Author: gfox (old content)

Saltspring Slasher

Ever hear of the Saltspring Slasher? I hadn’t until last weekend. This was a longboard competition on Saltspring Island and we went to check it out. Wow, very fun. The corner we were watching from was a switchback just before the finish line. Lots of chances to see the riders make the corner, crash, pass each other, and just have a good time.

As they approached the corner they were going around 85 KM/H, and to slow down before the corner, they would do a speed check which involved putting a hand down on the pavement and sliding the board perpendicular to the road to scrub off speed. Their gloves all had a puck made of some hard plastic. Incredible.

Hay bales lined the corner and we soon saw why. Sometimes hey didn’t slow down enough and couldn’t make the corner. Rather than hit the dirt and slide into the trees, they would hit the bales in spectacular fashion.

I’d come back again next year to watch again. It really was quite spectacular. I loved their shuttle to the top too. They had pickups and as many guys would jump in the back as possible. Anyone else wanting a ride up held on to the truck and it would pull them up.

It was great to see that most of them had full leathers on, including the 9 year old kid who was racing. There were a couple guys who didn’t but they were the minority. It was also good to see the racing spirit between they guys too. We saw one guy make a mistake and take another guy out into the hay bales. As they jumped up laughing they shook hands and joked about it.

Check your calendars next year, and head to Saltspring if you can. It is worth the trip.

Here are some videos I took:


Lost Passes

Well, the Ulti season is done once again. The final game was a doozy too. We played hard, yet still lost.

I started off the game on a hot streak. I was throwing well, catching well, and getting free from my check well. I threw for points, I caught a point or two, and made some good defensive blocks too.

Then I started to run out of steam. Too hard too quick. I lost it for a few points and couldn’t catch my breath. I was overheating too. I doused my head and tried to get back in the game.

I started making mistakes and costing points. I got counted out once when I froze and couldn’t make the dump pass. I got foot blocked too, though I have to admit that it was a perfectly placed foot.

I regrouped and made a second effort to try and turn my game around. It started to work a little. I was sticking to my check fairly well, though I was giving him the short passes and cutting off the longer throws. On one point my check managed to catch the disc for a point, even though I had a finger on the disc and was tipping it away. Great catch by him.

For the final point, which was a very, very long one, the other team kept trying the long bomb, and we kept shutting it down. They managed to march the disc 2/3 of the way up the field, then one guy broke to the corner and the game was over. We lost and the season was done.

Now to think about playing intramurals again. My last experience wasn’t all that great, but if I was on a better team, maybe it would be different.

Twisty Cookie

Best $2 I ever spent? Before today I might not have an answer, but I do now.

I’ve been on Saltspring Island for a few days now, but today I went for a lovely ride. I started out close to Ganges, and rode to the South end of the island. Geoff and I stopped at a friends house, then I continued on my way. I ended up riding toward Ruckle Park. The route out there was twisty, turny, up and down. It was a very fun road. Along the way I kept wondering when I should turn around. Eventually I decided I wanted to go all the easy to the ocean. That was until I hit the gravel road that went to the parking lot. As I was turning around a glint fought my eye. There was a twonie on the ground. I snatched it up and put it in my jersey pocket.

My bacon and scrambled eggs breakfast was weighing heavily in my stomach to this point. So much so, that I couldn’t think about eating my Clif Bar. As I was starting to get hungry, I rounded a corner and spotted a sign that said “fresh baked organic food today”. Beside the road was a little stand. I checked out what was available for $2, and lo and behold, the chocolate chip pecan coconut cookies with hand milled organic flour were $2. I snatched one out deposited my money and bit into it. The container was sitting in the sun so the cookie was still warm, and the chips still soft and gooey. Wow, that was one delicious cookie!

Feeling better I got back on my bike and kept riding. I toured the back roads of Saltspring and had a great time in the process. I chased after Geoff, trying to find him at a centre (he took a different route), but never did. Upon my return to the cabin the first thing that Geoff said was that he only got there a couple minutes before I did.

Lunch, followed by an ice cold beer while sitting in the warm sun was the perfect end to the ride.


