Only what you can carry

I'm not new to flying. Most of you know that. It still amazes me how the big companies can stuff a huge jet choker-block full of people plus all their shit and still get off the ground. The AC flight(787) from TO to ROME had no available seats or overhead baggage room.  I'm always somewhat surprised when the pilot rolls and it actually leaves the ground.

 It was mostly black out over the Atlantic. Around the time we were over Iceland the moon start to appear, purple which the horizon doing the same. I watch the Disaster Artist on the flight over but what was going on outside the window was more interesting.

 

We landed in Rome, took about 40 to get through Customs, get my bag, figure out the trains and get rolling into down. Nic found us a hotel near the Colosseum.  We got checked in, got sorted and then went for lunch at a place nearby. I had my first pizza in Rome and first ever Italian beer.  

Back at the hotel sleep was demanded but not granted. We forced ourselves to stay awake and shift time zones by doing a random walk. The Trevi fountain was our destination. I knew Rome was old. But old is everywhere here. Just walking to one site takes you past many others. The city is like one huge outdoor museum. I took pictures, but in most cases I don't even know what I'm looking at.

Rome as been built over other versions of itself since the beginning. Small excavation sites are everywhere near the Colosseum.

I'm not sure if it was a National Holiday today, we arrived in town on the date of a large Marathon run through Rome. We came across the military band doing it's thing.

 

 We made it to the Trevi fountrain (Nicola Salvi, 1762). Toss in a coin and make a wish. The coins go to Romes down and out.

 The Pantheon. We didn't go in. At the time we were trying to find Gelato for a short break.

 Piazza de Venezia. Sort of the centre of Rome. We headed in and climbed up through the stair cases to reach the terrace. The best views or Rome we to be had. I should like to do this day again but only at night.

All is well after our first day except to say that I'm getting the sense that I packed my huge Osprey bag rather poorly. 2 flannel shirts and 2 pairs of jeans and my spring jacket may be seldom used here. My new hiking shoes are too hot to leave on. The 66 litre back, which you'll understand for a 24 day trip, gets heavy. There is a good chance I'll be donating some of my easier to replace items in favor of more souvenirs and better mobility.

The temperature here today was perfect for a Canadian in shorts and sandals. We'll see how it goes.

Leaving from Water Front St

In with the New

While not as bad as 2016, 2017 wasn't the greatest year on record of my life. A continuation of the funeral pyre from the previous year along with a prolonged smoke wave that interdicted my ride season made last year another year that I was happy to see end. Nic and I also managed to end it on a whimper. We both got sick and spend Xmas and New Years coughing and making green balls of goo with our noses. Worst of all, the illness was my fault, as I not only made my wife sick, but my Mom too. Epic fail to end an epic fail of a year. 

Cancelling our new years party , then feeling well enough to send out olive branches to a few friends. No on showed and they all made the right call. Nic I and I rang in the new year with a repeat of the Kings Speech, then the Netflix originals "Bright" (8/10 started off amazing but didn't quite reach it's potential) and the newly release Dave Chappelle Comedy specials( 10/10 pure comic genous).

Not wanting to get wound up with all the keeners who surely be out on the trails on January 1st, getting their year off to the right start, we opted for an extra rest day before hiking Quary Rock on the 2nd. No pics but nothing really amazing from a foggy hike. 

On the 3rd we started our ride 2018 ride season however. Just a pangor lap was likely all our lungs would allow us before turning themselves inside out for spite.This was the start of my year, what I hope will be a great one. I sure need it.

Moving forward........again.

Poddy Mouth

WARNING: These videos may contain offensive language!

She's says it just comes out of here at a certain moment. I don't blame her, or at least I cut major slack. She banged off all the rock faces on Rupert (Squamish) today like a pro. Sorta. She always does this thing where it looks like shes going to slam on the brakes well past the safety mark.I'm calm on the outside but my inside face is pretty grim.  Always count on a good husband to be willing to risk the mortal well being of the one I love the most. 

She does have a history of swearing though.

This is on John Deer, (Mt. Seymour) back when she had the red bike.

Internationl Ride on Seymour Day

So it's basically been raining all of October. Halloween is tomorrow but today the sun came out. Nic and I were on a time crunch today so I talked her into a lap on Severed. I think most of the mountain bikers felt the same thing. 

For those who aren't in the know, a large number of trails have been in jeopardy since the CMHC decided to renew it's no trespassing signs in the area, effectively scaring off the NSMBA from maintenance efforts. Thanks to the efforts of DNV Councillor Matthew Bond, the NSMBA and a lot of written testimonials from the trail users, the CMHC decided to back off. 

Today felt like Victory on Seymour day as a lot of riders came out to celebrate on their recently repatriated trails.

 This is the parking situation at 10:30 am on Sunday.

 It's not often I stop to take pictures of people climbing old buck. But a few things struck me on this ride that I felt like sharing.

Yes it was a busy day on Seymour, but not just with riders. These groups were made up of dog walkers and trail runners and hikers as well. All of us sharing the narrow path. Everyone pleasant to one another. Maybe we all had a reminder recently of how lucky we are to have this in our back yards. And how pointless it would be to pay our premium rents and mortgages without it.

Nic steaming her way up

Tree fallen at the entrance of Pangor

 And then we come across the entrance of Pangor where a tree had fallen across the entrance. Where the angry vocal minority like Monica Craver would say that bikers are destroying the trails I need to make a counter point. That tree was not a part of the trail. It was just there and because of the wind and rain of the recent weeks it finally just fell over. You see, the trails would rot and erode with or without us. It will likely be a subscribing member of the NSMBA who comes up here with a saw to clear the blockage. It is the NSMBA who advocates for trails, maintains them and organizes the most volunteer labour to keep the in working order.

