BikingBakke

Micro thought to Macro: Lights at Lodges to US and Global Economy

2012-02-13T14:25:00.001-07:00

I enjoyed the opportunity to listen to Dr. Larry Summers speak (impressive bio that can be summarized as “smarty pants, economics”). The U of C Public Policy school brought him up for his thoughts, but as well as an advocate for what well informed, rational, consciously limiting political bias thought can do for a city/province/nation. Intelligence can be mimicked by deep knowledge of the arcane that others don’t know (which in this case could be economic regurgitation), or by slick delivery (ie. he has no speech artifacts present, nor notes). Even more impressive was a lighting quick read and adaptation to audience, which indicates less pre-planned delivery and more thinking on the feet. And needless to mention, the circumstances, thought processes, and outcome guesstimates of the USA were insightful. And if 90 minutes of that wasn’t enough entertainment, “that which is not sustainable won’t be sustained” and “the US always does the right thing, after exhausting all alternatives” served as the entertaining tag lines to round out the selp deprecating economist jokes at the start.

Emerald Lake Lodge, Parks Canada, CRMR, energy use practices pontification

2012-02-13T11:29:00.002-07:00

OK, so let’s start off by saying I’m not an expert on energy audits, I’m just an informed observer (plus investment banker) who works mostly in the hydrocarbon energy space (financing those who find oil and gas) and who works as well with renewable power producers. That does involve the economics of each… not the fluffy feel good made up “wish it were economic” stuff, but things like loonies and twoonies real economics. I’m also a guy who has renovated houses and made consumer level cost/benefit analysis choices.

This weekend Cindy and I stayed at CRMR’s Emerald Lake Lodge. Lovely place, lovely experience. We did such environmentally friendly things as XC ski, snowshoe, and maybe more consumption focused activities like eating Caribou, Elk, and fish flown in from who knows where… anyway, got me thinking, and perhaps there’s room for improvement?

I took note of their power consumption and generation to a greater extent than most lodge stays. They experience frequent power outages, albeit for brief periods of time. When we checked in for Saturday dinner we made small talk with the maître d’ whom also does other roles around the place. He’s a Field BC resident, and said the GM lives in Field too, both long term employees. He mentioned they do struggle with the Diesel generators, and that they’ve had to replace them semi frequently over the last few years at a cost of like $40k. Also mentioned during cold snaps how super strained they become when people start trying to add heat to the rustic rooms with plug in space heaters.

I’m well aware that on grid, a lot of conservation technologies, whether it be reducing consumption or differing methods of generation, face tougher competitive economics – generating electrons is relatively cheap at least before politics and “wish it were economic” influences. Small scale generation with Diesel has a different set of economics (it’s expensive – generally speaking, generators are best run for short periods at max load). This got me thinking even more, and I recalled back to a trip through Argentina and Chile at the end of 2006, where even remote Argentine lodges had then-state-of-the-art compact flourescent bulbs and grassroots innovative ways to generate electricity (one that had a pretty rudimentary run of river system stood out). And that’s in a country/area with less societal wealth/technology availability than when you’re 2h away from Calgary and/or 15 mins off the TransCanada and the train line so anything can be brought in.

He also mentioned the National Parks are restrictive on allowing changes. I guess that’s their duty. Having said that, if there’s a Parks Canada employee whose job it is to turn down perhaps economic, innovative projects in favour of keeping the Diesel generators going, I think a head check could be in order. Silence is supposed to permeate the air, not generators (albeit down by the staff accommodation). Generally speaking, marginal power prices from Diesel generation cost runs over $120/MWh, with lifecycle cost including the generator, tanks, noise insulation, etc. usually well over $200/MWh. Needless to say, this his high relative to grid – which just emphasizes that in generation setting such as this, reduction of use becomes a greater focus.

Their web site says 24 cabin style buildings accommodating 200 guests in total. More importantly I think I read 85 various rooms between the lodges and cabins. There’s also common areas, hallways, checkin area, that gym area, and then what seemed like quite a sizeable spread of guest housing by the parking lot (where the generators were housed in reasonably camouflage but brand new wood fascia buildings designed to blend in).

So let’s say 85 rooms plus areas, plus another 15 rooms/areas (probably all bunks) for staff – round numbers is good. 100 rooms.

If our room was indicative of all, we had 4 lamps, 6 halogens, 2 other lights, plus bathroom lighting of 3 halogens. That’s 15 lights. We also had a stairs/hallway up with a couple, for a total of 17. They were all incandescent, burned out at a high rate I’m guessing (I observed two in our room that burned out in our two day stay, likely with the power cycling up and down/failing 4x we noticed during the stay).

They weren’t low Watts. Let’s say the bulbs were 75W and the halogens were 50W, and they were half half. An average of 62.5W * 17 is 1,062.5W per room. But intermittent and low utilization right? Yes, probably. But the architecture and rooms are rustic old school. When you’re in you turn on most of them we were finding. So say 1kW potential lighting only drain per room times 100 rooms = 100kW. Now that’s a number that can drive some small scale economics.

Wal-mart posted an analysis, and is implementing, switching to LED bulbs, even at a relatively high price point per bulb (a hugely different concept than “cost”). In their view, the power savings helps drives the economics, but further, so does the lack of bulb replacement. Without rigorous economic analysis, I’d argue that a Diesel generated resort vs on grid Wal-mart would have even enhanced electricity cost economic benefit. Also with Australian import workers changing bulbs at a higher frequency than Wal-mart employees changing fluorescent bulbs as the base case (based on the frequency of them failing in our room anyway, plus incandescent vs. CFL technology), the directional argument would go the same way. I bet Wal-mart’s analysis is pretty sound. And two directional points as above would lead me to the conclusion that it’s probably also economic to switch to LED bulbs (in the next year or two) for this resort.

Let’s say, conservatively, that each halogen and incandescent bulb is replaced (they make ones that fit each socket type) can produce equivalent lighting to the mixture noted above, for 10W a bulb on average. Peak room consumption would drop to 170W, peak resort (lighting) consumption would drop to 17kW from 100kW. Note that’s a big step change. The up front cash cost of this at $15/bulb bulk purchase would be on the order of $25,000 – note however this is less than the Diesel generator that was quoted as just being purchased, and which apparently powers out frequently. Any probability assigned to lessening the frequency of purchasing $40k generators would seem to be compelling. This also frees up capacity and likely alleviates the brown-outs from strained Diesel generation for washing, cooking, some space heating appeared to be electrical, computer networks, etc. all which are present. Caveat here is that $25,000 might be dropping $5,000/year for next couple of years. Guess it depends on how many generator replacements and brownouts one can tolerate.

So perhaps at the very least it a) keeps that generator running comfortably for years at lower fuel load, b) reduces the time people spend changing bulbs and the cost of it, and c) can improve uptime for lighting (not to mention computers, POS systems, etc.).

Island Lake Lodge has a micro run of river hydro system, which I understand may be harder to do in park land, but in reality they are quite non-intrusive. There’s significant head to work with, and with all the walking bridges over the river that runs out of the lake, I’d half bet you could conceal most of a generator under an interpretive bridge. If it is only able to be “half” concealed, I’d bet a small national park style plaque explaining what it is would just interest people more rather than it being labelled an eyesore. Not sure on year round flow rates, but it was cool this weekend and there was running water everywhere (both into and out of lake). Has some higher capital costs, but the useful life is long, the ongoing cost is low (free fuel as long as gravity and wetness are on earth), and is quiet. Depends on amortization period I guess, but seems to me the park, and the lodge, are going to be there in a hundred years (ie. half the intrigue of the place currently is entirely the fact that it’s old now).

A total side note would be to consider natural gas or propane Diesel engine bi-fuel modification (Enerflex among others do this). I presume they have fuel storage on site for space heating, not sure of natural gas (perhaps eliminates some capital up front). But the conversion kits show high payouts on continuously running Diesel engines, especially at current natural gas prices. Keeps same generators, reduces input costs. Economic for drilling rigs, for frac pumpers, etc.

Aside from all this half assed guesstimating, I’d think a real energy audit could yield the same results/directional push on economics alone. Plus, a national parks situated, semi remote lodge, may generate an intangible benefit of impressing its customers with such visibly progressive displays of striving for economics in tandem with “greenery”. If remote Argentine lodges could do it 6 years ago, why can’t we now?

And for my wingnut idea of the day, why does a large Diesel bus have to transport you 1km from guest parking to the lodge? That’s capital the lodge has to tie up… and it’s a large Diesel bus. Alternatives:

a) Tell the Aussie kids they get a lot of exercise here as the customers drive to the lodge (where there’s guest parking right out front for day use people only), and they valet them down to overnight, and *gasp* walk back up. 15 trips a day between 3 guys on concierge = 5 trips at 10 min each, equals one hour of walking per day.

b) Get someone to tinker with an electric tracked mega golf cart thingy. Like those old snow cat style boxes on wheels. What are electric’s disadvantages? Range and high speed. What if the thing’s whole purpose in life is 1km trips with no particular speed requirement?

c) Rustic – customers walk, gear is dog sledded. Or donkey pulled.

Seriously, a bus just seems like overcapitalization… it’s a semi-remote lodge, the attraction is being outside!

Random side note is that the availability of water or conservation of water is apparently not an issue there, perhaps Field septic can be used. Toilets are the old school high water volume kind, where as other self-sufficient lodges I’ve been to use more modern approaches.

Some of this is worthless pontification, but I believe there’s some merit. I’m not going to be back there soon, and I’m not collecting the lodge revenues or writing their investment cheques, so I have little say in it other than this hot air with a couple non-intensive research numbers.

Near Lake O'Hara

2012-02-12T14:48:00.001-07:00

Lovely snowshoe on way home today.

Emerald Lake Lodge

2012-02-11T18:49:00.001-07:00

Three and a half hours of XC skiing today and one hour of hot tubbing, combined with a leisurely breakfast and a mid ski hot chocolate make for a great day.

White Lightning, Jonny Rocket

2012-02-05T18:51:00.001-07:00

Please see White Lightning over there on the right, and Jonny Rocket tucked in behind.

Beauty day at Sunshine. White Lightning is solid all over the hill now, and turns on the jets on the groomers. Didn't even blink at that sketchy sidestep around to the shoulder 4m up on the rocks with only 6" wide to work with.

Jonny Rocket was on his own skis and boots for the first time today. He's skiied 8 times. But we all know Jon isn't timid when it comes to speed, steeps, or technical sections, and the terrain park. The bike gang had wondered what Jon would be like on skis. I can say he skis like an adult with superior strength and endurance, with the exuberance of youth he brings to everything, mixed with the downhill talents of a singletrack phenom, all in a 9.9 on the gusto scale and a 0.2 on the fear scale bombing around in a blaze of snowflakes. What did you expect?!

So much fun! Spent a few runs warming up, few challenging ourselves on some Standish steeps, then a half dozen speed groomers on Divide plus a trip through the terrain park each trip. I had a sweet jump on the big one where my left ski ejected on landing, and then my right about a second later. In a surreal outcome, I just boot skied the packed snow with normal form like nothing happened - the ejection was so clean. Turned around and they both were just parked on the landing pointing straight down with the brakes dug into the snow... but didn't want to try my luck again till after lunch and a binding snug up.

After a superb lunch with chili piled on everything we made our way to Standish, the terrain park, Shoulder, Goat's Eye and home.

Christmas saturday

2012-02-04T21:51:00.001-07:00

Huh?

Ok, this morning we rode intense semi slick mountain bike trails for 4h, it was awesome. First exercise I've done since TransAndes, and I felt a bit lethargic. Pulled out the old Specialized, which rides great, save for tires with no traction, so paid a bit for that on the ice. Generally I got schooled by the whole group.

Then it was delayed Christmas dinner, so a full house of action for 5 hours. Lots of food, photos and chat. Fun and tiring.

