Roland, der Finalkraken

Foto: http://www.wahrsagerin.net/orakel/em-orakel-2012/

Jetzt, wo Deutschland gegen eine tolle italienische Mannschaft aus der Euro 2012 ausgeschieden ist, kann Roland ja die Wahrheit ans Licht lassen: er ist der einzige wahre und zuverlässige Finalkraken!

Das Konzept ist einfach: Roland sucht sich eine Mannschaft aus, zu der er hält ("he cheers for", wie die Nordamerikaner sagen), und die andere Mannschaft gewinnt. Beispiele:

WM 2002: Roland ist für Deutschland, Brasilien gewinnt

EM 2004: Roland Portugal, Griechenland gewinnt

WM 2006: Roland Frankreich, Italien gewinnt

EM 2008: Roland Deutschland, Spanien gewinnt

WM 2010: Roland Niederlande, Spanien gewinnt (ok, nachdem die Holländer hier offensichtlich die Sportart verwechselt hatten, kippten Roland's Sympathien während des Spiels)

Traurige Nachricht für Italien: diesmal "cheert" Roland mit ganzem Herzen für die Squadra Azzura, das kann also nur völlig in die Hose gehen. Sorry!

Wer zuletzt lacht

 Das wohl beste Ausstellungsstueck der Vancouver Biennale:

Yue Minjun's A-maze-ing Laughter

Man kann sich einfach das Grinsen nicht verkneifen, wenn man davor steht. Sowohl bei den Einheimischen als auch bei den Touristen gelten die Statuen als beliebtes Fotomotiv. Das Objekt steht fuer nur 1.5 Mio$ zum Verkauf. Hoffentlich findet sich ein lokaler Kaeufer, der es dort laesst, wo es ist.

Die Sonne hat sich mal wieder den ganzen Tag von ihrer abwesenden Seite gezeigt. Nichtsdestotrotz haben wir uns mit der lokalen Scooter-Posse fuer einen Abendritt um den Stanley Park mit anschliessendem Essen verabredet.

Einige (wohl nicht wasserfeste) Zweiradfahrer zogen es aufgrund der bedrohlich aussehenden Wolken vor, lieber nach Hause zu fahren, aber immerhin kamen doch sechs Hardcore Biker fuer den Ausflug zusammen.

Fuer diesen Einsatz wurden wir dann auch zuguterletzt mit einem wunderschoenen Sonnenuntergang belohnt.

Espresso Night

The spousal unit thought it was about time to start socializing with the crowds, and joined a casual rider's community. Meet-ups and rides are posted on the forum, and so we rode downtown after work to a place we are quite familiar with, our most favourite Vespa dealer.

Barista Robert (the Reverend2U) took care of the coffee, and after introductions we hit the road with Buck on his Fly leading the way through the congested downtown streets. Four scooters ahead, and Sunny on his nifty Ducati (he also rides an MP3), and Benny on his sporty CBR (also a scooter owner), both following gently. Six riders in the maze of Vancouver, and no one got lost in traffic. We find, that's an excellent score for being leader of the pack for the very first time.

The Stanley Park loop was lovely as usual. We stopped to enjoy the vistas, and I made the posse pose for a picture.

From left to right: Sunny, Buck, Roland, Robert and Benny.

The scooterists have a motto that we can relate to very much: Ride to eat. Our final destination was the Canadian Bistro Beaver and Mullet. The signature Mac'n'Cheese is a must.

We had a great evening, and chatted a lot about previous and future scooter rides, food experience and restaurants worth visiting. We hope it is the first of many meet-ups with this crowd.

 Looks like California, doesn't it?

Sommer, eh?

Sommersonnenwende hat bereits stattgefunden, und die Tage werden wieder (wenn auch unmerklich) kürzer, aber von Sommer keine Spur.

Es sei denn, es zählt bereits als Sommerwetter, dass der Regen wärmer wird. Die Outdoorsaison hat dieses Jahr arg unter dem Nass zu leiden. Segel- und Kajakkurse sind im wahrsten Sinne des Worte ins Wasser gefallen.

Was jedoch die Parkanwohner im Allgemeinen nicht zu stören scheint. Wir sehen es ebenfalls gelassen, denn am Wetter können wir ja doch nichts ändern.

