Tis time...........

Aaaand.... Relax (Wraskally Wrabbits)

Holy Shit! Where the bollocks did that month go to?!?! I'd been hoping to pass on news of our 'rented rabbit' a few weeks ago, but alas, that weekend passed, then I was hoping to recant of tales of biking extravaganza, pushing past 100miles on a Saturday jaunt - but once more, the time passed. I was eager to blog news of catching up with the Tatey clan in snowy Yorkshire - but once more, old grandfather fucking time screwed me over and I woke up once more on a Monday morning, moaning to Christ that I have to repeat that far too mundane routine once again for the next five days! But I made it to the blog now with the great idea of just typing "THE END" in massive print and then signing off the tinterweb for a while - but having just got in from a good Friday night ride out west across the reservation and returning in the dark has got my head in the right place, so the world is a better place again (lets see how long that lasts for, once I start my bloody masters on Tuesday - like things aren't busy enough!!!).

The misses is thriving with the Kindergarten kids, and she's just aced her evaluation (they apparently couldn't find any areas for improvement for her teaching - which for you non teachers is something that never happens on the evaluation sheet) - so she's pretty chuffed! The old dear turned the big 31 yesterday, so we're off to Panorama for the weekend (and I get to take the knackered old bike so I can spin up Storm mountain, over the divide and across to Radium). Regardless of the snow conditions (which incidently are meant to be really good right now) we're just looking forward to kicking back and doing bugger all for a couple of days!!!!

As for the dealy in postings... the wraskally wrabbit blog was going to introduce the now infamous "Penne", or as the Kindergarten kids call her "Snuggles", but as she is officially known in the Williams household... "Bun Bun".

Although don't be deceived by the cute, cuddly appearance, those big brown eyes and the kashmir like fur... because Bun Bun can be bad... the little hoppity hop monster found a tasty liking for my straw surfing Ron Jon Hat in the closet, and after chewing it to pieces she knew she was in trouble - and hiding behind the cabinet (below) didn't hide her guilt!!!

But Bun Bun made up for her nibbling escapades by helping Brina out at work - when Brina takes her afternoon nap, the Long Eared teacher takes to the chair for instruction...

And if all else fails... just do what rabbits do best and look tasty
Hope you all find a spare second to spin those legs - and play chase the rabbit to get the little sod in its cage before it shits any more across the living room floor....

Thats all folks....

S&S.

Yadda, Yadda, Yadda

'Ey up....

it looks like a very busy, yet awfully mundane lifecycle has reduced the postings here. However, there have been some bright points in the past month.....

A long weekend down in Whitefish Montana was had with Brad and Julie last weekend. We'd heard good things about the resort there beforehand, and loved the place in summer, so we were hoping for a good 'un - and it didn't disappoint - it was flippin awesome!!!!!

The piccie above is Wieble about to plunge down "Glory Hole" one of the wicked black / double black steeps down through the trees in the surprisingly good deep snow!!!! (you always know it's going to be one hell of a run when you can't see the slope until you slide the tips of your skis over the top of the run).

After the near vertical steeps, the terrain hit the trees - and here's Brad taking on the powder and some pretty tight turns at good speed - it was terrific! Nobody else was around, we could have been on a big backcountry day (but with our own personal lift service).

Brina joined us for most of the runs on the main parts of the resort - and had a blast (even the blue runs had deep powder and trees off to each side - you couldn't but smile wherever you went). But she did leave the boys to go and play on the blacks for a while whilst she warmed her toes and took on the essential sugars (via hot chocolates etc..).

I'm still riding like a madman, and the above piccie is from today's ride on the old boneshaker bike - I headed out for a few hours west of Cochrane and climbed up from where this photo is pointing (there is a gravel road somewhere in the trees there that I sweated up - despite the just slightly sub zero temps). This is out towards the Waiprus, and it was without doubt the perfect day for a ride (albeit a touch on the chilly side).

The speedtheory spin nights are still as tough as ever - I'm looking forward to seeing what it has put in my legs for this season (one feller snapped the front mech off his carbon frame this Wednesday in the spin night - such was the intensity of the power sprints we were putting in!!! - it's ace!!!).

Hope you're all bonny.

Two fingers up to the establishment,

If you ever get the chance - visit Whitefish,

May you all slide down the glory hole!!!!!

S&S.

Snow Go Superbowl Sunday

Superbowl Sunday : akin to FA Cup Final day but with a week long media hype build up, oodles of sporting rhetoric from unnecessarily loud ex players come commentators (whom I suspect damaged the old grey matter a touch, with one too many helmet crunching tackles in their careers), and very pleasant (but not enough) close ups of the cheerleaders and their fine athletic abilities. So really - nothing like the FA Cup. Fortunately, it seems as though every man and his dog stays indoors all day long on Superbowl Sunday (despite the game not starting until 4.30pm). This is just fine by me, as with the continued warming of the weather, the roads are very ridable (it hasn't snowed for an age) and the deathly quiet lanes along Grand Valley Rd and beyond made today's ride overwhelmingly peaceful (once off the 1A, didn't get passed by a car for nearly 2 hours). I took the camera in hope of seeing something very exciting - alas, that didn't occur but hell I thought I'd take a photo nonetheless....

