Dustin's Road to Nowhere

I've Moved

2009-11-25T12:24:00.001-08:00

I decided to move my Blog over to wordpress so please visit the new site @

www.dustinsroadtonowhere.wordpress.com

Where you'll find my favorite post from the last two years as well as my new post as I move forward.

Your World is About to Get Smaller

2009-11-20T13:42:00.000-08:00

A couple months ago I finished reading Your World is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller by Jeff Rubin. Which is undoubtedly is a worthwhile read and I think he has his visions of where our economy is going spot on, and aligns with a lot of the thoughts I've mentioned previously. (Also reminds me of the views of Yvon Chouinard touched on in his book Let My People go Surfing a great book on what corporations should focus on to be both social responsible and profitable.) However, I can't say I believe his delivery of the message was in the most effective manner. And unfortunately I believe it may sway some people away from siding with him due to being a little to aggressive and repetitive in some points to convince someone who isn't on side with him already to a certain degree. Here's a quote from the book I'd like to share.

"Despite the steady barrage of climate change news and a growing sense that our affluent lifestyles may have unpleasant consequences for the environment, few of us stop to consider how just about every facet of our lives is built around our energy consumption. Nearly everything we do is inextricably bound to our use of energy.

And by "energy" i mean oil. Yes we use natural gas and some coal to generate electricity; but the world's car and trucks and ships and planes run on oil. That means that the global economy runs on oil, because of the global economy is about moving things around the world. and the reason the global economy has put all its eggs in one basket is that there is no other basket. As of right now, everything - from salmon on your plate to the entire model of a global economy - depends on keeping the oil flowing.

Now what happens when the price of salmon goes up? You buy less of it. and when the price of gasoline goes up, you drive less. when he price of clothes or computers or anything else goes up, everybody buys less. And when everybody spends less we have a recession.

.... History keeps showing that the economy recovers, usually after a few quarters, and life goes on. Markets pick up, factories ramp up production, and eventually you're back to eating all the salmon you want.

But the history of the mordern global economy is not all that long, and it is worth asking whether the patterns we have seen in hte past decades are onse we can expect to go on repeating into the future. we have seen high oil prices trigger recessions before, and in each case the medicine to cure a sick economy has been ready at hand a cheap new supply. It's simple as long as you have a ready supply of that oil.

But if you don't, the whole idea of recovery from a recession has to be redefined - because it's not going to look like it used to. "

November Update

2009-11-20T12:51:00.000-08:00

Here I am apologizing for being behind on some post again, with a lot going on in the last month and half I haven't had time to do much worth writting about nor have time to share any thoughts. So you're asking what's made things so busy that I couldn't come out and entertain you at least once every couple weeks. Mainly my attempts to chase that road to nowhere and taking next step on this adventurous road I'm trying to follow. Actually it feels a little more like I'm trying to build it then follow it. October resulted in giving my notice to Yamaha to follow my next venture which is going to be opening a cafe. Which has resulted in a busy couple of months keeping up with my current positions workload in on of it's busiest seasons and toughest periods all the while trying get things aligned for the cafe. As the new venture approaches there's both excitement and a little nervousness in the air. (Check out www.goodearthcafes.com and plan for a visit early February at the corner of 91st and Ellerslie in South Edmonton.)

Aside from that what else new? The gentlemen at Track and Trail (www.trackntrail.ca) helped me finish up my new ski set up. With a set of G3 Onyx AT bindings and Garmont Radium boots, to add the Fisher Watea 94's which I'm excited to carve some turns on. The only disapointment is with the new venture I'm not sure I'll be able to get the back-country training I need to start doing some true alpine touring). But I'll sure to make the best of the new set up and hopefully next spring I'll be getting acquainted with the Alpine Club of Canada.

Other things one the go are finishing the arrangements to Nordic Ski Patrol at the Strathcona Wilderness Center this year, working through the application process for the Edmonton Search and Rescues, and also picked up a new car/suv in the form of the Jeep Patriot. Before you get on me for buying an "SUV" it's based on a compact car and is rated the greenest SUV with a 40MPG hwy rating so it's the most likely to most efficient option for me. Finally we've reached i'm trying to still enjoy some of the fall mountain biking, which may be my favorite time of the year which being so close to the Rockies has coincided with early season skiing! I'm enjoying making use of both the mountain bike and ski racks at the same time. (I'll try and get some better pics on the weekend)

Anyways I'll leave that as my quick personal update.

Missing Ontario? - Really?

2009-10-28T13:26:00.000-07:00

Well no not really, but after a recent visit realizing some things I do miss. I haven't even been in Edmonon a year but it's been busy and quite the whirlwind, from the move, the new position, spending nearly every weekend traveling to the mountains, and now on the verge of starting a new business venture at the end of the November it's been exciting to say the least. Anyone who would asked what I thought about if I made the right move always received the same answer of undoubtedly. Usually followed with the only thing I ever miss is the great friends whom still live there. Last weekend one of those great friends brought me back to Ontario to stand in his wedding. (Which on a side note was an amazing wedding, intimate, surrounded by love, and an amazing group of friends and family that reflected how special the bride and groom are). But aside from the opportunity to catch up with many great friends I also had to opportunity to realize some of the beauty of Southern Ontario that many of it's residence take for granted and obviously I did as well needing to go back to appreciate it.

After flying in on the red eye the first sign I missed some of Ontario was waking up at Dave's in the morning to one of the most brilliantly red trees I've ever seen outside the window. It was nearly glowing every morning with the sun breaking through an over cast sky, which couldn't help but put a smile on my face every morning while I was there. Falls in Ontario where always my favorite time of the year. I may have fooled my self into thinking it was the start of each mountain bike race season but truly it was the long falls. Firstly Ontario temperatures, and moisture bless it with a beautiful fall colors year after year, brilliant and soothing. Secondly the fall always seemed like such a peaceful time as there was no more pressures of racing or training and it was time to do what love for the reasons you loved it. And if you where brave enough to go out in the -5 t o+ 5 weather you where always rewarded with less people and a feeling of being in nature not taking advantage of it. I'd even argue Mountain Biking through Durham forest with tacky trail and fall colors at the south end and snow covered tracks on the north could fit with any Epic on anyones list.

What really put this into perspective was Sunday, after the wedding on my way to catch up with some university friends in Hamilton I decided to take the backroads through the Halton region and go for a walk around Rattlesnake Point, one of my old running spots. The 10 or 12KM hike we did blew me away with it's beauty looking over the escarpment into the valley of fall colors dotted by farmland as well as the vibrant colors from the trees, mixed in with the dark colors of the fallen leaves and contrasted again by the bright greens still alive in the moss. I'd have the say beauty and the feeling of calmness rivals what I've done in the rockies this summer. Sure the hike was nowhere near as difficult or challenging. Nor is the opportunity to feel like you escaped society as you are lost in the wilderness, but the ease of completing it is one of the things I appreciate on a relaxing fall day. And the region Halton has many more of these areas to explore.

Secondly what I missed is the quaint communities from more of a settling time. Everyone things of Southern Ontario for it's cookie cutter homes, big box stores and millions upon millions residents. However, the area is also surrounded by some quaint communities dating back 150 to 200 years such as Dundas, Lowville, Waterdown, Flamborough, Guelph and Kingston who have embraced the history and maintained these cores, with their old brick buildings, narrower streets that are pedestrian friendly. Lined with store fronts and cafes creating some genuine oasis from the Southern Ontario we all see on the news and many live daily without realizing the escapes around them. Now if only we could move one of these communities to the border of the Rockies I could have the best of both worlds.

Would I move back, nope what Western Canada has offered me so far is much more in line with my lifestyle, hobbies, and dreams of where I want to be. However I strongly encourage the many Ontarians who don't take advantage of some of the areas mentioned above or even worst complain about to get out and realize what they do have.

Human Impact - Are We Causing our Own Extinction

2009-10-28T13:07:00.001-07:00

Our Inferences about life in the past are based on fossil remains suggesting that species expand in number and complexity and then are suddenly reduced through successive spams of extinction. Scientist have identified 5 major extinctions in the past 550 million years and each has taken approximately 10 million years of natural evolution to restore.

We are fortunate to have evolved when biological diversity has been at the greatest level ever achieved. Succeeding human generations will not be as fortunate: the current extinction crisis is without precedent - never before has a single species been responsible for such a massive loss of diversity. In essence, humans are the catalyst driving the earth's sixth major extinction event.

I find the following illustration a great example of the unprecedented rate and scale of human activity is graphically illustrated by Alan Thein Durning in his paper "Saving the Forests: What Will It Take?"

Imagine a time-lapse film of the Earth taken from space. Play back the last 10,000 years sped up so that a millennium passes every minute. For more then seven of the ten minutes, the screen displays what looks like a still photograph: the blue planet Earth, its lands swathed in a mantle of trees. Forests cover 34 percent of the land. Aside from the occasional flash of a wildfire, none of the natural changes in hte forest coat are perceptible. The Agricultural Revolution that transforms human existence in the film's first minute is invisible.

After seven and a half minutes, the lands around Athens and the tiny Islands of the Aegean Sea lose their froest. This is the flowering of Classical Greece. Little else changes. at nine minutes - 1,000 years ago - the mantle grows threadbare in scatered parts of Europ, Central America, China, and India. then 12 Seconds from the end, one century ago Eastern North America is deforested. This is the Industrial Revolution. Little else appears to have changed. Forest covers 32 percent of the land.

In the last three seconds - after 1950 - the change accelerates explosively. Vast tracts of forest vanish from Japan, the Philippines, and the mainland of Southeast Asia, from most of Central America and the horn of Africa, from Western North America and Eastern South America, fron the Indian subcontinent and sub-Saharan Africa. fires rage in the Amazon basin where they never did before, set by ranchers and peasants. Central Europe's forests die, posoned by the air and rain. Southeast Asia resembles a fod with mange. Malaysian Borneo appears shaved. In the final fractions of a second the clearing spreads to Siberia and the Canadian North. Forest disappear so suddenly from so many places that looks like a plague of locusts has descended on the planet.

The film on the last frame. Trees cover 26 percent of the land. Three-fourths of the original forest area still bears some tree cover. But just 12 percent of the Earth's surface - one third of the initial total - consists of intact forest ecosystems. the rest holds biologically impoverished stnad of commercial timber and fragmented regrowth. This is the present: a globe profoundly altered by the workings - or failings - of the human economy.

Mt. Sparrohawk/Reed's Tower

2009-09-28T09:03:00.000-07:00

This was most likely my last hiking weekend for 2009 as the fall season is upon us meaning there's only a few weeks left before the snow begins to fly in the Rockies. And for the next few weeks work is going to take up nearly all my time as we are into booking season once again. However I'm pleased to say we ended the hiking season with a challenging hike that yielded impressive views. It was a great weekend which included hiking/scrambling to Reed's Tower and Mt Sparrowhawk along the Spray Lakes Reservoir in Kanaskis, as well as some mountain biking at the Canmore Nordic Centre. I'm going to focus on the hike on this post as the biking at the Nordic Center provides some great XC riding, but being a XC ski resort that's exactly what it offers. Nothing really exciting to report back except that it was a well marked, well maintained, XC network, ideal for a 4 or 5 inch travel XC bike. It's tight, twisty, rough and well it may not be on my list of destinations it's definitely worthwhile if you are in the area already. Surprisingly, it reminded me of a lot of the Ontario XC riding just on a little bigger scale.

This season we've been using some of the Guidebooks by Craig and Kathy Copeland as our guides to hikes in the Rockies and I highly suggest if you are going hiking in the Rockies you pick up a copy of Don't Waste Your Time in the Canadian Rockies. This book has been amazing! Accurately, ranking, describing, and giving directions for the best hikes in the Rockies. We've also been using a couple of their where the locals hike books, which also provides a good base for choosing hikes but the lack of a rating systems, as well as comparing the hikes on a more local scale resulting in a few hikes not yielding the expected blow you're mind status, but is still a great resource for planning your hikes.

Interestingly out of the 10 or so hikes we've done this year based on this series, this is the first one where I would tend to disagree on their opinion on how to do the hike. They listed this hike as Reed's Tower being the main goal and Mt. Sparrowhawk yielding great views but the amount of effort being required to reach it making it optional (The two peaks are the ones in the picture to the right). My personal opinion is that Mt. Sparrowhawk is the destination here and Reed's tower a sidetrip on the hike if you want to more KM's to make a full day out of the trip or if wind/weather stops you from reaching Mt. Sparrowhawks peak the more sheltered Reed's tower can be a consolation prize. Don't get me wrong the views on Reed's tower are great but I'm not sure I would have descended very satisfied if it was the highlight of the day.

So about the Hike itself this ones definitely a challenge. It's not your traditional hike where you climb some switchbacks out of the treeline, then have a mix of hiking through alpine meadows, and slight climbs/short steep ones, ending with a climb to/over a pass, or a scramble that is your goal for the day. This is essentially 6,000 ft of climbing non stop, next to no switchbacks, and more then half being considered an easy scramble. (i.e. no trail just you climbing on scree towards your end destination, I use easy because of the lack of route finding or technical skills needed to reach the base of Mt. Sparrowhawks peak but from a cardiovascular standpoint it's definately moderate to diffucult.) The hike starts at the Sparrowhawk Day use area along the Spray Lakes Road @ about 6,000 ft. with Mt. Sparrowhawk sitting at over 10,000ft. From there you start climbing through the trees for about 30 minutes till you reach your junction. Right takes you down a trail to the tarns which is a more popular hike (but I wouldn't suggest it in comparison to the other hikes in the Banff/Kanaskis area), left and you are hiking nearly straight up with few switchbacks towards Reed's Tower. It's about an hour from the trail head till you are out of the Treeline with great views from that point on. From there it's pretty straightforward and there's a bootpack trail to follow up to the base of Reed's Tower. If you choose scramble the Tower it's pretty straightforward start heading up the ridge for about 1000ft, or maybe a little less, of scrambling to the top. Here the views are good and the scramble is fairly easy with no route finding or technical skills needed just the fitness to get there.

