If you haven’t heard of One Day…, now is a good time to check these folks out because it’s Bike Month, and their latest newsletter is about cycling. Not only are the cycling ideas and resources presented valuable, but I thought this link to ‘in season’ food was very useful.

This site is based in Vancouver, but no matter where you live, much of the info presented and the ideas offered in their newsletter is universal. Check ‘em out!

Ride ON!

I have dabbled with climbing through the years, never too serious though. I have always been intrigued by the climber Chris Sharma, and this journal of his adds to the interest as I can relate to many of the issues he brings up about being ‘pro’…

I’m starting to get settled in after being here for a little over a week. As always, being in a foreign country by myself will teach me many new things about people, relationships, communication, and myself. Being in a place where I know no one really forces me to open up to everyone.It’s so great to be staying in France with French people (and especially with the freedom of going solo). So many doors have already opened with meeting people who invite me to their secret areas. It feels good traveling alone (though it can get a little lonely with the language barrier) and observing, rather than coming over in a big posse - essentially bringing America to Europe and never leaving the bubble of American culture. Also, having no agenda or expectations is giving me a lot of flexibility and openness to be in the moment, climb what is appealing, and just flow.

Last year when I was working on Realization I was very locked-in with a specific goal. It was draining. This year I’m just going to try routes and enjoy new experiences. I feel a little funny making this journal for Climbing, because I know that most of my thoughts aren’t about climbing. I’m a full-time rock climber, yet I’m not only that. Climbing hits the spot, but sometimes even too much chocolate makes you vomit. Today started like all the others: croissants and café au lait in the center of a very ancient village called St. Guilhem, where I’m staying with my friend Laurent Triay. Laurent has bolted hundreds of routes in southern France and has been an excellent guide, showing me many off-the-beaten-track areas. We went to an absolutely incredible cave with 170-foot routes out sweeping limestone bulges. Very steep, nice rock, and no people! It was a very peaceful place. I was happy to on-sight a classic 5.13d. I was at my limit and it’s nice to feel myself getting into shape. Before this trip I didn’t climb routes for more than a year. It was a much-needed break from climbing. I cannot climb all the time, but it’s good to know that when I do climb I can really put my heart into it. I think it’s impossible for me to always climb at my highest level, if not because of my body needing a rest, for sure because my mind needs a change.

It’s ideal to walk the middle line in life. It’s for sure the way of peace. I’m trying every day to find that way. I get lost on a path that from afar seems so simple. Sometimes I’m too lazy and sometimes I hurry too much. I’d like to be right between those extremes. This is true with climbing as well. When I’m on a big jug, there’s no need to hold it like it’s a little crimper. I’d be smart to take it for what it is: a jug. If I hold onto that jug and won’t let go for fear of the next sequence of little crimpers then I’m not in balance. That’s not the middle way. The way I climb and relate to climbing these days is completely different from when I started nine years ago. At first it was a romantic love; now the relationship has progressed to a more mature, day-in, day-out lifestyle. I’m past the romance stage, but still in love. There are times to be mellow, times to be intense, times to be fanatic, and times to be balanced. That is the balance of life. In order for me to climb my best I feel that I need to do other things to balance that intensity. For me that balance is in meditation, yet I know I’m a long way from mastering this balance. It was great to finally climb today. I did a 5.14a second try at Claret. I feel more complete after exercising my body and being out in the sun and trees. It’s nice to be so focussed when trying a hard route. These moments are so pure; there is no separation and there is nothing to think about or understand because it’s all right there. The here, the present, the moment. Everything! We hadn’t climbed for a week due to floods in southern France. They were incredible to see. Water is so powerful. I need to learn to move on the rock like water. The more I can flow on the rock like water, the more I understand and the less separation there will be between us. Climbing hard will come naturally from that point, like a flooded river wiping out a bridge without even having to think about it. Jorge Visser and Lauren Lee have joined me for a while, and we drove 20 hours to the World Cup Bouldering comp in Italy.

For the remainder of Sharma’s journal, click HERE.

