Off to Jasper again tomorrow .......sans mountain bike ......My wife is mean !
Both the other bikes are being serviced , so I took the Stumpjumper for it`s second ride in two weeks , strange ! It was a darn good one as I took to the bike quite well unlike the last ride on the white winter warrior where it attacked me and I wanted to throw it in the river .
I have to admit , that is one hell of a fun bike to ride !
damn ! The valley has been sprouting some big mushrooms lately !
After a day of trying to monkey around in the yard I`d finally had enough and threw the bike on the car for some boredom relief . Like the Syncros t-shirt I had years ago that said " Boredom is counterrevolutionary RIDE BIKE NOW !" with a picture of Sun Yat Sen (I believe) riding a bike on the front . Why don`t they make good bike shirts like that anymore ?
this section of trail wants to go swimming
On the ride I came across sections of the trail that are starting to slide towards the river . I don`t remember that on Thursday when I was there last . With all the rain we had it doesn`t surprise me that this is happening . Needless to say , it sucks ! But when you ride on riverside trails you have to expect change over the years . The spot where this is happening was under water a few years back .
When one forgets his camera on a rare trip to the mountains and cannot post pictures of his "trip" on his cheesy internet biking diary . What does he do the next day ? ..........He goes for a bike ride of course !
A trip through the river valley was all I needed as not only was I bummed about forgetting the camera . I had coming home to Edmonton (area) blues ...... Once in the river valley one can realize that life here is not all that bad . Especially when most of the trails have somewhat dried out and you realize how good they really are . I giggled non stop as I sailed through Ewok Forest .
sadly , some of the short singletrack trails may be done for a while
Once back at the car , feeling better about where I am . I started thinking about the glorious mountains again and with an act of rage , violently ran the truck off a 1300 ft cliff (I jumped out of course), watched the Dodge crash and explode into a fiery spectacle , I then lit up a malbaro and said to myself "I gotta do this Jasper thing again soon".......
when people want to act like sardines , they come here....
What tastes great after working in the yard all day ? Beer ! What tastes great after riding all day ? Beer ! What tastes great after working all day ? Beer ! What tastes great after a fine day of snowshoeing ? You guessed it ......Beer ! We can probably go on all day here , so I`ll just stop now . I was working in the yard all day as my bikes lay comatose and silent in my den downstairs .......Oh how pathetic , so it`s time to try filling the void with a beer review .
Introducing Bud Light Lime , Budweiser`s answer to taking the manliness out of beer . Introduced in mid 2008 it was impossible to find in stores as the demand far outweighed the production . Yes I will admit I was intrigued and did try some last summer and thought it was good . I will admit , I don`t like it when breweries do weird shit to their beer . This isn`t all that bad as people have been adding lime to their beer for a while now , and Budweiser is saving the consumers all that hard work , and expecting nothing in return ! Isn`t that fabulous of them !
No pour here , and the aroma was , wait a minute .........Lime ! The taste was , wait a minute .......It tastes like lime ! I will admit , I don`t mind the taste . In fact I like it ! It is definitely different . if your after beer that tastes like beer then stay the hell away ! I think any idiot would know what they are getting into once they saw the box. This stuff is good for working in the backyard , or hanging around the beach on a nice hot day . I`m now three quarters done with the bottle and cannot get how this came from beer . It tastes like something you would get in a 7 eleven slushie fountain .
A fine morning to be out on a bike as the weather is looking quite spectacular . Unfortunately the one doing the riding wasn`t all that fine , I had a hard time picking good lines today and just felt awkward on the bike at times .
Oh well , better today then Saturday.....
the mighty North Saskatchewan , the mighty Mojo , and the not so mighty photographer
Pro water slider Ken Lindsay after time trial training in Sylvan Lake
Only on rare occasions do superstar athletes like Ken Lindsay talk with the media .We were lucky enough to get a short interview with the 3 time N.W.S.C (National Water slide Circuit) champion .