When you get back down you walk around towers left side and begin the long Scramble to Mt. Sparrowhawk. After climbing for about an hour and half (maybe 2 hours) we reached the "pass" between Mt. Sparrowhawk and the peak South West of it. This was a point with mix emotions. It yielded gorgeous views on both sides of the pass and we where only a few hundred feet from the peak (I'm guessing about 800 or less). However, the winds and cold where being funneled down the spray lakes reservoir right at us making difficult to even stand in some of the gust. We stopped behind the little weather observation shed for a snack and had to make the decision to turn around. Primarily a result of the cold as Jess felt it throughout her body, and my gloves turned out to be inadequate to the point where a couple fingers had lost feeling and started to turn blue. (I would thought the black diamonds gloves would have been designed with synthetics that would keep their warmth once sweaty but I was wrong and should have paid more attention to the materials). A switch to wearing my extra pair of Merino Wool Socks on my hands help get them back to Temperature as we descended. Also the high winds posed some threat to walking on the peak. I think it would have been fine and being warmer or adequately geared up we would have carried on but needless to say the combination of the wind and cold resulted in the "pass" being our high point for the day.

We hiked back out going out around the opposite side of Reed's Tower. Unfortunately my camera's batteries died so I don't have any pictures from this side. But it's the route you should take if you are comfortable with a little route finding as it yields different views that are worth the extra kilometers, and the lack of a distinct trail makes finding your way back to the tarn trail an element of adventure on the X-Country hike. Well I guess this being the last hike of the season will result in things slowing down on here through the fall as I tumble into a little more of a training regiment for next summer, and ski season begins. Until them hope you've enjoyed some of my summer adventures and the pictures.

Yup We've Done Wonders for Our World?

2009-09-25T13:33:00.000-07:00

The 15 most toxic places to live

Visit the following link to see the quick slideshow. I've attached few examples from it so you get a feel for what you are about to see. I'll leave it there as the slideshow is impacting enough I shouldn't have to expand.
http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/photos/the-15-most-toxic-places-to-live

The North Pacific Gyre

An island of trash twice the size of Texas floats in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, circulated by the currents of the North Pacific Gyre. The trash, which is mostly made up of plastic debris, floats as deep as 30 feet below the surface.

Yamuna River, India

The Yamuna is the largest tributary of the Ganges River. Where it flows through Delhi, it's estimated that 58 percent of the city's waste gets dumped straight into the river. Millions of Indians still rely on these murky, sewage-filled waters for washing, waste disposal and drinking water.

La Oroya, Peru

La Oroya is a soot-covered mining town in the Peruvian Andes. Ninety-nine percent of the children who live here have blood levels that exceed acceptable limits for lead poisoning, which can be directly attributed to an American-owned smelter that has been polluting the city since 1922.

Moose Mountain!

2009-09-23T11:27:00.000-07:00

I want to start this post off by applauding the trail crew and advocacy groups that got Moose Mountain to where it is. They've done an amazing job at providing Alberta with a Downhill/Freeride playground that is on part with the big mountain resorts and this will undoubtedly become one of my favourite places to ride. I'd say this is hands down the best riding in Alberta. Now I just wish I was closer so I could get there more often and offer some help with maintenance and building. A great day of riding was had with some lengthy runs and tones of really well built trails and stunts. Places like these are why we ride DH bikes instead of the Light Duty XC stuff and I'm glad I found somewhere somewhat close to home to offer me that caliber of riding. My day could have personally been a little better as I snapped my rear triangle on one of the drops on Race of Spades, but thankfully I got a couple of runs in and can't wait to go back. Trails like JG on the Rocks, Race Spades and T-Dub will ensure I'm back to explore the rest of the trails. Here's a few pics of the trails and my bike.

*I didn't have any my camera that day so I just grabbed these pics from pinkbike but some pictures where taken which I will try and get a hold of to update the post with.*

Visit http://www.mmbts.com/ for more info on the area or to offer support.

Yoho National Park

2009-09-15T16:11:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we booked rooms at the Fireweed Hostel in Field, which has to be the most high end accommodations I've stayed at for a hostel and one night an an alpine hostel (the Whiskey Jack up near Tekawa Falls) for another weekend of adventure in the Rockies. This time venturing over the border into BC to visit Yoho National Park. Now in regards to accommodations I would suggest staying at the Fireweed Hostel for the entire stay vs. spending a night at the Whiskey Jack if you where to repeat the trip. There was nothing wrong with the Whiskey Jack but the Fireweed was simply awesome, clean, great mountain feel, great host, earning their self proclaimed boutique feel and I really enjoyed being right in field. The only downfall is the train tracks out back but I don't think you can get away from the sounds of the trains anywhere in field being the small community it is, that gives it, it's mountain charm. If you are looking for a quiet mountain getaway consider Field and Yoho national park as the tiny town with a population of 300 or so, set in a gorgeous mountain park without the tourist you get in the main parks such as Banff and Jasper, has amazing food at the Truffle Pigs, and great coffee at the cafe and quiet, quaint atmosphere that was great to relax in.

Day 1 we wanted to take our time getting started so up 7:30 breakfast at the cafe/grocery store and some Oso Negro coffee and we where off to do the Emerald Lake, to Yoho Pass, to Burgess Pass loop with hopes of attempting a scramble to the summit of Mt. Burgess. The hike on it's own is approx. 18 to 20km and I'd rank it as a slightly above average hike. In comparison to some of the other hikes we've done this summer I wouldn't say it was spectacular with a lot of climbing for what seemed like little time above the treeline with views. However the views you do get are great. Another downfall to hike is that 90% of the views are of the same valley, however if I was to choose between this or one of the hikes bordering the city limits of Jasper or Banff that are a little more "tourist oriented" I'd do this hike again in a heartbeat. Now on the other hand the scramble to Mt. Burgess looks like it would be GREAT! and yield some impressive 360 degree views but unfortunately we started too late. And in all honesty the scramble looked like it would be difficult to find a decent route since we didn't do any research on common routes, and to top it off we where quite tired from the hike, after Friday mornings hill sprints and the 5 hour drive.

Day 2 our plan was to do the Iceline trail and then head through the Yoho Valley back up onto the Whaleback before dropping back down into the valley and climbing over the Twin Falls and then hiking out the shorter route to twin falls. The Iceline deserves it's status as the premier hike in Yoho with stunning views, but even more impressive is the imposing nature of the mountains still filled with ice throughout it. I highly suggest the hike across the Iceline. If you are going to complete the extensions we did I suggest only doing so if you
a) want to add KM's
b) can hike a 30 to 35KM day and explore the glaciers feeding the Twin Falls (which we didn't have time with the shorter days and tired legs - Who's idea was it to do Hill Sprints Friday morning before we left?)
c) you do an overnight trip staying at the Twin Falls Campground so you can explore the area more. Most of the hikers we met where doing overnight trips into the valley.

The extension was definitely worth it but it would be better if we could have explored a little more. I'd like to plan to attempt this early season (the trail opens in July) as a backpack trip as the ice and snow would most likely be amazing, the challenge of most likely finding your way over a snow cover trail in part would be an added challenge, and finally I would like some extra time to scramble to the peak of the Whaleback, Possibly scramble a couple of the peaks on the edge of the Yoho Valley and definitely explore the glaciers that feeds the twin falls. With the great vibe in the area and a little more of a secluded feel I'm sure I'll be back in the near future (a winter Nordic or AT trip may be in order).

Wabasso Lake/Valley of the 5 Lakes

2009-09-10T15:53:00.000-07:00

Last weekend saw another great weekend as I was off to Jasper with Jess trying to make the best of what's left of the summer. The plan was a relaxing evening in town and a mountain bike ride on Labour day before driving home. Well the weather was cold, and cloudy but it didn't rain and we where riding in the rockies so I couldn't ask for much more. Unfortunately I didn't have the camera this weekend so no pictures but for those of you who haven't ridden the loop mentioned above I highly recommend it. It's doesn't offer up the scenic views of some of the other BC Trails, nor the Epic climbs up 14KM to pedal across mountains peaks, or the riding through lush alpine valleys, but it is one of the funnest rides, flowy with lots of rocky bits that keep you on your toes, and just a lot of flat out fun riding.

Here's a couple pics I "borrowed" from trailpeak.com to give you a brief idea but they do not do the trail justice.

Two more weekends planned with three days in Yoho National Park next weekend, and then what I hope isn't the last DH day of the year but off to give Moose Mountain a ride after I've heard so much about the riding.

Resource Sustainability vs. our Population

2009-09-03T15:31:00.001-07:00

Do we have any hopes at sustaining ourselves? As I'm about to start reading "Your World is About to Get a Whole lot Smaller" by Jeff Rubin it reminded me of some other stuff of read about our sustainability of resources vs. the economy. And since I haven't been doing much overly exciting to report back (with the exception of a great weekend ripping Silverstar resort.) I figured I'd share some quotes.

Now that we've became accustomed to living a certain standard of life that has tasked our resources how can we sustain these standards? Even if we wake up as a global society and start addressing our abuse of the environment we simply cannot sustain ourselves in this current environment. I'll outline David Pimentel suggestion of a North American economy based on the sustainable use of energy, land, water and biodiversity while achieving a relatively high standard of living, but steps on a heroic scale must be taken immediately with a view of reducing both use of fossil fuels and population. He estimates that 90 million hectares of land (equal to the combined areas of the states of Texas and Idaho) could be used to collect solar energy without disrupting agricultural and forest productivity. By conserving energy, per capita consumption of oil could be cut in half to 5000 liters of oil equivalents. By conserving soil and water, reducing air pollution and massively recycling, a conserver society could be achieved in the United States in which the optimum population would be targetted at about 200 million ... Then it would be possible for Americans to continue to enjoy their relatively high standard of living... Worldwide, resolving the population -resource equation will be more difficult than in the united states.

The global population level could reach 10 billion before the middle of this century. Pimentel's projections all suggest the need for a massive effort to conserve soil and to recover enough food for each person on .5 hectare of land. These measures will have to be accompanied by rapid stabilization and then reduction in population. If these goals are achieved, it would be possible to sustain a global population of approximately 3 billion humans. With self-sustaining renewable energy system... providing each person with 5,000 liters of oil quivalents per year (one half of America's current consumption/yr but an increase for most people in the world), a population of 1 to 2 billion could be supported living in relative prosperity.

Hhm so where does this leave our chances? What do we need to do? What will the outcome be 50 years from now? Previously throughout human history when a colony or tribe overused it's local resources they perished, mother nature would take over ,and another civilization would use the land afterwards. Today we are no longer isolated, the entire world is used to support us. There are many theories of what will happen and what needs to be done but the true consequences of our actions are yet to be seen.

Hiking August 15th/16th

2009-08-17T14:39:00.001-07:00

Well I have to say August 2009 has turned out to be one of the best months I can remember. I've been out in the mountains on some of the most Epic Adventures I've ever been on pretty well every weekend in August and to top it all off surrounded by some of the people that mean the most to me in life, with Jess, Dave flying down from Toronto for a bike tour around BC and the hike through the Skyline, as well as Cam and Katie Flying in from Ottawa for the Skyline Hike and staying an extra week for some hiking that proved to be nothing short EPIC!.

My last two post detail my 9 days I took for my Summer Holidays and now I want to give you a little teaser of 2 nights we spent in Banff National Park for a couple of hikes. I'll be honest I've been known to talk down Banff because of it's touristy nature and as a result stayed in Canmore I like the vibe better with a little more of a community feel. However, the weekends hikes were spectacular enough to forget about all that this weekend.

First off Saturday after some discussion on which hike of the many hike's to choose from in the area we decided to hike the Valley of Ten Peaks. We where torn between doing this hike or not as it is relatively easy, and in close proximity to Lake Louise, but offers amazing views on par with some much harder hikes meaning it's traveled by a lot of tourist which I find generally clouds my experiences in the Backcountry. However, with a late start, and less then desirable forecast we figured the crowds would be smaller then usual and decided to give it a go and I'm glad we did. The ascent through the tree line is OK it's just a lot switchbacks that are heavily traveled making the trail look a lot more like a walking path then a hiking trail. However about 3 or 4 KMs in you come into the Alpine Meadows where the views make you forget about the heavy use and manicured trail. We where warned about a Grizzly that had been spotted earlier in the day after it had caught it's breakfast (apparently a rabbit or something similar), I feel a little better that the grizzly had a full tummy succeeding at catching breakfast instead of looking for a hiker for lunch. And about 5 minutes later what did we see. Well of the course the Grizzly decided to pop back down into the alpine valley we where in and we got to watch the Grizzly in it's habitat from about 200 to 300 ft away (Click on the pictures to the left for the full sized picture of the grizzly). Of course we where cautious and watched carefully. It threatened to end our hike as the grizzly started heading towards our trail. However, instead after about 10 minutes it decided to climb back into the hillside allowing us to continue on. This was definitely the highlight of the day. As we raised a little higher in Elevation we where greeted by a dusting of snow that fell the night before and ended up with a picturesque hike up to the pass, and a temptation to return and attempt to summit Temple Mountain as it could be completed with relatively little mountaineering experience or equipment (a helmet for safety from falling rocks and ice pick to arrest your fall in case you slip on the glacier near it's peak should be all that is needed).

Sunday resulted in one of the most amazing hikes I've been on. We contemplated the options along the Ice Field Parkway near Bow Lake and Num-Ti-Jah Lodge of climbing to Helen Lake and attempting to summit Cirque Peak (generally an easy summit from Helen Lake is more of a hike then a scramble or climb) or attempting to summit Bow Peak. Cirque Peak is a well a marked easy hike to Helen Lake and a Moderate Hike if you include the Summit which provides multiple views of the Glaciers in the area, Once again this can be a busy hike on weekends because of it's relative ease and spectacular views. However, it is apparently mostly above the tree line and is supposed to offer spectacular views and a near guaranteed ascent to the summit unless the weather gets in the way. Bow Peak on the other hand is a much more of an adventure as it is an unmarked unmaintained trail considered challenging, that does not even have a trail head and you will often find your party the only one on the mountain. However the peak is still attainable through a scramble where no mountaineering gear is required. Well I'm sure any of you that know me, can guess where my preference was and after a group discussion we where off to make an attempt at Bow Peak and once again it turned out to be the right choice.