Also drehen wir unsere übliche Runde und patschen durch die Pfützen. Die Seeluft funktioniert ja auch im Regen.

I don't like Shopping, but...

Bonjour, Tristesse!

Just another (not so bright) day at the Canadian Pacific We(s)t Coast. Summer Solstice came and went, and did only bring... warmer rain. On the plus side, I spent the time wisely, shopping around for some needful things.

As much as I despise going to the mall, as much do I love browsing for motorcycle and hiking gear. I am a really weird woman.

With our motorcycle trip just a few weeks ahead of us, and limited willingness or budget to invest in a (Harley Davidson) luggage rack and specific Sportster bags, I reviewed several universal luggage options, for fit on any motorcycle, not just on the Sporty, and settled for the KRIEGA US20+10 tail DryBag, as complementary luggage to my tank bag.

Installation was easy: Take seat off, align straps under seat, put seat on, hook the straps attached to the drybag into the strap loops, tighten straps, done. Installation time: about 2 minutes give or take. And no luggage rack necessary.

Waterproof, sturdy, and fits any bike.

I am not into gadgets, as a matter of fact I might be the very last member in our entire family (worldwide) who has only recently upgraded to an iPhone (because the company threw one at me). But now that I have this thing I might as well have it occasionally on display while riding, and use it as a GPS. However, I also wanted to have the opportunity to mount my camera on the bike, as well as my Garmin Nuvi.

So I picked the allrounder X-Grip holder made by RAM.

And the Sony Cybershot fits perfectly, too.

While these first two items were easy to select, and to decide upon, the final investment took me several months of intense investigation: A modular full face helmet.

For those who don't know me that well, occasionally I get claustrophobic under a full face helmet, hence swapped my Shoei RF-1000 against a Nolan N-43 3/4 helmet two years ago. I use the Nolan every day on my commute to work.

Traveling longer distance and higher speeds however find me pondering about safety, and consequently the use of a full face helmet. A modular helmet is the only option for me, in case I need to catch air during a fit.

High on my list was the Schuberth C3W, as it is specifically designed for the ladies but the price tag put me off. Meanwhile the new N104 by Nolan became available, and having been satisfied with the 3/4 helmet I decided to give this model a go.

It is a modular helmet with easy to use flip-up mechanism, which I can work fast, in case of a claustrophobic attack. Size S fits well for me, and the cheek pads are tight but not bothersome. What I like the most is the outstanding peripheral vision, the sun visor, and its weight, at 1,580g only 180g more than the 3/4 helmet. Oh, and besides it's only half the price of the Schuberth helmet.

So, all set for our big trip then, I guess...

Auf zwei Rädern um den Pudding

 Der tägliche Weg zur Arbeit.

Das monatliche Treffen mit den Free Wheelin' Ladies.

 Ein Ausritt mit Cliff

 Abendspazierfahrt mit Vespas

Die Zweiradsaison ist in vollem Gange. Das Auto wird eigentlich nur noch aus der Garage geholt, wenn Roland ein 'Taxi' zum / vom Flughafen braucht.

A Busy Week (In a Good Way)

Like every week, there was some work part involved but that didn't change the fun part. This month's ride to eat meeting of my ladies' club was at Mission Spring Pub.

The greatest challenge was actually finding something edible for me on the menu. I settled on a small veggie pizza with mushrooms, alas it was not guaranteed gluten-free.

Here's Alyson with her new BMW S1000RR, she just had the bike on the track, and there is no such thing as chicken strips on her tires, I can tell you.

Meanwhile I tested Whitey, the Burgman, and was quite pleased with the results. Less vibrations than anticipated, and that thing does easily do a 100 km/h (or more, pssst, don't tell my hubby).

Another (dry) evening involved taking out Bella and Paolo for a change. We saw a black bear crossing the road but none of us was quick enough to pull out the camera.

Although we are already in mid June, temperatures are still in the low teens, and it rains a fair bit. The meteorologists are talking about this month being the coldest June since weather statistics started.

Well, at least the evening cleared up, and we had a glimpse of sunshine.

Another day we had the opportunity to meet with our friend Cliff, who was in the market for a new bike. He found a sweet deal on an already well equipped V-Strom.

Having obtained his motorcycle endorsement in Great Britain we don't have to worry about his riding skills. If you survive on England's roads you'll survive anywhere.