There were no roadies out for the old battered Trek to chase down, but she creaked along fine and dandy (it seems like the creaking bottom bracket stops once the thermometer rises above zero, as it did half way through the ride). After a jolly day spinning along, I did actually make it home in time for the Superbowl, and I must say, those Yanks do know how to put on a show. The razzmatazz, fanfare and all other associated bells and whistles that go hand in hand with American showmanship are just unbeatable and certainly couldn't be reproduced on the turf of Wembley. They even had Bruce Springsteen on the pitch at half time to sing a bit!!! (what's that all about?!?!?! I don't get it, but I like it in a very lazy, sit on my couch and turn my brain off and get mind numbingly entertained kind of way). As for the actual game, well, that's actually very good indeed and can be more compelling that a titanic Premiership clash between Stoke and Hull.

The rest of the week has had little in the realms of interest; training sessions with Speed Theory, working too late and too much, sleeping, eating, breathing etc.... Brina is having a ball with the K kids in Morely, and I sometimes think she's having just as much fun in class as the kidlings are.

We're booked to go to Whitefish in Montana to ski in a couple of weekends with the Weebles, and are currently scheming our next trip (NZ in summer - woo hooo!!!!!!). I was reading the BBC news this morning which was on high alert for the severe winter storms in the UK where a crisis looms as temperatures may well plummet to minus 2 - AT NIGHT TIME!!!!! How are those folks back home coping?!?!? I yearn for minus 2 at night time and may well get it by June!

Anyhow, it's probably time to go and iron some shirts (how very rock and roll).

May all your highways be clear and I hope you caught the game,

S&S.

Jaws

Well, what a fine day to neglect to carry a camera! Mr. Weible and I headed out to Shark Valley on a pristine blue sky Rocky Mountain day, with hardly a soul to be seen on the Smith Dorien Highway. Having basked in the delights of spinning on the tarmac through last weekend's premature warmth, we have now plunged right back into the minus 20s of winter - which to our delight kept everybody else indoors and left Mt Shark for us to attack unencombered by crowds (or anybody else what so ever). Fortunately the air was dead calm, as after I had proclaimed that "it's not that cold", once we began to slide along on the skis, the windchill soon began to rip away at my face and bring the temp down to somewhere in the "NorthPole on a bad day" range. Having only plumped for Mt Shark on a last minute whim on the drive out to the mountains, we were rather ill equipped for route finding, that being a lack of map, lack of trail knowledge seeing as though neither of us had ever been there before, and a good lack of concern on both of our behalves. Brad reassured me by confirming that he had his headtorch so all was O.K.
Mt Shark lies on the west side of the Spray Valley and is just sublime - being one of the starting points to Mt. Assiniboine. There is a comprehensive network of very well maintained xc ski trails which we began out on, but once we found ourselves on the edge of the trails, an untracked gap up through the trees seemed a much more exciting option than gliding along the trackset highway.
So up we went, breaking trail through the trees on our very skinny skis which were hailed to be 'light touring skis' when purchased - but which do very little for keeping you above the deep untracked snow (to which my aching knees and hips do attest as both attempted to jetisson from their sockets on a memorable descent through crusty deep snow as my left ski decided to sink down to my hip taking the leg with it, whilst my right ski (and leg) prefered to maintain a rather swift acceleration down the slope, twirling me around like a weeble on acid and resulting in one of those external whoofing lung emptying exhalations of breath accompanied by the internal cry of 'fuck me that stings a bit').
Fortunately, Weible has a touch more finess on the planks, and we carried on bashing our way through the snow like two kids in a sweetshop. After an hour of this we begin to discuss sensible navigation ideas - such as viewing specific summits and not following certian vallies etc... although this went hand in hand with the agreement that there was no way we were going back the way we came, purely due to a complete dislike for backtracking. We kept on following our noses, up and down and around - and we knew it was a good day when Brad mentioned that good old Ken P. would be proud of us for being in the situation where there is good potential to be really, really lost and have a rather spectacular backcountry epic.
Having hyped this day up, it may sound like a let down that we eventually found our way back onto the other side of Mt Shark, and that there was no pursuit by hungry wolves, or necessity to hack of a limb with a blunt leatherman. Nevertheless, a fine winter day for a last minute decision on a Saturday morning, I'll just make sure to remember the camera next time...
Everything else is exactly as you'd expect (make of that what you will),
All good in the Great White North,
don't forget your compass,
S&S.

Here we go again....

After a brief 2009 hiatus from this blog, I've now generated sufficient motivation to be bothered to get this thing into gear once more - albeit without the absurd compulsion to get a certain number of posts banged out before 2010. So lets see what 2009 has in store! So far so good, and also; So far so not much has really altered. There's a rather amusing work story that I shall share in conversing with folk, but which I would be petrified to share with the world on the web. The weather had been freaking us out with the amount of snow and crazy cold temperatures which just wouldn't abate - however, fortune has shone upon us, and we've now gone from minus stupid cold freeze your nuts off in a heartbeat weather, to hey look at me outside at 5pm in my tee shirt and not thinking anything of it kind of winter weather. It has warmed up so much that Sunday will be a ride on the road day!! Woo Hoo!!! The 3 feet of snow along the roads has been melted off the tarmac quite nicely with four days of above zero sunny skies. However, it's still a bit sketchy and not ideal for the proper road bike, so I've spent the afternoon cobbling together a winter beater bike, which I like to call my Cervelo chaser....

