tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13684285924451758992011-11-12T23:31:57.387-08:00Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.comBlogger731100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-50571296119189521962011-09-22T21:43:00.000-07:002011-09-22T21:45:15.986-07:00

I won the triathlon with the same strategy that worked for me last year: Be the only person to compete in all three events. :-) ICBC to the Grouse Grind on bike: 25 m 20 s The Grind: 47 m 12 s A beer: Before anyone else finished theirs PB on the first two.

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-14223232519473875442011-08-04T06:41:00.000-07:002011-08-04T06:41:43.056-07:00

I rode four hours on Sunday. Here are the stats: 4 h 05 m 00 s, Average Speed: 27.46 km/h, Distance: 112.59 km. That's a flat ride, so the average indicates that I'm not getting any younger. I used to be able to average 33 km/h on flat rides. There was a pretty strong wind, but I had it behind me as much as it was a headwind. Another big shout out to Mighty Riders. Ed has been helping me with my

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-23163039796051465262011-04-08T19:30:00.000-07:002011-04-08T19:30:17.675-07:00

So I gave in to pressures and went to sign up for Netflix. Actually, it appeared to be the model I think I'm looking for -- movies when I want them from the Internet (no cable). I had trepidation about the quality of the image streamed to the TV from my computer, but I was prepared to work on that. So I sign up, hit play, and they tell me they won't play the movie because I don't use one of

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-22512141284121023752011-02-14T20:07:00.000-08:002011-02-14T20:07:33.987-08:00

A computer is playing Jeopardy. That's nothing. I want to see computers in reality TV: "Survivor: Data Centre Edition". Linux tribe versus Windows tribe. The question: will J2EE servers choose Linux or Windows? Or "Mobile Edition". Will Nokia and Windows be able to beat out the two tin cans with a string between them?

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-11199603266558798792010-09-26T21:30:00.000-07:002010-09-26T21:30:26.268-07:00

When we were 8-9 year old kids, arguments were punctuated with cries of, "prove it." Marc and his friend Krystian were arguing in the back seat today, when Kristian said, "Prove it. Google it."

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-51269278874108278812010-08-21T16:43:00.000-07:002010-08-21T16:43:52.165-07:00

When I bought my bike at Mighty Riders, they measured me up to make sure I was buying the right frame. Then when the bike was built they put it in a stand and watched me ride and adjusted it further. It was definitely nice to ride. However, I was still finding that my feet would go numb after an hour, and other parts would sometimes go numb sooner (I won't name the parts so this blog won't get

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-89725183436461736562010-08-01T23:12:00.000-07:002010-08-01T23:12:08.484-07:00

We put Marc in a one week day camp with Stagecoach, a drama arts school (www.stagecoachschools.ca). The staff there did an awesome job of bringing out the best in all the kids, especially with Marc. I'm very grateful for the care and consideration they gave to Marc. Here's a rough cut of the Friday afternoon show they did. It has the parts that Marc was in (thank goodness YouTube now allows 15

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-6530855961383228892010-06-24T21:01:00.000-07:002010-08-01T23:05:50.712-07:00

We went to a concert of a full orquestra playing music from the Star Wars movies last night. Marc and I went dressed up, me as Count Dooku and Marc as Anakin Skywalker just before he gave in to the dark side of the Force. I think I was the only guy my age, and in fact the only adult, that was in costume. The things we do to keep our kids happy.

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-11984788301032378562010-06-18T05:56:00.000-07:002010-06-18T05:56:36.446-07:00

Marc's test for three stripes (san kumi), June 11, 2010.

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-9891116175654992112010-05-27T20:35:00.000-07:002010-05-27T20:35:32.284-07:00

The law, in its majestic equality, forbids both rich and poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread. Anatole France I saw this years ago in a storefront, and with the miracle of Google all it took was to remember to search for it one day.

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-66625669833747615112010-05-26T20:02:00.000-07:002010-05-26T20:02:14.022-07:00

Here's a video on how to do a proper throw-in.

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-81614732050894161932010-05-24T19:51:00.000-07:002010-05-24T19:51:14.463-07:00

Canada lost to Argentina 5-0 today, in a friendly match before Argentina heads off to South Africa for the world cup. Watch Argentina's fourth goal at about 3:45 in the video. Three Argentinian players rob a Canadian of the ball. As soon as one of the Argentinian gets control of the ball, the other two run away to an open spot. One pass and Gooooooool.