I recently read a stat that said one third of all food is thrown away in the modern, western household. That doesn’t go just for food either, the amount of waste is incredible, and we have become complacent with it, no worries. I’d like to share a beautiful account of just the opposite from author Paul Hawken, from his recent book Blessed Unrest:

“A wasteful society is a relatively new phenomenon. I spend part of my childhood on a farm belonging to my Swedish grandmother and Scottish grandfather, where nothing much was thrown away. The barn was full of used washers, bolts, wire, and doodads. In the kitchen ever other plate was chipped, but the china never left the dinner table with food on it. Gravy and juices were mopped up by homemade bread, vegetable peelings went to the chickens, the shells from the eggs eaten at breakfast were put into the coffee grounds, the coffee grounds were placed into the compost, the compost was tilled into the garden, the tomatoes and corn from the garden were sealed in glass jars that joined the jams and jellies lining cool, dark basement walls. Paper lunch bags were brought back from school and neatly folded for use the next day. Our idea of play included capturing horned toads and pretending they were dinosaurs, or lying face-up in irrigation ditches, the tiny fry tickling our toes, and imagining we were floating down a great Amazonian river. Our notion of a toy was a bald tire swinging from the sycamore. Had my grandparents been from Chile, Korea, or Kerala, life essentially would have been the same. Nothing would have been wasted.”

 

I think a lot can be learned from this short excerpt.

 

 

 

I’m about to hit the road for a week, and thought I’d quickly jot down five things I admire and am thankful for at the moment:

 

1. My wife Caryn’s nurturing dedication to our two young nephews. It’s always a lesson in love watching her take care of those two little guys.

2. My nephews for their unfiltered innocence toward everything in life. Not to mention Niko’s perfect bunnyhops, that gets me stoked too.

3. My brother in law who commutes by bike to work almost everyday; and my sister in law who takes transit everyday; kudos to them.

4. My parents good health and love (Mum’s turning 65 in a couple weeks).

5. The smell of the roses on my front deck, really there are no words to describe it.

WIRED magazines latest headline is as follows, Attention Environmentalists: Keep your SUV. Forget organics. Go nuclear. Screw the spotted owl.

Whew! Just wanted to share a few thoughts that might unwire a few of these front cover claims (although the big corp might have won my dollar by buying the magazine, I won’t necessarily buy all the jargon claimed by it).

There are ten instructions to action suggested by the magazine, I will comments on each. There are many great points, ones I am in total agreement with, but in general these are shortsighted, cut carbon at all costs solutions that will perhaps benefit the current generations, but may leave the future ones in a jam.

1. Live in Cities

The current suburban model in North America, and many other countries who are following in our footsteps, just does not promote a sustainable way of living. Check out this map representing the amount of CO2 emitted per househould in the greater San Francisco area. I think it paints a pretty clear picture.

I’ll let Alex Steffen use his words to firm up the point, “Billions more people living in suburbs and driving SUV’s to shopping malls is a recipe for planetary suicide. We can’t even afford to continue that way of life ourselves.” Ahh the American Dream. But perhaps if everyone traded their grass lawns for vegatable gardens, and took their grid dependant homes off the grid with sustainable energy technology that is now available, we’d be going in the right direction, the extreme commuting is another story.

2. A/C is OK

This is an interesting analysis, and important to consider. Generally what they are hinting at is that it takes more energy to heat a home than it does to cool one with A/C. Good point, but don’t run with it, be conscious, whether you are heating or cooling; a few degrees either way makes a big difference.

3. Organics are not the answer

After the catchy title above, they go on to wisely say ,Organic produce can be good for the climate, but not if it’s grown in energy-dependant hothouses and travels long distances to get to your fridge. What matters is eating food that’s locally grown and in season. The other point under the organic is bad heading is that of the cow. First regarding dairy. “So it takes 25 organic cows to make as much milk as 23 industrial ones. More cows, more emissions.” It is a valid argument, but many other things must be taken in to consideration. I will still stick to buying local, organic milk sold in glass jars, over drugged up industrially produced milk from far away sold in plastic jugs. The third point is that of beef, again they say organic is worse. Perhaps they are right, but please do the homework for each situation. A local chunk of hamburger is much greener than those industrial patties that are raised on farms where tropical rainforest used to live, then shipped overseas to your belly. Increasingly, I am leaning towards the vegetarian route, not because of the poor little cow, but because of a myriad of environmental reasons; WIRED gave the interesting stat that meat eaters produce 1.5 tons of greenhouse gas per year more than a vegetarian. Hmmm, good healthy food for thought.

