Vancouver

Vancouver was shorter then originally planned but what a fun packed 24hours. I got to hang out with lots of great friends. It was also great that so many of them came to the weekly dance. Stay tuned for the Hawaiian adventure next.

Appreciation

As I rode my bike home I realize how much I do love my city. The familiarity of the sites smells atmosphere.  I sit writing this in my back yard looking at the night sky enjoying the comfort of a place I have grown to love.  I am a strong believer that without experience and change a person cannot fully understand what we have. It is tragic that often it is through loss we fully realize what we had.

The trip I am about to embark on started as a casual comment while talking with my termanlly sick dad and his response was do it while you can. With out that loss and that comment my decision probably would not have been made due to being comfortable . Because of loss I will live,  hopefully love and enjoy new experiences. We only have a short time and there is it a lot to-do and I plan on trying my best to do the most I can.

Exchanging the bike for a back pack

Life

I have always been one of those people who is very polarized on how I can accept things. Either I accept it really easy or not at all. I have tried to become more centered and less black white but it takes time and effort. This thought was brought up after my dad was diagnosed with stage 4 terminal cancer in July. He arrives back to Calgary Saturday and I am still having issues accepting it. At first it was easy to cry and mourn but as the initial shock has worn off I find myself in limbo, a sort of going through the actions of belief but not truly believing phase. I guess it may just be hard to accept that in mere months the man who has largely defined who I am may be gone. Sure he will live on in our thoughts and memories but the phone call about how to do such and such on the car, house or pretty much anything hands on will not be available. The person I call anytime I have big news will be gone.

At least we have a few more tomorrows to create memories and hope the tomorrows continue.

New Year

So it is the New Year and I have taken it upon myself to attempt to write more frequently on this blog. I am going back to the original purpose of this blog, to document my training and thoughts leading up to Transrockies 2011.

This Christmas season I ate to much exercised to little and now it is time to get back on track. With that in mind this morning I put on my new running shoes and went for a nice hour long run in -20 C conditions. It amazes me how much warmer it feels while running then biking. Biking today I froze, running I was overly hot. I do believe that running a few times a week is in order while the weather is cold and I am uninspired to go riding.

Until next time and hopefully with photos.

Adieu

Night Rides

Wednesday morning I woke up with the plan to drive to work, borrow the test bike Element and take it on a night ride. So I made it as far as getting the bike home. My sister and I then raced off to sushi for supper and off I then headed for swing dance lessons. All was going according to plan until my friend was like a few us are practicing now and we need another lead...so not being able to say no to dancing more I hoped on my bike and headed over to her place. As we were practicing I kept thinking its not that late I still have tons of great riding left. So at 10 o'clock we headed out to a small pub for a pint. So now the being home by 9 turned into 10 and was now going fast towards midnight. Most nights I would have pulled the chute and and went to bed but not Wednesday. I geared up and was riding by 12:15am.

I pedalled fast up to nose hill to get away from all the noise of the city and soon found my self in utter darkness with my new head lamp cutting a line of light along the trail. Time seemed to freeze as I rode. It was just me the stars the night and the occasional 5 point buck. That night I realized that I need to spend more time in utter darkness alone. It reminded me of home. Of truly being alone away from people, cars or any other kind of distraction. The inner peace I found was amazing. That and also the Element rocked my world, fast, smooth and easily stand up sprintable!!

All that being said now I look forward to potential new jobs that will feed my desire to race a solo 24 hour event...perhaps Old Peublo? Any takers, I would need some help.

Swing Dance

Not a lot of my cycling friends know that I swing dance. Last weekend I attended a great workshop. The teachers came up from Seattle and taught some great new moves and improved everyones skills. The more I dance the more I realize that this is a great work out. By the end of a 3 or 4 minute fast song I am out of breath, over heating and ready for a nap. The nap never happens as there is always another great person to dance with and a great song to dance to. In case you don't know what swing dance google Hellsapoppin and watch the video.

This workshop has now inspired me to head up to Edmonton at the end of the month to experience a new workshop with new and exciting classes and the chance to meet even more great people.