Thread Drift

[DirtDiva]

What a great programme - sounds like heaps of fun.

[crazycanuck]

I wish the NZ/Aust girls could have a meet up/biking weekend...


Dirt...are you all packed & ready to move back to the UK? Are you going back to London to a full time position??

c

[Duck on Wheels]

UK Elephant and her BF arrived last night. This morning she borrowed RubySlipperz (my Trek 7.6) and went out for some hill training in the rain (snow is gone again , but that does allow for more biking ). She did a short route with some steep hills and reports having no prob getting up them. Tomorrow she plans to do a longer route with a couple longer hills. One problem translating this into confidence for the ALC6 is that my bike has a triple crank and hers has a compact double, so I've got some more "senior" gears than she'll have available next summer. Still, she seemed happy to have made these so handily after all that flatland training in Essex.

OK. That's it for now. Off to do some more xmas shopping. Gotta have m&m's ready for decorating the gingerbread cookies. I made the dough yesterday and UK is going to bake them tonight and try to sell some at DH's and my respective offices tomorrow for her ALC6 fund.

[Xrayted]

CrazyC - No we didn't get to the Vegemite. Sorry. But all that means is I have another reason to go visit BMo3 and her lovely family. Yea!! BTW, don't worry, I stopped talking while I shot that back window pic. Actually, I liked the scene in my rear view mirror so I just pointed over my shoulder and shot a couple hoping to get one to keep. I liked the perspective of having my bike in the foreground. Of course, I should have paid more attention to what city it actually was...

tygab - welcome to TD! Any snowshoeing up there yet? At some point late next spring, I will be looking to buy a kayak. (Used to have one but I borrow one from a friend when I get the bug right now) Definitely a single but also maybe a tandem so I'm gonna pick your brain on what to get, what brands to stay away from... I'll mostly be inland on lakes and rivers. No sit on top style for me. Leaning more toward a touring kayak than a recreational one. I want at least one dry storage hatch. Not sure if I need a rudder, it's not like we get waves in the lake.

Duck - glad to hear your daughter arrived safe and sound.

KG - what a great program.

OTG - ya don't swallow the toothpaste, do you? Yeah, Sat is a discussion best left elsewhere... so PM me when you can.

Well, I've got tons to do before work so I'll see y'all later.

Be happy and safe...

X.

[Duck on Wheels]

Our school is part of a program sponsored by the Ministry of Fisheries. They educate the public, bring in the spawning salmon, provide all the materials, and we babysit the eggs, then the alevin, and the fry for the winter/spring. The schools act as nurseries for the baby salmon and then we release them into the wild in the spring. The kids are so interested in all of it. My friend is the teacher-librarian at our school and she organizes it all. My class gets very involved and we help to "milk" the salmon in the fall, then we feed them 3-4 times a day in the spring. I even have to go into the school several times a day during spring break to feed the little guys so we get pretty attached. It is so cool to release them later.

Do the kids get very attached to them, or do they see them as future food? And either way, do you notice any difference in how they think about the river and ocean environments? I recall my son's preschool started an adopt-a-tree project in response to an outbreak of tree vandalism around the playground. It really helped.

[Trek420]

Me again. Here's a closeup of Jacob Two-Two.

Kelowna: Knott just quipped "maybe he shoulda been named Desmond?"

Duck please convey to UK: Don't worry about the triple. It will translate well. Somewhere here is a discussion of triples vs. compact doubles and get this...the gear range is virtualy the same!! Just a slightly bigger "jump" between gears on a CD vs your triple.

Plus UK's Specialized Cross bike is stiffer, probably lighter, skinnier wheels therefore less rolling resistance...fighting headwinds on the flats is a great way to train for hills, she will fly up in June....or at least past me.

Knott wanted to see me do Aikido so we dropped by the dojo last night. Tuesday nights womens class (all our classes are mixed, beginner/advanced/men and women. There's just one women specific class) fit right in our plan between dropping by the LBS and dinner. As I walked in, bow, start to take my shoes off the most senior student there, a brown belt and really a kid flies up to me "thank you thank you, you have saved me. Now I don't have to teach class"

Huh? me? teach?

Seems Pat, our head instructor who always teaches was called off to a funeral for a former students child, very sad.

I've never taught a class, over 20 years of training and I've never....so Knott got to see me about at my about my most nervous

[Duck on Wheels]

Trek: So how'd the class GO? I imagine you'd be an excellent teacher. What I know about biking I learned from you, although there probably was a time I ran along holding the back of the seat while you learned to ride. Couldn't have lasted long, tho. I think you were more like Ramona and learned 2-wheel balancing by tipping your tricycle sideways.

