An ordinary Sunday ride

In German we have a proverb: Der Weg ist das Ziel, meaning: The reward is in the journey.

I didn't bother to take a lot of pictures. This one is just to show off my RAM mounted Garmin.

Glen valley is all about dairy farms, pastures, vineyards and beautiful regional parks along Fraser River. The air is clean and has an earthy smell, sometimes mixed with camp fires.

I took the fast lane to get there, and the slow lane back. All in all it was a great 2 1/2 hours round trip.

Errands without avail and urban escapes

It has almost become tradition to meet Bob for Saturday breakfast, the main reason today being a test drive with his Motorola Midland radios. The head-set was quickly installed into my helmet, and the units worked perfectly while we were sitting on the grass patch in front of the restaurant. On the bike and moving was a different story though. We have yet to iron out all the bugs, find the right spot for the com button, apply the right timing for talking, and have an eye on the battery power, but I trust that the radios will eventually do the job.

We then drove across the city to get to Bob's favorite locksmith to get a set of spare keys, only to find that the shop was closed on weekends. After this we rode down to Richmond Motorsports hoping to get a neat deal on equipment since they were having a liquidation sale, but we haven't found what we were looking for.

Something different

Our next stop was the Kymco Dealer, where I met Bob's buddies Gary and Gerard, and had a quick McDonalds snack. Here I admit, I am a snob... this is certainly not my favorite food place.

And yet another trip across the city... finally getting to the leisure riding and sightseeing part of today's trip.

Strom Troopers among themselves

Still within city limits and easy to reach is Cypress Mountain in North Vancouver. And while Bob engaged in gasoline talk with a fellow Wee-Stromer I enjoyed a breathtaking view over the city.

Vancouver Downtown with Stanley Park

Our last stop for today was Lynn Canyon with its free-entry 50 meters high suspension bridge.

Another gorgeous riding day with moderate temperatures and blue skies comes to an end. I haven't memorized all the details of our stops but our trip around town must have looked close to this:

Mountain Biking

Seven PM today I returned from a business day-trip to Bellingham, WA, threw my stuff in a corner, put my riding gear on and went out for a quick ride up Mount Seymour to catch some fresh air. Of course the ski area is deserted this time of the year, and I had the road all to myself.

Mount Baker

The sun is still shining bright although its getting late.

Descending... better not go straight ahead!

The view is priceless!

Relaxed and recharged I returned home shortly after sunset, looking forward to the weekend.

Mal wieder in Tronna

Wenn Sonja auf Geschäftsreise geht... dann kann sie was erleben. Wegen des G20 Gipfels gab es in Toronto ein übermässiges Polizeiaufgebot. Da waren Polizisten zu Fuss, auf Fahrrädern und Motorrädern, in Bussen, Strassenbahnen, in Mini-Vans und Mannschaftsbussen unterwegs. Eigentlich wollte Sonja nur ein Bild von der Harley machen, statt dessen bietet der Hüter des Gesetzes ihr an, doch auf dem Zweirad selbst Platz zu nehmen. Da lässt frau sich natürlich nicht lange bitten.

Auf der Yonge Street

King Street: CN Tower und St. Andrews Church

Blaue Stunde und Zeit für ein gediegenes Abendessen bei asiatischer Fusion-Küche im Dazzling.

The Big City

Ya think?!

I was on a business trip to Toronto and had some time to kill, so I went downtown for some quick sightseeing. Due to the G20 summit, traffic was fairly easy, and fenced areas and lots of cops on foot, bicycles, motorcycles, horses, in cars, minivans, trams and on busses remind of the upcoming event.

Except for the relative cleanliness, Toronto reminds me very much of an all American city (no offense, please). But seriously, would an American cop have allowed me to do this? In exchange for a friendly question and a big smile this bike was mine for a minute. My thanks for this prop goes out to Officer H., one of Toronto's Finest.

They hire about anybody to help out during the G20 summit. 

There were motorcycles and scooters everywhere on Yonge Street, and parking doesn't seem to be a big issue as this example shows. This vehicle had parked in front of the Hard Rock Cafe the whole evening and didn't get fined or hauled away.

In a side street I discovered this: A motorcycle themed burger restaurant... something different!

I didn't want a burger but I got curious about the interior and went inside anyway. There were lots of posters with vintage bikes, and motorcycle memorabilia. Pretty cool.

I strolled up King Street East, here St. Andrews Church and CN Tower reflected in an office building.

It was a wonderful evening for motorcycles. Here's a nice one, too. What's he looking at?

Need food!!! Long walks make me hungry, and I started looking out for a decent restaurant. Should it be French, Greek, Italian, American, or Eastern Indian? I had a hard time making my decision. The menus were all the same tempting.

Finally I stopped at Dazzling, an Asian fusion cuisine and bar. There was no Bob around, but I had sushi anyway.

It was a splendid evening, with 27C and clear skies, I was sitting on a patio watching people go by, while enjoying decent food, and a glass of wine.

And did I mention that I actually sat on a real Harley Davidson Police motorcycle? Life is good!

Going coastal

There are more important things than riding your bike, not many but some. Spending quality time with your most favorite person for example. So I took my fellow traveler out on the Sea-to-Sky highway.

It doesn't mean that I cannot watch other riders riding. This one actually kept tailgating us.

The fellow traveler and I

The next thing to riding would be having my own boat. One can dream...

At Shannon Falls, just your ordinary drive-by water fall

Howe Sound

The poor Italian was a good friend's eclectic choice for the evening.

There are not many places where you can get this well prepared Carpaccio,

or Lemon Cake (If it's yellow, it must be good!)

And where's food, there's Bob. The restaurant was his choice.

We were glad that Yvonne could make it, too.

It was a lovely evening.
And off they went in their little red Corvette.

Beim armen Italiener

Nicht ganz so arm sollte man sein, wenn man hier zu speisen wünscht. Ein first class Restaurant mit Valet-Parking, Türsteher und phantastischer Küche. Wir treffen dort heute Bob (Sonja's Motorradkumpel) und seine Gattin Yvonne.

Vor- und Hauptspeisen liessen keine Wünsche offen. Es war ein Genuss und den Preis wert.

Himmel und Meer

Bei strahlendem Sonnenschein machen wir uns auf den Sea-to-Sky Highway entlang des Howe-Sound.
Unser erster Stop ist am Whytecliff Park. Wir geniessen die Aussicht, lassen uns vom Winde verwehen und die Sonne auf den Pelz brennen.

An der Brittannia Bay bewundern wir die inzwischen fast komplett restaurierte Mine, die zum Museum aus gebaut wurde.
Dann geht es weiter zu den Shannon Falls, die derzeit noch recht viel Wasser führen.

Da wir abends noch mit Freunden im 'Poor Italian' verabredet sind, müssen wir uns leider wieder auf den Heimweg machen. Wir hätten noch stundenlang weiterfahren können...