Happy Canada Day!

I saw a lot of Canadian flags out on the road today as I made my way to Quebec for the World Cup MTB races at Mt Ste Anne this weekend. Including ones on cars pulled over for speeding violations... there were a lot of police out today!

My last post was part one of the Elite Nationals, I have wrapped up that event on the web and am part way through uploading full galleries to my website. And I will write a second part to that if I have time.

This week it's the Masters and Para National championships, and while I'm not there to take photos Andrea is there to race. She signed up for the ITT and the crit. So far, a 4th in the ITT (missed the podium by about 30 seconds!) and I have high hopes for even better results from the criterium since she's been provincial champion in her category twice before. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Speed Machine

Camped at Lac Louise

For me, it was about 10 hours of driving, I'm camped at "Lac Louise" (I loved the irony on a personal level so I pulled in to see if they had room... this being a holiday weekend they are booked all weekend, still room tonight though). I will be at MSA in the morning, and I should have time to ride for a few hours (not on "Beatrice" though, my hand throbs at the thought of that!). And then it will be a busy few days with XC, 4X and DH events to cover. Stay tuned for updates...

Two Down, Two to Go

The Canadian National Road Championships are underway with the Individual Time Trials and Elite women's road race done and the Elite men and Criterium races still to come.

David Veilleux

The ITT was held June 23rd in the area around Belfountain, ON which has lots of rolling countryside. It was a fast 21.6KM course with seven corners that the women did once and the men rode twice. With only one lap for the women, it's a challenge to get good photos... a little easier for the men with two laps. Clara Hughes (racing for Equipe du Quebec) was still smarting from a crash she took earlier in the week, and the photos I have show a few bandaged spots. Still, she had what it took to win. There was an error in the early results that must have been frustrating for Erinne Willock (TIBCO) as she was unofficially announced as the winner only to have it corrected a few minutes later. On the men's side, everyone knew that Svein Tuft (Spidertech) was the man to beat. No-one could.

Clara Hughes

Svein Tuft

MoJo MacGregor

The elite women's race was 8 laps of the 12.8KM Rattlesnake Point circuit which features the toughest climb in the area. There were a couple of early breaks attempts and it was only Moirah Jo MacGregor (Juvederm-Specialized) who managed to stay away. She got up to almost 4 minutes on the pack and wasn't caught until just before the last lap, people were starting to think she had it in the bag (what a story that would have been!) however there were some powerful cyclists who had a different view. A very select group formed on the final lap, including Clara Hughes, Tara Whitten, Veronique Fortin, Susan Palmer-Komar, Lex Albrecht, Julie Beveridge, Joelle Numainville, Karol-Anne Canuel, Erinne Willock and Denise Ramsden.

The riders watched each other for the entire lap, letting Fortin save her energy for the final climb where she sprang free and took the solo victory.

Veronique Fortin

A big part of the story so far is Denise Ramsen of Juvederm-Specialized who took the double gold of the U23 ITT and Road Race. She'll be someone to keep an eye on.

And now, it's time for me to get my gear and head off for the elite men's event. They get to do 14 laps, 14 times up the climb!


Note: These are a few of my photos that were published on PedalMag.com

And, since we're here...

Happy solstice! Summer 2011 is upon us...

A Weekend Off, Getting Ready For a Busy Few Weeks

This past weekend was my first one in months without an assignment, so don't say "retired" to me! And it wasn't a relaxing weekend spent at home weeding the garden or puttering about, seems I don't have time for those activities these days. Instead we loaded up the camper and tried to beat rush hour traffic to get out of the city for a weekend of adventure.

We were invited to a big Bowker family gathering on Saturday afternoon to celebrate a milestone birthday for Andrea's dad so we decided to also include some mountain biking and camping since Buckwallow wasn't far from "party central". The drive up took longer than planned, we clearly didn't succeed in missing the traffic so we'll have to work on our timing. The timing did work out well to get us to Webers about the time our stomachs were saying "FEED ME". While we ate, we talked about the draw of this burger/chip/ice cream stop on the highway to cottage country and agreed it wasn't the quality of the food that continued to draw people here in ever increasing numbers. Andrea suggested it might be nostalgia, I can picture kids who'd gotten to have this as a stop on the way just so their parents didn't have to hear "are we there yet" for a little while. And now they are doing exactly that, perhaps even their grand-kids are too.

