I Miss Summer

As great as my winter bike rides have been, they have just been too little too few (for my taste).  I like my long rides, I like my exploration and discovering new places on my bikes.  Unfortunately, the days are too short during the winter and frankly, the weather has been miserable.  The rain out here on the Westcoast has been relentless, ugh. Add to the fact that the snow on our local mountains hasn't been great for my ski season makes me miss summer even more.
Today, I am sick and bed-ridden because of a flu.  Yes, this is my first official sick day in the last 2 years.  Getting 'sick', catching colds, flus etc. etc. used to be a common thing with me until about 2 years ago when I got into cycling.  Cycling does indeed help your immune system get stronger...  another factor that lead to a healthier living.  And with this in mind, I am confident that I will have this flu beat within 24hrs.  Now if only the rain would give us a break and give us stretches of dry sunny days of winter, then I would be a happy camper.
I long for spring, summer and fall to come soon enough so that I can resume my long rides and bike trips.  I have some big plans that I am finally setting in stone.

For now, I can only refer back to this video I made during Summer 2011 for a little bit of inspiration.

-->Click Here for my Summer Montage Video<--

Oh Summer, can't you come any sooner?

Snow Riding!

Finally we've got some snow!  It's been such a mild winter we've been having this year and all we've been getting is rain.  On the odd days that we've had some sunshine, I take every opportunity to go for my long bike rides.  Today was a little different..  in the last 2 days we've had a good deal of snow come down on us here on the Westcoast. AND the snow is actually sticking!  So, for the first time this winter, I was able to go on my first XC bike ride on the snow.  I must admit, this was probably my best ride this winter so far.  It was simply amazing.
With my iPhone in hand, I was able to take some videos and pictures of my bike ride.  Come join me on this epic, perfect, winter ride.

-->Click Here for my Epic Winter Bike Ride<-- 

I hope the snow sticks around a little longer because I want to ride some more.  Our local mountains are getting dumped on so I'm quite excited about that too.  I'll be skiing when I'm not biking!

Happy Trails!

Goodbye Christmas Tree!

Well, it's that time of the year when we all have to either pack up our Christmas trees or throw them out.  For the thousands of people who use real trees, they are forced into a dilemma of how to get rid of their trees after the holidays are over.  There are a few different ways of getting rid of your real Christmas trees;
1.  Cutting them up into smaller pieces and turning them into mulch or firewood, OR putting the small pieces into your yardwaste bins for pickup.
2.  Recycling!  The tree can be scheduled for recycling pickup, or you can take the tree yourself to your local recycling place.
In our particular case, the community that my friend lives in held a charity event collecting trees to be put in a wood chipper.  It was held at a local recreation center's parking lot. Anyone can bring their trees to them for a small donation fee.  This is how we transported my friend's Christmas tree to the collectors...

You can't get any more 'green' than this!!

-->Goodbye Christmas Tree!<--

We certainly got our share of thumbsups from passing motorists and we even got an applause when we rode in to the parking lot where the trees were being collected.  Re-Cycling !!