Category Archives: Canada

bikes, Canada, family, friends, MTB, national park, roadtrip, snow, travel, USA

A little on the late side

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So, I never quite made the time to compose a Christmas letter. This will have to do as some sort of missive for me to sum up the year & wish you all happy holidays. 2011 was separated into distinct thirds for me. The first of those was the end of my year living & working in the Canadian Rockies. That spur of the moment decision to go & bike & ski in the mountains for twelve months still rates as one of the best of my life – I had a great time with fantastic friends; the snow was good too & my skiing could do nothing but improve with all those consecutive weekends on the hill.

The middle of the year – the end of a long winter & the first of summer – saw the completion of a long held dream. That was, a roadtrip around the West (USA) with a bike in the trunk/boot visiting many of the famous riding spots & national parks. My aunt, Valerie, joined me from Australia & we managed 22000 km (almost 14000 miles), 13 states & 2 provinces and an awful lot of quality mountain-biking (for me). Scenically, the highlights were Bryce Canyon & Crater Lake National Parks. As always when I visit the States, spending time with old friends & making new ones stays on top of the many memories.

Naturally, it was tough to leave close friends & the beauty of the Bow Valley; the last part of the year sees me finally starting to get around to what I left home for two and a half years ago. That is, to get a job & settle in the UK for a while and take full advantage of the proximity to Europe. I’m back process engineering for the first time in four years at a small rubber factory on the edge of the New Forest (not far from Southampton at the south of England). Mum’s been over here for the last three months at university, so it’s been great to see her every so often. The hospitality of extended family (some of whom I’m still only meeting now) helps to lessen the distance from home – as does Skype & 1p/min phone calls.

That’s this year – 2012 will not be nearly as well planned out or active for that matter. I’m down to have surgery sometime on my shoulder (to tighten it all up – two dislocations this year), so that will curtail the biking & skiing a lot. That will just mean I have more free time to explore this part of the world. I’ve finally got an invite to a wedding (first since leaving), so I’ll be back in NZ for a couple of weeks near the start of September for what will be a flurry of visiting much-missed family & friends.

Best wishes for the new year.

bikes, Canada, MTB

29er testing over

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So now that I’m leaving Canada & the house of 29-inch wheels behind I’ll give my final thoughts riding those big wheels.  I don’t think much has changed since my initial impressions.  With the larger diameter wheels & a set-up tending towards the XC side of things – those bikes just climb & climb oh so well.  I’m usually a handy climber, but could get up so many more things than I remember last summer.  It makes it seem easier, but I think you end up going a little faster & therefore don’t save much energy (also the gearing was a little different – larger granny-ring & smaller big-ring.

On the undulating/flat terrain & going downhill I never felt that I was enjoying the trail as much as I should have been. I still think that’s because the bike feels disconnected from the trail & it’s more difficult to move the bike around & get a little bit of air. I never got used to less grip on the downhills – still don’t know why the rear tire never gripped as a Crossmark should; this led to less confidence for me.

So I’m looking forward to getting back on my bike sometime – it may be old & scratched up, but it’s been a lot of places with me & is still a good steed. On that note, I still haven’t got the dogbone for my bike from GT Canada. While they make good bikes, if you’re considering buying a GT bike in Canada or the USA – don’t bother, the service from the distributor is truly awful. I could have had such a simple part shipped from New Zealand in the time it’s taken for my part not to turn up (three weeks for a 10cm strip of steel with a hole in each end – would have got a homemade one if I had have known). Well, it looks like boarding is starting two hours late, so that can be the end of my little rant.

*A big thanks to Megan & Alex for letting me use/try out their bikes while mine was out of action during my brief return to Canmore.

Canada, travel

So long, Canada

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With a long delay on the cards, I could be sitting here in Calgary Airport for some time.  Air Canada slides from their position of decidedly average in my mind to somewhere worse.  But never mind, I have no pressing engagements in London.  The last week has been spent enjoying summer, riding, entertaining the resident child, cleaning, packing & snatching the last few moments with various friends.

Wednesday last we had an early first birthday celebration for Finn. I remember eating a lot of cheese, sliced meat & chocolate (fondue will do that) before Megan served up a delicious spiced chocolate cake – in true Australian Women’s Weekly, it was shaped as the digit one. Finn particularly enjoyed his first taste of cake – as the photos here show. On Friday we were off to the airport as Megan, Alex & Finn headed in a big metal tube to Iceland for near on three weeks of hiking, being cooked in hot pools & chasing geysers. I wonder, given his fondness for eating dirt & rocks, if Finn will fancy a drink from a mud-pool. So the round of Canada good-byes started there as I farewelled great friends that have been so helpful & the source of many varied adventures (not to mention many games of Settlers). Funny to think it all started well before we, or even our parents, were thought of – as Megan concisely explained.  I hope I see them again soon – Canada, UK, Australia or NZ – any of those will do.

It must have been Thursday that I sold my car, got the cash in my hand & now have just the registration plate as a lasting souvenir of all that driving in the States & a winter of sending the wheels through a lot of snow. Rides for the last week have included the Montane Traverse (which was very boring by myself), Riders of Rohan & the Highline (which may have been a little optimistic to take Joel & Steve on – but we did get nice & close to a big herd of elk along the riverside), & a nice little jaunt with Steve around the Nordic Center’s Orange Loop for the last time.

This is definitely the most luggage I’ve ever taken on a plane with me – in there is my bike, my hiking backpack, my skis (& boots), a suit bag & a small backpack as hand luggage. It only cost me $275 for the privilege too – a bargain compared with shipping skis.

So after final farewells with good friends over (also my last plate of yam fries from the Drake), I’m heading off to London. Checking in all that baggage took a while, just as well the flight was delayed so I could pop off back into Calgary to see Anya & go to Tim Hortons one last time (Timmy’s wasn’t important). Last week with all that rioting I wasn’t overly keen on heading to London – but more unknown adventures await in all manner of places I hope. But I sure will miss the mountains, the riding & the skiing – but it’s probably a good thing not to be facing another winter like the one past. Knowing I was only doing one was probably got me through all those days when it was below -20ºC.

Canada, roadtrip, travel, USA

USA Roadtrip 2011 Map & Data-fest

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Here is the map of my recent travels promised some time ago to Liz (who has a great blog going of her & her husband’s ever-increasing self-sufficiency on a small block of land in rural Queensland). It’s taken me most of the day to compile this & frustratingly I found out two-thirds of the way through that to keep page-speeds up Google separates larger My Maps in to different pages which you can’t view mashed together. I was looking forward to adding in all the rides I did & some photos at various scenic places, but with such a poor user-interface & result it’s not worth the effort. I did manage to find a way so that one can view the whole map at once – so here it is.  As it’s not obvious, the trip started & finished in Canmore, Alberta, & was a counter-clockwise loop (or thereabouts).

edit – You may have to zoom out a bit for it to work first time.

A few more links for those that are interested or just like spreadsheets: