a journey back to a future time

I recall a conversation I had with my mother. Actually, to be truthful, I am not sure if I recall it or not. But she assures me that it happened something like this.

"You know that Star Trek is not real, don't you?" says my mother.
"Yes." says a six year old me.
"You know that it is actors, sets, sound stages and models, right?"
"Yes."
"Oh good."
"But... on the real Enterprise..."

And on it would go.

On the real Enterprise.

What does that mean?

I suspect it means that somehow, we all need the fantastic to be true. That we all need something unreally real to look up to. Something we know is untrue, but is a pure embodiment of that which is truth.

It could be I am full of crap.

Either way, tonight my family is out, my daughter and my wife, and I am home feeling slightly sick and not willing to push it.

Alone with the cat and the rat.

Watching Season 1 of the original Star Trek series on blu-ray, and indulging myself in a journey back to a future time.

2013, a year in review

And what a year it was.

My primary career ended up stuck in a permanent wheel spin. The year started off with a bang with a great first six months, but fizzled a bit at the end. I don't discuss what I do for a living on the Internet, but take it from me that for someone doing what I do for a living, this is fairly normal. This year this "normal" was pushed to the limits a bit though.

For various reasons, I did not meet my goal for the number of km that I wanted to get on the bicycle. My goal was 10 000 km. I managed to get just over 5 500 km. That is a huge difference, while still being a reasonable amount of km for a non-competitive cyclist. What happened, not to make excuses, was that my head just was not in the game this year. I felt some what energyless, and my riding buddies either were too busy to ride, or did not have their own heads in the game either. This added up to the year not adding up the way I wanted it to.

However, in other ways, the year was amazing. Here is why, in no particular order.

I was able to reconnect with a good friend of mine. We both share a love of cycling and of photography. Lately, he has been too busy to get out and do much, but was able to find the time this year to get together a bit more often. This has been a real treat.

I got a new bicycle (and then proceeded to not use it much LOL) that I just love. Hopefully, by July, I will have finished tweaking it a bit and will have it right where I want it as far as how it is equipped. Being the bicycle nut that I am, new bikes make me happy.

My daughter came into her own at school and with her extra-curricular interests. She has had an amazing year and it has been a real privilege to watch her change and develop new interests. Neat stuff.

I have rejoined the health club and am working away at the weights, cross training, and RPM classes. I am hoping that this gives me the edge coming in to spring for 2014 as far as riding goes. We shall see!

I finally realized a dream of mine and started a small photography business. It is going fairly well, and is a lot of fun. I greatly enjoy creating pictures, and being able to create them specifically for other people is a hoot :)

My wife got some health problems sorted out and is on the road to achieving the fitness levels that she wants. She is happier and healthier than she has been in years. I cannot stress enough how relieved this makes us all.

Overall, the year was a good one. Hopefully, yours was as well.

there be dragons here...

Outside of town, where the maps end, there be dragons...

A bit further, be dragons of another kind...

(If Olympus would give us a 250mm f4 prime as good as the 75mm f1.8 prime I used to take this, I would be very happy)

Happy dragon hunting...

winter landscape

My favourite part of ice storms has to be the aftermath. Also, winter has some of the best sunsets.

tire talk

There is an update on my Continental Top Contact Winter II tire review. New information is at the end of the review for those interested.

I finally made up my mind about which tires to get for the cyclocross bicycle. I settled on the Continental Super Sport Plus sized at 700x23c. They fit nicely on the 622x15c rims I have (Shimano RS10 wheel set). Obviously, since this is winter, I have no opinion on how they work and feel on the road since it is winter out there, but they seem like they should be ok.

Visually, they look almost hilarious on a cyclocross bike. 700x23c tires are obviously quite narrow and given the clearance that a 'cross bike has for mud etc the gaps between the frame/fork and tire are quite large compared to what they look like on a proper road bike or on a 'cross bike with larger tires mounted. It won't affect the performance since I am not racing (if I was racing at a high level, it would make a difference) but it does look a little silly. :)

They are quite thick on the rolling surface and remind me of the Schwalbe Marathons. This is a good thing since they mass about half of what a Marathon does. In theory anyway, the tires should be pretty puncture proof.

