14kms on the Race Course

Hey - just posting yet another ride - this one a bit longer and definitely more intense. There are some killer climbs and fun winding descents on the Sandilands Race Course. Pat, Paul & myself enjoyed cooler weather and some misty rain, while grunting our way through the technical portions, and pushing through some of the long straightaways as fast as we could. I downed a powergel halfway through as I definitely hit a wall but I came around about 15 minutes later and managed to keep up with the other guys. I am fast out of the whole but I am still struggling with endurance, I may have to spend some more time doing longer rides on the road to solve that but I've always been more of a sprinter. Oh and I added more pressure to the rear shock & increased the rebound - worked out much better - still tweaking the bike but she's a rocket!

Hot Saturday Afternoon & 11kms

Pat & I managed to get a good mtn bike ride in - 11kms out to Suicide Hill & back. I played some more with my suspension but I should've had a little more pressure. The bike overall is an enjoyable ride although not as cushy as the Trance. I do feel occasionally beat up a bit but it may be the fact that I'm still trying to get into shape. The ticks are out unfortunately, picked up 6 and found another 3 on my clothes back home. It was a scorcher though with sunny skies and +25 degrees C. Lots of sweating, drinking H20, and riding faster than I should. It seems it has been awhile since i've done a road ride, and so I may have go for a spin tomorrow afternoon. We'll see what happens. I'm enjoying being back on two wheels and ripping it up!

Mayer Rocks The Peg

John Mayer put on an excellent show at the MTS Centre - all in all a great night out on the town!

Interesting background going off the "Continuum" Album theme
Simple but brilliant lit-up atmosphere.

The boy knows how to sing and play his guitar - I'm struggling to think of someone who does both so well! He played most of the Continuum album and a few other hits from past albums...thanks Shelli & Darryl for the invite and wow great Indian food at the Ivory! We felt privileged to join you on your escape! It was just good to get out and do something social again.

Great tunes, great feeling, & wow the guy can play his guitar!

Kathleen Edwards did a great opening set as well - unfortunately she isn't very well known but she had a great folky croon & an amazing stage personality for a 22 year old. She shared that it was two years ago that she had her first real gig at the West End Cultural Centre and now opening in the MTS Centre was pretty amazing. Sorry - no decent pics of her part of the show.

I love the burnt orange lighting in the shot below!

Hard to read set-list but you get the idea:

How Rich Are You?

This Global Rich List allows you to enter your annual income and see how rich you are in comparison to the rest of the world. Let's just say it puts things into perspective and the majority of us in Canada have a lot of responsibility when it comes to caring for those less fortunate.

Hard To Let Go

This whole professor-ing thing has some significant ties to parenting. Thankfully, my impact with my kids is more long-term but I have to admit that I had a much more difficult time this year letting go of my college students. Graduation is both a blessing & curse to a prof from my experience. Exciting to see students explore their future but it is tough to let go of them. Today - I sent off the teams I normally travel with on tour but I'm staying back from the trip for obvious reasons. Chelsea & I made a care package for them on Sunday night - complete with decorations! It turned out pretty amazing I have to say!

The school is sooo dead after they leave - I have a tough time being motivated to actually go there. I'd rather be where there is some action, some play, some life! Ahh...but many will return and I get to go through the cycle of teaching again! Seasons of education - right now the seeds are mostly aloft, some will find fertile ground and take root, others may wander for awhile until they find their place in this world...but it is encouraging and an honor to have been a part of the learning & hopefully growing experience for so many over these past five years.

Busy Weekend Big Escape

After a slew of graduation activities on the weekend it was only fair for me to escape for another 12-13km singletrack today on another gorgeous day - cooler temps than Friday but sunny skies. Pat joined me on this one - ironic that it is our first mtn bike ride together this year - I've been either out solo or with others. Started out on Rd 17 - hit the St. Labre junction trail and continued on to the Red Pine section. We had to hurry back as Chelsea had her own exploreplay lined up with a gymnastics demonstration for parents. I got some great pics of her doing both routines and practicing on parallel bars, balance beams, etc. Did I mention I'm really loving my new rig - it just wants to go fast - very light for full-suspension & very responsive! Woot!

13kms of Singletrack Bliss

Fun Fun Fun! Twenty degrees celsius. Winding single-track, killer hills, crazy chutes...13kms good times!

Looking Forward to Escape

The lure of the outdoors continues but I need to stay focused on marking exams & papers as graduation approaches this weekend. So I'm just letting any blog-readers who pass by that I will be on hiatus from this blog but still hope to do some exploration of play through cycling on-road or off-road. The weather has been enticing but life goes on!

I'll Be Back

The lure of the outdoors continues but I need to stay focused on marking exams & papers as graduation approaches this weekend. So I'm just letting any blog-readers who pass by that I will be on hiatus from blogging or facebooking for the next week or so. Also with the imminent arrival of our third child I may be a little preoccupied (and rightly so) with that! So yeah - I'll be back in the words of Arnold of Terminator fame.

Mtn Bike Action in the Sandilands

Well - I escaped late this afternoon for another preliminary scouting ride in the Sandilands. Joined by some new additions to my regular riding buddies - Paul R & Barry . Always good to have new people join the ranks of mtn bikers. The conditions were wet, sloppy, slick, icy, some snow sections but it was good to be out in the great outdoors again! Put on about 10kms - so not a phenomenal ride on the lungs but the obstacles provided some good burn on the legs still.

Last Class

So I wrapped up my Psalms class today and now am focused on creating exams/grading papers. Lots to do but it feels good to have accomplished much already. The temptation to escape on my bike remains strong but I was good today and spent time with my family as it has been a busy week with three nights in a row of scheduled work.

