IIDD, Chill November: Monday, November 26th

His mother had often said, When you choose an action, you choose the consequences of that action. She had emphasized the corollary of this axiom even more vehemently: when you desired a consequence you had damned well better take the action that would create it. -Lois McMaster Bujold, writer (b. 1949)  

A cyclist riding through high floodwaters on the road into Grandborough near Rugby, Warwickshire.

We dream about fancy bicycles!!!

 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/uknews/9703458/UK-weather-trail-of-destruction-as-floods-spread-north.html#?frame=2409698

Hope conditions are better than this, this morning.

Ray,

Pat has to work a bit harder as combining his aquatic and cycling pursuits. This guy clearly had no intention of putting his feet down. G

Giggster, er al!

The chap in question was wearing flippers so even if he touched the ground, (bottom, in this case), technically speaking, his feet would have been "insulated" from the burning ground, (in this case the freezing river bed, of course), so he could enter outing as an official one! If you analyse the wake behind the bike you can tell by the turbulence. Naturally, I hardly expect non-biathletes to pick up on this subtle clue, particularly when your System 1's are inundated with availability cascades regarding next latte stop! Cheers, Test of Mettle Squamish Rider!

Pics and Official stats: Squamish to home, yesterday, 11:22am departure, with a few extra dipsy doodles, around SP, for a grand totale of 100.4K over 4:59:34, AVG 20.0KPH, MAX 50.2KPH. Ride fantastique and without domestiques! Non-Support Team outside the Squamish Waldorf with Rider Intrepide! Cheers, Il Conduttore! 

10am HBT. See you then. G

Ray, Pat can ride late morning. We will confer on riding conditions late morning -- after our 11:am latte. G

Undeliverable: Snorkelmeister!

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whirlygig@outtolunch.org
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Dear I'm Too Popular and Receive So Many Fan Emails That I simply Cannot Keep My Mailbox From Overflowing, Don't You Know!

Empty your mailbox or The Brotherhood, let alone The Sisterhood, will not be amused! Sent while you were obviously sipping sustainable java infused with rum meant for the Christmas cake! Cheers, Die Briefkasten Polizei!

Hi Clan Benson and Coriandre!

Absolutely terrific that we could attend Jill Barber concert with you and Dinao, Bensonites! Glad that you both were able to stop by for tea, malt and cake as well!

Waiting for the frost to melt before I ride with Whirlygig and Robo Man today. Not sure of our proposed route, likely Iona, but not confirmed as of this writing.

Travel safely, Ski. Don't tell The Great Ronaldo how much fun we had or he might not let you travel alone again! Hope to see you and your wife, along with Dinao, next Sunday, Al, any time after 5:00pm. Earlier and you have to help with vacuuming!!! Will be in touch, Ski, to confirm our St Maarten reservations, (February 1-10th, 2013), inasmuch as we are coming but need to figure out where best to fly from, flight times, etc., and provide lengthy list of rum to be waiting! Fondestos and Cheers, Patrizzio!

Pics: Squamish support team; intrepid rider about to set off; Oh No! That's not the Bensons is it? Damn, I thought that they wouldn't be able to get tickets! Freeloaders at The Islay Inn!

Great pics from your earlier email although we didn’t need a close-up of Ted’s scar…really.

Started decorating this weekend…my signature color this year is GOLD

Hi Tinsel Town et al!

Must be wonderful to be able to use gold leaf on everything from presents to decorations! Guess nobody will be throwing away the gift wrap this year! Perhaps Elaine could adorn Ted's knee with a gold ribbon so that your sensitive eyes won't be upset at the sight of his glorious Frankensteinesque scar! Love and Cheers, Poppa "We Don't Need No Stinkin' Brown Paper Wrapping Paper" San!

This was the exchange before we went out to Iona today!

Hi again, Ski!

I had asked Coriandre about dates for St. Martin and sent along ones she gave to me, February 1st-10th. Now, she has revised our schedule and would like to visit from January 28th- February 6th, +/-, depending on your schedule. Sorry for the confusion, (It was clear as mud/But it covered the ground/The confusion made me head go round! Thanks, Harry!) Please let us know as soon as you are able to "confirm reservations" so that we can proceed with booking flights, etc. Thanks!