Disregarding Weible and his fancy pants Cervelo, I like to see how many overtly wealthy Calgarians riding $6000+ bikes I can spin past on the old knackered Trek (which in sentimental value is absolutely priceless by the way). It's a bit of a sad, egotistical trip on my part, but I get a kick out of it - I just struggle to harbour that niggling, inate competition when I begin to pedal things with two wheels - even on a Sunday spin to a coffee shop.

Here's Mrs. W. on our now weekend ritual "hike to Java Jamboree" for the Saturday morning Latte. Last week's walk to the coffee shop was a tad on the chilly side...

But as you can see below, the cold made for a good short cut crossing the river..

And Bragg Creek has got a plenty of ski trails on the go too. We had a good few hours over there last weekend, I'd stopped here to take a piccie of Brina because I was trying to see what parts of my body I thought I had broken having crashed into the trees about 2 minutes earlier (as usual the little goat like Canuck skier glides through the trees like a whisp, giggling at my cumbersome efforts to maintain a modcium of dignity with my brutal helicopter arms style of ski-ing whenever the trail gets technical) - needless to say, I didn't crash just the once (and the misses just didn't crash - cocky little bugger she is!).
Trusting that all of your 2009s have started with great aplomb, and lets see where we go from here.
Back on Track
S&S.

The 11th Hour at 10 O' clock

Gotcha! The 52nd post that is. For some reason unbeknown to me (or anyone), I set myself little goals that I have to achieve - one of which was to get 52 posts on the blog this year - and this is the 52nd (a good two hours before the year is out - woo hoo, how we party on a New Year's Eve). If it wasn't for my curious obsession with meeting targets, I most certainly wouldn't be writing a blog right now - I would in fact be tucked up in bed, sound asleep, safe in the knowledge that although it's a New Year tomorrow, bugger all will be different and the calendar will also change every day from now until the end of time (so what's all the fuss about?). Brina and I went out for a New Year's Eve meal - yesterday... figuring it is always too busy and overpriced on New Year's Eve (and the days aren't that contrasting).
Today has seen a fun time out in the back country at Healy Creek on the split board with Brad (not on a split board - very wise!).

Here's a shot of Weible ski-ing out as the sun was setting. There was plenty of snow, and the trail back was narrow enough for some sharp turns in the trees (and a few close calls).

Not that I want to subject you to the horror of funny faced, oddly speaking Englishman in the cold, atop a mountain, here're a couple of videos from the top of Healy Pass - It was cloudy as sin and we couldn't see much, so you don't get the sense of the rather majestic mountains around us and you miss out on the notion that we have gained any major height up in the Rockies - and I'm sure it was the cold that made my face contort when I'm talking to look like I was holding in a bad un.

A quick flick back at one of September's posts shows Brina and I hiking up in the larches on Healy Pass (so that gives you and idea of what it's like up here).

After a good day out playing in the snow and a bite to eat and a drink at Brad and Julie's, it is most definitely now time for bed - I must be getting old if I can't even make it to 11pm on a New Year's (but I'll just be up earlier in 2009, to see how much everything has changed - maybe my bike will go even faster then!!!).

Happy New Year to you all,

say hello to midnight for me,

S&S.

Happy Festivus

Merry Christmas all... (a day late admittedly, but Brina and I both forgot yesterday morning that it was Christmas - seeing as though we'd impatiently opened our prezzies at Panorama four days earlier, and waking up in Golden on the 25th just didn't seem to have that 'Santa' factor).

Spending a few days at Panorama was great, and a really beautiful contrast to the summer (although we must both be getting old, as despite the wondrous winter scene of the Purcells and great boarding, we both seemed to have a preference for the summer time and warmth, rather than the brassic minus 20 kind of weather - I couldn't stop prattling on about nostalgic spots of the TransRockies "oh, this happened here", and "ah, that happened there", etc...) - although Brina got into the swing of things too - as the video attests...)

Thrashing around on the split board was good fun (the resort board got benched after a few runs of blunt edges and close to fractured wrists and ring piece). However, in my over exuberance of having a the split board up and running, I thought it would be a great idea to skin up to the top of Panorama the following evening (and by evening, I mean pitch black night time!). For some reason unbeknown to man (or wife), I don't always think things through clearly when I get an excitable idea going on. So, sticking on the skins outside a rowdy bar at the base of the slope at 8pm, I set off upslope. Once into the glades I couldn't see too much (the expected light from the snow wasn't the illuminating force that I had in fact expected - more like a vague glow to remind me that the ground was downwards). A couple of close calls with the night-time groomers (which I chased like a car maker after a handout, as they lit up the slopes like an atomic blast, but couldn't keep pace with for more than a minute), then I was at the summit, rather disorientated as to which runs I skinned up, in the pitch black, head torch at home, and then it dawned on me... "shit!, I have to put the split board together". Having struggled to fit the board together properly in the condo a couple of hours earlier, the feat of constructing it in the blind darkness, in the minus holycrap it's cold temps, wearing very un-nimble duck taped mittens, was certainly a challenge (and only then did I begin to think through the associated pitfalls of skinning up at night-time). Somehow it was all very simple!?! but then the final realization of stupidity hit me - going down hill is way faster than going up - and the ability to see no more than one metre ahead isn't worth much when the board is pointing downhill and you start cruising along - so here's a snippet of perhaps the most pointless video ever... (but you get the picture - or don't)..

