Mt Seymour Again

Friday I did Mount Seymour again. 59 minutes from the old kiosk where the road starts the serious climb, to the far end of the parking lot. My iPhone said I was at exactly 1,000 m at the top, and coming off the Ironworkers Bridge I was basically at sea level. At the kiosk, I was at 118 m.

I had a mental collapse coming around the last hairpin turn when I couldn't see the parking lot. I just became completely unable to push myself anymore and I allowed myself to slow down to 10 kph (from 12 or so). Once I crested the small rise, the parking lot was right there and almost flat. Something to remember if I do this again: Be prepared for the fact that you can't see the parking lot from the curve.

Another thing to remember: After the second hairpin, the slope gets a bit easier and there's a couple of minutes where I could up the pace to about 16 or 17 kph.

I hadn't done a good job of marking my time the last time I did this. I remembered 55 minutes as my time, but it could be that I was slower then. Watching my speed this time I think I was going as fast or faster than last time. Most of the time I'm doing around 12 kph.

Camping at Goldstream Provincial Park

Marc and I went camping at Goldstream Provincial Park (Google Maps has bad imagery in this area) on Vancouver Island. It's a comment on the population of the Vancouver area that you can't get a campsite in most parks on the mainland on the weekend unless you book two months in advance. But I got a weekend booking two weeks in advance for a campground 20 minutes from Victoria. And what I spent on ferry I almost saved on gas (a bit of an exaggeration, but not much).

To top it off, there were all sorts of interesting things to see within walking distance of the campground: Abandoned mine shafts, a railway bridge over a deep canyon, and a very high waterfall. Marc was the trooper he always is, walking or running six hours on Saturday to all the different sights. We saw and heard owls in the campground on Saturday night, and a garter snake on the trail on Sunday.

The only bummer was the total campfire ban. It's for good reason, it's been dry for months here, but it's strange to go camping and not have a campfire. Trying to make smores over a Coleman stove just doesn't do it.

Here's the slideshow:

So That's What Fixies are For

http://mightyriders.blogspot.com/2009/08/so-hot.html

Old Music

One of the interesting things about iTunes has been buying the soundtrack of my first trip to Latin America. And one of the interesting things about that is being reminded about when syndrums were cool.

That About Sums It Up

Marc said, "Dad, just because no one listens to you doesn't mean they didn't hear you."

(Marc is my seven-year-old son.)