Cycle the Sunshine Coast, BC

I guess it was enviable that I became a Video Blogger or "vlogger" when the thought occurred to me that I should be videoing the trails that I'm trying to showcase.  Actually, I just wanted a camera to document my rides as part of a diary so to speak.  I looked online for cameras to do the stuff that I wanted it to do.  Time lapse, 1080p recording, waterproof, solid construction and the only camera that came to the top of the heap was the GoPro Black Edition. This is a really neat little camera and I mount it on a Chesty for that full "your riding with me" feeling.  I'll post a review of the camera soon I'm sure. Here's a couple of samples of some video taken to date.  One is a time lapse every 5 secs of a ride from Spin Cycles Bike Shop in Gibsons to Roberts Creek and back.  The other is a trail in West Sechelt called Cheap and Easy. Hard to find but worth the search. Want to watch more video?  Go to my blog page here

So there is a new trail in Sprockids Park in Gibsons.  It was built by the Mountain Bike Program by Capilano University.  Its a great trail with lots of trail features like a pump track, ladders, table tops and drops.  One such feature is a 4 foot drop into a really nice transition.  I've ridden to the lip of the drop 6-7 times on two different occasions and it just sketches me out.  The reason being, I figure, is that I can't see the landing until the last second.  Its a confidence and trust thing that I can't seem to wrap my head around it.  I wear all the gear that should protect me if  things go wrong. But this is a real mind over matter thing.  Two  times now I've eventually taken the chicken route and I have beat myself up about it for the rest of the ride and for a good long time after the ride.  I'm literally depressed about it.  It didn't matter if the ride leading up to the drop was totally great (which it was) as I d...

I'm sitting in a chair at the hospital waiting for my x-rays to be looked at by a surgeon.  My shoulder in a sling and elbow resting on the arm of the chair.  There doesn't seem to be a comfortable position to keep my throbbing collarbone from aching.   My mom just came in to give me crap on messing up my shoulder and my wife is equally as mad.  Both of my loves are angry from worry I suspect. It's always good to look at any event in post-mortem and waiting for 3 hours can do wonders on any reflection.  Racing the Sunshinecoaster Race was a goal of mine when I first threw my leg over the my new G bike in January.  Mountain biking was just the ticket to get a early start on this spring and summer road riding.  As I started riding, my confidence grew and my fitness gained quickly.  Two months ago I registered, and last month I started pre-riding the course.  The course itself is a very hilly course with lots of steady 12% grunt...

Woke up at some un-godly hour to complete a ride into Vancouver.  I usually complete a nice loop from Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal along Marine Drive to UBC.  I added a nice little loop to Iona Beach which considering my motivation level lately, made all the difference for me to enjoy the trip.  100km in the bag. On the way back on the ferry, I bump into a rider that I passed along the way a couple of times enroute along Marine Drive (I stopped for coffee) and she was on a older mountain bike with normal clothes on.  I probably looked so foreign to her with all my biking specific clothes (called a kit in our circles).  She complained that her seat made her butt sore, but she was really looking forward to seeing Gibsons (somehow the pain would be worth it when she got to her designation).  She said that she's  never been to the coast and decided to take her bike from the west end to the ferry and to Gibsons- good for her! She wasn't too ke...

Okay, a couple of weeks ago I hit a nice peak and I wanted to ride all the time.  I put 900km in the month of July and my avg km/hour basically bumped up a couple of k's.  So, today I forced myself to wake up early, decided to drive to Sechelt and join a group ride to get me motivated.  So I waited at the meeting spot and no one showed (or bothered).  I started with the motivational talk with myself - do a long ride and you'll be better for it. Trust me you'll be glad you did...F-it was my body's response.  So, do a short ride. At least you can justify driving for 1/2 hour to get here.  F-it was the response again.    Why don't you turn around, go to a lung association fundraiser breakfast and talk about cycling.  Ah! that is an awesome idea! - So I turned around and got a 8min ride in. So this is the lows of cycling - two to three weeks ago I had awesome energy and power.  This week - well I need someone like Tony Robbins to keep my i...