LB- When did you realize you wanted to be a professional water slider ? I think at a very young age people saw I had potential . At the age of 4 I was already running the Howler at West Edmonton Mall , while my friends were still hanging out in the Dolphin kiddie pool . My Dad hooked me up with my coach Drew Stinson who still miraculously coaches me today .
LB- What brings somebody like you to Sylvan Lake ? Training . It never stops , with the tour coming to Wild Waters in North Edmonton next weekend I thought Sylvan would be great for training .
LB- What is your favorite stop on the tour ? I would say coming home is the best . Edmonton has always brought out great crowds , and when I`m standing up top to do my run it`s amazing how loud these people get when they have a hometown boy . I would have to say Wet and Wild in Greensboro North Carolina is a close second . They have some sick slides there !
LB- Have you ever waxed ? You seriously can`t be asking me that are you ? Waxer`s are cheaters period ! In 2008 when Tom Hardell flew off of Jumeirah Sceirah to his death in Dubai we all knew what he was doing . He was waxing ! did he deserve to die ? maybe ! All of us pros know you can`t go that fast on a water slide ! LB - Were sorry to offend you by asking you that , what other training do you do for the circuit ? Don`t be sorry . What happened in 08 was pure uglieness . As a pro water slider I hate to see stuff like that happen , all of us on the tour take this stuff serious . That`s why we had Wild Rapids in Sylvan closed today . For the safety of the public . The speeds we attain as pros on water slides can seriously injure somebody going to slow on a slide . If we waxed our back things would be alot worse ! As far as training , I just hit the water slides daily . I`m lucky enough to have my own park in my backyard to train in back home in L.A .
LB- What bugs you about pro water sliding ? Besides the waxers , I hate it when there are floaters in the splash pool . you know turds ! That`s disgusting ! I also don`t like used band aids on the change room floor . That shit`s disgusting .
LB- To finish , any advice for the kids who want to make it ? Just keep sliding ! Remember the basics , heels , ass , shoulder blades , and work from there .
LB- Thanks for the interview , and good luck at the worlds in Las Vegas . Will you repeat ? Oh you know I would love to repeat ! There is too much sliding talent out there now . See you at Wild Waters next weekend !
ahh , the science park ! Get fit and get cancer at the same time !
Well , I did today what I wanted to do yesterday . I started in the Science Park as opposed to Cameron Heights, after yesterday`s pathetic attempt at a long ride I had a rather bad taste in my mouth about that place .
entering Hawerlak 10 a.m ......nice and jackass free
One thing I wanted to do was check the gps . I heard that gps units don`t measure true distance unless you have a cadence/speed sensor which was a little odd . This ride on the Mojo in April always made me wonder how many lost km`s there were . So I threw on one of the computers and tracked it with that as well . ........... O.K , now I have bored all of you ! And dammit ! I`m sorry !
first breaktime of the day
The tracking below .....To compare , the computer tracked 71.52 km as opposed to 67.67km on the gps
serious talent here ! self portrait while riding ! Before the climb out of Terwilliger
You thinking what I`m thinking ? How come I didn`t hit Mill Creek ? It`s a good question , I felt alot better then that end to end ride in April , but today I passed by it twice and never even thought of heading up there . Strange! I did hit Mckinnon (Mill Creek`s little sister) so it wasn`t all bad .
potty break
I know there are longer routes then this . I just wanted to do this one again , I have been flirting with the idea of an end to end run starting in Beaumont . That would be good but there would be a ton of road riding which I would not like .......at all !
But I don`t really want one ! This rain won`t stop , and it`s turning the trails into pure wet cheese .......much like what a Justin Beiber concert would be like .
