Not an Update, just the usual.

( 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

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

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

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

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

...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

(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

...(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

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

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

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

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

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

(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

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.

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

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

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

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