An early rise the next morning saw for a repeat of the route so that I could get to the top for sunrise and sneak the first runs down before the lifts opened, and this is half way up showing what I should have seen;

A few days over at Golden to ski Kicking Horse was the next stop on the trip, and it was a rather pleasant surprise to see how good the mts are around Golden - (although it was still bloody freezing).

Brina was all tucked up in her downy for the day...

A nice drive home on silent roads through the mts was had on Christmas morning (stopping at Lake Louise for breakfast - which was set at over $60 in the hotel, so a second cup muffin and coffee was opted for instead!). Just plotting a few more days out for the coming week, and am about to relieve the itch of not having cycled for five days with a good few hours on the windtrainer (hope there's a good movie on tv). Brina is about to go and get involved with the Boxing day riots in the sales at Market Mall (she's brave! but has got the feisty 'I want a bargain' attitude going on, so I pity for any unsuspecting shopper who crosses her path at the sales rack).

Hope you all feasted well on big bird,

May your festivus poles be shiny aluminium,

S&S.

Five Oh, and Unhappy Endings

Just thought that a brief 'how do' was in order before we cruise off to Panorama and Kicking Horse for the next few days. Work ended today with fireworks and the usual craziness (I was ducking and diving all the way to the carpark, but seem to have escaped unscathed and now I hope the next 2 weeks will get me fully charged to attack the nonsense head-on in 2009). Another thing to get me fully charged was a massage that Brina had booked me in for - I was hoping to get my legs pummelled after a couple of very hard weeks training and meeting up with the Speed Theory team. Having informed the masseuse that my quads, hamstrings and hip flexors needed some good work, she asked do I want a relaxation massage? I repeated my concern about her need to have a go on my legs, she agreed, then proceeded to rub me down with mint oil, avoid my legs and give the whole 'relaxation massage' thingy! Holy Smokes, I was expecting a Happy Ending at one stage, but alas, it was not to be - perhaps the Pink Pussycat Massage Parlour is more my style... I went in with sore legs, and have come out with nothing but a buggered up neck - so much for relaxation and recovery, I can't turn my head more than 15 degrees either way and feel like I've got whiplash from serious overuse of a pneumatic drill.
The weather continues to bomb down on Alberta, the temps haven't been out of the minus 20s during the daytime all week (god only knows how bloody cold the night-time windchill is, and so long as our heating system continues to work, I have absolutely no interest in finding out). It hasn't really stopped snowing either, so Panorama and Kicking Horse seem to be in great condition and all is good for the next few days. We've got four nights in Pano, and two in Golden, so get back after Christmas (so.. Merry Christmas).
We should have a bucket load of piccies to post before the New Year (and I'm gunning for that obsessed 52 posts per year - we're on 50 right now), so we should make it!
Hope Santa brings everything you asked for,
May your relaxations not be a pain in the neck,
S&S.

GO!!!!!!

So it's all go now! Winter's on!! Hurray!!!

But... the only snag with the big dumps we've had this past week, is the accompanying temperature, which has plummeted to proper brass monkey level - ie: you'll really freeze your brass monkies off (monkey for some of us) if you spend more than 0.5 seconds outside dashing to your car (it's a full on expedition for us to go and check the mail at the moment). -it's minus 30 as I write this late Sunday morning.

Winter had been holding back for November, and even allowed me to get one last kick of the mountain bike in K - Country (however, the mountain bike has clearly had enough for this season, as on this final ride it decided to spit its dummy out and give up.....)

Fortunately, the rear mech decided to wrap itself around my cassette whilst breaking the chain at the top of the first greulling climb, so that I could freewheel most of the way back to the parking lot. That'll teach me to be greedy and try to get one last hit of the trails. Since then however, the snow has really flown and so there's nowt by skis and boards to be hitting the trails now! So I'm resigned to the wind trainer and rollers for a good while (but having hooked up with the Speed Theory bike Team, am getting hellish workouts with them on Mondays and Wednesdays - which is awesome! and should have me in good shape for the next race season - when I'll be hitting the asphalt to race as well as the dirt).

This Saturday was going to see a first stint into the backcountry up on the Icefields Parkway - although neither I or Brad fancied running the gauntlet of the natural avalanches which are falling as easy as French speedos on a nudist beach, or the thought of minus 45 degree windchill - as much as I love the boarding, I also value keeping my extremities too!
Even shovelling the driveway created an agonizing surge of the good old screaming barfies;

As usual the photo doesn't quite sell the story as it should, but I wasn't going to hang around getting a good photo of the bloody driveway and the snow - a 2 second dash to the edge of the garage was all I could muster before I began to weep and had to run back inside.

Mrs. W. is nearly set for the holidays - they break up on Wednesday, so she's been getting all the kids into the festive season and when your lesson plan looks like this...

then no wonder Brina's having a good time teaching this year - although I think maybe she had to eat all the gingerbread men in order to grade them!!!

We're off to Panorama next weekend for a few days ski-ing/boarding, and with all this new snow it should be great! I missed posting something last week, but my OCD compels me to meet the 52 posts a year mark, so no doubt I'll have some more inane prattling on posted up here pretty soon - as time is running short for 2008.