Went for another glorious ride today. Whirlygig and Robo Man were afraid of black ice so we didn't set off until 12:15pm from 25th and Maple, one of our regular rendezvous spots. I met them there and we proceeded up and down Cypress to Marine Drive and then over Arthur Laing. Just at the bottom of the bridge one can make a sharp right turn onto a bike path which leads to Grauer Road and then Ferguson Road which parallels one of the YVR runways. We follow this out to Iona Island Causeway which ends at Iona Beach Park. Fairly stiff head wind on way out so we took turns leading and other two drafted behind. The mountains looked like rows of ice cream cones with the Lions spectacularly covered and shining!

Back via Cambie Sky Train Bridge and then up Heather to 37th,. I left Giorgio and Raymundo at Cypress and 37th as they both had errands to run. I continued on out to UBC and could not restrain myself from dipsy-doodling through parts of campus in order to have 71K on my trusty odometre by the time I was at the base of the Foreshore Hill. Since it is almost exactly 10K from there to home, I knew I would have an 81K ride under my belt by the time I was wheeling my trusty steed into the parking garage. Did just that and was home shortly after 4:00pm, logging 82.3K over 4:20:46, AVG 18.9KPH, MAX 52.3KPH. Not as high and AVG as I would have liked, not yesterday's 20.0KPH but then I didn't have the Latte Laggards to slow me down either!!! At any rate, a glorious ride in the glorious sunshine although it was nippy at times, particularly when in shadow and fighting the infernal head wind! Plan to ride out to Horseshoe Bay tomorrow, probably around 10:00am or so, roughly a 75K round trip. Unfortunately it looks like a solo effort as both lads are otherwise engaged. I will put out a call to others who ride from time to time but am not optimistic about a positive response! Where is Ski when one needs her!

Once again, terrific to see you. Let me know about booking into the Pent House at MacCormack Manor, St Maarten Estates by the Sea.Safe journey home! Fondestos and Cheers, Patrizzio! 

Patrick,

Sorry for late reply! Your email went to my work address, and I try hard these days not to log onto work on the weekend (yeah right!)

We love the prospect of a visit! We think you’ll like our condo as there is much to do around us in the Big D. Would love to join you for a Saint Maartin trip too if we can sync up our dates! Pass by Dallas anytime, and you can always stay here. We will be in Vail Colorado Jan 12 – 19 and can arrange for you to use our Dallas condo without us if the dates work out that way, but of course we hope to catch you either on your way out to NO or back, or both. In fact, ifpossible, we might like to join you in NO! We were just talking about possibly going there this Spring … I’ll list a few dates below for which we can’t change our plans. Other dates are quite possible, pending Randy’s confirmation of his teaching schedule. Leaving a car with us is no problem.

Dates R&R have plans elsewhere: Jan 12-19 (Colorado), Feb 1-3 (Houston), Mar 8-10 (Randy’s conference)

Wide open days: Randy’s winter break thru Jan 11; Randy’s spring break March 11-17 (perfect for visiting SM, though lodging could bedifficult/expensive as it’s a fav of college kids’ spring break
partying destination)

Additional possibilities to join you in NO or SM -- long weekends Fri– Mon: Jan 24-28 (especially long with MLK holiday), Feb and Marchweekends Fri - Mon

Randy and I had a wonderful 25th anniversary celebration in Sonoma/Glen Ellen the first weekend in Oct. Part of the attractions is a charity concert on Sunday at BR Cohn Winery headlining the Doobie
Brothers. No doubt there was reminiscing of Randy’s past experiences with the you-know-what, for which you are forever guilty … We will keep an eye out for airfare. We might jump on the plane and crash your party in Dec!

Will enjoy your photos later – after I take care of some of my Cyber Monday shopping spree!

Noticing the Islay wish now...Soon, Ruth 

Illustration: Leah Palmer Preiss

Concinnity

MEANING:

noun: A harmonious arrangement of various parts.

Hi again, Gail and Jack!

