Change may be good, but I need a rest

Sometimes it feels like you're always sprinting off the line

The past couple of weeks have been rather wild. I have had the pleasure of (in no particular order): starting a new job in the mundane world of Nobel prize-winning RNA interference technology, attending the first Canadian National SUP Championships, racing my first two SUP races in the aforementioned event, observing the start of a new school year, selling a paddle, buying a new waterproof jacket, selling a bike rear shock, eating Bratwurst for lunch (twice), working in an office for the first time in six years, riding Kermit 15km each way to work and back through parks and along the Fraser River (sometimes with Paul), unexpectedly going to a dinner party with a group of internationally awesome athletes (and their dogs), riding part of the Larch Hills Traverse with aforementioned athletes (on my "downhill" bike... with flat pedals), and finally getting a new camelback (which has a Mexican blanket colour-scheme).

The good news is that Lina is the first Canadian Women's 14' SUP National Champion. She may not look 14', but I can assure you it's all true. I was there. The Kalamalka Classic SUP race is something we've been going to ever since it started in 2010 excluding the year we were in China. I've always had a great time... but mostly because I've gone mountain biking in Kal Park rather than getting involved with all that silly SUP nonsense. After all, it's just a fad, right? My confession is that after dutifully driving Lina around to SUP races for the past four years (and then going mountain biking and returning in time to drink the free beer), I have caved in. There was a spare board, and we seem to have more paddles than anyone could possibly need, and I have been SUPing (not just the free beer) a bit lately, so I entered the 10km "Kalamalka Crossing". Apparently Kalamakla Lake is Hawaiian for "The Sun in the Mountains Lake", though personally I prefer the alternative Hawaiian meaning "Money in the Mountains Lake", or perhaps a Finnish-Hawaiian mash-up resulting in "Fish in the Mountains Lake".  The result of this misadventure was that I gained  hotly (or not)-contested 10th place in the 12'6" men's race board Canadian Championships title. So I'm shorter than Lina, apparently. For the record, I paddled a heavily-abused Starboard B.O.P. which I'm growing to really love as it seems to ride little waves, paddle across lakes, and do wheelies very well and looks almost like a surfboard and not a giant clog. Obviously Starboard decided to stop making it last year because it was too good.

My new job is a major feature of my life, and seems to have the potential to be a good thing. On the plus side, there are lots of nice people there, there is free coffee (and often food), I sit next to a window, I get to ride my bike there, Paul works down the road, there is a German sausage cafe nearby run by Filipinos (and a German chef), we work on stuff that sounds like it would make quite a good sci-fi movie, and they have a shower. On the negative side, it's an office... which means I have to wear clothes and can't perform bicycle maintenance during meetings. I think it's a reasonable compromise.

Having dispersed details of my life to the internet... I am now going to eat some lasagna. Goodnight one and all.