The hike starts with the following directions from the Crowfoot Glacier Parking lot continue approx. a KM till you reach a widening on the shoulder of the highway. Park here and continue on foot approx. 370 paces (240 till you pass a culvert and then approx. another 130) where you will descend the large rocks on the side of the highway and then search for signs of the trails. Well the trail turned out to be relatively easy to find an we where off. About a KM in you cross a glacial river a little more then thigh deep over rocks. It's cold, painful and undoubtedly INVIGORATING. From hear it's a pretty straightforward climb (however steeper then most National Park Maintained Trails) crossing multiple streams and providing countless amazing views. Adding to the our adventure where the fresh Black Bear Prints from the morning following nearly the entire trail into the Alpine with a second set of prints that may have been a cubs. So preceding cautiously, making a fair bit a noise we continued are way up the amazing hike up to the pass. I definitely have a preference for these "unmaintained" hikes as the extra challenge of fallen trees, stream, river crossings and usually seeing next to no people make the hike feel much more "authentic", relaxing, and rewarding (I think you'll more and more scrambles and unpopular hikes comming across these pages as time goes by.) Once we reached the pass, the views where amazing. I'm interested to figure out what trail continues on from this point as it looked like it had potential to be a beautiful multi-day hike on an unofficial trial, it may be part of the ACC hut systems trails but I'm not sure. However today our goal was to the scramble up to the 9,400 + ft. Bow Peak. The scramble was slightly challenging most likely as a result of our lack of experience scrambling and second guessing the stability of the many rocks that where loose, as well as our route choices. But after an hour and half of scrambling up the mountain side we where walking on top of the mountains ridge alone. I don't believe I could ever put the feeling into words but standing on a peak nearing with only a few feet on each side of you looking down nearly 10,000 ft on one side and probably 1,500 feet down on the other with 360 degree panoramic was unbelievable. Unfortunately we only had a few minutes on top, as we had given ourselves a turn around time of 4PM to ensure we descend in Daylight, which we didn't want to risk missing with the bear and possibly cubs in the area, but it was definitely enough time to lead me to understand what drives people to continue striving to reach peaks and tougher routes as I'm quite certain I've caught a little of that summer fever and that definitely won't be my last.

Valley of Ten Peaks

Bow Peak

Wow that turned out longer then I expected, can you tell I had a good time.

Summit Tour 2009 - Part 2 Hiking

2009-08-17T14:27:00.000-07:00

So after the 6 days of biking some of BC's best trails and destinations (see previous post) me and Dave headed up to Jasper National Park to meet up with Jess, Cam and Katie for a three day backcountry hike along the Skyline Trail. For those of you who aren't familiar with it it's considered by many to be the Premier Multi-Day Hike in the Rockies as you spend the large majority of your time in the alpine or sub-alpine resulting in amazing views as long as the weather cooperates. It's a 45 to 50 KM point to point hike depending on which signs you read and the staff from the national park have made this a great hike for those beginning to venture into multi-day backcountry hikes as it is well marked and has multiple well maintained Campsites (i.e. Facilties, Campsites generally near streams, areas to hang your food to minimizes bear dangers, ect.). Just make sure to book your sites in advances as site are sometimes booked as far out as 2 months in advance. My suggested route to anyone doing the trail is make it an enjoyable three days camping at Snowbowl (12 to 14KM), Tekara (18KM), then another 13 to 14 KM's out on your last day. However we couldn't get a site a Tekara which resulted in us camping at signal which was a long (and slightly painfull day with 35 to 50lbs packs) 24KM day as day two, but worked out well in our case as we had to get Dave to the Edmont Airport after the hike was complete and the short day let us relax a little in Japer afterwards and enjoy a well earned Pint and Dinner at Earls. So with that I'll leave you with a little photo diary of our trip.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Summit Tour 2009 - Part 1 Cycling

2009-08-12T10:03:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in my last post last week I took a week off to explore some of BC and the Rockies best Mountain Bike and Hiking Trails. The Trip saw me continue on from the Alberta DH provincials in Blairmore with Dave first off to meet our buddy Andrew in Rossland for the night where the next morning he graciously shuttled us to the Trail Head of the 7 Summits trail. The 7 Summits trail in Rossland has become a must do on many mountain bikers list for it's Epic route that starts at the bottom of and climbs to the top of a mountain, and then proceeds to roll up down over 7 peaks. It's definately worth the long climb up (1.5 to 2 hrs) for an amazing ride. And for all you considering to complete this trail I suggest stagging your retrieval vehicle at a the "second" lot. After you exit the official 7 Summits trail if you cross the road there's a trail called Dewdney to continue descending, and it is probably the funnest section of singletrack on the whole system.

Next we set up camp for a day in Nelson to ride some of the legendary trails there but not before taking an easy morning hanging out in the Town (boy I love that place), laid back vibe, tons of true outdoor and adventure enthusiast, good coffee, and technical riding that will rival anything. In the afternoon we pedaled up Moutain Station and amazing trail network that back's right onto town with everything from intermediate DH singletrack to shore style stunts and drops to challenge the most advanced riders. We quickly saw why the average locals technical skills is well above average. Then in the evening we took the Dirt Tours Shuttle up what I believe was Svaboda (the mountain with Powerslave, Bulls on Parade, Placenta, Illuminati, ect)for some awesome sustained decent.

The next day was going to be a long one driving from Nelson to Revelstoke to ride Keystone Standard Basin and then drive into Golden that night. It would have been great to have been able to stay in Revy that night but we where on a bit of time constraint and wanted to get a run down Mount 7 before Driving to Jasper to Hike the Skyline Trail. Keystone Basin has to be one of the most scenic Rides in North America, riding through Alpine Meadows that are what I picture riding in the alps to be like. It's a 22KM out and back trail and contained some of the most amazing buffed singletrack I've ever ridden. For anyone making a long trek out to ride 7 Summits in an attempt to ride BC's best XC trails, this must be added to your itinerary.

Finally the 4th day of riding including trying to find someone to shuttle us up mount 7 and after searching multiple bike shops we found a local willing to drive us to the top for 20 bucks and we made a run down most of the Psychosis course (minus Dead Dog since we where on all mountain bikes.) And what a run that is. I understand why there was some pressure to cancel the race as the trail is rutted and loose, however it was definately one of the best DH tracks I've been on in the last couple years.

I'll leave you there for now and will put up a quick post about hiking the Skyline Trail in the next few days.

AB Cup Provincials

2009-08-11T13:15:00.000-07:00

Well the end of the race season has passed with the provincials in Blairmore, AB. I was looking forward to the weekend for a couple of reasons. First and foremost it was the start of my summer holidays which I'll wright about in a couple more post over the week, and secondly I hope the longer, more traditional DH course would provide me with a chance to get another top 10 and end the season on a high note since I've managed to fall in 3 of the 4 last races. Practice had me feeling good on the course and I felt a top 10 in the large field was an attainable goal but after a fun day of practice the skies opened up over night with rain, lightning and hail and we knew a new element was just added to race day where staying on two wheels was going to be a big part of placing well.

After the mornings practice I still felt good having survived the tech sections on every run and felt good on the rest. However come to my race run I tried pushing a little past my limit on the top sections and lost it on some roots bending my brake lever. Trying to salvage my run, knowing the conditions would slow a lot of racers down I pushed hard but lost it on the rock face locking my rear brake not being able to undulate the braking power properly with the bent brake lever leaving my hopes of a good finish out the window. I'll leave you with a few pics and hopes that next season I manage to keep the bike rubber side down.

AB Cup # 3 - Rabbit Hill

2009-07-23T18:32:00.000-07:00

First to thank the crew from Park Cycle, the ADHRA and the volunteers who made this a great weekend. It was a fun weekend where the best was made of Rabbit Hill. I'll be the first to admit on it's own merit Rabbit Hill doesn't provide a course that is considered a true DH track, and isn't suited to my riding strengths personally so I didn't have high expectations for this race. However, living in Alberta it does provide lift access racing, with great a group of riders from Alberta, and you know you are in for a fun weekend regardless of the terrain. The track reminds me more of a slalom style course then a DH run with a long pedally top section in a few trees after that for a couple of turns and then out into the open for a few doubles and step downs before ripping down to the finish. The weekend went on without a hitch till race day. Where rain and high winds shut down the lifts making the race runs a hike bike (only time I was glad rabbit doesn't have much more vertical). That same wind made the pedal at the finish into the headwind much harder and I'm sure the gust of wind on their own was enough to add a couple seconds to someones time.

The Rage Crew showed strong with 3 of the top 5 pro times and Mark Wolstenholme tearing the field apart the day after his Stag with a 1:24 about 5 seconds ahead of the second fastest time of the day, and 4 podiums with Mark and Derek 1st and 3rd in Pro, Tyler Gregson winning the U15 even with a hard bail just before the finish, and Michelle Wolstenholme taking 2nd in the Masters A Women. Personally I had a bad race run with a few bobbles and almost eating it on the doubles but still managed a 16th out of 27th which looking back isn't all that bad considering how poorly I did and a course that I new I wouldn't be particularly strong on. Now I'm off to travel a week in the prairies before making it back for the Provincials in Blaimore next weekend which starts of my weeks holidays in Rockies, mountain biking and hiking.

Bounded by Our Own Skin?

2009-07-14T16:33:00.000-07:00

A few Quotes for you to ponder:

If we continue to think of ourselves as separate from our surroundings, we will not be sensitive to the consequences of what we are doing, so we can't see that our path is potentially suicidal. If we do not see ourselves as part of the natural world and become further detached, we risk a greater sense of loneliness, a lack of meaning, purpose and sense of belonging. Without experiences in nature, we develop ignorance and apathy.
David Suzuki - The Sacred Balance

The Components of the natural world are a myriad but they constitute a single living system. There is no escape from our interdependence with nature: we are woven into the closest relationship with the Earth, the sea, the air, the seasons, the animals and ll the fruits of the Earth. What affects on affects all - we are part of a greater whole - the body of the planet. We must respect, preserve and love it's manifold expression if we hope to survive.
Bernard Campbell

It is only by a construct of the Western mind that we believe ourselves living in an "inside" bounded by our own skin, with everyone and everything else on the outside. The place where transitional phenomena occur... might be understood in this new paradigm of the self, to be the permeable membrane that suggests or delineates but does not divide us from the medium in which we exist.
Anita Barrows

Once Upon a time - but this is neither a fairy tale nor a bedtime story we - we knew less about the natural world than we do today. Much less! But we understood that world better, much better, for we lived ever so much closer to its rhythms.

Most of us have wandered far from our earlier understanding, from our long-ago intimacy. We take for granted what our ancestors could not, dared not, take for granted; we have set ourselves apart from the world of the seasons, the world of floods and rainbows and new moons. Nor, acknowledging our loss, can we simply reverse the course, pretend to innocence in order to rediscover intimacy. Too much has intervened.
Daniel Swartz

AB Cup # 1 - Grande Prairie

2009-07-07T13:24:00.000-07:00

To start this post off I want to give shout out to the Bikehawk Bike Club, Nitehawk Ski Area and the ADHRA for organizing a great weekend of racing. The Bikehawk and Nitehawk volunteers worked hard to make sure this event was fun, they all had tons of enthusiasm and organized a great event. I'll be honest coming into the event I wasn't expecting much from the course knowing they had limited vertical and it was a relatively new hill. However, as with all the riders I spoke to, we where pleasantly surprised at how much fun the course was, and how it wasn't only a great race but a great event with the race, a BBQ, opening the Freestyle Ski Water Ramp , fastest speed with the RCMP on site with a radar gun and camping right near by. The course was approx. 2 minutes long, with some steep sections, well manicured berms, a variety of terrain, multiple little jumps, drops, natural features, and even if the area is a little short on rocks and roots they did a great job at adding some technical bits with some off camber sections, quick shoots and tight corners leaving all the riders stoked about the weekend and the fast course.

From my standpoint the weekend went well and I'm quite happy with the results considering I had a scary spill on Sunday's practice before the race run. I will say I'm glad I decided to start riding with the Leatt Brace this season though as I felt my helmet hit the brace as I came down hard head first and walked away with minor bumps and bruises. As a result I was a little hesitant on my race run but my times where still respectable with a 10th place finish out of 18 or so riders in my category but more importantly I was only about 2 seconds off the pace I was hoping to be on which would have had me close to the top 5. The Rest of the DHR had a good showing as well with 1st and 2nd in the Elite Class, The fastest the womens time on the day and 4 riders in the top 10 for Senior Sport. Unfortunately I won't be able to make the Kicking Horse next weekend so the next race update will be sometime after the Rabbit Hill Race in two weeks. (I'll hopefully add a few more pictures as they surface in the coming week.)

Panorama Mad Trapper BC Cup # 2

2009-06-29T21:14:00.000-07:00

Well well another race weekend in BC, how to sum this one up. Wicked fun course, awesome people, great weather and the snow melt made sure the course was just muddy enough to be a riot to ride. So after an amazing 2 days of riding, and maybe a little drinking I can home stoked as soon as I managed to forget about my race run. Two falls and Dropped chain resulted in my worst finish ever and I guess I'll be looking to regain a little pride once the Alberta Cups start next weekend. But oh well that's racing! A quick Shout goes out to Tyler who took a top 10 finishing 7 in his class in his first race after killing it all weekend, look out for him on the Alberta Cups as he has a lot potential for some podium finishes in the near future.

Hiking in Kananaskis

2009-06-23T16:14:00.000-07:00

Well this weekend saw another weekend of the many I plan on spending in the Rockies pass by. Me Jess headed down to Peter Lougheed Provincial Park for the weekend with the Hopes of Hiking Burstall's Pass. Knowing the pass was snow covered we knew there was chance we wouldn't be able to complete the desired route. But our hopes where high and we where ready to thrudge through some snow as long as it was safe to do so. However, we where greated with high avanlache danger and suggestions not to hike the route so it was time to reconsider and we ended up hiking Pocaterra instead. Which was an awesome day, (what day isn't when it's sunny, cool, and you're in the rockies). However, the hike has been added to my do not repeat or suggest list. It's was basically a 22-24KM fireroad walk with a good view at the top. Oh well i guess another trip will have to be planned for Burstall and a couple of the Alpine hikes in the area. Enjoy the pics.

Kamloops Race the Ranch

2009-06-12T15:25:00.001-07:00

We'll last weekend saw Race the Ranch in Kamloops come and go. It was a fun weekend, as all weekends that include friends, bicycle and a mountain always seem to be. I have to say racing in Kamloops is an entirely different ball game though., and the picture to the left sums it up pretty well. The thick powder of dust on the trail resulted in perpetually changing lines, and multiple riders falling into pillows of Dust. For myself the runs where mixed. In all honesty I only had one practice run where I felt good in this foreign terrain. So I had hoped to just take it relatively easy on my race run in the top portion which seemed to be claiming so many racers and then pedal my @#% off on the bottom to tie in a decent run. Well the top third went well, but trying a slightly different line I got sideways took out flag pole amd in an attempt to make up the lost seconds bailed twice on the bottom sections killing any hopes of a decent finish. However as always it was fun weekend rippin' on bike, and I can't wait till the next race to try reclame a little bit of pride ; ).

