Bikes and filmstars in Montreal

Posted on May 26, 2010 by Dave Cheeseman

It’s WELL hot in Montreal. You can stand in the sun for about 5 minutes before needing a drink. So we thought it was a great idea to go for a bike ride along the Lachine Canal.

This city is apparently even better than Vancouver (which I noticed had recently only come in at number 4 on the list of the world’s ‘m ost liveable cities‘, tut tut) for cyclists, so why not try it out. I should point out that Nich was not completely convinced that it was a good idea in the heat, but I pressed on regardless. Besides, we’re stuck waiting to see how we can get across back to the west coast and looking for things to pass the time!

One of the great things here in Montreal is a system called ‘Bixi’, which is a sort of remote public bike rental service. All over the city there are stations with bike racks which you can access by putting your credit card in a machine. You simply take the bike and then return it to another station when you’ve finished and you’re charged a basic fee and then for the time you’ve used. There are plenty of stations around the city so it’s easy to drop a bike near to your location and then pick another up later.

Pay, grab a bike and go

It’s a great idea. Brilliant, in fact. They’re now rolling it out in a couple of American cities and I really hope it catches on across Europe. Of course, it helps if the city which adopts it has decent access for cyclists… London, I fear, would be a bit of a difficult place to make it work.

One thing you can’t stop though is heat exhaustion. We only lasted about 45 minutes on our ride before Nich had to call it a day.

A pleasant trip along the Lachine Canal on our Bixi bikes

Sill, an added bonus was that we spotted Mickey Rourke wandering out of the Intercontinental Hotel. He’s in town filming his latest project ‘the Immortals’. One for the scrap book. Apparently his co-star Freida Pinto (of Slumdog Millionaire fame) is also in town.

Mickey Rourke – wool hat in 33 degree heat. Nutter.

Might pop down the old town later to see if we can see them filming.

Lay that bad boy flat

Posted on May 24, 2010 by Dave Cheeseman

A weekend up in the glorious mountains of the Laurentians in Quebec is something which makes coming to Canada worthwhile.

Canoeing on Lac Moore in the Laurentians

We’d started this leg of the journey in Ottawa, Ontario on the Thursday. I have fond memories of the city having visited on a CISV summer camp aged 11, and remembered the hot summers and swimming in the Ottawa river. However, we were due to stay in the very interesting Ottawa Jail Hostel. The place used to be a jail (obviously) up until the early 1970s, and I can honestly sat that not much has changed. Well, it’s been made a lot more comfortable. Cells have been knocked together to make dorm rooms, and extra loos and showers have been added. But there are still whole blocks of tiny 3m by 1m cells which are untouched. In fact, there are regular tours around the building… not just because it was a jail but because it is supposedly one of North America’s most haunted buildings.

Ottawa Jail Hostel: Wooooooo! (that’s Nich in the middle)

I’d had no idea of this prior to arrival. And, to make it interesting, the owner informed us that there was a party of one hundred 8th grade (12/13 year old?) children arriving for the night.

The kids arrive

The ghost tours then started and I could hear from the bedroom a tour guide explaining to visitors about the numerous sightings by hostel residents. So, we spent two nights in a haunted house without really knowing about it. All I can report is that we heard someone hammering hard at one of the external walls at about 6.30am for around 20 minutes. Apparently there were no workmen working at that time. I haven’t got any Hampton Court style conclusive proof or anything but never mind. Of course, I spent a lot of the night after getting back from the pub, clattering about in the corridors trying to scare the kids but i’m not sure that had much effect.

On then to Quebec. We drove through the town formerly known as ‘Hull’, (now officially ‘Gatineau’) and up the hills to Mont Tremblant. The resort is a well thought of ski area and we’d arrived on the weekend of the Coupe du Quebec mountain bike race.

