Great bikes do not a great relationship make

As many of you will no doubt be aware I have been in a "relationship" with a woman from my neighbourhood since early May. Sadly, that relationship has come to a close, despite the very positive cycling aspects, it was just not the right time for us apparently.

Cristal H is a stunningly great cyclist, she took to the bike after a 25 year hiatus and within days was off on 50k plus rides. I helped her chose the bike, took her to the various bike stores around town and we chatted extensively about the bike she finally ended up with. At the end of the day she chose to drop some serious cash on a custom Soma Fabricating bike from Dream Cycle on Commercial Drive. We also took long rides throughout the city and beyond, the longest we took was from our neighbourhood out to Steveston and back a total of 63kms or just over 30 miles - riding with someone like Cristal was always a pleasure - she never complained and was always ready for the next part of the ride.

However, a mutual interest in cycling does not a relationship make. Despite our mutual love of cycling we had many differences in our lifestyles, our approach to life was polar opposite. I had my life and she had hers and there was very little room for compromise in there and at the end of the day it did not matter how much we cycled together, we butted heads too much on the other things.

In tribute to our relationship and to show the world how hot Cristal looked on her new bike here are a few photos taken by me prior to us going out on a date down to Commercial Drive.

The other day whilst working out at the gym I saw Cristal ride by, just that image of Cristal riding her bike was a sad comment for me on our relationship - the image of Cristal and her white Soma bike will be forever etched in my head.

Happy riding Cristal - may your road be forever smooth.

Three days under the stars in Sechelt

For the last three nights I have lived without a roof, other than the stars above. Three years ago I completed the "Circle Route" see blog entry # This time around I decided to just stay around the seaside town of Sechelt, camping at the Porpoise Bay provincial campground.

Day 1 - was the trek in from East Vancouver to downtown to catch the 257 Express bus to Horseshoe Bay. Best to catch this bus at the Dunsmuir Street turnaround point, before the bus fills on Georgia. I caught the 1.35pm ferry over to Langdale and once in to Gibson's via the lower road, over to Gower Point for a photo over the Georgia Straight.



Following my previous route back to the 101 and the a left down the Lower Road in to the heart of green-ness on the west coast in Roberts Creek. After quick bite and some text messaging, it was off to Sechelt to catch up with my buddy Colin MacKenzie who had left earlier in the morning. Our original plan wa to stay the first night at the Robert's Creek campground but it looked awful and too close to the 101. Colin suggested Porpoise Bay campground approx 4km outside Sechelt.

I finally arrived at the camp and was happy to see it was a cyclists section with bike racks aplenty. Lots of other cyclists including a tandem couple from North Vancouver, were hanging out and swapping stories.

My first night under the stars was an adventure in comfort. All I slept on was a tarp and self inflating mattress and then my sleeping bag, which kept me more than warm. I have not slept under the stars since 1979 on my very first holiday to Canada, it truly is an eye opening experience. In my younger days I used to fall asleep with the headphones on listening to music. I reckoned this was the best way to get to know the music as one fades in and out of consciousness in the process of falling asleep. It was the same here - staring directly up at a clear night sky with 1000's of stars is an other worldly experience.

Poor Colin sleeping close by in his tent, had to put up with my eventual snoring, evidenced by two pairs of shoes that had been lobbed my way during the night, apparently with little affect on my snoring.

DAY 2
It was up and out of bed and then a decision to break the camp and head off for breakfast. On arriving at the Sechelt Wheatberries bakery. Colin decided he would head out on his own in search of his own path. I stayed a while longer and chatted with the tandem couple over coffee; they in turned headed off up to Halfmoon Bay via Red Roofs Road.


With the Smuggler Cove camp site as my general goal, I too headed north to take the Red Roofs Rd 11km route to Halfmoon Bay. This route is a lot of up and down, typical of the roads in the area, mostly deserted and as usual hard to get in to grove with the constant up and down. Finally, I arrived at the Halfmoon Bay store to meet a 67 year old former East German named Hans. Hans was on a solo three month trek of the pacific northwest and was heading south for his Sept departure from YVR. Hans was in incredible shape and put men 30 years younger to shame.



After a break I headed back on to the 101 for a few km to the Brookes Rd turn off and out the 10km round trip to Smuggler Cove. Smuggler Cover was a dissapointment since it was originally my intended second night camp site. It DID say wild camping, but in reality two clearings next to a stinky outhouse does not qualify as a campsite at the longest stretch. So it was back down the dirt road for 2km and back towards Halfmoon Bay then back down Red Roofs Rd on my way to Sechelt. As I was getting tired and somewhat cranky at this point I took a snooze on bench at Coopers Green Park. Then it was back on the road to Sechelt; I kinda forgot the 18% incline leading back to the 101, this was impossible to ride up, so it was a slow slog up the hill. I was back to the Porpoise Bay camp by about 6.30 and ran in to Hans and the tandem guys again, plus a couple of dudes from Seattle heading north and couple from Columbia who had walked in from Sechelt. Hans had made it up the Red Roofs 18% grade without pushing !