Crank up the heat,

S&S.

Harrah for O'Hara

Not enough snow in Cochrane to make it feel like winter, so we went further afield from Alberta's sunny skies to BC (realize now that BC=Bloody Cloudy). Headed up the road to Lake O'Hara and was all very nice!

Getting the first shot of winter fixes me like a triple espresso with a hint of Jim Beam! We're all fired up for the rest of the season now, and were pleased to see the snow falling as we left the Lake O'Hara parking lot (always amazes me how much more snow they get just over the divide than here). Plenty of folk were kicking around Lake Louise as we passed through on the way home, as it's the start of the World Cup DownHill Ski-ing season there this weekend.

I took the video because I knew I would be in the "can't be arsed to write much" mode this evening - and lo and behold I was correct! So, that's that then!

Hoping you're all getting a good shot of something,

S&S.

Spwinter

Well waddya know? more weeks have idled by without me having made much of an impact upon the world in general (although this is very much not the case with the microcosm that is work, but I'm not really meant to discuss such matters, so that's the end of that conversation).
So..
a week or so back we did have a little bit of this...

A pre-going for a coffee on the weekend shovelling of the driveway had made me get rather excited and enthusiastic about snowboards, deep powder and avalanche dodging.
The resident Eskimo of Cochrane got all geared up....

and with the gearing up for a harsh winter, came balmy temperatures, a big melting of the snow, dry trails and a strange sense of "is this summer again?".

Even up on Nihani Ridge last weekend, the dusty trails were making it tempting to get out the mtb instead of the board, and looking west from the ridge, it doesn't really look like winter has even thought about visiting yet....

So apart from becoming all confused and distraught at the indecisive seasons, the mundanity of suburbia's 9-5 Monday to Friday thing continues to wear us down - but vigorous sessions on the rowers and falling off the rollers keep insanity at bay!!! Mrs. W is ticking off the days until Christmas, and then we're off to Panorama and Kicking Horse for a bit of resort ski-ing (just hope the bloody snow has come back by then, otherwise it'll be tennis and croquet on the green slopes). Brina was all keen to get the Christmas tree up this weekend, but it has officially been banned until Dec 1st - although the sneaky lass put up a load of Christmas decorations in the house when I nipped out for a ride at the weekend - so it reinforces my fear that my say in official bans in this house mean absolutely bugger all - so I've succumb to the early Christmas cheer (if you can't beat 'em, join 'em).

This is the time of year when the week long half term holiday is sorely missed, but we're trying to compensate for that by getting out into the hills every weekend. Looks like we will actually get the XC skis waxed up and running this Saturday out on the divide trail from Lake Louise to Field in BC, so that shoul be good fun!

Hoping that all the good stuff isn't melting away,

Get ready to untangle your baubles,

S&S.

Here we go!!!!!

So the much anticipated snowfall and ski resort openings are now fully underway (well, underway - it's hardly fully underway when only 3 out of 136 runs at Lake Louise are open). We had Tuesday off work (Remembrance Day Holiday), and headed out to Delta Lodge for a wee hike and lunch, to see if winter had touched K Country yet...

And it had - just... . We had planned to have more of a relaxing wander around K Country, the major intention was of the day was based primarily around sitting and drinking coffee, although all didn't go according quite to plan when we (I) thought it would be a good idea to take an infamous 'short cut' through the undergrowth to get back to Delta Lodge. Neglecting to observe the fact that we were on the wrong side of the river (well, just ignoring the fact due to my disdain for hiking back along the route you came), we ended up following deer and Elk through the trees on an extra 2 hour detour (well, we certainly earned ourselves the coffee and cake anyway).

The weekend saw a bit of Saturday sauntering the streets of Banff (the idea to go for a ride in the hills was thwarted by icy winds and flurries - I'm just getting soft in my old age), followed by Brina writing reports for school, and me having to read a shed load of teachers' reports to make sure they've not made any mistakes (Like I know!!!).

Sunday was a delight as we got a good couple of inches (at least) of snow, although it brings back the fun of sweeping down the car and scraping the windshield in order just to go for morning Lattes...

Other than that, work is same, although Brina seems to be enjoying the lovey dovies at Morley which is nice. The rollers have been getting a good spinning, and I have somehow become far too obsessed for an Englishman in the NFL (Throw a bit of razzmatazz, cheerleaders and pyrotechnics into a sport and it beats a dross Premiership game from rainy Hull anyday).

Fingers crossed that we'll be out ski-ing next weekend! We have finally booked our Christmas ski trip (knocked Whistler on the head as we needed a second mortgage to visit for just an afternoon, nearly booked Whitefish, but then plucked a 4 day pass for Panorama and Kicking Horse for a meagre $134 - so that was decision made, Pano and Golden here we come!).

Hopefully your snowfalls are light and fluffy,

Happy scraping,

S&S.

Funny Sky, shingles and where's the snow?