Baseline Mountain

2009-06-03T15:32:00.001-07:00

First chance to get out and ride some vertical and looking forward to Race the Ranch in Kamloops this weekend.

May Long Weekend in Banff National Park

2009-06-03T13:43:00.000-07:00

May long offered a chance to get out for some early season hiking and we lucked out with the weather as many complained of snow and rain, we saw warm Sun and Clouds all weekend. With the high pass and good hikes still covered in snow we had to do some of the more tourist oriented hikes, however it was a great way to start the season, and get the legs moving. Here's some pics enjoy!

Day 1 - Near Banff - Hoodoo's - 1/2 way to Johsnton Lake and back - Bow River Trail - Tunnel Mountain; 13 KMs easy hiking). Iwouldn't suggest the hike unless you are in the early or late season and their aren't many options, most views are scared by the development around the city of Banff and there's very little elevation gain except for Tunnel Mountain where the views are over rated.

Day 2 - Bow Glacier Falls - Nice hike, especially at this time of year where the only people we met where skiers coming back from a backcountry trip and the snow added a little adventure. Would be busy in the core season since it's short, easy and offers great views, which wouldn't make it appealing to me in the summer months. About 10KM out and back and a couple extra of exploring.

Lake Minnewanka - Spring Bike Ride

2009-05-10T13:52:00.000-07:00

Me and Marty drove out to Banff yesterday to ride at Lake Minnewanka for an out and back trip to the Warden Station resulting in a picturesque 22km spring ride. We lucked out with the weather as the forecast was cloudy with sunny breaks, showers and a chance of snow (I offer my thanks to the weather man for that insight). But after driving into what looked to be a day drink pints on a covered patio in Banff instead of riding, we arrived at our destination with break in clouds and they weather stayed that way for most of the ride. The first KM or so was slush and mud but as soon as we turn the corner after the climb the trails where dry and we had a great day of ridding. If you haven't ridden here before it's a nice spring ride before the loop has a lot of tourist, dries quickly, doesn't have too much climbing for the winter legs, and is a nice intermediate skill level ride (nothing to technical a beginner/intermediate rider could probably get through the trail with only some small hike a bikes.) Anyways enough chatting and here's some pics.

Endless Ocean of Air?

2009-05-08T10:47:00.001-07:00

"We look into the sky it seems to us to be endless.... we think without consideration about the boundless ocean of air, and then you sit aboard a spacecraft, you tear away from the Earth and within ten minutes, you have been carried straight out of the layer of air, and beyond there is nothing! Beyond the air there is only emptiness, coldness, darkness. The "boundless" blue sky, the ocean which gives us breath and protects us from the endless black and death, is but an infinitesimally thin film. How dangerous it is to threaten even the smallest part of this gossamer covering, this conserver of life."

Vladimir Shatalov, The Home Planer

and on that note I'm off to Banff to Mountain Bike this weekend, if I remember to take pictures on the weekend I'll post some pictures.

A Couple Quotes About Our Balance with Nature

2009-04-29T12:44:00.000-07:00

"We must convince each genereation that they are transient pasengers on this planet earth. It does not belong to them. They are not free to doom generations yet unborn. they are not at liberty to erase humanity's past nor dim its future."

Bernard Lown and Evjueni Chazov

We are at the beginning of the third millennium. With explosive speed, we have been transmogrified from a species like most others that live in a balance with with their surroundings into an unprecedented force. Like a species introduced into a new environment free of constraints, we have expanded beyond the capacity of our surroundings to support us. It is clear from the history of the past two centuries that the path we embarked on after the Industrial Revolution is leading us increasingly into conflict with life support systems of the natural world. Despite forty years of experience in the environmental movement we have not yet turned onto a different path.

David Suzuki

New Wheels!!!!

2009-04-28T21:25:00.000-07:00

Just a few pics of the new ride

Intense Tracer VP - Medium Frame
Fox 36 Float
Fox RP23
Hope Pro II's/Mavic 819's
Maxxis Ignitor UST 2.35
Avid Elixir R's
X.9 Shiters, Rear deraileur
XT Front Deraileur
SLX Cranks Dual Ring 22/36
Selle Italia SLR Gel Saddle
Raceface Evolve Bars
Raceface Ride Seat Post
Weighing in at 30lbs, 1 Ounce with Maxxis Advantage Tires and Tubes I'll update the weight with the tubeless tires.

A shout out goes to River Valley Cycle for the Bike the and Build

A few pics from the Yamafest at Revy

2009-04-08T15:58:00.000-07:00

Just a few pics from the weekend at Yamafest, ahh a hard day at the office

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Could Photosynthesis Solve our Energy Woes

2009-04-08T15:25:00.000-07:00

Currently the world consumes 15 Terrawatts annually; by 2050 however scientist estimate we will consume 30 Terrawatts annually.

So what would we currently have to do to meet that demand?

Building a new 1 Billion Watt nuclear plant every 1.6 days till 2050 would yield 8 Terrawatts
Consuming all the vegetation not used for food to make Biofuels would yield 7 Terrawatts
Covering every inch of land on the earth with wind turbines would yield 2 Terrawatts

Hhm not much luck with today's Technologies. However MIT's Daniel Nocera believes the solution is the Sun. The Sun beams down approximately 800 Terrawatts on the earth daily. However, our current solar technologies have some issues.

For one the technology is still quite costly. But first and foremost is the storage of energy for evenings and periods of extended cloud cover. Currently it would take approximately 2000lbs of lead batteries to store enough solar energy to power a household for a whole evening. This is where Professor Norcera pulled from the theory of photosynthesis to essentially recreate the process of electrolysis you experimented with in high school which uses electric currents to break down H2O in to Hydrogen and Oxygen. Using this process you can then store the Hydrogen in a fuell cell. However, this process is also expensive and isn't the most efficient, which is where photosynthesis inspired them. By infusing Cobalt and Potassium Phosphate into the water the process can now be recreated using only a volt of power bringing the storage cost down from thousands of dollars to tens.

So how does it work. Essentially throughout the day Solar panels would power your house and the excess energy would be sent to a small container of water where it would split the oxygen and hydrogen. After the sun goes down the Hydrogen and Oxygen would be re-combined in a fuel cell to power your house, charge your car, etc. There's obviously still a lot of issues to be ironed out , but this sounds like the first truly promising process in while.

If this process proves to be successful this could

Solve the storage issue as a gallon of water would replace 2000lbs of batteries.
It could provide decentralize the solar power.
Would lower the cost.
Provide a clean form of energy

I'll definitely be watching Professor Norcera's developments closely.

Spring Training

2009-03-16T14:01:00.001-07:00

We'll with everything that led me to Edmonton over the winter I'm a little (ok a lot) behind on my cardio. But as thing settle training has begun both on and off the bike.

Revelstoke!

2009-02-14T18:25:00.000-08:00

Well I arrived in Edmonton and trying to settle in. Been a busy couple of weeks! Between the move and settling into the new job I haven't had much time to share but I have a few things I'd like to add here once I'm done with all the unpacking. However, for now here's some pics from New Years in Revelstoke. 3 Days of skiing trees and powder, Enjoy!

Top 10 Dream Trips

2009-01-25T21:53:00.001-08:00

As I sit here and contemplate how life has caught up with me in the last few months, with work, moving, an injury that just keeps creeping back, and trying to figure out how I'm going to get back into race shape by summer. I started thinking of all the places I want to go in the near future and though I'd share my checklist. Now to convince my employer it's a good idea to give me an extra 2 weeks worth of holidays every year so I can get enough time off.

Complete the Annapurna Circuit through Nepal plus a week in Tibet

Unforgettable Andes Mountain Bike Tour
www.ridebig.com

Kayak and backpack the coasts of Greenland

Cross South America by motorcycle

Kayak the Polynesian Islands and visit Easter Island

Kayaking and Backpacking in the Torngat Mountain Range

Tour Mongolia by horseback

Race the Mega Avalanche - Alp d'Huez (32KM Downhill Mountain Bike Race, with a mass start on Glacier)

Ski Touring in the Selkirk Mountains
http://www.hauteroute.ca/hr_canada.html

Mountain Bike the Haute Route in Switzerland and DH in the alps for a week.
http://www.alpsmountainbike.com/mountain_biking/Chamonix_to_Zermatt.php

Aging

2009-01-25T20:19:00.000-08:00

Just a quote I thought I'd share

"Aging is not a scary thing if you spend the time you have on this earth making it count, packing it with meaningful interaction always learning and evolving"

Could We Ever See Positive Campaigning in Canada?

2009-01-22T18:41:00.000-08:00

Rick Mercer hit my thoughts on Canada's current state of politics right on the head. I keep crossing my fingers that Canadian politics will soon see positive campaigns based on platforms and Merritt not bashing the other candidates.

"So here it is, inauguration day in America. And like everyone else I can't help but get caught up in the moment because honestly, as a Canadian, I did not believe in my lifetime I would see a man like Barack Obama become President of the United States. And not because he's black. No, no, no, no. Because he ran a positive campaign and he actually got elected.

And if recent history has taught us anything it's that that could never work up here. Because when it comes to politics, we haven't seen anything remotely positive in a very long time.

Think about it. In the last American election, the defining themes were "change is possible" and "hope," and they had the highest voter turnout in 40 years. In our last election, the defining themes were "stay the course" and "destroy the enemy," and we had the lowest voter turn out in our entire history. Clearly we are on two different tracks.

Which is fine; we are a sovereign nation, we are unique on the world stage. For example, we're now the last nation on earth that wants Guantanamo Bay prison to stay open and it's not even our prison. Yes, it's a brave new world and we're old school.

Now that doesn't mean we shouldn't celebrate the new President. No, no, no. Everyone loves this guy. Cripes, when Obama announced that his first foreign visit was going to be to Canada Stephen Harper looked so excited I thought his head was gonna pop off.

And I don't blame him. I'd like to get my picture taken with Obama too. And clearly the fact that he's visiting Canada is very exciting; because, as of today, he is the 44th president of the United States – and eight hours in, he's doing a bang up job.

And the fact is he got that job by doing something that no Canadian political leader has done in a very long time: he appealed to the very best in his fellow citizens and gave them something to believe in. So when that visit finally happens, let's hope some of that rubs off."

T25 City Car Concept

2009-01-08T21:21:00.000-08:00

Are Our Views on a Green Car All Wrong?

Currently all our efforts are being put into alternative fuels. But does this really make sense? Long term, yes we will need an alternative to oil based fuels. However, at the current rate a real alternative is at least 15 + years away probably another 10 after that point before the flow through of old vehicles start going off the road. Can we wait that long? Hydrogen sounds like a good option, but it will take years before we can build a distribution network across the continent (even a province) so you can take a trip. Plus safety is still a question mark. Bio Fuels sounded like the savior till we remembered a world food shortage is looming. There is some sort of Algea alternative but can we really power the 500 million cars on the road with it, oh don't forgot they estimate that number of cars on hte road will double in the next 20 years. Electric Cars, now there's the answer, right! I new it was simple. Wait a minute, how we going to create enough electricity to recharge these. Coal? Nope, no good. Nuclear is clean! Damn it all the nuclear waste we can't do anything with is an issue. A true solution seems like a tought find.

So this brings me to the T25 City Car designed by Gordon Murray for which he was awarded idea of the year by Autocar magazine. Who's Gordon Murray? Well the designer of the Mclarren F1, the worlds fastest naturally aspired car and now he has re-thought the process of a green car and it just seems to make so much sense.

First the environmental impact of automobiles involves so much more then CO2 Emissions at the exhaust. What about production, raw materials, transportation to dealers, noise pollution, congestion, etc. This is where Mr. Murray steps in looking at the vehicles impact on society throughout it's entire life cycle and came out with the T25 City Car concept he is about to release later this year. See the 14 pictures below touching on his concepts in comparison to a small hatchback like the mini and read through the following links if you are interested
http://jalopnik.com/5063312/gordon-murrays-t25-city-car-revealed-sort-of
http://www.gordonmurraydesign.com/T25.html.

Now I'm sure I'll here someone tell me you drive a truck (required for work) and work in the motorsports industry, suond a little hypocritical of you. However, these concepts could also be applied to larger vehicles and we would end up with a much more efficient Automotive Industry. Plus aknowledging what lies ahead, ultimately we will soon have to start rethinking our method's of transportation and infrastructures.

The Great Pedal and Paddle - 2008

2008-12-21T18:31:00.000-08:00

Some of you may have read my previous post about planning an adventure with the hopes of a trip we’d refer to as truly Epic. The resulting itenerary was a 2 week journey that would see us cycling 1100KM’s (800 across Newfoundland in 6 days straight), then Kayaking the coast of Newfoundland’s Gros Morne National Park and ending with some hiking in the parks fjord’s which are nothing short of breathless. Our hopes where to test our limits, learn about life and little did we know, we'd end up discuss everything from politics, to careers, to women, to life, building a bond that will most likely last as long as our souls themselves. So how did it go…

As most trips of this extent the week leading up to the trip was nothing short of hectic! If I have one regret for the trip it was rushing the start. I finished work Friday afternoon, rushing to airport after trying to finish things up with work, scrambling to make my flight. Thankfully I made through security as boarding began and after a brief nap I’m landing in St. Jonh’s where Dave would be waiting for me after spending a few days relaxing with family. Greated by smiles and excitement it was game time. We arrived at his families, cracked a beer and proceeded to build our bikes, pack our gear, and prep for the next two weeks. As 3 AM rolled around we where close enough to being ready. The excitement had worn off, replaced by tired eyes as we retired to our rooms to make the best of the 5 hours sleep before starting our trip.

