Winter cometh

I had my first ride in the snow yesterday. I had planned on picking my son up from school and taking him for lunch in the car, but I left the keys in the Van, and my wife was in Calgary for a few hours. Kind of a happy accident. Warm headgear, gloves and go.I'm pretty sure I'm instantly a "cool dad" with all the school kids when I take my son to or pick him up from school on Soots. All the kids come up and are all like, "oh, that's so cool, sweet!" My son just grins.
Did a little riding around the park to avoid construction on the way home. Without the studded tires on, and no weight on the back of the Xtra, it's a whole lot of slip and slide. But a whole lot of fun too.
I'm so stoked to get in winter riding mode. The invigoration that comes from the icy air is like none other. I'll be shodding the wheels with studded tires soon and then, bring on the cold n' nasties!

(not much traction offered in snow)

Fall riding with the Family

This post is about a week late. But who cares.

Last weekend, with the fading nice weather, we figured it'd be wise to make the best of it. After church, the younger kidlets had a nap, and my oldest son and I headed out on the Karate Monkey. We brought a sling shot with us. At 6, it's time he learned such skills. A few hours, a few miles and just the two of us. It was awesome.

After we got home, everyone was up, and we hitched the trailer to my wife's Kona, and the 5 of us headed out for a ramble with no destination in mind. Just hit up some gravel, some canal path and enjoy being together. At the turn around point, we stopped, had a picnic of Oreos, and did some more sling shot shooting. Getting out, enjoying being together and having fun. This my friends is the awesomeness that is family. Love it.

Spotted: ANT

I've never seen a real ANT bicycle before, but walking to my vehicle after shooting a wedding in downtown Calgary, there it was. So sweet.

Errands

I had some errands to run this morning, and opted to do them on the Long Haul Trucker. Love this bike. It's weird, I seem to go through spells where I exclusively ride either my LHT, or the Karate Monkey, or the fixie. One of these bikes will be my go to for a long while, and then I'll switch it up.

There are some things you get to experience that you would totally miss if you weren't on a bike. One of those things is crazy kids stunting in their cars. I watched the driver of this car start his power slide, lose it, and almost get it back. Not quite though. I also saw the cop watch the whole thing. Buddy scored himself a $225 ticket (which was pretty mild in my opinion) and a few demerits. I chatted with him while he was waiting for the tow truck. He said, "yeah, they're just giving me a little slap on the wrist." I would say so.
Stopped to listen to a few voicemails on my cell phone that I received while riding. My phone rings more now than it ever has before. I kind of hate it, but mostly it's clients booking sessions and discussing photos, so it's not all bad. It is nice to opt not to take the call and keep pedaling though.
This is the trail right behind my house. Now that the canal is drained (see last photo) there are a few places with rock-paths that I can cross if I need too. Saved myself a whole 3 minutes today. Go me! Once the snow flies, quite a few people cross country ski in there. I think I'm gonna pick up a used set of skies and give it a try this year.

Spotted: Retro-direct drive bicycle

Right now I'm hanging out with my sweet wife and kids at my parents condo, in what is quickly becoming one of my favourite places on earth. Fernie BC. Love it here. This is a huge bike town. Not only for the incredible down hill riding to be had at the Fernie Mountain Resort, but also for transportation. People who live here ride their bikes everywhere and all year long. There are some great "utility" bikes to be seen here. Classic road bikes, mountain bikes converted to cruisers with milk crates on the front and everything in between. While walking for a bagel this afternoon with the family, I spotted this bike. At first it was the mismatched handle bars that made me think the owner was bike geek (non bike geeks seem to care much more about the look of their bikes) but then I noticed it.This is the very first retro-direct drive bike I've seen in real life. Sweet! Pedal forward and you have one gear range. Pedal backwards and you've got a completely different speed. It's a two speed bike that needs no shifting. So cool to see one of these at random.
Ride yer bike!

Fall Riding

Fall is such a great time to be riding. The smells, the colours and the sounds of leaves crunching under the tires. This season seams to be one of the fastest to go by, and every year I just try and try to hold onto it and make it last.To that end, I've been out on my LHT. A lot. Typically several rides per day. Saddle time is the goal, not distance or speed. I'd hate to be rushing through the parks and pathways with this kind of scenery anyway. Slow down, enjoy the ride and take it in. That's what it's about.

Cheers.