Hi all...When I'm posting the front cover of the local rag, rather than some funky shots from our very own Kodak, you know full well that we've been up to bugger all - again! I had insisted that the rather humorous dickhead learning to ride rollers video was coming up - but even my self depricating sarcasm doesn't go that deep (just have a look on youtube for knobs on rollers and you'll get the picture). However, on that note I have now notched up being able to ride the rollers for an hour without dabbing the wall or friction burning my face along the laminate floor.
As you can see from the front page of the Eagle, we had a really manic Chinook sky the other night - this is what it looked like out front of the house (minus the combine harvester), but things have gone back chilly again, we actually had some snow at last, and the mountains are slowly getting into shape for skis and boards!
The only bugger is that I have to go clambering around on the roof tomorrow to put some shingles back up there which have been whipped off by the aforementioned Chinooks - I suppose we should expect to consistently loose parts of our roof, being the edge of town wind stopper buffer houses for the rest of Cochrane. Bit of a pain that the roofing project is going to cut into my century ride time for the weekend - but a roof that works is most probably more important than a long ride (or so I've been told anyway; personally, I'm not so sure).
The rest of the week has been filled with busy crap and snoozing on the couch (when not skidding off rollers anyway). With the clocks going back last weekend, the evenings are still catching me out as I keep thinking it's about 9.30pm when in fact it's just gone 5pm - evening coffees are a must! The historical Obama trick was all rather exciting - who'd have guessed that those Yanks can make such impressive world changing decisions!?!?!?!
I'm really hoping that I've got something a little more exciting to prattle on about next week ('cos it'll mean I've gotten my arse off the couch and been out and about this weekend).
We're finalizing our next holiday plans (by "we", I mean "Brina") she is way better at doing all the booking and stuff (because she actually does it, rather than just turning up at a place and hoping for the best). We're looking at Whistler for Christmas (with a possible hint of Revelstoke).
May all your clocks go forward not back,
S&S.

Life in the Nuclear Bunker

So that's what two weeks feel like then!!! Where the bloody hell has time gone since the last posting? I only ask becase, absolutely bugger all has happened over the duration of the past fortnight. Well not absoutely nothing, we have sealed some of our windows in the house with what can only be described as extra thick cellophane (plastic wrap stuff) so that we don't get those cold winter drafts coming in (and so that we can survive the nuclear fallout from the next Neuc' sent over from Iran -seriously, the house is vacuum sealed so much that I'm scared I'm going to suffocate in my sleep!).

It's also that Happy Halloween time again (and I still don't get it but..), so Brina has gone all cosmic fairy like, in preparation for entertaining the kindergarten kidlings tomorrow! Apparently Halloween is way bigger than Christmas up on the reserve so it's a big deal to all! Brina tried to play it cool with her colleagues when they were asking her what she was dressing up as tomorrow; "oh I don't know" she lied, "I'll just have a rummage around tonight and see what I can throw together". The fibbing little blighter, she went out two weeks ago to buy her wings and has been harping on about her "costume" ever since! It all seems such good fun, but I just can't buy into it. Even at our school it's pretty intense with the need to dress up, the staff are all turning up as Zombies (all staff minus the lanky Brit that is, who will turn up as usual as a lanky unextraordinary Brit). I upset a few folks when it was asked by all staff in a meeting that the High School students should dress up the day before Halloween because they're all out of school at a career fair on Halloween day and will therefore miss the "fun". Rarely do I make rapid decisions in meetings but this request was immediately greeted by comments from me such as; "No Chance", "Ridiculous", "Obsurd", "Over the Top", "Suck it Up", and "Have I made myself clear that I can't abide all this dressing up and people enjoying themselves, so it aint gonna happen" - and it isn't!

Baring the oxygen deprived house (which is clearly taking its toll on the wife's dress sense) there aint much else going on. Been out on the bike a bit (but the nights close in with the clocks going back this weekend), had a few nights out running (but it's not biking and therefore I shall say no more), but I have procured a set of rollers for the bike. Those of you who know not what they are then you will be updated perhaps in the next post. Those of you in the "roller" know, then perhaps in the next post you will see a clip of me skidding across the basement floor on my face, under my bike, having spilled of the horrific machine! Seriously, they're the most terrifying things to put your bike on - I'm scared!

May you all keep well ventilated windows,

Trick or Treat,

S&S.

A Room WIth A View (and the return of Kodak)

Having located the camera I am happy to put more pictures and less prose in this post...

So as you can see, our view from the bedroom window in the Banff Springs wasn't all that bad!!!! I had to make sure that I got the edge of the window frame in the photograph because otherwise the scene just looked like a bloody postcard and really didn't look like a genuine view from a hotel bedroom window.

We were right up on the very rooftop floor, and I managed to capture Brina waking up as I had an early morning stroll.... (I'd like to say she was cheerfully waving, but in fact she's banging her fist shouting "where the bloody hell is that damn coffee you were meant to be bringing up to me?"). Needless to say, we had a delightfully relaxing Thanksgiving weekend at the Banff Springs - it was rather unique and surprisingly pleasurable to soak up Banff as a bona fide tourist; not wanting to race up to the summit of every mountain or go and disappear into the back country for hours on end. Having had a few somewhat hectic weeks, just kicking back, enjoying the town, scenery, hotel and coffee was just the ticket, with a couple of stints in the pool (well I can't sit completely still) and hot tub evenings, this touristy thing is all that it's cracked up to be!

As for the previous week's excursion up Cory Pass....

We shot up the steep side of the loop from Banff,and then skidded down into the screes of Gargoyle Valley...