TransAndes debrief

2012-01-30T20:50:00.001-07:00

I really enjoyed the terrain, vistas, weather, people and overall experience. I'd really like to come back again. Cindy has expressed interest in doing the challenge version for the last three days, which is much more fun riding and just less pounding your head against the wall till it cracks. They do a good job of finding fun stuff to ride, with some that's harder too. Reminds me a bit of TransRockies 5 years ago.

Chileans are organized and calm. Even when foreigners would congregate on small hotel restaurants, join into one massive tab, rearrange the tables, and tell stories all aft with the South African's killing their cerveza supply, they weren't even remotely fazed... just nice and calm.

Food is fantastic in restaurants. Just tastes so good, and like there's very few preparatory steps and additives. Very natural tasting. Little light on the grainy mustard, hot sauce and pepper availability, but I'll try to fix that next time. Race food was typical camp food. Afternoons were good, dinners I had were good. Breakfast did the job I'd say, but not much more. Chilean wine offered at every meal tasted good. I need to design a mini spice kit for the road. Their idea of mess kits is good, but getting them cleaned just led to another line. A FIFO system at washing might be better than keeping "your own" plates each time.

I learned a lot more about Trish. She was super fun to ride with and I have more admiration/pride for her abilities and who she is through this experience by a long shot. She's so mild conversation, but has a huge killer instinct when it comes to competing. Deadgoat MVP! So calm all week, organized, super driven, never weak on the bike, and practising that Spanish! Great partner.

Superthanks to Cristobal Garcia for being the first to stop for Trish. He was riding mixed and was quite strong, and he expressed dismay (ok, let's say he was downright livid) that as he stopped a massive group of the Carmichael people went by, seemingly without care or just oblivious to someone who could benefit from some help, (and help like pronto). He then went to a farmhouse to call the police to get them to call the medics, which is why they were at that nearby corner. Very thoughtful. The medics were efficient and very nice, kudos to them. Superthanks also to John Ramsden for doing up the bandage roadside then later doing the staples for Trish.

Everybody knows Steve and Gerry are great riders, great beer drinkers, and great storytellers. Nothing changes!

My camping mat is 10 years old and it appears most new ones are half the size. I think it's time to upgrade. That makes a difference in a race duffel; especially if I can then fit an A1/mustard/tobasco kit. I've spent, and will continue to spend, enough time living out of race duffel bags to make that worth it.

I've brought a cold weather sleeping bag over bag for last few years, all it's designed to do is move the frost layer out on a winter bag. It's awesome cause it packs to the size of a watermelon without compression. Then I wear my clothes to stay warm if it's cold and save space. I was cold a few nights after losing my icebreaker sweater. I think it's time to get a compact, light, 15% warmer bag. Or maybe just a silk liner would suffice. We'll see.

Icebreaker merino stuff is awesome. Warm wet or dry, never stinks. Can bike, sleep or lounge in it. Excellent way to shrink the packing by needing less different stuff.

It's fun to watch bike trends and technology change. All these Cannondale 29er hardtails are lighter than my first road bike. I bet they'd be nice for this type of race. But not once during 6 days do I not love the Scalpel. It just works for me; I love the geometry and feel. It's been through a lot. Being realistic though, it might need a refresh if BCBR/TR/Breck all happen on that bike this year.

The big Carmichael group here is interesting. High price training and event package. Insular in culture from rest of race. Sets up aid stops 3m ahead of race provided one, instead of perhaps 3m after in same spot, which would make sense to me. This facilitates their people being able to yell at nearly every rider who rolls up just seeing a stop: "Carmichael group only, you go to next one". The girls working for them irked me early by being aggressive line cutters for dishes, silverware, etc. At the end, what matters is the event, scenery, I guess result to some, all for the combined experience. It wasn't immediately visible to me that *that* experience was going to create a better memory. To each their own. Amongst the race participants from various parts of the world whom we chatted to during the week, it did seem to do a good job of reinforcing American abroad stereotypes.

Speaking of training, it's amazing what a winter of 90 min intensity trainer rides can do for fitness in the off season. Felt good this race. Day 2 the climbs were so steep I couldn't even granny gear without blowing through my threshold, but was fine after that.

TransAndes Day 6 - Termas de Menetue to Pucon

2012-01-28T09:20:00.001-07:00

Final day was a 52km sprint to Pucon. Lots of road and gravel, little bit of climbing. We chased onto our front row starting competition after the first few climbs. We did cat and mouse on the rollers, and Trish apparently had nothing but jet fuel for breakfast cause the fire in her belly was stoked.

On the 10k of road we did essentially a neutral section with them on our wheel. I soft pedalled as to not burn out for the hills. Once we got to the gravel climbs, Trish started to fire off bullets. We talked about just sitting in, as there's no need to put in time, and 8 minutes is essentially insurmountable on a stage like this.

We hit a downhill with a bend at the bottom and Trish went a bit wide and had a minor wipe out. Picked up the bike and hopped on for the hill. I slowed down to see, cross chained, then broke my f'ing chain. Ended up having to do two quicklinks. Or I'd call them moderately prompt links. Probably wasted 8 minutes while Trish was solo with the team. I had confidence she could hold in. So by the time I got my act together, I was settling in for the mental task of the best time trial I could muster, and I was stoked as the light rain, cool, and terrain with fast gravel corners were perfect. Also plenty of people ahead now to catch for mini breaks, and the rollers I could do.

So head down for 10 mins as hard as I could go, then come to a straight and see a group of people in a gaggle at the side of the road. Then as I near I see John Ramsden's jacket (doctor who intubated the Shimano mechanic who got shocked by touching a tent pole to a power line after day 4) and he's talking to... oh no it's Trish!

So Trish had a high speed spill on the gravel. Said it didn't even hurt, and when she got up she was surprised it was even bleeding. But it was, a lot. Big elbow/forearm cut, and flap open on the knee. She had a bandage on that was soaked. We regrouped, and soft pedalled onward. Stopped at aid 1 but decided to keep rolling. Her arm was sore on the bumps. The Codigo33 emergency crew was at the T intersection a few kilometers later and we bailed for cleaning and prep for stitches. I held sterile water, tucked her into a blanket, and tried to draw attention away every time the guy wanted to show her the flaps of skin. Trish was pretty unfazed by it all. After cooling down for a half hour standing in the shade and cool breeze with intermittent sprinkles, I wasn't hot on riding, plus I had to go find bag three for Trish and get stuff ready for her at the end. We're a pretty fast DNF at least!

Jumped in an F150 Shimano truck and cruised in. Saw both the other mixed teams finish, they just looked at me funny like what was I doing there with a jacket on. Specialized was super nice and marvelled at Trish's strength, and the above picture kind of explained the rest. Giant team wants to do BCBR.

Steve had a fast day. Gerry all smiles at the line.

Termas de Menetue

2012-01-27T13:50:00.001-07:00

Nice lodge. They're expanding the restaurant patio toward the pool. Two more equivalent sized buildings to the left with hot pools inside. I like the natural wood construction.

TransAndes Day 5 - Termas de Menetue to Termas de Menetue

2012-01-27T13:45:00.001-07:00

Nice camping in the same spot again. Afternoon food at the lodge has been good (breakfast pretty thin/slow); pool is great.

Many said today was the hardest day. Fortunately Trish and I didn't agree!

We started today ~3 minutes up on a hard charging Specialized team who was attacking at every opportunity. Course was say 15-20km flat, 15-20 up, 15-20 down, then 15-20 return flat, for I think 78 in total.

The first 4k of neutral weren't really, as the pace was high and the pushing started right away. There was only two hills before a long flat stretch, we crested in good place and got to work eating dust for the next 40 mins. Spit and snot came out all black thereafter. Ugh. Mary McConnelug was smart having a dust mask. We got in some decent pacelines, then it was just me pulling Trish and a pack of others for a while. After reading excerpts of Scar Tissue that Cindy is working on, and the part about how the Chili Peppers wrote Give it Away, I felt less motivated to keep a tight lid on extra energy. So I just gave it away... then dug in to stay with Trish on the climb.

We saw our rivals a minute ahead on the road climb, and we just soft pedalled and ate before the massive spike up in the middle of the course. After aid 1 the climbing started in earnest - granny gear or walking trail that was super steep and say moderate technical. Trish of course has no need to dismount on this. We see the team ahead, girl is riding and guy is walking + pushing. Other people are walking. Trish takes the outside crap line and spins by on a steep part. I'm 10 feet behind and get glorious view of this deadgoat hall of fame moment. The girl lets out something in a whiny tone, hops of bike, and guy pushes both. Perfect. I ride by cause now's not a hot time to show the beads of sweat rolling off my brow, and once I pass they start bickering back and forth in debate. It couldn't have been better. Next time you see Trish, a cheers to this deatgoat moment is in order.

We keep climbing and putting in time, then it gets to forested trail that has big logs, ruts and steeps that are hike a bike. The team are true competitors as they pull it back together, and guy can push so strong for both on the hike that they reel us in and pass just before the crest (I think they also knew exactly where to turn on the jets before the crest).

Trish drops in to chase on the descent. I stop, eat, put on my gloves (off on climbs as it's so hot). I'm having a blast, and come up first to the girl. Trish had passed both somehow, and guy was chasing her and girl was holding on. I deke by the girl, the guy sees this at a wide spot and pulls over, and off we go on some really sweet singletrack around a beautiful high elevation mountain lake. Just a great trail. We spin away doing our thing.

Eventually we get to a super steep loose dust descent then gravel road with rollers where they catch up. Headwinds complete the picture. No way to achieve any separation practically speaking, so we sit in, and she gets pushed up every hill. Trish sits on the guys wheel and accelerates over each top, and if there's any help from me it's out of their sight. This plays headgames with them and forces 10 hard pedal strokes for them over each top.

They go intense on a downhill, and turns out they know a big suspension bridge is coming. We pull off the road and try to pass, but they were smart getting in first as the trail is pure dust. We have to hang back to see the surface, and even then Trish has a little wipeout.

They walk the hanging bridge first and attack on the downhill road. Smart move gets them 30 seconds. Trish goes across the bridge first, and I ask the guy if it's necessary to walk. He says everyone does cause it sways. But I ask if it's totally necessary. He said I could ride. Talk about vertigo - big gaps in the boards, but not as much as a mountain bike tire. Plus sitting on a saddle, the entire railing is below my handlebars. Sweet. We roll off and hit the jets on the downhill to aid 2, which is 2km away. They knew this too and loaded her up with drinks he carried so she blew by. We were dry but I took Trish's bottle to fill; Trish chased her.

It took me quite a while of uncomfortable tempo with an extra bottle in my back and my cheeks full of potatoes to catch on - just saw all three of them on the other side of a creek crossing. They had friends there handing them a bottle while rolling. Trish was ahead on a loose climb of baseball sized rocks, and she drilled it. They were ahead of me, on the two lines, pushing. They simultaneously dismounted and put bikes across the trail. I splashed through the river at full speed to take momentum up. I decided to go left, and it was all basketball sized rocks. I'd either look like a dolt and have some really dipshit wipeout or perhaps make it... and fortunately I Stappler'd out of the climb and made it. We hit the jets on the downhill and had a good gap. I pulled on the gravel road, then we saw 3 guys up ahead. Trish dug in and we caught on.

The three Chilean guys were aware of the competition, and didn't appear keen to have a freeloading pair on the last 20k of headwind... but we needed them to save me severe burnout. Making friends is easy with a headwind though. I got in a few big pulls, two other guys did say 25% each, and Trish and one tired guy held on.

Last 3k had a couple climbs then rolled in, the group just thanked us and let us roll in ahead, except for one dude who seemed to want to put in his 30 seconds more. Not a problem for us.

Bam! Checked my watch, got two big cokes and bananas, and counted minutes. Started they day 3 min up roughly (unless I missed another revision), and put in 5!