4. Farm the Forests

This is the first point that really made me cringe. The basis of the argument is that trees begin to lose the capacity to absorb as much carbon at about 55 years of age. If that fact is taken without any other considerations, then the math seems intriguing. But as Alex Steffen, from World Changing commented, “But even if WIRED’s math were correct, this would still be a crap fix for climate change. Chopping down forests causes massive soil erosion and leads to desertification, making repeated tree plantings a dodgy prospect. As monocultures, tree farms are far more vulnerable to pest infestations. And batches of trees planted at the same time are more susceptible to wildfires, causing the carbon they’re supposed to be sequestering to go up in smoke. I think the cut carbon at all costs attitude needs a little adjustment before all the trees are killed.”

5. China is the solution, Not the problem

My knowledge is somewhat limited on this one. Wired states that 35% of the world’s solar cells are manufactured in China, and that they may be banking big on the green energy revolution. My suggestion, is that whatever product you are purchasing, consider a locally produced one over the Made in China stamp.

6. Accept Genetic Engineering

Again, my knowledge is too limited to comment on this one.

7. Carbon Trading Doesn’t Work

Tricky one no doubt. First off reduce (by far the most important of the 3 R’s), then if you still pollute from frequent travel, offset using high quality, gold standard offsets. That is the route I will continue to take until the better route WIRED suggested is a reality, which is a tax on fossil fuels.

8. Embrace Nuclear Power

Again Steffen said “That’s short term thinking. If we invested the money that we would spend on new nuclear facilities more wisely (and eliminated subsidies on fossil fuels), alternatives like wind, solar, hydroelectric, and wave power could deliver a clean-energy future more cheaply and probably sooner, without any of the security and or health risks of nuclear plants”. Consider Thom Hartmann’s argument in his book, The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight, “power producers have argued that they can label nuclear power as green, since, they say, it produces no air pollution. (This overlooks the fact that it takes 18 years of continuous operation before a nuclear plant begins to generate new electricity” the first 18 years it’s just producing an amount of energy equal to that used to mine and purify and transport its uranium fuel and to construct and maintain the plant itself.) He also adds this statement which is the true crux of the situation, “What happens when the oil runs dry, when we no longer have stored up ancient sunlight? Where will the solar cells (or uranium) come from? This is a problem that environmentalists need to research and examine seriously.

9. Used Cars, Not Hybrids

“A new Prius would have to travel 100,000 Miles to achieve the carbon savings that come from driving a 1998 Tercel.” The math here in WIRED makes good sense; we unfortunately can’t buy ourselves out of the situation. But be careful, WIRED suggests you should “Keep your SUV”, now that doesn’t mean that you can go run off and buy one!! My worry is that this article will be glanced over by most, and not critically examined enough to make informed decisions.

10. Prepare for the worst

WIRED, “62 years before atmospheric carbon will reach critical levels even if drastic steps are taken now.” Creating fear among the people will never work. I want to finish this post with a quote that is near the beginning of a book I’m reading right now called The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight, by Thom Hartmann. “The reason most solutions offered to the world’s crises are impractical is because they arise from the same worldview that caused the problem. As you’ll see in this book, recycling won’t save the world, birth control won’t save the world, and saving what little is left of the rain-forests won’t save the world. Even if all those good things were fully implemented, our fundamental problem would still remain, and will inevitably be repeated. Even cold fusion and the elimination of the need for oil, with free electricity for everybody, will not save the world. Nothing but changing our way of seeing and understanding the world can produce real, meaningful, and lasting change…and that change in perspective will naturally lead us to begin to control our populations, save our forests, re-create community, and reduce our wasteful consumption.” A hint at what is involved in this perspective change is suggested in this last quote from Audrey Kitagawa, “it means that what we must do as global citizens aware of what is going on in the global landscape, and we must turn that searchlight inwards, to do the ceaseless, fearless, self examination to see not only what must be changed, but how we must change.”  (my italics).