Downhill racer goes over a kicker

Nich watches a racer head down towards Mont Tremblant

We managed to catch the cross country on the Saturday and the downhill racers on the Sunday (today) and in between we watched the fantastic Red Bull Monte Descend. An event in which a cross country rider and a downhill rider team up and do laps of a part cross, part downhill circuit for 2 hours in the dark. The winner is the pairing with the most laps when the gong goes. Great to watch.

Downhiller finishes another lap of the Mont Descende, about to tag his x-country team mate

After all that it was nice to get down to the beach to relax, even if the water in the lake was freezing. On a hot day, all you want to do is swim, but we watched a succession of people try and then run out screaming. I mean, it was probably frozen solid less than two months ago. That didn’t stop the intrepid Nich though. After not much persuasion she went in…

It looks amazing, it’s freezing!

I think she lasted about 20 seconds! That 20 seconds more than me however. One more night here and then back to Montreal. Good times.

The Cabot Trail

Posted on May 19, 2010 by Dave Cheeseman

When browsing the BBC Jobs section a few months back I spotted the advertisement for the role of ??’Director’ ??for acclaimed motoring show Top Gear. ??What an amazing job it must be to go out and find amazing roads to drive on? To scout the world for the perfect scenic drive? Well, I suppose the only downside is then you have to spend far too much time filming it and not enough time just enjoying it.??

I didn’t apply for the job anyway. Far too little experience/skill/everything. But if I did, the Cabot trail in Nova Scotia would be the first place I’d come to film.

The Cabot trail….in a 1.6L Kia Rio!

The 300km long route is one the star attractions for any tourist in Nova Scotia and Canada for that matter. It winds along the coast and over the rugged Cape Breton highlands national park with amazing views every few miles.??

Great views from the road

The weather was perfect when we set off and we were hoping to spot whales and seals down in the numerous coves we passed. ??The area is a hotspot for whale watching but we were right on the leading edge of the season and the boats weren’t due out for a few days.

Bit of whale watching from the car. Don’t tell the hire company

However, you soon see why the boats aren’t out. Half way round with not a cloud in the sky, the weather suddenly turned as we headed inland and we were soon enveloped in thick fog and started seeing snow by the road as we ascended.??

The summer season here is extremely short. It doesn’t really start until mid-June and lasts until late September. You can see why it was so quiet. But this has its advantages too. We reached the peak of the overland section and saw a pair of moose trekking amongst the trees right by the side of the road. Our first moose sighting in Canada.

Beware of the moose! They’re not kidding

Moooooose!

We drove off the trail for an hour or two to visit the interestingly named ‘Meat Cove’ to try and spot a whale or two. ??They weren’t showing up though so we stopped off at a waterfall en route to our overnight hostel.

You can see this from the road about 5 miles away

The next day the fog had descended further and the high points of the trail were a white out. A shame, until we dropped out of the clouds and were treated to the most spectacular views of the trip.??The road is actually more popular with cyclists than drivers. Our host at an amazing hostel at the start of the route (Bear-On-The Lake) told us that they get around the route in 3 days which is an amazing 100km a day over difficult terrain. Perhaps we’ll be back to try that one day.

The best road in North America?

The experience is impossible to capture on camera, as I found when trying to film it using the GOPRO and little Fuji point and click camera we have. But, to not leave anyone who reads this blog disappointed, I thought I’d better knock together a quick film. Here are the results of a couple of hours frustration on the increasingly annoying Final Cut Pro the other night in Quebec City. Music courtesy of Steeleye Span. Enjoy!

The Cabot Trail, May 2010

‘New Scotland’ better than ‘Old Scotland’

Posted on May 12, 2010 by Dave Cheeseman

Winding along the country roads through Nova Scotia is a very pleasing experience. We landed in the province on the ferry from Saint John, New Brunswick following a long and eventful drive from Montreal. Our hire car, from the hilarious-but-actually-true company ‘Rent-a-Wreck’ managed to break down on the side of the Highway on the outskirts of Quebec City. After learning the French for ‘wheel bearing’ (turns out it’s ‘bearing’) we were on our way, We drove the entire length of New Brunswick, taking in a waterfall en-route.

