I know I'm Canadian but...

sometimes we should just draw the line.

Finally, the authors of the answers

Jan. 11, "29 questions" Dr. P
Jan. 12 "27 questions" Kim (tricked you!)
Jan. 13 "26 questions" J.G.
Jan. 15 "26 questions" B.H
Jan. 15 "30 questions" TM
Jan. 17 last set of answers - DB

Hope you enjoyed the answers. Not many people guessed correctly.
I have no idea who these cyclo-tourists are? But they were on the road between Burns Lake and Fraser Lake heading east when I snapped their photo in early September 2008. The woman rider is pulling the trailer while the guy behind her is drafting leisurely. Not something you see everyday.

The new federal budget and sport funding

Pick up the shovel, everybody.

The 2009 Federal Budget takes direct aim at the long standing
infrastructure deficit in sport and recreation with a new, dedicated,
$500 million fund, to be expended in the next 2 years, to renew and
build facilities in our communities.

With specific references to the 1967 Centennial year building boom, the
budget highlights in detail the need for “hockey arenas, soccer fields,
tennis and basketball courts, and swimming pools” as examples for
upgrading, renewal and building through this nationally delivered
initiative.

The program will be a 50/50 matching initiative through regional
development agencies (i.e. ACOA in Atlantic Canada) whereby provinces
and municipalities, community sport organizations, and the private
sector may all apply for matching funds where shovel ready projects exist.

3 big goals drive the new fund- economic stimulus, quality facilities,
and national spirit- and the allocation will be based on merit and
readiness accordingly.

Much more to come re: Aboriginal health initiatives, opportunities for
youth employment in sport organizations, and even more infrastructure
opportunities.

All for now and cheers to all for our successful collaboration on the
sport and recreation infrastructure file.

Ian Bird

Senior leader

On behalf of the Sport Matters Group

*SMG@SIRC*

*180 rue Elgin Street, Suite 1400*

*Ottawa, ON*

*K2P 2K3*

*Tele: 613-231-7472 ext: 246*

*Fax/ Téléc: 613-231-3739*

*www.sportmatters.ca ***

Snow again!

So I got out my cycle-snow plow and went to work.

One man's quest to find first black winner of the Tour de France

Sammy Ekiru in 2nd position in the first race in Kenya. Photograph: Guillaume Bonn/Think Pictures

Xan Rice in Iten, Kenya
Friday January 16 2009
The Guardian

There were carpenters and mechanics, bicycle taxi operators and farmers. Some wore leather shoes, others battered trainers. One man wore scuba diving boots made from wetsuit material. Much of the lycra on show began life hugging torsos on other continents.

There were, however, some constants among the 40 or so Kenyans lined up at the bottom of a valley in the distance-running capital of the world - a lack of helmets, pure glucose powder as the energy booster of choice, furrowed brows when gazing at the course ahead: 15.5 miles, gaining 1,500 metres in altitude. And, of course, the bicycles: big, solid, Indian or Chinese-made roadsters with no gears and names like Phoenix and Five Star. "My bicycle is so heavy, about 15 kilogrammes," said Samuel Wanjala, who rode nearly 100 miles just to get to the race in Iten, western Kenya. A proper racing bike would help if he were to "meet with Lance Armstrong ... and put him aside".

He was joking but that is exactly what the organiser of the race, Nicholas Leong, hopes will happen in the next few years. A 40-year-old commercial photographer from Singapore, Leong has already invested nearly three years and tens of thousands of pounds of his own money in his quest to prove Kenyans can transfer their running success into the almost exclusively white world of professional cycling.

"In 106 years of the Tour de France there has never been a single black rider," said Leong, at the start line in Iten last weekend. "I am trying to help change that."

The search for a "black Lance Armstrong" in a country with precious little cycling history might at first seem outlandish - but Leong is deadly serious about his African Cyclist project.

