The tour was good to us again this year.
We put together a team again and worked hard on shirts and a name.
The final moniker was E-velo-tion.
Picture:
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Biking in Belgium
K and I just came back from a week long trip in Brussels and will be posting some of the bike-centric pictures we took.
Suffice it to say, Belgium has a pretty big commuter bike culture. In the 3 cities we visited, I only saw a handful of mountain bikes. I didn't see a single hybrid. 99% of whips are commuters with full fender systems and chain guards (In other words - business attire friendly components).
Pics to come soon. EDIT. Pics are as follows:
This guy is a Brussels native. Zanneke Pis. He reminded me of Bobby. K had a 'linguistically challenged' conversation with the older fella in the background there.
Just a quick shot of the Ghent train station. It's less than an hour to go from Ghent to Brussels and given the large number of bikes in this lot, I think a lot of people park and ride.
Suffice it to say, Belgium has a pretty big commuter bike culture. In the 3 cities we visited, I only saw a handful of mountain bikes. I didn't see a single hybrid. 99% of whips are commuters with full fender systems and chain guards (In other words - business attire friendly components).
Pics to come soon. EDIT. Pics are as follows:
I took this shot from the rear guard. We signed up for a bike tour of Brussels (we like to do bike tours of the cities we visit) and it turned out K and I were the only ones who signed up! So we got a pretty relaxed and personal tour. Our guide was pretty nice and knowledgable. And yes, the hella bright jerseys were required (no helmets were offered mind you).
The people in Brussels are pretty friendly towards bikes, but you have to be pretty aggressive in situations. And the cobblestones can be a bit problematic sometimes.
This guy is a Brussels native. Zanneke Pis. He reminded me of Bobby. K had a 'linguistically challenged' conversation with the older fella in the background there.
Just a quick shot of the Ghent train station. It's less than an hour to go from Ghent to Brussels and given the large number of bikes in this lot, I think a lot of people park and ride.This last shot is just of a nice Honda PA 50 that I saw. It reminded me of my PA 50, who now lives on a farm with my friend Kevin.
I haven't posted a picture of Brughes' bike scene. But I'll note that while in Brughes we rented bikes on the cheap (6 euro each) and spent the day riding. We actually biked to Holland and back. While that sounds far, it's actually less than 40 clicks round trip. Maybe I'll find a good pic of that ride and post it up too.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Where are Ottawa's Bike Lanes?
The news today indicates that Toronto is extending its bike lanes. The new plan will include University Ave., one of the busiest streets in Toronto.
Great news. I used to rollerblade down University back in the day and I can see how important a bike lane will be to that part of the city. And while I am happy for T-dot, I'm kind of a little jealous.
When was the last time Ottawa announced a bike lane? Or any bike related good news story? Every morning I bike east on a four lane road. The lanes are seperated by a median. How hard would it be to 'skinny up' that median and throw a bike lane on both east and westbound lanes?
Probably more work than city council wants to entertain.
Generally I'd say that Ottawa is a great city to bike in. But, our main arteries are less than bike friendly.
This may be the beginning of my "Strongly Worded Letter" series.
More to come.
Great news. I used to rollerblade down University back in the day and I can see how important a bike lane will be to that part of the city. And while I am happy for T-dot, I'm kind of a little jealous.
When was the last time Ottawa announced a bike lane? Or any bike related good news story? Every morning I bike east on a four lane road. The lanes are seperated by a median. How hard would it be to 'skinny up' that median and throw a bike lane on both east and westbound lanes?
Probably more work than city council wants to entertain.
Generally I'd say that Ottawa is a great city to bike in. But, our main arteries are less than bike friendly.
This may be the beginning of my "Strongly Worded Letter" series.
More to come.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
I Submitted Another Story
Giggity.
Hilobrow is holding another contest. They want a 250 word story about the apocalypse ... the catch? It has to be period specific.
Specifically between 1930 and 1935.
So, I popped the following up (and am one of about 20 submissions so far):
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
They didn’t call it the Dirty Thirties for nothin’. Droughts, depression, world-wide political unrest, rampant crime - it all made for dark times. But I guess it prepared us for The Fall.
It happened in springtime. Dark clouds rolled over the world like a terrible storm. A storm that didn’t go away. Food production halted overnight. Scarcity created tribal warfare the world over.
That was four years ago and we’d been running since.
But today we stop running.
For months we’d been sticking to the outskirts of small towns. Pillaging what we could at night. Lucky if we found tinned food, stored grains or farmhouse preserves.