Monica hates us, but she, like so many others who live, have no idea how lucky they are.

Power line muster

 So we start are decent. I take pictures of my wife so I can share them here on a blog that I neglect.

But once in a while I feel fortunate and want to share the story of the day.

We motored home to get ready for a family visit. After which we carved our Jack O' Lanterns for tomorrow . Looking forward to my first adult Halloween in my new home.

Back in Black!

I'll be honest. Christie Clark has never been my favorite Premier. She's a conservative parading around under the liberal banner, asleep at the wheel on so many issues that WILL affect us down the road, especially housing . On February 16th, she rolled out a new budget with an exemption on the property transfer tax for new builds. I guess I should thank her for saving me almost 11,000.

But I'm not going to. 

I should also thank Brody Development for being 7 months late in delivering me my Town home, without which I surely would have had to pay the aforementioned PPT. And thank them I will, but not for my new bike.

Mainly I'd like to thank my wife for letting me spend a big chunk of the money we'd saved on a new Knolly Warden.

She said yes to crazy. I said yes to cool.

And then there's Bryan. Before any budgets got released he said he could help me get the inside track on this purchase. He's a ride buddy from what seems like an era gone by. He owes me nothing. But he really helped the numbers make sense. 

That and he spent 5 hours of his Friday night helping me build it. (He did most of it actually.) 

Since 2006 and I have been buying all my bikes at Cove. I have gone through more than my fair share of their frame catalogue. Stiffee (x2), STD and Hustler(bought almost on the same day), Gspot #1 (after my Hustler frame cracked its seat post after 13 months),  2013Shocker (which is great but I should have kept the STD) and Gspot #2 (after the first Gspot cracked its seat post as well). I am a big guy and beat the shit out of my bikes. The Gspot, while having a new frame, had all sorts of dying parts on it. With the drive train and wheel set on life support, I decided to start anew.

And while the new Cove Hustler is definitely an option, I wanted something completely different. And different it seems is what I got.

I know that few people these days would be impressed with a bike that is 29lbs. But this if the first bike I've ever had that is sub 30lbs. I could have waited for carbon and saved an additional .75 lbs. But there is no denying that this alloy frame is far more sightly than its carbon counterpart.

One day I will own a plastic bike. Hopefully they know how to recycle them by then. This pic, against my blue (future man cave) wall doesn't do it justice. The bike is all caked in mud now and this may well be the best ever image I have of it.

Nic took a few pictures of me not looking quite so dorky but I felt this best conveyed the mood. 

Blurry Ted is blurry

Hi Tracy, welcome to my blog post.

Entrance of 7th.

2 rides in. Pangor on Saturday and what felt like an epic on 7th and Crinkum Crankum today.

I'm still playing with the suspension and trying to get the reactions I want. I realize it's early for a review but I'll post my early impressions anyway.

For context, this is the build kit on my Knolly Warden. (Mostly)


I'll start with the bad. I say bad but really these are just things I haven't gotten used to yet.

1. The back tire is a Maxis Minion SS.

Not a part of the normal build kit but a replacement for something they were short on. Defiantly not a shore tire, it has some major grip issues on wet rock faces. While I like a certain amount of sketchiness in my back tire, I found a few occasions where a dismount was required due to lack of confidence in my situation. I'll likely run this tire through the summer but it will have to go in September.

Note: the Other build kit substitution is the Carbon Bar. Instead they gave me the 760ml bar from the Endorphin kit. I would not say this has affected my riding so far.

2. A bit more pedal shwack than on the G-spot. The Warden follows the trend of long and low all mountain bikes. I found myself carefully learning how to pedal it on technical terrain.

3. An average non-technical climber. So far. I would say this bike climbs about as well as the old Gspot on the Fromme FSR and Old Buck.  Having demoed the SC Nomad and RM Altitude, I'd say both those bikes leave a bit more gas in the tank at the end of the climb.

And now the good, or at least the immediately noticeable benefits ..

1. Fit. The bike just fits me better than any bike I have owned so far. The climbing position is very good. On the descents  I am more raked out and more forward. I found myself attacking the trails. Again another learning curve but one I am sure will benefit my riding when I have it figured out.

2. Cornering. I haven't mastered it yet but I will be able rail my turns like never before.

3. Rolling. The bike picks up speed quickly and maintains it. The brakes, SRAM Guide rsc are good and capable of stopping me, but not as powerful as my Codes.

4. The suspension. The Fox 36 Float paired with the Cane Creek DB Air CS is a formidable pairing. On day one I was a little under-gunned.  I aded 10 lbs pressure in each and felt over jacked. I haven't even played with either LSC HSC or rebound yet but am running pressure well below what is recommended for my weight class on both. Maybe the suspension needs to work itself in a bit for now I am really enjoying the big bike feel.  (I'd almost say it out-big-bikes my big bike.)

5. Its a VERY different bike. The personality is its own.



 I found it interesting how tired I was after this ride. In part I point to the new 650b wheel spec. But also it was a bike I didn't want to stop riding. On the downs I just wanted to keep going and on the techy climbs I wanted to find the limits. By no means did I climb over everything today, but I suspect when I have logged a few more hours on it my feet with have little reason to touch the ground.

Happy Ted is Happy.