A CM Virgin No More

I've been doing the Critical Mass for about 5 or 6 years now. I'm not a regular attendee anymore, the novelty has worn off just a tad - but when I meet someone who is interested in taking part, I kinda get inspired all over again.


So it was when I suggested to my g/f Andrea that we take part in the August Mass, one last good weather chance to to take over the streets of downtown Vancouver and take part in one of the world's most successful mass protests.

The August mass generally does not have the bulk of the June or July event; however the mass amassed enough mass to be massive. Our first rendezvous was the Lions Gate Bridge - now a staple of the Critical Mass diet.


Taking over the streets with one's bicycle really is something else - maybe I had forgotten how thrilling this detail could be. Certainly Andrea felt and showed it. Once off the bridge we headed off around Stanley Park along Denman then up the traditional route on Robson. It wasn't until we hit Burrard and Georgia did things start to get messy, but not for long and we then headed down to Hastings and east towards Main St.

At Main we peeled off the mass and headed eastward to home, with a required call in at the International House of Gelato, we arrived back at my house with the light of the waning day still upon us.


It was around this time I suggested to Andrea we take a more serious look at long distance cycling. I had my eyes on completing the southern Vancouver Island Circle route and without hesitation Andrea agreed to give it a go.

Talking about long distance cycling - one of my cycling heroes Ted Shredd turns out to be a friend of Andrea and by some small coincidence had lived a few blocks away from me on Adanac Street. Ted is currently riding from Summerland, BC to Los Angeles CA, a mighty ride if ever there was one. You can see his updates at http://www.funresearcher.com


On Sept 2nd Andrea and I celebrated my 48th birthday in grand style by cycling to the Vancouver Museum for a talk on local organic farming then off to Aphrodite's Restaurant at West 4th and Dunbar to chow down on some locally grown organic grub.




On Monday Sept 13th Andrea and I are heading over to Vancouver Island to complete a four day trek around the bottom end of the island. Our first day we will travel from Swartz Bay to Sooke; Day 2 Sooke to Port Renfrew; Day 3 Port Renfrew to Lake Cowichan; Day 4 Lake Cowichan to Swartz Bay via Mill Bay ferry. This will be the furthest cycling trip for both of us and it will be a blast. You can read more on the Pacific Marine Circle route HERE