Ratanak International - Ride For Refuge 2013, Vancouver BC, Canada

This past October 5, 2013,  I, along with 400+ other cyclists in the suburb of Vancouver in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, participated in a 50Km charity bike ride that supports 175+ charities who serve the displaced, vulnerable, and exploited. Specifically riding for Ratanak International who is passionate about empowering Cambodians through providing access to education, medical and social services and are focused on helping end child sex slavery. Myself, along with a team of friends, were excited to be able to participate in this ride. And, of course, 3 of us rode our Tallbikes!!

Having done this ride last year in torrential downpour Ride for Refuge 2012, it was an absolute joy that the weather cooperated this year and provided us with dry perfect riding conditions!  This has become a ride to look forward to, and this time around we have built a 3rd Tallbike and together much smiles, laughter and overall cheerfulness were had!

Lastly, I've created a video of the ride and here you will see how much fun everyone had!

-->Please click here if your browser does not support embedding <--

You will not want to miss this video!!  :D

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?

Ride of My Life: The Story of the Bicycle

This one hour documentary funded by the BBC is probably one of the best bicycle related documentary I have ever seen.  It follows the journey of Rob Penn, a writer who once rode around the world for three years pedaling 40,000 kilometers, in the quest to build his dream bike going from continent to continent picking up components for his bike build.  Along the way, he tells the story of the bicycle from its humble beginnings to where it is now.  

Rob Penn on his 40,000Km journey around the planet

Ride of My Life:  The Story of the Bicycle, can be seen on Youtube in its entirety here;

A better quality of the movie may be available for download on the internet and I would highly recommend it as the Youtube version is quite degraded.

So if you are a cyclist and simply love bicycles, this is a documentary that you can not miss.  If you are new to cycling, this is a great way to learn about the social history of the bicycle, one of mankind's greatest inventions.

Greatest Cycling Movie Ever?

Last night, out of sheer boredom, I had the 'opportunity' to watch the old movie classic Pee-wee's Big Adventure.  Funny thing was I had never really took notice of this movie when I watched it as a young boy for the first time many years ago.  I've even forgotten what the movie was about.  I may have even fallen asleep while watching it as I don't really recall the plot.  It certainly did not stick to my memory like more popular movies of that generation such as The Goonies, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, or Back to the Future and the likes.  However, as I watch this movie from beginning to end this time around, it has captured me and had my full interest.  It seemed as if I was watching it for the very first time.  I was engulfed however lame some parts of it were.  Based around the theft of Pee-wee's beloved bicycle and his 'big adventure' endured in the quest of getting it back.  It was hilarious, it was corny, it was stupid, it was brilliant, it was traumatic, it was fun etc. etc. etc.  What more could one ask for?  I guess what drew me in to accept, respect, love this movie is that I am a Born-Again Cyclist.  For anyone out there who loves bikes, this is certainly one movie to check out... again.