No snow in sight, unless you are in Alberta!

A total of 7 riders assembled promptly at Ogden Point on a sunny, cool November morning. 3 went west. 4 went north. James was delayed by a flat tire at home but persevered and joined the ride along the way. The respective ranks swelled to 4 and 6 with joiners en route, so that an impressive Peloton of 10 arrived at Olive Olio's for coffee on the sunny patio. A beautiful day to ride and converse in sunny Victoria. Topics at coffee included proportional elections, the new government, elections and elections. Also Tom's impressive comeback from his fall, his injured groin, demonstrating his optimistic approach always! The riders scattered to the winds on several routes home. This bloggers reflection was again humbled by the quality of this group, this awesome activity and this Victoria area venue that we get to tackle twice a week. WOW!  Norm T.

A Whole New Era

The first “post Harper” ride took place on Oct 20. Post election confusion was in full force as there were only two riders [were the others drowning their sorrows after the result, or did they stay up late and party the night away??]. Jack and Ian managed to not coordinate neither the time nor the place of the ride start. However, both decided the other was ahead and they managed to join up for coffee at the Broken Paddle. Jack brought Ian up to date on the status of his back and then a post mortem of the election took place which made for an extended coffee break. They managed to depart the coffee shop together and enjoyed a good, crisp ride back in excellent conditions.

Now it is Canada's turn to have a spandex wearing PM - move over Australia!

Now it is Canada's turn to have a spandex wearing PM - move over Australia!

And here is a promise the Peloton will be following with interest

A Tale of Two Riders, plus. . .

This week, there was the "regular Peloton", and then there were the two soloists!

Jack slept in  and could not possibly make the rendezvous for the morning ride. Instead, he went for a solo ride (at a more reasonable hour) out to Rocky Point Rd. 36 km return. It was a beautiful day for any ride and this ride was really enjoyable with the fall colours in parts, brilliant sunshine and mottled shade in the forest. The track was hard and dry, occasionally blanketed with dry leaves – very pleasant. No bear or cougar sightings!

Norm L. on the other hand had a different version of "reasonable hour" - he arrived at Ogden Point at 9.00am; rather than wait and enjoy the breeze off the water, he headed out to Ten Mile Point following the coastal route. When he came back down to Olive Olio's the Peloton had not arrived. Rather than wait, he headed back down through Uplands and Oak Bay, but no sign of the Peloton - perhaps they were at Cattle Point? Like Jack he experienced a glorious fall day for a ride in our adopted home.

No pictures, instead a link to an interesting article about Mountain Equipment Co-op. And how the V-Dub crisis might impact on cycling in the US.

And somewhat belatedly, here's what the "real Peloton" did!

The Friday ride was another great (and somewhat unexpectedly warm) day.  Some riders were seen stripping down even before leaving Ogden point much to the delight of at least one older lady.  Seven riders started out from Ogden Point with Tom setting a blistering pace.  Thankfully we met up with David B. part way and Tom backed off to talk to David and letting other riders set the pace. 
At Olio's 6 riders headed for 10 mile point and 3 turned back to Olio's for coffee at Mile "9" leaving 3 keeners to do the ugly last hill. 
Discussion over coffee naturally covered the pending election and things like "vote sharing".  When talk turned to having another lunch @ Swans so we could use up some more of Chris's desert coupons, Tom reminded us that we also predicted oil prices last time we were there, & that it might be time/fun to re-visit our predictions. We then had a short discussion about Alzheimer's , but I doubt that most of us remember what we talked about.
Back on the bikes with Ian setting the homeward pace and the group scattering along the way as we headed back to Ogden Point. A fun ride with no incidents

Post Harvest Moon Ride

Norm T had called on his creative side to create the rides for today - both rides started at Ogden Point, with a shared destination - Olive Olio’s at 10 Mile Point. Given the spectacular Harvest Moon the night before, Neil Young's Harvest Moon was an "ear worm" this morning. One ride, the slightly more challenging followed a clockwise direction going to Fol Epi, then the Goose and Lochside before heading east to Cadboro’ Bay, while the other group travelled in an anti-clockwise direction via Dallas Road, Beach Rd, Cattle Point and through Uplands to Olive Olio’s, the designated coffee stop.

Rusty soaking in the view at Trafalgar Point

Rusty soaking in the view at Trafalgar Point

Over coffee, the upcoming federal election could not be avoided, but it didn’t get too hot and heavy. There was some discussion of the latest Liberal ad featuring Justin promoting his BC pedigree. Questions were raised about the low profile of Maggie T. That lead to some discussion of crazy women - Rob shared some insights on this matter. 