X: I'm hoping you didn't _really_ take those photos while driving! I'm hoping you're kidding, but don't know you well enough to be sure. Although the bits about the back window and the cell phone do seem to push the notion over the top. Nice pictures, btw.

Kit: So sorry the fish died.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Actually, I liked the scene in my rear view mirror so I just pointed over my shoulder and shot a couple hoping to get one to keep. I liked the perspective of having my bike in the foreground. Of course, I should have paid more attention to what city it actually was...

Yer makin me pretty nervous here...talking on cell phone while driving...taking photos while driving...not knowing what city you're driving past...not knowing what kind of animal you hit with your car....
Gee, I hope you didn't find any bike parts on your front bumper when you got home!

[Xrayted]

Mapquest doesn't tell you what city you just drove by, it only tells you what road you're supposed to be on. I was on the right road so I was happy with that.
I did stop talking on the cell to my best friend (who was keeping me awake so I figure that's safer than falling asleep ) cuz I saw that neat pic of the city line over my bike through the rear view. I simply rested the camera on my shoulder and took a few shots. I had no idea if I was pointed in the right direction or not cuz I wasn't about to turn around and look right then. Never previewed the pics 'til I got to the room later on. Got some nice pics of my backseat and the side windows if ya want to see them...

No way to know what kind of animal that was. It was pitch dark on I-70 doing 70mph just to keep up with traffic and not get hit from behind. Just saw it come across my front end and hit the left side bumper. Light brown about the size of a medium dog. Tall concrete side rails right there so I think it had to be something that can jump pretty well. No signs of damage or hair anywhere. Jen heard it though. (she was keeping me awake too - thanks Jen. )

[Kitsune06]

CrazyC - No we didn't get to the Vegemite. Sorry. But all that means is I have another reason to go visit BMo3 and her lovely family. Yea!! BTW, don't worry, I stopped talking while I shot that back window pic. Actually, I liked the scene in my rear view mirror so I just pointed over my shoulder and shot a couple hoping to get one to keep. I liked the perspective of having my bike in the foreground. Of course, I should have paid more attention to what city it actually was...

I waffle on whether or not I want you driving my neon. Then again, you have much more confidence than I do. Feel like racing a ricer Honda on I-5?

OTG - ya don't swallow the toothpaste, do you? Yeah, Sat is a discussion best left elsewhere... so PM me when you can.

In the case of toothpaste, always spit.

[Xrayted]

Kit - remember, I've seen your driving too... I thought about renting a Harley while I'm out there, just for a day. Maybe some take a long ride in the mountains, pack a picnic lunch, veg out amongst the tall grasses and trees.

Knot - so how was Trek-the-Aikido-teacher? Bet she kicked azz, didn't she...

[mimitabby]

TE is moribund today. I am so so so so bored. I got my bike back from the shop yesterday minus the front wheel. DH promises me that any 700 wheel will do.
I hope he's right because i have my appt with the bike pt guy Eric Moen next week and seems like i ought to have my very own bike to show him how i am doing. The wheel is still at the LBS because the cones i need for it are special special ordered. They are different from all the ones in the catalog and even Campagnolo did not have them in stock. (Some other place does fortunately)
Interesting, i am getting attached to the bike. I oiled (greased?) the chain with the special yellow lube that they sold me at Elliott bikes finally.
It smells, interesting. I have to take my stuff off Eden's bike and give it back to her (after Christmas) since I can't ride it anymore because of the big toe overlap thing going. I feel like Goofy now... my feet have seemed to grow.

Jennifer? Have you recovered from the visit?

[Kitsune06]

I was going to post a section of lyrics from the Avalanches, but on reading them, I realized the music said far more than the words did alone.

Shame.

But you can listen here for a snip of my favorite song by them; "Frontier Psychiatrist". I find if I can't find words for something, lyrics will generally say it better.

"Since I left you, I've found the world so new"
-Track 1

[Duck on Wheels]

... I find if I can't find words for something, lyrics will generally say it better.

"Since I left you, I've found the world so new"
-Track 1

Ah yes, the power of poetry. But is it that poets are so much better than we at putting thoughts into words, or is it that they leave the words tantalizingly open-ended and we fill in with our thoughts? Just musing ... Could be the new cough medicine ...

[Lise]

ARGH! Losing mind...can barely get to TE much less keep up with TD... I sit here scarfing shrimp stir fry from Whole Foods--hey, if the stress level's through the roof, at least try to eat well. I just realized that I'm only working a 12 hr shift next Sat, not a 24, as I thought. Woo-hoo! Feels like a Christmas present to me!

The BMo'3/X/Kit confab sounds FABULOUS!!! So happy for you gals!

Trek--I love it that Knot got to watch you teach!

OK, going to finish this pretty darned good food, and try to catch some zzz's before going on call tonight.

love to all! Lise