Cindy got the day off from logistics for running and pool time. Yesterday was more adventurous as Juan's girlfriend tried riding the challenge event for the last three days, so Cindy got to drive his Diesel 4Runner to the finish, sin directiones, sin Espanol, and sin petroleo (until a stop). How's that for a surprise Chilean pop quiz?

We've been sitting poolside to relax. Got in my first two 10 minute exchange the right ideas through crummy Spanish conversations yesterday and today with people asking about the race. Haven't seen Steve yet other than first climb, I think the relative lack of hiking will be good for his blister situation. Hear Gerry didn't start today but I don't know.

TransAndes Day 4 - Termas de Conaripe to Termas de Menetue

2012-01-26T17:59:00.001-07:00

First, the idea of riding from hotspring to hotspring through the Andes is a really good one, if you're into mountain biking.

Really enjoyable day. Gravel road climb off the start, some flats to cross a valley, then a 20km climb to the high point, followed by downhill to the finish with a few km of flat in the other valley. Roadie day in some ways, beautiful views of volcanos along the way. Great scenery overall in this part of the world.

We climbed hard off the start, and dabbled with some pushing due to some of Trish's gears skipping till we worked out some barrel adjuster strategy. Everyone else pushes to the max.

On the valley floor there was a bunch of singletrack that led Trish to get frustrated with the riding "skills" of the field, and did sweet blazing passes of handfuls at a time. I did a bunch of work on the flat keeping us in a group to draft, burnt a few matches.

We eased into the big climb, and right off the bat the Specialized Chilean team saw us and started pushing. Trish just stormed by and we didn't look back. I'd boost her over the steep to flat transitions to get her up to middle ring, and off we went on our own. I was feeling tired by aid 1, and chowed on potatoes as Trish motored off. Had to chase back on uphill with potatoes in my cheeks which took 10 minutes. Climb was long long, top was shaded in a beauty forest though. So hot at the top. I forgot to mention earlier, but the last few days when I'm completely strung out on the climbs, sweating as much as possible, I've really enjoyed the cool refreshing burst of energy from hot peanut butter Gu's. They should do egg nog too.

So I kept telling myself the top was near, just empty out and keep going, as I had caught Trish and was setting pace. That willpower worked until a last steep climb she spun up and I just gulped peanut butter for a second in the sun.

Didn't matter, downhill was a blast and easy to make up 10 seconds on. Long downhill on nice trail, then road. We screamed into aid 2, and as we were almost ready to leave, the other mixed team spotted us as they rolled in. They descend fast. The girl rolled on and dude grabbed stuff then took off. We caught on, then just sat in, as results showed us 12 min up (more on this math later). He did a large number of hero pulls, but eventually realized on a net downhill, separation wasn't going to happen. On the flats I pulled with another Canadian guy, and they sat on. I think if he pulled he would have just rode 15km/h in protest.

Turned left with 3k to go up a steep climb and she launches. He moves in for the push, and Trish follows. Unwilling to yield time at the end, I push Trish hard. Road flattens, then it happens again. Top of that one he looks over and I just smile. After he looks away I gasp for breath as I'm not made out of that many high Watt intervals!

We descend the hill, and at the bottom two cars try to pass each other (toward each other) on a narrow road. They squeak through better and make a gap. They look back, see it, and hammer. We think this is cheesy, and hammer to get back up to prove a point they don't get a second today, especially not like that.

Steve came in a couple mins after and liked the day. No dismounting, no blister pain. He's rocking his category.

We didn't see Gerry come in later but he sounds sore.

Tomorrow is supposed to be very tough. Despite the 12 min gap yesterday and no seconds yielded today, we're now 3 min ahead only. No idea really how that works. We jockeyed back and forth today and burnt some matches, so who knows.

The food at the lodge is great, we skipped the tent food. The pools are nice.

Termas de Conaripe

2012-01-26T04:42:00.001-07:00

Good place to relax post ride.

TransAndes Day 3 - Huilo Huilo to Termas de Conaripe

2012-01-25T18:32:00.001-07:00

Nice dinner last night and a good sleep in the cabin helped - plus a shaded, lower percent grade climb to ease us into the biggest climbing day yet at 2,496m.

After the first climb section, we dropped down a steep eroded cut that had a lot of traffic to a beach of a pristine lake with a volcano in the background. Beauty. From there it was a pretty serious hike, motivated by our competition teams in sight. We passed both and kept moving as fast as we could. Finally got to a long fast gravel descent, with the first aid station about 12k of mountains past where it was suggested to be - so felt a bit dry and hungry by then. We got going quick, but both other mixed teams caught us.

Climbed hard on a La Ruta last day special type climb. Some guy's Garmin registered over 100F apparently, I just sweat like a madman. Trish was a couple meters behind the whole way, until one time I shoulder checked and she was taking a walking break. We regrouped with a little bike double push, a gel, and we were off again with one team behind and one in front, both pushing like mad. I drank a whole bottle on that climb, then went to switch my other bottle from my pocket and... realized I left it at the feed zone after oiling chains. Oops. Not a good spot to go dry. Trish had a second bottle, and from here to aid 2 was net down, had an awesome "dirt jump" track, then gravel road.

The descent was awesome. I came really close to hitting two cows, but other than that it was just jumps and soft dust. At the bottom we hooked left on a path, and I heard crazy sounds in the bush and the bush rustling, then a pig burst out from the left and sprinted in front of me. Relieved, I just chased along, but it would do the smart thing and turn off the trail. Finally it stopped, did a 180, and came right back at/past me, and went back to Trish. Funny little guy was probably having more excitement than usual.

Road to CP2 was nice, fast and fun. We then looped back on some single track along the river that was all smiles... which evaporated thereafter as the last 10k were headwind, rutted farm road climb, muck crossings, barbed wire, overgrown bushes, logs, rocks, and everything that made momentum for more than 25m at a time impossible. Got a quick descent to the Termas de Conaripe. Nice spot. Good food. Lots of muffin tops being tanned and spa'd at this place.

Steve didn't find the hiking compatible with his blister. Gerry survived just ahead of cutoff at aid 2, and stopped taking pictures and hurried more after.

Looks like they rejigged times again last night from what I saw yesterday, whatever, next few days will sort it out. Aside from mechanicals messing it up perhaps, it's been the same order every day.

I felt good today and could climb with Trish; then the flats and headwinds felt just fine too.

TransAndes Day 2 - addendum

2012-01-24T17:54:00.001-07:00

The wrong turn appears to have been corrected in times, with organizers slotting people randomly into times that fit yesterdays order of results. Trish and I were eating lunch when the Chilean mixed teams came in, but one is 30 seconds behind us today and one is like 5 minutes ahead. This worked out well for Steve on the other hand who holds second still in his grouping.

The "hive"

2012-01-24T17:28:00.001-07:00

Has a river going through it, a waterfall that lands in a pond that has a see through bottom and is 15' off the ground below.

Cervezeria

2012-01-24T12:38:00.003-07:00

The Huilo Huilo cervezeria brews a good product that impressed the whole crew.

Peregrine

2012-01-24T12:38:00.001-07:00

There's not really paths, all the hotel and other buildings are built off the ground and with paths like +15's joining them, which allowed me to get close to this bird.

TransAndes Day 2 - Huilo Huilo to Huilo Huilo

2012-01-24T12:33:00.001-07:00

We chowed on massive amounts of delicious pizza at the local brewery yesterday and watched more dancing and folk music. All good, except my icebreaker sweater on the back of my chair went missing. Hoping someone picked it up and realizes its not theirs, only long sleeve I have here and if it's cold tenting, I'll need it. Bugger, especially after my prescription Oakley sunglasses stress cracked across both lenses, presumably temp related, as both of them were done as tight as possible holding the lens in place from the optometrist so it probably put undue stress on the lens.

Had a great sleep. Slept in, and did breakfast in the cabin instead of at the breakfast tent. Pickings were a bit slim, but better use of morning time.

Start temperature was nice, Trish and I seeded well, then it was off to straight climbing. Same climbing today as yesterday but 30km less distance (I prefer having some road miles). Big first climb, "small" second, middle last.

First climb was crowded, some guy toppled over and fell into my front wheel with his hands which didn't work really great. As it went on Trish and I got to some open space and did our thing. Did a little descent on singletrack to move away from the crowd (actually, knowing after we really pulled away as it sounds like some people missed a turn after us - I've found the course markings here to be excellent).

Pulled into the base of the big climb on our own which was perfect - it was a washed out old logging road or something, and with the giant erosion rut had only one narrow rideable line. Trish just spun away, and my double caffeine gel kept me close all the way up. Perfect that with only one line, teams who pushed couldn't do pushing.

Once the climb crested, there were a few k's of descent and then lots of hike a bike climb. Eventually that wore me out, Trish gapped ahead. I caught up at a feedzone on the way down, then chowed down on potatoes, then caught Trish and gave her a bottle on the descent. Next climb was hot, steep. Trish passed a bunch of guys walking by just spinning along like a sewing machine. It was fun to watch from 20m behind... then 30m... then it's apparent that on 15%+ logging cut roads that we aren't quite the same power to weight ratio. Maybe cause I weigh 50lb more?

Today's let's be a solid team motto: "till death do us part"*

*except for super steep logging roads that go on for more than 40 minutes.

Passed the jittery cows at the top, then tried to rail the descent to catch back up. That worked well on the next flat section, then the final climb kicked off with a straight up the mountain cut line that just kept getting steeper. I did my last caffeine gel and stayed with Trish for about half, then kept her in sight for the rest a turn or so ahead, meeting back up at the feedzone on the descent. Fun rip down a fast road, then the same singletrack/river crossing/singletrack finish as yesterday. On the flats I get the joy of breathing a bit less hard and picking the lines.

I think it's official that we're different but haven't slowed each other down. I was timing some of the climb corners and figure at max we go 60-90 seconds apart. We don't know results but think we had a good day.

Steve had a good day but did take a 4k climbing detour just cause his legs felt legendary (or something like that - must have been the massage). We haven't seen Gerry yet other than Steve passed him out on course.

The interior of the hotel here is crazy cool, the whole thing is concentric circles, kinda feels bee hive like. Only building I've been in with same shape was Guggenheim. The smaller ones on the sides feel like hobbit houses. It's like being in another world. It's relaxing with all the organic shapes and natural materials.

Legs

2012-01-24T12:27:00.001-07:00

My legs feel as dead as this dude.

TransAndes Day 1 - Pangupuilli to Huilo Huilo

2012-01-23T14:21:00.001-07:00

Today had a lot of awesomeness. Trish's awesomeness was on par with Craig and Shawn's awesome fest at BCBR a few years back. The course was great and had a few good tries at technical layered in. Weather was overcast which was great, just a few sprinkles at end. Our accomodations are wonderful.

We started at the back and eased ourselves into it. After first few climbs it sorted out and we were near people our speed. Some intenso guy wanted a very serious road paceline, probably too serious for in the neutral zone (first 8k or 10% roughly were neutral). Passed on that.

Once the climbing started, it was just Trish passing people and me hoping the bungee wouldn't snap. Mostly gravel roads, farm areas, around the lake, etc. Really nice country side. It's just so awesome being here, pedalling away, through such a beauty area.

Today's first big climb was good for about half, then the heat and Trish's pace got to me. I spun it out in first gear as second kept skipping. We figured I'd make up the gap on the 10+km of descent. I also then stopped to pick some grass and crud out of my cogs cause the skipping sucked. Had Trish in sight at the top, so stopped and had a full pack of gummies before heading down.

Downhills were grass and overgrown cutlines on the mountain, pretty easy. Passed a bunch, upset one who thought I passed too close, but I thought a passing on the right, taking the ass line and leaving the clear path plus a couple meters in between were pretty fine. Whatever.

