We are very excited for this year’s CHEO ride – the weather, of course, is going to be amazing!

Alas, our kids are at the age where logistics are not favourable for the longer rides. Trevor would have to stay on his own bike for the whole trip though he has only completed less than half the distance before. Owen and Markus would have to refrain from knocking each other and/or me off the bike for the two hours or more. Fortunately, nona is here to step in and the four of them are going to have great time at home while Chris and I participate in the event. We considered doing the longer 70k course, but decided to avoid the hassle of trying to find parking downtown. We are biking to the War Museum from home and then doing the 35k with family laden section of the Team Awesome. We should be covering just under 80K. Exciting!!!

Of course, I am fundraising. I feel awkward just asking people for money, so I like to put together some thank you gifts. I was a bit of a lazy reader so I only have two books to give away for donations of $20 or more. “Thousand Years of Solitude” and “My Uncle Napoleon” are both very enjoyable reads. For those of you with sweet tooth, $20 or more can also get you a plate of delicious cake of your choice, just make sure to e-mail me with your preference.

Follow here to donate!

Please, don’t be shy, you know we love to bake cakes around here!

Frostbike is a fun new book about winter cycling from Tom Babin, a Calgary journalist. He talks about his own experiences winter riding in Calgary and then visits and interviews the usual winter cycling suspects in North America and North Europe. There is no new or shocking information in the book, but it is quite well written and free of that single mindedness and arrogance that sometimes accompanies bike advocacy. In short, it is an enjoyable read for the “been there, done that” crowd and a recommended introduction for those who would like to know more on the subject.

We sold the Accord this past August. I had never quite warmed up to that car. It was so large I felt I was riding a boat, it had almost the same mileage as the minivan, it handled terribly in the snow even days after the last snowfall, the combination of the moonroof and the cabin size resulted in a loud flapping noise making it pretty much impossible to enjoy opening the moonroof unless I was parked. The final insult to injury was that it had cost twice as much as my lovely old Protege which had none of those problems. It was not so much that I wanted to not have the second car, it was more that I did not want that particular car.

We had toyed with the idea of sharing a single car for a while, but we were never at a point where not having the second car would not be really inconvenient. This year, a lot of the things lined up and we finally felt we can give car-lite lifestyle a go. I have finished grad school and all of our current weekly activities are close to home. I have a cargo bike that allows me to go to work, carry children and pick up groceries. Chris bought a foldie bike and winterized his old hybrid for multimodal commute on the days I need the van during the day. To avoid paying the babysitter too often, we usually schedule our individual outings on different nights anyway. Finally, since we first moved here almost fifteen years ago, Kanata has grown and we have grown into Beaverbrook. Bus service has improved, there is an increasing number of shops and businesses available to us and many of our friends now live within walking distance.

In last four months, absolutely no instance came up in which I regretted not having the second car. The next four winter months are going to be more interesting. We have worked out alternatives and contingencies and, if all that does not work, we always have an option of buying another car (one that is both economical in price and fuel efficiency with good winter handling and functional moon roof hopefully!). I think we can make it with just the minivan. I am looking forward to the winter, not only because of all the exciting winter fun ahead, but I am curious to see how we meet this new challenge.

Now that my two weeks of solitude are coming to a close I have to admit that the two things I was expecting to happen did not happen. I did not expect to have no free time and I did not expect to not be lonely. Most of my time was taken up by work on the shed and at the office and I was so very pleasantly surprised to have so many people come over to visit me or invite me over. I don’t think I had a single “not doing anything” day. It was amazing!

This weekend I also got a couple of great second hand deals:

I love elephants and I love ottomans. Can you go wrong with this guy???

A neighbour e-mail me to tell me she is getting rid of two boys bikes. I love my neighbours!

Finally, the best part of the weekend – I completed my first metric century!!!

I have been training for this for over two years and I am so excited we did it. I am so glad Luisa was able to join me – it was so much more fun doing it with a friend.