Dream Date

Audrey Tautou (Amelie, A Very Long Engagement)

Another day another 50k

**UPDATE** links to Bikeclub should work now (thanks, Len!)

I was in Edmonton for most of last week - mostly without computer access so I couldn't post. Friday night after getting back we went to Taylor's 5th Birthday Party, which as always was fun.

Saturday we worked on the BikeClub website until it was time to join the poker tournament at Kyle and Stef's. Gina was second out but I managed to fly under the radar and squeak into 4th place (money went to top 3 - how many times in my life have I finished out of the money??

Sunday we rode 50k, over the resevoir to Edworty, then up into Strathcona and down to New Discovery and back home across the dam. A lot of climbing - read and see photos at BikeClub.

Who Says Nothing Rhymes with Orange?

On the Importance of the Hinge

(Petrarchan Sonnet)

What a bit-part actor you are, door-hinge.
Yet even they can steal the show with lust
And perhaps win an Oscar, golden trussed,
Like your own enchanting shade of orange.

The unpolished smoothness of your ore flange
And the dark, empty screw-hole filled with dust
Add to your mystery. And if you bust,
Metal empathy I will have, poor hinge.

Your cousin, the knob, has irrelevance.
So too has his brother and friend, the lock.
The door rests its life heavy upon you.

Without you, how could it possibly dance
Or keep an open mind or a closed thought?
Without you, hinge, there's nothing it can do.

©1993 Dave Reynolds

Bikes, Bikinis and Legs of Jello

50K. It might not sound like much but it was my first ride over 35K this year. Plus it was 12 degrees warmer than last weekend. Plus our route took us up 4 killer and a few not-so-killer hills. By the end my legs were shaking like a whipped puppy and I had to keep checking to make sure I wasn't just in a too-high gear (I wasn't).

Exciting moments to report? Well, there wasn't a kid on a mini-motorbike like last time. There were baby geese (or so I was told!). We saw a lot of wood ducks (the best kind). It wasn't stop-and-go traffic in Fish Creek (like last week). There were three bikini-clad girls who could have used some help getting their dinghy up the bank of the Elbow, though Gina was too far ahead for me to let her know so I had to leave them hanging. And of course, Gina had the camera in her saddlebag, so we'll have to settle for the above picture of 3/4 of the day's BikeClub members stopping for a drink. Sorry, Al.

Dinner and a Movie

Last evening's International Night was an excellent all-meat affair. It's good there are no ****tarians in the group, they would have starved eating only sauerkraut. We went to The New Berliner in the NE and I thought it was quite good. Six of us chose the sampler and it was quite the feast. I especially the liked whole ham hocks with cracklins.

Here are a few pics for your enjoyment:


Never trust a bag of tulip bulbs that says "mixed colours" - this is what you get. The entire bed is full of these.


If I had a (few) Million Dollars... this is from last week's bike ride along the Elbow River near Stanley Park.

I Knew You Were Waiting

According to this, the George Michael/Aretha Franklin duet is "my life's theme song", if I go with the US Pop Chart. However, if I go with the UK Chart, well then it's La Isla Bonita by Madonna.



Gina thinks that 18 is the wrong age for picking stuff from Pop Charts. She says 12 is when you're still at the mercy of being exclusively exposed to pop charts. This way of thinking gets me "Your Kiss is on My List" by Hall & Oates. That's more like it! (And Gina's is "Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen).

I see B (at 10) with her Hillary Duff and know how she's going to be embarrased about that one!

Halfway there and back again

I put 10K on the bike this morning by riding halfway to work with Gina and then back. Feels great - if only I could ride to work. It's less than an hour each way but I have to stay mobile in case I have to visit other stores, etc. Which comes up often. This riding with Gina in the morning though will be great for me and put an extra 50K on the bike each week. My goal this summer is 1000K.

And that gap continued to grow...

I'm guessing this is circa 1974.