I got the folding version of the tire. They are very difficult to mount though. Much more so than normal folding tires. It took me over 20 minutes to get the front tire mounted and I blew out an inner tube in the process (pinched it). Once mounted though, they settled on quite nicely and did not have any side to side wobble which some tires have. I will have more to say about them obviously once I can get out and ride on them.

merry christmas, ho ho ho!

Just one thing to share with you all tonight:

May  you have a safe and happy holiday.

updated and almost live

My page a year of my bike has just received a big update. Check it out if you are interested.

It goes "live" on January 1, 2014.

post storm drive

Lo and behold, the sun came out. Excited by this after a couple of days of mixed precipitation, I headed out in my trusty car with my trusty camera to see what I could see.

First, I had to get into the car. The driver's door was frozen shut, but I managed to get into it via the passenger side, and thumped the driver's door into an open position. This had nothing to do with the ice storm and everything to do with Volkswagen's single irritating design flaw in the MKIV Golf. Namely the door seals. The door curves up into the roof line, and the seal has a large contact patch on it. It is one of those old style "felt" like door seals, which fits well, but water can seep through it to be shunted away by the seal under it. Naturally, it freezes shut the minute the temperature drops below freezing. It always has, and always will. Pain in the ass.

Once in the car, I had to wait a few minutes with an idling engine so that I could see. Moisture and frost on the inside... Sigh.

Finally, I head out!

And the sun is gone.

Undaunted, I go anyway, and created these pictures for you:

This one is my favourite of the bunch

a walk on the wild side

We had our ice storm. The alerts are all done and gone. While it is still a bit slippy out, and there is some freezing rain coming down yet, the worst near where we live is finished. Thankfully, we are with power as a lot of local people are not. Rumour has it that those without power may not end up with their power back until Christmas Day at the earliest. I hope for their sakes that this does not happen - most modern houses need electricity to stay warm and cannot be heated without some form of power supply.

Anyhow, I managed to get in a bit of a walk.

It was quite eerie. There was a lot of damage from the ice build up on trees. Branches were everywhere. Even the smallest gust of wind made the trees creak and groan as ice cracked off of the branches.

The light was also marvelously diffuse, which made for some nice photography.

In all, I walked 12km and had a good time doing so.

an idea of how much ice was piling up on the twigs - it was quite a lot

some of the damage in the uptown

usually, we can bike under this, but not today

am not too sure how long that one will remain standing

these people were just too cute as they slipped about and took pictures

perhaps the best example of what I was seeing everywhere

down the tracks - note how much the evergreen is bending

how could anyone not see the beauty of winter?

waiting... personally, I would wait somewhere else rather than in a glass hut with branches falling...

down and out

we`ll be happy when the ice worms nest again

Good ice today. Lots of crackling outside. My family won't let me go for a walk and take better pictures than what I can take from the back window though - something about branches falling down...

happy winter everyone

That is, everyone in the north. You folks in the south (the real south) are just starting summer. I do not bite my thumb at you, but I do bite my thumb...

Anyhow, up here in the Great White North things are, well, white. Lots of snow. Sadly, it is starting to melt like crazy as the United States is sending us their weather which is arriving here in the form of rain, rain, and more rain. It is unseasonably hot outside. All the way up to just above freezing. As an added bonus, we are supposed to be getting a freezing rain storm starting later this afternoon which ought to dump 20-30mm of ice all over the place.

Really? Who needs that?!?

Seems like the cat has the right idea.

Cheers and stay safe out there today.

We are either going to be cuddled up under blankets, or playing Dungeons and Dragons with the kids. Bliss it is winter!

there are times...

There are times when being a cyclist with a budget can be tiring.