Once we found bicycles, and for one week we held an incredible pace – smiling as we distanced ourselves from the starving packs behind us. Maybe we got comfortable, I don’t know, but they managed to catch up.
They found us camping by a starving river and came fast. All blind fury. They were more interested in our stores than us, making it easier to fight them off and escape downriver. We weren’t unscathed.
I held her close as we floated. Her eyes were closed. Her face a pale grey like the sunsets these days.
I carried her. Tended wounds. Suppressed fevers. Hoped. Prayed that there was still a god somewhere.
I thought we‘d make it, that I’d save her and we’d start again.
But I can’t carry her anymore. And I can’t go on without her.
We’ll know soon enough if god’s out there.
Hilobrow is holding another contest. They want a 250 word story about the apocalypse ... the catch? It has to be period specific.
Specifically between 1930 and 1935.
So, I popped the following up (and am one of about 20 submissions so far):
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
They didn’t call it the Dirty Thirties for nothin’. Droughts, depression, world-wide political unrest, rampant crime - it all made for dark times. But I guess it prepared us for The Fall.
It happened in springtime. Dark clouds rolled over the world like a terrible storm. A storm that didn’t go away. Food production halted overnight. Scarcity created tribal warfare the world over.
That was four years ago and we’d been running since.
But today we stop running.
For months we’d been sticking to the outskirts of small towns. Pillaging what we could at night. Lucky if we found tinned food, stored grains or farmhouse preserves.
Once we found bicycles, and for one week we held an incredible pace – smiling as we distanced ourselves from the starving packs behind us. Maybe we got comfortable, I don’t know, but they managed to catch up.
They found us camping by a starving river and came fast. All blind fury. They were more interested in our stores than us, making it easier to fight them off and escape downriver. We weren’t unscathed.
I held her close as we floated. Her eyes were closed. Her face a pale grey like the sunsets these days.
I carried her. Tended wounds. Suppressed fevers. Hoped. Prayed that there was still a god somewhere.
I thought we‘d make it, that I’d save her and we’d start again.
But I can’t carry her anymore. And I can’t go on without her.
We’ll know soon enough if god’s out there.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Great Day for a Hike!
This weekend I was fortunate to have my brother and his girlfriend down for a visit.
Most of the weekend revolved around great food (prepared by K), some beer and wine, and a lot of Wii bowling. Both my brother and I achieved Pro status.
But for me, the highlight of the trip was the hike we took to Luskville Falls in the Gatineau Park. We were introduced to this trail last year by friends. It’s a well used, and well known, trail about 30 minutes outside of Ottawa. Apparently there are many other older, lesser known trails out in the area.
Most of the weekend revolved around great food (prepared by K), some beer and wine, and a lot of Wii bowling. Both my brother and I achieved Pro status.
But for me, the highlight of the trip was the hike we took to Luskville Falls in the Gatineau Park. We were introduced to this trail last year by friends. It’s a well used, and well known, trail about 30 minutes outside of Ottawa. Apparently there are many other older, lesser known trails out in the area.
Apparently, many of these trails have been forgotten over time. I’ve heard that there are a few old trail maps still out there, and I have decided to try and find them. I don’t know how, but I am going to figure it out. I have my first clue – there used to be a ‘Yellow Box trail’ near the area. It will be my first conquest.
But I digress. Back to the falls trail. We geared up and left in the afternoon after eating a great lunch (thanks again Kel, you are a fantastic cook and I am lucky). The sky opened up on the drive over, and the sun was shining.
When we got to the hill, the park was actually closed. I don’t think it officially opens for a while yet. But there were about 15 other intrepid parties there. We walked in and passed a few people leaving, but all in all, the place was pretty quiet.
At -5 degrees, we were shedding layers within the first 750 meters of the hike. It was brisk, and we needed gloves and touques for the first bit, but as we ascended, we steadily de-layered.
We passed the first stage of the falls and interrupted a mature doe above our path. She didn’t care about us at all. Just stopped eating long enough to give us a look and then went straight back to the nom, nom, nom. We tried to snag a picture, but she was hard to snap through the bush.
We made our first precarious crossing of the falls over an ice bridge. This effectively separated us from any other hikers as I think most people turned around at that point. But we were adventurers, not to be turned aside by the prospect of a chilly ‘soaker’. Onward.
We quickly made our way to the firetower and enjoyed some blueberry tea, homemade hummus, carrots and cukes (Kel makes fantastic hummus). It was a nice break topped off with a handful of Cadbury Mini-Eggs.
