Sometimes this big world seems small

I want to say just how crazy I think it is that people from all over the world read our little bike blog. I mean you start a blog and post articles so people will read it. That is the point, but I just think it’s super cool that people actually do! So, on my last post, Pascal, a rider from Belgium commented, mentioning that the weather was a bit gloomy there that day, and that he’s been reading up on our Transrockies adventures because he’s going to be racing it this summer. (I hope you don’t mind me singling you out here, Pascal) When I read that comment, I just thought ‘Huh… You know… How cool is that, that riders, like Pascal, from thousands and thousands of kilometers away are able to so easily read our stuff.’ Sometimes this big world seems small, indeed… So yeah, this comment of Pascal’s got me thinking about the Transrockies again. I know quite a few people racing it this year, and so I wanted to share another quick story from last year that I think is pretty cool.

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Why do we ride?

Eating my breaky this morning, getting ready to head out for my weekly Sunday training ride, I came across this trailer. It’s tough to understand what they’re saying some of the time, but the message overall is totally clear. They’re just talking about why they ride. The simple answer is ‘joy’. I won’t argue with that. Today is a beautiful sunny Sunday, and I can’t wait to get out there. Wherever you are in the world, I hope you’re doin’ the same.

P.S. I also have to applaud their taste in font colours :-)

New Sled

I can’t be unique in ‘thinking/dreaming’ about getting a new bike every time I walk into a bike shop. If you’re a rider, you just can’t help it. I think it’s the smell of the rubber… haha… I don’t know. Maybe it’s something the shops pump into the air – some kind of ‘buy-a-bike’ mind melding gas. You walk in and the bikes sit there, gleaming, in their racks, just calling out to be ridden. And, really, who am I to be so cold hearted that I can’t give at least one of them a good home. Well, today I got the call, ‘Sheldon, good news. You can come pick up your new bike!’

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The Elephant and the Rider

Sometimes, although it’s rare, I can have trouble sleeping. I recall vividly, summer holidays between grade 5 and grade 6 was the first time I experienced this. It was so strange to me. We were camping at the time, spending all day outside, running around, biking, fishing, hiking. Come night time, I would be tired, ready to go to bed, but then I’d just lay there, and the lay there, listening for grizzly bears outside the tent. Good times, good times… So that was my first memory of having a hard time falling asleep, and since then, I can likely count the other times on two hands. It’s as I said, a rare thing for me. When it does happen now though, it’s normally due to some excitement, or stress in my life surrounding change or uncertainty. My brain will stay active long after my body decides it’s time to fall asleep. Lately, I’ve been wrapped up in a lot, between work, home life, training and riding, helping out here and there with some other side projects and so on. I’ve got lots on my mind, which is how I like it, as the vast majority of it fun to think about, but come 11pm when I want to shut the ol’ noodle off, it hasn’t been happening. So, what now?

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Sugoi Winter Riding Bootie

Winter riding is still very new to me. I’m loving it though, and slowly amassing all me gear; base and mid-layers, shells, gloves, neck warmers and, yes, booties! I started the winter riding season with just varying combinations of multi-layer socks. That was okay, but not great. My feet would stay warm for a while, but once my shoes got damp, it was bad news… And you know what they say, ‘cold head, cold feet, cold core.’

I then tried cheaping out and getting the neoprene toe covers…

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Kokanee Sponsors River Valley Cycle XC Race Team

Last night River Valley Cycle hosted its HUGE customer appreciation night, and announced Kokanee as the new sponsor of the RVC XC mountain bike team. It was a very cool night. The store was decked out with wall-to-wall deals on TLD gear and rides, from Santa Cruz, Kona to Rocky Mountain. For a long while there, the place was so packed you had a hard time getting around  to check everything out. Not to worry though, the RVC staff served up a choice open buffet and there was lots of Kokanee to go around!

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Lance Armstrong – Comeback 2.0

As one of my b-day gifts this year, my wife gave me Lance’s newest book, ‘Comeback 2.0 Up Close and Personal‘. Instead of another traditional text heavy autobiography format, Lance opted to allow professional sports photographer, Elizabeth Kreutz, VIP access to his life as he mounted his ‘09 tour comeback.

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Lance Armstrong in Edmonton

7:15am. My alarmclock radio goes off, and as I come to, what do I hear? Lance Armstrong is coming to Edmonton! For two days, Aug 25-26, he’ll be in our fair Capital City to raise awareness and funds in support of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

It’s not every morning you wake up to the news that one of your HEROES is coming to town!

iPhone Cycling Apps

Every now and then, Ken will say something that makes sense. It’s not that often though, so I wanted to be sure that I marked this very ‘rare’ occasion.

Several months back, Ken wrote an article on bike gadgetry. Like many trendy, designer-types, when it comes to all things design, Ken is a fan of what I’d call, ‘intelligent or elegant simplicity’ – esthetics come second only to function. So, in an ongoing effort to keep his bike cockpit clear of cables, cords and compu-clutter, he posited on the application of the iPhone as a cycle computer. At the time, it was easy enough to see the possibilities, but the idea of attaching your precious iPhone to your headset as you hurl down some single-track didn’t seem very practical. Even a road ride would pose some risk – pavement isn’t known for its forgiveness. All that said, this hasn’t deterred a number of cycling apps from being designed.

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Race Across the Sky

I couldn’t be more excited for a movie I already know the ending of! This Wednesday, there are a bunch of us taking in a one-night only screening. Got my tix already!