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-4220276989407449892010-05-08T22:06:00.000-07:002010-05-08T22:06:44.534-07:00

Watch Real Madrid's keeper make a number of outstanding saves. He's almost as good as Jarrod! In the end, Barca's (Barcelona's) players always find the open spot and are ready to score a goal. Barcelona beats Real Madrid 6-2.

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-69762765213409348512010-05-01T19:34:00.000-07:002010-05-01T19:34:59.808-07:00

Watch Maxi Rodríguez' concentration as he takes a cross on his chest and then shoots the ball into the upper corner of the net.

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-72710504058834717282010-05-01T19:25:00.000-07:002010-05-01T19:25:28.488-07:00

Watch how players from Argentina in the dark blue always move to a space where there's no opposing player. Then the player with the ball passes to the player who's in the open space. Watch 25 passes and then listen to the great Spanish "Gooooooooool".

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-28562988840506581022010-05-01T10:06:00.000-07:002010-05-01T10:07:30.512-07:00

Welcome to Team Italia of the Hastings (Empire Bowl) Soccer League for 2010. I'm coach Larry and I'm proud to be coaching my great group of Grade 2 and 3 kids. Check back here often, as I'll post lots of info for the players and their parents. Today all I have is the league rules. Be sure to read and understand the rules: I will participate because I want to I will play by the rules -- winning

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-67589775200200804362010-05-01T07:29:00.000-07:002010-05-01T07:29:19.482-07:00

Here's Marc participating with his buddy class in a dance presentation.

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-62996528053924468712010-02-12T20:45:00.000-08:002010-02-12T20:47:49.485-08:00

Grandma and Grandpa Reid's homestead near Meskanaw, Saskatchewan, in Google Street View: Ver mapa más grande

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-56921396376939969322010-01-31T07:55:00.000-08:002010-01-31T07:55:55.108-08:00

My son is playing soccer on a U8 team, which means the kids are six or seven at the start of the year. It's a fun league, which means "we don't keep score." Of course, the kids keep score, and it's highly disheartening for my kids, because we're the team that always loses. (Actually, there's another team in our situation, and games with that team are actually interesting. We even won one.) I

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-2409061299401570782010-01-31T07:41:00.000-08:002010-01-31T07:41:29.702-08:00

If you wonder why my Google name is lenchoreyes, here it is: First, in my ongoing quest to miss every great development, I totally blew off my brother when he offered an invitation to a beta of this "gmail" thing. So I missed my chance to be larry.reid@gmail.com. When I finally got around to signing up for all things Google, all variants of my name were taken. So I used one of my Spanish

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-53726451753513824112009-12-27T07:33:00.000-08:002009-12-27T07:33:57.055-08:00

I did an 11 lb. turkey with stuffing on the BBQ for Christmas (so I wasn't an adult when Canada went metric -- why do we still buy our meat in pounds?). I took the temperature of the stuffing at three hours and it was ready (165 F -- again, still cooking in Imperial units). It was nice and moist so I don't think it had been ready for long. The BBQ is great for a couple of reasons: The rotisserie

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-13562539439174811552009-12-13T21:35:00.001-08:002009-12-13T21:35:23.382-08:00

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-39417214040377211262009-09-11T17:09:00.000-07:002009-09-11T17:13:06.747-07:00

Ryder Hesjedal, one of four Canadians riding in the Vuelta a España this year, won today's stage and finished second on Tuesday. Since I started following the grand tours on the Internet (1994?), this is the first time I recall Canadians winning a stage.The Tour of Spain is the third of the three big three-week cycling races, along with the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France.

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-59151796075974059282009-08-30T11:12:00.001-07:002009-08-30T11:24:13.147-07:00

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

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-90410830491759827442009-08-24T15:36:00.001-07:002009-08-24T15:54:54.322-07:00

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

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-84198923723176487532009-08-20T12:49:00.000-07:002009-08-20T12:50:22.984-07:00

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

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-23148207066527158522009-08-13T11:29:00.000-07:002009-08-13T11:34:36.737-07:00

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.

