Although this long weekend was all about the fam’, I got to squeeze in a bike ride Sunday with my friend Neil (aka El Neilio). He and I used to be in a band together and, although both of us rode bikes, we’ve never been mountain biking together. I’ve only ever heard great things about the trails in and around Nanaimo so, based on a good recommendation, we checked out the ‘Wastelands’ at the top of Doumont (Weigles) Road. We headed up with our bikes only to find that a great local bike shop was hosting Kona demo rides.
Neil chose to ride his own bike because he he doesn’t get on it much. I chose to forego my hardtail in favor of a Kona Dawg Deluxe. After setting up the bike for my height/weight we were off with 3 others (including Matt from the bike shop) up the dirt road to the trail-head. We rolled into ‘Purgatory’ which led to ‘Cripple Creek’ and ‘Gravity Cavity’ and ended with ‘Whatsitsname’. The trails here range from smooth, clear singletrack through thinly treed woods to rocky steeps and built-up woodwork; all of it sweet.
Neil still has it; proof:
Me in the air:
Matt, with style:
Old truck we saw. This thing had been set on fire, shot at, and generally destroyed:
A good ride completed:
It was an awesome day. Thanks to Karina for the recommendation, thanks to Neil for driving up from Victoria to ride with me, thanks to Oak Bay Bikes-Nanaimo (Matt in particular) for the guided trail ride and, most importantly, thanks to Jen for letting me go!
I am really excited because today I signed myself up for a lampworking class. I mentioned in my New Year’s Resolutions that I wanted to take a class and I am rather proud of myself for actually following through. Lampworking is glass bead making, like these:
And when I was hunting for a Christmas gift for my friend, I stumbled across a brand of beads called Troll Beads at my local jeweler. I was all set to buy a silver bracelet that had about 12 beads and was marked at $37 until the clerk told me that the $37 price tag was FOR THE BRACELET ONLY and that the clasp was $22 and EACH BEAD was about $50. Um… seriously? Are you kidding me? Gorgeous? Yes. Worth it? Absolutely not.
So anyway, I started looking around and eventually found my way to Sunlight Art Glass, a Surrey company that offers classes both at their studio and through New Westminster Continuing Education. I’ve signed up for a course at their studio as the day is more convenient for me, and also because the studio Intro I class is limited to 6 students, whereas the one in New West is limited to 9 students and I am all about the one on one time.
It is $50 for the Intro I class, and that includes your supplies. You should expect to make and take 8-10 beads. The second class, Intro II, is $60, and again, you make 8-10 beads. So for $110, I can have up to 20 beads I made, instead of one bracelet, one clasp, and one bead. Hmmm. Tough call. I can sign up for the second class at the first one – its scheduled a few weeks after the first one, and I think I will because I haven’t even tried it and I cannot wait to get my hands on the supplies. I did a bit of hunting and the supplies are pretty inexpensive, too, as far as hobbies go. The torch you need is about $50, the rods are sold by the pound at about $10-$15 per pound and you get 18 ish rods per pound.
Oh man, I can see this becoming highly addictive.
Inspired by a blogger I read with regularity, I think I’d like to try geocaching in a few months when Kale is older. Fortunately, my workplace sells GPS units so I have put an email in to get a price quote to see if my staff discount can justify the purchase.
Ross has his mountain biking, in which he elects to hurtle himself down the side of a steep hill on a cobbled together collection of thin metal protected only by a plastic helmet and some decorative elbow and shin pads.
See also: dislocated ring finger. Or possibly, exhibit B:
(Insert harumph-y, I-told-you-so type of look, here)
He’s also into snowboarding, in which he elects to throw himself down similar steep ice- and snow- covered hills covered only in fluffy clothing, a plastic helmet, and some gloves. I, as I am sure you can tell, think that doing anything that involves travelling down any sort of a hill at a high speed is a waste of a perfectly good afternoon that could be better spent sipping a chai on a patio, or better yet, drinking a Strongbow in some sort of reclining chair. (There are times when I wonder if sedentary is a sport – because seriously, I could take Olympic Gold if it was).
