Jen's Journal

Weekend Warrior Trip

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 21:48:19 -0800

220km of wicked riding:

C.Ford and I left Creston Saturday morning and ripped along the East Shore of Kootenay Lake in the warm sunshine. The worst part of the day was the last ascent from the BOB, (big orange bridge) to Dad's place.

Day two started out with overcast skies and ended with us dismounting the bikes looking like we had just stepped out of a shower. From Fruitvale into Trail, (~25km), the skies absolutely opened up and drenched us completely. I don't remember the last time I got so stuck in such a torrential rain showers, (oh wait, Ireland). Sigh, got to love the ride.

Deep Lake WA

Sun, 11 May 2008 21:26:34 -0800

Below is the route of my longest ride I have had in 2008. Yesterday T and I headed down to Northport for a rip out to Deep Lake. Crossing the border was no problem and the ride was beautiful.

Although it wasn't a sandwich, the post ride $5.25 cheeseburger and $2.00 bottle of beer at the Whitebird Tavern were a nice touch. Man do I enjoy the states.

Saturday Night in Trail

Sat, 10 May 2008 21:35:31 -0800

A New Year, More Sandwiches and a Polar Bear

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 13:54:11 -0800

2008 is upon us and for a pre-New Year celebration the McLeans hit Red Mountain for a day of skiing, rocks, twigs and of course gas station sandwiches. Here are a couple shots of us famished skiers devouring or lunch snack up at the Paradise Lodge.

Dad took the Reuben, Cam was munching on the BLT and I was scarfing down a Chicken Caesar. These were from the Warfield Shell station, a.k.a. the best sub-sandwiches in the Trail/Rossland area.

The Open-Faced Christmas Sandwich

Tue, 25 Dec 2007 23:30:54 -0800

I had a bad day on Saturday December 22nd 2007. It should have been a good day given that it was my first day up at Red Mountain on my new skis, there was fresh snow, there were minimal people out and I was skiing with a good friend. It wasn’t. First run I hit a rock, popped my ski and then spent the next hour and a half trekking through waste deep, baseless powder to find the damn thing. In the end we didn’t even find it, some guy who lost his ski 50 yards down the hill noticed a ski-like object harpooned into a snowbank. I could have kissed the man.

I did a couple more runs, gouged another chunk of the ski off, (this time a core-shot), and decided that it was go time. My feet were near frozen as I had forgotten my ski boots in the car the night before and my hands were having sympathy pains toward the other extremities. We pack up and headed to The Grind in Rossland for some substance that wasn’t Rafter’s World Famous Nachos. It was here I decided that the day should end right now, and as a secondary thought… this upcoming year should and would be The Year of the Sandwich.

Coming soon....

Mon, 24 Dec 2007 07:52:22 -0800

The YEAR of the SANDWICH

Back from Baker

Sun, 15 Jul 2007 22:31:54 -0800

I have returned from Baker, although I suppose most people didn't even know I left. On a whim I jumped into the old Subaru with Jon on Friday morning and headed towards the towering mountain in the distance - Mt. Baker. Leaving all the planning to Jon I just rolled with it as I had my crampons, ice axe, harness and helmet sized up. We took BC Ferries over to Tsawwassen and drove to the Sumas border crossing. We hiked up from the car park that night and set up the camp at 5800 ft.

Jon had an alpine start all planned out. I figured this meant we'd be starting in the alpine, not starting in the alpine AT 2:00 IN THE MORNING.

Bad Hostel Sandwich

Mon, 02 Jul 2007 01:47:56 -0800

The night following the most excellent evening at the Downhill Hostel I headed into (London)Derry City. The name is still a matter of confusion I have been told. I appeared at a hostel mid-afternoon, (much earlier than I usually would be checking in), only to find I was taking the last hostel bed in the city, all 4 other hostels were full. I didn't like the sounds of this as every other hostel dorm experience has been very spacious. I got to the room only to find it was occupied by old men. Five to be exact, one from France, one from New Zealand, one from Sweden, one crazy bugger from Ireland and one snorer.