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-44364759712706478832009-08-11T10:02:00.001-07:002009-08-11T14:13:46.715-07:00

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.)

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-85958859305749580952009-07-25T10:23:00.000-07:002009-07-25T12:46:44.134-07:00

Marcos passed his test yesterday, so he now has two orange stripes on his white belt. Two more tests until he has his orange belt. Way to go, Marcos!

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-56700385531701985822009-07-13T13:56:00.000-07:002009-07-13T14:00:19.729-07:00

I found this site via a podcast: http://www.goodguide.com/. Good Guide lets you rate products according to how they meet a variety of criteria. I haven't looked at it a lot but it looks interesting.Here's a podcast about Good Guide, which I haven't yet listened to.

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-78745048337453258172009-07-10T21:02:00.000-07:002009-07-10T21:04:26.511-07:00

Now that the weather's nicer, I'm not so terrified of going over the Second Narrows Bridge. Just scared. Here's another interesting route.

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-25656067463714341592009-07-10T20:28:00.000-07:002009-07-10T20:30:03.057-07:00

Here's the Google Map of my Stanley Park loop. It's just over 9 km long. When I have more time I'll annotate it a bit more.

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-50809113072810966832009-06-15T15:48:00.000-07:002009-06-15T15:51:08.972-07:00

The headline tells almost all of it. The missing part is that I did the first lap faster than I think I've ever gone before: 17 minutes flat. The next two were 16:55 and 16:40. I'm feeling the effort now, and I suspect tomorrow I'll feel it even more.

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-12974921782251848712009-06-15T15:35:00.000-07:002009-06-15T15:37:58.227-07:00

Marc's having fun at soccer this year. He plays where the old Empire Bowl was, near our house. Here are some pictures from two different days. The pictures are deliberately framed to show Marc playing soccer in the sun and in the shadow of the north shore mountains.

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-52292587312326880702009-06-01T19:51:00.000-07:002009-06-01T19:55:28.007-07:00

The Vancouver high school in the news today is close to us. I passed all the media trucks parked outside on my way home from my PMP course today. It would be Marc's high school if he were in the English program (and in high school already)...

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-58771326268304132532009-05-06T15:56:00.000-07:002009-05-06T16:04:53.266-07:00

With a 7 year old boy in the house, we've been on a Star Wars watching binge of late. I've been bombarded with questions about Star Wars, andI can only answer questions about the first three movies (IV, V and VI), because I never saw the last three (I, II, and III)For some reason, I can't remember a lot about the first three movies even though I did see them. It was almost 30 years ago...While

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-15197301397618815012009-04-29T07:56:00.000-07:002009-04-29T07:58:47.358-07:00

Seen in a Google search:Jim I am a Linux novice so please bare with me.Either Linux geeks can't spell, or Linux support has got kinkier than I thought.

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-66479649921303965012009-04-17T07:34:00.000-07:002009-04-17T07:59:10.211-07:00

For the second time, we in BC are being asked to vote for a fundamentally flawed change to the way we elect members to the provincial legislature.I went to the BC-STV website to "get the facts" so I could prepare a typical computer-geek detailed rebuttal to the single transferable vote system. I got that, but I also realized something more important: They're completely ignoring the social

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-39328909674748819702009-04-17T07:00:00.001-07:002009-04-17T07:13:01.115-07:00

Since I'm "between contracts" I've been setting up the infrastructure for Marc's school's Parent Advisory Council website. It's now live at: http://hastingspac.ca/. For those interested in technical details, check out my technology blog posts about the PAC website.

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-24007848921672998472009-02-14T13:22:00.000-08:002009-02-14T13:27:45.302-08:00

Last week I was reminded how really lucky we are to live in a society with "freedom of the press". One of our local dailies trumpeted, "One year to go," while the other had another point of view: "365 days to go."They were referring to the 2010 Winter Olympics, which true to Canadian form are going to leave those of us who voted against them in the first place, paying for them years to come. Not

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-76537666514949311862009-02-01T07:52:00.000-08:002009-02-01T14:18:44.092-08:00

There's a new exhibit of Lego at Science World. Marc spent an hour just studying the city. He was much more interested in the intricacies of the city, than in the really big items that, frankly, weren't that impressive except for their size. After we checked out the rest of Science World and saw the Roving Mars Omnimax movie, we came back and looked at the city for another 45 minutes.