Grand Falls: Just on the side of road really.

Nova Scotia is the most British place outside Britain I’ve ever been to. It’s even more British than Guernsey which is in Britain. After landing in the town of Digby we took a trip out to Digby Neck, a tiny strip of land which pokes out 30 miles into the Bay of Fundy. The summer is whale season and the whole area is a great place for whale watching. Trouble is, the summer doesn’t actually start until June here, and it only lasts for 3 months. Then it’s basically back to winter again. The ‘neck’ of land is amazingly thin and reminded me of Spurn Head near Hull, only a lot longer. From there we headed south to the town of Lunenburg. A UNESCO world heritage site, the town is a popular place for shooting movies and, sure enough, we parked up right next to a shoot. Apparently, according to Greg our friendly hostel patron, it was a TV series called ‘Haven’ based on Stephen King’s books. Greg had been an extra in the TV series ‘Moby Dick’ and filled us in on the local penchant for film making.

Filming ‘Haven’ in Lunenburg

The town is amazing. A postcard perfect fishing village with tall ships sitting in the dock. One of the ships, a barque named the Picton Castle, was about to set off for a 14 month round the world voyage. Apparently you can pay to be on the crew! They set off the day we left and we caught a glimpse of them sailing off into the distance.

The Picton Castle: Set off around the world the day after this photo. Also a castle in Pembrokeshire.

From Lunenburg we moved onto the wonderful provincial capital Halifax and proceeded to pass through New Scotland’s landmark towns of Truro(!), New Glasgow(!) and now we are in a small village called Aberdeen(!), how original. The Canadian imagination wins again. I mean, I’m not having a go but here is a brief list of some of the familiar sounding places we’ve driven past/near in the past week. Kingston, Peterborough, Cambridge, Pontypool, Whitby, Grimsby, Pickering, Lincoln, Brighton, Bath (twice), Cornwall, Warwick, Bristol, Canterbury, Liverpool, Bridgewater and Enfield. It’ll be nice to stay in good old Pleasant Bay tomorrow night after driving the famous and apparently spectacular Cabot trail. Over and out.

Nova Scotia

Great Britain came and went

Posted on May 5, 2010 by Dave Cheeseman

Two and a half months in Canada, a month back in the UK and now back in Canada. We’ve well and truly done an A-B test of what is the difference between life in the UK and life over here. Of course, as soon as we got back to the UK everyone began asking whether Nich and I could live over in Canada on a permanent basis. It got me thinking about what life in the UK really has been like over the last 30 years of my existence. And what it is that keeps all of my family and friends living there and never wanting to leave (in fact, for much of my vast family, never wanting to leave the city of Hull and its environs). Truth is, we still don’t know. The couple of months in Vancouver were so special that we are definitely going back for the summer and, who knows, perhaps longer.

Vancouver??

Great Yarmouth??

Our little ‘holiday’ in England was rather pleasant though, but you do notice a few things that you may have been taking for granted over the years. For a start, the UK, and in particular England is absolutely rammed full of people. It really is the first thing you notice when returning from a country like Canada, which is 38 times the size of England and has just over half the population. There is less space on the pavements, the roads, in houses, shops, bars, everywhere. Driving down the M6 the day after we returned felt like driving through a car wash, the lanes were so narrow. I made it down to Nottingham and had a great weekend back there for my best friend’s stag (the wedding being the reason we’d returned from Canada) but couldn’t help noticing how rammed it was.

Next up was London which is, of course, ridiculous for crowds. There are people with their faces stuffed into other people’s armpits every morning on the tube, and you can’t walk down the street without someone walking into you. However, my northern attitude towards London has softened somewhat. I still hate the crowds but, coming back, you realise what an incredibly important and exciting place it is, which is I suppose the reason you have to queue to walk down the pavements every day.

