My Trip to Paradise

Over the Christmas and New Year's Holidays I've finally had the opportunity to go on a 'real' vacation.  A vacation that lasted longer than 1 week.  It has been over 5 years since my last true vacation and I have been feeling the need to de-stress and de-program.  My work does not afford me the luxury to travel and be away for long periods of time.  This time, I was able to go.  Destination - my birthplace, The Philippines.
It was a wonderful and magical experience.  I can go on and on about the things I was able to do and things I was able to enjoy, but I can truly say that it is best to show you rather than to tell you in writing.  Here is a video I had prepared for my family and friends and I thought that it would also be a great idea that I include you, my blog readers, in sharing my experience.  Some of you I haven't spoken with in months and I am anxious to hear from you, especially those that I have become good friends with through my blogs.  And then there are also the new friends I have made along the way who are now following me on this blog.  You know who you are. ;-)

-->Click Here for My Trip To Paradise Video<--

This was truly a trip of a lifetime.  Something I will never forget.

Now for some cycling content...  

It has been 4 months since my last blog entry and I will tell you why...  Other than the excuses of life 'getting in the way', one of the main reason is that I haven't been on my bicycle(s) in the last 4 months.  To start off, I ended my cycling season of 2012 with a 'Bang' doing a charity bike ride on my Tallbike! It was a great end to an amazing cycling season of the best spring/summer/autumn seasons out here on the Westcoast Vancouver, Canada.  We had no rain for 3 whole months!  And if you know westcoast Canada, you know that is an extreme rarity around here.  I rode my bike daily.  I rode everywhere!  And one of the proudest accomplishments I've had was to commute to work day in and day out!  I did not use my car for 3 whole months, something I thought was simply impossible!  This was huge, and I was extremely happy that I was able to achieve this.

Unfortunately, all this riding came at a price.  At around August and September of last year, I started developing hip and knee problems.  The hip pain started moving towards my groin and before you know it, I was forced to stay off my bike to get some time to heal.  It has been 6 months now since I've had these pains on my right hip, right groin and right knee and I have seen no improvements even through long-term rest.  In this time, I have also been taking some Yoga therapy sessions hoping it would help fix whatever problems I am having.  Yoga has helped tremendously with my mind, and body and my overall physical and mental health and that includes my happiness. Unfortunately, it has helped very little with my hip/groin and knee problems.  I will need some drastic measures to be able to really fix myself.  I have now recently gotten some x-rays done and I am scheduled to see a Sports Medicine Doctor to continue on with my treatments.  Hopefully, this finally fixes my problems, or at the very least allow me to be as pain free as possible so that I may be able to get back on my bike.  At this time, I have lost so much of my cycling stamina and I will surely have to do a lot of training to get back to my physical cycling fitness level that I was accustomed to.  I am feeling some desperation for everything to start getting better as soon as possible as I am going to need my legs, especially now that certain 'plans' have been confirmed that will allow me to reach that goal that I have been aiming and striving for in these past few years of my born-again-cycling life.

Until next blog...   Hoping all is well with you.

Charity Bike Ride. Ride For Refuge for Ratanak International

Yesterday, October 13, 2012,  myself and some friends along with 450 other riders were able to participate in a charity bike ride with Ride for Refuge Vancouver 2012.  Primarily riding for Ratanak International to raise funds and awareness for their child exploitation programs in Cambodia http://www.ratanak.org/.
Myself and my friend Matt decided that we would ride our tallbikes for the ride to gain some more and fun attention. We chose to ride the 50Km ride as there were choices for 11, 26, 50 and 100kms.  We figured that 50kms is just the perfect distance for our tallbikes.

51km route through the streets of Richmond, BC

The ride started early at 8:30am and it was wet...  REALLY WET!  Having had the longest dry spell in recorded history in the westcoast British Columbia, 3 months of no rain, the rains came back with a vengeance unleashing 3 weeks worth of rain in a span of 2 days!  As wet and cold as it was, everyone was all smiles and ready for the challenge.

Early stages of the ride.  Really great to see the tallbikes along with other bikes to  get a perspective on how high we really are above others!