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-40572969310747696892009-02-01T07:14:00.000-08:002009-04-17T06:59:12.486-07:00

I went for an hour ride last Monday, out to Port Moody along Hastings and the Barnet Highway. It was -7 C when I left and -4 C when I got back. I used to commute all winter in Ottawa, but I was wearing big winter boots in really loose toe straps, not clip-on racing shoes, and I had a coat the covered down to my crotch. Going out dressed like a racer at those temperatures, I need to put on some

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-26338591577043317262008-12-25T07:45:00.000-08:002008-12-25T07:48:24.273-08:00

All our neighbours who have lived in Vancouver all their lives say they've never seen this much snow in Vancouver. Even the famous snowstorm of 1996 was like a 36-hour phenomena. Wednesday, December 17 was the start of the snow and it hasn't let up yet. And of course, Vancouver doesn't know how to deal with snow. Here are some pictures.

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-44734834492146929502008-10-08T19:52:00.001-07:002008-10-08T20:01:41.107-07:00

This is pretty funny: http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/09/28/real-time-with-bill-maher-new-rules-look-beyond-the-candidates-skin-color/. Stick with it when it starts to look like it's going to say bad things about single mothers. The real point is about the privileged jerks that have delayed my retirement by several years due to their game playing with mortgages.If you're watching the video,

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-25951729208154609202008-08-25T20:26:00.000-07:002008-08-25T20:42:14.069-07:00

We went camping at Lightning Lakes Campground in Manning Provincial Park. The campground is five km off Highway 3 where the Manning Park Resort is. The campground is probably 1,300 m above sea level, so in late August it's getting really cold at night. I would guess that Saturday morning at 5:00 AM when I got up (thanks to the cat throwing up in the tent), it was probably only a few degrees above

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-22242268519000158682008-08-02T18:00:00.000-07:002008-08-02T20:04:19.841-07:00

Marc and his friend Benjamin went to Science World today. Here are the pictures:

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-48994649811335464372008-06-08T21:46:00.000-07:002008-10-08T19:57:29.717-07:00

Marc's been wanting to go camping all winter. We finally negotiated the first weekend in June. We went to Nairn Falls Provincial Park. We went last year for one night. The falls are spectacular, but we didn't go see them this year. We just played around the campground and looked at the river.On the way up we saw three bears (no Goldilocks, though). Two were just a few metres off the edge of the

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-28845090208754909702008-05-24T07:05:00.001-07:002008-05-24T07:14:18.567-07:00

I just heard a great podcast of Arthur Benjamin doing his mental math tricks. The second half of the podcast is him explaining how he does it, which I think is much more interesting than the tricks themselves to those of who are math-inclined.Something I found really interesting is that he does math by hearing or words, rather than visually. I'm visual, which is why I can do math in my head about

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-14355191497231941642008-05-20T17:42:00.000-07:002008-05-20T17:46:56.621-07:00

Alberto Contador, last year's Tour de France winner, riding with a broken arm, finished second in today's individual time trial at the Giro d'Italia, a 39.4 km ride in 56 m 49 s.

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-81109303687699784822008-05-16T19:59:00.000-07:002008-05-16T20:59:26.535-07:00

Marc went to the Children's Festival in Vanier Park with his Mom and Kindergarten. Here are the photos:

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-46733851422990354022008-05-11T20:39:00.000-07:002008-05-24T07:04:54.621-07:00

We live a few blocks from the Pacific National Exhibition grounds, which are home to Playland. Playland is an amusement park that's open from Easter until Hallowe'en. I guess I should consider us lucky that Marc made it to six years old before he figured out that he should be able to ask for a trip to Playland whenever he wants. We negotiated once a month as a compromise. The season's pass for a

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-80402150102434205162008-03-14T14:29:00.000-07:002008-05-16T20:14:20.225-07:00

Courtesy of Ed at Mighty Riders, here's the ten-minute course on important bicycle maintenance:Buy a bike with cartridge bearings. These are basically the same type of bearings as you find in a car. You don't have to oil or pack them. They've been common in the bottom bracket for years. It's worth the money you spend to get them in the wheels and headset as well. You should check your wheel

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-85268539868785499862008-03-08T19:33:00.000-08:002008-03-14T15:08:30.506-07:00

On my once-every-six-weeks trip to the Great Canadian Superstore (Loblaw's, for you easterners), I found a fair-trade certified President's Choice coffee. That's a long way from riding my bike through an Ottawa winter to the one church in town that sold Bridgehead Nicaraguan coffee, like I had to do 20 years ago.

