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Bikeaversary 2
I’ve now been car-free (locally, meaning for distances of under about 40 km one-way) for more than two years. The second anniversary slipped by without me even noticing. I no longer feel like I’m out to prove something; it’s just become second nature that this is how I live my life. I ordered studded tires…
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Tiny book
Made for an online friend who “published” a series of haiku during the early phase of the pandemic, interspersed with countless other Facebook posts, so that only the observant noticed the pattern.
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An Apparent Evergreen
In springdid they noticethat alone among the conifersyou were fully cloakedtrunk to twigin feathery tassels of new green?While other treesmerely added pale buds to branch-tips ,did they see that you lackedtheir staid dark under-cladding? Perhaps they did but in summer you stood in the copselike one of the rest,an apparent evergreen,your trunk driving towards the…
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R&M Roadster: Early Review
Early thoughts and observations of my new Riese und Müller Roadster Mixte e-bike. Spoiler: it’s amazing, a worthy car replacement that feels like an ordinary bicycle whilst having superpowers
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Search for a winter-worthy e-bike
After two years of making do with the Rad Mini I’ve decided to upgrade my e-bike. The Rad is the inexpensive hub-drive bike we bought to help Fiona get around Nelson on her own. After she graduated from high school it languished for a year or so until I took it over in 2021, making…
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The orange pill
During the summer of 2021, Fiona was offered a job working as a veterinary assistant at a clinic 50 km away. It was a super opportunity, so I told her she should take it, and she could use my car for the commute. I would use the e-bike. We had bought a Rad Mini in…
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Back to the garden
Although I’ve kept herbs and occasional greens growing next to the deck, I haven’t grown a proper garden since (checks blog archives… ) 2008. That must have been the point at which the water line broke, and I started taking on more of the summer Suzuki institute administration, and the kids were losing interest in…
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Spinning
I bought a little spinning wheel. It’s about the size of an SLR camera and weighs a fraction as much. It came from a Kickstarter campaign I backed. I paid about $50 and like my other favourite Kickstarter reward, it delivered not just on time but early! It runs off DC power with a tiny…
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Ex-runner? Cyclist?
I’ve become whatever the female equivalent of the mamil (middle-aged man in lycra) is. I am obsessed with cycling. There’s been a lot of water under the bridge since my last cycling-related post exactly a year ago. At that point I was all set up on Zwift and enjoying riding my aluminum tri-bike regularly, noting improvements…
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Zwifting along
The Boston Marathon has turned out not to be possible for me. I spent three months babying my knee (after just barely beginning to run regularly in the fall) and still, within a month of starting marathon training it was as bad as ever. I was living on ibuprofen, and most mornings it was so swollen…
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Zwifting on a Stac Zero
Yeah, a couple of years ago I wouldn’t have had any idea what the title of this post meant either. But for the past week, after more than a year of waiting, it’s become a part of my daily life. Well, at least part of my daily life in New Denver. There are two bits of magic…
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Post-asbestos progress
First the roof came off. Then it poured rain all weekend. Of course. There were tarps up, but they leaked. It could have been worse. We lost a light fixture. Some old drywall got wet in a few places and will eventually need to be replaced. The bathroom mats were sopping. The house survived. It…
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HazMat Adventures
Our Nelson place is the eyesore on the block. We bought it because of that. It was affordable and well situated, and that created the possibility of bringing it up to neighbourhood standards and eventually reselling it for a price more in keeping with the rest of the strong housing market. The house has four bedrooms that…
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Atop Idaho Peak
Idaho Peak is the mountain that overlooks our property. It’s unique in the area in that despite being one of the highest peaks around, it has well-serviced forestry roads that allow the trail to the peak to be accessible to anyone without major mobility challenges, requiring minimal levels of fitness and stamina. It’s also the…
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Web Development
I’ve been working on a couple of Udemy courses for the past month or so. I signed up for one in April but I didn’t really dig in for a while. Once I did I decided I needed more so I’m working through both in parallel. The Bootcamp course is the better of the two. It…
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