Got onto the flat road bit which was nice respite for me (Trish and I have opposite preferences). A guy from Vancouver came up behind us and went by pretty quick, Trish said she was game to stay on. We did, then Chris Carmichael and Rebecca Rausch blasted by with some fast pulls. We came up to the next hill and Trish just picked up the tempo till next aid station. We did a fast stop with faces full of bananas and potatoes that needed to fuel us up the last big climb.

I set pace on the road; when it turned up Trish took over. The last 5k were flat and technical, so for the last climb I just told myself I didn't care how I felt, I was going to hold Trish's wheel no matter what. In actuality, we just leap frogged back and forth as the grade changed on the climb - it worked great.

Technical bit at the end was funny. Whole row of people dismounted for a rocky bit that was a bit like some of the choppy sections of the TransCanada trail by Quaite area. We motored through undeterred.

River crossing was fun, water was nice. Some slippery wet old collapsed bridge on another one we walked was deadly slippery, I accidentally skiied a bit of it. Yikes.

We pulled up the last climb both cramping equally about 30 seconds behind another mixed couple. Probably around 5h even. For not riding for months very long/seriously, I think we both felt pretty good. Chowed down a few bananas then went to find our cabin Juan helped rent for us. Didn't have our bags, cold and wet. Trish got a hot shower and snuck into a bed. I played boyscout trying to light the stove with damp cardboard and wood; did finally get it going. I got a few minutes of warm shower before it went ice, right when I was soapy. So I bailed and sat by the fire, hoping more hot water would happen. Cindy went looking for Steve and Gerry, while I lounged Burt Reynolds style by the fire with a towel trying to warm up. Eventually just mixed a kettle of boiling water in the tub and did that.

Sounds like Steve had a reasonably good day at around 5:15, and Gerry came in a bit later having a bit of a tougher day (Ger's mat and sleeping bag were in the bag that went missing, so he slept mat-less with lots of clothes on in his tent last night - he get's the softest bed tonight!). Most importantly, we're all in now, and laughing, stories and massaging ensue.

Only one guy asked how much "my wife" trained to get that fast today - funny. Another German? sounding guy just blurted out a short sentence in his language, finished by "wow" as Trish went by on a hill.

The accommodations are cool. This Huilo Huilo place is really neat, has like a tree house hotel thing. We're in a cabin built free form, really neat raw log techniques, probably not a lot of building code. Craig and Jon this is the best woodwork feature shot the little blackberry would do.

TransAndes day 0 - Panguipulli

2012-01-23T13:05:00.001-07:00

We finally had all of our luggage arrive, other than a bag Ger forgot in customs. Steve almost didn't get his bike - the airport said they didn't have it - but the friendly counter staff got tired of lugging bikes out and just told me to come back and get mine (it travelled naked with the wheel bungeed to the side until Santiago where they made me to that plastic wrapping tape they sell). When I was behind the counter I found Steve's bike. Double bonus.

Drive out of Temuco was nice. Pretty warm in Panguipulli. Worrying when some white guy says he just spent 2m in Mexico, then got burnt on his first ride here earlier this week. It's nice they give big hats. Food everywhere is natural and excellent, every time I come to this continent its a reminder that our foods taste so much more processed.

Bikes went together easy, did a little half hour spin, then settled in for people watching before dinner. Lots of muffin tops on the local chicas, I think the pastries everywhere on offer and the lack of sports catch up.

Dinner was good. They give you mess kits to keep the whole week, and wine at dinner.

After dinner the perro's were out everywhere for scaps. Pretty friendly. Then they had traditional Chilean music and dancing. It was actually really nice. First was cowboy-ish type, then it just got more sensual. Mapuche indian dancing that was pretty much a war and princess story with a very worthy looking princess. Then they went to Arapa nui dances from easter island with sort of like Hawaiian grass skirt and coconut styles but instead both tops and bottoms were bird feathers. That got a little saucier too. Finally it was floral print barely there stuff with the dudes in loin cloths. Too bad Ger and Steve drank beer instead of taking in the show.

TransAndes opening ceremonies

2012-01-22T17:37:00.001-07:00

Folk singers and dancers.

Temuco

2012-01-21T17:19:00.001-07:00

Half the flight's luggage didn't arrive.

Chile!

2012-01-21T17:17:00.001-07:00

Jekyll and Hyde

2012-01-21T17:14:00.001-07:00

Our flight from Toronto to Santiago was about 90 min late departing, so we got some extra seat time once we boarded and just sat at the gate.

In an ideal world, I'd recall nothing of the flight other than sleep. In reality, this personable, cherubic little Chilean girl pulled a Jekyll and Hyde and became a night time Hellion just 8 feet away, shreiking all night. Once breakfast came, she was back to cute bundle of joy in her white onesy.

I'm guessing Steve and Ger up in first class were out of earshot.

Mckee!

2012-01-20T18:33:00.001-07:00

Reunion. Trish, Gerry, Steve, Mckee, Cindy, Erik for brews in Toronto!

Obligatory...

2012-01-16T16:35:00.024-07:00

Sh*t eating grin pictures. Thank you Island Lake!

Canada/Chile weather trade

2012-01-16T11:16:00.001-07:00

I’m gonna call this a good trade at this time of year!

It's deep

2012-01-14T20:53:00.000-07:00

Island Lake is getting snow. It's great right now, and still snowing. Spin classes have freed my legs from burn; it's amazing. First run I just launched in with some speed off the cat track and was just so pumped and focused to hit every turn to soak it all up. Skiing more this year has the legs in better shape, and no holding back out here. Found myself airborne, looked down, and thought this is just one of those days where you stomp every landing.

So good

2012-01-13T19:52:00.000-07:00

There's something magic in being transported to a special place by snowmobile, watching All.I.can, drinking Kokanee, watching the snowflakes fall, and being equipped with some flash swag Oakley goggles that just can't be beat.

Sunshine, or lack thereof

2012-01-08T18:18:00.001-07:00

Shawn, Cindy and I decided for a Sunshine ski day with Matt and Jenn Joss. Also bumped into Nic Christofferson. Fun times. Nice temps, best snow I've had this year, best company and most fun. Grey out, but saw terrain relief on all but say a quarter of one run in morning, one in aft.

After a first run ledge drop on Standish that got me inverted and intimate with the snow that was Shawn's first witness of my lack of skill, we settled into a few runs of keeping to the fall line on Standish face. I'm impressed - Bunnin has never mentioned much of his snow sporting, but he's as slick as his hipster style, and flows *almost* as good as he does on a 'cross bike. It's like his youth in that flat postage stamp province was all a cover up. Cindy asked to join on the steeps in a display of confidence. Good stuff.

Few runs on Wawa, then a tour up Teepee Town to scout it, but into the lodge for lunch. Footlong gourmet hotdog with chili. Can't beat that. Plus we mixed blue and purple Gatorade to make Blurple.

Back over to Teepee town to hit the Shoulder, probably been 5 years since I was there. Came around to the traverse on the cliff and there's a guy just above me. He turns around says I can go first, he's waiting. I look up and it's VADIM the DREAM! We spent most of university right in that very spot together. Heavenly. We hooked far skiers right for some fresh turns he had scouted, then had to hike out a bit. Seeing him bounce turns effortlessly left and right was like a decade flashback; it made me so happy.

Did one on Goat's eye, and true to Vadim's old saying, was great, just the first 10 turns had rocks.

After that stayed down low, watched some kid fall off the lift like 2m after loading, which caused a 15 min stop and lots of paramedics standing around.

Finished on part of the back door I hadn't done before, more trees and less open. All in a super day.

Icy saturday

2012-01-07T17:52:00.002-07:00

Jon, Craig, Craig, Kate, Graham, Ceasar, Shawn and I met at Cadence for some winter adventure. This week the warm temperatures really helped ice everything up, right from the single track in Bowness and throughout the day.

I felt perhaps my yin and yang was in balance in '12 and put it to the test with the 40m long skinny in Tuscany. Fun!

From there we battled headwinds until making it to Big Hill Springs, then figured conditions were good enough to ride through the valley to Cochrane. They were firm - ice cobbles. Definitely the group dispersed a bit based on who's ridden slick stuff a lot before. Since I was weak all morning, I was happy to be there to offset lack of Watts with a little extra technical. The single track provided lots of adventure with dry loamy turns or hero snow turns urging you to speed up, followed by glaze ice turns.

The comedic highlight of the day was at a cafe I didn't previously know about - Guys' Cafe and Bakery. Delicious stuff, definitely a wide selection. Could be my new favourite stop there. Jon didn't know what to get, and they were ready for him... see bottom of menu.

So as it turns out, this sandwich contains every meat and every cheese and every veggie. Upon ordering it, the cashier upped the ante. If you eat that sandwich and a bowl of soup, everyone at your table gets a free pastry. Jon is the perfect guy for this! It's large. Jon did some warmup stretches.

Of course Jon is a success story in many rights. This was no different. We shared the spoils!

From there, we headed up the hill, but at a sub tempo pace. We hit the new trails along the river, which ridiculously end about 5km before Bowness with a bunch of no trespassing signs when you're stuck in the middle of nowhere. Ridiculous. It's like having the Trans Canada highway end at Scott Lake Hill with a sign just saying it's reserve land from thereon and tough luck if you want to get to the mountains.

We made our way on a side path for a bit, then it was slow going. Faster route? Ride the perfectly slick, glaze black ice of the reservoir by Bearspaw. The warmth this week made it mirror like. Trick is to get going, go fast, and don't turn or brake. There's a few mini bumps from melting snowmobile tracks that are tricky, but rest is easy. Fast is best, that way if you fall it's a glancing blow rather than straight down. So fun.

Talk about a multi skill day overall... 6h of ride time for me.

Similar, but different

2012-01-04T18:51:00.003-07:00

Hooper's year end 2011 data was interesting, partially due to the data, but partially due to the behavioural revelation.

Energy industry financial people. Check.
Adult aerobic athletes. Check.
Equals data trackers? Check.
Not too dissimilar in annual activity? Check.

I should probably try to nudge 2012 above 500 hours - those were some of the best years I've had.

Oregon

2012-01-02T13:01:00.001-07:00

If I chose to relocate to Oregon, I'd have to bring this outfit.

Schweitzer, Sandpoint

2012-01-01T21:39:00.002-07:00

Sandpoint is nice, town will be even more quaint when the highway bypass is done. Rustic. Schweitzer ski area is great, small town real ski hill feel. Steep. Uncrowded. Nordic skiing, racing Friday nights for anyone who wants to go fast; terrain park programs. Lots of kids programs. Lots of tele skiers. Lots of people saying hi to each other by name on the hill and complaining about the crowds (2 minute lift lines for about 2 hours of the day). Fire outside back lodge on the snow. Professional lifties with personality, not just Aussie imports. Still double lifts without safety bars that come down, even in the litigious ol' USA. The area appears to be very strong for Subaru sales and repairs well into a given car's 20th year, as well as a hearty population of Toyota Tacoma's on the road, date of manufacture anything from 1980 to present. Dogs. Microbrews. Flannel. Beards.

Portland

2011-12-29T01:11:00.001-07:00

We've traded in California for Portland. In retrospect it feels like dropping fantasy for reality. For every example of plastic surgery in California, there's a plaid shirt in Portland. Shaving is entirely optional, and I'd say the take-up rate on men is 1 in 10.

We did the oldest seafood restaurant in the city, then a 7 days a week live music act brew-their-own-beer bar. It's all hard to explain, but it's a combo of real people, real fun, real prices, no sales tax, and of course, bike capital that make it all go around.

Grunge rock never died, nor did people wearing toques, sweaters, and generally un-pretentious clothing on a Wednesday night. Awesome.

