Sunday, January 25, 2009

Top 10 Dream Trips

As I sit here and contemplate how life has caught up with me in the last few months, with work, moving, an injury that just keeps creeping back, and trying to figure out how I'm going to get back into race shape by summer. I started thinking of all the places I want to go in the near future and though I'd share my checklist. Now to convince my employer it's a good idea to give me an extra 2 weeks worth of holidays every year so I can get enough time off.

Complete the Annapurna Circuit through Nepal plus a week in Tibet






Unforgettable Andes Mountain Bike Tour
www.ridebig.com


Kayak and backpack the coasts of Greenland


Cross South America by motorcycle


Kayak the Polynesian Islands and visit Easter Island


Kayaking and Backpacking in the Torngat Mountain Range


Tour Mongolia by horseback


Race the Mega Avalanche - Alp d'Huez (32KM Downhill Mountain Bike Race, with a mass start on Glacier)


Ski Touring in the Selkirk Mountains
http://www.hauteroute.ca/hr_canada.html


Mountain Bike the Haute Route in Switzerland and DH in the alps for a week.
http://www.alpsmountainbike.com/mountain_biking/Chamonix_to_Zermatt.php

Aging

Just a quote I thought I'd share

"Aging is not a scary thing if you spend the time you have on this earth making it count, packing it with meaningful interaction always learning and evolving"



Thursday, January 22, 2009

Could We Ever See Positive Campaigning in Canada?

Rick Mercer hit my thoughts on Canada's current state of politics right on the head. I keep crossing my fingers that Canadian politics will soon see positive campaigns based on platforms and Merritt not bashing the other candidates.

"So here it is, inauguration day in America. And like everyone else I can't help but get caught up in the moment because honestly, as a Canadian, I did not believe in my lifetime I would see a man like Barack Obama become President of the United States. And not because he's black. No, no, no, no. Because he ran a positive campaign and he actually got elected.

And if recent history has taught us anything it's that that could never work up here. Because when it comes to politics, we haven't seen anything remotely positive in a very long time.

Think about it. In the last American election, the defining themes were "change is possible" and "hope," and they had the highest voter turnout in 40 years. In our last election, the defining themes were "stay the course" and "destroy the enemy," and we had the lowest voter turn out in our entire history. Clearly we are on two different tracks.

Which is fine; we are a sovereign nation, we are unique on the world stage. For example, we're now the last nation on earth that wants Guantanamo Bay prison to stay open and it's not even our prison. Yes, it's a brave new world and we're old school.

Now that doesn't mean we shouldn't celebrate the new President. No, no, no. Everyone loves this guy. Cripes, when Obama announced that his first foreign visit was going to be to Canada Stephen Harper looked so excited I thought his head was gonna pop off.

And I don't blame him. I'd like to get my picture taken with Obama too. And clearly the fact that he's visiting Canada is very exciting; because, as of today, he is the 44th president of the United States – and eight hours in, he's doing a bang up job.

And the fact is he got that job by doing something that no Canadian political leader has done in a very long time: he appealed to the very best in his fellow citizens and gave them something to believe in. So when that visit finally happens, let's hope some of that rubs off."

Thursday, January 8, 2009

T25 City Car Concept

Are Our Views on a Green Car All Wrong?

Currently all our efforts are being put into alternative fuels. But does this really make sense? Long term, yes we will need an alternative to oil based fuels. However, at the current rate a real alternative is at least 15 + years away probably another 10 after that point before the flow through of old vehicles start going off the road. Can we wait that long? Hydrogen sounds like a good option, but it will take years before we can build a distribution network across the continent (even a province) so you can take a trip. Plus safety is still a question mark. Bio Fuels sounded like the savior till we remembered a world food shortage is looming. There is some sort of Algea alternative but can we really power the 500 million cars on the road with it, oh don't forgot they estimate that number of cars on hte road will double in the next 20 years. Electric Cars, now there's the answer, right! I new it was simple. Wait a minute, how we going to create enough electricity to recharge these. Coal? Nope, no good. Nuclear is clean! Damn it all the nuclear waste we can't do anything with is an issue. A true solution seems like a tought find.

So this brings me to the T25 City Car designed by Gordon Murray for which he was awarded idea of the year by Autocar magazine. Who's Gordon Murray? Well the designer of the Mclarren F1, the worlds fastest naturally aspired car and now he has re-thought the process of a green car and it just seems to make so much sense.

First the environmental impact of automobiles involves so much more then CO2 Emissions at the exhaust. What about production, raw materials, transportation to dealers, noise pollution, congestion, etc. This is where Mr. Murray steps in looking at the vehicles impact on society throughout it's entire life cycle and came out with the T25 City Car concept he is about to release later this year. See the 14 pictures below touching on his concepts in comparison to a small hatchback like the mini and read through the following links if you are interested
http://jalopnik.com/5063312/gordon-murrays-t25-city-car-revealed-sort-of
http://www.gordonmurraydesign.com/T25.html.

Now I'm sure I'll here someone tell me you drive a truck (required for work) and work in the motorsports industry, suond a little hypocritical of you. However, these concepts could also be applied to larger vehicles and we would end up with a much more efficient Automotive Industry. Plus aknowledging what lies ahead, ultimately we will soon have to start rethinking our method's of transportation and infrastructures.