Next stop (after a brief visit to Chelmsford) was Ipswich for the wedding. I was best man and it was my first time. I’d knocked up a speech and was getting the usual nudges and winks trying to make me nervous. It all went well though (I seem to remember). A hastily arranged performance from the band was good fun (but I assume a little terrible for the audience) and it was great to see all of our friends in the same place at the same time.

We travelled north, via a quick stop in Great Yarmouth, to Norwich to visit friends and found that we actually quite liked the place. It reminded us of our years in York and the sun was out (which always helps). So perhaps the UK ain’t that bad?? Well according to my friend in Norwich it is.

Vancouver??

Norwich??

Then it was on to Hull, Leeds and finally Manchester, taking in the sights along the way.

Vancouver

Hull

After luckily avoiding the ash cloud mayhem, it was back to Canada, Toronto to be precise. It’s an odd feeling being back in Canada as the city has a very different feel to the West Coast. Not quite as laid back and a little more crowded. We’re getting used to it over here and after a visit to the amazing Niagara Falls, we’re now in Montreal where French and English speaking people seem to get on like a house on fire.

The Maid in the Mist at Niagara: About to get wet

We head East and deeper into French-speaking territory on thursday, by which time we might know whether the Tories are back in power and living in the UK might be an altogether different prospect.

The Paralympic Winter Games and Crashing into my Wife

Posted on March 27, 2010 by Dave Cheeseman

It’s been a couple of weeks since I last posted and for good reason. We came over to Canada not just to have a good time and kayak with sea monsters but also to try and get work. The working holiday visa cost a fair amount of money, and I’d tried for a couple of months last year to secure work in my chosen profession whilst in Canada. Luckily for me, the Olympics were in town. But, unluckily, it turned out I’d missed that boat by almost a year when it came to getting a cushy job behind the camera filming skiers flying past. However, all was not lost. A rather helpful chap at the BBC pointed me in the direction of an organisation who were planning to run the only 24 hour live TV channel for the whole of the Paralympic Games, paralymicsport.tv, and said that they may need some help.

The Paralympic Games have always been a bit of an afterthought to the Olympics in my mind. The big gold medals have been won. The USA are crowned top of the table and everyone goes home to start planning how much money they can make in 4 years’ time. Next thing you know, there are dudes with no legs doing the 100m sprint or the alpine downhill, and all the major broadcasters are back wherever they came from putting out re-runs of ‘The Apprentice’.

Now, I might be wrong, but if I went down a really scary ski run as fast as I could, beat all of my able-bodied mates down to the bottom in record time, and then a guy/girl in a wheelchair came up to me and said “I bet I can do that”, I’d stick around to have a bit of a look. Not the major broadcasters though. BBC, NBC, CTV, Sky, the lot, ship out of there because no-one gives a crap about ‘disabled’ people when it comes to sport. It’s filmed by the host broadcaster to exactly the same standards as the Olympics, but hardly anyone beams it out to their citizens. Not even on the red button!

Under normal circumstances, sitting in my living room in Nottingham, I would have been completely oblivious to it, but this time around I did have a bit of a watch (only because I was there to broadcast it all to the world though, I would have needed a degree in investigative journalism to navigate my way to the miniscule, but good, coverage provided by the BBC. For future reference, don’t look under ‘Vancouver 2010’ – oh no, that would be sensible – look for ‘Disability Sport’).

Anyway, turns out, if you haven’t got any arms, you can be a good skier. Also, If you can’t walk, you can play one of the most entertaining sports I’ve watched for years – Sledge Hockey. These athletes aren’t just filling up some disabled quota and having a go, they are elite competitors who have not had a shot at the OLYMPIC games because they have the misfortune of being disabled in some way. The evidence is there for all to see, as accessible as the bible, at paralympicsport.tv. We should have put these games out in parallel on at least *some* of our networks. Let’s say, the same amount of coverage as those claiming disability benefit?? We could actually crowbar Bargain Hunt or other sh*te like that out of the schedule!