Trying to steer clear of more election talk, the conversation migrated to the proposed use of fireman for paramedic duties paramedic duties.This generated a couple of firemen stories - quite fitting given that a Saanich Fire Service vehicle nearly "came in contact" with our bikes as it parked at Olive Olio’s! Rob shared a story whereby a dog that had got lost in parkland near the shore resulted in 15 rescue personnel being in attendance - animal control, fireman, police, ambulance, including a zodiac being brought into service. If you want to find out more about dogs in Victoria, go here. Quite amazing what is on the city's web site!! Rusty recounted a story from North Van when they required the services of the fire department to rescue a toddler from the roof. A request was made not to have all sirens blaring when the vehicles arrived. That request fell on deaf ears.

A general discussion ensued on the costs of the fire service - the consensus being that there were more fireman employed than necessary, but of course we didn’t allow for the time necessary to tone their torsos for the annual fireman’s calendar!!

After coffee, the Peloton in typical post Olive Olio fashion, headed in several different compass directions, except east!

Another glorious day with much for which to be thankful. Speaking of being thankful, just a reminder about John's email re Ride for Refuge.

October 3, 2015

October 3, 2015

Courtesy of Jim, you can groan at this one!!


A Ride under Possibly False Pretences

James kindly sent out an optimistic email advising us to ignore current weather conditions, with the assurance that it was going to be fine day for a ride. We have more faith in James than what the weather gods were signalling. While it didn't rain exactly, there was some drizzle, with the sun remaining camouflaged by clouds. Nonetheless, everyone had a good time. Your blogger failed to take any snaps today, so creativity is the order of the day.

Meals on Wheels, courtesy of Jim

Meals on Wheels, courtesy of Jim

The trend of a scattered start seems to be catching on: Rusty from Island View, Norm T from Fairfield, David from Broadmead & Tom assembled at Mann Construction, while James, Doug and Norm L started from Lochside.

Those starting at Lochside cycled at a pace which allowed for conversation - about corporate ethics in the context of the VW scandal. Those starting at Mann Construction opted instead to set a cracking pace with no real breaks. Whenever anyone thought of slowing or stopping to draw breath or have a drink of water, Tom cracked the whip with “OK, let’s go”. When they joined the Lochside contingent already established at Melinda’s they were ready for a wardrobe change after sweating up a storm. Even so, they were not excluded from the coffee shop! Norm T. posted a PB for his ride to and from home - 3 hours and 5 mins for 70.5 km!

Over coffee and calories, there was further discussion of the VW imbroglio. Some felt that VW was heading for bankrupt, others took a less pessimistic view. No matter the prediction, there was agreement that corporate ethics took a black eye, as well as the self monitoring undertaken by car companies. 

James and Norm reminisced about children's TV on the BBC while growing up on either side of Hadrian's Wall. There was the episode of Blue Peter when an elephant "left its mark" in the studio

Then there was The Magic Roundabout which achieved something of a cult following; it was a 5 minute cartoon that came on before the 6.00pm news - back in the day when TV programming started at 5.00pm and finished at 11.00pm. For trivia buffs, the BBC scripts were written and performed by Eric Thompson, the mother of Emma Thompson.

There was a passing reference to the upcoming Harvest Moon on Monday. Of course I couldn't ignore Neil Young's contribution.

As we were getting to ready leave the conversation turned to Winston Churchill and some of his quotations. This came after Tom recalled Churchill’s quotes about Clement Atlee.

“A modest man who has much to be modest about” and “ He is a sheep in sheep’s clothing”.

If you are interested in other Churchill barbs you can check here

And here’s a topic for the next ride.

Jim asked me to post this link to the Greater Victoria Cycling Coalition who are looking for volunteers.

Thanks for organizing, James

 

Bearly There

What a great day for a bike ride. Perfect fall equinox weather - sunny, but just a little bit crisp. The two Norms shrugged off the cooler weather opting to wear shorts!

Although there were different rides on offer, we all did the same ride - the Stickleback to Leechtown, although John Coyne added an extra couple of kilometres by riding from home. Norm L. arrived a little early and opted to leave 10 minutes ahead of the Peloton - and maintained that lead all the way to Leechtown, much to his surprise!

The sun is definitely on the move [OK, it is the earth not the sun] - but the sun was struggling to reach the bottom of the river valley so that the waters remained in the shadows, even on the return ride. On the trail, the dappled Goose made it challenging to see debris on the ground.

Shortly after reaching Leechtown, two young female riders came by, but didn't return - although the end of the trail is only 100m further on. The collective wisdom of the Peloton was that they were waiting for us to take off, just so they could catch up and pass us, thus lowering the self esteem of ageing members of the Peloton. And that is exactly what they did - less than 1 kilometre down the track, we let them pass us. Show offs!!