St. Helena, Calistoga

2011-12-28T08:10:00.000-07:00

Today we did a little loop a bit further north. Started in St. Helena, rode up to Calistoga which starts to feel a bit less wine country (the town anyway) and a bit more rustic/functional rather than just cute and touristy. Headed west on Petrified Forest road, which is busy, then back south on St. Helena Mountain road which is beautiful through a forest, with weird little hillbilly houses in the valley, and vineyards on top. Bigger climb than we expected, and I'm officially down to only a front brake - need to find a set of pads or just ride flatter stuff till we're home. Big driving day today up to Oregon to rest our legs.

Sonoma

2011-12-27T19:34:00.002-07:00

Great loop ride around Mt. Veeder followed by fancy dinner. Can't go wrong when the local club recommends it. Sante was the dinner spot. Fun to go through the fancy menu stuff - it's one of those Michelin rated ones where they really want you to get into the whole thing.

San Francisco

2011-12-25T17:50:00.000-07:00

Christmas morning! Time for some San Francisco tourism by bike.

Grace Cathedral.

California street.

Japan Town.

The house where "Full House" the TV show was filmed.

Golden Gate State park.

Olga taught me never to pass up a good Conservatory of Flowers opportunity, but it was closed.

Hi!

Two old ladies doing roller skate dancing lessons.

Speeding bullet had a lot of energy this morning.

Free swing dance lessons.

Presidio near the bridge.

Big hills to get to the bridge.

Nearing the bridge on the bike route.

We're gonna stop by tomorrow for a re-do. Some guy tried really hard and took 4 pictures, but needed to spend most of the photo real estate on our feet, and wanted to aim down to get those buildings below. This is the best I could crop!

Bridge beauty without us ruining it.

Downtown SF from the municipal pier.

The littlest reindeer. Had his belt on backwards though...

Alcatraz.

Up Greenwich street near Lombard street. Lombard street has tourist cars lined up for blocks, this is one over.

Down Lombard street.

View up Lombard street. We ate at a cafe just off the bottom right called Columbus which was delicious.

Coit tower.

Washington Square.

Transamerica Pyramid.

China Town.

Elephant seals

2011-12-24T14:43:00.001-07:00

They can weigh more than the SUV!

Hundreds of them grunting on this beach, just shaking their blubber non stop. Maybe 45 mins north of San Luis Obispo.

Idyllic. Wineries and Mountains.

2011-12-24T14:42:00.001-07:00

Early morning beauty.

Foxen Canyon Drive

2011-12-24T14:40:00.001-07:00

I rode from Solvang toward Santa Maria on Foxen Canyon Drive this morning - keeps the tradition of biking on Christmas alive. It was beautiful, with lots of wild life. Deer, sheep, cows, horses. Vultures, hawks, sparrows, bluebirds, pheasants, cranes. And a bobcat!

Happy Valley to Figueroa Mountain Road

2011-12-23T19:49:00.002-07:00

Today we did some morning Christmas shopping, had a light breakfast at The Red Viking, then rode over to Happy Valley.

Happy Valley is one of the nicest biking roads I've been on. Rolling, easy, vinyards and ranches, all with the mountains in the background. If someone isn't happy after riding this road, you're in the wrong sport. Eventually the climbing began, and it was about 25km of steep climb to the top. Beautiful vistas and narrow road with no traffic all the way. Figueroa Mountain Road then traverses left along the top of the mountains you can see to the left in the picture. Awesome valley views the whole way. Finally once descending time comes, it's steep, fast and long. Essentially from the top it's over an hour of descending all the way back to Solvang, through Los Olivos. Hot tub to finish off before dinner.

That's a classic loop from Solvang that won't disappoint, provided you can climb and enjoy. 75km all in, but more than a 2h ride for sure with all the vertical.

Solvang

2011-12-22T19:17:00.000-07:00

Cindy's review: "it's just so cute."

That's really it. But also bonus points for dutch pancake places, belgian waffle houses, but mostly all things Danish along Copenhagen street, coffee galore, good restaurants, all surrounded by mountains with roads on them. Lots of cyclists in area.

Erik to bell desk: can we store our bikes in your luggage room?

Bell captain: no, just take them up to your rooms. That's what we tell all the riders here, it's easier. The pros and all those serious guys work on their bikes at night.

Ok. Win-win. And sounds like they know the drill.

I picked a ride off the map at random, and it was excellent. Refugio Road, SE of town. Only issue was we took off 'cross tires and climb was gravel. It was fine though, other riders on it on 'cross bikes. Led us up to Camino Cielo, and although my spanish isn't great, that sounded like a good target. Beautiful.

Bearclaw Poppy cyclocross

2011-12-22T19:14:00.001-07:00

Perfect hardpack, fast and fun on 'cross bikes. Some guy fell off on one of the Clavicle Hill descents, but he and his friends watched me go by as his mountain bike lay beside him. Funny.

St. George

2011-12-22T18:52:00.002-07:00

Tammy, Cindy and I had a lovely ride up Snow Canyon and to Kayenta for some intense lunch. Good times all around - Tammy's a strong rider and good tour guide, and we got home just as it got dark out. Unfortunately the only picture of all three of us is on a camera we don't have a chip reader for. Nicholson hospitality was top notch for dinner, and next morning we fired up the coffee machine then did a little ride on Bearclaw Poppy trail. Fun stuff; it works well with 'cross bikes.

From there it was a drive west to Solvang for a relatively late arrival.

Alta slopes

2011-12-20T19:15:00.001-07:00

Alta has a bit of terrain for everyone. This is the peak we came down after a traversed off screen. But I think with small hikes there's as many steeps between here and Snowbird that one would want, provided you've got rock skis.

Alf's

2011-12-20T19:13:00.001-07:00

A mid mountain lodge with this level of condiment selection gets my vote as grade A.

Alta

2011-12-20T19:10:00.000-07:00

Just cause Utah is Mormon country doesn't mean everything is squeaky clean.

Seeking fresh turns

2011-12-19T11:52:00.001-07:00

After some blue groomer warmups, I had a bright idea. Hike up a ridge that other people had bootpacked to get some bowl turns, then traverse over. But this was one of those classic "the girlfriend wouldn't have picked this run on her own" type of runs. But we made it. Too bad the turns were more like wind crust than powder. Great day at Alta, but needs snow. No lines at all. Cafeteria even has free hot chocolate refills, and chili with a bread bowl was cheap.

Jackson Hole lunch

2011-12-19T07:12:00.001-07:00

Lake Louise could learn something about lunch service American style... although I'm sure this place can get busy too.

No line. Excellent service. And this is for the table pictured, not some in the back. Priced like it would be in town - $50 got us a roast duck "cobb salad", some fancy pants grilled cheese sandwich with apples and salad, and bowl of the soup of the day. Food was great, not ski cafeteria slop. And all that is before mention of the million dollar view. Saw 3 paragliders take off, and countless little kids start ripping turns town the steep bit right below.

Jackson Hole

2011-12-19T07:08:00.001-07:00

I was super excited in the morning to ski Jackson Hole. Car thermometer flirted with -18C, which is below Cindy's temperature range for feet and hands. But once we payed our American sized day parking fee and got lift tickets, the gondola proved the valley was cloud covered with the peaks in the sun, and a temperature inversion to accompany it. Top was like spring skiing - we shed layers and stayed up.

Snow is fine, but the need more. Anything off runs would be hitting rocks and stumps. It's a steep hill overall with lots of veritcal. We tried all the "top left" lifts when looking at a map, but the tram wasn't open. Scenery is just spectacular. No line ups all day at all.

Wyoming

2011-12-19T07:02:00.000-07:00

From Helena we drove to Bozeman to visit Carl Strong (and Loretta too!). Beautiful tidy shop in a nice building he owns. Talked bikes, tourism, bike riders and life. Carl has a great wall photo of Tejay van Garderen with a Strong bike - he worked at his shop for years in Bozeman while working his way up the American scene. Visiting the shop and the craftsman was wonderful, it's quite an art to build frames of such excellence.

When we left, he asked if we had lunch plans. None yet... So he recommended stopping in Big Sky at Broken Spoke which is a Texas BBQ place run by a guy named Anderson who rides a couple of Strong frames.

Bozeman to Big Sky is a beautiful drive. We found Broken Spoke, but it looked closed, some dog barked and smashed the door when I peeked in. Hard to explain from the perspective of the building how that worked, but we accidentally went to back. Anderson opened the door, dog was some friendly yellow lab that loved being pet, and we ordered what he described as the two best things on the menu - pulled pork and brisket sandwiches. And man was he right... just too much meat. He told us stories of him and a buddy trying to ride the length of the Mississippi and all the people you meet along the way being extra-interesting. No doubt. Sounded like a lot of catfish too.

Big Sky is beautiful, mountain looked great. Not much snow, and not much population near by made it feel desolate, even before the economic landscape tempering people's desire to spend on lift tickets.

The next several hundred miles south were Targahee forest, which must be a native word for "high horsepower snowmobile". I should have stopped to take a picture - every gas station had half a dozen sleds filling up, with 6 more ripping around. The ones in fields had big dirt piles covered with snow for jumps. Seemed like a couple hundred mile stretch where you could go motel to motel and just tour via sled.

We made our way south by sunset and approached the Tetons from the west. Beautiful.

Checked in to lovely little cabins, then walked to a Mexican restaurant for dinner. Can't beat that.

Montana

2011-12-19T06:44:00.001-07:00

Border asked if we (I) was moving "back" to US, I said we just don't pack light, have a few activities in mind for holidays. Asked if I was going to work here, said my goal was to get away from work for the holidays, but my blackberry probably wouldn't let it happen till next week. Asked if I was a pro bike racer coming down for a race - too bad I wasn't. But probably wouldn't be driving that car if I was. So for whatever reason, a bunch of work questions were the theme this time.

We ate dinner in Great Falls at Applebees, actually a nice one on the river. Montana football game on tv had everyone riled up, quite the deal in the place when any points scored. We ordered from the "low cal" section of the menu, girl did a double take and asked again what I ordered, said "I haven't heard anyone order from there since I've been here". Mine was a shrimp with asian style ginger sauce and all kinds of veggies on rice. Entirely tasty normal size meal (menu said they were guaranteed at 550 cal). Cindy's was chicken with portabello mushrooms. Comical how that reinforced the big meal stereotype on our first sit down meal in country.

Slept in Helena. Called in advance for hotel, guy said don't bother with reservations, they've got lots of space. I guess so far that confirms that road tripping in the western US during a "depression" shouldn't pose too many logistical challenges. Beautiful new one downtown (best western, like, surprisingly beautiful) in a downtown redevelopment of theatre, shops, walking streets, etc. to make a pedestrian friendly cute district. I asked they guy where to park, he motioned for right across the street in a lot. Any security concerns? Here, never. Nice town, seems to be doing right things to keep itself as a nice place.

Next morning we made some hotel home made waffles and headed out. Morning staff was friendly. Went to a coffee place where everyone was beaming with energy and seemed happy. Then stopped at a gas station, and I accidentally pulled up wrong side of car to pump. I backed up and slid over to the other side. Car was as empty as I've ever had. Other pumps were full serve. Kid came out, then what I'd guess was his brother and his dad. They hand wiped all the windows and lights. One checked all tires' pressure. One vacuumed the floor mats. They were upbeat, friendly and helpful. I went in to pay, and the station had model cars along the walls from 50's to present. Locally authored books about Black Hills settlers, bandits, animals, etc. Christmas ornaments ship shape. Their shop looked like a model shop - tidy, well arranged, full for vintage motor oil and gasoline ads on the walls. Probably the most memorable gas station experience I've had.

