Bio-solid Traction

the bikes on a road trip

Well, I didn’t ride this weekend, so I guess I better write something about last weeks ride 🙂 A few of us did a road trip to Nanaimo to ride the Doumont Road trails, and I had a blast. It was a stinky blast, but fun none the less. When we entered the trails, we noticed a very bad odour, and that something had been sprayed on the foliage right near the fire roads. It was quite odd, but further in the trails we found a sign that said their was an experiment in progress, and that they had applied a bio-solid from the Nanaimo Waste Water treatment plant. OK! The sign also warned not to eat above ground plant material, and to not eat below ground plant material. Again, common sense. When there is a blackish substance on a plant, and it smells like poo, I am not going to eat anything!

Aaron

Once we got into the trails, and away from the fire roads the smell disappaited, and we were able to enjoy the ride. The trails were pretty damp, but in very good shape. The rain the night before had really increased the traction, knocked down the dust, kicked up the stink (see above), and made a few nice puddles to ride through.

Sean

We did ots of climbing, and the descent was well worth it. I had ridden at Doumont before, but we managed to find a few trails to ride that I had never been on. I actually had a great ride, and climbed more that I have climbed in a long time. Perhaps I need to get back into XC riding to rekindle my lost passion for riding? We also passed/rode a bunch of new stunts. Some were pretty rickety, and not worth riding, but some were incredible masterpieces! I would love to be there when someone challenges them.

Darryll

Anyway I look at it, that day was good. The road trip was fun, the coffee was excellent, the trails great, the pub afterwards (the Black Bear) yummy, and the drive home uneventful. I had intended to take more pictures, but I had more fun riding.

Romp Free

Yoshi and Oscar at Wittys

Today Coreman, Justine, Oscar, Yoshi and I hooked up for a romp at the beach. Beautiful sunny morning, nice and warm, and a couple pups that were aching to get out there and run. Oscar was a very good dog today, and unusually Yoshi was not. Yoshi was full of beans this morning, so when I let him off leash, the ran around lots. After a while, he latched onto Justine, and would not leave her alone. He was frantic trying to get her to throw a stick she didn’t have. Eventually I had to snap the leash on him, which was a struggle in itself. After running free like he had, Yoshi was not happy to be on leash!

The beach there was very nice though, and the tide was out quite a ways. Before leashing Yoshi, the pups chased each other through the sand, and over the logs. Much fun! There was a large flock of seagulls out on on patch of sand, and surprisingly the dogs pretty much left them alone. Good dogs!

All good things must come to an end though, so when we returned to the vehicles Yoshi still seemed like he was full of beans. He pretty much pulled me up the flight of stairs! That all changed as soon as he was in the truck though. He flaked right out, and has been sleeping for the past 2 hours. I love him to bits, but he is a strange dog sometimes.

Oscar at Wittys

Corporate Pickup

the Ulti team

This week I joined Pangaea‘s Ultimate team for the 2004 Victoria Corporate Games. It had been a couple years since I have played. I had forgotten just how much fun the game is. I am thinking abou trying to find some pickup games. Sue mentioned one she heard about that happens on Monday evenings. Something for me to look into. Ulti would coincide very nicely with me wantinng to get back into shape too!

Stunned Breathing

bird on a deck (not bird on a wire)

This poor little guy had a run in with the window of our dining room. I was sitting on the couch when I heard the distinctive noise of bird meeting glass. When I looked up all I saw was a couple feather fluttering about.

I went outside to check up on the poor bird, and he was certainly stunned. I ushered him onto a mat, then put that up high for when he was ready to fly away. When I checked up on him 10 minutes later he was gone. I hope he was alright, as he was on the railing his eyes were half closed, and he was breathing through an open beak.

bird on a deck (not bird on a wire)

Smokey Shards

shards of smokey bone

In honor of Yoshi’s birthday I bought him a new smokey bone, and gave it to him at lunch time. I then left and went back to work.

When I got home, all I found was the above shards. Ack, smokey bones are not supposed to shatter. Suede and I were quite worried. A large percentage of the bone was missing! We quickly called the vet, and scoured the house for the missing parts. The vet suggested that we just needed to watch him closely. Yoshi would either pass the pieces up, down, or they would get lodged. Not good news.

We have been watching him all weekend, and nothing about him seems different, so we are hoping we made it through this one. Scary though. Some of the pieces were very sharp, and I am still concerned that he may have cut something on the inside. One positive is that when Yoshi eats his food he does chew it thoroughly, so maybe the pieces he consumed were small enough to not pose a harm. Keep you fingers crossed.