Everyone stayed at the Stickleback and enjoyed lunch on the sun-drenched patio - thanks for the snap Rusty.

Over lunch, a former Calgary resident from the oil patch shared his grudging admiration for the new premier of Alberta! There was bewilderment at VW's massive cover-up - the VW stock price has plunged by almost 30% as shareholders are very jittery over how the behemoth is going to pay all the fines, loss of sales in their diesel line of vehicles, pay out class action suits etc. etc. Several of the group had owned V-Dub campers in the past - that led to an exchange of stories from Norm T.,Doug and Norm L. That in turn lead to stories about Ellice Automotive  - a shop worthy of a visit - one where the mechanics have greasy hands and the bills are smudged and crumpled. Ah, the old days! John shared his experiences of life as a young man in the north of the Island, when he had to be flown out for medical attention; on the return flight, the pilot was a tad hung over and so had to land on the edge of a lake to allow himself to recover - ah the good old days! John shared a more recent and sedate experiences on Quadra. Norm T regaled us with his visits to art studios on Quadra including that of a famous guitar maker - only in the Gulf Islands!

The server who was a little sassy, clearly had the measure of the group - she attributed that to having a younger brother and a father who told lousy jokes! Norm T's dirty joke will not be shared in the blog!!

There was a bit of a commotion when we were getting ready leave the Stickleback - a black bear and her cub were up the apple tree out front of the eatery enjoying their lunch! 

We all headed home thankful for the exercise, the sunny weather, the wonderful environment and, of course, the superlative company!

Co-Ed Peloton without bikes

A big shout out to Rusty and Orlis for hosting a bbq for the pelotoneers and their partners, using a real barbeque, not one like this

Those living in Songhees, James Bay, Fairfield left home under rain and cloud - however, Orlis and Rusty had other ideas - by the time we reached Island View, the clouds and rain had evaporated to be replaced by sunshine and warmth. Norm L. must have had some premonition since he was the only one wearing shorts!

Rusty and Orlis demonstrated their hosting skills by having everything organized before we arrived. After the meet and greet and a few appies, Rusty put on the bbq, shortly thereafter, the guests were divided in two - males around the bbq, the females stayed indoors. There should have been a photograph of the bbq [apologies, the brain did not kick into gear in time] - there were steaks, salmon, chicken ribs and lamb kebabs!

After lunch, some needed a siesta!

The hosts showed us the garden which was filled with colour, fruit and vegetables in abundance. Clearly there are green thumbs at home.

Our collective thanks once again to Rusty and Orlis for a fantastic afternoon in Saanich.

And since there might be some lady readers, here is an article just for you. Enjoy

Picture Perfect for the Peloton

We could not have asked for better conditions for a bike ride - sunny, warm, but not too hot and little or no wind. No jacket needed, only sunscreen. It doesn’t get much better than this.

The ride organization continues to evolve. Norm L. and Jeff independently arrived well ahead of the official start time at Mile Zero, opting to take the high road to Caddy Bay, while James, David A., Dave N., Doug, and Rob met at the prescribed time. Norm L went around 10 Mile Point before coming back to Olive Olio’s for coffee. 

Jeff, who was on the original Peloton invite list in 2012 was welcomed back into the Peloton having been sidelined due back issues. Had Jim been present, he would have had competition for being “King of the Cinnamon Bun”.

Rob brought tomatoes fresh from the garden - including the heirloom black cherry. The extra vitamin surge from the tomatoes added spice to the conversation. Unfortunately, no photograph was taken till after the last tomato was consumed! 

The stalk of a Black Cherry Tomato

The stalk of a Black Cherry Tomato

John drew our attention to the news that the City of Victoria has brought in some “heavy weight” consultants from overseas to assist in the formulation of the city’s bicycle plan. 

One consultant is from Bogota which is one of the leading cities when it come to cycling - check the Guardian article on the subject.

The second consultant is from Kobenhaven which has a long time reputation for being cycle friendly - to find out more click here and here

John was accused, quite incorrectly, of using his moustache as a flavour saver from his pizza and beer indulgence on Tuesday. John categorically denied not having washed his mo since Tuesday.

The most recent landed immigrant from Calgary was disappointed to learn that all the tickets to the Victoria Beer Festival were sold out in 40 minutes and more importantly that he didn’t have one! [Being a technology centre there is of course an app for the Festival]. However, he consoled himself with the prospect of baching it for the next few days, especially with a Blue Jays double header tomorrow.

The conversation lasted longer than usual as we basked in the sun enjoying congenial conversation, only appreciated by old farts! Speaking of old farts and retirement you may want to check out this T-Shirt link from Jim.

As is the norm for the ride home from Olive Olio’s the Peleton split in several directions. 