Diet time at work

2011-12-14T12:45:00.001-07:00

Christmas 2011

2011-12-10T23:32:00.001-07:00

Fortunately I'm employed by a group that knows how to throw a party. I hear every year about stuffy, dreaded, golf and country club type Christmas parties with anyone having more than 2 drinks being talked about at the office for the next week as a lush. We're not so much like that. This year's theme was Mad Men. Everyone looked great... and let it rip. We had some DJ from LA which I guess is cool, but I'm guessing he doesn't do many white people office parties. I missed by about a decade on the outfit, but considering last night at 7:45 I had no costume, and by 8:45 we left town, it did me well. I'm disappointed I couldn't find my white belt to match the shoes. Regardless, even Mad Men had to go casual after work sometimes...

Lake Louise

2011-12-10T23:29:00.001-07:00

Nicest room I've had at the hotel is proof random assignment occasionally works out, beautiful day skiing, and work at night in a cruddy business center before the party.

Ridge of Death

2011-12-03T19:42:00.002-07:00

Craig, Kate, Thomas and I did about six and a half hours of fun today, but it spanned about 8:45-5:45 - proving once again that I need lights when riding with Craig.

Cadence out to the singletrack along the river which was great, then the ridge of death by the reservoir (see Craig and Kate in the photo, and the telephone poles - that ridge is a long way down), then to Cochrane. My bb undid itself so I had the opportunity to walk more. Bike Bros fixed that before our lunch stop.

We were going to do the Cochrane Ranch single track then head home on TWP 262, but we were lured to Big Hill Springs through the valley by prime conditions. After fixing Kate's fender it was spin home time. Big storm came through right at end and pelted us with snow in the dark, but it wasn't too cold.

So fun to be out, and felt good too.

Calgary +15 rocking guitar busker

2011-11-29T18:21:00.002-07:00

Dear Calgary +15 hallway guitar busker,

You rock. When I leave my desk to get dinner, feeling a little worn from the day, I can hear a melody down the hall. As I near, that melody grows to a wall of sound that’d make Phil Spector proud. You appear to know all songs of substantive cultural contribution written before 1980, and none after. Your moustache looks much more experienced than one that just surfaced for Movember. Conversations about the crummy markets or office politics are drowned out as we pass near the epicenter. I agree the lady playing the violin at lunch is talented, but the sheer power emanating from your effort is leaves one’s mind no option other than to be cleansed as it passes. In contrast to the quantity of hipster music I’m hearing these days with femme voiced male twenty somethings whining about urban decay, you’re the equivalent force of a category A thunderstorm pounding the metropolis as a reminder that Mother Nature wields the world’s real power. Your bold power chords replace voices, yet no communication is lost.

Blowout

2011-11-28T09:39:00.001-07:00

Other elbow patched once already. I think I'll just have to wear this one through the remainder of the debt crisis.

Idiot RBC customer

2011-11-21T16:54:00.000-07:00

Hey dipshit, try using a different bank if you must interact with capitalism.

Center of the world, or not

2011-11-14T09:26:00.001-07:00

15C and humid fore shadowing rain in the center. Or Toronto.

Winter setup

2011-11-12T13:30:00.001-07:00

I finally splurged on a TV for a winter bike setup. Dabbled with projectors, but ended up with this Sharp Aquos tv.

Makes it a little more convenient to get in a bit of winter exercise.

Colombia

2011-11-04T21:36:00.001-06:00

Once again, the mixture of business, conference, field tour an nightlife in Colombia are a pleasure of life I feel so happy to be able to partake in.

Castilla

2011-11-04T11:39:00.001-06:00

1500hp triple drilling heavy oil wells at Castilla.

Foo Fighters

2011-10-28T10:55:00.000-06:00

Intense, awesome, fun. Lots of energy!

Greece crippled by anti-austerity strike

2011-10-19T12:47:00.000-06:00

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Albert Einstein, (attributed)

Greeks appear to be really good at organizing strikes. Aside from the economics of their budget/fiscal position, I’d argue that, in economic terms, the supply of strikes that Greece is willing to provide to the world greatly exceeds either the demand for Greek strikes or the utility of such strikes.

But, if you’re a one trick pony… better keep refining that trick.

I just don’t see how that’s going to clean up the income statement or balance sheet.

Beavis & Butt-head returns

2011-10-18T18:03:00.003-06:00

I’m a Beavis and Butt-head fan, and am excited about this fall’s return. In contrast to the journalist below, I think one of the large attractions to the show is applying your own knowledge. That’s art in a nutshell. Someone can view a picture by Salvador Dali and suggest what they think he was addressing; or a song by the Velvet Underground that said so much in so few words that meant it was up to the listener to fill in “the” meaning. That’s art. Beavis and Butt-head are similarly cartoon art. I rest my case at Cornholio's return. Cornholio is absurd to consider as a messanic figure, but the vapid souls who elevate him to that status are so willing to place their thoughts on Cornholio's "blank slate" that he's elevated to their art/belief form/embodyment. It's all what one makes of it.

“This fall, MTV resurrects Beavis & Butt-head, the dominant delinquents of the nineties, that faraway decade. And (Mike) Judge-ing from the preview clip debuted at Comic-Con yesterday, the boys are in fine form: screwing action figures to Beavis’s hand, resurrecting Cornholio (thanks to some liberal dosages of pain meds), and inadvertently inspiring a Costco-clogging cult to believe the Metallica-shirted lunatic muttering about “TP” is their reborn messiah. But the best part, as always, is the slyly stupid social commentary — in the new clip the TV is showing Jersey Shore instead of videos which makes perfect sense considering that’s the same route MTV has taken in the 14 years since B&B have picked up a remote.

Some have wondered if America is actually hungering for the return of Beavis & Butt-head, as if their slackery nihilism is as irrevocably tied to the nineties as hypercolor t-shirts or that lousy song by Travis. This is nonsense, of course, not only because, really, what does relevance have to do with Butt-head asking a doctor to show him on an x-ray where a screw entered a plastic ass? But primarily because, if anything, Beavis & Butt-head were ahead of their time.

Sure, Al Gore may have invented the Internet. And pictures of kittens may have popularized it. But it was Beavis & Butt-head who taught us how to use the Internet, even back when most of us considered Hackers to be a gripping documentary. Think about it: two young, underdressed dweebs with dangerously short attention spans savagely snarking about any stray bit of culture that crossed their path — or, more often, that crossed in front of their couch. The two have no apparent qualifications to pass judgment on everything they consume — other than their youth, boredom and ability to make each other laugh. If we haven’t just described every blog ever, we’ll eat our RSS feed. And so MTV’s decision to bring back the show is both visionary and brilliant: not only for the inevitable LOLs but because we are all Beavis & Butt-head now, cracking wise — or, more accurately, cracking dumb — from the comfort of our living rooms, perpetually in need of more cultural TP for our voracious, cynical bungholes. (Gross.) Now if you’ll excuse us, there’s a video of a salsa-dancing porcupine that needs our attention.”

Bunnin to the Third

2011-10-16T14:01:00.001-06:00

We had a lovely brunch with Double B, and nearly Triple B since Shawn and Claire are engaged. After gourmet cheffery in the kitchen with coffee, laughs and karaoke stories, it was time to try the tandem.

It earned good reviews. When the tandem was in double Bunnin mode (Shawn and Andrea), it was faster than a speeding locomotive. I think they broke speed limits on 5th. Those Bunnin's sure have cycling power!

Rock Lobster

2011-10-16T09:15:00.001-06:00

Karaoke nights are fun.

Some big black dude did a quality/really funny Afroman rendition.

Some tiny little girl with half a shaved head belted out some song from Chicago; I actually think she did it way better than this.

Then sidestepping to Bunnin land, Andrea led the crowd through a wonderful "Safety Dance".

"Shawntoberfest" picked the not so easy or flowing, but entirely unique Rock Lobster.

Priceless.

Ducky's

2011-10-15T22:33:00.001-06:00

Low carbon footprint.

Tuesday, err, Wednesday 'cross

2011-10-13T20:25:00.001-06:00

Best season ever for attendance and weather, 5 of 5 so far with one to go.

Here's a tip: that engineer in A&D who's birthday was celebrated prior to the race with free slices of pumpkin cheese cake, wasn't doing that with "pre-race meal" in mind. So good, but so bad. Timing is everything.

Fun night, and Joss beat me on the his home course.

Occupy Wall Street

2011-10-12T14:23:00.000-06:00

To be honest, I’m having a bit of a difficult time deciphering what these people are actually upset about. Lots of sound bites, but I don’t think it thus far is a really cohesive message. What I gather is its anti-corporate, anti-capitalist, and about “fairness and equality” which apparently means generally the opposite of capitalism in their view, but not something like communism. Maybe just more tax.

I get it that they don’t think rich people are treating the world fairly because they hoard all the wealth. I suppose that’s true. Once “they” amass it, they don’t just go about making it rain like confetti from every limo they’re travelling in. Interestingly enough though, there’s enough rich people that have made their fortunes this generation that I think protecting opportunity is more important. I scanned the Forbes billionaires list. All the tech guys such as Ellison, Gates and Allen, Ballmer, Jobs and Wosniak, Page and Brin, etc. are all single generation wealthy. Ikea and Wal-Mart fit this in that the old guys are still around and the kids seem to be half engaged in charity giving the money away in between living the high life. Buffett and Carlos Slim fits the one career/generation accumulation of wealth. Jack Simplot fit this. Lakshmi Mittal fits this, as I believe does Eike Batista. Scores of finance guys – Bloombergs to hedge fund guys to Schwab types etc. do too. I’m not a knowledgeable historian on all these guys. But the ability to create wealth in a career or generation to me actually seems pretty fair. Now I’m guessing these guys all had some luck, survivor bias in my list here, but I’d also bet they weren’t occupying parks for weeks when they could have been just observing what the market needed and figuring out how they were going to create that, thereby laying the foundations for their empires.

I look around the office I work in, and the industry I work in, and I note actually a surprisingly small number of rich by inheritance types. I’d note this is also survivor bias as I’m observing from “an office, in an industry” whereas I’d suspect most inheritance types would be not office bound, although they may be ongoing industry affiliated in certain ways. But again it strikes me that there’s a lot out there available if one just puts nose to the grindstone and makes it happen. Whatever the field is, some strive and some whiter. I’ve been on both sides of the fence.

Since my mind thinks well with biking analogies – it’s sort of like a long stage race, say La Ruta. You can be hot, baking, tired, dehydrated, etc. and look around you at all the others who are too. You can throw down your bike, start chanting, and have all the riders sit in and protest the unfair treatment of having to ride that far in such awful conditions. Or you can pedal through to the end, put your feet up, scrape your local currency together and have a beer and a shower whilst the others complain that it’s unfair that you rest with a beer and shower, and that they should have them too. Right. I’ve withered and I’ve survived. It’s not easy to survive.

Let’s not forget that nothing in the world will ever be fair and equal. It’s not about “that guy has more, so give me some so we’re equal”. It’s about ground rules that allow/facilitate/encourage one to have the motivation and opportunity to create or receive “it” given your efforts. This opportunity is what needs protection in my view. America (and others) are still leaders in providing that playing field. I endorse a system that provides that playing field. Not everyone will accumulate a similar amount of wealth in a generation. Not everyone on a field kicks a soccer ball equivalently. Asserting that it should be a non-distributed outcome, or less distributed outcome, is just not accurate or logical in my view. Such is life. Show some hustle at whatever you do.

The right to "pursue happiness" is not necessarily the right for everyone to get what is determined as a fair and equal amount of happiness, and definitely not get it as an entitlement.

These protests appear popular – weather in NY is good and the free breakfast is still apparently on site at the protest zone.

From my side, I wish these protests were directed at the right problems within finance/corporation and [especially?] government. But by reading random samplings of quotes from protesters, I’m not entirely sure that’ll be forthcoming.

Thanksgiving weekend

2011-10-11T08:06:00.000-06:00

So other than gorging on Turkey, terrific sweet potatoes we made/experimented with ourselves, and the rest of the potluck, this weekend’s news includes a new addition to the garage.

