maiden voyage

On a beautiful Sunday afternoon last weekend, Gavan took his maiden voyage in the Chariot behind a bicycle. As I predicted, he loved it. He likes looking at Daddy or Mommy in front of him rather than craning his neck in a vain effort to see us pushing him in stroller mode. Even so, he fell asleep after about 20 minutes of whipping along the tarmac.

We went on the bike pathways in Fish Creek. Kelley went as well (on her own bike, not in the chariot) but she turned back a bit early since she had an errand to do for someone else. Gavan and I continued on to the very west tip of Fish Creek Park riding on twisty paths through the forest. All in, it was a 2 hour ride.

The Chariot worked great. It was solid and handled well. It rolled well but it will definitely give Daddy a good workout. When using it you have double the contact patch of your tires, much more wind resistance and of course the weight of the rig and baby (Gavan is only 5 lbs. less than my bike itself). So Daddy will be a much better climber on my bike this year when I'm riding solo.

It sure was nice to have some family time, get a workout, and relieve some stress all at the same time... Gavan says "Thanks for the biking attachment G'ma and Gmpa!"

Spring in January...

On Monday of this week I got an e-mail from Shawn calling a ride for Saturday. The weather forecast was a very promising 7 degrees without the "-" sign before it. I haven't gone for a significant ride in quite a while let alone a good group ride so I told Shawn I would do my best make sure I make it to this ride.

Saturday morning rolls around and I had the best of intentions of getting to Cadence, one of our favourite meeting spots early to socialize a bit over a coffee before we depart on what I'm sure will be a fun but also painful and humbling experience as most of the guys are fitter and getting a lot more saddle time than I. Needless to say, the early arrival never manifested itself. I rolled in 5 minutes late, chugged the rest of Dallas' coffee which he generously offered me, then it was off rolling. There were about 10 of us. It was awesome to see everyone that I don't get as much opportunity to see in the winter. Also, It was a special pleasure to ride with Dylan, Ross, Jamie and Thomas since I rarely have opportunity to enjoy there company.

The weather was co-operating and so was the group. I got the impression that some people will looking for a bit of a training ride but with it being so early in the season a "lower" level base ride was the order. We didn't even break it up on the COP hill. I remember last year getting dropped on that hill on a similar ride (never a good sign). From there It was to the Shell gas plant southwest of Cochrane on a mix of gravel and secondary paved road skiffed with a bit of snow. It was great. I was feeling acceptably good and able to maintain a conversational pace with my ridemates.

The weather was only getting nicer as we approached the gas plant and everything was going well save for Jamie's derailleur breaking and then single speeding then subsequently breaking the chain again (too much power in those legs for most bikes). It got fixed again and we were off. Thomas was beginning to feel the dreaded bonk the further west we got antagonized by the strong headwind that we had been experiencing. I've been there so many times and made a point to make sure that we didn't leave anyone from our group. There was an awesome group effort to help with pushing and drafting. Thomas pushed through the pain and lightheadedness like a pro.

The only negative part of the ride happened when we encountered an irate rancher who apparently was not pleased with us being on what he called his property. It was our understanding that a lot of this land is leased for oil and ranching purposes. It is a network of dirt roads and fences and gates (none closed). Occasionally, you see a no trespassing sign but I am guilty of assuming that that is only to minimize liability concerns in the event that a sue-happy yahoo hurts himself out there. Anyway, this rancher was not happy about our presence. Dallas and Jamie already got through before the rancher blocked the road with his John Deer. He was not listening to any rational argument and was treating us like I would expect a 3 yr. old would react if a peer stole a toy from him. We were within about a kilometre or two from the reserve which would be out of his property. To turn around would mean that we were on his property for double the time than if we just kept going but he would have none of it. All he did was shout that he was "DEAD SERIOUS" and "OUT!". It was like talking to a big gorilla trying to protect his family. The thing is we aren't harming anything! No motors, no alcohol, certainly we weren't hunting. We were simply en route. Honestly, I think the problem is that he just hates city people. In the end, we convinced him to let Shawn go on to catch the other two and the rest of us turned back into "no man's land". We were fine but it could have put one or two of us into a world of dehydration and pain since it unexpectedly added a lot to the trip.

We never met up with the rest of the group again but we did meet Chris on our way back to Cochrane. Eventually, we refuelled at the Coffee Traders, a very cyclist friendly establishment.

On our way back, Craig showed us a new, exciting singletrack route that leads to an enjoyable climb up the Cochrane hill. From there, it was a spectacularly, easy spin with the wind and sun on our backs pushing us to Calgary... Great ride.

Today I am looking forward to Gavan's first chariot ride behind a bike. I'm sure he will enjoy it and it will be good for my leg strength.

Haaaaaappy New Year!

Happy new year everyone!

Kelley, Gavan and I had a pretty good New Year's Eve and Day. New Year's Eve was pretty quiet by most people's standards but was very enjoyable. We hung out with Drew and Jo which is always fun. The first part of the evening was spent at the Zoo's Zoo Year's Eve. Basically, it is a lot of lights and neat displays. It was fun but freezing as the temperature was in the minus 20's. We had to move quickly to keep our internal furnace going. Afterwards, we went back to our house, ordered pizza and rung in the new year with good fellowship.

New Year's Day...

On New Year's Day I always like to do something fun, active and a foreshadow of the upcoming year. Kelley, Gavan, Izzy and I went to Barrier Lake to do some skating. I've never seen anyone skating there before but, for at least the last five years, I've been meaning to try it out. The scenery is sweet, of course, and the incessant wind is cold but perfect for clearing the snow. I took my pick axe to test the ice and it was more than adequate at about 1 1/2 ft. deep or more. Kelley took a lot of convincing and a little time to get used to the idea (antagonized by the expansion cracks that admittedly do look ominous) but after a while had a great time. We skated to the end of the lake and then let the wind push us back through a maze of low snow drifts... A great time and a great way to spend the first day of the year.