Until a few years ago, I was an avid soccer player and then an injury and chronic illness made me stop with the slide checking. I like soccer not only for its flatness of field, but for the simplicity of the game. I very specifically remember being enrolled in soccer because a) it was cheap and b) the season was a long time. I actually got scholarships as a result of playing and frittered them away on Underwater Basketweaving 101 when I attended Malaspina University College (now renamed Vancouver Island University) the year after graduating from high school. Here is me playing one of my first games (I actually think this is the first game ever, to be honest) - I am the one in the foreground with the mullet, in the orange shirt and black short-shorts with my back to the camera, doing some crazy dance step praying they pass me the ball:
Here is a slightly more recent photo. The interesting thing about this photo is that since it was taken (in about 2003 or maybe 2004), I have cut my hair off completely, dyed it at least three different colours (not including my natural colour when I attempt to cover the expanding grey), and now look – it is more or less back to the exact same freakin’ style! To every season, turn turn turn… In this photo I am doing what I do best – watching the game from the defense line, waiting to make my move, looking mean:
There is also a photo somewhere on our hard drive, that I am currently unable to locate – woe for you – of me in full field hockey goalie gear - including sweet red Axl Rose-style headband and figure-enhancing rugby jersey. Field hockey is a game I played for a number of years and still never managed to figure out all the rules. I actually made “select” teams – I think because I was the only one willing to play goal. It’s a stupid, stupid sport. Seriously. Why not just play real hockey? (Oh right, I can’t skate worth a damn – such is the price you pay for growing up on the West Coast where skating COSTS and you can’t make an arena in your backyard with a hose).
More recently, I’ve become interested in slo-pitch. Originally, it was simply an excuse to drink in the hot summer evenings, but last year I took it a bit more seriously, and actually bought a new glove for the first time since I was 15. There was even a night of batting practise if you can believe it. I look forward to finding a new team next summer.
Are you guys noticing a theme with my “activities”?
I have lots of other non-field type hobbies that I am looking forward to getting back into as soon as the colder weather starts to appear on our horizon. Things like baking, correcting grammar, fundraising for lost causes, and sewing sock monkeys:
I’m also anxious to try out a few other new hobbies: geocaching, as I mentioned, and scrapbooking, for example. I bought all sorts of gear to do the scrapbooking and now just need to get off my butt and do it, but its hard to motivate yourself to do stuff like that when the weather is nice. I can see myself getting into floor hockey (hello, cardio workout!) if I can find a place to play.
I’m also interested in, of all freakin’ things, fencing. Like, Olympic-style-poke-your-eye-out-with-skinny-little-swords-complete-with-white-outfits-and-mesh-helmets – fencing. I started thinking about it a while back (who knows from where I got the idea – I blame pregnancy) and last week I got the new “Community Guide for Active Living” from the New Westminster Parks Board and lo! – they offer FENCING. (WTF???) The only catch is that I am just not quite ready to be doing that what with the whole newborn thang and I hope they offer it for the spring season next year because holy man will I be signing myself up if they do. Talk about a co-inkydink! Cue mysterious voice: If you think it, it will come!
(Sidenote: Hmmm…. I thought about fencing and it appeared in my junk mail…. ONE MILLION DOLLARS. ONE MILLION DOLLARS. ONE MILLION DOLLARS….. Damn. No luck.)
Where was I going with this post? Oh, right -activities we can do with our son. Like I said, I am interested in geocaching as an activity to do with Kale, and am actually writing a list of things to do with him as a family. I’d like to think that stuff like geocaching could be fun even when he is a passenger in a backpack carrier or later, when he is a toddler obsessed with finding treasure and possibly even later, when he is able to lead the chase himself. I remember camping as a child and later, going gold-panning… and it was nice to be outdoors doing “stuff” as a family that wasn’t necessarily a team sport. I want the same for Kale.
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