And I'm no expert, but I'm guessing these endless freaky rock formations are something to do with the monicker "Gargoyle Valley".
The impressive Mount Louis towers over the far end of the valley (as usual, photographs without any scale in them don't really do justice to the scene - but it was a pretty big chunk of rock!).
border=0>And it was back into Banff in time for tea. Through the yellowing trees... In the past 2 weeks most of the yellows have now ended as the trees have decidedly had enough of the fall and are sleeping for winter - also the snow is building up (slowly but surely) on the higher trails (yippee!), although with it is coming the biting cold (not so yippee).
Anyhow, that's enough of that for now. I hope all is well in all your worlds...
That's as succinct as I get,
S&S.

Where's the Kodak?

Hi All....
as the title of the post suggests, I am photographically vacant due to the misplacing of our camera! We had headed up to Cory Pass last weekend and enjoyed one of the last summer ish days in the Rockies this year. I'm sure the photos wouldn't have been that orignial though, just scroll down through the endless posts where I harp on about Brina and I going out for a hike and look for the ubiquitous shot of me and the misses stood atop some very nice viewpoint - and you'll get the picture of what Cory Pass was like! It was rather impressive though as we desecended down the other side of the Pass into Gargoyle Valley, which, as the name suggests, had many spectacularly gruesome rock fomations, all sat around the rather impressive chunk of rock that is Mount Louis. Maybe if I find my camera within the next hour or so then I'll put some imagery up here!
We're heading off to the Banff Springs today for two nights of 'get away from it' relaxation. We had giddy notions of doing a couple of epic hikes in the mountains, but I've come to the conclusion that that's the kind of thing we do most weekends, so why not just stop, hang out and relax in Banff - so that's the plan - a whole lot of nothing but enjoying the luxuries of the long ThanksGiving weekend! (Saying that I'll be taking the running gear and hiking stuff for when I realize at 3pm today that I can't sit still very well - I'm a little worried about not taking the bike(s), but Brina has convinced me that they'll be o.k. left alone in the garage for a couple of days (I'm not so sure).
Although I'm excited about the relaxing part of the weekend, I actually have so much work to do that it isn't funny (and this week has been pretty much like that - hence the lack of blogging in the week) - it's actually 6.30am on Saturday now as I got up early to get some work out of the way - but as ever procrastinated enough to find something else to do (this) before actually committing to get my real work out!
Brina is thoroughly enjoying teaching the little kidlings out on the reservation, I'm sure you can all imagine her lovey dovey side caring for the lil' 'uns, getting cuddles from the class and being the teacher that's almost like a "fun mum' for them.
As sad is it may seem, we've missed the fact that there's a general election going on in Canada (not that I'm allowed to vote anyway, although Brina was keen not to vote for Celine Dion (in fact the Liberal Guy is Stephan Dion, but what's in a name anyway!)). We have noticed that there's some kind of election going on south of the border and the entertainment value them there Yanks put out with their "how to pick a President" game is well worth the air time on t.v. It's like a fully fledged comedy soap opera with the occassional terrifying twist - and just compelling viewing (obviously I can't vote there either, but it's way more fun to follow, and will probably have more direct consequences on the future than if Celine becomes the Prime Minister here or not).
Anyhow, I'm off to get that not so early morning anymore work done before we go away, although I may just procrastinate a bit more and try and find the camera first.
I'm hoping that there'll be photos next time,
Happy ThanksGiving,
S&S.

Reconnoiter for the Larches

The idea of a reconnaisance for a good long hike this weekend was more forced than chosen. Opting to get up early on Saturday and head into the mountains (and cloud) we were dead set on having a hike up to Borgeau Lake. But, not wanting to be dictated to by bear in the area signs, we were dictated to by a bear in the area sign that wouldn't necessarily put us off the trail, had it not stated "Aggressive Grizzly Bear Active on this Trail". Alas, we opted to hike up over Healy Pass instead - not too far away, but far enough from aggressive Grizzlies (the cuddly ones who merely want to play are just fine!). Arriving 10 minutes later at the trail head to Healy Pass, Brina decided to announce that she had left her hiking shoes on the step in the garage. So there was the reconnaisance for our hike. Saturday spent driving into the mountains to check that the car park was open and that all bears were passive. The rest of Saturday wasn't put to waste though as we idled around Banff and even managed to get a late evening mtb ride in K Country in.

Sunday was the new Saturday - a bit of deja vous - up early, quick coffee (from the glorious new machine), packed car, checked we had boots, checked we had boots again then off - and much to our joy it was blue sky sunny today, something Brina continually kept making me aware of, trying to make out that she had intentionally left her boots behind the previous day knowing full well of the meterological delights of today.

We were in fact searching for larches at this time of year - a tremendous pine that turns incredible yellow. There's a famous larch hike up to sentinal pass we did a couple of years ago (and which has a blogged posting if I remember correctly), but it is so busy this time of year, we were after a bit of solitude. And solitude we got for the first 2 hours of our hike - not a soul to be seen, which had something to do with the fact that we were bush bashing our way along the wrong side of a creek on what was very clearly not a path for the first hour of the hike!

I did get to find me one of those little yelow larches....

And Brina found a whole valley full....Atop the Pass it seemed appropriate to command a vintage hiking pose....

And Brina wouldn't let me get away without the old chestnut photo at the top of this post.