It starts with me looking at VeloNews to see what is up in the world of bike racing (something that I am still interested in despite all of the scandal to rock the sport of late). From there, I see adverts for nice bikes, read a review on the site about some pro's this or that, look at a pile of very well taken pictures of the top pros (men and women) doing their thing on their nice machines, and then, I end up in a vortex of online window shopping and wishful thinking.

I end up at the online stores of some of the high end Canadian bicycle retailers like La Bicicletta to drool over some bicycle componentry. I want a new seat post. The "Kona" brand one on my cross bike needs to go. Don't ask why. Just assume it needs to go. I want to lower the center of gravity on the bike and that is the best way to do it based on how the bike is now. I already have a hollow ti railed Specialized saddle on it, so that is already done. It is light and fits me like it was made for me. Cool beans. Carbon would be good for the seat post, but Zipp makes a nice aluminum one that is not too heavy. Looks cool too. Is more adjustable than what is on the bike right now. A lower center of gravity makes the bicycle more lively and handle better.

I also want a new wheel set. The Shimano RS10s on the bike now are ok. I get a nifty wiggle (I can see it flex side to side) when I fly over bumps mid turn. They don't come out of true. But that is disconcerting. They are also heavy. And rumour has it prone to spoke breaking not that I have had an issue with that yet. Knock mass out of the wheels, and the bike goes faster. It also climbs better. It is a very good place to reduce mass. Less rotation mass is a good thing.

And that leads to looking at different wheel sets. I would like to get a good set but don't want to go crazy on it because that gets kind of spendy. It would be easy to blow over $4000 on a set of wheels. Very easy.

Not. Going. To. Happen.

However, getting a nice but not crazy nice new wheel set in the next year actually makes sense. In about five years, I want to get a Cervelo R3 or the equivalent. Supposing Cervelo does then what they do now, the frame will be top notch, the components good, and the wheels kind of blah. So having good wheels already (something Cervelo supposes that people buying the R3 actually already have) makes sense. To me. Kind of. So Reynolds, Ambrosio, Mavic etc all get a visit from me. So does Zipp, but that is mostly so I can laugh. Spendy. Ouch.

Besides, nicer wheels will make the next few years both more fun and therefore more better... or something. And they would put off the urge to replace the bike further into the future since the bike would feel better to ride which is good to. Right? Guess not if you are Cervelo, but guess so if you are me and actually having to pay for it. I do like my Kona Jake the Snake 'cross bike, but it does lack in a few things (how they keep the cost down dontcha know).


Looking at this stuff leads me to look at stems, bars, and other Kona brand things on the bike which leads to more day dreaming and more mouse clicking and then a serious problem: Good bike stores stock good bicycles. And I like good bicycles. A lot. Italian stuff is what I really want. Names like Pinarello, Campagnolo, Gipiemme, Modolo and the like give me goosebumps. For real. In my heart of hearts, I want a Pinarello with Campagnolo record components. I really do.

Oop.

Remember that budget?

Le Sigh.

Thankfully, if I spin my desk chair in the living room around and away from my computer, there behind me is my bicycle. Stuck on a trainer. Sitting there looking at me.

And I like it. And it likes me.

And that is a good thing. It provides a nice reality cheque...

ice mist

Southern Ontario is experiencing the first of three days of mixed rain and freezing rain laid down over a fair bit of snow. Naturally, this prompted me to head out in the car and take a few pictures. I am crazy that way.

Here is the best one:

never let me down

Yes, a title to a very good Depeche Mode song, but also yes, what the cat must have been saying to his sense of agility earlier today - he was out exploring the backyard, yet never touched the ground once.

more winter madness

Today was a day for driving around in the snow. So off I went. Brought a friend along, a fellow photographer, someone that I have not seen in a very long time. An absolute age has passed since we last took pictures together.

an old sugar shack that I like to take pictures of - this perspective on it is different from others

We wound up on gravel roads a fair bit. Gravel roads with a good amount of snow. Since I drive a VW Golf, and since the engineers decided that the best place for the rear wheels was as far back as they could go (they are right by the way), snow tended to gather on the back of the car in quite an impressive manner.

it is only getting started here - by the time we stopped for coffee, the back end of the car had all but vanished in a wall of white - signal and brake lights, gone, indent for license plate, gone

Here is what the roads looked like, more or less.