Since we rented a tandem a few months ago in Vancouver, it’s been a topic of conversation. Long story short, this one is a stoker supported decision moreso than a captain begging for a stoker. We had so much fun, got in like 200k this weekend after a surprise taxi waiting outside on Saturday morning to take us to Bow Cycle all kitted up.

Tuesday 'cross

2011-10-05T07:19:00.001-06:00

Nice night again, after rain this morning. It's been miraculous this fall. A new cyclo-crosser was born today. A smiley one. It's hard to explain how addictive this sport is, but trying to just dilutes the magical fact that its just plain awesome.

This pic proves I'm not smart/fast enough to remember to turn off the iphone's HDR setting while riders speed by. Oops.

Remington 'cross for kids

2011-10-02T18:59:00.001-06:00

Beauty sunny day. Slightly less technical course. Upside is I didn't flat and drop out. Other upside is there was no pulling of lapped riders. Downside is I was DFL... But that's ok. If I weren't sick there's perhaps a wheel or two I could have stuck with. Still a super hard 60 minutes of intensity.

Cindy and I did a soccer style running workout of intervals after - and once the intervals and various starts/stops/running drills were done she beat me home.

I hope by Tuesday the sniffles are gone. My mom got some Tiger Malt at Superstore, and if that doesn't cure a common cold, I don't know what will.

Dark Knight 'cross

2011-10-01T22:42:00.001-06:00

Course was super technical with lots of tight corners, off camber, some sand, and the pump track!

Starts so fast up the hill, but felt ok. On the pump track first corner I went into the bushes after one of the people dressed as a banana steered off a bit. From there I was last and tried to make up a few spots back up the paved climb by the bobsled track. The fast downhill corners worked well for me, and starting lap 2 I was with Thomas Yip which was about normal.

Hung on a few more, then rear flatted. I only would have lasted 1.5 more before getting lapped by Schooler.

Highlight of the night was watching deadgoats Kyle/Steve/Ed battle and Craig/Devin who had awesome races. But not really as the cheerleaders of Shannon and Cindy were the highlight - I could recognize their voices from a long way away.

Rest up, pump up a tire, and try again tomorrow.

best 'cross season ever for this guy

2011-09-29T12:55:00.000-06:00

I felt not so hot on Tuesday afternoon but decided to make it to Midweek Mayhem regardless. Couldn’t justify skipping a nice night where lots of people would be out, and if I didn’t feel that good, no harm in just watching and chatting.

I did a warmup lap with Cindy, then she went out for her second with Jennifer and I did a lap with Chris. Felt ok but not speedy (do I every feel speedy anymore?) – good enough to race anyway. Was a few seconds behind a few people who I was in front of by a few seconds last week – that’s just how it works. Faded harder at the end, and have been sniffling a few days since. Overall I’m glad I went. Best ‘cross season ever so far for weather and attendance for me, and that’s pretty much what counts these days.

Trying to get the sniffles behind me for a double header ‘cross weekend at COP with the Saturday night race and the Sunday afternoon race. Looks like we might finally get some “real” ‘cross weather. Probably will spend a bunch of weekend time at office too.

This week was also FirstEnergy’s annual dinner. Good times were had, and the 10 year folks get a statue replica of one we have in the office (once the artist finishes them). In the meantime the place holder is a bottle of wine. Both are nice.

Finally saw the Gran Fondo Whistler Giro results, interesting. Fond memories, and memory that I should try to make time to ride more.

Montana day 3

2011-09-25T19:37:00.001-06:00

Buffet breakfast of American proportion started us off at Macdonald Lake lodge. The guests at the table next to us were talking about how beautiful the road up to Polebridge is with the leaves changing color. We'll have to hit that next time.

Nice drive back to St. Mary, then rode up fresh asphalt on much of the east side, although we had to wait for traffic a bit. Beauty day overall. Went for a big of a walk at top and went in the cold lake for fractions of a second after.

Montana day 2

2011-09-25T19:33:00.001-06:00

We had a good sleep in, went for coffee at the lodge and saw Finn Pedersen by chance. Small world.

Went down to Apgar village for a rising sun breakfast and some pancakes, then just did some driving to relax. Went to Kalispell and checked out some massive MEC like sporting goods store except it also had guns galore, including small purse size revolvers, and little pink rifles for your 9 year old daughter. Odd.

Saw the General Lee driving home. Got free park entry today, then rode for a couple hours up the going to the sun road. Bikes and hikers could go past Avalanche by 6k, so we went to the nice falls and such. No cars on the road was nice.

Had a huckleberry beer before dinner which was lovely with the sun setting across a calm lake. Dinner was great - our waiter has worked here and as a ski instructor at Whitefish for 29 years. They let us take our wine glasses down lakeside so we just sat for a while longer. So lovely - no wind, no bugs, all scenery.

Sat down near our place on a towel with backs to a big log and had a blanket till the stars came up - nice night.

Montana day 1

2011-09-25T19:28:00.001-06:00

Left work at a decent time, but the quick pack and out didn't work as well with traffic out of town. No problem though as we googled for border information for the one by Waterton and it was open till 10pm still.

Had Tim Horton's in Pincher Creek, fairly close to where we're marketing a wind farm project.

Drive south was beauty, all the way up to the border crossing which was closed. Looks like the sign posted was more up to date than the web site, u turn and over to Cardston.

Few minutes down the road a deer came out of the bush on the left at absolute full speed, and even with a swerve left and hit of the brakes, I still clipped its hind quarters. Actually didn't ruin too much on the car, can't really see it other than a small plastic cover piece and one little light. I'm sure it'll be expensive anyway. Deer undoubtedly became coyote food.

Stopped at DQ in Cardston to mix it up with the natives and mormons on a Friday night. Always feels weird here.

Border crossing after dark, then had to do the 2h way around to West Glacier. We rented a place at MacDonald Lake Lodge before knowing that the west side of the going to the sun road was closed. Long drive at night but got in at 11:30 and went to bed.

So nice - cool, quiet, rustic.

Pearl Jam

2011-09-22T00:00:00.001-06:00

Bakke loves PJ. We crossed paths at the right age back in the 90's, and they sound un-aged and original live. Trip down memory lane.

Tuesday 'cross 3

2011-09-21T11:08:00.001-06:00

I’m three for three on Tuesday ‘cross so far this year, which has put a big smile on my face and made the fall fun. Beautiful weather again. Great course layout by Keith and crew. Great turnout. I’m feeling consistent – each time I start and am passed by say 5 who are hammering harder off the start. I pass them back after lap 2 and hold on for a few more laps, then a couple pass me at the end. It’s better than going out super hard and blowing up, and I’m always milking the couple linked turn sections for an extra half second to help make up time without burning more energy since I’m pinned. Overall I finish like roughly a dozenth out of 30 or 40 showing up for the A’s, but nobody counts that high, it’s just a guess from how many people I see strung out ahead on the first half of the lap when you can see a climb. It was also nice to have an enthusiastic spectator out – thanks Cindy!

Bow 80ish

2011-09-18T17:59:00.003-06:00

My body woke up early in anticipation of the longer drive to Bragg Creek from Banff than from Calgary, despite the fact that we left the dance floor just as a table ornament went up in flames (in a log cabin style building) and the courgars were out in force on the dance floor.

Nice drive in the dark, saw a few deer that decided not to jump out on the road - but pulling into Station Flats the thermometer never budged over -3.5C. I haven't been in below zero for a while. I've felt better before in the morning, and more rested. Part of me wonders why why why one would do this.

I walk to checkin and even with gloves my hands sting. I ended up being in the top 5 at checkin ; ) which is the last top 5 I'll do today. But I see the Ger, and that always makes things better. Then I hit up a few more minutes of tunes, race package and heated seats. Deadgoats stream by. And the sun comes up. Why? Because it is. It's mountain biking. Its awesome to breathe cold air on a Sunday morning. I was thinking more like this.

Until the fail part. I was riding say 25th with all the fast friends up front and out of sight, then my rear shifter pod stopped working. I bailed at the checkpoint before going on Powderface. At least it happened near a good bailout point. It didn't seem like a good day to try to grind it out in some hard gear single speeding. My achilles felt a little wimpy at 'cross two weeks ago when the course had more run ups on the big hill.

That's all. Underwhelming. Oh well.

Cindy and I did a couple hours of urban cyclocross after which helped round out the afternoon.

Bow 80 Warmup

2011-09-17T17:18:00.001-06:00

err, not exactly warm up. But fun. I hope I can be in the finisher category at least still.

Deadgoat year end party

2011-09-16T22:30:00.001-06:00

Oh so much fun... Great to see everyone. Tori was nominated to DG hall of fame. I think Pat and I tied for longest skid contest held in the alley on some sketchy old bike. Yes, fire was involved.

Midweek Mayhem 'cross 2

2011-09-15T11:54:00.001-06:00

Well, no action shot, but pre race sign on and backpack drop.

Fast flowy course of diagonals more than last week's right angles.

Finance crowd had a good showing. Bunnin appeared for real, Hooper I'd guess was 10th after he passed me on lap 5 or so, I was probably 14th. Of course none of this matters as only 1-5 count, but on one of the first big hills I could count the string ahead of me.

Probably 40 showed for A's and more like 60 for B's - great turnout!

Decade, sort of

2011-09-15T11:46:00.001-06:00

Decade at FirstEnergy. CFO Chandra, VPD Mr. Ha, CEO JimmyD (fingers say "ten" not bunny ears), Bev office manager, BikingBakke, Liz database manager and translator of all things British.

The Calgary Greenway Video - Parks Foundation Calgary Initiative

2011-09-14T15:01:00.004-06:00

Care of Jim Davidson, who’s yet another supporter of the outdoors and cycling (among other activities) in the FirstEnergy sphere. Please consider being supportive, as if you’re cruising this blog, you likely enjoy bicycles in Calgary. Circumnavigating the city by path would be a great addition to our collective cycling repertoire.

I’d like to share with you a brief (5 minute) video from Parks Foundation Calgary (PFC), a private not-for-profit organization whose mandate is to develop parks and green spaces throughout our city. PFC is building on Calgary’s existing 1,000+km of pathways with the innovative Calgary Greenway project, a 113 km open space, park, playground and pathway network that will eventually encircle the city. I have the distinct honour of chairing
The Calgary Greenway, a $63 million phased project that when complete will be a year-round destination for cyclists, cross-country skiers, bird and nature watchers, inline skaters and dog walkers. It will offer a new and scenic continuous pathway for numerous competitive and family races and connect to over 40 communities.

With the recent completion of Phase 1 – The East Calgary Greenway, fundraising is now underway for the 18km pathway, Phase 2 – The Southeast Calgary Greenway. In addition to the pathway, this phase will feature a comprehensive wetland experience (boardwalk, lookout tower, bird blinds, telescopes), family fitness area and dog park with training facilities – enhancing Calgary’s outdoor space and our quality of life. As campaign chair, I encourage you to learn more about The Calgary Greenway and to consider contributing to this iconic and valuable project. You can find additional information by viewing the following video link, with comments by Henry Burris, Mayor Nenshi and others (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwZwSKUoizU), or at http://www.parksfdn.com/.

I welcome you to contact me directly and look forward to speaking with you.
Yours very truly,
FirstEnergy Capital Corp.

James W. Davidson
Chairman & C.E.O.

Whistler

2011-09-11T23:07:00.001-06:00

After the 54-40 concert last night, it was a beauty day for downhilling. Sunny, warm, not super busy. Had a post Fondo celebratory breakfast then picked up our gear. Gear reservations here a bit pointless - recall Whistler is attempting to be a real business, but at the end of the day their troops on the ground are transient 19 year olds from Quebec and Australia who are there to get their fair share of snow, trails and party and don't exactly give a shit.

