bicycle camera mount

this is how i'm probably going to do up a camera mount for my Canon Elph digicam, click here for the Instructables website (thanks to ma boy DStrings for the links). i already got some free reflector brackets from the cool shop guys at BowCycle. just need to hit up Home Depot for the nuts and bolts now.


if you missed it, BowCycle had a great blue light sale the past weekend. lots of stuff at 50% off... it was a madhouse. if you haven't been... check out their location in Bowness. great selection of bikes and accessories. very friendly and helpful staff too. here's a pic i took on my BB. you can see all the people lined up in the back for the 50% off pedal sale.

broke through the 40% mark!

woo hoo!!! broke through the 40% mark towards my fundraising goal today! thanks to everyone for their support (you know who you are!) . special shoutouts to all my girlfriend's buddies out there that have been great in spreading the word and sharing the love! you guys are so awesome!

also shoutouts to my soccer team Grand Theft Soccer! we ended our winter indoor season the past weekend. great season everyone! thanks for your support!

spinning classes

why are spinning classes alway so early in the morning?! Cardel Place Rec Center by my place only has 6am spinning classes. there is 1 late class on Friday... but i don't think that's enough to justify me buying a membership there.

i also checked with World Health here downtown and they have lots of spinning classes around noon time. problem is, it's $20 drop in which is kinda steep. another option is the new Gold's Gym at Eau Claire. they don't have their class schedules online so i'll have to pop in and check out their times. i have a friend that has an old membership that she is willing to transfer over to me if it works out.

WILL RIDE FOR CURE!

my cube at work =)

many of my co-workers have already donated to the cause... thanks everyone, keep it comin! hopefully this will get the attention of all the passer byers on my floor. i sit by the coffee machine and sink so everyone should see it!

how to change a flat tire

so during the ride, i know that there will be some sweeper trucks going up and down the route to help people out with mechanical breakdowns but i guess it would be beneficial for me to learn some basic bike maintenance. first thing: changing a flat tire.

here's a helpful vid from the MEC.ca YouTube channel:

and another good one

important dates

2009 Manual

i got my official RTCC manual in the mail the other day. it has lots of useful information and i'll try and share some of the parts that stand out to me in future entries. but like any book... i flipped through the pictures first - lol. i wanted to share some of them here with you so i scanned them and created this small picture collage. click on the links further down if you want to see the full pic individually.

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it's a small world afterall

so after sending out the word that i'm doing the Ride... you start to find out about all the other people doing it too!

there's the Facebook Alberta Ride to Conquer Cancer group. as of today they have 381 members. i'm sure the majority of them will be riding too! they should start a TEAM FACEBOOK! lol

also found out about my fellow coworker/friend Joel is doing the Ride too. check out his Personal Page and his team page Change Tomorrow Today Crew (CTTC). i found out that he lives up by me in the north side so hopefully we can do some training rides together soon. he also informed me of a great site to help keep track of your rides, EveryTrail.com. it maps your trip on GoogleMaps and stats on your times, distance and speed. i will definately use this when I finally get on the road. thanks for the tips Joel!

keep up the good work people!!! see you on the road!

i'm so touched!

i finally sent out my email today to my family and friends to help support me in my Ride. and not even 15 minutes afterwards... i already got donations! wow... i'm so touched! i'm hoping that there are others that share the same vision as me... others that thought about doing this ride but for some circumstance cannot do it this year... others that have experienced the same loss from cancer and witnessed the same struggles from cancer as me.

thanks for checking out my blog and my Conquer Cancer personal page. like it said, every little bit helps and every little bit gives me more and more motivation to train hard and make this ride meaningful for you all.

stay tuned for examples of the yellow strength bracelets i'll be putting on my bike. i'll reach out to all you donars soon so you can tell me what you want your bracelet to say.


thanks again everyone! keep it coming!

what happened to the weather?

ok... so last Friday the 20th it was a glorious day! +13 degrees, sunny... shorts and sandals type weather. 48 hours later... 1 foot of snow! i was hoping to get on my bike soon. oh well... spinning classes it is then.

safety first!

got my lid. hard to fit one to fit my head - lol. ended up getting the Giro Stylus road helmet in white. i look like a big golf ball!

went to MEC today

went to Mountain Equipment Co-Op today after work to check out some gear. the prices here seem more reasonable for cycling clothing than the brand name stuff i've seen at the bike shops. i'll probably end up getting my cycling shorts here. i don't think i've had spandex shorts since the late 1980's when i went through my Andre Agassi phase =)

one thing that i did do some research on was for a bike rack. i'm thinking not to get a roof mounted one since it would be a hassle to get a bike up and down from there. i'd definitely need a ladder or step stool. there are hitch mounted options out there but i don't have the hitch attachment for my FJ yet which would cost an extra $100 at least, and hitch mounted racks are expensive as it is ($500 and up). so i think i'm gonna go with a spare-tire mounted bike rack. there's a few out there to choose from. MEC has a Swagman one for $136, but i'm leaning towards the SportRack one at Canadian Tire for $170. it seems that the clamps can be angled easier for bikes with non-standard top tubes (like mine which slope down a bit) and it's lockable both at the clamps and at the mount to the spare tire. so i'll probably spend the little extra for the security features.

first training session... kinduv

yesterday, i started my first step towards getting in shape for the Ride. it's a little too cold still to start going for rides just yet... so a good substitute would be a spinning class! i looked up Cardel Place Recreation Center on the 'net, saw that they had a class at 6, so i headed there after work. got there... no class. huh? oh... 6AM. 6 in the morning?! you crazy?! oh well... they have a late class on Friday, i'll try for that one then.