Up with sun, excitement in the air once again and a big breakfast to start off day 1. Dave's aunt and grandmother graciously offered to shuttle us to Cape Spear, starting at the most easterly point of Canada slightly behind schedule we were sent off with smiles, hugs and a little concern as motherly instincts prevailed. The first section of highway saw multiple short but steep grades, which combined with the added weight of the bags, and running a two ring set up was more noticeable then expected. This first pedal back to Saint John’s re-assured us this wasn’t going to be a leisurely pedal to average 120Km’s/day. All I had for time in St. John’s was a pedal along the harbor and lunch in town before we set off again in an attempt to get off the peninsula in our first Day. With the start of the trip so rushed I found it was hard to disconnect and get into the mental place this trips deserved. To start over I would have definitely taken a n extra day to enjoy St. Johns. However, aside from feeling like I was on a post work stress relief ride, the first day went flawless and we made it off the peninsula. The strong headwinds we faced most of the day had us questioning how much fun it would be to hold our pace as we stopped for dinner, devoured our food, and then re-awoke our tired legs to set up camp a little ways back from a tourist info station.

We awoke to a cloudy/foggy day from our humble abode (the cosy little tent you see was our shared accommodations for the next 2 weeks), with a gorgeous view of the lake. Pleasently surprised that our pre-mixed Nestle coffee packet actually tasted good, we pakced up and set off around 10:30 just as the sun was breaking through the clouds, which became the trend for the trip. Those first difficult pedal strokes burned till our tired legs warmed up after 5 or so Km’s. Then our bodies caved in and we fell into our groove alternating from riding side by side and drafting in tandem as we would for the next 5 days turning into a well oiled team on their way.

By the time we stopped for lunch over our tiny stove at the tourist center about 4hrs into our day my mind finally gave away. I had reached that blank state where the real world leaves your mind, hypnotized by the rhythmic rotation of your legs at 90 RPM nearing a state of meditation at times while appreciating life for what it really was. Then, there, in the moment, finally starting the journey. We completed our first full day reaching our scheduled stop at a local campground, with sites that lived up to the province’s nickname of “The Rock”. Regardless it was an ideal stop with a quiet lake and countless laughs, setting the tone for the rest of the trip. We spent the evening relaxing as we demolished our vacuum sealed sandwiches, had a refreshing (i.e. F#%^$& cold swim). Dave was then entertained by my determination to set up a hammock regardless of forgetting rope, and a chance to relax by a campfire in the heart of Newfoundland knowing we would barely see a city for another 2 weeks.

Day 3 was our shortest day, as we planned on staying at one of Dave’s aunts in Bishop Falls. With a smooth day of pedaling and multiple attempts to set speed record drafting and slingshoting each other to break 70Km/h on our loaded bikes down hills. The last 20 Km’s we got our first taste of rain. But our spirits where high and the laughs persevered as we pressed on. Nevertheless, mother nature did show me who was boss as I challenged her with devilish laughter as the rain intensified, but just as I was screaming “is that all you got” in a torrential downpour, the combination of a large puddle, a bridge and Jeep engulfing me in a tidal wave of water ensured she displayed her supremacy. We slowly pedaled into town drenched as the sun broke, with locals giving funny looks to these men in spandex pedaling through town in a rain storm. The stop provide a well earned hot shower, hearty meal, and a chance to explore a local village getting a feel for the true Newfoundland lifestyle.

We arose to more rain and a brisk morning. This was the last day of where the route averaged an elevation gain. But first we would have to conquer the forewarned Gambo Hill before a day and half of descending back to see level. After all the anticipation we pedaled through the town of Gambo, geared down for the climb and hammered to the top with authority. However just as we felt like true athletes, we stopped and realised that the tailwinds where so strong they would slow us down if turned and headed downhill resulting in more then a little help from the elements (but we’ll keep that between us). After nearly an entire day of on and off rain, we arrived into Gander and decided a dry room, with a hot shower was a better alternative then pedaling another 10 to 20 KMs past town after diner to set up camp in the rain after our longest day yet. After some consultation with locals we headed into town on foot for a hearty meal before heading in for an early night.

The next day and half, went smooth with an increase in average speed as the hwy averaged a slight downhill grade for the entire day. This portion exposed us to the nicest scenery so far pedaling through the scenic Green Bay area. Our nights stop ended up in an Inuit Quarry after exploring an old abandoned campground, where after nearly losing a knee falling through an old water powered Mill we decided on setting up elsewhere. However the old go kart track provided a few fun laps.

Day 5 would see us end our trip on the Trans Canada at Deer Lake and head North towards the edge of Gros Morne National Park.We had lunch at the top of the last descent into Deer Lake where we'd be back at see level. On the outskirts of Deer Lake we found an Oasis, A berry booth! We filled tupperware with fresh berries for the days ahead. The end of the day saw the entrance to Gros Morne where we had two options. Set up camp in town or pack up with canned beans, power aid and snacks to pedal to the top of the first peak in Gros Morne. A brief discussion leads us to an easy conclusion and we where off “attacking” (or slowly persevering) up what turned out to be a 45 Minute standing climb up approximately 2300ft. But at the top we where greated by a Moose and what was one of the most spectacular views I’ve seen reminding me of the coastal Fjords from my time in Norway making sure we new it was the right decission. After figuring out where to set up our tents in a hidden location as it may have been a no camping zone, and avoiding what looked like the area that a bear took a nap in after gorging on berries, we had dinner and enjoyed the evening., reading, writing, laughing. When the sun rose we took our time enjoying the morning view, and set off at 10:30 once again on par with our routine that was about to end as we transitioned from cycling to exploring Gros Morne National Park.

We had an easy pedal into Rocky Harbour, where we were set to celebrate with our first pints (or a drunken stupor) since we set out in Gros Mornes, Rocky Harbor. Rocky Harbor is a picturesque coastal Nfld. village. An afternoon was all it took to reasure me that life in Toronto (or major city centers for that matter) was but a stepping stone on my path to find a road to Nowhere. (Read my initial blog post from March 08 to understand the analogy.) After enjoying an afternoon of walking along the coast, pizza and wings, and countless local beers in the local pub at capicity with patrons over the age of 60. We retired to our B&B in the wee hours of the morning, after a phenomenal day to transition from our cycling portion of our trip. Next we made the short pedal (yet painfully long as the previous nights pints took their toll) we arrived at Sally’s Cove, home of Gros Morne Adventures, for our second rest day before setting off on some kayaking and hiking excursions in one of Canada’s most beautiful landscapes. With our arrival came a slight suprise though. Our local courier didn't deliver our gear which resulted in having nothing more then what we packed for the cycling portion (i.e. a lot of spandex and river shoes). But the small hick up wasn't going to get us down, and the situation provided amunition for countless Earl's Courrier jokes. (I am still confused how Earl made Dave feel guilty for the fact that he forgot to pick up our stuff?)

For the next two days we experienced our first taste of ocean paddling, which has planted the bug for future adventures (Watch for a 2010 or 2011 Torngat Mountain Range Trip). Oddly enough Kayaking is the opposite of what I look for in most activities searching a rush, a thrill, excitement, and adventure. Ocean and Flat Water kayaking generaly sits at the opposite end of adventure exploring at a relaxing and soothing pace but is something I plan on doing much more of in the years to come. Especially if my body starts to reject some of the more aggressive hobbies I partake in.

The balance of trip saw a scenic hike up Gros Morne Mountain which we made good time completing a 4 hour round trip including lunch and photo op's, which we ended with a 10ish KM Jog back to Rocky Habour. Some relaxing time by the beach, reading by the ocean, and an exploratory trip to Brooks pond which lead us to planning our trip ending hike. On our last day we woke early and cycled up to brooks pond for what was going to be an 8 hour unmarked hike (I'd almost list as an Epic)to the top of the Fjord that lines Brooks pond (I strongly suggest that any backpacker add the long range traverse to the list of places to go). The hike to top is about 2.5 hours where you traverse multiple different Geographic areas starting off on a marked trail through marshland, forest, and along beaches for about hour till you Veer off up a trail that was created by water run off and it’s another hour hike up approximated 800m (or 2,400ish feet) for an hour till the trees start to shrink and then you eventually reached the tundra’esque terrain, with nothing for vegetations except for tuckamore and berries. Once up top we were greated by amazing views, 2 herds of Cariboo and 2 groups Moose. We continued to hiked another half hour to the first ridge that gives you a view point down Fjord. We extended this moment sitting up top the Fjord with a view of nothing open spaces, and no signs of humanity as long as we could. We were forced to leave before we lost daylight to find our way home for a last pint and to catch a ride back to Deer Lake, and ultimately what the majority of us sadly call reality.

Did we succeed at getting what wanted out of this trip? I’d be hesitant to call the trip a true Epic, a few hic ups in our plans resulted in the trip being a little less “adventurous” then we expected for me to classify the trip as a true Epic. (However I think my standard of Epic is a little higher then most.) Nevertheless I’m sure Dave will agree the trip will forever rank as one of the best trips we’ve done. It has set the framework for many adventures to come, we’ve came just a little bit closer to answering those question that we have about life and ultimately solidified a friendship that will last a life time promising to ensure we continue searching out adventure and never look back and say I should have!

Season Re-Cap

2008-12-18T19:17:00.000-08:00

We’ll since the end of the year was really busy I missed out on a few race reports so I figured I’d throw together a quick summary to wrap things up. First off thanks to Lee, the rest of the Poisonfrog crew and Cycle Solutions for all their support throughout the year. Lee did a great job at assembling the team this year which was recognized by our nomination for 2008 Team of the year at the DH Awards tomorrow for a combination of strong performance on race course and participation off the course.

The O-cup # 4 at Camp Fortune was on the Provincial Course with a few changes to the top sections and was my favorite O-cup course of the year. It wasn’t as technical as I expected after everyone’s comments about how tech Camp Fortune was, however the Dump and Couch’s Corner did claim a few casualties over the weekend. It didn’t turn out to be a great weekend for myself, at the top of my third practice run I put my pelvis out coming off the first table which sidelined me for the day and most likely the weekend. However about an hour before the race run I just couldn’t keep watching every come down after the long drive to Ottawa so I decided to suit up for one easy practice run and figured I might as well take an easy race run since I was there. We’ll I can’t say it turned out to be the best idea I ever had. Coming into the Race run without having done a fast run down yet resulted in a poor run, multiple mistake, and Couch’s Corner getting the best of me as I pogo’ed my front end, went over the bars, and landed hard into the rocks. But at least I can say I got the run in an

Next up was Blue Mountain with a fun fast wide open course without any tech sections to speak of. If you’ve followed my other post I have yet to have a smooth weekend getting in the practice runs I’ve was looking forward to tying in a good run. Practiced went as planned following down Andrew or Grant for most my runs come race time I was feeling pretty good with all my lines dialed and practice going well. And I came through the first section the best I had all weekend and I’m sure the first 1/3rd of the course I was on par with the leaders times, then I nailed the bottom the portion of the course as I wanted (however knowing I’d fall behind the front runners through this section) I was feeling good and ready for my best finish, and coming out of the last sections my chain came off, which led to tucking and pumping the last section losing a few seconds, but all in all it was my best finish with a time split that was where I needed to be to get the upgrades point for expert next season if I could put together 3 race that clean. Also I want to throw props out to Andrew who won his first DH Race that weekend before moving the Vancouver a few weeks later.

Finally to end the Season it was off to the provincials in Ottawa. With nothing really to gain or loose in regards to upgrade points there was no pressure and I was looking forward to a good fun weekend of riding and that’s what it provided. I was having a decent weekend, having had a couple clean practice runs Sunday with my lines selected and was aiming for a similar finish to Blue. Off the start I came into the first wooded section of my line which threw me off a little on the top third. After nailing the next third the best I had all weekend I made the mistake of pushing to hard to make up for the mistakes I made at the top and end up in rhubarb of my bike. But I still managed a mid-pack finish and had great weekend.

All in all my first season was a great learning experience and a lot fun, an now it’s to hit the trainer throughout the winter months to be in better shaper for next seasons with the goal of getting the upgrades points to step up to Expert.

Revival of Canadian Politics?

2008-12-16T01:29:00.000-08:00

Is the Coalition Government what the Canadian Political system needs as a revival?

First I want to say it’s great to see a revived interest in Canadian politics! Through the last two elections I was quite disappointed and said multiple times I can’t wait for the day that one or multiple of our parties leaders are charismatic, intelligent and trustworthy Candidates. At my age I can’t say I remember a candidate that fit that bill. Before I voice my opinion I want to state that I do not have any political "denomination". Since I’ve reached the age to vote I’ve voted for all 3 major parties at some point based on what the Canadian situation is and who/what I thought the country need at time based on their platforms. On that note let’s get into the thick of this post.

First lets thing about two facts that have nothing to do with actually policy or the economic situation alone I think this is a great event.
1) It’s infusing a much needed interest into Canadian politics which been dropping in the recent elections which I feel is a result of a lack of any real solid front runners for our two main parties.
2) More importantly is anyone else flabbergasted that theirs some real cooperation going on between parties. After Multiple terms in the Martin/Dion, Harper, Layton Era that have seen our politics result in what seems more like school yard banter then people out to run a country I think it’s impressive to see relationships formed with the intent of governing the country based on team work not my stick is big then yours or you need me to get this through but your going to give me X to get it.

Now I'm no political scince major but lets look at why this makes sense from a political side to me as well.
3) This coalition government would represent the majority of Canada’s vote.
4) Our current world economy needs some drastic measures to ensure we continue to stay ahead of this recession and the Conservatives missed this point apparently (anyone remember the Japanese’s oversight not to long ago.)
5) In a minority situation Harper is attempting to move a platform/budget that is strongly conservative by tradition when that doesn’t represent the majority of the Canadians beliefs. I’ve been baffled by Harpers arrogance and bullying in the past but I never expected he’d step it up to this level regardless of some speculation during his second term he was going to lean further towards his parties belief, but I didn’t think he’d follow through. Then trying to keep power by tearing Canada apart reviving an issue that barely existed anymore through the statement that this is just a Socialist and Seperatist power grab is a disgrace. I can’t believe he’s trying t to bully his way and not earn his way out instead of convincing us he is right.

I’m going to take a little side note here to state that I’m amazed I don’t here many people agree with me on the following. But I think a minority government is the political structure I want to see effectively running a country. It’s keeps the parties in Check. Ultimately from coast to coast Canada’s people and their needs are very diverse and I don’t expect to ever see one party equally addresses everyone’s desires. As a result a minority government where the Prime Minister has to convince one of the opposition parties which represents a significant % of Canadians views to get something through only seems to make sense to me. I think to only problem is our current party leaders can’t put aside their childhood banter, trying to win the next election by degrading the other parties instead of based on their own merit, to work together and run the country with a government that represents the divided views of our Canadian citizens. OK enough of that rant.