Working as part of the TV channel was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life, despite the 16 hour days! It was great to see my skills, developed through years in my job, put to good use. It’s just a shame only a select few got to watch the amazing output. Thanks to all the team (pic below) for making me so welcome.

Yes, they are playing the theme to ‘Bargain Hunt’ at the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games

Me in the press box at the opening ceremony. I have my lighty-up wavy thing to hand!

11 gruelling days later it was all over, so Nich and I decided to head up to Whistler to get some skiing in before we leave this part of the world and head back to the UK. As you can read in Nich’s blog, I decided to purchase a GOPRO HD helmet camera to capture some footage on the slopes. It was awesome conditions on the second day and we found some excellent riding in the trees. The camera tells a lot of the story and you can see what it looks like here.

A little mishap occurred when I put the camera on Nich’s helmet and then tried to board too close to her to get the best footage. You can see that here. No injuries, just a broken pole! The slow motion gives a great indication of how skis come off during a collision too. I’ve been watching it so much I’ve been accused of deliberately crashing into my wife so I can see what it looks like on camera! Who, me?? Never.

A great two days in all though and it leaves us with just a few days left here in Vancouver. We’re going to cram in as much as possible but we’re looking forward to coming back and seeing everyone next week! Especially looking forward to Chris and Kay’s wedding! That reminds me, I have a stag to organise. Taxi!

Sea lion attacks on humans on the rise

Posted on March 10, 2010 by Dave Cheeseman

When on safari in Tanzania a couple of years ago, I was fortunate to get within a few metres of a pair of lions. A giant male and a menacing looking lioness. At the time I was sitting in a pretty sturdy Land Rover and was in the capable hands of an experienced guide. When you see these big predators up close you get a real sense of how easy it would be to get in a situation where you couldn’t really do much about it if the beast decided it wanted a piece of you. Luckily, all the lions were interested in were lazing around in the sun and posing for pictures.

The happy couple

Last week, our adventures landed us in a rather splendid part of the world called Yellow Point on Vancouver Island in Canada. A small rocky peninsula jutting out into the Strait of Georgia, the point has been owned by a family who run what can only be described as an adult holiday camp based around a large central lodge and some fantastic wooden cabins dotted along a mile or so of some of the best coastline in the world.

Yellow point Lodge as viewed from the sea

We arrived on a perfect day, the sea looked like a mirror and the sun was out in a bright blue sky. We sorted out our room and legged it down to the lodge to hire a two-berth kayak. Having never really been in one before it took a bit of getting used to but we managed to vaguely coordinate ourselves and progress was made around the little inlets and coves.

Kayaking in the Strait of Georgia

After a half hour or so we spotted what we thought was a seal popping its head up to draw breath. I decided to head for it and investigate as you do. Nich wasn’t wasn’t too keen but bravely joined in. Upon our arrival at said spot in the sea, up popped the ‘seal’, only it was at least 6 feet long, had massive teeth and proceeded to start snorting and flapping around. It then looked straight at me, grunted and then dived toward and under the kayak. Needless to say, Nich made use of her waterproofs and started paddling out of there. I did the same but couldn’t help but laugh my head off that we were running away from one of those cute cuddly things that you see all doe-eyed at the zoo, balancing a ball on its nose. I might have mentioned earlier in the blog about Nich’s new fear of the squirrel. Well, now it’s seals. What next, hamsters?

Seal pops up for air

Shortly before ‘contact’

Anyway, we paddled back to shore and a quick look in the library at the lodge confirmed that the six foot seal with sharp teeth was in fact a sea lion. Further investigation revealed that sea lion attacks on humans are in fact on the increase and that the US Navy even train them to detain scuba divers (although I’m not so sure about this). I suppose that if you’re going to call something a sea lion that it should at least live up to its reputation and eat a few people here and there. Perhaps we were lucky.

