Pick-your-adventure

Do you remember reading the horror books called Goosebumps as a kid? The best ones were the books where you were able to choose your own adventure. I would read the first chapter, pick the next section to read, realized I had made a bad choice and go back to chapter one. It was kind of like an endless cycle. It didn't really matter what adventure I chose, I always seemed to read the entire book and convince myself I had had the best adventure after going though all the other options.

Heres your shot to pick you own adventure. I'll give you a real life scenario. You pick the rest.

(1) You awake one morning with subtle but unusual knee pain. It bugs you a bit but not enough to ruin your day. Do you?

a- Tell yourself something is off. Focus on making it better.
b- Drink 9 litres of coffee, feel like superman, go do exercise.

If you chose A go to paragraph 2, if you chose B go to paragraph 3

(2) YOU ARE A GENIUS. You probably have a degree, an attractive spouse, a nice house and have made all the the correct life choices. I would let you do my taxes. Proceed to paragraph 4

(3) I like your style superman. Nothing a little caffeine and ibuprofen cant fix. Go do repetitive exercise for several hours and don't stretch when you get home. Stretching is for hippies that drive a Prius and do yoga. Go to paragraph 5.

(4) Your adventure stops here. Your life is perfect. Go have a baby aspirin and watch your stocks go up. You have nothing to worry about

(5) You wake up the next day and now your knee hurts. Like on a scale of 1 to "charlie bit my finger", its about a 6. Do you:

a- Decide to watch Prison Break for the entire day while elevating your leg and icing it
b- Attack every hill on your bike with as much hatred as Alberto Contador has for spanish steak

If you picked A got to 6, B go to 7.

(6) SPOILER ALERT. They get out of prison. I think. Smart choice though. Your leg feels better the next day and on your very next ride and you find a million dollars. Bravo

(7) Oh boy. Contador really hates spanish steak. Your leg now feels like king kong is practicing sumo squats on your knee cap. You are bed ridden for 10 days and must listen to Bruno Mars on repeat. 

Moral of the story: Its ok to take time off. And don't eat spanish steak. 

We went to San Francisco. It was cool:

Yo Gurl, you on Tinder?

Story Time: Take a look at this picture. Young couple on a date, both on their phones.

These 2 young love birds were on a date. Enjoying a nice frozen late afternoon mocha-ccino, low fat, extra ice, with a side sprinkle of ferry dust. They both seemed to be enjoying each others company and there may of have been some sparks flying in the air. 

Side Note: At this point of the story I would like to point out that I was probably the weirdest guy in the joint going into full creep mode watching this date unfold.

Things seemed to be going well for the couple until #hashtag paranoia set in. My guesses are the conversation got boring, weird eye contact happened and they both reached for their phone to ease the tension and started texting, tweeting and instagraming.

Actual conversation*

*not actual

Girl- (texting best friend): I think I like him, he has a cool tricep tattoo

Guy-(texting best friend): I'm up all night to get lucky

Girl-(now on twitter): My frozen drink is too cold #toocold #cheatday #ideserveit

Guy-(now on twitter): Is Seattle winning the football game? #onadate #gettinglucky

Girl- (instagram): Goes to bathroom to take a selfie. Chest out, hand on the hip. You know the type

Guy- (instagram): Takes a picture of the girls backside as she walks away. #booya

When did it become socially acceptable to check your phone during social encounters? I admit that sometimes I am guilty of this but it seems that people have become completely unfazed when someone you are having a conversation with is also checking to see if there are hot singles in the area. I'm considering throwing my phone away and becoming a full time pilgrim. I would get to wear cool hats and long socks....

Biking is cool. Picture update:

On the road

Still snowing

Less snow

Sunset

Another sunset

Mountains Trees and Snow

Team Turbo Training

 Extra Hip coffee

California Sunshine

Is this real life?

You tweetin' bro?

Minor draft behind Adam

 Man date backdrop

Blinded by the whiteness

Everyone else was wearing down jackets

Almost as good as studying for finals

HAHAHAHAH

New Year, New House, Same Old Bike Stories

There aren't many better feelings then the one of filling out the last of many multiple choice questions on an exam in a gymnasium full of stressed undergrads. Did I answer it correctly? Probably not. I started dreaming about winding roads along the California coast on question 32 and it seemed to have gone down hill from there. The 12 weeks of school this year absolutely FLEW by. It seemed not that long ago I was cursing at my handle bars and chasing the wheel in front of me. That being said though, I am incredibly excited to start morphing into a full time athlete. Study nights have turned into stretch and roll nights accompanied by illegal amounts of netflix watching. The kitchen is now more of a permanent hang out spot and the 3 feet of snow that covered the roads back home have been replaced with fresh pavements and huge Redwoods.

