Brewsdaddle Fun Run Oct 18, 2009

Sunday morning found me heading down to Brockton Oval in Stanley Park on the bike to help with a newish fun run call Brewsdaddle - it is the brain child of one of the head honchos of the Subaru Triathlon that I volunteered for earlier in the year. This marks the second year the event has been held and is Oktoberfest themed.

The race is a one km kids walk along the track at the Oval and/or a 5km run around the area of the Oval - there were 150 pre registrants and a number of others at the last minute as the weather is cooperating - that is - no rain although cloudy and threatening. You are encourage to dress in costumes - you will notice some of them when you click on the images.

I will be one of the two bike cyclists leading the pack around the course - my biking buddy Gerald Joe will be the other one.

But first we need to set up the course - put up the KM markers and Caution race in progress signs - as this is a fun event there is no closure of the Seawall so we will have to ask people to stand clear as the runners pass.

So after setting up the course we are then asked to ride it one more time to ensure that the Volunteer Course Marshals are placed effectively and to give them instructions on our final sweep.

Before I know it is 11AM and time for the race to get underway at the starting point near HMCS Discovery on the Seawall.

It takes the lead runners less than 20 minutes to run the course and all participants were finished in under an hour - in fact as Gerald and I swept the course we only met up with the final two finishers about a km from the finish line.

After the race we adjourned to the Pavilion for some German food - pretzels, potato salad, sausages and sauerkraut and there was beer for sale and a few samples from the good folks at Granville Island brewing in the upstairs bar - I passed on this as I have another engagement in the afternoon that I need to drive too.

By the time I got home just after noon I had close to 40KM of riding done - not bad for a morning.

For some reason I can't get the images to work on IE any more so I am using the Chrome browser from Google to get the job done.

Cheers

Dennis

A brief respite from the rains brings some nice colors to life Oct 17, 2009

The rains have returned to Vancouver big time - we are in a south westerly flow - which at this time of the year is a wet and warm weather pattern with much of the moisture originating near the Hawaiian Islands - the storms usually come in waves perhaps 18 - 24 hours apart bringing with them heavy rain and wind.

Saturday started out this way but there was a brief respite this afternoon when it cleared off so I grabbed my camera and was able to capture some fall scenes as I walked along the False Creek Seawall - didn't get as far along as I would have like as I met a former Y member and ended up having a fairly lengthy conversation with him and by then the clouds were starting to reform.

Just hope that it dries up as expected on Sunday as I have a bike volunteer assignment in the morning - it is a fun run with an Oktoberfest theme - IE - get some exercise and then get intosome good German food and drink. Won't do much of the latter as I have a Y Connections Volunteer Recognition function in the afternoon to attend as well.

Cheers

Dennis

A Canadian Thanksgiving dinner at Jim's Oct 12, 2009

Monday was the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday and my good friend Jim decided to have a dinner party and I was invited - it is only a one block walk to is place so how could I not accept the invite - I was joined in this celebration of the fall harvest by a large group of mostly Asian friends of his Japanese and Korean roommates - many of whom have never celebrated this feast or had turkey and cranberry either. It was about a 20 lb turkey and as you see in these images replete with all the trimmings - even a photo or two of the chef enjoying the proceedings.

In all more than 20 people avail themselves of this dinner over the course of the evening.

Thanks Jim for the wonderful dinner - guess I know what will be in your lunch for most of the week.

Cheers

Dennis

More fall colors on the south side of False Creek - Oct 12, 2009

Monday saw me back on the bike enjoying another cool but sunny day outdoors - I headed across the Burrard St. Bridge and through Kits Point and into Granville Island and then along the seawall on the south side of False Creek - and then a longer loop through the False Creek Industrial lands - Strathcona - Gastown - and home along Burrard Street - a little over 21 KM today.

The colors weren't as strong as the ones from the last few days but they did provide some more photos opportunities.

This final image is from near Science World looking south and west towards the Olympic Village - nearing completion and ringed by some colorful maple trees.

Lots of people out and about on this the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend.

More later

Cheers

Dennis

How a desire for a short hike became an interesting day Sunday Oct 11, 2009

I originally was planning on heading up the Sea to Sky Highway to Squamish for a little late season hiking but I didn't get any further than just north of Horseshoe Bay when traffic came to a standstill - an accident had closed the highway - so after about a slow 15 minutes I turned around at Ansell Rd and heading back to the City - what to do - Lighthouse Park came to mind but that can be done in the winter as it is near sea level so I headed up Cypress - headed into the Nordic area with an intent to hike into the Hollyburn Lodge - First lake area - did this and then met another gent who was just out for some exercise and we got to discussing the various problems in society and basically ended up talking and walking our way around to the Baden Powell and then down the Powerline Trail and back to the trail head - thanks Jim for the company and opportunity to discuss life with another like minded person.

Old cabin near First Lake and Hollyburn Lodge

First Lake

Old Hollyburn Lodge - used in the ski season as a cafe and a warm up place.

West Vancouver's Ranger Station

Fourth Lake

Bear scat - there is a mother and a cub in the area but didn't spot them although this scat is fairly fresh - not seaming but that day's product.

Mt Baker is visible from the viewpoint on the drive up/down the road.

Cheers

Dennis

More fall colors around False Creek Oct 10, 2009

Saturday after doing the usual morning chores - Internet surfing and some work on a surprise 60th birthday party I went for a walk around a portion of the seawall on the north side of False Creek from the foot of Hornby to about the foot of Homer and then up through Yaletown and into Pacific Center for lunch and finally a well deserved steam and shower at my fitness club before heading home.

My camera was with me and these a just a sampling of some of the great colors that are now on display along this route.

Cheers

Dennis