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-8454216025048546942008-02-13T20:11:00.000-08:002008-02-13T20:14:55.099-08:00

Here are some pictures of the aftermath of the explosion in the Starbucks and Taco del Mar on W Broadway in Vancouver. It's about a block from my office. The Starbucks was the semi-official coffee shop of Vancouver Coastal Health's senior management, who work right across the street. The first few pictures are from when I went by in the morning on my way to work. The others are after lunch.

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-75774843664884206162008-02-03T19:10:00.000-08:002008-02-03T19:13:51.014-08:00

I couldn't stand winters in Vancouver if it weren't for the days in February like yesterday. They make me stop in my back alley and stare at the mountains for minutes, even after almost eleven years in Vancouver. Too bad such a lovely place is wasted on such lousy weather the rest of the time.

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-4446922632990680612008-01-27T09:19:00.000-08:002008-01-27T09:20:16.812-08:00

Mighty Riders is a great bike shop. They've gone far beyond my expectations for making me happy with the Surly I bought from them. 20 months after I bought the bike they worked on the problem of the squealing cantilever brakes because they want me to be happy with the bike. That's not something you get many places anymore. If you're ready to buy a bike that fits your way of riding, rather than

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-67500057336051808442008-01-13T11:42:00.000-08:002008-01-27T09:20:42.334-08:00

I'm pretty happy with my Surly Cross-Check that I bought from Mighty Riders. It's an off-the-shelf cyclo-cross frame that Ed at Mighty Riders fitted out to my specs. I notice the difference riding a bike that was bought after I was measured and the frame was chosen to fit me, not the other way around.The other nice thing is that my primary spec was to be a low-maintenance, year-round sporty

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-45985773406656961652008-01-13T11:30:00.000-08:002008-01-27T09:21:22.524-08:00

I rode my bike to work every day last week. It's been six weeks or more since I've been able to say that, what with holidays around Christmas, and the Vancouver black ice. I think I'm a little more chicken after my crash last February so I might have missed a few days that I would have ridden last year.The problem with winter cycling in Vancouver is that we have so many days that are right on the

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-80476110176550987882008-01-06T07:47:00.001-08:002008-01-06T07:49:39.157-08:00

The Tooth Fairy dropped by on Friday, January 4. Marc lost his first tooth at daycare, just a few minutes before I came by to pick him up.In his mind, Marc understands that the Tooth Fairy and el Ratoncito Peréz are the same person, but like superheros, it's a person with two identities.

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-55394087415610246202007-09-30T17:26:00.001-07:002007-10-16T20:36:59.379-07:00

I've just left the board of REACH after four years. REACH is a community health centre that's been providing team-based health care to people in East Vancouver for over 35 years. As you might expect from an organization formed in the early seventies, it has a lot of notions of democratic decision making in the workplace.I don't think you have to be a seventies-era alternative health care provider

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-70742375345816604032007-09-29T16:56:00.001-07:002007-09-29T16:57:53.942-07:00

Marc drew a picture of his cat Juanita:

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-87913617866892781742007-07-08T07:26:00.000-07:002007-07-08T07:31:57.699-07:00

In June we went to Squamish to see Thomas the Tank Engine. It was an opportunity to take a ride in a real train, with Thomas at the front "pulling". Squamish used to be BC Rail's main maintenance site, and after BC Rail was sold the area was taken over by a historical railway society, so they actually have enough rail for a half hour ride there and back.There was of course lots of promotions to

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-26520382401481004732007-06-13T13:43:00.000-07:002007-06-13T13:47:29.574-07:00

Marc lives surrounded by bald eagles. This one is in the park adjacent to his pre-school. The tree is a few metres from Hastings Street, the main street in this part of town, and a few hundred metres from the Trans-Canada Highway. We've walked around the base of the tree and found the remains of their meals, including the carcass of a salmon that must have weighed 10 pounds when it was alive.