Regardless of the outcome this will lead to some interesting times indeed. I look forward to following how this all unfolds in the months to come. I’ll also be honest and say I look forward to what may be the end of Prime Minister Harpers leadership of the Conservative Party and hope to see a new leader that’s a less of an Arrogant Bully.

August Long Weekend - Bromont WC and Whiteface Mountain.

2008-12-16T00:48:00.000-08:00

August Long weekend me and Drew planned a little intense weekend around the WC Bromont but what a weekend it was. Friday we started off making the 4 + hour drive to Kingston (damn cottage traffic had us arrive in Kingston a good 2 hours behind schedule.) But the beer was in the cooler with ice and Geoff and the girls where waiting to BBQ dinner and one thing led to another and no one got to bed till 4 or 5 AM. However, being the troopers we are me Drew weren’t going to let a little lack of sleep stop us from making it to the WC so we where up and off at 8AM to make the DH Finals. We arrived and promptly tracked down some people to see how the Ontario riders and they represented well with where doing and we found out Rob Fraser from the team finished 112th (no small feat at 17). His training partner for the weekend Marcelo from Columbia, qualified for the finals on his Banshee Legend, Sheila squeezed in to the women’s final (and ended up 19th), Dean Tenant and Drew Pautler from Primary Devinci also qualified for the main, and Justin Brown rounded out the Ontario showing in 110th.

So after our quick update we hiked the course to see what had changed from the Canada Cup we raced early in the year, and they defiantly made enough changes to make this a great WC course. I wish I could have road the course. The bottom section had a new drop added that was about 6 to 10ft and the landing was in corner going the other way, a couple nice gap jumps, the berm after the long rockface that saw a lot of injuries at the Canada Cup was built up, and then the rockface that you road down after you shot out of the opening single track had a pro line option with a 15 to 20ft rock drop.

We ended up at the new drop just in time to watch the pro women launch of it without any signs of fear. And Rachel Atherton continued her dominance wining the women’s category. We had hiked down to one of the more tech sections for the men and watched the top men make everything look so smooth and witness some awesome riding up close. Sam Hill was the man of the day with the seemingly regular top 4 standing atop the podium Hill, Peaty, Minnar, Gee. Then Marc Beaumont rounded up the top 5. Next up was the 4 X course which was awesome, and we saw some tight racing, huge bails, and stood beside the Santacruz Syndicate as they drank and funneled beers through air horns. After dinner and pint we where off to Whiteface New York, for a day of DH riding.

We didn’t arrive till after midnight and after only a few hours of sleep over the last 40 hours I passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow. Sunday we where greeted with rain for our day at Whiteface, but that was going to ruin our spirits so geared and headed up the Gondola to the top and followed Mikes first run suggestion of the complete 26 where it intersects with 27 the second time to 4 (or something) for our first run and found out what whiteface is all about. Now I would have preferred have a warm up run before being thrown down the mountains toughest run (I’d suggest going 23 -24 – 25 as a good warm up). With the slick mud, rock, roots and rain 26 had to be the toughest trail I’ve had to navigate. Not steep but tough with lots of big rocks and some steep of camber stuff. I’d love to go back and rip through it in the dry. Or at least dry enough that my hands are slipping of the brakes and handlebars. So how do you sum up Whiteface, the hill with the most potential east of the Rockies? Lots vertical, Lots of potential for Growth, some awesome trails, and non existent line ups (we walked straight onto the lift every time). What’s missing? Well first off too many sections are tied together with fire roads and flat singletrack across the mountain (The fire roads wouldn’t be so bad if they where smoothed out a little) Some faster lest tech trails you can fly down, get some air with tables and berms, more Intermediate/Beginner Terrain I wouldn’t have wanted my first day on a DH bike to be there, and more riders. I wish Mike the best of luck, he was great, and is putting a lot of passion into the park and hopefully he can get the numbers he needs to continue growing the park till reaches it’s potential. For those of thinking of doing the 5K downhill race go for it.

After our ride we where headed back to Kingston for a DH ride in Kingston on J&J’s Farm trails which where a lot fun, just too bad I felt like S@#$ and couldn’t get a good ride in. Maybe I’ll be able to find time to head back in the fall before the snow falls.

Summer Update

2008-07-16T09:41:00.001-07:00

I know, I know I’ve been terrible at keeping on top of this with new and interesting stories ( Well I guess if they are interesting is up to you guys, but at least new stuff) Luckily I have a lot on my mind to write about so I should keep regular updates coming for a while. But first I’ll try and give a quick rundown on some of the exciting things that happened through the next couple short post.

So what’s happened? We’ll lets give you a little re-cap from where I left of to bring you to speed. First, Canada Day saw a quick little tour of BC with my parents, from Calgary across to Revelstoke and then down to Kelowna and back along the southern route. I must say I’ve fallen in love with the Nelson/Rossland area and could easily call that area home someday. The trip also allowed for some mountain biking at Kicking Horse and my first big mountain riding experience has me stoked to move closer to the area in the New Year. The trip was a little fast as there was business on the agenda but it definitely further opened my eyes to the fact that I’ll never call Southern Ontario Home

This brought me to ask myself even more about why I’m living in the GTA. The traffic, the commute, the stress and pace of live, and the distance from outdoors and I question why a lot of people choose to call this area home. To add to the negatives mentioned above that surround a lot of large cities, you can add to fact the cost of living keeps climbing and in among canada’s highest, however the median/avg. income continues to drop. Toronto’s average household income has now dropped below the national average which says something about where the economy is going. The staple of Toronto’s employment Bay street is even moving a significant number jobs to Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton. Leading towards a larger division and increase in Toronto’s wealthy and poor, as the middle class slowly disappears in this city. Toronto seems to be going the way of many US cities such as Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia in this respect.

Thankfully our social system and lower tolerance for Racism will ensure we never hit the extremes some of these cities see. However, I definitely do not see Toronto as one of the prosperous city and Canadian economic hub it once was. The city of Toronto is going to have to make some quick changes to keep it’s international reputation of a clean, green, with strong values, and being a melting pot of people, cultures and social status that all work together.

I returned to a weekend of leisurely racing with a fun team at Chico’s 24hrs of Summer Solstice (yes you can read fun as drinking team). This event should be added to as a must do for any mountain biker in Ontario. It’s a great event that really encompasses the mountain bike scene or vibe, with a mix of Pros and weekend warriors competing in categories from Solo (i.e. ride your bike in a 15 – 20KM loop for 24 hrs straight and see how many times you can get around, yes these guys are crazy), and then a variety of competitive and non-competitive teams in the 2, 4, 5, and 10 man team taking turns doing laps. There really is no reason to be intimidated by these events as 99.9% of the riders are courteous and just there for a good time. After racing multiple 24hr events on Competitive team aiming for the podium, this year we entered a 5 man team with no expectations other then to have fun. We did well considering we where a couple DH Riders, and guys who had not put in many KM’s this summer, with the exception Josh who ripped it up all weekend, we finished 15th out of 45ish team in our category and where short of a top ten by 2 mechanicals that weren’t fixed trailside. So not to shabby and ultimately we had a lot laughs, beers and fun.

Check back soon for a mountain bike season re-cap and a the results of my Nfld. adventure.

2008 Mountain Bike Season Update # 7 - Kelso DH # 2

2008-06-18T22:43:00.000-07:00

Well it’s been a few weeks since the last update after the two Quebec races. I must say I miss the bigger hills and technical terrain coming back to Ontario. Quickly bringing you up to date the last two weeks still saw me as involved as ever in the MTB scene, even without the racing. I completed the NCCP Level 1 Technical program (now I have to do the Theory so I can get certified), participation in the Kelso build day, and a weekend with some social rides as a little break from racing with the next few weeks going to be jammed with Racing. As we just finished Kelso DH # 2, next weekend is the 24 Hrs Summer Solstice, followed by the Horseshoe DH Race before the little mid-summer 2 week lull in my race season hits.

Last weekend the Ontario Cup Downhill racing returned to Kelso for race # 2 over the weekend on a brand new course, and the consensus is it was the best Kelso DH course yet, with a great mix of a flowing top section, into a wide open section with a nice step down, and then a small gap, into a fun tight section that some last minute rain as the race runs started made an interesting area with a lot carnage going on. As always A great job was done by Pete and his crew once again. Now if we can only find a way to double Kelso’s vertical we’d be golden. Maybe we could do a new all mountain race, starting at the top of the extreme trail ending with that new DH run step down and all. It would be a lot of fun to compete in an race format that would let Ontario’s DH and XC riders go head to head. Hhmm or cmaybe a collaboration between Pete and Chico and we could throw a challenge out to find the best overall mountain biker with a 20ish KM XC race on Saturday followed by a DH race Sunday, and the winner could be determined by a scoring system based on points assigned on your time spread from the first place rider in both races to find out who’s Ontario’s best overall mountain biker. I personally think a few DH Riders may just come out on top.

Enough with all that how was the racing? Well Great! Practice saw some great weather, not to much trail congestion and a lot of fun riding. For myself some good practice runs and things where looking good. I couldn’t wait to get going down the course on my race run hoping for an improvement on the last race. But a little twist was thrown in as Mother Nature dropped a 15 minute Thunderstorm down on us, to make things a little more interesting. My race run was a little disappointing however. After the start I came into the first berm funny ending up with my feet backwards, not a big time killer but awkward, the rest of the top section went smooth, the fire road and gaps golden, then coming into the tight wood sections still solid a little dab as I sciked myself out worrying it maybe be slippery from the rain, then coming into the next section I unclipped a pedal somehow dogging the trees at the top and did the steep and the drop with one foot unclipped, resulting in a little bobble at the bottom, slipping out a little. Determined to keep a good run tried to clip back in on time while getting and get in a couple pedal strokes as I commited to try and clear the double over the log in hopes of salvaging my run, but no luck clipping in under pressure forcing me to roll threw the sections terribly with no flow coming essentially to a stop and totally losing it mentally threw till the end. If I only took the time to clip in instead of scramble after the drop and I easily would have shaved 5 + seconds off my time. The up side is I know if I tie together a good run I can hit the top ten. I still finished 18 out of a field of 35 riders and it was a fun weekend regardless. The rest of the poisonfrog boys did well with a few personal best and almost everyone else finishing in the top 10.

The other sport class riders Grant and Trevor finished top 5 and top 10 respectively putting Grant in # 1 overall in Senior Sport with a 4th and 5th places (while fighting through a shoulder injury), look for him on a few podiums in the near future. Ben ripped it up in Junior Sport with his best finish ever at 5th. JP bailed and still only finished about a second out of 1st taking second place. Watch for JP and Rob to be chasing each other for the top spot on the rest of the Jr. Ex. podiums this year. Jeremy ripped it up, with a time of 1:17 getting a solid third in Masters discovering bronze medals serve as good beer bottle openers, Kristen was one step off the podium, Chad ripped a good run, and Moose well?? Whatever did happen to mosse no one saw him after his run as he disappeared quickly? Well, that’s it for now and I’m looking forward to Horseshoe!

Once again thanks to Intense from Dropmachine.com, Rick Loftus, and JuanTV from ubiketv.com for the awesome pics.

User Groups and Sustainability?

2008-06-18T22:02:00.000-07:00

The topic of trail users damaging the ecosystem seems to keep coming up in discussions around me lately. Some discussions positive and some negative. Groups like Sirbikealot Racing, Kelso, the Ontario Fereration of Snowmobile Clubs, and IMBA - Internation Mountain Bike Association (I'm still not convinced that all their re-routes are necessary but they are doing the right thing as a whole) etc. have been putting in a lot of effort into sustainable low impact trails over recent years. However, our public image isn’t necessary improving by leaps and bounds. After being asked the other day how can you call yourself environmentally responsible while participating in hobbies such as Motorcycling, Snowmobiling, Quading and Mountain Biking without feeling guilty? I figured I should say something. ?????? How do you address this question! Lets look at it through two points.

Firstly I'd ask what is the true impact of these groups. Our core environmental problem do not result from the recreational users. I’d be surprised if recreational activities even make up 1% of the overall environmental problem/impact after you take into consideration the footprint left by corporations miss-use of our resources such as non-sustainable logging practices, oil extraction and processing, mining, steel production, etc., then add the environmental impacts of transporting goods in our current global economy by boat, planes and trucks, wait now don’t forget all the commuters. I think you’ll find the recreational impact becomes a minute point. Ultimately I think their interest in protecting these areas benifit the protection of the environement which is where I'll go with point#2.

Most recreational users implement practices such as bring out what you bring in (many bring out more then they bring in, and sustainable trail usage i.e. not to mountain bike in a sensitive area after rain for example). Many also argue that simply using the land damages the natural habitats and vegetation. I also think this is often blown out of proportion. Find a mountain bike trail that has seen 10 years of traffic but has been closed for about 2 or 3 seasons and you will most likely see that the vegitation has taken over the trail in most cases. However, we do realize that sensitive ares need to be protected and the trends in trail building are towards building “sustainable” trails that minimize the environmental impacts. Involvement from Environental Scientist or Biologist in reviewing plans and evaluating areas for new trails is quickly becoming the norm. Many leaders in trail building now even come from an environmental background. I believe both of Ontario’s principle race promoter come with educational backgrounds in environmental science for example. The majority of those large beaten paths through the woods you find unsightly and damaging are generally from old logging operations, farming and back roads traveled by heavy vehicles. Also agruments are often heard that motorized recreational products simply cause polution with no real need. However, this is being minimized with motor sports users making purchases based on cleaner product with this trend being reflected in the sales of Yamaha Canada’s nearly exclusive use of cleaner running 4 Strokes and BRP/Envinrudes Ecotec 2 Strokes engines running cleaner, quiter and more efficiently.

Secondly I actually think recreational users may be part of the solution. We have a vested interested in protecting green areas and the environment because without them our hobbies would no longer be accessible. Quite often you will find that the majority of people who participate in these types of activities are the primary advocate groups for environmental protection and are often leading the clean up initiatives, protection and lobying. I don't think many will argue that the majority of the spring cleanup in Toronto’s Don Valley due to the garbage from the surrounding apartments are done by the mountain bikers who use the area. To expand on being a primary advocate group when it comes to protecting these areas. We have a strong interest in protecting the areas we use as escapes into mother natures heart because we’d all mostly be admit into insane asylums if we where all left living in the hustle and bustles of North America’s cities without our escapes.

