Leaving it all on the hill

I'd been hankering for a trip up to Squamish for a while so when Bob suggested it, I got all over it like a fat kid on smarty. Awesome riding and a pretty sweet brew pub for after. What was not to like about the idea. Too bad Bob decided not follow up on his own great idea. We dialed up our friends, Chris and Rich, our Squamish outpost hosts, and set up our Saturday for riding.

Our bikes waited patiently for some decisions to be made

We arrived around 9:30 and took some time to discuss our options. There are a shwack of trails in this small town so one must plan wisely. We ended up breaking our day up into 2 chunks. A morning riding in the Highlands area, then over to the other side for Crouching Squirrel, Hidden Monkey.

In the Highlands area we drove to the best start and stop location. We pedaled up to Angry Midget. A fun swoopy trail with some awesome techy roots and A-frames to keep you honest. It was a good start to the day. Sorry, no pics. We were all too busy ripping this super fun trail. For 45 minutes climbing, Midget offered up big returns.

We got back to the car, drove back to Chris and Riches to make decisions for the second part of the day. With Riches help, I dropped off my car at the bottom so we could avoid some nasty climbing back up. We'd then start up the Mashiter and head down Roller Coaster and LumberJacks.

Chris rolls some tech on Jacks

Nic had one of those days where it seems roll nicely.

Upon finishing Jacks it was decision time. Did we have enough or was there more in the tank? I expressed my opinion first, that even if we had to push at the end then at least we could all say we had left it all on the hill. Rich seconded and girls chimed in with their support. Sometimes I try to kill my future wife. Sometimes she surprises me. Maybe she was having the best day of all.

Less than 30 minutes later we arrived at Alice lake, as we had many times before. Instead of carrying on our way, we stopped for a swim. The water was murky but felt so good. We dragged our refreshed carcasses out of the water, put out clothes back onto our soggy bodies and started pedaling up to the next trail head.

I wouldn't say Crouching Squirrel offers as much as entrails, but its still a fun rip for anyone who doesn't mind techy roots and lots of line choosing.

Most of my pics from the day are from this last trail we rode. 

The top of our last trail, Crouching Squirrel

 

The girl is smiling

Steeper than it looks

Some lines.....

roll easy

Others require negotiation

Some couples

choose the smoother path

Nice light broth

Chunky Soup

After 11 years in the biz, its nice to have days that remind you of how huge this sport is. No one can ride all the trails in BC in one lifetime. Squamish offers up so many trail options for relatively few riders. (On the shore, it's the opposite). It was nice to have a day to remind me that I haven't seen it all, that there are trails that I haven't ridden enough and friends that I haven't ridden with enough.

No ordinary day.

At the end of Crouching Squirrel, we motored back to my strategically placed Rogue. Back at our friends house,  I was done. The legs were wobbly, the head felt sun baked, and I was still breathing as if to replace oxygen to my body.  4 very quick quick showers then off to the Howe Sound Brew Pub for much needed eats and Beers. I was so tired, I started to get hangry. It took a few minutes for our nurse to arrive, but when she did the day was wrapped up nicely.

Otsukare Sama Deshta! We'll be back soon.

Good Lord, where have I been?

Around I guess. The usual with work, ride,  sleep, eat. Not much terribly new other than Im into drinking lagers right now more than dark beers,

Nic and I were on the Island for a short but intense visit. We did some riding on Tzouhalem then over to Cumberland for a night at the Riding Fool .

The view on a fantastic day mid island.

Walking the Walk

I sometimes like to record my kohai's while attempting to grade. Its a good learning tool. One day we can look back at ourselves and measure our progress.

I recorded 5 short clips during Saturdays gradings in Chilliwack. Gloria, Jen and Izzy were all grading from my Dojo as well as a couple of Lorne's younger students from the Tsawassen Dojo.

For those Martial Arts practitioners who stumble upon this page and think they have a short grading, bear in the mind that most of the candidates have already been training rigorously for most of the day and part of the evening before.

This video starts off as Alicia from the Tsawassen dojo doing her Kihon then turns into Gloria doing hers.

Gloria's Tekki Shodan

Jen's Kihon and Kata. Forgive as I cant move around for better angles.

Izzy Kihon
And Izzy for Bosai Dai

Everyone from Nvan passed. Not sure about the T-towners.

It is what we make of it

Yesterday morning Michael Zehaf-Bibeau walked up behind at Soldier standing on guard in front of the War Memorial in Ottawa and shot him down in cold blood. He then jumped in his car and made what seemed to be a mad dash for the Parliament Building. An act that he must have known would end is his death. A fairly concise timeline can be found here.

These acts are something that anyone in this Country could have done. While I do believe Michael Zehaf-Bibeau's intended to be a Terrorist, the fact that this man had a criminal past and a crack addiction diminishes his actions to those of a marginalized and rather sad criminal. He tried to go to Syria to join Isis. Had he been successful, I have little doubt that they would have afforded him the opportunity to become a full fledged Terrorist or suicide bomber.

Does this make Michael Zehaf-Bibeau and Martin Rouleau Terrorist Wannabees?

ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, surrounded by former Hussein Republic Guard Intel officers and soldiers have taken what was formerly Al-Queda from a group of insurgents to a full fledged military force creating their own state from parts of Syria and Iraq. ISIS is more media savvy than any other terror group from that region to date.





ISIS has drawn several young western Muslims to their cause with English Recruitment videos to become fighters.  Bibeau and Rouleau  intended to join them.

There are lots of Muslim people in the world. Lots in Canada. And most would rather live their lives peacefully than go fight for some asshole in Syria.

I liken Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to Heath Ledgers Joker. 

When they send out one of these recruitment videos , He along with his ISIS spin doctors are talking to a certain kind of person, attracting certain kind of mind.  Marginalized, alone, maybe addicted and definitely mentally unstable.

Had Bibeau made it to Syria, yes, I think he would have been a Terrorist. What he did in Ottawa was criminal and cowardly.

The word terrorism is getting thrown around a lot today by our Prime Minister and media reporters. However what Terror boils down to is how you react. I for one, think the George W Bush era or fear mongering has long passed. We as free thinking Canadians have a responsibility to ensure that our Prime Minister not be allowed to use these occurrences as an excuse to escalate our military  presence in the middle east or restrict our own freedoms.  If we fail, then Zehaf-Bibeau and Rouleau succeed.

I am proud that my countrymen have not shown fear.......

I'm so Vain....

Into the North

I'm usually careful not to mix work into my blogging. But my job sent me to Whitehorse this week and I have a few pictures I thought I should share.

 Bove Island is on the way out to Fraser just over the Border in BC.

 Lake and Tundra as you get close to the Alaska Border.

A dirt road services past of the way to Beaver Creek. Plan for extra wait time to let the pilot cars take you back and forth.

 
 Watch out for the traffic coming the other way, however......

A few rocks hit our windshield.


Buckshot Bettys. Old school hospitality.

 10 pm in Beaver Creek

 Some shots of Kluane Lake on the way back to Whitehorse.

 Summer is definitely a nice time to be here. Maybe one day I'll get to see what these places look like in October.

Gravity

Just a few shots taken on Sterling today. Good ride with Bob and a few of his friends, Al and Dom.