He took two Kenyan amateur riders from the town of Eldoret, 20 miles from Iten, to tackle the famous Tour de France climb at Alpe d'Huez in August last year. Zakayo Nderi, a 26-year-old shoe-shiner who had never ridden a racing bike with gears before leaving Kenya to train for the ride, made it in 42 minutes 10 seconds, then the fastest time of the year and an achievement that would have placed him in the top half of Tour riders when a time trial was last held on the mountain in 2004. Publicity about the feat helped to secure sponsorship from a French hedge fund manager, enabling Leong this week to open a full-time training camp for up to 10 riders near Eldoret, along the lines of numerous high-altitude running camps in the area. Negotiations are starting on hiring a professional trainer from abroad.

Last Sunday's race, the first in a series to be held every two months, was designed to identify new riders to join Leong's team. The participants are promised a monthly salary of more than £200 - excellent money in these parts.

The start line had been chalked across the road, and there were no water points despite the heat. Repair kits were rare; one man taped a screwdriver behind his seat while the rider who discovered before the race that his rear tyre was flat simply accepted his ride would be very tough. "This is like the earliest days of cycling in Europe," said Leong, before climbing aboard a pickup serving as the lead car. "The bikes, the people, the spirit!" Though he never cycled competitively, Leong has followed the Tour on television since his childhood. In other sports he watched black players became ever more common during the 1980s and 90s. But the Tour has remained resolutely white, a fact that Leong says is solely down to lack of opportunity.

He wrote to a dozen professional cycling teams urging them to seek out African talent. Only one replied, with a "sympathetic no". So Leong decided to test his theory himself.

He avoided seeking professional advice. "People would have thought I was a kook," he said. But had he done so he might have been discouraged.

Tim Noakes, a renowned professor of sports science and exercise, at the University of Cape Town, said that while marathon runners and cyclists often shared outward physical characteristics, the processes involved in running and cycling were completely different. But Leong persevered. After six months of searching for a promising rider to support he stumbled across Nderi, from the Kikuyu tribe, who had run competitively at school but enjoyed riding more. Samwel Mwangi, 24 and also Kikuyu, who packed supermarket shelves and rode a "boda-boda" bicycle taxi, soon joined Leong's team, along with a third rider, Sammy Ekiru, a Turkana. When news got around town that they had been put on contracts, people's attitudes to cycling began to change.

"Before when we used to train for fun people would say 'Have you not got work to do?'," Nderi said. "Now people see they can earn money from this and want to be cyclists too."

Leong's three riders took the podium positions in Sunday's race, but not before a complete unknown had threatened a grand upset. Ishmael Chelanga, 23, the man who wore diving boots, finished a close fourth. His bicycle cost him about £30. He said he was a boda-boda operator in Eldoret, and had only been cycling for leisure for five months. What's more, he was a Kalenjin who had run competitively at school.

Though Leong could barely contain his excitement, he did not give a contract to Chelanga, whose £80 prize was more than he earns most months. To be sure Chelanga was serious about cycling, he asked him to come back for the next race. "I'll be stronger," said Chelanga. Then he rode home.Can they do it?

Dan Hunt, coach to Rebecca Romero, Olympic gold medallist in cycling and silver medallist in rowing:

"Off the back of what Rebecca Romero has done there has been a lot of talk about talent transfer, but the athletes you are looking for need a very specific set of skills and physiological qualities. The more complex the task, the harder it is to transfer from another sport because the skills and learning required are simply too much.

The Kenyans are physically very gifted but I'm not sure which box they would fit into in cycling. There are question marks over how they might adapt. Men's road cycling has a massive pool of talent worldwide and you need more than just a big engine and a strong pair of legs.

Trying to teach an 18- to 25-year-old runner the tactical ins and outs of road racing would be difficult, the bike handling would be a question mark, and the repeated ebb and flow of pace in a road race might be hard to handle. It's not like an endurance run."

Svein Tuft rolling at the 08 Worlds

Svein worlds rolling, originally uploaded by formerly-JF presently S-Team.

This is a great shot from Flickr -
Uploaded by formerly-JF presently S-Team on 29 Sep 08, 3.22PM PST.
I think that is the correct way to acknowledge his photo.