This picture looks like myself and Matt are riding a tandem tallbike! lol!

Having ridden most of this route on my solo rides in the past, I knew how boring and monotonous this ride could be as it is very flat and you can be sitting at the saddle for hours.  Having torrential downpour and being quite cold through the ride could easily dissuade a rider to simply give up and head off to their comfortable and warm homes to sit in front of the tv and under their blankets.  Luckily, I was with a group of friends that really made the ride enjoyable and there was never a time that any of us considered packing it in. Yes, it was the wettest bike ride I've ever been on, but it was also one of the most fun.

This is our own very small group of 4.  Myself, Sharalee, Ian and Matt

Being quite isolated from the rest of the pack in this portion of the ride

Heading into a rest stop where food and refreshments were provided

Along with all the riders and the support crew and volunteers of the ride, we also had a wonderful cheering group that greeted us through various locations along the route of the ride.  Family members of my friends Ian and Sharalee, people who did not have to be there to stand in the rain, people who took their time to drive around in the early morning of a very wet day just to show their support for what we were doing.  These people made our ride even more special.

Our very own cheering section!  The Dalby's and the Bowker's, with the kids and dog and all!  Thanks Guys!  A special thank you goes to Sharisse Dalby who was never in these pictures because she was the one behind the camera the whole time.  Thanks for the great pictures Sharisse!

The Home Stretch!

Nearing the ride's end, the rain finally let off and by afternoon, the sun actually peeked out a little.  I was able to mount my camera on the bike and take a short video footage.  Here is a clip of our anti-climactic ride to the finish greeted by friends and family.

-->Click Here to see the ride to the finish!<--

This was our first bike ride for charity.  As long as the charity ride is for a great cause and it is for something I believe in, I will definitely participate in more of these rides.  This was really a great event and had so many little things that made it quite memorable.  I hope the next one will be just as worthy and just as fun

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Another First - My First TV Commercial

TV Commercial??  Sounds great and all, but why would you post this on your cycling blog you ask?...  It is because my Tallbike got me the gig! LOL!

This past weekend I was picked to be in a TV commercial shoot.  Something that started out from simply replying to an inconspicuous ad and turning out to be an amazing experience.  This is my story of my short-lived journey into the world of Showbiz!

 Last Thursday night, I was scouring Craigslist for bike parts for a bike that I am currently building.  One ad popped out of the screen with the subject that said "Tallbikes Needed!" and with a very brief and vague description saying 'for a film shoot this weekend,  UBC' (University of British Columbia for the non-locals).  I immediately thought that these were UBC film students just out to make a movie and seeing that I had a tallbike I thought 'Hey, that would be fun!'  So I forward the ad to my friend Matt who also had a tallbike and asked him if he would be interested in doing this.  Matt said he was definitely up for it if it worked with his schedule.  So I immediately replied to the ad simply saying "Hey, we have tallbikes!  We'll help you guys out!  Just tell us the time and where to show up!"  Shortly after that, I received a reply from an Andy and he asked if I would send him pictures of our bikes.  I obliged and sent him a picture of both Matt and I riding our tallbikes, and also a video clip of us riding our tallbikes around Vancouver.  I immediately got a reply once again and Andy had asked if I would call him so we can chat.  I gave him a call that night and he asks if I could give him my contact info and possibly some clearer pictures of ourselves.  I gave him my number and told him I would send better pictures once I got off the phone.  That was the end of that conversation.  The following day, while I was at work, I received a call on my phone from a number I didn't recognize so I just let it go to voicemail.  I quickly Googled the number on my display and found it was from a local company that was in the film industry  http://capitalmedia.ca/ .  So now I am fully realizing that these aren't just some UBC students and that this could be something more serious.  It was Andy that had left me a message.  I quickly called him back and as we were talking, he mentions that they liked me and I was the one chosen...  Chosen?  So I guess there were other applicants I assumed.  Well great! Awesome..  now what?  Andy proceeds to tell me that I would be getting paid for my time and also being paid for my bike!  PAID!??  Woohoo!  He mentioned the pay rate for the day and it was something I wasn't expecting...  let's just say I was pretty darned excited!  So I asked Andy, 'what about my friend?  Do you guys need another tallbike?'  Unfortunately, Andy says 'Sorry, we only need you if you're up for it'.  Hell yea, I'm up for it! Sorry Matt!  ;)
So, as we were finishing our conversation, the only instructions I got from Andy was to be at the location at 6am sharp on Sunday, bring multiple change of clothes and a towel.   ...uh, say what?  what have I gotten myself into! lol!  I was told by Andy that I would receive further instructions and a map of the location by email at night's end.  So that was the start of that, I have a film shoot to go to.  And I was going in blindly not knowing what it's all about.
Sunday morning comes along.  4am is what I set my alarm to.  I did not get to sleep until 2am so 2hrs of sleep is all I would have for the whole day. This is going to be interesting.  I had to make sure to get to the location earlier than everyone else because I had to load and unload my tallbike in my car, which it barely fit in, and assemble it at the location. I did not want to be late.