Canada Win Gold…Party’s Over!

Posted on March 1, 2010 by Dave Cheeseman

So 17 days have passed and the flame is out. It’s been crazy in places but none more so than today when Canada beat the USA to claim the gold medal for ice hockey. I’ve come to realise that most Canadians see the Winter Olympics as a ‘hockey’ tournament and the rest is just the build up.

We left our flat at 11.30am to see if we could find anywhere to sit and watch the game. No chance, the whole of the city centre was gridlocked with cars and people. There were queues outside every bar and pub and even outside every off-licence (the powers that be decided to shut the off licences at 3pm, so people were stocking up). We managed to find a place right on the edge of town and settled in to watch.

Canada fans head to the city on Burrard St bridge just after the ice hockey win

Later in the day we went back into town and it was shoulder to shoulder crowds for miles. People waving flags and whooping. We then stumbled across the local news station. During the games, CTV news has been broadcasting live on the street in the centre of Vancouver. Their aim seems to be to get a big crowd behind the ‘Anne and Dominic’ of Vancouver to make the place look like party town (which it is). Trouble is, they do the Olympic round up, which usually consists of back patting about Canadian Olympic success, but then move onto regular news. The other night, they linked to story after story about murders and robberies, with hordes of whopping Olympic fans behind them. It was stunningly distasteful!

The Dominic Heale and Anne Davies of Vancouver. Not as good, obviously.

During every single link there’s a whopping crowd behind. Even if it’s a tragic story!

What’s more, there has been a growing trend for people to hold up ‘Investigate 911’ banners up behind the hapless anchors. Nich and I were in hysterics as we watched CTV minions desperately try to cover up the aforementioned left-wing-conspiracy banner with a giant Canada flag for link after link. If only they could see the visual metaphor.

haw haw

The big Canada cover up

Check out the teeth

Paralympics up next! Oh and I managed to briefly interrupt my drinking to help out a mate and shoot this piece today…

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8542351.stm

Enjoy!

So we only got one medal. But it was gold!

Posted on February 27, 2010 by Dave Cheeseman

Not long before the flame goes out here in Vancouver and barring a miracle, us Brits are going to come out of the games with just one solitary medal.

Does anyone care? Well not really. After all, the Winter Olympics are a definite second to the summer games and it seems that many people in Britain have barely noticed that they’re going on. But, having been absorbed in it all over here in Vancouver, it was amazing to see the British interest suddenly pick up last Friday when Amy Williams won her skeleton gold.

More out of luck than judgement, Nich and I were fortunate enough to have been there. Having watched countless glorious Olympic moments over the years, it was a real thrill to actually witness the spectacle and feel that surge of national pride which caused British ears to prick up briefly back home in the wee hours of Saturday morning.

Amy Williams on top of the podium in Whistler

I remember back to 2008 and watching the cycling and swimming golds and thinking that I want to see that at some point. Obviously 2012 is THE opportunity for all of us Brits to get a taste of it, but the experience a Whistler last Friday has put a huge dent in making this whole trip one of the best things I’ve done. Other highlights included…

– Getting a mail from Sarah and Paul Lewthwaite with a little pic from the BBC coverage of the skeleton showing me parading through the crowd of disappointed Canadians waving the Union flag.

Screen grab from iplayer…look closely at the bottom in the centre.

Nich is wearing the white hat

And I have the flag

– Seeing Sir Steve Redgrave chatting to Amy Williams after the podium ceremony.

Sir Steve Redgrave with Claire Balding live on BBC Sport

– The sport itself. It’s incredible to see a person flying past you that quickly whilst essentially lying on a tea tray. I hope this little vid does it justice.

Watching skeleton at the Whistler sliding centre. Note: Taken down by the IOC! back soon.