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-63905168421078317842007-05-29T11:34:00.000-07:002007-05-29T12:01:23.039-07:00

Here's another ride. If you want flats around here you go to Richmond or Delta, which for me means going over the top of Vancouver. Then it's flat like Saskatchewan, or flatter, since you're on the delta for the Fraser River. There're no great routes going north-south in Vancouver, so I often end up on rather busy streets. Here's the map.

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-2048941601267034762007-05-26T13:23:00.000-07:002007-05-26T13:29:53.535-07:00

Last weekend while cleaning up for Marc's play dates, I realized I couldn't find my new cheque books, the ones we need because the cheque format is changing. After spending significant time searching -- eventually everything was clean but I kept looking -- Angela said, "Are you sure you weren't supposed to go pick them up at the credit union?" A quick call confirmed that they'd been waiting for

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-59167134905082069662007-05-16T14:25:00.000-07:002007-05-16T14:27:25.866-07:00

My sister Diane says blogs are a feminist conspiracy to get men to communicate. I like that. It reminds my of how when laptops first came out, men suddenly wanted to take minutes at meetings, because it meant they got to use the cool technology. Now that laptops are everyday, men have gone back to avoiding taking minutes.

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-40945634142070574292007-05-11T17:00:00.000-07:002007-05-11T18:29:12.325-07:00

I found a new two-hour workout, but this one is a different from the others: 55 minutes of continuous climb. I don't think I've done that since perhaps my trip from Banff to Jasper about 25 years ago. The climb was to the parking lot for the ski area at Mt. Seymour -- about 1,023 metres above sea level. The 55 minutes started at about 120 metres above sea level. There's quite a bit of uphill just

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-72894691795200279432007-05-07T15:58:00.000-07:002007-05-07T16:14:59.430-07:00

Today I did my "Three Laps of Stanley Park" workout. I take it easy down to the park, then try to do three laps at the same speed, or ideally faster each lap. Two weeks ago I did the classic silly trick of burning up the first lap and then having nothing left for lap three. Today I still did the first lap a bit faster than the other two, but at least the third lap was faster than the

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-37065738105522598322007-05-07T10:01:00.000-07:002007-05-07T10:04:58.153-07:00

People who live in the Lower Mainland (Vancouver, etc.) can be irritants, and this post aims to prove it.Last Friday we had our first asparagus of the year out of our own garden. We'd already finished off the first rhubarb crisp of the year from our garden. Yesterday we left a rhubarb pie with Karen and Brad. The tulips have died off already, as have the cherry blossoms.Of course, people in the

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-86274407147042277412007-05-01T08:55:00.000-07:002007-05-01T09:04:40.345-07:00

Here's another two-hour bike route. This one has some parts that go through a lot of traffic but none of it is particularly conflictive. The hills are near the start and end, with some nice long flat bits to practice spinning in the middle. There are some great views once you get out past Burnaby and into the valley. Yesterday Mount Baker, the big volcano in Washington State, was quite clearly

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-8290031826154862562007-05-01T07:52:00.000-07:002007-05-01T07:56:14.498-07:00

Sunday we went to Sunset Beach in downtown Vancouver. Marc still fits in his trailer, but just barely. The headwind on the way to the beach was quite cold, despite the bright sun. It's nice to have urban beaches; if only it were warm enough to enjoy them more than a few weekends per year.

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-87600261233208379902007-04-27T13:01:00.000-07:002007-05-01T14:16:42.463-07:00

I just got back from two hours on the bike in the pouring rain. Sure, you have a great variety of roads here and beautiful scenery in the Lower Mainland, but you need to be able to see it to enjoy it. When it rains here, you can't see much more than the trees or houses on either side of the road. Such is cycling in Vancouver.Since I'm between contracts, I'm not commuting on my bike. So I'm doing

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368428592445175899.post-40732500150757945312007-04-21T10:40:00.000-07:002007-04-22T07:05:57.156-07:00

Marc played his first soccer game yesterday. He had lots of fun in the warm-ups. When he wasn't picked to play in the first shift, he got upset and didn't want to play anymore. Of course, he didn't tell me why he didn't want to play until almost half time.Once we figured out why he didn't want to play, he had fun. He played goal for the first part of the second half and made several good

Larry Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950655805971599646noreply@blogger.com