We hope that those on the injury list will soon be back in the Peloton.

Permutations

How many variations of a ride can there be? This blog will contain some mathematical as well as cycling content!

John, Dave N. and Rusty rode from home, while Doug started at Michell’s and rode south to Lochside where Tom and Norm L started. Norm T., the organizer, was the only one to “officially” start at Michell’s 

Norm T, Rusty and Dave N rode up and along Deep Cove before turning down Tatlow - what else? The others cycled up from Lochside to Sidney before crossing the Pat Bay, around the airport to the Institute of Ocean Sciences. The rumour of heightened security proved to be more than a rumour. Each of us had to sign in, without showing any ID, before receiving a numbered security clip on card. Having cleared security we rode around to the back, where we encountered a locked cafeteria door, whereupon a staff member took pity on us and opened the door. The numbered security cards - consisting of a piece of paper with a number on it, and laminated - had to be returned to the front desk after use, thus ensuring that the federal government would achieve a balanced budget!

The talk to today focused on technology, the evolution of technology and how the first to the start line is not always the most successful. For example several of the Peloton had heard an interview with Martin Cooper on the Current on CBC radio this morning. Mr. Cooper could be described as inventor of the cell phone - those who heard the interview encouraged those of us who hadn't to give it a listen; the interview covers more than just the cell phone - click here to hear the interview.

Martin Cooper with a Brick

Martin Cooper with a Brick

Driverless cars has been a recurring topic for us, and again it was a hot topic. John reminded us that there was an electric car before the Tesla, namely the Fisker, not to be confused with Fiskars the scissor maker.

The first Fisker

The first Fisker

John also was able to connect cycling to the driverless car with a story about how a cyclist while track standing was able to fool a Google car - the good news is that the cyclist felt safer with the driverless car than with a human driving it. I was hoping to find a video of this achievement, but could only find this account in the Washington Post.

If you are really interested in driverless cars, Norm L. recommends giving a listen to this item from down under.

Given all this talk about revolutions in technology, this is an interesting TED Talk with an interview with Jim Simmons who was a cryptographer with the CIA, got fired, went on to his mathematical knowledge, especially his familiarity with Euler’s work to make a mountain of money in the hedge fund business and now runs a foundation with his wife with the goal of improving the teaching of mathematics in US schools.

From the sublime to mundane, the conversation moved on to bike warranties and bike maintenance. Norm T. shared his hassles with getting his bike maintained when just out of warranty - but since he got a discount on the maintenance, he broke open the wallet and showed up in colour other than black! Check the photo below!!

Note Norm's jacket and the security badges - apologies to John is almost out of the picture!

Note Norm's jacket and the security badges - apologies to John is almost out of the picture!


Long time riders emphasised to those of us returning to the bike, the importance of cleaning the bike and oiling the chain after every ride.


Clockwise or anticlockwise? That was the question.

With the Labour Day weekend tomorrow, then it must be September. The skies were clear when the ride started at Fol Epi and at Lochside, but there was a hint of fall in the air - no bare arms today. The design of the ride continues to evolve: 7 riders started at Le Fol, Rusty rode south to meet that group riding north, while James and Norm assembled at Lochside - all departing at 9.30am.

There was an energetic head wind on the ride up Lochside. Care had to be taken at any road crossing all the way up to Michel's due to traffic being diverted off the Pat Bay Hwy for some reason. The first few kilometres of trail were still soggy after recent rains. Once on firm pavement, the speed picked up. James and Norm opted to go around the airport in an anti-clockwise direction, while the others rode in a clockwise direction - it was no surprise, therefore, that they reached Melinda's first. James and Norm talked digital photography, Peloton organization and the current refugee dilemma on the ride and over coffee until the rest arrived. when the conversation changed to Rusty regaling us with stories about his recent trip to Iceland - running the half marathon, street partying till 1.00 am, thermal pools as well as the high cost of living in Iceland. Co-incidentally there is an article in today's Globe about a new industry on Iceland taking advantage of its cheap power - an interesting read. The other major topic of conversation was Red Green [welcome back to Rob who will now be part of the Peloton more regularly] - I couldn't remember all the Rob Green quotes that emerged around the table, so I had to ask Prof Google who tells me that in addition to the normal Wikipedia, there is a Wikiquote website where you can find many of Red's quotes  - I will only include one - "if women don't find you handsome, you should at least be handy!" As you can see from the photos below, the sun was shining on a great day for a cycle.

For the ride home, the entire Peloton rode around the airport in an anticlockwise direction, crossed over the Pat Bay at McTavish then south to Lochside, losing Rusty at Island View. At Lochside, James and Norm switched to using the internal combustion engine, while others cycled home.