to travel far to do what they need to do. Mass transit becomes a viable option for the majority instead of a minority. No more urban sprawl eating up farmland, plenty of room for parks and recreational facilities (for velolovers and non-bikers alike). Bicycle ownership by everyone in the Western world is attainable, and would solve the problem of global warming. So many positive things would spring from bicycle usage that disaster could be averted. Those with wee chilluns ought to think about the state of our world, and what will become of it in the time when they will be thinking of propagation themselves. The prospect is bleak at present. But it does not have to be. You have to be proactive.

I know everyone who can read this knows about the 3-R's (Reduce, Re-use, Recycle), but how much of it is being incorporated into daily life. The answer for us all (yes, even me) is not enough. Reducing is 1st because uasage and wastage of all things is so great, Re-using whatever can be helps reducing, and almost everthing can be recycled. It just comes down to level of committment to find a way to recycle.

I had my epiphany a long time ago, I just didn't mention it. It is now time for me to proselytise. Propitiously, this Friday, September 22nd, is WORLD CAR-FREE DAY. I have been car free for over 7years (car-less even longer). It is time to free yourselves from the tyranny of the car. Truly, car owners are enslaved by their I.C.E. vehicles.

Lights Replacement

2006-09-19T02:29:00.000-07:00

If you are starting to read this before the preceeding post "What Happened Next", stop. Read W.H.N. 1st.

Not only the cost of the lights ($16 + $17.50 + $8 +GST) but my NiMH batteries that were in them. Another $26 +GST&PST. Argh! Well, I have plenty more NiMH's, but the front lights were another matter. I do have ones so I can be seen, but I need to see too. My one highish powered halogen light eats batteries for breakfast, literally. Which is why I switched to LEDs. I used to use 2 of the halogens (burn time about 1 hr each with the older NiMH batteries) so that would last the ride in on weekends, but did have much allowance for unforseen circumstances. Plus, one of the bulbs had burnt out and was not yet replaced. So Friday night (at Canadian Tire)I bought an expensive ($30)helmet mounted 1W LED with a big reflector in case I needed it. On Saturday's ride I used my one un-stolen very low powered LED for times requiring visibility, and added in the halogen when required for vision. I left the new helmet light in my pannier, undecided if I should keep it or not. Sunday AM I decided to use it. It was really cool. The combination of the high power LED and the concentrating of the reflector made a really bright spotlight. Way brighter than the 2.4W halogen. And mounted on the helmet meant it illuminated whatever I looked at by turning my head. However I still bought another handlebar mounted LED Sunday afternoon ($17.50. I rode to MEC after work). It's a lot handier than the helmet mount. I'll just use it for the long, dark morning rides.

What Happened Next

2006-09-19T01:17:00.000-07:00

I know everyone is itching to know what else happened on my Midnight Mass adventure as I hinted there was a little more to tell. I could have written it then, but I thought my post was long enough as it was. So here it goes (Reders Digest version).

As there were so many of us at the Naam, there was not enough bike rackage for all right outside it, and I and many others locked up in neibouring racks. It was after 2am and so close to the restaurant that I did not bother removing my lights as I normally would if expecting to be separated from my baby for long. Mistake. Upon return and unlocking my bike, I immediately noticed the absence of my rear light, two of three handlebar lights, and my wedgie (a small zippered pouch under the saddle, for the non-initiated) was open. My patch-kit was missing (odd the thief didn't take my tire levers, tire pressure guage, and a mini slot-screwdriver, but at least they were left behind. I figure the one front light left was becaus it was mounted upside-down and thus a little trickier to detach). I was not alone in my perurbedness. Three others were similarly hit. So among the thieving denizens of Kits is an extremely well lit non-cyclist. After all, even a cyclothief wouln't take another cyclist's lights when it is dark and raining. While extremely P.O.'d, I did have spares (rear: helmet, knapsack & pannier all sporting LED's, plus extra small ultra portable "turtle" light from MEC in my pack. front: "turtle" light and the remaining headlight). While I was annoyed by the lights' absence, I was still in a good mood. I had had fun riding, I would be doing a little more riding (Eastward with the group as they headed to various parts on the eastside to home, and I to Main St to catch a "night bus" to Whalley and another 50 mins ride to home). So I get to Main & 6th for the bus, lean my bike against the pole, take off my back-pack to check the schedule. Oops! Rule No.1 in Transit is check your shedule before you leave. Yes, I did check it before I left home, but I forgot the corrolary of REMEMBER what the schedule says and its impiclations. The last Night Bus left about 20 mins ago, so it was time to consider my options. 1. ride along Kingsway, across the Patullo, and home. 2. to Richmond, Alex Fraser, & home (with subsidiary choice of Oak or Night st bridge). 3. Wait 1.5 hrs for the 1st skytrain. 4. Wait 2.5 hrs for the 1st 351. 5. Wait 45 mins for the 98 B-line, ride to the tunnel and catch a 351 starting south from the depot. 6.Call work and find out which of the morons were in town and wrangle a ride home. Since riding all the way home would be about 2hrs, any choice involving waiting was simply a waste of time. I headed south, rejecting the Kingsway option. By the time I got to 41st, I had decided on Oak for the North Arm crossing. Oh, I forgot to mention that as I was checking the bus schedule, it started to rain in earnest, not the spitting it was previously. Forwarned is forarmed. Cyclists check weather forcasts diligently. My raingear was in my pannier. So when I was crossing the bridge, I decided to stop by work to say hi and grab some coffee. But I did more than that. The new graveyard guy was on his last night of training, so the regular guy and I had some chat time.....and next thing you know it is almost 1.5 hrs later. So I dashed off and caught a 351 before the tunnel in the nick of time at 6am and got home 0640. To sleep, perchance to dream.