I'm looking forward to catching up with some friends on the weekend but I will be trapped for at least another week or two by grading & proctoring exams. I will survive and hopefully my students will as well.

My daughters actually joined me in my class today as Wendy had a hair appointment and we were unable to find any sitters. It worked out alright as they were entertained by one of my female students, coloring in their coloring books. But Aimee got a little nervous and joined me up front as I went through the exam review. At one point she tugged on my pant leg and whispered Daddy - Daddy I have to pee! So we took a little unexpected break to the amusement of my students. I hope they enjoyed the distraction!

Soundtrack to post: "Time To Get Away" & "North American Scum" by LCD Soundsystem

Facebook

I gave in and registered my persona into facebook a few weeks ago. I've been amazed at who I've found - long lost college friends, fellow camp workers, etc. Very cool format and way less annoying than myspace although apparently just as addictive. More interactive than blogging but not as self-reflective. I'm still keeping up my journals here but for connecting with friends & family - facebook nails it.

I had a student do an excellent report on Youth & the Internet - excellent tool that can be used in a good way or a negative way. He noted that spending too much time on the Internet can result in addiction or at a minimum a false sense of community. I agree there is nothing like flesh & blood relationships but i marvel at how much more connected I do feel with friends far away. I also see the danger on spending too much time online and not enough time & presence on face to face relationships.

Soundtrack to post: "Young Folks" - Peter Bjorn And John

Another Road Ride

Escaped for a 42km spin with Pat & Paul R. - nice temps, weird gusty & changing winds but it was just good to be outside and on a bike. I'm not liking my saddle - tried different adjustments but may have to put some cash into a more comfortable one. Hoping for a mtn bike ride sometime later this week.

Why I Do What I Do...

Sometimes my life has been about going through the motions, about simply doing work because it brings in money to pay for stuff. I can honestly say that the past five years have not been about going through that monotony. Now admittedly being a prof actually doesn't bring in a lot of money anyways but I do know of academics who do their jobs simply because it is a living.

Why I do what I do? There are several reasons and some are logical, some our emotional, some are spiritual. I honestly do feel called to do what I do. That is a foreign concept for some people and I'm not sure I totally get it myself. But I feel designed to fulfill the role I play as a teacher. I can't think of too many things that get me as excited as being a part of young adults' learning process. And it really doesn't matter what the subject is but those aha! moments where a student grasps a concept or comes up with a creative question never thought before - literally make me shout out for joy!

Working with young adults is not actually an easy group to work with - most struggle through this time as much as they struggled in junior high. They still are trying to discover who they are and what they are to do in life. They are experimenting with different ways of thinking, of being in relationships with others, of finding their identity. They are searching for what it means to be an adult, what life is all about, and what role they will play in the years to come. They are idealistic and most quite frankly are dreamers! They have a hard time committing to anything as they like to try so many things. They love to stay up late and sleep in hard.

Why do I do what I do? I feel fulfillment in guiding people in their journey to adulthood, to future jobs, to future callings. I feel significance in encouraging people, inspiring them to pursue their dreams, to walk alongside their journey for a year or three. It is also wild to see where they end up, who they are as spouses or parents, and who they in turn mentor or inspire.

I do what I do because I can't escape it. It seems a part of my DNA - I have always been a teacher. I have always loved learning new things (although I haven't always loved how I learned those things or the people that taught me). I get paid to read, to learn, to teach - how cool is that? I could go on...but I really should be marking not reflecting or dreaming or yammering on!

Ahhh - I hate graduation and losing those students that I feel I've impacted in some way. I think I understand how parents feel when their children leave their "nest." But students are meant to fly, meant to move on - so that they can be who they were meant to be!

Fighting On

The battle continues...two weeks to go before exams. I fought some weird "tired-virus" this evening and slept from 7 till midnight, which means I'm wired now and I really should be sleeping. So yeah, I've been organizing my i-Tunes stuff and have come to realize what a music-addict I am. Those of you that know me well realize quickly I'm not a concrete sequential type of person, meaning I'm normally not very organized - I fit in the more concrete random/abstract random category of learning style. But for those things I am passionate about like music - I can be extremely wacky in organizing things in musical genres. Every music folder on my computer has an image attached to it, all the details of my mp3s are likewise cataloged, and the shelves of my CDs are alphabetized and ordered accordingly.

So back to my original battle - I love discovering new music & new artists to add to my eclectic ear. The latest "finds" include:

• Joseph Arthur's Nuclear Daydream (why didn't I find his music when he first started out?)
• Dolores O'riordan's Are You Listening? (Lead Singer of the 90's band The Cranberries)
• Sonya Kitchell's Words Came Back To Me (Jazz/Folk - in the vein of Norah Jones)
• Michael Stipe's version of Joseph Arthur's Into The Sun (This is simply one of the best fundraising single's ever! It definitely helps that he's teamed up with Chris Martin in the song - amazing harmony)
• Stranger Than Fiction's soundtrack (Lots of Spoon!!!)
• Joshua Radin's We Were Here (Zach Braff keeps finding me great music through his soundtrack's - The Last Kiss)
  
• Cary Brother's EP Waiting For Letters (check out the song Ride - trippy, moving, up-in-the-clouds dripping)
• John Mayer's Continuum (still spinning my CD player - helps that we're going to see him later this month thanx' to the Ross' invite)
• God Is An Astronaut's EP - A Moment of Stillness (instrumental rock - if you like Explosions in the Sky or Sigur Ros)
• Bob Evan's Suburban Songbook (check out You've Been On My Mind in particular - Folk Rock/Americana), and much more but hey it's like 2:30am and I have class in the morning.