The trip down was fast. I practiced my parkour skills (which are admittedly quite low) and we all moved pretty quickly. As we moved down, we realized why most people had turned around at the first falls crossing. With the stream engorged, the usual route across the falls on the descent was gone. So, we had to muck around a while before finding a navigable crossing, which just happened to be at the very top of the falls themselves. It made for an exciting twist of events.
The rest of the trip down was pretty simple, which was perfect because knees and legs were starting to get a bit sore.
When we walked out to the road we only saw two other cars. It was nice to be one of the last groups to leave.
If you haven’t tried the Luskville Falls, I’d recommend it. It’s not terribly hard, and not very far. Just a little bit of perfect all around.
We made our first precarious crossing of the falls over an ice bridge. This effectively separated us from any other hikers as I think most people turned around at that point. But we were adventurers, not to be turned aside by the prospect of a chilly ‘soaker’. Onward.
We quickly made our way to the firetower and enjoyed some blueberry tea, homemade hummus, carrots and cukes (Kel makes fantastic hummus). It was a nice break topped off with a handful of Cadbury Mini-Eggs.
The trip down was fast. I practiced my parkour skills (which are admittedly quite low) and we all moved pretty quickly. As we moved down, we realized why most people had turned around at the first falls crossing. With the stream engorged, the usual route across the falls on the descent was gone. So, we had to muck around a while before finding a navigable crossing, which just happened to be at the very top of the falls themselves. It made for an exciting twist of events.
The rest of the trip down was pretty simple, which was perfect because knees and legs were starting to get a bit sore.
When we walked out to the road we only saw two other cars. It was nice to be one of the last groups to leave.
If you haven’t tried the Luskville Falls, I’d recommend it. It’s not terribly hard, and not very far. Just a little bit of perfect all around.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Prepping for the Perfect Backcountry Camping Trip - Clothing Optional?
For the second instalment of our Prepping for the Perfect Backcountry Camping Trip we’ll take a quick look at some of the clothing choices you can make. And I’ll include a short list of the clothes I would take on a late spring to early fall camping trip.
You clothing choices should obviously reflect the seasons and it’s always a good idea to prepare for the worst. Now, that doesn’t mean you should bring a down filled parka when you are hitting the woods in April, but it does mean you need to take time to ensure you will be warm and dry.
Materials
Ok, a quick note about materials. Cotton, polyester and wool tend to be the main materials that can be found in good camping gear. Both the wool and poly blends wick moisture well, are very good insulators and will continue to do so when wet. In suport of, poly - it'll dry quicker.
Cotton on the other hand won’t dry as quickly and does not insulate well when wet. But I certainly find it more comfortable than some of the other fabrics.
Therefore I suggest a mix of fabrics depending on the activity you intend to undertake.
The List
The following list covers the clothing I would bring for a 5 day interior camping trip.
Hiking Boots/Shoes
I often just wear a pair of beat up trail runners – they dry fast and have good grip. But you’ll want to wear something that you feel comfortable in, especially if you are hiking and not simply canoe-camping. You may also need the kind of support that hiking boots/shoes can provided. Again, it’s personal choice.
Socks
I always bring a mix of socks. I bring thin cotton socks and merino wool socks to keep warm.
Long Underwear
Not always a necessity, but on those cold nights, you’ll be happy you have them.
Regular Underwear
Pretty obvious eh? And I guess it's optional.
Pants
I like to bring two pairs of pants if I have the room. I bring a heavier cotton pair with a lot of useful pockets and another pair of quick drying pants. If I am pressed for space I go for the quick drying ones. I don’t bring any heavy shorts as I just roll up my pants for the same effect.
Belt
You just have to have a belt. Not just to hold your knife/multi-tool etc., but it makes a great tie down for firewood. Just bundle up your firewood, zip that belt around it and amble on back to camp in style (or with your free hand holding up your pants).
Shorts (or swimsuit for the ladies)
Now you can roll all skinny-dip style, or you can retain some modesty and hit the lake, river or spring in a swimsuit. It’s not necessary if you have boxers, but among mixed company, shorts are always a nice touch.
T-shirts
2 wicking t-shirts will keep the moisture off your skin, but you may want a cotton T too.
Button up shirt
I like to bring at least one button up shirt with some good pockets. It’s an extra layer to keep you warm, and the pockets will come in handy. Guaranteed.
Bandanas
Dip it in the lake water and put it around your neck to cool down. Use it to scrub your pots. Use it to filter the big stuff out of your water (before you filter with a good filter system). It’s a sling for a broken arm. In a pinch it’s a good bandage. So many uses … and you can just tie it to the outside of your pack. Simple.