View August 14 Tour de Saltspring in a larger map

Total Distance: 47.26 km (29.4 mi)
Total Time: 2:32:59
Moving Time: 2:13:16
Average Speed: 18.54 km/h (11.5 mi/h)
Average Moving Speed: 21.28 km/h (13.2 mi/h)
Max Speed: 65.02 km/h (40.4 mi/h)
Min Elevation: 1 m (4 ft)
Max Elevation: 194 m (638 ft)
Elevation Gain: 897 m (2942 ft)
Max Grade: 10 %
Min Grade: -12 %

Thrown Water

I was planing to go for a ride tonight after dinner. There was no Ulti tonight, and I wanted to get some exercise. I sent an email out about riding, but noone was able to make it.

Then last night happened. Around 12 Amy called me to her room because she had thrown up. We got her cleaned up and situated back in her crib, and a few minutes later she called again. Eventually Sue sent me downstairs so I could sleep, and so Amy could sleep in our bed.

In the morning Elliot threw up, meaning neither child was going to daycare. Sue couldn’t take the day off, so I had the kids all day.

With the lack of sleep, I really had no energy. I bailed on riding, and decided to go for a swim instead.

After dinner was done and the kitchen cleaned, I headed down to the pool for some lengths.

It went pretty well. I had the lane to myself, which is a bonus to swimming in the summer I guess. I knocked off 550m, but didn’t exactly feel all that smooth. I kept making mistakes with my stroke, and occasionally taking on water. It was good to get some exercise though.

Weekend Way

Weekend recap. Wow, what a jam packed long weekend, full of splendid weather.

Friday night I had my Soundgarden concert. I didn’t get back to Langley until after 1am. Saturday I slept in a bit, then met up with a friend in the afternoon for some karting at F440. What a blast. We did two rounds, the first in the slower karts. We qualified to upgrade to the next level of carts, so of course we did another race. So much fun.

Sunday we went to some friends’ house for brunch and the kids had a great playtime with their children. Back on the ferry, then home for dinner.

Today was a glorious day out so we hit the beach at Esquimalt Lagoon for some sandcastle building and a picnic lunch. We then came home and while Sox went for a ride, the kids and I played Lego.

Sox then called and invited us over to another friends house for a swim in their pool. How could we say no? On the way home we picked up some dinner supplies, and had a yummy steak, green bean, and basil & parmesan orzo dinner. Yum, yum.

Tomorrow it is back to work 🙁

Anticipated Voice

What a weekend. I’ll recap that in another post. This post is all about Friday night. Soundgarden concert. My most anticipated concert in a very long time.

How was it? Fan-fucking-tastic. They played songs from all their albums, and they nailed them all. They played tons of my favorite songs, and even played a couple that I was not expecting. Drawing flies was the first one. On the album it is a fast paced song with non stop singing. Live it was off the hook. When the song was done Ben Shepherd (the bassist) bumped fists with Matt Cameron (the drummer). They knew they nailed that one, the other song that I never expected to hear live was Born on the Fourth of July. When they started playing that, I nearly lost my mind.

They just kept playing and playing too. They played for over two hours before they left the stage.

Chris Cornell’s voice was outstanding too. He was hitting, and holding, all the high notes in all the songs they played. The biggest example of this was during Ugly Truth. Sounded so awesome.

The light show was awesome too. There were some very cool projections on the backdrop that were animated at times. The light bars would get reconfigured between songs, so it always seemed new and different. The backdrop animations for Drawing Flies was fast paced and chaotic, matching the song perfectly.

Rusty Cage, Jesus Christ Pose, Slaves and Bulldozers, Spoonman, Gun, Loud Love, Beyond the Wheel, Outshined, and a whole lot more.

In case you can’t tell, I had a great time at the show. I would have loved to have heard some new material though, that would have been killer.

We missed the first opening band, but it sounds like I didn’t miss all that much anyway. Queens of the Stone Age were good. I definitely enjoyed their set, but they seemed a little subdued.

At the end of the encore when the lights came up, I was happy that I was there and had seen the show, but sad it was over.

The setlist:

  • Searching With My Good Eye Closed
  • Spoonman
  • Gun
  • Jesus Christ Pose
  • Blow Up the Outside World
  • The Day I Tried to Live
  • My Wave
  • Burden in My Hand
  • Ugly Truth
  • Fell on Black Days
  • Loud Love
  • Drawing Flies
  • Black Hole Sun
  • Outshined
  • Rusty Cage
  • Superunknown
  • 4th of July

    • Encore:

  • Beyond the Wheel
  • Mailman
  • Slaves & Bulldozers

via setlist.fm