Another night of star gazing and recognising the constellations as the rolled through my field of view, lots of meteor showers.



Day 3
I headed back in to town with the intention of exploring Sechelt itself. After breakfast I cruised around visiting various business' and establishments including the local employment office. Sechelt is a nice small town, flat for the most part, very friendly folks. Fort he afternoon I headed back to camp for some lunch then a swim in the inlet, which was a little cold. It was just warm enough to lie on the beach and soak up some rays and fall asleep. Dinner was at the camp and then I headed back in to town to hang out at the Gilligan's Pub for a few hours. No sooner had I walked through the door a fellah named Peter introduced himself and I found myself sat at a table of locals of various vintage. The discussion topics ranging from the end of the world to internet dating - somehow connected maybe ?

It was then back to camp, thankfully my purchase of a brand new Shark headlight a few weeks back paid off in the total darkness of rural Sechelt.

This night was not so pretty, clouds moved in and it was kind of boring. I was awoken at around 3am with a loud noise that sounded like rain and wind but of in the distance and creeping ever closer. It did spit a little but other than that the clouds eventually parted and the stars appeared once again.

Day 4
Up at 8am, packed up and headed for town and some breakfast. After chatting with a local art gallery owner I relented and caught the bus back in to Gibsons and the 10.30am ferry. Given the bus service is fairly reliable, it would not be inconceivable for someone to live car-free in Sechelt.

I was back in the metropolis of Vancouver by 1pm and back home in East Van by 1.30. At least my cat was very happy to see me.

Translink Cycle Bridge Opening

This morning I headed out from my place at Cassiar and Adanac to the the opening of the new bridge at Kent Ave and Ash Street. The 50 minute trek took me along the Millenium Skytrain route to Victoria, along East 10th to Ontario and then south to Kent Ave. and then west a few blocks to Ash.

Having recently riden this area last weekend with the "Shetland Pony", it was interesting to come back during the week to see the amount of very heavy traffic along Kent Ave. Anyone that is familiar with the street knows the area as being heavy industry, the vehicle traffic is excessive for such a small street at this time.

Thankfully, the time spent on Kent was only between Ontario and Ash, approx 3-4 blocks. The city of Vancouver really need to make the connection between Ontario and the new bridge much safer and preferably separated from the heavy truck usage.


On arrival many local bike advocates and elected politicos were present. Likewise, there was an excessive police presence, I'm not sure of the purpose of such a large RCMP presence on the Richmond side. The Vancouver police were present along the Musqueum Bike Patrol, the latter were friendly and acted as true "ambassadors of the land".


The opening ceremony took place on the Richmond side with many of the official looking types looking like they could do with a few bike rides over the bridge themselves. Various users of the bridge were present including cyclists, runners, walkers - always present was the constant drone of aircraft and the rumblings of the new Canada line overhead, the latter often scaring the hell out of those present.


The bridge itself is a fine piece of municipal infrastructure, well lit and protected from the easterly elements with an overhang. It is somewhat open to the south and west, but many of us who ride Second Narrows or Lion Gate in winter know how nasty/dark/windy bridges can get; this one will be an easy ride.


Eventually the bridge will provide some needed bike route infrastructure between Vancouver and Richmond. Until now the only route north or south was Knight or Oak St bridge. However, both cities need to speed up the development of connecting bike routes at either side of the bridge in order to create a much safer environment due to the industrial nature of the area at each end.


There can be no question of the importance of this bridge for cyclists and despite the very legitimate concerns of all along the Cambie Street corridor, this bridge, as one example, shows some good use of taxpayers dollars.


More photos from the opening can be seen HERE

Critical Mass gets critical blast

I have been a participant in the Critical Mass event for several years now. For the first time in these years I have seen an incredible amount vitriolic nastiness spew forth from the Vancouver Sun pages on the subject of the CM = why all of a sudden ?

This week the Vancouver Sun posted a front page editorial on the evil's of people organising themselves in to a critical mass, in this case cyclists. The amount of anger and fear mongering this editorial has created is amazing. Yet on the CM this month [last night] we saw far less confrontations and far less people acting aggressively on the city streets. Where are the articles today about how peaceful the ride was ?

Reading many of the comments - it seems many simply are pissed off about inconvenience, many are pissed off about cyclists not abiding the law, some even suggest creating a critical mass of drivers - I think they already call it "rush-hour"!!!