Polyfleece or Wool/Polyester sweater
This extra layer is extremely useful for those chilly nights and frigid mornings before the fire kicks in. I’m currently rocking a poly army sweater. It’s black, so it attracts heat from the sun and it has … wait for it … pockets! Great for layering. And a poly product will keep you warm when it is wet and will dry quickly.
Rain ponchos
Obviously, it’ll keep the rain off you. Not so obvious uses include keeping gear dry, covering firewood, or even acting as a makeshift tarp when necessary.
A hat (with a brim – baseball, or otherwise)
Keeps the sun off your face when it’s warm. Keeps your head warm when it’s cold. You can use it to gather water.
Ok, so that's the quick and dirty on clothing. And as mentioned, you're going to have to find the mix of gear that works for you. Maybe you like the UtiliKilt? Maybe you like full on army surplus gear. It's all up to you. Just make sure you dress for the climate you're heading out in.
Good luck.
You clothing choices should obviously reflect the seasons and it’s always a good idea to prepare for the worst. Now, that doesn’t mean you should bring a down filled parka when you are hitting the woods in April, but it does mean you need to take time to ensure you will be warm and dry.
Materials
Ok, a quick note about materials. Cotton, polyester and wool tend to be the main materials that can be found in good camping gear. Both the wool and poly blends wick moisture well, are very good insulators and will continue to do so when wet. In suport of, poly - it'll dry quicker.
Cotton on the other hand won’t dry as quickly and does not insulate well when wet. But I certainly find it more comfortable than some of the other fabrics.
Therefore I suggest a mix of fabrics depending on the activity you intend to undertake.
The List
The following list covers the clothing I would bring for a 5 day interior camping trip.
Hiking Boots/Shoes
I often just wear a pair of beat up trail runners – they dry fast and have good grip. But you’ll want to wear something that you feel comfortable in, especially if you are hiking and not simply canoe-camping. You may also need the kind of support that hiking boots/shoes can provided. Again, it’s personal choice.
Socks
I always bring a mix of socks. I bring thin cotton socks and merino wool socks to keep warm.
Long Underwear
Not always a necessity, but on those cold nights, you’ll be happy you have them.
Regular Underwear
Pretty obvious eh? And I guess it's optional.
Pants
I like to bring two pairs of pants if I have the room. I bring a heavier cotton pair with a lot of useful pockets and another pair of quick drying pants. If I am pressed for space I go for the quick drying ones. I don’t bring any heavy shorts as I just roll up my pants for the same effect.
Belt
You just have to have a belt. Not just to hold your knife/multi-tool etc., but it makes a great tie down for firewood. Just bundle up your firewood, zip that belt around it and amble on back to camp in style (or with your free hand holding up your pants).
Shorts (or swimsuit for the ladies)
Now you can roll all skinny-dip style, or you can retain some modesty and hit the lake, river or spring in a swimsuit. It’s not necessary if you have boxers, but among mixed company, shorts are always a nice touch.
T-shirts
2 wicking t-shirts will keep the moisture off your skin, but you may want a cotton T too.
Button up shirt
I like to bring at least one button up shirt with some good pockets. It’s an extra layer to keep you warm, and the pockets will come in handy. Guaranteed.
Bandanas
Dip it in the lake water and put it around your neck to cool down. Use it to scrub your pots. Use it to filter the big stuff out of your water (before you filter with a good filter system). It’s a sling for a broken arm. In a pinch it’s a good bandage. So many uses … and you can just tie it to the outside of your pack. Simple.
Polyfleece or Wool/Polyester sweater
This extra layer is extremely useful for those chilly nights and frigid mornings before the fire kicks in. I’m currently rocking a poly army sweater. It’s black, so it attracts heat from the sun and it has … wait for it … pockets! Great for layering. And a poly product will keep you warm when it is wet and will dry quickly.
Rain ponchos
Obviously, it’ll keep the rain off you. Not so obvious uses include keeping gear dry, covering firewood, or even acting as a makeshift tarp when necessary.
A hat (with a brim – baseball, or otherwise)
Keeps the sun off your face when it’s warm. Keeps your head warm when it’s cold. You can use it to gather water.
Ok, so that's the quick and dirty on clothing. And as mentioned, you're going to have to find the mix of gear that works for you. Maybe you like the UtiliKilt? Maybe you like full on army surplus gear. It's all up to you. Just make sure you dress for the climate you're heading out in.
Good luck.
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