Jer’s Continuing Adventures…

What a great turn out this year! Can you believe 28 riders showed up? Everyone seemed stoked on it and there were some good times. A couple of crashes with no injuries kept it exciting for the crowds. Strangely, the whole field was slower this year than last year. Maybe the trail was different for some reason.

It got interesting as someone had to run the shop, so I did the first run, jumped in my truck and drove to the shop so Irah could come up to race. Then we swapped again so I could do the final run. A little slower than my 1:45 last year, I came in at 1:53. Guess I have to practice more this fall and next spring!

Anywho, on to the results!

Men’s Category:

First Place
Tom Anderson
1:41.16

Second Place
Kees Vandervalk Jr
1:41.56
(2009 result : First Place – 1:33)

Third Place
Sasha LeBaron
1:42.18
(2009 result : Second Place – 1:36)

Fourth Place
Irah Vet
1:43.72

Fifth Place
Miles Bagger
1:43.90

Women’s Category

First Place
Carmel Ecker
1:57.03

Second Place
Christine Jensen
2:06.53

Third Place
Amy LeBaron
2:09.66

The complete results are here:
results2010

Honorable Mention goes to Jaden Legante for being the Youngest rider at 6 years old!

Thanks so much to the timing volunteers and all the participants. We couldn’t have done it without you!

Looking forward to next year! Same day, same time, same place. See you there!

Not directly related though.

Had a lovely evening last Sunday at Rob and Amanda’s to celebrate Rob’s birthday. What fun! Fantastic food, great conversations and a few tasty libations created by DC squared. (That’s Deputy Chief Doug Chinnery). While I brought a simple Ground Venison, Beer Tomato Spaghetti Bolognese; there was a yummy Homemade Caesar Salad, Grilled Steaks and Roast Vegetables, and Grilled Prawns with Spicy Miso Sauce. Mmmmmmmmmm. And Lindy is back! She’s looking good and taking a break before her new job starts now that she’s done school. Way to go!

Speaking of bikes, this Sunday is the 4th Annual No Horses Challenge! Come on up to the top of Strachan Road at noon on Sunday to either race or cheer on the competitors! We’re expecting a few more riders this year and lots more spectators. Lee will be riding his new Banshee Wildcard and is super stoked about it! Even Arly is coming back to improve his time. Thanks to Jody and friends for timing! See you there!

Sweet ride last weekend! Sheldon of NSRide fame connected with me and we arranged a group ride out of Cumberland last Sunday. They got there for a full day of Cumberland trails on Saturday, and I met them Sunday morning to shuttle Forbidden Plateau. We got in two good runs and a tasty lunch at Tarbell’s. The trails were challenging and we got a bit spanked by the girls in the group. It may sound like an excuse, but riding a hardtail in that technical terrain is a lot of work!All had a fun time though. And drifting the gravel access road on the way down in my truck was a hoot. Nearly didn’t make one hairpin turn over a drop into a clearcut! Woot!

After all the riding, I stopped overnight in Comox to visit Melissa and Andy. Nice folks and very generous with sharing their house. We had a simple dinner and watched some Top Gear. Great stuff! Thanks for the couch and good times.

I had a couple stops in town to activate my iPhone and a brief visit with Savannah at her work, (nice uniform! ) then rolled for the ferry home. All in all a great couple of days. Now it’s time to knuckle down to get the shop ramped up for summer. Ride on!

James and Jordan came over with their friend Travis, and we all had a great time creating fantastic gourmet items and plating them. And eating them!

Our Menu:
Appetizer (Jer):
Escargot Sauteed in Smoked Paprika Butter Sauce over Asparagus

First Main (James):
Black Truffle, Ricotta and Egg Yolk Ravioli over sauteed Kale Tops with White Truffle Oil

Second Main (James):
Local Oysters Poached in Red Wine on a Nest of Saffron Spaghettini with Red Wine Reduction, Bacon and Parmesan, Baked

Salad (Jordan):
Avocado and Grapefruit Salad with Ginger and Miso Dressing in a Parmesan Bowl with Spiced Chickpeas and Tahini/Cilantro Puree

Dessert (Travis):
Flaming Baked Alaska with Homemade Lemon Ice Cream and Cointreau

Yummmmmmmm!

Take a look at the photos…

[View with PicLens]

Well, we finished up at the Richmond warehouse demolition project on Saturday last, packed the trucks to the limits and headed out. Sasha went straight for the Tsawwassen Ferry, but I had a few stops to make so I opted to stay at Big Green for the night.

One of my tasks was to be combined with fun. I had to return the keys to Kyriakos at his store. He owns the Parthenon Mediterranean Grocery on West Broadway. While there I spent a good 45 minutes shopping and exploring all the amazing flavours he has. He tipped me to the best feta cheese I’ve ever tasted (I got a full block of that) and hooked me up with 5 litres of top notch kalamata olives! Among the other treasures I picked up were some great balsamic vinegar, some truffle oil, nice prosciutto, a can of escargot, two kinds of dried chilies, chick peas, cous cous, a huge can of dolmades, nice flatbreads and some amazing sweet roasted paprika!

I’m super excited to use these flavours. As a matter of fact, James and Jordan are coming over tonight and we’re going to cook up some tasty gourmet food. Along with the amazing food, I stopped in Chinatown and got a dozen nice plates to practice plating on. They are all angles and white to really show off the food. Dave Bishop said it well, “Good food is about all the senses, and the first experience the guest has of it is the visual display. It’s worth spending the time to do it right.” I’m so looking forward to practicing and getting better at the plating side of food, as my cooking ability grows at the same time.

