Pipped at the Post

Hi All,
Let's hope for more bear sightings during this blog posting like the last one!
So the competitive edge is back. After ten years in the cycling wilderness I once more donned a number to the handlebars and lined up for a cross country race. We headed down to Lethbridge for the first of the Alberta Cup XC series, and despite my self assurances that I just want to enjoy the race scene and have fun, I couldn't help but get myself a bit hyped up for the race, standing amongst all the shaven legged folks. So much so that I let rip from the second row of the grid and ended up leading out the race with the "big guns".

With the sponsored fellers behind (team Bow cycle is just coming into the shot there - three orange clad riders), it was a good incentive to push the R&R jersey to the front - just spreading the R&R love this side of the Pacific. Having not really ridden on mtb trails for a year (or two!) it was nice to rattle along the single track of a rather technical course - although this was also my undoing, as on the very last descent, having thought I had it in the bag with no-way for anyone to pass, somebody passed, in a crazy assed thicket smashing, brambling splitting move that had me cursing as I was pushed back into 2nd place - beaten by 4 seconds!!! Hang on a minute, this is just for fun, so actually, in reflection it was great to do pretty well - and I assure myself that the next one in Edmonton is definitely just for fun - although I feel the adrenaline building up already!

I neglected to recall the pre ride eating procedure of old, and so tucked into a nice Vindaloo with a cold pint the night before the race. Having not had a beer for a while, not touched red curry meat for a couple of years and certainly not entertained the idea of a vindaloo being on the menu since a fateful evening late one Saturday morning in the Balti King seven years ago, it was a rather peculiar choice of fueling up. But clearly it seemed to work a treat - more of that for the Edmonton race then!
The main snag we had at the weekend was getting a flat battery on the Saturday at the race course in the evening. Nobody was around apart from some young louts screwing around on those noisy little motorbikes (the ones that look like they've been stolen from the clown shop). We didn't have any jump leads for the battery, so our only hope was to ask these yobs on the motorbikes! Now, in Blighty, the kind of kids that ride these motorbikes congregate in Cadishead and are usually petty thieves with restraining orders who'd tell you where to shove it if you even looked at them funny! - Luckily Lethbridge isn't Cadishead (Cadishead being Northen England's more run down version of the Bronx). These two mini 'ciminal' motorbikers didn't have any jump leads (booster cables for Canucks) but knew a friend who did so called him on their cell phone to get him to drive out to where we were - about 25mins away! Now that's why I like this place, these Canadian folk don't seem to bat an eyelid to go out of their way to give you a hand! - I've lived in many places where it's even too much effort for people to go out of their way to tell you the time.
Anyway, that's about it for this week. The bike obsession continues, work is still a place I have to reluctantly visit five days out of seven, and the sun keeps on tantilising us with brief glimpses of what Spring is like.
I hope you are all oiling your chains, and make sure to speak to the next mini motorbike yob you see to say thanks,
Spin, spin, spin,
S&S.

Ticking over and BEARS AT THE END

Hi All,

Scant news to be had from snowy Cochrane this past week (that's right - snowy Cochrane. My gleeful boasting that spring was on the way has come back and smacked me right in the ass once more, we're on another "weather warning" tonight from the weather office, with 15cm predicted, and up to 25cm in localised areas, all by tomorrow morning - It April 20th for God's sake!!! I WANT TO BIKE).

We're off to Lethbridge this weekend for the first round of the Alberta Mountain Bike Cup, so that'll be good (and piss freezing no doubt). Had a good ride out on the weekend with Brad, ending on a closed road up in the mountains, tres windy made for interesting bike handling on the decents, - it's all good and well having an awesome light bike - that is until it gets blown away in the gales (with you straddling it).

A bite was had at a Tibetean restaurant in the week to celebrate Portland Ken's 36th birthday which was all very social.