A campfire, a KAO campsite, and bugs

KOA camping... this is the first time in I-don't-know-how-long that I've been in a KOA campground and definitely the first time we've been in one which says it's been over 20 years. The campground was fine, the site was fine, the experience was fine, we learned a little about the 5th wheel crowd who park a trailer in a spot and treat it like a cottage. And we got reminded of summer bugs in Ontario! It's about to become summer, the bugs have decided they couldn't wait... we both got well bitten in the course of the evening. Still, sitting at a campfire is worth a bite or 12. And waking to a bright sunny day in a quiet spot less than a minute away from some great mountain bike trails is one of those American Express moments; priceless.

The morning was beautiful and we were in no rush to start. Coffee, breakfast, getting us and bikes ready, then heading over to the Buckwallow parking lot. Two great moments there... one was learning that being camped in the KOA got us a discount (sweet!) and the other was getting the 2nd last decal they had. The local printing company is behind so they don't have more, don't know when they will get more, and we were offered the two last ones they had. Yes, thank you! One is now on my camper and we declined the other... so the next person to get one should make a point of putting it up in a place of honour. Top right corner of the rear window is where you'll find mine.

Riding Buckwallow... that should be a blog entry on its own and I imagine others have already written some; likely both fun and intimidating.
For Andrea, I think it was "just" fun. Preparing to race here last year she took some hard falls. And she still raced and did well. Took a while for the bruises to heal though.
For me, I am still getting over my crash at Mt Ste Anne last year so I'm very tentative with rocky descents. It felt good though, and the more I ride and the more I build confidence the better it gets.
As it turned out, a simple "loose screw" that became a missing screw brought our ride to a halt. We likely would have stopped not long after anyhow, being unable to get a foot out of a pedal wasn't what Andrea needed at Buckwallow so we took an easy route out.

The folks at Ecclestone Cycle were helpful, gave Andrea the bolt she needed and sent us on our way. So we made a point of having lunch nearby, supporting the local scene in the same spirit. The milkshake I had was oh so good!

Then it was time to party! I know Karen had been planning this carefully and had thought about many (MANY) of the little details. And it was going to be a big party since they are both very social people. The weather couldn't have been better and the attendance reflected that. I honestly don't know how many people showed up, I do know it's a good thing the weather was so good because even with all the room they have to entertain it wouldn't have been enough. So...
well done Karen! And congrats Perry!!

I did take lots of photos (many of them are crappy, I intentionally didn't use a flash so they are all natural light) and I won't post any of them here. I did put up a shot from the dock, it was nice to see Perry taking the kids out for a tour of the lake so here's the photo that you can find on FaceBook.

The night was great, we slept in Babe and had a relaxed start to the day. And when everyone was up Perry made his famous pancakes... what really makes them extraordinary is the home-made maple syrup. How often do you get to savour that!?!?

What  a busy weekend it was... lots of people around, lots of stories to catch up on and tell, lots to do. And it was now Sunday, time to wind down... or not. We added a stop to visit Heather and Hanson at the Hosein family home in the old part of Markham. We were kind of expected, and more than an hour late arriving. So people were busy eating when we arrived to ring the doorbell. And when we found our way in it was to a serious meal and oh it was sooo good! Chatting, getting caught up, learning about all the new developments, relaxing and enjoying the mood all at the same time. Delightful!

Eventually though even this had to come to an end as the new week was bearing down. We were determined to get a soak in the tub with some 'tinis and thoughts of "next" were bearing down so we said our goodbyes and headed home.

Home... funny thing, I'm feeling like we've spent more time in Babe than in the house lately. Define home... relaxed? Well...

Foot notes:
The photos used here were all posted using mobiles uploads to FaceBook. That's a first for me and I'm personally not sure what I think of it. I like to maintain more control over my images, mostly because they aren't of such a casual nature. It has me thinking about how to manage personal imagery vs professional imagery. And I think that's not a bad thought to end on...
Tomorrow is the beginning of a very busy period in the Next Chapter, with the Canadian Road National's followed closely by the Mt Ste Anne MTB World Cup events and then le Tour.

Taking a deep breath...
ready
set
...