so i didn't want the visit to go to waste. i had some young dude working there show me around. nice place. maybe i'll get a membership there. if you sign up for a full year it's about $49 per month which is about right. they have a pool, a gym, steam room, and other classes i can take too. so not a bad deal.

went to the fitness area and rode the upright bike for 1 hr. i did ok... set the intensity level at 8, kept the rpms bw 80-90. my heartrate was around 110 at the end, had my sweat going on... so a good workout for the first time out. they got these nice TVs attached to the bikes too which is nice. and it has over 50 channels of local tv you can watch while you ride. nice! makes the time go by faster. shoot! forgot to record the distance. gotta get that next time.

things i still need to buy:

if you've never had a bike before... let me tell you... all the different stuff you need to get for a bike is insane. it's worse than a car actually. although i could probably do the Ride with just my bike i should get some other things to help make the Ride safer and more comfortable.

let's see, i need:

• helmet - safety first! probably gonna be hard to find one i like that fits my big melon
• gloves - holding on to the bike would be important
• sunglasses - an excuse to get those funky Oakley glasses you see all those douches wearing in public lol
• clip shoes - luckily my bike came with clip pedals already on them
• water bottle with holder - for those thirsty times
• padded cycling shorts - MOST IMPORTANT from what people are telling me
• cycling shirt - i assume of the sweat wicking super tight "i'm going to the eurotrash bar" variety
• bike rack - to carry my bike back and forth, and for trips to the mountains
• bike computer - to know my distances and speed
• cycling socks - are these necessary?
• banana seat and streamers - j/k! but remember how cool they were when you were young!

i'm also thinking of creating some sort of mount for my digital camera too so i can capture some of the moments on the road. and maybe a little wedge bag to strap on to the bike for my wallet and cell phone.

that's it for now i guess. grand total will be like $5,428 million dollars by the time i have my gear - lol.

it just made sense

so i got my bike. now what? i've always wanted to do a charity walk/run... but i hate walk/runing - lol. so why not a bike event? i came across the RTCC after seeing some of their flyers at the local bike shops. it just seemed so perfect.

cancer is probably the most prevalent disease that has touched me personally. i have had 2 cousins that have passed away from lung cancer. one in 2001 and the other in 2003. they were both around the age of 30 when they passed away... just like me. they were both non-smokers and in fairly good shape... just like me. i dedicate this Ride to them. not to forget, i have other family and friends currently battling cancer. plus all my other co-workers and acquaintances that i know that have had cancer touch their lives. it seems that this disease is effecting more and more of us each day.

is it our lifestyle?
all the processed food we eat?
radiation from TV and cell phones?
our lack of activity?
pollution?
2nd hand smoke?
all of the above?

the Alberta Cancer Foundation if the main organization that raises funds to help research and treat cancer. The Alberta Cancer Foundation is the charitable foundation for the:

Tom Baker Cancer Centre in Calgary,
Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton,
Associate Cancer Centres in Grande Prairie, Lethbridge, Red Deer and Medicine Hat
16 community cancer centre sites across the province.

after being such a big success in Toronto and Vancouver... they're brought the Ride to Conquer Cancer event to Calgary. all the stars came into alignment for me to do this Ride.. it just made sense.

i feel like a kid again

Me at the age of 4 with my first bicycle.

so how this all came about was... i really wanted to get a bike this year. i've been putting it off for the last 3 years now. something always comes up that puts a bike lower down on my priority list. this year was going to be different. i went to The Bike Shop as recommended by my buddy. whoa! bikes are not as cheap as i remember them to be! - lol. i was a little overwhelmed. lots and lots of different types of bikes. road, mtn, cx, hybrid, etc. it did give me a good idea of what's out there though. after guessing what i would want on my bike... it looked like it would cost me over $1000 for a brand new one. a little out of my range at this time. i'm only looking for around $600 or so. i'm thinking of getting a hybrid bike so i can keep up with those on the road, but able to still do some light trails.

i was lucky enough to find a good used one on Kijiji. it's a 2008 Kona FS. it had everything that i was looking for: a lockable front suspension, disc brakes on front and rear, light frame, skinny hybrid wheels, flat handlebars. and it was within my budget. done and done. all it needed was a good spray down and grip replacement (one of the grips was ripped). once i did that... as good as new.

here's my new bike! i feel like a kid again talking about my new bike - lol.

the journey begins!

so last week on Thurs March 12th, 2009 i attended the Ride to Conquer Cancer (i'll refer to it as RTCC from now on) information session at the Plaza Theatre in Kensington neighborhood. it was kinda on a whim i must say. i went by myself as it was right after work at 5:30 and i didn't think anyone else would be able to make it. it was a nice evening... probably the nicest we had for a long time. i remember how people were walking along the street going in and out of the shops.

i was nicely greeted by some of the members of the RTCC there. i was one of the first ones there despite me being right on time. what's that? free popcorn and pop? heck ya!... i'll have some popcorn and a bottled water please (i'm abstaining from pop and chips for Lent - lol). i made my way into the theatre where i was the only one in there. me all by myself. luckily, more people came and filled up some of the seats. there was probably around 20-30 people there, i thought there would be more actually.

turns out, most of the people there were already signed up to do the ride already. only a few like me had not. there were some speakers there talking about the purpose of RTCC, its mission, how the Toronto ride went last year, training tips, what equipment you need, etc. but what most hit me was the video they put together. here's a shortened version of that video.



you can describe the events verbally, sure... but that video pretty much summed it all up for me. i was already inspired before the video and even more after that video. the session was about 1.5 hours all in all. as i walked out of the theatre i signed up then and there in the lobby. paid the $75 entrant fee. got my snazzy t-shirt. no turning back now. my journey begins NOW.