The best news of the week comes from the wife.... Brina was out at Canadian Tire (a big store much akin to B&Q for those not in the know about Canadian hardware retailers) and she waltzed into the garden centre area of the store - and got locked in! So there she was, stranded all alone amongst the gnomes, singing wishing wells and clamatis. The doors failed to let her out and the only other exit was firmly padlocked shut. It took a serious amount of banging and screaming on the doors, as well as an intense bout of panicking (one pee two pee), before the security cameras picked her up to send somebody to her aid. They must have thought there was a crazy lady in there from the noise she was making (or maybe thought that one of the little gnomes had come to life like a frenzied little deamon).

I think this is the first post sans picture - sorry, next time we'll post a load - I tried to take some of the deers out front this morning in the snow, but they came out as tiny specks on the horizon.

Had a cancer check this Monday - all going well (thank you to all who are keeping their fingers crossed), and next time I go it will be the TWO YEAR mark - major celebrations in order.

Also getting hooked into the Stanley Cup playoffs again (hockey), although it still aint football - Man Utd 7 : Roma 1 - Sweet!

Pedal hard,

Hoping for a break in the clouds,

S&S.

WOW WOW WOW - BREAKING NEWS!!!!!! I JUST NIPPED OFF TO FIND A PICTURE TO PUT ON THIS BLOG AND WANDERED TO THE FRONT WINDOW LITERALLY TWO MINUTES AGO, WHEN THERE I SAW A BIG BLACK DOG - OR SO I THOUGHT. I LOOKED FOR THE OWNER, THERE WAS NONE, THEN REALISED THAT THE DOG WAS LUMBERING AS IT RAN - NOT BOUNDING LIKE A DOG. BUGGER ME, ON CLOSER LOOK IT WAS A BEAR!!! WOO HOO!! A BLACK BEAR WAS JUST TROTTING ALONG RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE HOUSE, LITERALLY TEN METRES IN FRONT OF THE HOUSE. IT WAS HEADING DOWN TO THE BOW RIVER - AWESOME. SO THE LITTLE BLIGHTERS ARE AWAKE. LOVE IT!

I'LL BE ON MY EYE OUT NEXT TIME I WANDER OVER TO THE POST BOX THAT'S FOR SURE.

By the way, the gnome comment in the first part of the blog led me to these dirty little blighters; not too sure why the perv in green needs binoculars.

Shuttin' Up Shop

So the mighty COP (above: Calgary Olympic Park) closed down for the winter on Friday last - maybe winter is shutting up shop for this season after all. Driving past the ski jumps and little ski hill on the way to work every day makes me take the city's "ski resort" for granted, but I'll sure miss it, if (when) we depart Calgary. They sure never did build one of these suckers in Warrington, although a relatively local lad "Eddie the Eagle Edwards" made his name here on this ski jump in Calgary, reaching iconic Olympic status for ski jumping wearing bright pink goggles that covered up his double thickness magnifying glass like spectacles and having absolutely no idea what so ever about ski jumping - particularly the landing part! No wonder really when it comes to light that good old Eddie learnt to ski jump in his back yard in Wigan and at the dry ski slope in Rossendale. - Trying to explain to Canadians about dry ski slopes is like trying to tell Eskimos that their igloos need air conditioning. Having wrestled with this concept with one of my grade 8 classes and been subjected to interrogation such as; "how can you make snow dry?", - well it's not really snow, "but if it's dry doesn't it melt?", it's not really snow Johnny, more like nylon, "like my mom's tights?" - well not quite, more like carpet - "so you carpet a mountain to ski down" - something like that Johnny - "Do you have to build the mountain too?" - no, I don't have the tectonic power of mountain building, the mountain is already there - "but Englands flat" - not all of it "You English people are weird" - At which point Johnny talks himself into a detention and leaves me pondering the sanity of us Brits. I know ski-ing is great and all but the thought of a dry ski slope now borders on the absurd. What next, selling sand to the Iraqis?

We've been struggling to get to grips with academia at work this post Spring Break week, but were delighted to see a mere two and a bit months before summer holidays!!!!! (Even Sunshine will have closed by then).

Spring break saw days of good snow in the hills and quality boarding time, although the roads seem to be clearing now for proper bike riding. I've got my first mtb race coming up on the 22nd. Not been on a bike competitively for a good while and am raring to go. Last time I began to get this fit my bollock fell off, lets hope for a significantly different outcome this time around!

