Homecoming

On Wednesday I completed my epic drive back to Vancouver, without a hitch. My car perked up and the check engine light turned off again... so maybe it's happy to be home. It felt very odd walking back into my place. Despite only being away for 13 days this time, it felt like my return to Vancouver after my travels this summer. Luckily my plants were still alive, there were no horrible surprises in the mailbox, and I was able to catch Lina on Skype, unpack a little, and then head out for a nightride on the Shore with Jacek and Paul. Not a bad way to get used to being home again. I love riding on the Shore... and it was even dry.

After an amazing and fairly crazy few months I'm working on doing the things I need to do (work) and adding some things I want to do into my new routine. I'm hoping to carry on paddling on Thursday evenings from Deep Cove with Lina's paddling guys... and I made it out last night, so a good start. I also want to get back into Our Community Bikes regularly and start going to yoga. I reckon if I get all these things happening before the snow really comes I will be able to stick at it. Now I've written it on here, I have to do it.

So, the list of chores is long and the work as piled up... but I am keen to get on with it and enjoy some new things too. Of course I'm distracted by the fantastic experiences of (particularly) the past two weeks. I've put a few of my favourite photos from the trip into a Flickr slideshow... some are recycled from the blog posts and Lina's Flickr, but I wanted to put all my favourites together while the memories were still fresh. Good times...

Homeward bound

All good things come to an end? Well... this trip has definitely been a good thing, and now I am on my way back to Vancouver. I left Santa Barbara yesterday afternoon, after two fantastic days of biking with Lina and Daniel. Driving away from Daniel's apartment and waving goodbye felt so sad... even though I will see Lina again when she returns from IGWA. Of course then she's off to South America until April, but I'll deal with that when the time comes! Lina's photo album of our trip is here.

I spent last night in Monterey at Damon's place (thanks Damon!) and got to meet not only Damon's son Ely, but also his parents. Good times. Then I called in to work with Damon to pick up some extra lighting for Lina to take to Peru for the Patagonia expedition race she's hoping to do. Between us we're pretty well illuminated these days. Damon also tinkered with my new Seca to waterproof it better. That's going to be a good thing for a winter of North Shore mist and rain. Then I got back in the car and drove a heck of a long way. Twelve hours, 3 tanks of fuel, 1 can of Red Bull, 3 mugs of coffee, 1 blueberry scone, and 1.5 pounds of pretzels later... I am back in Portland at Mike and Kristi's place. Tomorrow I'll make it to Vancouver, I hope. I wish the "Check Engine" light wasn't on in my car...

California... it's true what they say

It feels like I've been in California for a long time... although of course I haven't. The place really is full of beautiful beaches, beautiful surfers, beautiful sunsets, and chihuahuas. Today we spent the whole day on the beach living the California lifestyle. I could get used to this. You can read about the past few days fun in the sun on Lina's blog. Yes, it's another lazy theft of someone else's work... but isn't that what the internet is for after all?

The Dukes of Hazard (Bike Shop)

Last night I got to ride my bike around in the mountains, in California... with Californians. It was a very special time indeed thanks to Daniel (who's place we are also lucky enough to be staying at, even though he's gone away) and the folks from Hazard's Bike Shop in Santa Barbara. The pace for 3 hours (plus another 2 hours of "commuting" to and from Daniel's place) could only be described as fierce, and the trails were fast and dusty. It was even warm... in November. Crazy. My new bike light was amazing (thanks Damon!) and I ended the ride feeling like I must have dreamt it all. Me, riding my bike in California, in the dark, with  light that works? How did that happen...? 

We finished the night sitting outside with an obcene amount of mexican food and cold beer. Good times.

Blog convergence

I've been very lazy and not kept the world informed of my antics on via my blog. Never fear, plenty has been going on. It's still lazy, but for now you can read about me via friends:

Paul wrote about the awesome Comox "mud" ride... where there was no mud but plenty of riding: here.

And now... Lina and I are travelling and playing in the US of A before she flies off to race in Guadaloupe, and then to Peru. You can read about our trip on her blog here and here.

The times they are a changin'

It's getting cold here in Vancouver and this morning there was snow on the Lions. I went up onto the roof and took photo. If I had thought of it a couple of hours earlier (when I walked back from collecting my mail) it had that beautiful orangey morning light and less clouds. Ah well...

Snowlions, hiding in the clouds.

It was Lina's birthday at the weekend, so of course we needed to do some celebrating. We managed a good variety of celebrating, starting with a trip across the border to ride at Galbraith with Paul and Angie where there was sunshine and dry (in places) trails.

A bike, at Galbraith

Post-riding we had dinner in Bellingham and then went to see the Fleet Foxes... a local(ish) band who have found found fame and fortune recently. Their fortune didn't show in their clothing, hair, or beard choices, and they played really well. The venue was a lecture theater with a pipe-organ in the background, which was really quite odd. Vocal harmony is the new rock and roll, apparently.

On Sunday (Lina' s actual birthday) we ran/hiked up Lynn Peak on the North Shore. The climb was mostly in the clouds, but at the summit we found ourselves above it all. Not a bad place to be on Sunday morning...

On Sunday night we explored a new (to me) pot-luck dinner idea... make your own pizza. We had sourdough bases made by Margaret and Kala (thanks!) and some more dough from the fantastic Italian bakery near my place. Some very fine toppings were brought along and I of course ate too much. Although we ended up with fewer vegans than expected, we made vegan-carrot-birthday-cake which turned out to be really, really good. Here's there recipe if you fancy a go at it. Really, it's great!

Paul's got some very nice fall leaf photos and some from the ride on his blog entry here. Lina has more photos and words here.

Giving thanks for mountains, friends, and bikes.

This weekend was Canadian Thanksgiving, which for some reason is a different weekend to Thanksgiving in the US. However, we went to the US and celebrated Thanksgiving anyway. Confusing.

Paul, Jacek, Angie, Lina, and I drove across the border and across to Mazama, near Winthrop WA. We met up with Chris, who Jacek and I met on TransRockies and who's parents happen to have built a very nice house out there. The trails and dry climate of the Okanogan didn't disappoint and we had sunshine, clear skies, and fast, dusty trails. Summer is definitely losing its grip even in the interior and the ground was a beautiful carpet of leaves in places, with a little snow high up too. As usual I was amazed how a few (well, 6) hours drive from home can change the landscape so much.

Lina in full Steed Cycles regalia.

After a short, but fun, ride around Buck Mountain on Saturday we spent the evening cooking a massive Thanksgiving dinner and playing on Lina's slackline. Paul too photos of all that stuff, which are on his blog here. Sunday we were due for our epic ride... which is why we went all the way to Winthrop after all. Starvation Mountain didn't disappoint. A huge climb, followed by a huge traversing descent, views, lots of broken bike parts, crashes, ice, sand, mud... we had it all. Jacek put in a heroic effort running the uphills and scooting the downhills after his freewheel exploded. Amazingly Jacek still seems to be quite fast even when his bike won't pedal...

On Monday we went back to Buck Mountain to do a variation of Saturday's route so we could ride down the trail we came up before. Jacek and Paul's bikes had been combined into one working bike and Paul ride a fine vintage Klein from Chris's garage. 

   

Paul on the vintage Klein.

The Thanksgiving collective, in some bushes.

We made it back to the border (via some very tasty Thai food) with my car pouring smoke... which upset the border guard a little. Thankfully we got home and my car is now fixed (again). Thank you everyone for a great weekend... let's do it again next year!

My photos are here, Paul has a blog entry here, Lina has one here, and Jacek has photos here.