A weekend of Buses, Bikes and a birthday

What a great weekend! (warning, this is a long post).
Well, to be fair it was a great long weekend since we set off a little after noon on Thursday with the camper packed and bikes on the back. The weather was not the best, although not as bad as the day before. There had been some serious storms throughout Southern Ontario and a lot of places were still without power a day later. We learned this when we stopped in for lunch in Omemee (as we had planned). One thing that didn't occur to us was that the gas stations would not be able to pump fuel without it... we were lucky to have filled up earlier (@ $1.17.9/L) however some volks commented on it being a challenge on their way to BusFusion.

 

Base camp for the weekend

We drove through some heavy rain on the way, otherwise it was an uneventful drive and we arrived in Almonte around 6. We did our grocery shopping at the Independent there (supporting the local economy) and then drove down to the fairgrounds where BusFusion was happening. We were bus #30 to arrive (the official count for the weekend was 171) and got a nice spot near the Potts clan. Gord and Marg were already there and had set bikes and a boat out to reserve room for Greg's bus. Chatting with a few people over the course of the evening, set up the BBQ, opened a bottle of red wine and set up the awning and chairs. We were officially at our 2nd BusFusion, the first actually in our Westy.

Beachfront property

As we sat enjoying the evening, there was a steady stream of buses arriving and many of the choice spots filled up. Sites in the big field near the entrance were flat while the riverside spots were scenic. The last to fill was the large field  by the bleachers... that was going to be home for all the late arrivals.

Friday was the first day with planned festivities, so we made a point of getting a good sleep Thursday night and woke to a beautiful sunny day. We had some coffee and breakfast, and chatted with a lot of folks about their campers, mine, the event and life in general. Folks we had met at BusFusion last year were interested in seeing Babe first hand (many had read about her in the various mailing lists we all belong to or on this blog). And I was surprised at how many people remembered the "couple in the Jetta and tent". The fact that Babe is a diesel was also of interest, particularly to the handful of other diesel bus owners. I learned a lot about the workings of the TD vs TDI conversions and some little (and not so little) things I could do to improve performance. High on that list is an inter-cooler, something I will need to research.

We also chatted with AJ and admired his new trailer set-up, Paul who was the first Splitty to arrive, Charles who had camped beside us in 2010, Mike and his tale of bringing a Bay back from out west, Frank and Rita of course, Jim and Nancy in their green high-top Adventurewagon, and our neighbours nearby.

Charles and his two-tone brown camper "Ouesty" took the same spot he had last year

Then we got ourselves ready for a bike ride with no particular destination in mind and set off looking for small back roads and trails. We made our way north and east then decided to loop back and see what trails there were by the river. That took us through Blakeney and then across the Mississippi River. A small park there described how the town had come about and the importance of the river. For us it also meant a little cross-country riding on the trails. A very pretty spot.

Andrea and the Mighty Mississippi

Perhaps the only photo of me on this side of the lens! @ the Mississippi River

We continued along a variety of roads for a while longer and then finally made our way back. Total riding time was a little over 2 hours and we were hungry by the time we got back. Someone had mentioned how good the fries were at the chip truck up by the beer store so guess were we went next! (Yes, they are very good... try them next time you're in Almonte).

After lunch Andrea and I wandered around admiring people's buses, chatting with them, and just enjoying the day in general. Here are a few random photos (and if you're really interested in the photos then I have more of them up on a BusFusion 2011 Picasa Gallery).

The Potts Residence

The mugs were very popular

So much love... a beautiful Splitty shining from the care it gets

Traded in their camper for a Boler (towed by a new beetle)... give them some time to decide which is better

A cat... and a different layout, Andrea was interested in seeing what a Bay Westy interior looked like

High-tops... two generations parked next to each other.

Frank and Gary

There are always lots of little stories from events like this and Gary (from Mississippi) was part of two of them. He'd left a message in the Vanagon list about having engine trouble as he was crossing the border and wondered if anyone would be able to help him in Almonte. Home to Frank Condelli (and a whole lot of other Vanagon owners this weekend), help was close at hand.  Also in Gary's bus was Mark and I'm told he made a well received guest appearance at the Barley Mow Friday evening, getting up and performing a few songs. I heard that Greg also got his daughter Lisa up to play her new guitar and I heard nothing but praise for her performance too. Andrea and I missed the "Mow" as we ended up chatting with a bunch of folks who decided our camper was a good place to get together for a drink and chat.