Got about 8 runs of blue and green in, plus I sidetracked a bit for some personal excitement in the blacks. Dusty conditions, but cool in the woods and great just getting the DH flow vs the road bike cardio burn.

It's nice to do the bookends of the two wheeled sport back to back - very different but each helps the other.

Fondo redux

2011-09-11T23:04:00.002-06:00

I liked the fondo, but not 100% sure I'd do it again. I'd need to be fit enough/carry enough to stay in a good group in the giro, or just go moderate social pace enough to chat with people in the back. I guess that means actually training like someone who road races and doing more than one road event per year. I do miss the paceline racing, even missed it on TransRockies with big gravel road sections gone to be honest. It's a great way to push hard. The first group of a hundred or so in the fondo is big, jittery, and too much of a vibe that's jockeying for (an irrelevant) position (since they're all say above 75th I'd guess) without wanting to be on the front. I'd rather be ahead or behind that. The ten person paceline we had is a way more fun/scenic/quieter and overall more enjoyable way to do an event like that from my point of view.

I don't entirely get the start times. My understanding is that the giro men/women can't draft anyone in the other categories. So they've put the women start at 6:40, men at 6:50, and rest at 7. But this means the giro men go through the giro women at some point and create the issue/temptation. Obviously early early morning logistics are one factor. But the race men and women might not need quite the same intro speech considering they probably do 30 race starts a year, and the race groups can probably go out with one motorcycle vs. a bunch of extra machinery as they know the drill. Seems to me that a 6:37 mens start and a 6:40 women's would be ideal to separate those two out, and give both enough time before the herd. People would say "but the women might catch on" which is true, but the other way around it's virtually guaranteed they'd interact. Oh well.

For the overall womens content in this event, I'm very impressed. Large proportion of women, all ages and all goals. Seems to fit with a Vancouver demographic and value set. Great to see.

I think doing it as an out of towner more next time I'd be inclined to stay at matching hotels downtown Vancouver and Whistler, do a minimal backpack check with the race to have a bag up at whistler just with basics, then ride back next morning with the backpack on, and shower at the same hotel if they'd let you leave bike box and other luggage with the bell desk, and skytrain to and from airport. Staying right by the start would be good for sleep in and washrooms vs. riding over in the morning.

Side note: I remembered that part way along the climbs after Squamish there were boxes of brass tacks someone threw on the road. I could see them as I wasn't in a crowd, but maybe later in the race they got someone. Many looked run over and smushed by car tires, which is obviously good. Idiots.

Fondo!

2011-09-10T15:57:00.001-06:00

Beauty day and lots of fun. I forgot how fun road racing is. I think I was around 3:40, which was an ok ride but sub optimal from a few points as to how it went, but that doesn't really matter.

Cindy and Tania were all smiles and looked great in the "Hot Wheels" team kit. I'm hoping for smiles at the end too. Cyrus saw Cindy in Squamish and said "looked strong".

So starting the 10 minutes early was a blessing and a curse. No sketchy pack riding, but up Taylor way it was fast right away. Or at least faster than I'm used to doing at 6am equivalent Calgary time after a couple nights of scant sleep.

Formed a group of about 10 that wasn't quite the back of the race group, so that seemed good. Pulled my share but not more (unless you count pulling my flab up the hill as a pull), and an hour in felt settled, solid, knew my group buddies, and was having fun. All good. That lasted till about the 70k mark when I ducked into a feed station as fast as I possibly could. My bottles were dry. Problem is, I couldn't close the gap back into the wind. Got close on the hills as I was climbing better, then 10 people downhill are just so fast with no effort. To race this you need either feeds or carry more bottles. So I caught a straggler or two, but 70-90k was solo tt anywhere between 20 seconds back and a minute back of the group. Uphill into the wind. I knew that wasn't going to end well, but it's not like I was gonna sit and wait at the side for a group. It was beauty, great temp, I felt strong, so I just did my thing.

Of course solo into the wind has a predictable result... tired. So I grab a gel and am chugging some water, and hear a noise behind me. Shoulder check and there's a hundred people coasting in a peloton. I get in and I go from 280W to like 100. They surge on the next 5km of hills and I drop cause I haven't recovered yet. I see some of our other group of 10 in there eaten up too.

Once I'm off, Kelley Servinski catches me, he got caught up behind a crash by the sounds of it. Or crashed. Indeterminate. We chat for a bit but split up.

I settle into another pack that is big enough that "everyone" seems to have conserved more which is nice. Headwindy at the end. Some lady next to me biffed a traffic cone and ended her event 3k out. I don't get it, there was kilometers of lined up cones. That one shouldn't have been a surprise.

Guys were lining up their teams for some big train finish... For like a two hundredth spot or whatever, so I just stayed out of those shenanigans.

Watched people stream in for a long time. Tania and Cindy were speedy and happy at the end. Tara who hadn't been riding had a tough finish. And many riders gave rave reviews of their hot wheels kits.

Fun event overall. They have enough money for lots of niceties. It's big though, and 7,000 people just is kind of mayhem.

Whistler Gran Fondo bound

2011-09-09T21:31:00.001-06:00

After my 10 year at FirstEnergy party and probably a little more wine than I needed, I did a half day at the office and headed west. Everyone asks about this fancy bike bag Shawn lent me.

Check in for race was efficient, nice sponsors exhibit area, bikes together, and now going for dinner.

Tuesday night cyclocross

2011-09-06T20:56:00.001-06:00

I love Tuesday 'cross. I don't know of anything else that intense. I don't know why riding across grass is the most energy sapping thing possible. It was warm, huge huge field size, I got mid to perhaps upper half of the A pack which was nicer than being DFL, and after riding home with Shawn and Devin I've got the next best thing in the world: Tiger Malt.

Whistler Gran Fondo last training weekend

2011-09-05T09:10:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was about 3 hours down on Millarville and Priddis area roads to warm Cindy up for what was her first big adventure ride.

Today was supposed to be about 70k but it was closer to 85. Not a huge difference, but the climbing was way more than I thought too. Started in Millarville and went west on the 549 until the fork for McLean creek or the Gorge Creek trail heading south. After doing a few huge climbs we got to a road closure that dampened the plan. Apparently it's been closed for years due to a washout of the gravel road. We saw some hikers who said the road was fine and open for bikes, and looked at the map choices. Didn't want to do a bunch of mountain biking on the 'cross bike so continued on. Super nice valleys back there.

Few hours later made it to Turner Valley to refill empty bottles then did the 11km time trial back to the car.

Big day!

Back to school

2011-08-30T11:03:00.000-06:00

I'm sure glad I'm employed and don't have the stress of another year of school weighing on my shoulders at this time of year ; )

Police: 4 Arrested, 10 Taken To Hospital

By Lance Hernandez, 7NEWS Reporter

POSTED: 10:53 am MDT August 29, 2011

UPDATED: 9:40 am MDT August 30, 2011

FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- A 20-year veteran of the Fort Collins Police Department said a weekend party that ended with 10 people being hospitalized and four arrests was one of the largest parties he’s ever seen.

“It was an invite by residents and then of course the social networking, Facebook and texting, turned it into an extra-large party,” said Lt. Russell Reed.

YouTube videos of what is being called a "megaparty" near the Colorado State University campus shows a large crowd around a pool.

7NEWS discovered additional videos of the party were posted to YouTube throughout Monday evening.

Police estimated 2,000 to 4,000 attended Saturday afternoon's back-to-school party at an off-campus apartment complex called Campus Crossings at Ram's Pointe. The party's Facebook page registered nearly 3,000 attendees.

“I knew it was going to be big,” said Ram’s Pointe resident Allison Stanfield, “but it was definitely like 2,000 people bigger than I expected.”

“When I got in there it was total chaos,” said a CSU sophomore who identified himself as Garth Algar. “One woman was hit in the face with a bottle and she was gushing blood.”

Police said ambulance crews called them after they were inundated with calls about people getting sick or passing out from drinking too much alcohol.

When officers arrived, the organizers agreed to shut the party down, police said.

“The biggest concern we have is the over-intoxication,” Reed said, “especially of young women in an environment of that nature, and whether or not they can be victimized because of that alcohol intake.”

Reed said police focused on helping paramedics get through the big crowd to aid those who were injured and those overcome by alcohol.

He said they didn’t have time to concentrate on revelers, who may have been drinking underage.

A spokeswoman for the apartment complex e-mailed a statement to 7NEWS that said the party was a long standing charity initiative intended to encourage new students to socialize.

The statement said that "no alcohol was provided and consumption of alcohol is strictly prohibited in the pool area."

Laura Van De Pette said property management took measures to proactively manage the security of the event, but that the larger than expected crowd raised concerns and required us to shut down early.

"We regret the outcomes of this event and wish to express our concern for the individuals whose safey was put at risk by those who violated the rules of our welcoming event," Van De Pette said.

Four people were cited and released. Two people were cited on assault charges, one person for disorderly conduct and one person for interference with a peace officer, investigators said. All were under 21.

Among those cited by police were 21-year-old Colorado State University linebacker James Skelton and 19-year-old defensive end Dillon Lawrence.

"We are looking into it and will comment further when we know more," said CSU head football coach Steve Fairchild.

CSU’s Dean of Students, Jody Donovan, told 7NEWS that any student accused of breaking the law or violating school policy could face disciplinary measures.

“Any student accused will have a hearing with an officer where they can share their perspective of what happened,” Donovan said. “They are entitled to due process.”

Donovan said the hearing officer will determine responsibility.

“The hearing officer’s decision can range from being found not responsible all the way up to expulsion,” Donovan said.

Donovan said she couldn’t talk about specific cases, but did say that the Athletic Department has additional standards.

She said athletic officials can make decisions that are separate from possible state criminal charges and University code of conduct violations.

“We are concerned about the level of alcohol use,” Donovan said, when asked about the size of the party. “Student safety is a priority and we support the Fort Collins Police Department in helping students be safe.”

7NEWS asked the football players involved for their side of the story, at Monday’s practice, but they chose not to comment.

The annual party usually takes place on the first weekend of the school year, according to the Rocky Mountain Collegian college newspaper.

Reed said 10 officers on the day shift responded to calls for help at the apartment complex, as did 10 to 15 night-shift officers.

The party even made international headlines, and was reported by the British media, including the Daily Mail.

Beautiful August Weekend

2011-08-27T15:06:00.001-06:00

Last weekend was two beautiful 5 hour days of riding in the foothills south of the city, folllwed by 5 days of 7:30am to 10pm work with maybe 15 minutes a day total riding time as my direct commute route is pretty short. Ugh.

But at least I woke up feeling decent this Saturday morning and was out the door by 7am for another 5 hours down south. So nice – no wind, a few less bugs, warm with just jersey and shorts. Like, heavenly riding I’d say. Too bad we didn’t have that type of weather from about March onward on the weekends.

I’m trying to google map scope out a few more routes, we’ll see if I have time to hit them on the long weekend coming up. I’m not riding very fast these days, plus it’s hilly, so 5 hours gets me maybe 120-140k depending on rounding the time up or down a bit.

Road ride!

2011-08-20T20:43:00.001-06:00

I was so bagged last night - dropped Shawn and Claire at the airport in a bit of a daze. One of those weeks. This morning slept in till a few minutes before 10, not very often I do that. Got out the door at 10 for 135k road ride, really nice out all day, and it's been a while since I've road ridden with jersey, no wind, and no real time constraints. Only thing is all the bugs are big at the end of summer, and they all want to bash into my face or go in my helmet. One went between my chin strap and face and stung me which I could have done without.
Finished off my bike hanging storage finally too. Should have been easier but I'm happy with the way it turned out.

Sporty Utility Vehicle

2011-08-20T16:48:00.001-06:00

Global Capital Markets

2011-08-19T15:15:00.000-06:00

Music has many interpretations based on who's listening. This kid's experience in the world is like the last few weeks journey through the capital markets.