Cyclists are fighting for their rights to be on the road - everyday we go out amongst the sleep deprived, radio tuning, cell phone calling automobile drivers. We dodge them, spank their hoods for inattention, shout our curses and still we get hit and taken to hospital. The bad habits of automobile drivers do far more damage to the insurance rates and general economy than a few errant cyclists. Yakking on the cell phone, whilst sipping a latte, slipping through a stop sign, first thing in a morning is an accident waiting to happen - pity the poor cyclist or pedestrian that ends up in hospital because of your inattention.



Once a month, for a few hours, cyclists get to claim the road as their own. Nothing can replace the freedom of riding down the middle of Burrard or Broadway with 1000's of other like minded people on bikes. YES at the expense of drivers, but you get to rule the road for the other 30 days of the month - once a month you get to turn off your engines and wait.

The Critical Mass is not responsible for how you feel in your car - the automobile environment is inherently designed to cut you off from the outside world, whereas the bicycle is the complete opposite, it reconnects you to the outside world. How many times have you screamed at other drivers for cutting you off ? Why do drivers assault each other, often fatally from road rage ? You never hear of cyclists doing the same thing to other cyclists.



Vancouver is still seeking its own a identity, it is still making the leap from hick logging town to urban pleasure dome. Cycling has much more of a prominence in the 21st century North American urban environment. Part of the responsibility lands on governments at all levels to create and fund infrastructure for bikes , however much of the responsibility lands on us as individuals to act appropriately to the inevitable changes that land on our doorstep. Like it or hate it we are moving away from an automobile oriented urban landscape - it is only in the last 70 years have we seen the rise of the automobile, people still remember the streets without them.


The Critical Mass bike ride that occurs in 300 cities around the world on the last Friday of the month is a statement to all those who continue to oppose it as much as it it is for those of us who support it. As the automobile is inherently designed to divide and conquer people - the bicycle is inherently designed to unify people - the mass will continue to grow until one day it will be the majority.

On a final note - as mentioned from my previous entry, my g/f bought herself a new bike from Dream Cycle on Commercial Drive. Her custom made bike suits her very well, she loves it and has been riding as much as she can; 25 years of not riding a bike can create quite a thirst for the road, on her 3 rd ride she completed 56km.

Being Lured to the Dark Side

As mentioned last month, I started up a great relationship with a great gal, we are still going strong. However, the lure of the automobile, namely her dark blue Volvo, is getting to be somewhat hazardous !


My lady [Cristal] is a single occupancy commuter, she drives to and from Oak and Broadway five days per week. In her favour she is strongly leaning toward commuting to work on her bike, opposingly I am starting to like being driven around in her dark blue Volvo. Now I'm not going to capitulate and fall under the lure of car ownership any time soon; however I am strongly reminded of how convenient and how impulsive car ownership can be.



Take the following example: a few days ago my g/f wanted ice cream - so she simply got in her car and drove to Safeway and bought some. That trip really drove home the need for restraint on my part, so much so I went along for the ride in the most contradictory fashion. Now I don't particularly like ice cream and I'm certainly no fan of Safeway, but the lure of the impulse was very strong. After all, Cristal works for her pleasures, pays her taxes, why not have some ice cream reward from time to time ?

Having your sole mode of transportation being self-propelled really does make you stop and think. I could easily walk or ride to the nearest corner store and buy ice cream or any other impulsively inspired product, sure it might be melted by the time I got it home, however resisting the impulse is key. Others might say "why punish yourself"?

Has bike ownership stopped my impulsive lifestyle ? I jumped on a plane to London in February on an impulse, I didn't even go with the carbon credits option. So whilst I may have stopped certain impulses from coming to reality, particularly around the automobile, I have not yet restrained myself in other areas.


I will say getting someone on a bike for the first time in 20 years is a major accomplishment. Cristal was an avid bike rider before she had her kids - and as the life often dictates the bike riding lifestyle was closeted until very recently. Our first major ride doing the two main bridges [Second Narrows/Lion's Gate] in Vancouver covered about 35km. We completed it leisurely, however it was completed non the less. Now she is almost at the point of commuting to work on her bike, about a 40 minute one way trip. She is also contemplating a major bike purchase, as she currently uses a borrowed bike that is a too big.

Although, this morning we had a minor set back in the new commuter plan - DOROTHY, Cristal's recently adopted boxer decided to eat Cristal's Bell helmet at some point in the last 12 hours. Dorothy is not much of a trouble maker, usually very well behaved, however as the evidence presents, she has obviously stated her case and wants to be part of the commuter solution in her own way. This little scenario conjures up the notion of "please sir I can't ride my bike to work today - the dog ate my helmet" !!!

Almost four years auto-free and a new relationship as a plus

Some months ago I wrote about trying to get a relationship started in a car free environment - well the relationship did not work, not due to the lack of a car though.