Evening @ the campground

Another fun story is the "attack pig" that Robin and David had at their camper. Lots of folks bring their pets, enough that there is even a puppy parade and contest as part of BusFusion (and other VW events). They had a stuffed pig on a leash.. and a great sense of humour about it. The pig would routinely "attack" dogs if they came too close, and always lose.

David was really helpful and a source of lots of great info as he's a real tinkerer and loves to do his own mods. He also has a diesel and is also really into figuring out how to store and use auxiliary power for camping.
He and I both went down to look at Jim's TDI setup... very impressive.

David examining Diesel Jim's TDI

Saturday morning was the swap meet and I had only brought a bead seat cover and compact propane stove so I put those with all of Gord's assorted parts. Putting them down I noticed he had a bug screen for the kitchen side window, something Babe has been missing since I've had her. "For you, it's free" sounded like a great price so now I have one screen. At the end of the day, Marg had one bead seat cover too, same price : )

Last year, there were folks selling really nice mats made of recycled plastic and we both thought there were cool even though we didn't buy one. This year they were back and Andrea bought me one as a birthday present. It will show up in future photos! I also scored some wind visors for the doors and to close the deal Ian offered some nice bug screens he no longer used... that was the best deal of the weekend for me!

Campsite 138

Then it was time for saying farewells as Andrea had a bike race Sunday morning. It meant we would miss the big campfire however there just wouldn't be enough time to drive back in the morning so we headed to a campsite at Albion Hills Conservation Area where the race was going to be held. We ended up in the same spot we had last year, the first place we ever camped in Babe.

It was a relaxing evening and an early night. And a good choice... Andrea had a great race finishing 2nd on the day (just barely holding off a late charge by Julie). All in all, a great weekend.

Julie, Mo & Andrea

Oh... and yes, it was my birthday. I've now celebrated as many birthdays as my father did, this one means a lot on a personal level.

Off to Almonte and BusFusion on Thursday

A year ago I was getting serious about the idea that has evolved into this Next Chapter including the VW camper aspect. So Andrea and I went off to our first bus event, the 10th annual BusFusion at Almonte.

Peace, Love and VW

I'd been reading up and discussing VW buses for a couple of months and the people who really seemed to know their stuff were suggesting that the best way to really get to know these vehicles was to come and talk to the people who own (and maintain) them. And what better place than a meet like this. So we packed up the Jetta (at least we arrived in a VW) and put up our tent (we were the only one's sleeping on the ground) and started to explore the world of Westies.

A Sweet Split

A campfire Darryl would appreciate!

It was a great weekend, and the volks who suggested I go were 100% right. I learned a lot (and a year later I'm still learning a lot), I met some great and incredibly friendly people, and now I will be pulling up in my own camper for our 2nd BusFusion. We're planning on leaving before 1PM on Thurs, hope to stop at Ralph and Peggy's cafe in Omemee on our way. Hwy 7, a nice relaxed pace on a pretty stretch of road. And a campfire tomorrow night! The last campfire I got to sit at was really great (see my post about meeting Johnny and Dana on the way home from Arkansas) and the last one Andrea and I shared was in North Carolina with some other fun Canucks! We will miss the Saturday night / Sunday morning festivities though, we both have to be at Albion Hills for the next MTB O-Cup race on Sunday... so a drive to our camping spot at Albion is the order of the day for Sat, early enough that we can both be relaxed and ready for Sun.

Looking forward to seeing Babe in a shot like this now. 

 I suppose I should add this photo too... it's one Andrea took when I first got to look over the VW camper I now own. A year later, I'm still very happy with my decision to buy Babe.

Babe - a '82 Vanagon L diesel with a 1.9 TD upgrade

Journalist, Photographer, Friend, and all the spaces in between

I expected the blog entry from yesterday would stimulate conversation since lots of people in the local racing scene know the folks featured and I certainly saw (and am still seeing) lots of conversations happening.

From facebook there are both "like" links and "dislike" comments, supportive thoughts and lots of well-wishing. And I decided to remove a few photos that were not really important in expressing the importance of the story, I believe the remaining photos say it all. The real story is in the conversation people are having about the race.