In other news, Irah and I are opening the shop three days a week now, and getting really excited about the coming season. With a new kayak trailer built, thanks to Rob, and bikes being built, we’re really ramping it up. Wait till you see the new signage and logos!

Well, we’re hard at it in our warehouse in Richmond. The set up is pretty sweet actually. What was a darkroom is now our temporary kitchen, including butane stove, mini fridge and the biggest stainless steel sink you’ve ever seen. It is something I’m putting in the house I build one day. There is a large main room for the sleeping and storing of stuff, and a bathroom. The only thing missing is a shower. Stoked to be stopping at Big Green for a quick one.

We’ve been productive. Not having internet at the site really helps I think. Progress is definitely being made. We’ve got all the trim out and denailed, the floor is mostly up (not easy cause they glued and nailed it.) And most of the walls drywall is down. Another day for the rest of the drywall, then the framing, cutting the upstairs floor out, disconnecting the excess power lines, and doing a few dump runs. We’ll be here for a bit yet. If you want to stop by, and we’d be stoked for a visit, drop me an email.

The local Library has Wifi so we get our fix twice a day, at lunch and after dinner. Speaking of dinner, Gid came by and helped us out yesterday (Thanks, dude!) and then we went out to Steveston Marina for Greek food. Yum! Almost as yum as the cold beer after a hard days work!

Now for a quick shower and off to make pasta with Kim on her new pasta machine!

Great practice last night!

We (Hornby Island Fire Rescue) have had a shack donated to us that we’ve been running residential fire evolutions in for the last few weeks. Last night we got to run some bigger, live fire scenarios. Yes, we actually set a bunch of stuff on fire in the house, get it burning well, then go in and put it out. Super exciting, and what a great experience for the rookies! Learning what it’s actually like inside a room that’s on fire. Because we were a little short on crew I got to go in four times! My helmet got so hot that water falling on it became steam! Woot!

After all that excitement, I got up this morning and am packing the Old Brown Truck for a trip to Vancouver. Sasha and I have a demolition contract in Richmond for the next week or so. Taking camping gear (we’re staying at the site), food and bikes. Of course we have to get some urban riding in while we are there. Maybe even a trip to Seymour? Depends on how fast we’re getting the work done.

Got to run for the ferry. Yo Vancouverites, we’ll be seeing ya soon!

With the 110 km/hr winds on Friday there is a huge amount of trees down on the trails. Dean, Sasha and I got out there this afternoon with the chainsaw and loppers for a good 3.5 hours of trail clearing. Even that barely scratched the surface of the work to be done. I’ll be getting back out there tomorrow to do more of it. After the HIRPC info meeting at Sandpiper beach at noon.

Adam, Andrea and offspring are up for a few days so I’m looking forward to having them over for lunch on Tuesday. It’ll be nice to catch up with them. I haven’t seen Adam since last summer. This is certainly the sign of things to come, lots of folks I haven’t seen since last summer are up for the holiday. Elisha and Charo are up for a couple days. I’s good to see Elisha again. Maybe I’ll get to raise a glass with him soon.

Unfortunately with the power being out on Friday and Saturday the shop was closed so I didn’t get to see my regulars and help folks with their bikes. We HAVE to get a generator, maybe one for the whole Ringside? Thoughts…

Sasha and I are going to be in Richmond starting this Friday for a demolition contract. We’ll be there for about 10 days taking apart a photography studio. We’ll be coming back with a couple truck loads of good building supplies which will really help me get the studio built this fall. And I’ll get a chance to go for dinners and have visits with the beautiful people in Vancouver that I hardly get to see. Christine, Kim, Marika, Gid, Leif, Caroline…

Super strong wind today! There were at least five trees blown down on the road and 4 broken power lines. And that was just on Hornby. I hear Denman Island, Union Bay and the rest of the Comox Valley is out of power. I spent the morning with the rest of the fire department making sure no one got hit by falling trees, or zapped by downed power lines. Being out of power I’ve been at the fire hall for the warmth and Internet. Aren’t generators a wonderful thing?
Steve and Carrie were up for the weekend, but decided that no power and high winds was a cue to head back down island. See you next weekend, and hope the weather’s better!

The rain has finally stopped! It’s looking like good weather for the Bonfire/BBQ today. I have the tiger torch standing by…

It’s been an eventful couple of weeks. My dad and I got back from our drive over the mountains in good time, and intact. The roads the whole way were clear, except for a bit of rain between Merritt and Hope. It was trying to become snow for a while, but never made it. Thankfully.

On the way from Canmore we stopped in Salmon Arm and took my cousin Kirsten and hubby Chris out for lunch at this wicked brewpub called The Barley Station. If you are passing through around mealtime, you have to stop there. They do a very tasty selection of beers there; their nut brown is one of the best I’ve tasted anywhere. Kirsten, Chris and Coen are doing well. Coen is turning in to a little ripper on his run bike. I’ll be setting him up with the bikes he needs as he grows.

The biggest change in my life right now is Kim and I are no longer together. Kim is a wonderful woman, and in many ways exactly what I need. Unfortunately the long distance relationship isn’t going to work for the long term. I still consider her a friend and wish her the best. I think this will be a summer where all my attention and energy will be focused on the bike shop. Make it a really successful summer and get out of the debt cycle.

In happier news, Kaetlyn is coming out to Hornby again this summer! So excited! She will only have a month here because she has lots to do to prepare for Uni in the fall. Kaet is likely going to York University for the Theatre program.