The Hamlet that was Downhill

Sun, 01 Jul 2007 09:55:55 -0800

I headed off from Ballycastle into weather that looked questionable at best. It seemed to be sunny in the frontyard, then raining in the back... this left me confused as to be doning my waterproofs or my sunscreen. Luckily it turned out for the best, (less the headwind I fought all day), and I rode towards the Giant's Causeway and the Bushmills Distillary. One of my first stops was just a beautiful vantage point looking down at the spectacular coastline, (not unlike California or Oregon's in sections). A car pulled in after me and a lively old man hopped out and started chatting away.

Guinness is Good for You

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 09:28:05 -0800

I pulled into Belfast last Wednesday night, (after missing a ferry due to an unsightly sidewall failure on my bike), and while in line at the hostel was asked, "Where in BC are you from?" Having not met any other Canadians to date I instantly made friends with two boys who were from Merritt, (in the Okanagan). We went out for some pints, checked out the nightlife and as we were ushered out of the clubs I even got hugged by an extremely mushroomed out Irish man. He was amazed at how white my teeth were and how tanned my hands are. Geesh, some great assets-I suppose.

On to the Isle of Arran

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 08:27:03 -0800

Well, as I was told the Isle of Arran is a minature Scotland, and it is living up to my expectations. I got off Mull on Sunday and beelined it to here, (approx 80-miles and two ferry crossings). It does have everything big Scotland has, just smaller or less of them. This place has a small whisky distillery, one small brewery, hills (just smaller and less of them), sandy beaches, waterfalls and standing stones. I have circum-navigated the 68-miles of road around the Coastal route with my bike and am resting my head tonight at Glen Rosa at the base of the tallest peak on the Isle, Goatfell. Unfortunately I won't be ascending it as I am planning on catching the ferry to Ireland bright and early tomorrow morning.

From the Top of Ben Nevis, to the Mud Bogs of Mull

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 11:10:03 -0800

I climbed the highest peak in the UK the other day. After getting 2/3 of the way up Ben Nevis I was in cloud cover and saw nothing. The top portion of the mountain is known to be cover in cloud 9 days out of 10, and I wasn't lucky this time. The walk, which was about 4-miles one-way, took 2 1/4 hours to summit, and about 2 hours down. It was a good hike which left my legs in immense pain for the following 3 days. Surprising how many different muscles are in involved in a hike. Interestingly enough I easily pedaled over to the Isle of Mull the next day, by way of the Road to the Isles (beautiful), however upon reaching the cottage Dad and family was staying at I had huge problems climbing up and down the staircase.

No Nessy but Great Riding

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 04:47:37 -0800

After a few days of questionable trail/road riding I had an amazing day cruising past Loch Ness, through Fort Augustus, past Loch Lochy and into Fort Williams. The wind was behind me, the carriageway was single lane with few to no cars, and the weather held out. The ride into Fort Williams was magnificant as I got my first peak at Ben Nevis, (Ben = mounatain, Glen = valley, Loch = lake??), the sun broke out and I coasted into town.

Where is Nessy?

Sun, 17 Jun 2007 07:42:36 -0800

Today I arrived in Inverness which is mere miles North of the famed Loch Ness. I did not make it here entirely on my own accord, as I caught the train this morning from Pithlochry. I woke up to see another overcast day and with the cask beers of last night sitting rather heavy in my stomache I opted for the motorized transportation.

This has definitely been turning out to be an unplanned tour of Scotland as every night I seem to go to bed with an idea of which direction I am heading, and every morning I seem to change my mind.

Awww Glasgow

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 09:21:52 -0800

Well I have made it to Scotland, however, the trip over was not my smoothest travelling to date.

Getting my bike packed into the box was surprisingly easy this time. Getting my bike, by panniers and me to the Victoria bus station was fairly painless - thanks to the employee who broke the rules and let me store my stuff in the back room while I did a car drop. Riding the ferry was easy, and debatably amusing. The entire ride I had my ears filled with tales from Tim the Fire Protection Technologist. The thing is I had nothing better to do, so when he approached me just off Swartz Bay and asked about my knowledge of Land's End I cordially continued conversing with him. By the time we reached Active Pass he was convinced that if this was an American ferry route they would have blown up a couple islands to make it a more direct passage. I was slightly intrigued although I informed him that the Washington State Ferries did in fact go around the islands. He went on to tell me about how when all the glaciers melt in a couple years there will be no more islands, (he had just watched An Inconvenient Truth and felt himself an expert on global warming).

Still smooth sailing, (excuse the pun), the fun actually started upon my arrival at the Vancouver Airport...