Dermatologist visit

Wednesday - Mar 28 - Biking 57 km

Rode to work in the morning. In the afternoon I rode out to Riverside hospital for a visit to the doctor. The wind was brutal. It took me almost 2 hours to get there. I also felt very tired, which despite the wind, I should not have felt as tired as I did. Then biked to re-Cycles through rush hour traffic. I took Riverside and the Vanier Parkway, which was very unpleasant to ride on due to massive amounts of cars. Will have to find a better route should I ride this way again. After working for 3 hours, I biked home from re-Cycles feeling somewhat ill, and very exhausted. Went to bed with a fever, so that explains the weak feeling while riding.

Conference day

Tuesday - Mar 27 - Biking 42 km

Rode to the Brookstreet hotel for the Synopsys Verification Seminar. Stopped in and my landlord's place to drop of a rent cheque on the way. Biked back to work in the afternoon. Then biked home, stopping at Carlingwood to pick up some paperwork from my doctor. It was warm enough to ride home in shorts. Bikepath is still snowy around Brittania.

First bike path ride

Friday - May 23 - Biking 37 km

Rode to work. On the way home I decided to give the bike path a try. Between Kanata and Bells Corners, the path was completely clear. The path along the river was ridable but several sections required pushing, riding off-road, or plowing through snow drifts. Made for a fun ride and I managed to get all the way home like this. It looks like the ski season is over.

Sunday - May 25 - Biking 10 km

Emily and I biked around looking at houses for an hour or so on a warm but gray afternoon.

Weeks Total: Biking 121 km, Skiing 12 km
Year to Date: Biking 1076 km, Hiking 14 km, Skating 129 km, Skiing 187 km

Rolling Pin

I guess I am on a kitchen kick for my woodworking projects lately. I finished this rolling pin last night. It doubles as a pretty wicked cudgel when not rolling out pastry. I think the first thing I bake with this will have to be a cherry pie sweetened with maple syrup!

Hopefully the last cold ride of the year

Wednesday - Mar 21 - Biking 37 km

Rode to work on a chilly morning at -14. Rode home in much more balmy temperature of +2.

New Moon

Monday - Mar 19 - Biking 37 km

Rode to work. Temperature going/returning: -10/-5

Tuesday - Mar 20 - Skiing 12 km

Went for a ski along the Gatineau parkway up to Pink Lake. It was very dark because the sky was clear and a new moon hung dimly on the horizon. The views of the stars were spectacular.

Cutting Board

I finished this little project on the weekend. A new butcher block style cutting board for my kitchen and a matching frame to hold it so it does not slide across the counter as you are using it. The frame also holds everything slightly above the counter so moisture doesn't get trapped underneath causing mold. It is made of a combination of maple and cherry woods.

Too much skiing.

Friday - Mar 16 - Biking 9km

Bike down to Musca with a trailler of wine bottles in tow to bottle on-premise wine. After supper I biked down to the Oak for a couple pints.

Sunday - Mar 18 - Skiing 24 km

Rob and I skiied from the Meech lake parking lot to a cabin some 10 km back in the woods. It was a nice day hovering around and slightly above freezing. The way back was a little slushy as the snow was melting. Ran into Nick and Jenny on the trail during the ski back. Later, I went skiing with my parents in Manotick. My mom skiied for a short bit and then went home. My dad and I followed a little trail through the woods and ended up skiing across some corn fields. We then had to bushwack a bit to get back without re-tracing our trip.

Weeks Total: Biking 176 km, Skiing 28 km
Year to Date: Biking 955 km, Hiking 14 km, Skating 129 km, Skiing 175 km

Temperature Drop

Thursday - Mar 15 - Biking 47 km

Biked to work on a warm (+4) but windy morning. Biked to re-cycles after work after the temperature dropped to about -5. Biked home later in the evening.

Through the Fog

Wednesday - Mar 14 - Biking 46 km

Biked to work in the morning (+8 degrees). After work I biked through some pea soup thick fog to Lee Valley for a couple things, Mr. Shawarma for supper, then off to the OWA monthly meeting. It was warm enough to wear shorts for the first day this year. After the meeting and a beer at PJs, biked home in the dark through some really cool fog.

Early Spring

Monday - Mar 12 - Biking 37 km

Rode to work in a warm morning around the freezing mark. Thanks goes to G. W. Bush for scheduling spring 3 weeks early this year. I got to ride home without lights for the first day this year in above zero temperatures.

Tuesday - Mar 13 - Biking 37 km, Skiing 4 km

A beautiful day hovering around 8 degrees for a ride to work. Went for a quick ski with Sharon in Gatineau Park in the evening. This may be the last one of the year. The trails were for the most part nice, but some parts had melted right through to the mud. It started a light rain near the end.