Cool Video

Early Fall group road ride from Jeff Kerkove on Vimeo.

The last set of answers

1. White, milk or dark chocolate DARK
2. Beatles or Led Zeppelin BEATLES
3. Steel, Alum, Titanium or Carbon CARBON
4. Ride the heights or not RIDE
5. Paris-Roubaix or Tour de France TDF
6. Coffee or Tea TEA
7. Hoods or drops DROPS
8. White shoes or not WHITE
9. Sport other than cycling: _____ TENNIS
10. Alps, Rockies ALPS
11. Roller Coaster/ Merry Go Round ROLLER COASTER
12. Other languages: _____ NONE
13. Snakes or Spiders SNAKES
14. Italian or Thai food THAI
15. Ernie or Bert
16. Dogs, cats, not DOGS
17. Early riser / sleep in SLEEP
18. Leno or Letterman or Colbert COLBERT
19. Salty or sweet SALTY
20. Rootbeer or cream soda ROOTBEER
21. Spicy or not SPICY
22. Food dislike: ______ WHITE FOOD
23. Porridge or granola PORRIDGE
24. Beer or wine WINE
25. Late nite or early to bed EARLY
26. Sheryl Crow or Lance Armstrong LANCE

This is the last set of submitted answers. I may develop another set of questions later in the year. Up next is a very interesting article about cycling in Africa that Dr. W. sent to me.

Ryder: Haleakala Attempt

Ryder Hesjedal :: Haleakala Attempt from Media One Multimedia on Vimeo.

30 questions

I still have a couple sets of answers to post so I am squeezing in 2 posts today:

1. dark chocolate
2. Led Zeppelin
3. Titanium or Carbon
4. Ride the heights
5. Paris-Roubaix
6. Coffee
7. Drops
8. White shoes
9. Sport other than cycling: lots
10. Alps
11. Roller Coaster
12. Other languages: french
13. Spiders
14. Italian
15. Ernie
16. Dogs
17. sleep in
18. Letterman
19. sweet
20. Rootbeer
21. Spicy
22. Food dislike: brocolli
23. Porridge
24. Beer
25. Late nite
26. Sheryl Crow
27. Shower (vs. bath)
28. Salmon (vs. halibut)
29. potatoes (vs. rice)
30. bibs (vs. shorts)

26 questions

Here are today's questions and answers. I still have a couple more sets to post then I'll reveal the authors (via initials) unless a few more people send their answers to me.


1. White, milk or dark chocolate
white milk
2. Beatles or Led Zeppelin
Neither
3. Steel, Alum, Titanium or Carbon
carbon
4. Ride the heights or not
ride the heights
5. Paris-Roubaix or Tour de France
Tour de France
6. Coffee or Tea
Coffee
7. Hoods or drops
hoods
8. White shoes or not
not
9. Sport other than cycling: _____
soccer
10. Alps, Rockies
rockies
11. Roller Coaster/ Merry Go Round
roller coaster
12. Other languages: _____
none
13. Snakes or Spiders
neither
14. Italian or Thai food
Italian
15. Ernie or Bert
Ernie
16. Dogs, cats, not
dogs
17. Early riser / sleep in
SLEEP IN
18. Leno or Letterman or Colbert
who? none
19. Salty or sweet
sweet
20. Rootbeer or cream soda
root beer
21. Spicy or not
spicy
22. Food dislike: ______
turnip
23. Porridge or granola
red river
24. Beer or wine
beer
25. Late nite or early to bed
late nite
26. Sheryl Crow or Lance Armstrong
lance armstrong

Clarification on question #1

I have received some grief over my wording of the first question:
White, milk or dark chocolate?
Some people missed the comma and perceived the question to mean a choice between "white milk" and dark chocolate? It was not meant to be a trick question but it appears to have caught more than one of the participants. I was instantly reminded of Eats, Shoots and Leaves - The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss.
The story goes that a panda walks into a cafe. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires 2 shots in the air.
"Why?" asks the confused waiter, as the panda makes towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.
"I'm a panda," he says, at the door. "Look it up."
The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, finds an explanation.
"PANDA. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves."

