An unexpected late February trip to Victoria, British Columbia gave me a free weekend which meant one thing; a night of camping somewhere on Vancouver Island. As I only had Saturday and Sunday, I was restricted in how far I could drive from Victoria so in the end decided to hit the Juan de Fuca trail again. It's a trail I had just hiked a section of two months previously and had enjoyed quite a lot. This time I planned to start at the beginning and hike the 8 kilometers up to Bear Beach where I'd spend the night, before retracing my steps the next day.
At this point the bike has been entirely stripped down to individual parts and the cleaning has begun. There's been no real disassembly problems to speak of so far and no parts were seized on which was rather surprising given the age of the bike. The bottom braket wasn't in the best shape as one of the bearing holders had disintegrated with age but that was about it for "damage".
I’ve been commuting to work on my bike through the winter for a number of years now and thoroughly enjoy it. Occasionally I have used studded bike tires but the majority of the time I instead went with big knobby tires with a lower air pressure than normal. This year I was away at the beginning of winter and when I got home and wanted to get back on the bike, I realized I still had narrow summer slick tires on. While we didn’t have much snow at the time, it was still messy out and after my first ride to work, I realized that I couldn’t safely drive again on my summer tires.
I was in Victoria for two weeks and decided that I should go camping for a night on my free weekend. Even though it was mid-December I thought it would be a shame if I travelled all the way across the continent and didn't spend a night sleeping outside in the land of the big trees. It is Vancouver Island after all and I don't make it out this way that often. Unfortunately I only had two short days and just didn't have time to get up to the old growth areas of the province like I had originally wanted to. But the coastline between River Jordan and Port Refrew is amazing to me as well and I was excited for the opportunity to hike a short section of the Juan de Fuca trail.
Incredibly I slept through the morning call to prayer and as it turned out, I also missed the bus I was planning to take east back to Ouarzazate. But I needed the sleep as I was exhausted from hiking and biking the day before and I was in no real hurry to get anywhere. The day was a travel day and my plan was to catch a bus to Ouarzazate and then another over the Atlas Mountains to Marrakech where I going to spend my last few days in the country. Missing the bus messed up my plans somewhat but I figured I'd just take a Grand Taxi to Ouarzazate and catch a later bus from there. I had a long breakfast as I was somewhat sad to leave Tinghir but after a few extra cups of coffee I packed up and said goodbye to my cafe waiter who had faithfully kept my cup filled for the previous few days.
I think one of the most controversial and divisive issues in cycling is the use of helmets and in particular, whether or not their use should be mandatory. The two sides in the debate defend their positions with an almost religious like zeal and I admit that I’ve been very righteous at times in arguments with people defending my position.
What is my position? Well essentially I do not believe bicycle helmets should be mandatory for adults. Kids yes, adults no.
I live in a jurisdiction that brought in a mandatory helmet law in 1997 and while I’ve been against it from the beginning, I’ve recently been trying to see both sides of the argument.
With that said, here’s my personal take on bike helmets.
Yesterday I added a new bike to my fleet and I’m quite excited about it. It’s an old 3 speed internal hub cruiser style bike with hand brakes and a nice comfy seat. Yes I do realize it was essentially designed as a girl’s bike but I’m really too old to care much about that.
As far as bike go, I currently have Gerry, my primary commuter and ‘go fast’ bike as well as Rocky which does double duty pulling my trailer and getting me through the winters.
Well it's now October and time for my for my end of summer backyard round-up post. But I have a confession to make first. I admit that I'm lazy when it comes to my yard and there's not really much to report on. When I started this website/blog I had a dream of more regularly writing about my backyard projects and feel that I've really failed on that front. I blame it primarily on my backyard hammock combined with a busy summer and cold beer.
There's just never enough summer weekends when you throw in a wedding and stag party, a few cottage weekends with friends and the odd family visit. Every week I'd say "I'll do it this weekend" but then all of a sudden there were no more summer weekends left and the work still wasn't done. Obviously yard work could have been done in the evenings through the week but that's where my hammock interfered. It comes down to the fact that after a long day of regular wage paying work, relaxing on the hammock is a much more attractive option then doing any work in the yard.
This recipes marries two of my favorite foods, shrimp and pesto. The pesto gives the rice a nice boost of favour and everything is topped by grape tomatoes. And it's all quick and easy to prepare.
An awesome hot soup to come home to at the end of the day and see in the slow cooker. The peanut butter adds protein and gives it a creamy texture. Great with hot bread on the side. It's hot enough for me as it but if you want it hotter, add a bit more cayenne.
Ever since an old friend of mine brought Cheesy Potatoes to a pot luck dinner they have been my favorite side dish, no questions asked. Easy to make, just four ingredients to mix up and the oven does the rest.
There is nothing like the aroma of Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins to make a morning perfect. I think the half cup of yogurt is the secret to these muffins. It makes them super moist and yummy.
I love salmon and I love maple syrup so this recipe makes me happy, very happy. There's nothing like baked salmon with the taste of maple syrup. Yum! It's well worth the few minutes it takes to prepare it.
Chunks of chicken with baby spinach, grape tomatoes and parmesan cheese all mixed with penne pasta. This a popular meal in our house! It's easy, yummy and makes great left-overs for work lunch.
Why a bike in a tree?
This recipes marries two of my favorite foods, shrimp and pesto. The pesto gives the rice a nice boost of favour and everything is topped by grape tomatoes. And it's all quick and easy to prepare.
An awesome hot soup to come home to at the end of the day and see in the slow cooker. The peanut butter adds protein and gives it a creamy texture. Great with hot bread on the side. It's hot enough for me as it but if you want it hotter, add a bit more cayenne.
Ever since an old friend of mine brought Cheesy Potatoes to a pot luck dinner they have been my favorite side dish, no questions asked. Easy to make, just four ingredients to mix up and the oven does the rest.
Quinoa and Black Beans topped with melted cheese combine for a nutritional powerhouse of a meal. Incredibily easy to make, just mix it up and bake.
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