I will grant you, we have some boring roads - this is a problem when they are carved out of the wilderness in a grid - efficient yes, boring, oh yes - very very boring

The primary purpose of this trip for me was to visit, and to take a few landscape photographs across the fields into the snow.

one landscapey shot(s)

two landscapey shot(s)

and a bonus, three landscapey shot(s)!

bored, snow, and a camera

Took myself out for coffee with the camera - shot through glass at the front of the coffee shop

Need a pick me up? Shot through glass at the front of the coffee shop

Hazed up window - shot through glass at the front of the coffee shop

uptown snow town

tea?

open

and just for fun, a local road just outside of town

frosty cat

you are the dancing queen

Tonight was my daughter's first dance performance where she got to do a solo. She has been dancing for about six weeks and was already ready to perform.

Brag Brag Brag :)

the open road

Today winter arrived. Snow came, blowing and filling in the cracks. Painting the world white. More is on the way. Good, I say.

It is funny how my views of the outside world change once the snow starts to fall. I am both attracted and repulsed by the arrival of the snow.

***

Winter attracts because the snow brings with it challenges not present at other times of the year. Cycling is more difficult, driving more interesting, dressing for the weather can be a challenge as the needs of active transport clash with the needs of standing still.

While cycling is undeniably more difficult in the snow, it is a lot more fun. Knowing that the bicycle can slide out from under me at any given time makes me acutely aware of what goes on 'round me. I have to remember all my off road steering tricks: how to float a bicycle, how to let it do what it will while I guide it, how to feather my brakes and use them to flow the bicycle, not stop it. The importance of tire pressure (not too hard!!). Winter tires. More attention paid to the road ahead and traffic behind. Lights! Don't forget them and use them even in daylight hours. They are a life saver. Change or charge the batteries.

I love car rallying. Therefore I love driving in the snow. Drift surfing on a well set up front wheel drive car with snow tires is a real delight. Bring a shovel. Don't be an idiot. Things I have to remember.

Should I dress for the weather for comfort walking around or standing still, I will overheat and freeze when riding. Sweat is the enemy. So is cotton. Should I dress to accommodate the heat of riding, I will avoid the enemy, but will quickly freeze if I have to stop. It is a balancing act I solve (as much as I do solve) by using layers which can be peeled off or back as needed. It has been years since I have used my parka.

***

Winter repulses because I am driven indoors more (riding on the trainer, attending RPM classes at the gym, treadmills...), because I am reduced to one heavy commuter bike with snow tires.

The only thing that makes riding on the trainer bearable is a tolerant wife who lets me set my trainer up in the living room, a living room office with a computer, a very long HDMI cable, and my hi-def television. Plus YouTube. Clearly I am spoiled. But without the inspiration of watching Spartacus destroy all comers in a spring classic, or watching the climbers crush another col, I would not be able to sustain trainer riding.

This year, RPM classes are starting for me again. Spin Spin Spin. They are good, intense, but very loud and not outdoors.

I miss my "real" bicycles. The old 'cross bike is parked. Single-speeded now, it is away until the spring when I can get out and ride the city fast again. The mountain bike, rarely used, is also shelved. My new 'cross bike sits on the trainer behind me as I write this, taunting me to come play. But I cannot. I don't have the resources to take the new machine in the salt, muck, and sludge of winter and rebuild/replace a good chunk of it every year. I can't and won't do that to a nice bike. I consign instead my commuter bike to take the hit. Heavy, slow. Beast of burden. It can take the pounding, and costs little to repair. Saved gas more than makes up for it. Not so the good bikes.

***

So I am left dreaming. Visiting bicycle sites on the internet. Riding the trainer with eyes half closed behind the best in the world. Pounding out the beats in a spin class.

Staring at the bicycle.

Dreaming of the open road.

big sky cloudy