It's already begun... the curse of the bad tan line

You wouldn't guess by the weather today, but Vancouver had glorious weather over the weekend.

We had our first 40 mile ride (which I am very pleased we conquered) and even after slathering on the sports sun cream factor 30, you can see from the pic below, this is the start of a very bad tan line era for me.

I've always been really careful when sunbathing to try to avoid terrible tan lines, but I'm not going to stop wearing my gloves and knee support just for vanity...

...so I will have to put up with Dave calling me Minnie Mouse, as it's only going to get worse!

P.s. We cycled 40 miles and I didn't collapse - yippee :)

We will be cycling the Pacific Coast from Vancouver to Tijuana over six weeks starting in August 2012 to raise money for Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research. Please show your support by sponsoring us here, leaving a comment below and sharing our blog.

Bike Safety and Hand Signals

One of the most important things everyone needs to be aware of while riding their bikes, whether it's in the city or on a country road, is to be safe.

There are a lot of people that ride their bikes that can be a real danger, not just to themselves, but others when they don't use the simple signals and rules.

Here are a few tips to keep safe:

First rule of bike safety is wear a helmet. Even if you feel like a dork, you must wear one that fits snug with little room for movement in any direction. It could safe your life.

You also must ensure you can be seen. Wear bright colours and reflective gear wear possible, especially when it's raining (which it does a lot here!) and don't forget your lights. It's also a good idea to turn them on when it rains heavy.

Many drivers in Canada are really great when it comes to being aware of cyclists, however always assume they haven't seen you. Even if it is your right of way, stop or slow - remember a car will always cause you more damage than you would a car!

A bell. Bells are a great way to warn other cyclists you are going around them, make pedestrians crossing the road or cycle path that you are there. It's also more polite than shouting "out the way".

Watch out for parked cars. I have had a few close calls where people have opened the door without looking into a cycle lane and I have nearly gone over the door. Always give them a wide birth and ring your bell!

Use your hand signals:

Left Turn - One of the most basic bike safety hand signals. Extend your left arm out to your side until it's parallel with the ground.

Right Turn - There are a few options, in the UK I would use my right arm, but here the roads are bigger and a lot more traffic, so I think it's safer to extend your left hand out to your side until it's parallel with the ground, bending your elbow to create a 90-degree angle with your left hand pointing vertically. You then get to keep your right hand on the break.

These are really basic, but it's amazing how many people don't use them. You can read more about hand signals here.

I found this awesome video on bike safety and hand signals on Twitter by a local performer Will Stroet. It's also filmed right here in Vancouver in Stanley Park - a great place to cycle.



OK, OK it's aimed at kids, but it still has some pretty good basic messages (and I am a big kid at heart who likes to boogie).

Cycle safe!


We will be cycling the Pacific Coast Highway from Vancouver to Tijuana over six weeks starting in August 2012 to raise money for Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research. Please show your support by sponsoring us here, leaving a comment and sharing our blog.

A spill in the rain

It rains in Vancouver, it rains a lot. So much so in fact that they even have a 65 foot tall sculpture of a raindrop downtown.

Yep, that sure is one big raindrop.

Just for some perspective, the yearly total rainfall in Vancouver is twice that of London.

I’m not whinging though, I love this city and when the rain clears and the sun hits, there’s no place I’d rather be. It’s like a deal you do with the city, put up with rain for a few days, then…. Ta dah, what a lovely view.

So with all this rain on our minds it was difficult to know when to plan our next long training ride to minimize the chance of getting a soaking. The weather man had called for rain all weekend so when we woke up on Saturday morning and it was clear it seemed like a good time to get going.

Wrong! About ten miles in and the heavens opened, worse still we were only wearing summer gloves and when you add wet hands and a four degree temperature you get very cold very quickly, by the end of the ride I had lost all feeling in my hands and they genuinely felt colder than they did when I swam in Lake Ontario in January.

To add to this I also managed to fall of my bike and bruise my ribs, a painful injury that could take up to 6 weeks to heal.

This caps off a year of stupid and easily avoidable injuries for me. In the last twelve months, I have managed to bruise my coccyx whilst mountain biking (ha! That one even sounds funny ‘I’m sorry, you’ve bruised your what?') and I also dislocated my finger whilst trying to swing on a rope, this one was extra specially fun as I had to get a friend to pop it back into place for me whilst lots of small fish were trying to eat my feet. If you’ve never heard the pop of a freshly dislocated finger going back into its socket, it’s a pretty sweet sound I can tell you.

On the plus side, all the training is definitely paying off, was feeling much stronger on the climbs and our pace was a lot faster.

On the last third of the ride I had a near miss when an old geezer nearly plowed into the side of me at a roundabout; he missed my back wheel by about a centimetre.

So one thirty mile ride and one accident, a few bruised ribs, some scrapes and scratches, numb hands from the cold and a near miss with a car. Kinda makes me wonder what a 2,000 mile ride will have to throw at me. I look forward to finding out.  

Dave