That's all for my thinking aloud (I'll have to re-read this later, I doubt this article will stand on its on two feet with the little thought or research I put in, but hopefully it may make you think a little). However, next time you think of trying to ban a user group or attack them because of your perception that they are the cause of our environmental problems, or deterioration of your favourite park or conservation area why not try working with them and hopefully you will find 1) they are on the same side you are and 2) the extra impact you have due to the increased number of supporters will fast track your efforts to stop the true villains.

Oh and a quick thanks Dave Stone as I stole the pictures from him (sshhh don't tell him)

Kiss the Flag

2008-06-04T20:41:00.000-07:00

Bellow you'll find the lyrics to Kiss the Flag by Evans Blue which I think does a great job at capturing the situation many soldiers and their families are going through. I thought I'd share them with you after reading an article in the Toronto Sun about approximately 200 US Iraq war registers who have fled to Canada to avoid being sent to the War in Iraq. I generally keep my thoughts on the war fairly quiet because I'm slightly embarrassed to say I feel that I'm not educated enough on the subject to really make an informed decisions on what's necessarily right or wrong, true or false. I definitely have a lot of respect for our troops in Afghanistan who are oversees trying to help rebuild and provide stability to an area that most of them had never been too, did not know anyone from, and ultimately addressing problems that did not directly affect them, their friends or their families. On the other hand of the Iraq war, I can say I did not approve of Saddam Hussein and his regime. I'll ultimately admit they scared me a little. However I don't think any of us can argue the against the fact the US had some ulterior motives to go into Iraq that they weren’t up front about, and should have waited for a mission approved by the United Nations if their weren't any other motives.

The article in the Sun definitely brings an interesting topic for debate. They use the example of Phil McDowell who after 9/11 enrolled in the military to defend his country. However, after serving in Iraq from March 2004 to March 2005 says "I trusted my government that we were going to enter a justified war". ... "I felt betrayed". After being ordered back for a second tour of Duty he sought asylum in Canada, similar to nearly 50,000 US citizens during the vietnam war. Now with a motion in parliament which has the support of the three opposition parties’ to stop the removal orders of those who have refused or left military service related to a war not sanctioned by the United Nations a decision will be made if they have to return to the US or not. I think this definitely puts Canada in an interesting position as a country who’s citizens on average do not support the war in Iraq would lend to the majority of Canadians supporting their residency in Canada. However, from an international relations point of view it is difficult for us as a nation to not support the US. (http://www.resisters.ca/inthenews.html for some more info on the issue)

Anyways enough of that finally I'll mention the other reason I chose to post this, which is to support a great Canadian group that has a lot of talent with a vocalist who does an amazing job at capturing emotion in his lyrics and singing. I highlighted a few of the lines I think are more powerful. You can listen to the song here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6W7runJ8qU (a video the singer put together.)

Don't shoot, until you see
The red and white
And blue in my eyes
They say were straddling fences
And it's not so comfortable

He thinks he grew up to be boring
And so he goes to change his life
I saw you get up on your toes
But don't step back too fast
Or you'll cut yourself in half

I wanted,
All I wanted was to find
Something here inside of me they couldn't keep
They woke up to hear me screaming

Just shoot until you see

The red on white
And blue in my sky
The proof is in the pictures
And it's not so comforting

He knows that one day they'll ignore him

And push him to the side
He said he kissed the flag before he died
He took one for his country
She said i'd do anything to have him back

I wanted,

All I wanted was to find
Something here inside of me they couldn't keep
They woke up to hear me screaming

God help us Can we really win this fight
Cause no one knows which side you're on
Anymore, anymore
I'm lost and by myself

When this ends

Will freedom be the casualty
Or will it only
Will it be, only me
Will it be, only me
Will it be, only me

I wanted,

All I wanted was to find
Something here inside of me they couldn't keep
They woke up to hear me screaming

God help us

Can we really win this fight
Cause no one knows which side you're on
Anymore, anymore
You're not lost or by yourself

If you like this song a couple more you can check out

Beg - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82k6n1EjOf8
Pin Up - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBi2lsFDnDQ&feature=related
Quote - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9AgYM5urZQ

2008 Mountain Bike Season Update # 6 - Mont Tremblant Canada Cup/Quebec Cup DH

2008-05-26T11:01:00.000-07:00

Tremblant Canada Cup? Interesting weekend to say the least! The course definately won't fall on one of my Top Ten places to ride lists. The flow is minimal, the majority of the tech sections aren't traditinal DH in my opinion, lots of rocky pedally sections (kind of like riding XC on big bike to handle the rocks, which may sound like an odd complaint comming from someone who races some XC as well), fast sections are mostly just long wide open fire roads, minimal berms, jumps or drops? I was actually quite suprised because the hill has so much potential with the terrain and vertical that this was the course layout they choose for the Canada Cup. You'd think after apparently running the identical course years they'd build something a little more flowy, with more steep section, and do something with all the open sestions (some berms, some jumps or maybe drop vs. just hammer across a field). However, Will I be back next year? Most likely. Did I have a great time? Definately. Was the racing great, tight and filled with excitement and suprises? Without a doubt! It was a great place to hone some skills where you can't use momentum to just plow over stuff, a great environement around Tremblant and DH scene as always, and ultimately resulting in a weekend of fun riding and racing.

So what hapened? The story of this weekend was Rob comming back from his 15th place at Bromont, where he knew a mistake cost him the placing he wanted determined to show what he could do. He spent the weekend dialing in runs and lines with determination and all the hard work paid off. A time of 4:43:050, killing the Jr. Ex field and finishing 11th in Pro! I think he made his statement. Can't wait to see what this step up in confidence will do for his riding and focus over the next couple of sesaons. For myself and the rest of the poisonfrog.ca crew can't say the runs went as well. After strugling a little in most of the practice runs my last runs Saturday and Sundays went well and I thought my chances of meeting my goal of finishing about mid-pack in my class should have materialized, but the stars wheren't going to line up for me. The first singletrack sections was the smoothest I'd felt all weekend, stoked and in the zone I come out to hammer into the two berms and heard the sound of metal breaking. Thinking I just blew my dearailler I pulled over in utter disapointment, realized it was just my chain but decide to DNF instead of run the entire course chainless and risk holding up the riders behind me. Plus with so many tech sections that you needed to be torquing the pedals to get through I can't imagine the hike a bike through the rock gardens would have been any fun. As for the other riders on the team simialar runs where had. JP had bike issues off the start, and had a dissapointing run. (However I must say he was one of the fastest riders going through section just above the off camber wet rock, all the while yelling out to us "this is a shit run".), Ben blew his chain a little further down the course then I did, and Chad had a decent finish with a 6th place but he caught up to the rider ahead of him who wouldn't move and he lost a lot of time making his run quite frustrating as well. But that's racings.

All in all I was quite bummed at the end of my run and watching people run through the course. Seeing how many sport riders where bailing everywhere didn't help because I was pretty sure I could tie together a relatively clean run without bailling at least. However looking back on things today the weekend as a whole was a blast with a lot of good riding which I'm sure improved my skills riding through muddy rocks on Saturday. Some good times where had over beers with a bunch of the Ontario riders, as well as Andrew and Laura who came up for the XC Race. And Steph managed to somehow keep me entertained over the 12+ hours of driving over the weekend. Leaving me wishing the next race was comming up sooner then it was to try and forget about that snapped chain.

Last note huge thanks goes out to Kevin and guys from the Norco Factory Support team for helping us out (me and Rob) before our race runs with some tech issues. With the limited resources we had available in Quebec and lack of a shop in Tremblant (Rob busted a derailler hanger and I needed a brake bleed) neither of us would have had the opportunity get in race runs to our fullest potential without the help. It's great to see the support of the sport and sportmanship between the Ontario riders and teams.

The Blog should be quiet for a few weeks with no exciting plans over the next few weekends. See you on the trails.

2008 Mountain Bike Season Update # 5 - Bromont Canada Cup/Quebec Cup DH

2008-05-14T10:01:00.000-07:00

Last weekend me and Andrew headed up for the Canada Cup in Bromont, which I have been Stoked about for weeks now with the DH course layed out basically the same as the World Cup course comming to Bromont later in the season.

«The new downhill course, already under construction, will be created in a hostile environment filled with rocky outcroppings, wooded sections and abrupt descents. Many tight corners, jumps and other obstacles will follow one another to create a course with a difficulty level that even the most hardy downhill kamikazes can scarcely imagine.»

Here's a few pics from walking the course Friday

Well the course was sick and had pretty much everything you'd want in a DH course. The top section was part of an existing run (Boomerang for those of you who have been to Bromont before), with some fast singletrack strewn with rocks and roots to rip through, shooting out to a smooth slightly off camber rock face. The second sections was the tech rock section that saw a lot of bodies laying across the course, and was wicked when you tied together a clean run through it. Then the bottom third of the course was flat out, with some nice berms, a few new singletrack sections that seemed to change a little with every run ending with a gap to flat landing just before the finish. The bottom sections needs a little work before the world cup to add a little more excitement in my opinion but the course was a perfect run for the season opener. One of the highlights was watching the top 20 Pro riders rip the tech section, with the UCI points so important a lot of the top Pros from Canada and a few from the States made it out to tear the course a part. It's unbelievable how fast these guys can ride and how smooth and in control they are riding on the edge. The run that stole show for me was Steve Smith (even if he finished 2nd by 2 seconds because he bailed in the wide open bottom portion he was definitely the fastest man on the hill). Anyone who watched him rip through the tech section we where at was astounded as he killed a line the way no one else did all weekend. Airing the entry to the section, and flying through the rock sections like I would never have thought possible. I think Andrew summed it up with "Holy S$%t that was retarded."

Rob and JP from the team where rippin' all weekend. I think you are going to see these kids on a lot of O-Cup podiums this year and wouldn't be surprised if either made it on podium at Tremblant either. JP killed his race run riding on the edge, rolling the rock steps on his front wheel barely holding on and finished 7th, 4 seconds off the podium and about 2/10ths of a second out of the top five. (check out the video of him riding the front wheel out through the steps down, the crowd loved the recovery as they all though he was done for.) Rob was also killing it all weekend and finished 15th in tough field but had to dab a foot at the bottom of the off camber rock face to berm costing him 5 to 10 seconds which would have put him right with JP in that tight 5th to 10th spot. Watch out for him at Tremblant as I think he might have something to prove.

So how was my weekend. Well all in all wicked, Friday around lunch walked the course and was getting pumped, but Friday afternoons practices runs went terrible. First I put on a 38tooth Chainring for the weekend but my bash guard wasn't large enough to prevent my chain from bouncing off, and it came off 2 or 3 times per run (once in the fast bottom section which resulted in a painful bail at who knows how many KM's per hour and some nice purple bruises on my thighs). The chain issue made the first day frustrating, and to top it off a mistake in the tech section pierced my rear brake line resulting in a loss of brake fluid and my seat. So that night saw us track down an E-Thirteen chain guide and Selle Italia seat at Intersport. Installation of the E-thirteen took a little fabricating to clear the swingarm as they didn't have an SRS wide but we got it on in dark under the tent by the campsite. A new day and on run one a flat on the front tire. I'm thinking here we go again, but the rest of the day went better and ended with a few good runs and dinner combined with a couple pitchers instead of bike maintenance. Saturday also saw Andrew rip the XC course finishing 6th after 5 laps around a course with a stupid climb up the ski hill and some tech rock sections. Looks like Andrews finally coming into his own this season after a few rough starts.

Race Day, I'm feeling a little tired from two night sleeping in tents and some not so smooth practice sessions, but I'm looking forward to lining up. Around 9:30 up the lift for the mandatory practice run and hopefully to set the stage for a good day and I bail in the tech section ripping my shifter off the bars and this is starting to look like the start of my Kelso race. Thankfully the guys set up beside us, had a spare X.9 Shifter they hooked me up with and I scrambled up to the lift to hit one full practice run before the race, and to my relief it went smooth. I felt that if I could do the same on my race run with a little more pedaling, it would have got me the results I wanted. So now with some time to kill I figured I'd hike up and meet Andrew in the tech section to watch a few of the pros in the Jr. Ex/Pro only practice. Unexpectedly at this point I witness a bad crash by one of the Elite girls, and ended up involved in a back boarding situation due to my Ski Patrol experience. I want to give a pat on the Back to the Safety Crew at the race as they did a spectacular job tending to the situation. It makes you feel better lining up to race, as we all know the risk we are taking that if something does go wrong the right people and equipment is there. I usually wouldn't comment on this but everything turned out reasonably well thanks to her protective gear. If you can read French visit her site http://www.marieevemarcotte.com/index.html to get the story from her perspective. She's one tough girl and I can't wait to see her ripping up the course in the near future.

Up the lift for my run and it went well but not great. It was clean, no falls, no feet coming off the pedals, but I'd guess my last practise run was about 5 to 10 seconds faster and I should have been able to shave that 5 to 10 seconds off my race run. My time of 3:43 saw me come in at 40th out of I believe 65 riders (58 who finished) which is about where I thought I'd place however I was hopping to place closer to the middle of the pack for my first Q-Cup race i.e. top thirty in this large field. All weekend I felt best about the top section but after a few hard bails in the practice runs I was little shaky off the start and lost some time through that sections before I settled down. I would have been happier with a time around 3:33 to 3:35 but hey that's racing. If you can't get focused and push yourself on your one race run you won't be seeing the results you wanted. However the race run and the weekend was still awesome, with support and cheering all the way down and the end of my run felt good as I caught the rider who left ahead of me at the bottom of the course and felt good about how I rode the bottom third of the course. Now it's back to work for 3 days and off to Tremblant Canada Cup/Q-Cup #2 (I've had a few questions about which pics are of me since we're all geared up, I'm in the last two above)

I'll leave you with a bunch of pictures from thedave on DHRACER.COM who had some great shots giving you a good feel for most of the course.

Reversal of Globalization?