For the last month I have once again tried the relationship thing, this time things seem to be working out much, much better. Yes, she does have a car and yes she does commute to work in it every day - but that is ok ! One of the things I did learn from the relationship that failed is that I was too preoccupied with how other people lived their lives. I have come to the conclusion I can only be responsible for myself; as a result I do what I can do, I advise others but I don't get too fanatic about it or freak out too much.

My new relationship is full of positive energy, full of vim and vigor and did I mention the energy ?

No longer am I trying to change people, my life is that much better for it. In January I made the decision not to run for the Green Party in the May election. It is somewhat ironic that I was asked to not run for the party at about the same time. So I have left the political arena behind, supposedly to concentrate on my band, well also to get my social life back in order.

I am involved with a beautiful, energetic woman who lives about five blocks away. We have known of each other for many years yet never formally met. It was during our second date we know what had something going on, the second date was at the Old Admiral Pub in Burnaby. In the last few weeks we have seen some great bands there, highly recommended for those 40 plus or anyone in to good old soul tunes.

The band is coming back together, looks like this time we will have some pedigree in our new singer, who's name I cannot announce as yet, but he comes from a well known family of Vancouver soul singers - things are looking good band wise as a result.

My only major beef with anyone at the moment is with the Vancouver Auto Co-Op. Little did I know when my x-wife split a year ago she would leave me hanging with her bill with the auto co-op. Because I am the major share holder I got lumbered with her portion of the bill. something I did not read in the small print when I signed up in 2006. I have not used a co-op car in over a month, yet I ended up with a $500 plus bill this month thanks to this little clause in the agreement - so watch out for this people.

So with the summer on us and nothing but blue skies and flat smooth roads ahead I enter my fourth year living the car free lifestyle. So much water has passed under the bridge in the last four years I could probably qualify as a private hydro development with the provincial government - enough to power Adanac Village at least ! I have a feeling a smoother path approaches - I have never so proud of myself as I continue my life without an automobile.

$10 billion to save GM - the Titanic has set sail yet again

As many of you know the government of Canada has decided to bail out GM Canada to the tune of approx. $10 billion.

Whilst I recognise the largest corporate bankruptcy for what it is, there is no way on this Earth, the gov't of Canada should be parting with our tax dollars to the amount of $10 billion !

And today Prime Minister Harpers announces

"Clearly taxpayers will get some money back when the day comes that we begin to sell our equity share, but to be frank we are not counting on that,"

Harper said. Google News

If there was ever a time an international corporate megasoar was to bring down a government, surely that time is now. The numbers are mind-bogglingly large, the concept of so many dollars being thrown at essentially is a dead duck company is so bizarre and freak-ish, it does all but confirm the end of the world is just around the corner.

Why not just give the employees a simple pay out ? Why not create a new company that creates a decent product, not vehicles that are gutless and prone to break down ?

The Calgary Herald's Mark Milke concludes the cost of the bailout, if added to the average cost of a GM vehicle would be $14,705; Calgary Herald Now I'm not a great business leader by any stretch, but even to me this makes no economic sense. Even if sales remain constant, there is no way Canadian taxpayers will ever recover from this.

If anything this gives Canadians an excellent opportunity to look in to the corporate world and see how it directly influences government policy. I wonder how many phone calls and back room meetings it took for Stephen Harper to bend to the wishes of his buddies at GM Canada ? I wish I could have that kind of influence on the prime ministers office !

The loss of 10,000 jobs in Canada would eventually be dealt with, especially if that $10 billion was invested in retraining and some entreprenurial programs. You can bet some of the 10,000 have some excellent ideas on how build a better wheel or how to build a better vehicle.

For the record my last vehicle I ever owned was a GM vehicle. It was a leased vehicle and it had a really bad habit of not running at all on hot days, I finally gave it back to GM with a curse attached.



The taxpayers of Canada should not be shouldering the largest ever corporate bankruptcy. If Harper believes it necessary, his reasons must be related to avoiding a complete and utter economic meltdown. If this is the case, then bailing out GM is not going to stop such a meltdown, in fact it is going to perpetrate such a disaster even more. Harper is so entrenched in the corporate world he simply cannot see this reality. This bailout could have been stopped by the NDP, Liberals, Bloc and Greens, had they all joined together to stop Harper at some point in the last six months. Instead, we the tax paying citizens of Canada have been pushed to the brink that much more by an ineffective gov't and mutually beneficial sad and pathetic opposition.

If there is any true opposition left in Canada, surely they must call for a vote of non-confidence in Harper's gov't and take us to yet another election - do it quick before the ink dries please !

As a society we have to recognise this a positive sign the days of car ownership are starting to run short. The symbolic place the automobile has in our society is changing; the personal freedoms we associate with car ownership are changing. Stephen Harper recognises this and by investing such a grand amount of tax payers dollars in to the sinking ship of the automobile industry, he too has announced the day in the life of the automobile has reached its sunset.