What was also apparent was how Nodar Kumaritashvili would have had absolutely no chance of surviving his accident. I stood at the very place he crashed and the speeds they were coming through there were astonishing. You can see the hastily erected white wooden screen and orange padded girders on the video.

Aside from this excitement we have also had the chance to watch the British curling team in action, although they’re unfortunately not in the medals race despite being contenders, and an ice hockey game. The sport is huge over here as I’m sure you’ll know. The Olympics is their World Cup so it would be a little bit like having the football world cup within the Olympics in London. i.e insane. Can’t wait for Sunday’s Canada-USA final. Watching the Slovaks beat the Norweigans made me see that ice hockey the UK is at a totally different level. Nottingham Panthers it was not.

Canada Hockey Place on Feb 23rd: Finished Norway 3-4 Slovakia

And finally… Reuben Gotto made it over for the night! He jetted in before flying over to Oz with Canadian band ‘Alexisonfire’. They were playing at one of the free gigs in Vancouver. Unfortunately for them, they had to stop their show because of a collapsed barricade and injuries to some of the quite substantial audience. Still, it was good to meet the guys and have a few beers even if I did end up embarrassing myself a bit by not fully realising how massive they are over here (they were at Rock City, Nottingham last time I saw them).

Reuben turns up on Granville Street. Amazing

Me and George from Alexisonfire.

Closing ceremony is last thing on Sunday, then we’re off to explore Vancouver Island for a week before returning for the
Paralympics. Make sure you catch that Canada v USA ice hockey game! 8pm UK time on the Beeb.

Will Canada embrace the bicycle? No.

Posted on February 19, 2010 by Dave Cheeseman

Since I sold my beloved Skoda vRS back in the UK, I’ve been relying on both public transport and the bike to get around. So, when we arrived at our new place and were very kindly lent a bike each, I decided that I’d do my best to get around the city on two wheels. It’s only around 2 kilometres across Downtown Vancouver, and any way you go you’re going to hit water, so it shouldn’t be that difficult should it?

There are numerous cycle routes around the sea-wall which are an absolute pleasure to ride. In fact, one of the first things we did was grab the bikes and take a trip around the edges of Stanley Park, which covers the western end of the downtown peninsula, I could describe it to you, but I’m better at making cheesy videos of Nich riding it, so click on the video below to see what I mean when I say how pleasant it is.

Nich on her bike: She got scared of some squirrels later in the day

However, as soon as you get off the paths you run into a problem. This problem must be the same in any North American city…and Milton Keynes… the block system. You know the format, streets divided into one way grids with four lanes going across and two lanes going up and down. Every block has a set of traffic lights so you are guaranteed to have to stop every 300 yards to wait at a red light. Fine if you’re in a car or going down hill, but Vancouver has some fairly steep slopes rising from the sea, and losing momentum every 2 minutes is so frustrating, the residents of downtown will soon know me as Mr ‘F$%k**g lights!’, because that’s what I scream every time I get a red and have to brake. On top of this there’s the problem of having cars which aren’t so much cars as lorries with no lorry bits on them. I’m not kidding when I say i regularly see people driving around in what can only be described as ‘monster trucks’.

Couple of inches of travel on there, just in case you need to bring a tree home.

With such a huge difference between the gas guzzling mentality of the lumberjack, hockey loving types compared with the fresh-air-yoga-loving cyclists, and the fact that most of these people are quite used to driving 5 hours to go to the shops or whatever (that’s like a 3 day bike ride. Land’s End to John o’Groats territory), they’re not going to get very far with their road system and such a daft gap between the size of some cars and your push bike.

So, with the message that cycling is ‘one of Vancouver’s priorities’ ringing in my ears, I ride to and from my second job (broadcast and editing consultant no less! whatever next), I’ll stick to the sea wall as much as possible, and try not to get monster-trucked to death.

DAVE CHEESEMAN

CAMERAMAN & PICTURE EDITOR