Sports
Classic Vancouver Cycling Routes
Looking over some of the classic road cycling routes of Vancouver I'm starting to see some patterns and shapes emerge. When I see the GPS tracks for these rides on a map I feel like calling them by their birds-eye views rather than their usual road / area names. Example: Rather than say "Let's take the Cypress bike route out...
Cycling Vancouver to Blaine, USA
A combination of bicycle riding and public transport. View Vancouver to Blaine in a larger map Total round trip is about 4.5 hours, including lunch in Blaine: Ride from home to Commercial Skytrain Station Take Expo Line (heading east) to King George Station, $5 (or take the risk of riding for free Get off King George Station (last stop on...
Silver Circle Bicycle Diary
A day-by-day account of the 2,000km, 14-day bicycle touring route that loops across British Columbia from Vancouver to Banff and back. This particular trip was undertaken June 14-27, 2009. Part 2/2.
Silver Circle Bicycle Tour
A guide and map to the 2,000km, 14-day bicycle touring route that loops across British Columbia from Vancouver to Banff and back on first Highway 1 then Highway 3. This particular trip was undertaken June 14-27, 2009.
Cycling BC Road Online Calendar
A quick and fun pro bono project for the organization I raced under for seven years. A kind of giving back to the community feel. I was in charge of the frontend design of their new race calendar and results website, working with the VP of Road as project manager and a racer/programmer who developed the backend. We built...
Temporary Public Objects
First assignment, Modules 1-2-3, Man and Public Space, Design Academy Eindhoven: Investigate temporary objects used in public space (or objects used temporarily). A collection of initial photos.
From Java with SMS
SMS messages I sent during a trip to Java, Indonesia
Vacation, Education and Moving Plans
This is a notice about what's happening with me regarding changes to work, school and living arrangements. The short of it is I'm leaving on July 18 and when I return in September I'll be living in Vancouver to attend school full time. Any projects I'm currently involved in will be either wrapped up this week, truncated, or on pause...
Bastion Square Grand Prix 2005
The 14th annual Bastion Square criterium road bike race in historic downtown Victoria Canada, 2005, was great as usual. An annual event I've attended over the past eight or nine years, both as a competitor and (as today) a sangria-swilling, chicken sandwich-eating, patio-lounging spectator. Team Symmetrics Cycling had about 100 guys in the race. Their man Svein Tuft had a...
Where's my wireless shifting?
And other bike technology we've been waiting years for? Come on, chains on bikes? Cogs? They were using chains in Ancient Egypt. Alistair just realized road bikes have 20 speeds. We agree that's still slow progress. Where's our infinite-gearing, internal-shifting rear hubs? Bicycle Technology We Should Have By Now: Single belt drive Wireless electronic shifting control Only one shifter, on...
Cost of Bike Races vs. Squash Tournaments
After playing in a few squash tournaments this year, from the small, club-only events to this weekend's provincial-level, 160-entry bash, I have attempted to sum up the discrepancies between entry fees for a squash tournament versus a bike race in British Columbia in the following diagram: Squash Pizza dinner Muffins, oranges and coffee breakfast Gala banquet dinner T-shirt Towel Beer...
Mountain Biking in Sooke
Shawn, Héctor, Melissa, Scott and I have made a pact this spring to ride our mountain bikes together every Sunday, and for the past couple of months we've met nearly everytime at the Starbucks or Tim Hortons, rain or shine. On April 3rd we had a particularly good ride up and over (2x, in fact) Broom Hill in Sooke. Héctor...
Nary a Hair: Why Cyclists Shave Their Legs
Male cyclists--road racers in particular--have shaved the hair from their legs for decades. The following are the reasons I've heard of, and justified to myself and others, why.
Slap A Number On Me
There's an old joke in cycling that says if you want to slow some guys down, just slap a number on their back. Because on the weekend club ride they'll attack and drop you on Lands End, or put the boots to you up the Malahat. But enter them in a race and they're pack fodder, missing breaks, off the...
2004 Vancouver Island Open Squash Championships
October 1-3 Cedar Hill Squash Club My first squash tournament and I won a match (3-0) but lost two (4-1, 3-2) in the Mens C Category. Winning was good, loosing to a twelve-year-old was almost inspiring, but man I should have won that last match. If you've played either sport, FYI: Mens C in squash is like Cat 4 in...
Victoria Squash Club - Lesson 1
Summary · Grip: V hand, no thumb on top. · Swing Prep: cock wrist, back swing before getting to ball · Swing: open face, lead with butt, un-cock wrist · Receive Serve: stand near service box corner, cut off serve · Shots: on return from a corner, lob—not low-hard drive or cross-court; volleying is good.
Hurricane Ridge
I boarded a ferry to the United States on Saturday morning and rode my bike up a mountain to Hurricane Ridge with a friend. We got back by dinner time.
New Squash Shoes
Squash BC for Beginners
An email, with response in CAPS, I sent last week to the governing body for competitve squash in BC. Helpfull if you want to get into competing, and an interesting exercise in website usability: Hi there, I've been playing recreational squash in Victoria for a year now and I'm thinking about entering competitions this fall. However, I don't have any...
The Sound of shoulders snapping
Watching some quality CBC Olympic coverage on the TV this eve, 4am in Greece, and they (CBC) featured a Sounds of the Olympics segment, which was a real treat, the most incredible sound coming from a weight lifting competitor who just barely got the bar above his head until his left arm kinda wobbled and gave way, collapsing the whole...
Hands back on the bars
Two weeks since bike crash. I'm commuting on the Gardin again, which needs a little derailleur and/or derailleur hanger re-alignment, some new bar tape, and maybe a new saddle, but is otherwise OK. The right knee is also OK until I try and swing it out to the side while adjusting my bits and pieces on the saddle. I'll have...
Victoria Squash Tournament
Took in a good three hours (spectating only) of what I assume was the city's top Squash action on Saturday, the finals of the 2004 Victoria City Squash Tourney at the Vic Squash Club, 1811 Cook St.....
Squash BC photo
Not to be an aesthetic tyrant all the time, but the header image of a squash player on the Squash BC web site bothers me. First impression is that of a disability squash association, and the person pictured is a disabled athlete. Which makes a critique of the image seem more insensitive. But the awkward straining of the arms, the...
I have learnt silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers.—Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) Copyright © 2002–2012 Jeff Werner, Creative Commons (Some rights reserved), Login