2008-05-11T19:17:00.000-07:00

For my birthday a couple of weeks ago I received, Let My People go Surfing by Yvon Chouinard that I look forward to reading. Yvon is the founder of Patagonia (an outdoor clothing and gear company) and has strong views on corporate/social responsibility and protecting the environment and ethical business practices. His book should prove to be quite interesting as he essentially covers three topics, creating a successful company you are passionate about, being environmentally and socially responsible and it is also kind of an autobiography about an interesting life following his passions. Skimming through the book (I still have to finish my book on Marco Polo before I can sit down and read it) he brought up a point that got me thinking a little and could generate a lot of discussion about the future of our economies.

In the reprinted version from 2006 he added an intro discussing what could essentially be a reversal of globalization to a certain extent, with a localization of our economy. His reasoning brings up some interesting thoughts.

"A dozen books have come out about oil, all pretty much saying the same thing: the end of the petroleum era will come sooner then later and we should prepare for a lifestyle that will be far different then what we have been enjoying for the last 150 years"

With the increased cost of energy comes an increased cost of transportation. The primary cause is the cost of oil, resulting in the cost of fuel going up, but also with the increases in energy costs results in the cost of building and maintaining trucks, boat, planes, etc. When you take the example of the clothing manufacturers they tend to follow a process similar to the following; Purchase cotton from Turkey, ship it in bales to Thailand to be processed to fabric, then shipped to Texas to be cut, next off to Mexico to be sown and finally back to a warehouse in the States before being redistributed across North America. As transportation cost are going up, they may soon outweigh the cost of manufacturing and materials in certain cases ultimately making a global economy based on cheap transportation unsustainable.

What effects would this have on our economies? Canada Exports nearly $500,000,000,000 in merchandise goods each year. Would the effects of localisation and curbed international purchase by Canadians be enough to counter these losses. How about a country like Australia that does not have the natural resources needed for food or to obtain lumber for construction? Will their economy be able to swallow the increased transportation cost? Crude oil cost have increased nearly 400% since 2003 and nearly 160% in the last 2 year! It's more than safe to say that outweighs inflation rates by an exuberant amount. Last time crude oil cost where rising this quickly it resulted in the recession in the early 80's. Now consider that many scientist estimate that our current access to oil supplies will last about 20 to 25 years before the extraction will become much more costly to get to the oil reserves that are more isolated. Will we be able to bounce back from a recession in the same way if the oil isn't as accessible anymore?

Needless to say the research into new forms of energy, hydrogen, solar, wind, Biofuels, etc. may eventually curve these increasing cost meaning business as usual but with the continuous reports how quickly our situation is decaying it leaves you to wonder, how much things will change in the next couple decades.

That's enough about the economy for now, contiue on and read something a little lighter like last weekends race stories or something.

2008 Mountain Bike Season Update # 4- Kelso DH O-Cup (Race Day)

2008-05-05T18:48:00.001-07:00

Well where to start, first I want thank Lee and the rest of the guys from the team (Poisonfrog.ca) for an awesome day. It wouldn't of materialized the way it did without their help. (Especially Chad's who bailed me out with a fork when mine seized up). So how was my first DH Race? Things didn't roll as smooth as I would of liked but all in all the race was awesome. After Saturday's mudfest I didn't get in the practice runs I wanted but I wasn't in a hurry to get up the hill first thing in the morning either. I was hoping after a few riders rode the course it would dry up a few lines. So I got there around 8:45 with the goal of hiking the hill between 9:30 and 12:30 and hopefully getting 5 or 6 faster runs to get comfortable with my lines so I could pin it on the race run.

Well turns out the old Manitou Stance that was filling in as I'm waiting for my Boxxer decided it had had enough with yesterdays conditions and seized up on me. Thankfully Chad felt pity on me seeing the condition of my old Stance on the new Banshee and brought a Sherman in case I wanted to swapped them up. It was no longer a decision between more practice runs or a better fork, but a necessary change. After all was said and done I only managed 2 practice runs, and a hike up the bottom section for a third run through the bottom third of the course. So not feeling like I was comfortable enough to run at 100% of race pace as I probably would have made a few errors (whether it be the rock drop, the jump to log drop, or one of the off camber corners) I changed my game plan to running about 90% and just hitting a clean run on Sunday to help clear the nerves for the rest of the year. I also figured if I can make a clean run through the top rock section and then just flow through the rest I'd stay above the bottom third because the course is to short to make up the 5 to 10 seconds for bailing or uncliping somewhere. So what was my first race run like? Lets take you for the ride.

Lining up was a nice change from the XC scenes mass sprints, a lot more chill, more like buddies about to hit any other run than in intense I'm have to blow you away of the start. Then you're up, with a 30 second gap between the last rider. Right gear selected for the start? Check! Deep breath, focus, 5, 4, 3 ,2, 1 clip in and go. 3 or 4 smooth pedal strokes, try and pump down the first jump getting as little air as possible to pedal into the first small rock garden as fast as possible, pump, pump into the first two undulations, hop the last rock, turn right, pedal drop two gears to pedal through the flat between the first and second major rock sections. I'd been taking the right line over the second rock garden which meant going up the straighter but rockier/steeper line to the right where you used the first portion of the rock to hop up the rest of the rock garden. (Since I didn't have time to get comfortable with the rock drop in practice it left you a better line into the B route around the rock drop so I didn't feel the "easier" option to the left was the right choice). Tight left out of the rock garden staying on the rock around the tree for a clean line into the B route, shift up two gears before dropping down and into the flats and I've cleared everything that was "technical" using the lines I wanted and a few cheers coming over last garden and down the chicken run that I was looking good had me off pedaling the flat section.

Flat section, 1) remember to breath (thanks for the reminder Stephie, I probably would of forgot till I was half way through and breathless), coast through the last turn and catch your breath at the end, pedal, pump down into the jump (i.e not doubling over the log drop), off the little drop, take the high left line, pedal, pedal, jump through trees over the little gap and clear the roots at the bottom no problem, oops no a little to far to the right, slide the back end out and get back on line lost a few more second there, damn it. OK focus, through the trees, take the left line off the last log drop, hold a line as far left as possible, then down and I didn't get up as high on the off camber as I would have liked to carry more speed, jump to berm, hammer through the bottom, through last rock sections, and hammer to the finish line and done, gasp for air, gasp again.

A time of 1:52, 21st out of a field of 42 so bang on Mid-pack leaving me stoked for the next race knowing I could have shaved a few seconds off that run by simply pushing a little harder if I was confident and I'm pumped for the next races which should be a alot tougher running the Q-Cups/Canada Cups in Bromont and Tremblant, but also alot of fun running the Quebec terrain.

A quick congrats to all the racers, as a team the guys well, Rob cleaned house, Kristen looked great, Jer and Chad laid down good runs, Matt was killing it all weekend, got unlucky with a flat but still rode the whole course faster and smoother then I did with a flat tire. I now know I have to chase Grant down in the practices runs if I want to set sights on a podium as he was one step away, and JP was looking good all weekend but had some shotty luck on his race run. Can't wait see everyone out at the second Kelso race and thanks to Pete and the rest of his crew for a great event, Cycle-Solutions for all their support, and finally Jaime (dropmachine.com), as well as Lee and Greg (www.poisonfrog.ca/Photo_Gallery/p17_sectionid/15) for the images on the last two posts. (In case you are trying to decipher who's who, I'm plate 335.)

2008 Mountain Bike Season Update # 3 - Kelso DH O-Cup (Practice Day)

2008-05-03T20:42:00.001-07:00

First I'd like to thank Jamie Edmundson of Dropmachine.com for the use of the pictures.

This weekend is my first DH race, showed up with a mix of excitement, adrenaline and nervousness. At least I wasn't coming out to beat anyone but myself, or place anywhere in specific but secretly hoping to stay our of the bottom third. Ultimately I didn't put any pressure myself. I tried to go out for some practice runs on Friday hoping to get really comfortable with the course, but the Kelso staff stopped that idea since they try to minimize the riding in wet conditions. I ended up walking the course and by the end and was stoked as the course looked fun. However, I was also a little nervous about the rock drop, which the drop itself is nothing to worry about (maybe 4 ft) but the run in makes it tough to set up as you are coming down a rocky face with only about a bike length to settle and hit the drop. The majority of those who hit it make it look easy, but if you don't hit the little flat properly before the drop you are most likely doing an endo over the rock face.

Saturday morning came with a tacky course the first few runs went well. I hit everything smooth with the exception of taking the chicken run around the rock drop, but was hoping to make a few runs at it in the afternoon. However, before lunch the downpour started and it rained all afternoon turning the rest of the day to a slop fest. I must say that the vibe was awesome though. It seemed to turn into an afternoon where everyone looked like ten year olds having fun in the mud on their bikes. Kind of brings you back to what used to bring excitement to biking when you where a kid. Needless to say I'm sure there won't be one line tomorrow that was the same as today. They are calling for a nice day tomorrow, but things where so wet I'm skeptical on the courses ability to dry out. The only mishap of the day was on my first run down after the rain started there was a little double at the bottom of the course that I had hit the first couple runs as a double, however the combination of a muddy run in slowing you down and the lip softening up, I managed to get enough speed to put my front wheel right into the gap and send myself over the bars. Over to the right is a picture of the line up for the hose at the end of the day, I'm in the clean blue rain jacket near the back of the half hour line. Looking forward to tomorrows race.

Finally I'd like to end off with a comment on the new Scythe after it's first real ride. Banshee has came along way in the last couple years with their design. The bike was solid all around, railed the lines you wanted, easy manipulate through the rocks, pedaled well and overall just a great package. The team also had a couple guys riding Wilcards and Ramparts, and the same thing was being repeated regardless of who was on which bike, this bike rips!

The Art of Living

2008-05-03T20:08:00.000-07:00

“A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labour and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself he always appears to be doing both.” – Francois Auguste Rene Chateaubriand

I thought I'd share this quote because I feel it really resonates my view on how we should be evaluating our careers and lives. Ask yourself does your current job or direction in life reflect who you really are? Does it reflect what drives you and what you enjoy? Don't get me wrong and read this thinking that I'm suggesting you all go out, quit your jobs, and just play. You need to find a balance of rewards between self-fulfilling and financial. Personally I think I've put myself on the right path with my career move to Yamaha Canada, providing me the opportunity spending everyday around an industry I'm passionate about. Hopefully while working my way through the ranks I also manage to find a position that reflects my personality quite well. However, for the guy who plays Sudoku on his lunch break a career as a financial analysist may the right choice, if they couldn't pull you away from the building blocks as a kid maybe a career in structural engineering would be a fit, or if you are as compassionate with animals as you are with people, you should end up being a Vet, or maybe an animal trainer. I could go on and on with examples.

The other questions I would ask is why do so many people accept a career that doesn't reflect who they are and the really don't enjoy? Social status, expectations put on you by others, to make the big money? Why would I want an exuberant salary? To afford trips, cars, toys, a big house and hobbies, makes sense. However, would someone like myself be better off to give up a big house and new car if you could do what you wanted every day? Maybe being mountain guide in the winter, and a bike/kayak guide in the summer? I wouldn't need as many holidays if I lived the life I wanted day to day and then would the material things really make me any happier? There's definitely a line somewhere between the two extremes that is the perfect fit.

Ultimately as the quote above mentions, the focus is to blur the lines between work and play. How much the line is blurred, and what side you stand on will be different for everyone you.

2008 Mountain Bike Season Update # 2 - Mansfield XC O-Cup

2008-05-02T21:00:00.000-07:00

Well it feels good to have the season in full swing again. After I got the cobwebs out over the first couple rides things are starting to feel good and I'm having some fun. Still no hardcore training (i.e. hill day, sprint day, endurance day, and recovery day), but really... I have no illusions of going pro. I'm currently a mid pack sport rider, with the goal of making expert in the next few years and I'd be ecstatic. In reality it's all about fun, getting away from the stress of life and getting a little adrenaline out. I didn't get anywhere near as much riding in before the mansfield race as I would have liked and feel like my asthma is acting up a little. So I had no idea how the start of the race season was going to go. Saturday I pre-rode the course with Dave and Andrew which went well, the course was fun, flowy single track lots of passing sections and the climbs aren't too bad. Should prove for some good racing and I'm hoping for a finish in the top 50% of the field.

Well... Sunday didn't go as well as I'd hoped. Saturday night was my birthday, but I behaved. Only 2 or 3 pints and was in bed before midnight (not the ideal pre-race routine, but it could have been worst. For those that where out with me I'm sure Kevin wouldn't have been up for much the next day). However, I was spacy most of the evening (anyone who tried to hold a conversation with me was probably wondering what planet I was on) and by the morning was definately feeling off my game. By the top of the first climb I was probably just a little below mid-field which would have been fine, a few spots back but I'd have almost 30KMs to make up some places. However my legs felt like I had just raced 50KM's by the top of that first climb and the race was less then enjoyable from that point on, frustrating really. So I simply hunkered down and peddled to get through the 3 laps and finish. Needless to say I'm looking forward to the second race at Albion as I should be able to gain 5 to 10 spots hopefully and have a lot more fun.)

The second part of Sunday was a little more exciting as Version 1.0 of the Scythe was built up. The build went relatively smooth, with a few hickups such as a brake bleed done with two - 2 TBSP oral seringes spliced together, a little use of a hack saw, and not being able to line up the rear brake caliper which lined up perfect first thing the next day without any modifications? After a quick ride in the Don the bike feels awesome, feels lighter than it is (haven't weighed it yet but must be just under 40lbs.), feels easy to throw around and with the 34tooth chainring it actually is quite fun trailriding. Tomorrow's the pre-ride for DH O-Cup #1 and I'm excited yet a little nervous that I haven't done any Downhill yet this season.

Here's a couple pics and specs.

New
Frame: Med Banshee Scythe
Rear Shock: Fox DHX 5
Rims: Mavic 321's (Currently my old Big Earl on the front till the other 321 is built up)
Bar: Truvative Carbon
Grips: Raceface
Tires: intense DH Lite WC 2.5 in the rear DH - 2 Ply 2.35 in the front
Pedals: Crank Brothers Mallets

Transplanted
Headset: Cane Creak (To be replaced with Chris King - Devolution)
Front Fork: 7" Manitou Stance (temporary till my Boxxer WC comes in)

Brakes: Hayes HFX9
Shifters: SRAM X.7
Dearaileur: SRAM X.9
Cranks: Saints
Rear Cog: LX (not sure if I'll be going with an XT or road cassette)
Seat: Big Earl
Once I get the Boxxer WC, and Gamut P40 I'll post up a couple more pics.