I’d love to hear your comments…everyone has a different point of view, and they’re all important to consider.

Much love folks…

There is a commonality I have noticed between Lamborghini’s and Cigarettes, and no it’s not that I had to look up both words for correct spelling. I was riding from a venue in Toronto to my hotel a couple months ago, and rolled past a Lamborghini dealership where they were having a little party in the parking lot. They were chatting, hanging out, having a good time, and many were smoking. Now, where I live in Vancouver, it has become increasingly out of fashion to smoke, almost to the point where you are looked down upon or cast out, or given demeaning looks. I’d hate to be a smoker just for those reasons, let alone all the health risks. I think this opinion of smokers is becoming quite common in many parts of the world, especially where the habit is now banned from public places, even bars, which I think is fantastic!

It seems I am beginning to feel the same way about Lamborghini’s as I do about cigarettes. Why would you inhale toxic chemicals in to your lungs on purpose, and why would you spew out high doses of carbon from your 650 HP engine. It just doesn’t make sense anymore. Sure cigarettes were a brilliant concoction at one point in history, and there is no doubt that sports cars have brilliant engineering, craftsmanship, and thought behind them; but times change. Take for instance this following excerpt from a fantastic book I am reading right now called The last Hours of Ancient Sunlight (this won’t be the last I speak of this book, it’s fantastic, actually order a copy right now!!):

Increasingly, the stories we’ve been telling ourselves for centuries are now moving from the useful to the not useful category. An example of such a story is the biblical order to have as many children as possible. In the days of Noah and Abraham, the tribe with the largest number of young men to create an army was usually the tribe that survived. Be fruitful and multiply was a formula for cultural survival, even though in nearly all cases it then led to and when you run out of resources and living space, kill off your neighbor and take theirs.

Sure, there was a time when cruising around in a Lamborghini smoking a cigarette would present an image of exclusivity, but the times, they are a-changin’.

I’m sitting on the deck of my hotel room in Salmon Arm, BC, overlooking a bird sanctuary and marsh on the edge of the Shuswap Lake. I have been here for the the last four days, and have enjoyed watching the female osprey warm her eggs. She has no friends to meet, places to go, just a quiet commitment to her babies. The male comes and goes with sticks for the nest and food, although I haven’t seen the food exchange yet. A peaceful sight no doubt. As I also enjoy my Timmies steeped tea in the (finally) warm breeze, I feel my feet aching a bit, my hands feel a bit raw, and there is an general feeling of contentment and satisfaction from the weeks efforts. I visited 7 schools and did 9 presentations in four days, and have one last shop show in the area tomorrow at Skookum Cycle. Whew!

 

I often have students or teachers ask where I came up with the material I present, and I guess it’s a combination of reflection on my experiences combined with the critical thinking that goes along with reading books….yah, I’ve turned in to a bit of a nerd. I have had a few people ask if I have read or seen ‘The Secret’; I have fingered through the book out of curiosity, but am not convinced by some of the offerings, the main one being, and the real basis of the book, is that you create your own reality with your thoughts, or the law of attraction. For instance if you get raped it is because your thought patterns brought it about; now I have to disagree with that because crappy things do happen to good people. Sure there are some great things expressed in the book, but the suggestion that if you can keep only thoughts of being rich, that is what you will become…hmm, so does that go for those living in 3rd world countries? If you have read this book, but have a sort of funny feeling about it, I recommend reading this review by Julian Walker, or listening to the dialogue he had with Ken Wilber about the book.

 

I’m looking forward to spinning a bit on a cross country ride tomorrow before my show, it’ll be nice to mix it up a bit after so many trials shows. Have a fantastic weekend everyone!

 

 

 

 

I was chatting with one of the teachers today about the general idea that students in Maine lack the ability to think big, and think outside the state; he said they aspire only to a certain level then stop, almost as though Maine’ers are capped at a certain potential level of ‘success’ while others states like New Jersey for instance send loads of students to the best universities and the best sport teams. He said they just need some students to break the mold and show that it is possible to think big and go far. And I agree fully, it is important to dream, and important to set goals, but I think it is a little more complex than that, and I think it is why I have a problem with much of the self help and positive thinking movement. Will every student who dreams of becoming a pro athlete do so; no. Will every student who aspires to become a rock star do so; no. How about become a movie star, or make the cut at a top university; no. So are they unsuccessful? Absolutely not!! So I think we must be careful at how we motivate and pump up our youth.