This years training has taken me to Santa Cruz. Our post new years road trip included a stop in Vancouver and a Hipster-esc stop in Portland. Im pretty sure that just by stopping in Portland, your hipster cred goes through the roof. We stopped for coffee that shared the retail area with a bamboo store! Hipster point +10. That, and a stop at a tear jerking vietnamese restaurant made our stay in Portland one to remember. (tear jerking because it was spicy. Not because I got emotional. Obviously)

The trip continued down the coast to Santa Cruz where we have settled in to our home base for the next 3 months. The roads to explore are numerous and the UV index has quintupled since Calgary. It doesn't take much change of scenery to get the motivation levels back up.

Seeing as this year will be filled with numerous long road trips. I thought I would share my knowledge and experience in this field. I have compiled a list of tips and tricks that can help anyone survive a 12 hour car journey.

1. THE BOARDER CROSSING SECURITY GUY IS NOT YOUR FRIEND. Don't ask him what his favourite colour is of if he likes sundaes. Those questions result in cavity searches.

2. If you start getting tired, listen to 2 Chainz. His deep and complex lyrics will help you remain alert.

3. Pinto Beans should be banned from your diet 2 weeks pre road trip

4. Gas station sandwiches can survive a nuclear explosion. DON'T EAT THEM

5. Trying to break the "holding your pee for the longest possible time" is just a cheaper form of yoga.

6. Eat Sushi in Vancouver and Burritos in California

7. Take 4-5 hours trying to figure out the meaning of life. My main conclusion from our last drive is that if Rob Ford can still be mayor, I can become a professional cyclist.

8. Dont cheat while playing 21 questions. No one ever wins

9. Tell people you are from Canada. They like that.

10. Hide junk food out of arms reach. This way you must become a contortionist to access the Doritos you stashed in the back seat.

I hope these tips help!

I'll be throwing up some updates on the blog as the season rolls on. Visit back to hear stories about bikes, road that I ride my bike on, people I like to ride bikes with, food I eat to keep biking and the Olympics (diversify...)

My Thighs Are Shrinking but My Brain Is Growing

I haven't kept up in the writing department lately because, well, I'm at school. Nothing REALLY happens at schools. Unless you think the following is interesting: procrastinating, learning, developing into a mature adult, losing hair (and sleep), wishing I was riding a bike, enjoying group work (sarcastic), upping my coffee consumption by 200%, losing fitness, due dates... etc. 

Although I would like to share with you a fun moment I had in class last week. 

Picture an auditorium filled with 300 young adults waiting to fill their brains with knowledge that will better them as human beings. I walk over to an empty spot in the corner,  ( This isn't a kinesiology class. I feel like I have landed on a new continent with new species) and start to take out my notes. The 2 girls behind me are having a great time discussing new hair styles, pop culture, pen colour, mascara application, purse content, dogs of instagram and other x rated topics. The teacher starts with his lecture which is usually the cue for everyone to start taking notes but not for these girls. NO WAY JOSE. There are way too many things to talk about then to listen to this balding man in his 60's talk about economic patterns of the modern era. 

"Like, seriously Becky, if John doesn't get why I'm upset with him then I'm done. Like my texts only had one or two words in them, I was PISSED"

" But Suzy, he's sooooooo cute, you guys look so happy on instagram all the time" 

" Ya you are so right, like last night we.._______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________" 

* fill in the blanks, use your imagination

At this point of class, I had a heavy decision to make. Should I be that weird old kid that has no friends to tell these two girls to shut it or should I withstand another 45 minutes listening to Becky proclaim her love for her life long partner?

I turn around. "Excuse me girls, can you please be quiet, I can't hear the teacher when you guys are talking"

Becky: OMG, can you believe this guy! he's SOOOOOOO rude. 

Becky and Suzy leave. I keep taking notes and class ends. 

I have become the old person in class that tells people to shut up so I can take notes. The day has come ladies and gentlemen. I might be slightly maturing. 

Dont count on it though, I still laugh when people fart. 

