A Couple Quotes About Our Balance with Nature

"We must convince each genereation that they are transient pasengers on this planet earth. It does not belong to them. They are not free to doom generations yet unborn. they are not at liberty to erase humanity's past nor dim its future."

Bernard Lown and Evjueni Chazov

We are at the beginning of the third millennium. With explosive speed, we have been transmogrified from a species like most others that live in a balance with with their surroundings into an unprecedented force. Like a species introduced into a new environment free of constraints, we have expanded beyond the capacity of our surroundings to support us. It is clear from the history of the past two centuries that the path we embarked on after the Industrial Revolution is leading us increasingly into conflict with life support systems of the natural world. Despite forty years of experience in the environmental movement we have not yet turned onto a different path.

David Suzuki

New Wheels!!!!

Just a few pics of the new ride






Intense Tracer VP - Medium Frame
Fox 36 Float
Fox RP23
Hope Pro II's/Mavic 819's
Maxxis Ignitor UST 2.35
Avid Elixir R's
X.9 Shiters, Rear deraileur
XT Front Deraileur
SLX Cranks Dual Ring 22/36
Selle Italia SLR Gel Saddle
Raceface Evolve Bars
Raceface Ride Seat Post
Weighing in at 30lbs, 1 Ounce with Maxxis Advantage Tires and Tubes I'll update the weight with the tubeless tires.

A shout out goes to River Valley Cycle for the Bike the and Build

A few pics from the Yamafest at Revy

Just a few pics from the weekend at Yamafest, ahh a hard day at the office

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Could Photosynthesis Solve our Energy Woes

Currently the world consumes 15 Terrawatts annually; by 2050 however scientist estimate we will consume 30 Terrawatts annually.

So what would we currently have to do to meet that demand?

• Building a new 1 Billion Watt nuclear plant every 1.6 days till 2050 would yield 8 Terrawatts
• Consuming all the vegetation not used for food to make Biofuels would yield 7 Terrawatts
• Covering every inch of land on the earth with wind turbines would yield 2 Terrawatts

Hhm not much luck with today's Technologies. However MIT's Daniel Nocera believes the solution is the Sun. The Sun beams down approximately 800 Terrawatts on the earth daily. However, our current solar technologies have some issues.

For one the technology is still quite costly. But first and foremost is the storage of energy for evenings and periods of extended cloud cover. Currently it would take approximately 2000lbs of lead batteries to store enough solar energy to power a household for a whole evening. This is where Professor Norcera pulled from the theory of photosynthesis to essentially recreate the process of electrolysis you experimented with in high school which uses electric currents to break down H2O in to Hydrogen and Oxygen. Using this process you can then store the Hydrogen in a fuell cell. However, this process is also expensive and isn't the most efficient, which is where photosynthesis inspired them. By infusing Cobalt and Potassium Phosphate into the water the process can now be recreated using only a volt of power bringing the storage cost down from thousands of dollars to tens.

So how does it work. Essentially throughout the day Solar panels would power your house and the excess energy would be sent to a small container of water where it would split the oxygen and hydrogen. After the sun goes down the Hydrogen and Oxygen would be re-combined in a fuel cell to power your house, charge your car, etc. There's obviously still a lot of issues to be ironed out , but this sounds like the first truly promising process in while.

If this process proves to be successful this could

• Solve the storage issue as a gallon of water would replace 2000lbs of batteries.
  
• It could provide decentralize the solar power.
• Would lower the cost.
• Provide a clean form of energy

I'll definitely be watching Professor Norcera's developments closely.

Spring Training

We'll with everything that led me to Edmonton over the winter I'm a little (ok a lot) behind on my cardio. But as thing settle training has begun both on and off the bike.

Revelstoke!

Well I arrived in Edmonton and trying to settle in. Been a busy couple of weeks! Between the move and settling into the new job I haven't had much time to share but I have a few things I'd like to add here once I'm done with all the unpacking. However, for now here's some pics from New Years in Revelstoke. 3 Days of skiing trees and powder, Enjoy!

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