The real issue is when students become attached, or obsessed with reaching one of these goals, and invests their entire self interest in the achievement of that specific outcome. A common example of that might be American college football. The pressure these young students are put under, and put themselves under is enormous.

Last night I watched the documentary “Ten Questions for the Dalai Lama”, and one of the last things he said applies well to this issue. He said the following words with a lighthearted giggle:

“As a Buddhist monk, so now my real wish is, I wish to remain in a remote area, like a wounded animal, and all the energy, all the time, concentrate on spiritual practice. And use my brain maximum way in spiritual field, without much expectation, if too much expectation, then last day I may regret.” 

So yes, dream, set goals, reach for the stars, the possibilities are endless; so head out on this journey, but do it without much expectation, or in other words, without attachment to a desired outcome.

I am in Rockland, Maine with my wife Caryn, a bit of a long day to get here. Started at 4am, got to the airport, checked in, paid through the nose for my bike as usual, proceeded to customs, they pulled me aside because my travel plans were suspicious, they questioned me for about 30 minutes, finally got out, and proceeded to get the full security check feel down and bag search, then finally we rushed to our flight that was actually departing 25 minutes sooner than on our original schedule. Starving on the plane we ordered the only food they had which was a dodgy ’snack pack’ and a ‘right pack’ of pre packaged food, along with some tepid tea. With an hour long layover in Chicago that turned in to a 5 hour layover, we finally arrived in Maine and amazingly our patient ride, the owner of BikesenJava, Chris Christie and his son Hayden, were still there waiting for us. A typical travel day!

Yesterday was a blast at John Henry bike shop in North Van. I did a show, but the highlight for me was racing an ‘88 Norco Rampage in Jay Hoots dual speed stunt course, good times! Jay, you put on an awesome event buddy!!

More from Maine soon, should be a fun week of shows!!

I have just arrived home after a month on the road, a fantastic month of shows that took me through Northern BC, down to California for the Sea Otter Classic, across to Toronto for demos at The Green Living Show, then finally to Ottawa for a shop show. After mixing in some very early morning photo shoots, breakfast TV shows, and late nights, and not enough yoga, my body decided it had had enough, so now I am at home in bed, sick with either bronchitis or pneumonia, and strep throut. Have you ever gone through an exceptionally busy time and right at the end, when all commitments were done, got really sick? Our bodies way of giving us a forced rest.

For me though, it’s tough, this rest is short lived, I have to pick up my trailer and get ready to perform on Saturday. Hopefully the antibiotics kick in in time, because it’s hard to cancel a show that is being advertised on the radio, and in the newspaper, some people make an extra effort to see me, and I have known people that travel a fair distance to do so. Even if it is just one person, or one kid that is bummed, that is enough for me to grit my teeth and make it happen. One worry is being contagious, but as I understand, after two days of antibiotics, people around me should be in the clear; or is that an old wives tale? Robin Coope, hopefully you can come announce for me buddy, like the good ‘ol days where you couldn’t get a word out of my mouth!

So the last demo in Ottawa  (well technically Gatineau), my symptoms were starting to show. The weather was cold, but clear, and I had been up at 5am in Toronto, to get a photo shoot in. Of course traveling to the shop, and eating nothing but ‘Timmies’ and ‘Coffee Time’ didn’t help with my health. I then started setting up my old demo structures which live out in Toronto. I was at this shop last year with my ‘nice’ western demo set-up, so as far as the look and flash, it’s a step down. Managed to muster off the show, sign a whack of posters, and all was good, and my petty worries about performing on my old stuff was a non-issue. Friendly folk there, even took me out to Dinner, thanks JF!

Once I muster enough energy, I have a little video tour edit of the Green Living show to post, I was so excited to have been a part of that event, and wanted to share some of it with you.

Thanks to everyone who helped me out over the last month, couldn’t do these tours without all the great people along the way. 

Nice!! 

Ryan