Also busy plotting a summer road trip of road trips as bro and sis in law are heading Canadaside in July!

Anyway, for now it's back to the grindstone (well, more like a rather blunt file the way I'm working),

Hoping you're all keeping your tackle in tact,

Big smiles for the sun,

S&S.

p.s. Roll on this;

Global Cooling and Contemplation

So much for Spring! Despite my staunch environmental viewpoints and 100% conviction behind the science of retreating glaciers, melting ice caps, rising sea levels and increased CO2 driving freaky weather - there is very little of that global warming nonsense going on in Alberta! (Apologies to Al Gore if he just happens to stumble across this page - great movie by the way!). Spring break has failed to muster any temperature warmer than minus 7 so far - not great for the eager cycling legs, but a bonus for the board, as Sunshine and Lake Louise are the main targets for this week's holiday! Sunday entailed a pleasant scurry around Sunshine with Portland Ken - see below - it hadn't snowed for a few days and we managed to find some icey patches mixed in with the good stuff for the first time this season. That loss of control skittery feel hadn't been missed, and it caused a fair few of my runs to be a little bit like Frank Spencer hurtling downhill on a tea tray! The ice also manged to grab hold of Ken's ski's and flip his ankles up in the air over his head before he knew anything about it - I thought he'd shattered his shoulder into tiny bone fragments, but these Yanks seem to bounce pretty well.

So this be Ken P. You may see that it's snowing (Sunday). The white stuff began to fall as we were out there, and didn't stop until mid morning today (Tuesday). I couldn't resist having another hack at Sunshine today, knowing full well that the "Some Mother's Do 'ave 'em" ice would be well and truly burried beneath nice fresh powder - and how it was! Most North American observers may well be scratching their Mork and Mindy corrupted noggins with all of this reference to Frank Spencer and Some Mothers do ave em - Look it up you luddites, English slapstick at its finest!

I managed to make first lifts today too and caught the sunrise peaking over Tee Pee chair - and there was absolustely nobody around! The teeny weeny piccie on the right was my lame attempt to capture empty chairs and vacant slopes - those of you with powers of magnification may be able to see this from the photo, the rest of you should just take my word for it!

It was certainly one of the finer days up in the hills, good lines and fresh tracks, today even had me inadvertently taking 6 feet drops in my stride (that'll teach me to check whats on the other side of the trees) - made for great giddy rushes and teethy grins though!

A dampener was put on the day when cruising on the last run the ski patrol were out trying to resuscitate somebody - I'm still not quite in the right mind to contemplate mortality, so it was a rather queer sensation to have the Verve's "Lucky Man" come onto my ipod as I rode past - wasn't sure if this was funny or just morbidly ironic. (They were still at the CPR 10 mins later when the helicopter arrived - all very somber, although some rubber necking Terry Fuckwits were stood around taking photos of the whole affair. Whoopy Do - a helicopter, but it's coming to pick up a corpse!!!! Maybe they'll head off to the hospital mortuary to finish their film off - great holiday snaps.)

Well, that's my depressing post of the year out of the way! Moving swiftly on.. things at home are all rather quiet - Brina is in the Soo for the week. I decided that being a batchelor for 7 days I had to find some "man" activities to pass the time (comments about being a wanker are not needed from any of you perverts!). All I could come up with was to get out the GodFather dvds - a set of movies I've never seen but have been told for years "you must see this".

It is, without doubt, a very blokish flick - and I recommend any of you who haven't seen it, to watch it - but just make sure your wife is at home because now when I turn the lights off at night and all is quiet as I'm on my lonesome, I'm just shitting myself thinking that I'm about to wake up with a horses head under the pillow - maybe I'll get Mary Poppins out on dvd tomorrow instead.
I hope you're all avoiding phobias of the Mafia,

Keep healthy and happy,

And don't take photos of dead people!

S&S.
P.S:

You know you're boarding in a vast resort when you can ride into the neighbouring province and back again.