“Oscar” night at British Columbia Randonneurs

March 12, 2010

Spring Social 2010 Last weekend, on March 6, I attended BC Randonneurs Cycling Club’s spring social, where Super Randonneur medals and club awards are traditionally distributed, along with pints, pitchers and pinot noir. The decision to brave the ferry trip to the BC Mainland on my damaged leg, was encouraged by club secretary Ali Holt […]

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Just say no to the HST on bicycles

February 26, 2010

A tax designed to punish British Columbia cyclists! “We have taken a huge step backwards … by making it more expensive to ride a bicycle and shielding 4-wheel carbon-emitting vehicles from taxes.” ~Rob Fleming, NDP Environment Critic [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cI2IE9C1acI[/youtube]March 3, 2010 NEW: Rally July 7, 2011 Update, August 26, 2011: The people of B.C. have spoken, […]

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Wolverhampton wonderer: How I found my bicycling mojo

January 1, 2010

Busy Queen Street, Wolverhampton, 2007 Maybe it’s a bit of auld lang syne that sets me to wondering, as we end one decade and begin another. I’ve been recalling the circumstances that led to my preoccupation with bicycle travel, mentioned briefly in these pages in another story—how freedom and adventure became forever connected in my mind to the […]

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Musings on Chamois Cream

October 8, 2009

“Thus compliance does make cowards of us all” ~(apologies to) William Shakespeare To cream or not to cream That is the question. Whether it is HTFU to suffer in the groin the stings and rubbing of abrasive fulcrums or apply bag balm against folicular bubbles And by opposing, end them. To buy: to apply; Even […]

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Tsunami II: “Pacific Circle Route”

July 1, 2009

Fūjin puts in an appearance As the ferry departed Brentwood, heading for Mill Bay, the Strait of Georgia was still as a mill pond and the sun shone from a clear blue sky—“perfect kayaking weather,” Lindsay Martin commented. We were assembled on the deck of the M.V. Mill Bay—a dozen cyclists and 3 volunteers—on the […]

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Pacific Rim 600 brevet: A slight reprise

May 30, 2009

Tofino Waterfront Following the debut of the Northward Ho! route to Port Hardy last year, in 2009 the Vancouver Island Spring 600 kilometre randonnée returned to the West Coast, and the Pacific Rim route—with a twist. To encourage attendance from Vancouver and the Mainland, I had decided to pull an old Stephen Hinde composition from the […]

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