Today started with good intentions , a bit late of a start , but a start nontheless . I had originally hoped to get out to the mountains but you know .........the rain ! Instead of the mountains I planned on running from Terwilliger - The Science Park , the opposite of the ride I had in the spring .
nothing says good mountain biking like riding through residential neighbourhoods
Once out and riding (not thinking about all the rain Edmonton had in the past 24hrs) I got to the new evil entrance to Terwilliger park on the west side , I realized how wet it was . "Screw it" I said (or something along the same lines) "I`ll ride residential to Fort Edmonton" . As quick as my ride started my spirit was broken . To add on to the mess other factors in my "pre ride planning" screwed things up (notice the computer in the picture tracking at 0 , yes I was moving)
The epicness that was today below .........Eat your heart out Geoff Kabush
So maybe if I had a road bike life wouldn`t be so rough in times like these ! It wouldn`t matter , cause wet pavement is just wet pavement right ? Or I could hang out by Connors hill and run hills , or if it is really bad there is always the forums right ? ......Oddly enough me and Hitler have something in common ........Yes an obvious language warning ........ but he`s frustrated .....like me !
Or so I thought ! Two minutes into this late morning ride my foot slipped out of the pedal on a sharp climb and my knee smashed into the stem ......It was very painful but I sucked it up and kept on going (hey I just started !) On the way to Fort Saskatchewan I was thinking about the last time I took the white bike in the middle of summer on a nice day and then this shitty thing happened ,Oddly enough , today I was wearing the same jersey and shorts I wore and that rough night .
Thankfully nothing bad happened other than roughing up my knee , it is now puffed out and was miserable to try *golfing with the wife later that afternoon . The ride was great , but I can honestly say I really wanted the Moots or the Ibis , I think I spoiled myself . The shifting was annoying today as it was real slow , largely in part to having the cables run on the downtube . Once any fair amount of crap gets in there it affects the shifting dramatically and I never understood that ......Why ? It has always been a problem on that bike , and they still do it ......Way to go Spushulized !
I wore hardcore`s socks today ......The trails feared me !
After always wanting to get up real early and go riding I finally got it done . "The motivation" , my daughters birthday party this afternoon forcing me into doing a buttload of yard work ......you know , things that normal people do on the weekend . I for one am completely against the doing of "yard work" as "I am a self centered prick who only thinks about riding bikes"(an actual quote from my wife ........ but I know she loves me)
don`t slip on those roots !
atta boy ....
The route took me from Mill Creek to Mckinnon . The ride was good ......Damn good and it sure beat lounging around the house which is what has grown customary on Saturday mornings
O.K , I will give you 10 seconds to guess where tonight`s beer is from ..................Times up ! I was wanting the city it was from , so you all are losers , except for you you . The one in the white t-shirt with the backwards steelers ballcap , you win the prize ! Once there is lonebiker merchandise available you will get a free pair of boxers ! How awesome will you be !!! The city is Bangalore and yes , that is in India . Taj Mahal is brewed by United Breweries which was established in 1857 . You may have heard of Kingfisher beer , which is the flagship of United Breweries .
Being as this is a pretty cool looking beer , I poured it into a pint and watched the two finger head dissolve into a golden flavorful looking brew below . The smell was similar to all the popular beers you would get here ......and so was the taste "average" it has no bad aftertaste , yet not too exciting . I can`t find anything bad to say about this one though , but can`t find much good to say either .
"well lookey here ! It`s an Ibis Mudjo ........Ha !
On a night that didn`t look to promising with thundershowers passing through as I loaded up my bike after work, it turned out to be a classic .
slippery roots can sometimes=lost work time ......I praise you slippery roots !
With wet pavement greeting me at the Mill Creek entrance , I was thinking this was going to be a double track and paved ride (aka wet weather route). When I decided to hit the singletrack it turned out to be nice and tacky , sometimes super tacky like Ed Hardy clothing , there were times when I had to get off and walk cause it turned out to be just too soupy .In the end the only damage was to the bike and not the trails , which helped me feel better about myself .
This was one of the best after work rides in a while (I curse you 12hr days) . The way the sun was hitting the trees on the way back to the car was absolutely brilliant !