My life is better than Mean Girls. 

Walk it off

There are 2 things cyclists are famous for being horrible at. The first is walking/running and the second is carrying things ( be it grocery bags, backpacks, anything...). This is why off season hiking seams like such a a good idea. You wake up one morning after doing months of non weight bearing exercise and think to yourself "man, I think i should totally fill this pack with REALLY heavy objects, eat half of what i usually do, and walk long distances where there is no finish line". Sure, sure... there are nice views and what not but the full body muscle spasm i seamed to be getting every eighth step was detrimental to the whole " nice view" thing.

I have narrowed down a list of things in life that make me extremely happy. Firstly, being in bed before the sun goes down fills me with such joy that its hard to explain. It's like, ummm, what i expect Jay Z feels like every morning waking up to Beyonce. I enjoy a great coffee and a good magazine (ideally at the same time). Home cooked food, movies and napping. I took a step back here and realized that i would be the worlds happiest man if I moved into a retirement home. AND i could work on puzzles, i love puzzles. Although there is something special about getting here after a day of hiking to enjoy dehydrated food, tea and uncle ben's rice:

and someone to share it with.... 

Hold off on the retirement home, this whole "being active" thing isn't too bad.

Someone told me school starts soon, made me feel like this:

Bikes over class rooms any day. Or dance floors, get your groove on HERE 

Winding Down

Its Sunday morning (scratch that, sunday afternoon) and so far today I have made it to the shower and my closet to put on underwear. Theres a half eaten Delissio pizza on the kitchen counter and dried up mint leaves from an attempt at making mojitos. The bike season has come to an end and the athlete throttle has been pulled back... for now. Its amazing how the human body reacts to very foreign substances.

I've had a chance to look back at the season and come up with a little highlight real...

Winter kicked off in cow town so naturally I retreaded south to my new winter home in San Diego. Two months went by and this is what happened: it was sunny so I rode a ton, ate a lot of cheap mexican food, I became fitter, a racoon knocked me off my bike. 

I went to team camp and on several occasions my team mates made me feel like this: 

I raced in the states, then I raced in BC, then I raced in Alberta. Bikes, bikes bikes....

I attended most bike races feeling like this:

And most of the time I left feeling like this:

I have spent more time with my teammates then my family this year. I guess this makes them like my second family... A family of dudes that enjoy wearing tight shorts and experiencing body numbing pains while riding a bike. A family that eats more food than a small army. A family that knows WAY to much about each other. A family that seems to manage to overcome all sorts of life ending drama and weird social occasions.

I finish up the season with a sense of pride and joy. Sometimes things don't go the way you want them to but you just have to roll with the punches. It all comes out in the wash in the end.

Heres to the next chapter, to being that weird 6th year undergrad student still working away at his degree. Maybe I'll get a cat, some sweaters and drink tea on campus. Actually if I went to U of Vic, I'd probably fit right in. 

I'm going through a new music phase. Check this one out, it got me all excited HERE

10 essential life lessons

1. Say "I love you" at least once a day

Doesn't matter to whom or what. Had a great bowl of honey nut cherios? Whisper "i love you" to the milk as you pour yourself another bowl. 

Serious note: everyone should love their PARENTS. Tell your mom you love her. It will make her smile. 

2. If you eat something you like, have more. 

Life is too short to eat poopy calories. When the waiter asks " sir, would you like another piece of pie" you should answer "bring me 6 more, a wheel chair and spandex pants". Im not leaving until i'm in a food coma. 

3. Real massages hurt. 

I often hear " oh my god, daily massages would be so good". Correct. But only if you are sipping mojitos on the beach while a Thai Goddess tickles your feet with a banana leaf. During yesterdays massage, my pain cave was so deep i thought to myself:

4. Be in love. Its awesome. 

5. No matter how much stretching you do, don't assume you can do this:

Trust me i tried. 

6. Winning a bike race is hard. So when you do win one, celebrate in style. 

7. Listen to the sloth. 

8. Enjoy sleeping. 

I read a poster once that said "nobody remembers the nights spent sleeping"and i thought to myself "i do! i have a list of my best sleeps ever, its in my diary"

Never feel bad about having a 15 hour sleep. Nothing beats a comfy bed and sweet dreams.

9. Dont stress over money, be like Micheal Scott. 

10. Life is short. Have fun. 

It doesn't really matter what you do as long as you enjoy it.