I'll say honestly that this is something I love about the MTB community... doesn't matter what team colours you wear or what category you race it's one big family and everyone is there for each other before, during and after the race. I've enjoyed reading all the comments these photos have stimulated, and I hope the smiling post race pics or the race-face-on shots mean a little more knowing and seeing what all of the racers go through, dare themselves to do, and risk every time they come prepared at the start line.

So ending with a start, I'll add one other crash... I saw Steven still racing later so he was another with a notch of accomplishment.

It Hurts Me to Do This...

And there are a couple of people who already know how that teaser line ends! I saw some friends take hard falls today and being the snapper I am, I just kept shooting. The good news is they both walked away from their crashes on "Boneshaker", even if it was with some limping and not being able to finish the race. Hopefully they will both be back on the bikes soon and racing at Albion next weekend.

So Larry and Robyn... here are the galleries of what I happened to capture. You definitely weren't the only ones to go down, for some reason today seemed just that much more difficult in a few parts of the course. Hope you don't mind... I know the one photo that went up on PedalMag went viral pretty quickly so your fellow racers are likely interested in these (and you'll get no end of teasing this week I'm sure).

My Brike, and when it was called Bike to Work Week

June! I'm enjoying the weather and looking forward to enjoying the summer.

I've always enjoyed the beginning of summer, cycling has always been a part of that. And Bike to Work Week (BTWW) is one thing that's defined the beginning of summer for me for years. Toronto wasn't the first to come up with the idea however we were "early adopters" and people like Sue Zielinski were instrumental in getting the city engaged. The '80s and early '90s was a time of considerable activism in the cycling community and the Toronto City Cycling Committee was very much a part of it. I haven't heard or seen much from the TCCC in recent years; it seems that activism has moved out of city hall and into citizen groups like Advocacy for Respect for Cyclists (ARC). Back then, we were fighting to get bike parking -- those ring and posts -- as well as the first few KM of dedicated bike lanes. We've come quite a ways since then.

I was chair of the Bicycle Commuter Program in the early '90s while Andrea was a co-chair of the TCCC for a number of years in the early '90s too. I was even able to get IBM involved, something I've mentioned before, to host a muffin breakfast at the IBM Tower (no longer called that, it is part of the TD Centre at 79 Wellington St W) as well as getting them to sponsor a team for a race when there were still pro races at the Queens Park Circle.

I posted a newspaper article from May 1990 on Facebook that included this photo and it generated some interesting discussion so I thought I'd elaborate on that vehicle a little. And quite a few people I worked with who were around in the early '90s will remember this vehicle... I used to ride it to work on a regular basis and even rode it on a few Rides for Heart.

I came across this thing called a "Brike" in a pamphlet somewhere and was intrigued by it. They were fairly cheap, so I ordered one and had it shipped from the States. Originally designed as a single speed with coaster brake in the front, the steering was done by leaning and pivoting the front. This was done by a couple of pivot points under and behind the seat... really just some bolts through rubber blocks. So every turn was done by leaning into it. The handle bars were just something to hold onto to help with the leaning. I had Mike Barry of Bicyclesport and Mariposa steel bikes (and much more!) fame build up a 5 speed front wheel using a Sachs 5 speed internal hub with coaster brake. That cost more than the trike itself. He had to spread the front dropout to be able to fit the wheel, not hard to do as the frame wasn't that strong. As the trike got a few years old the front end was definitely bent from me grinding it up hills.

The rear wheels were set on an angle to help with stability however they were really hard to get aligned correctly so the tires would wear on the inside. I did flip the wheels to extend the life of the tires though, still that was one of the most challenging design aspects. With the disc covers to keep fingers out of spokes I added a standard bike child seat in back and it quickly became Kayla's seat... I'm sure she has lots of memories of going places on the back of that trike. I know I do. 

Eventually the frame broke (climbing up the DVP at York Mills on a Ride for Heart) and I never bothered to get it fixed. I still have those wheels somewhere though : ) And to add to the geek factor, that wasn't the only recumbent I owned... quite a few years later I bought a Trek R200, which had a 40 gear drive train. Trek only made that bike for a few years, they didn't sell enough to be worth it I guess.

Trek R200