Spring is in the air

Sunday - Mar 11 - Biking 17 km

I needed to run a couple errands, but since it was such a nice day, extended the bike ride a bit by doing an optional errand down to re-cycles to pick up some bearings for Jon's bandsaw. Checked out a couple open-house houses on my way home. Found a nice one, but the asking price was $650k!!! Yikes.

Weeks Total: Biking 42 km, Skating 44, Skiing 12 km
Year to Date: Biking 779 km, Hiking 14 km, Skating 129 km, Skiing 147 km

Endless Skating

Thursday - Mar 8 - Biking 8 km, Skating 16 km

Biked down to the canal and skated the entire thing. -15 temperature kept things chill. Bumped into Karina and Jason who were just leaving the canal as I arrived. My goal was to skate the canal in under an hour. I made it in 59 minutes and 51 seconds!

Friday - Mar 9 - Biking 9 km, Skating 15 km

Biked down to the canal with Rob after supper. We left Dows Lake at 20:30 with plans to meet Sharon downtown at 20:45. We were about 5 minutes late, but Sharon was later. We walked back to her place to get her skates and then walked back to the Canal, but decided to go for a couple beers at the Elephant and Castle before skating again. About midnight we hit the ice again which had just been flooded. Rob headed home while Sharon and I skated until the ice got too slushy as we approached the flooding crews. I walked Sharon home and then walked back to the Canal to skate back to Dows lake (flooding now frozen really nice and smooth), back to my bike, and ride back home.

Moon over the city

Wednesday - Mar 7 - Skiing 12 km

Skied up the Gatineau Parkway solo to the Pink Lake lookout. On the way back I witnessed the rise of a brilliant orange moon over the city skyline.

Freezing Skating

Tuesday - Mar 06 - Biking 8 km, Skating 13 km

It was -20 out so I decided I had better go skating to get some excercise. There were probably about six other people on the canal. Dows lake was terrible. Very rough ice. Then it got better as you headed towards downtown. I skipped the Carleton leg of the trip because there were lots of tractors and trucks working on clearing this section. As I came back passing the Canal Ritz restaurant I gave patrons a display as I caught a skate in a crack, landed on my right knee painfully, and then slid on my stomach for about 10 or 15 meters before coming to a stop. Took me a minute to get up because of the shooting pain in the knee, but it appeared to be just a bruise. At home I applied ice because it was swelling substantially, but fortunately had subsided into just a nasty bruise by the next morning.

Backwoods skiing

Sunday - Mar 4 - Skiing 7 km

Due to a big dump of snow last friday, Rob and I decided to do some back country skiing in Gatineau park. We skiied into the woods and had to bushwack for a while, taking off our skis as necessary to get through some tougher sections. Then we picked up an old fence line and travelled along this as best as we could for a while until we lost it. We bushwacked East to get to an unmarked trail, where we met a group of Australian skiiers who were breaking this trail. We travelled back the way they had come, so travel was much easier. We stopped at the old mill for lunch, and then followed marked trails back to the Fortune Parkway and back to the car.

Weeks Total: Biking 134 km, Skating 15 km, Skiing 15 km
Year to Date: Biking 745 km, Hiking 14 km, Skating 85 km, Skiing 135 km

Lunar Eclipse

Saturday - Mar 3 - Skiing 8 km

Went skiing around the Mer Bleue loop with Karina and Emily. We witnessed the final bit of the lunar eclipse as the bright moonlight lit our way.

Company Skate Night

Thursday - Mar 1 - Biking 8 km, Skating 15 km

Due to a recent sale into Canada at work we decided to do something Canadian to celebrate. Why not eat some beaver tails? After a quick search we discovered that beaver tails cannot be had for take-out very easily so I suggested we all just go down to the Rideau Canal and eat them at the source. I biked down to Dows lake and met Al, who skated with me to the planned beaver tail consumption area at 5th Avenue. Here we met up with Neil and his family, and Mike. This totalled the turn out of our company. Oh well, at least 25% showed up. We then considered eating a tail or two, but the thought of greasy dough with sugar on it didn't appeal to many. So we decided to drink beer instead. We skated down to Pretoria bridge to the Royal Oak. Mike and I decided to complete the canal so booted it down to the end and then back first. Mike had speed skates so I had to hustle to keep up. After a couple beers, Al and I skated back to Dows lake and I biked home.

Work and Recycles

Wednesday - Feb 28 - Biking 50 km

Rode to work in the morning. Cool at about -13. Rode to re-cycles where I volunteered for a few hours after work. Warmed up to -2. Rode home later in the evening. I am looking forward to the bike paths clearing of snow. It takes me close to 90 minutes to bike between Kanata and downtown on the roads. If I take the bike path it is closer to 70, even though the route is slightly longer. This is solely because of traffic and red lights, which the bike path has neither.