Thanks again for all your suggestions and offers of help. We certainly wouldn't expect or want you to drive anywhereI took a quick look at The Florida Bus website and service to Miami Airport seems like the best idea in terms of time/price/convenience. I have included details and wonder what you think, particularly about pick-up and drop-off locations. Is former relatively easy to get to relative to where you live? (If you could send along your Florida address that would be grand as we'll need if for our GPS, at some point. I imagine that we will be heading to your place from somewhere like Tallahassee or Gainesville, unless you have any suggestions about a spot(s) that might be worthwhile to take a look at while over-nighting. Generally, I have plotted out most of our driving days to be between 6-8 hours, depending on where we are in trip, and where we need to be to dovetail with friends, etc. Plan to take it more slowly in new territory, obviously.) We can probably tailor our trip to return to Marco Island to coincide with you being there, 2/5, but let us know what dates are most convenient/inconvenient for any reason. For example, would returning on February 4th be a bit tight, etc? We would plan to take bus back from Miami on return leg, of course.

From what I have looked at quickly, bus would drop us off at Terminal F, near Avianca Airlines, ( I don't know, as of this writing, if bus can/will drop one off at other terminals.),  but we would fly out of Terminal C, American Airlines, as their prices seem the best. Do you have any experience moving around this airport?

Anyway, once we have a "firmer" date on the St Maarten leg, (Still waiting for friend to consult with other possible family visitors), we'll let you know what sort of an itinerary we have come up with and see how that might mesh with you before we book flights.

TRAVEL: One Way
PASSENGER(S):2 
TRIP:610,  Shared Van Door Option
DEPARTS FROM: MARCO ISLAND,MARCO ISLAND STOP MCDONALDS RESTAURANT 8875 DAVIS BLVD 34104 EXIT 101 OFF I-75
DEPARTURE TIME AND DATE:  09:20AM, 01/28/2013
DROPOFF LOCATION: MIAMI AIRPORT,MIAMI AIRPORT TERMINAL J DEPARTURES LEVEL IN FRONT OF AVIANCA AIRLINES  
ARRIVAL TIME:  12:00PM
DATE OF BOOKING:11/26/2012
FARE: $140

This past Saturday we drove up to Squamish to spend the night with close friends, Ruth/Rick. I took my bike along as I hoped to be able to ride the Sea to Sky Highway back from there, weather permitting. As things turned out, the day was simply glorious so I was able to cycle back to Vancouver. Had never ridden that section of highway before so it was quite an adventure. Very busy, with plenty of traffic so I had to really keep my wits about me. Fortunately, shoulder is reasonably wide for most of the way, (Quite narrow along cliff face near Porteau Cove, going north, and right next to railroad tracks, going south. Trains don't bother me, there are few in any event, but reasonably large stones from railway road bed often find there way onto the highway. It would not be a good idea to hit or even run over one as who knows what might happen, particularly since it is single lane traffic in either direction at this point!), and I managed to reach Horsehoe Bay without any mishaps. From there one takes Marine Drive and it is a reasonably quiet thoroughfare, particularly on the weeknds. Furthermore, I am familiar with the route and enjoy it immensely. Arrived home just after 4:00pm to find Cora Lee and Dusty watching our Grey Cup! Thanks again. Cheers, Patrizzio!

Pics and Official stats: Squamish to home, yesterday, 11:22am departure, with a few extra dipsy doodles, around Stanley Park, for a grand totale of 100.4K over 4:59:34, AVG 20.0KPH, MAX 50.2KPH. Ride fantastique! Non-Support Team outside the Squamish Waldorf with Rider Intrepide! Cheers, Il Conduttore!

Greg Carpenter

Hi Patrick, I am not very good at this whole face book thing. Anyway Claire and I finally managed to get away and tried the camping thing and it was a great success in so far as the weather was great the water and the surf were perfect, the park was superb and over all a great four days away. We are now in tg echristmas silly season over here with a few parties to go to and of cours ethe family thing. Claire is off to Perthe for a week or so over the break to catch up with Fiona and I will spend th etime helping Tony get his house ready for sale in the new year. So fun few weeks for me as I consolidate my time in retirement tho I must say it is all a bit strange not having the safety of a working routine. I will see how it all goes as time goes by. Cheers Greg and Claire

Hi Grogg and Claire de la Lune!

It goes without saying that I was more than delighted to receive your last missive!Happy Christmas and a Healthy New Year to you both! Fondestos, Cora Lee and Patrizzio!

Peter Moody, 80, and his wife Susan Bond, in her late 50s, were walking in a remote area when they came across a mother bear and at least one cub feeding on a deer carcass.

Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/travel/Hikers+mauled+grizzly+were+wrong+place+wrong+time/7617410/story.html#ixzz2DUv3Q1Es