Friday afternoon we gathered our rides, a maxi scooter, a cruiser and a dual sport tourer, and went out for a ride around the block, which ended up being about 150 km and two hours on the road. We found that it went well despite the weird melange of bikes.

Rain, rain, rain. Every friggin' day of the week, intercepted by a few hours of dry spells. Today was no different, except the dry part didn't happen.

However, the least one could do is returning to the walking exercise, and get some mileage under our feet.

You know what they are saying, there is no such thing as bad weather, only wrong clothing.

Fine, sure, whatever. 

To reward our effort we went to my favourite grocery store afterwards. Organic, gluten-free and simply good healthy food for dinner. (I just wonder at which point the cookies and gummy bears made it into the bag.)

My Daily Commute to Work

Martha over at Living Among Tourists called for a challenge: "... photograph your usual ride, the one that illustrates the path most taken..."

Here are few snapshots from my dreadful daily commute through the suburbs of Vancouver. There are not many spots to pull over, but the route is nothing to write home about anyway.

11 kilometers distance, from door to door involving 6 right turns and 2 left turns in that order, rarely done under 20 minutes thanks to 19 traffic lights and countless idiot cagers.

 It starts in the parkade. 

Today, an Asian lady in a big sedan is violating my right of way. 

"Sorry, I didn't see you."

Well, I am sure that she noticed the distinct gesture I gave her.

 On the first 3 kilometers, a total of 9 traffic lights can easily take up 10 minutes of my riding time.

 Lining up with the four wheelers at yet another red light.

 The final stretch to work.

 Paolo parked in his designated parking spot at work.

Since I am a nice coworker I offer to share.

 My favourite view on my way home.

Alas, today the mountain range is obscured by clouds.

The final stretch home. I can smell the ocean.

What happens on Facebook...

... can get anywhere. Some content might even make it to the front page of a newspaper.

In my case, one of my pics must have gotten used without my knowing or doing to promote a photo contest sponsored by my neighbourhood H-D dealership.

I am not even sure if I ever made this picture available for grabs in said social media, so when I discovered the ad I felt somewhat between miffed and flattered. Well, I guess the flattered part won. Besides, I really appreciate the excellent job their service department is doing, hence the publication permission will be herewith granted ex post, wherever this particular picture was snagged from.

Here is the original, taken last summer on my first solo trip doing the Lillooet loop, which I am planning to repeat this summer, hopefully with the spousal unit in tow.

PS: I have sent the H-D dealership an email...

Whitey im Nebel

Unser kleiner Ausflug zum Mount Seymour war zwar touristisch nicht von Erfolg gekrönt, aber konnte zumindest für ein Kurvenfahrtraining her halten, damit Roland sein neues Spielzeug (getauft auf den Namen Whitey Weissman) besser kennen lernt.

Auf dem Berg angekommen, wurde das unmittelbare Bedürfnis nach Heissgetränken wach. Es war a...kalt.

Wegen der schlechten Sicht fuhren wir in gemässigtem Tempo den Berg wieder hinunter und machten uns umgehend auf die Suche nach einem Cafe.

Nach so einer feucht kalten Angelegenheit ist es nochmal so schön, sich bei einem Tee oder Kaffee in der Sonne sitzend wieder auf zu wärmen (Wanderer und Fahrradfahrer werden dieses Phänomen sicherlich auch gut kennen.).

Soup

An early morning exercise led us to Mt. Seymour where we the bikes did some mountain climbing. We could hardly see through the fog soup. On the plus side we did not encounter any traffic.

There was no view to admire, and the temperatures of only 8C (46F) produced an instant craving for warm beverages, so we turned around.

One of our favourite north Van joints is the Bean around the world Cafe. We found a parking spot directly in front of the building.

While Roland enjoyed an excellent coffee, I got to sip my soy chai latte, and nibbled on a gluten free vegan cookie. 

After riding through the wet white soup we were warming up nicely in the morning sun.

Roland is getting better with every mile on the 'big' bike, and the painful stretch of Highway #1 was no issue at all (much more stressful on a Vespa I tell you).

Meanwhile I get used again to the additional weight coming with the bucket seat, sissy bar and windshield, the Sporty's touring equipment for our road trip next month.