early morning at UBC to unload and assemble the bike

 I arrive at 5:15am and there were already so many people there, the crew setting up, and so many film trucks everywhere.  All the actors and extras were all lined up in one area, and I had no idea where to go.  I started asking questions and someone radio'd in to someone that 'the tallbike guy is here'.  I was immediately sent to wardrobe and they put me in a suit and tophat!!  Woohoo! How cool is that?!  I noticed that I was the only one that was wearing a suit let alone a tophat, AND I was the only one in the set with a bike!  I was surrounded with all these actors and extras that seem to all come from agencies and I was feeling out of place.  But everyone was so cool and nice to me, especially the wardrobe girls.
After everyone had all dressed up, the paperwork starts.  We were given waivers to sign stating that we could not divulge any information to the public of this shoot, and that we are not allowed to take pictures in the set.  So at this point of the blog, technically, I am not allowed to say much more until after the commercial is aired.  Did I just say 'commercial'? oops., Oh yea, I already mentioned that at the beginning of this post.  Well, at least I haven't said what the commercial was for...  actually, I still haven't found out during this time.

So how do I continue this story without divulging too much information....   ?

I'll give it a shot.  I'll try to be as descriptive and as vague as possible.

The shoot went from 6am til 6pm.  It was a very long day.  But it was filled with awesome!  I have never experienced anything like this.  I was smiling ear to ear the entire time.  The production was huge.  It seemed so much money was spent just for this one commercial.  They fed us breakfast and lunch, and not just with little deli sandwiches, but I'm talking roast beef, clams, etc. etc.  The food was sooo good!  The whole day was spent running around with a whole bunch of people, shouting, screaming, getting dirty and having the time of our lives,.. take after take after take.  I had several scenes where the cameras were on me and my bike and had to do multiple takes just to get me in the perfect shot.  I realize that I may be highly visible in this commercial and not just be in the background along with everyone else...  we shall see.

Unfortunately, that may be the only thing I can say on a public forum without breaking my signed contract.  I will have to update this once the commercial is finished and once it's aired.  I have no idea when the commercial will air, or even if it will air here in Canada.  All I know is that they spent a buttload of money doing this commercial so it's not gonna be wasted on a hicktown small city channel.
I will, however, attach a couple of stolen pictures that should not divulge too much information on the shoot..

the tallbike makes its first appearance

Me in a suit and tophat!  How COOL is that?!!

We all ended up being a colourful mess so that was what the towels and change of clothes were for!

As the day came to an end, the actors, the extras, the crew and the whole production had just another day in their pockets.  But for me, it was a truly new and exciting experience, something I will be talking about for a long time.  I am so excited to see the final product once it airs on TV.  I do hope it airs on local TV, if not, I'm sure I will be able to find it on the internet somewhere, some day.  So for everyone else reading this, if you see a TV commercial that has a guy riding a tallbike wearing a suit and tophat, make sure to let me know because chances are, that it is me!

Me and My Shadow.  The end to a great experience.

Just an additional little tidbit, our director for this commercial shoot is Mathias Zenter.  Apparently he is one of the best commercial directors in the world.  A showreel of his works are seen here  https://vimeo.com/30012350 .  Truly amazing work, so I am expecting a great final product coming out of this shoot.