The summer is making a spirited fightback this September - making for early bunks off work (abusing my position already!) for plenty of evening mtb riding, and this coming week is forecast to be in the 20s during the day so it should be more of the same (and I was hollering about winter 2 weeks ago!!!!).

I trust that you all remember your footwear, wherever you venture,

Enjoying the fall colours,

S&S.

Chasing of the tail

Hi all...
I'll be aiming to maintain an air of professional decorum in this post and refrain from chastising, mocking and ridiculing educational bureaucracy and educational employees with whom I have frequent contact (far too frequent for my liking). I shall comment no more, other than; "there really are some stupid buggers who defy all sense and reason". O.K. that's work done with... now for the other stuff, of which there is scant news.

A couple of evening rides were had last week - and as the shot of the bike shows, the single track is quiet on a Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night, the sun had been shining all week (balmy 20 degree heat) and with the fall colours are making for rather amazing viewing. I still have to pinch myself that an after work ride can entail dead quiet trails, views of snow capped peaks and endless expanses of mountains turning shades of brilliant yellow and red. I had to stop for a couple of 'awe and wonder' views, trying to remember how far I could see in the Peak District without sight or sound of human touch (now don't get me wrong here, I'm not knocking the Peaks, and never will - I sorely miss the lines of drystone walls and the cozy warmth of magnificent country drinking establishments), but this season here is truly amazing and I just can't get enough of it. The weekend was followed with a ride on Saturday with the Weible on his Cannondale (who is incidentally threatening to move into the world of Cervelo on the road - something Brina needs to hear more of before I put in my proposal for another road machine).

Sunday was the end of the sun, the rains came down and therefore the house chores were caught up with - although we did go for a hike up Jumping Pound Creek with the macabre intentions of sighting the black bear that mauled somebody up there just out of Cochrane the other day. Brina had today off school (Indian day - no Pow Wows to attend though) - so she bravely shifted the new car through Calgary and much to her delight came home in one piece. If only I could say the same of the other car (ie: My Car) - with brake lights sticking on and tyres to replace, I left the garage today a good $600 lighter, and a step further back from my rowing machine (and aforementioned road/cross bike).

We aim to be out and about next weekend - still trying to make good on the trails before the snows hit. We have a couple of nights booked in the Banff Springs in October too, so that's something to look forward to! Got a cheap off season, Alberta residents deal!

There's the hint of having to start my Masters on the near horizon, but I'm fending it off for as long as I can still ride the bike in the evenings and weekends.

I hope your repairs are less expensive than mine,

S&S.

Work More, Buy More

So it would seem that the ever so slightly increased affluence in the Williams household, due to the stepping up the proverbial ladder, is swiftly balanced out by the purchasing of further shiney new equipment - some of which is not so much essential, but more a gregarious indulgence in all things new. If you hadn't been made aware yet, we sucked it up and purchased the new car (above) - like a really new car with only 3km on the clock. Needless to say, this has become "Brina's Car", but I was allowed to drive it today to get us out to a nice hike in K Country!We hiked up to Rawson lake, up off the Upper Kananaskis Lake trail, and Brina just couldn't resist being all artsy fartsy with relections in water etc...

And I got a little carried away with the first snow of the season... although there was hardly enough to fashion a rock hard ice pellet like mini snowball to pelt at the camera woman;

Fortunately, I made up for any Tomfoolery with agreeing to pose for the time honoured lovey dovey pose in front on some pretty scene....

Although, the old 'rest the self timed camera on the rucksack' trick, fell foul as it slipped at the critical shutter moment, and I'm sure you'll agree that in the retaken picture (below) the lake looks much prettier...

So a very nice hike was had early on today. The weather has gone bonkers - it is suggested that temps will be in the 20s all week!!! I just hope that I can avoid another 65 hour working week and get some biking in during the evenings.

The other, aforementioned shiney addition to the home is in fact a rather spiffy espresso machine. Having waited eons for the damn thing to go on sale, we picked up the last one in the store this morning and have been overloading on 'practice lattes' all afternoon. It was with great concern however, that when reading the instructions, I realized that you are not to make a scalding hot espresso over the head of your baby....

We're really fortunate that the manufacurers placed this cautionary illustration in the instruction manual, as I had been considering scouring the local suburban streets for an infant whose head looked appealing enough to slurp a frothy cappucino from.

Other than that, I'm sure you can guess that I'd say work is busy, so I'll refrain from thinking about employment commitments until Monday morning. I'm still longing a bit to be out training for a big race with the big bro, and the bike season officially ended today with the running of the Bow 80 - my legs feel lost and mistreated at the moment as they pedal maybe 3 times a week, but are mostly used to spin my chair around at work - something they'll soon be sick of and will be calling out for the screaming burn of snowboarding quads!!!

We're also booked in to the Banff Springs for Thanksgiving (some kind of Alberta resident's special - lucky I got my resiency card then!!!), and we're slowly planning out our ski resort trips for the winter (for the next 10 months!).

Had a nice ride out on some new single track in Bragg Creek yesterday, Brina's all happy and smiley - not sure if it is due to work being nice or due to the obscene quantity of coffee that has been consumed!

Hope you're all keeping the frugality at bay...

spend, spend, spend, (and enjoy the sun)

S&S.

p.s... and here's another rather soothing reflection; on Brina's request..