April 2009 - ActiveSteve

Biking for Bucks, Charity Style

Howy folks. Nope, I don’t have a huge exciting blog post for you, but I just realized I’m only a week and a half away from the CN Cycle for CHEO Tour, and haven’t gotten off my butt and started fundraising yet 🙂 Each year, I try to do at least one charity race. Normally, that’s the 48hour Quest for a Cure adventure race supporting the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation. Unfortunately, this year I’ll be in BC racing in another race at the same time, so I had to find an alternative. This year, I’ll be riding 70km in the CN Cycle for CHEO, in support of, obviously, CHEO, as well as Ronald McDonald House and the Candlelighters.

If you’d like to sponsor me (any amount would be greatly appreciated), just head on over to my personal donation page. Donations can be made in any amount, and you’ll obviously get a tax receipt (for amounts $10 and up). I know, it’s not exactly the same as suffering for 48 hours straight as I’ve done in the past, nor am I riding for days on end, but the cause is still an excellent one, and every penny counts. CHEO helps countless families every year, and they’re always looking for support. This idea was actually Jody’s, so I’ve let her get a jump on me in the fundraising, but she’s been mainly targeting the ladies, so fellas… why not sponsor me? 😉

Race Reports Travelogue

Dangers of Cycling

Howdy folks. Catchy title, don’t you think? I had a whole host of other titles that I was throwing around in my head, but instead opted for the cold, calculated title that you read above. I figure that it’s gotten your attention, and that once again, I’ll be able to articulate just why exactly wearing a brain bucket is the way to go if you’re travelling under your own power on two wheels. To start off, let me assure you, the main protagonist in this story is not me this time. However, I was witness to some terrible misfortune, and have to let you all know the circumstances. I’m writing this in the basement of my dad’s place in Nova Scotia , enjoying the Easter weekend, and recovering from a fun 100km ride that I did with a group of locals from an old friends’ bike store in New Glasgow. Hopefully by the time I post this story, you’ll be able to check out both a map of the ride, as well as some pictures. There are no photos of the accident, and if you read on you’ll understand why that is.

Life in General Travelogue

Putting on the Pounds in Pictou

Gobble gobble. Oops, I guess that’s Thanksgiving, isn’t it? Okay, I’m really talking about Easter weekend for this post. The title is a bit misleading, since I already seem to have burned off the extra bunny weight, but boy, did I eat a whole butt-load of great food over the weekend. If there is one thing I can say about visiting my dad and his wife, it’s that you never leave with an empty belly. This visit was no exception. You see, on a whim about a month ago, I booked a fairly affordable weekend airfare for Nova Scotia, since I hadn’t been out to see him since he moved fully into his new house in Pictou . It took a while for them to off-load the old house, which meant there was a bit of stress on their end, but now that they’ve sold it and fully moved to the new place, they can now work on getting it set up the way they want it. I figured it would be a good chance to see it ‘in progress’. I’ve taken a number of pictures over the weekend, both at home, as well as around the area while running and visiting friends. Check ’em out if you want, then come back to read a short bit more about what I got up to over the 4-day weekend.

Sweetening up for the Spring

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Short and sweet (get it) blog post for all of you out there today. I just wanted to share a recent fun adventure I had through work recently. As the title may imply (and the video to the left of this!), I’m talking about doing one of the quintessential springtime activities one can take part in around these here parts at this time of year. No, not spring cleaning, but heading out to a sugar bush! Now I for one have no real idea why it’s called a sugar bush, but since that’s what anglos seem to call them, I’ll stick to that for my post. Our executive director wanted to celebrate our accomplishments over the past few months, and suggested this. Who was I to say no? Now, before you get your panties in a knot, don’t worry, no public funds were used. We always have to pay our own way for these things. If’ you’d like to see how I roll at a work function, head over to flickr and look at the pictures I took. You’ll note I managed to squeeze in a couple beers. After all, it was after noon. When done, read on for a little more.