26 questions

No one is guessing!!!
Yesterday was tricky.
Try this one.

1. White, milk
2. Led Zeppelin
3. Alum,
4. Ride the heights
5. Tour de France
6. Tea
7. Hoods
8. NO White shoes
9. Basketball
10. Rockies
11. Roller Coaster
12. Other languages: French
13. Spiders
14. Italian
15. Ernie
16. Dogs,
17. Early riser
18. Leno or Letterman or Colbert (none don't watch TV)
19. sweet
20. Rootbeer
21. Spicy
22. Food dislike: Ginger
23. Porridge
24. wine
25. early to bed
26. Sheryl Crow

27 questions

Was yesterday too easy?

1. milk chocolate
2. Led Zeppelin
3. Titanium
4. Ride the heights
5. Tour de France
6. Coffee
7. Hoods
8. No White shoes
9. Sport other than cycling: running
10. Rockies
11. Merry Go Round
12. Other languages: sign
13. Snakes
14. Thai food
15. Ernie
16. Dogs
17. Early riser
18. Letterman
19. sweet
20. Rootbeer
21. Spicy
22. Food dislike: peas
23. granola
24. Beer
25. early to bed
26. Sheryl Crow
27. favorite recent movie: Mamma Mia

29 Questions

The first of the questionnaires has been returned.
Guess who?
Email your guess to me and I will let you know if you are correct.

1. White, milk or dark chocolate BOTH
2. Beatles or Led Zeppelin BOTH
3. Steel, Alum, Titanium or Carbon CARBON
4. Ride the heights or not RIDE
5. Paris-Roubaix or Tour de France BOTH
6. Coffee or Tea COFFEE
7. Hoods or drops HOODS
8. White shoes or not NOT
9. Sport other than cycling: _____ ROWING SKIING RUGBY HOCKEY
10. Alps, Rockies ROCKIES
11. Roller Coaster/ Merry Go Round ROLLER COASTER
12. Other languages: _____ KLINGON
13. Snakes or Spiders SNAKES
14. Italian or Thai food BOTH
15. Ernie or Bert ERNIE
16. Dogs, cats, not BOTH
17. Early riser / sleep in BOTH
18. Leno or Letterman or Colbert COLBERT
19. Salty or sweet SALTY
20. Rootbeer or cream soda ROOTBEER
21. Spicy or not SPICY
22. Food dislike: ______ VEGEMITE, CHEEZ WHIZ
23. Porridge or granola BOTH
24. Beer or wine WINE
25. Late nite or early to bed ETB
26. Sheryl Crow or Lance Armstrong NEITHER
27. Shower or Bath
28. Boxers or Briefs (men) Flannels or bikinis (women) BOXERS
29. Sauna, Steam, or Jacuzzi ALL

Eavesdroppers?

Courtesy WOOT!
Things to say when you know a bystander is eavesdropping:

• “I’m on my way home, so put on that slinky little negligee I like, Dad.”
• “The people at the rendering plant are starting to ask uncomfortable questions.”
• “Put five large on the Maple Leafs to win it all.”
• “I don’t care what people say. I’ll never believe Michael Jordan could do that to those puppies.”
• “Please, baby. If you’ll just come back to me, I’ll never ask you to do that in front of strangers ever again.”
• “I just wanted to tell you goodbye before I martyr myself. May God strike down the infidels.”
• “Yeah, yeah, yeah – the doctors keep telling me I’m contagious, too.”
• “Man, that deal-a-day web site is the perfect front for laundering our cocaine profits.”

CLUB AGM

We are planning to have a short, fun, and once a year official meeting of Derailleurs in the Mist Cycling Club next Sunday the 11th of January at 3:00 p.m. We will be figuring out our officers once again and planning the 2009 race (dates/route/chores etc.)

Location: 3611 Oceanview Drive.

PLEASE RSVP! to Sandra.