Over the years, I’ve moved between cycling, kayaking, downhill skiing, running and hiking. A common theme is that I use these activities to feed my need to explore new places. Over the years, I’ve focused on one activity or the other.
My current obsession is backpacking. This is an activity that helps me to reach the sublime — those unique moments that define my life and my identity. I am slowly expanding my range of environments into the winter, as I now own a pair of snowshoes for winter travel.
Why not hike during the winter with snowshoes?
I often reflect on how previous First Nations inhabitants and early explorers survived in the wilderness. I think about how European explorers such as Alexander Mackenzie (who in 1793, reached the Pacific Coast) and Major A.B. Rogers (who in 1881, found a path across the Rocky Mountains for the CPR), endured their voyages. They lived in an age when people were much less accustomed to creature comforts. My goal is to learn to travel great distances as they did with the same fortitude, but to learn about our environment and be comfortable in a way that was unheard of centuries ago.
Randonneuring
In the 2000s, I was active in Randonneuring with the BC Randonneurs Cycling Club. Randonneuring is best described as a combination of cycling and orienteering. Participants attempt to complete a series of long distance rides within a prescribed time limit. Checkpoints are set up at a number of strategic locations to ensure that riders complete the route. While there is no official winner, the person to finish first does receive the veneration of the group. Even those who finish last get to join in the festivities at the end of the event (I know this all too well). In 2005, I completed a complete series of 200, 300, 400, and 600 km rides, and now hold a coveted Super Randonneur medal.
Vancouver Island 300 event, 2006 (photographer unknown)
I’ll do anything for a shiny pin!
All of my chosen activities are open-ended. There is no peak. You can never be “good enough.” I am always striving to do better, in my career and in life, and my choice of sports fits in with that philosophy.
A partial list of my trips and races over the years
By Bicycle
- Newfoundland: Channel-Port aux Basques to St. Anthony (15 days, 893 km, 1991)
- Victoria to San Diego (36 days, 3368 km, 2001)
- Sunshine Coast Loop (4 days, 2010)
- Port Hardy – Bella Coola – Williams Lake Loop (5 days, 2012)
By Kayak
- Gulf Islands: Gabriola – DeCourcy – Pylades – Thetis/Penelakut – Reid – Valdez Islands (4 days, 1988)
- Queen Charlotte Islands: Moresby Camp to Rose Harbour (21 days, 178 km, 1994)
- Johnstone Strait: Beaver Cove to Campbell River (10 days, ~130 km, 1993)
My Daughter Jocelyn pilots our double kayak, the Whale, off Effingham Island in the Broken Islands Group, 2011.
On Bruised Feet
- West Coast Trail: Port San Juan to Bamberton (7 days, 72 km, 1997)
- Cape Scott Trail: Trailhead to Nels Bight and return (3 days, 34 km return, 1999)
- Juan de Fuca Trail: Botanical Beach to China Beach (5 days, 47 km, 2010)
- Nootka Trail: Friendly Cove to Louie Bay, return (9 days, 72 km, 2015)
- Juan de Fuca Trail: Botanical Beach to China Beach (3 days, 47 km, 2016)
- West Coast Trail: Bamberton to Port San Juan (5 days, 72 km, 2017)
- Sunshine Coast Trail: Malaspina Point to Tin Hat Mountain (9 days, 90 km, 2018)
- Vancouver Island Spine Trail: Port Alberni to Lake Cowichan (7 days, 140 km, 2018)
- Cream Lake (4 days, 31 km, 2018)
- Sunshine Coast Trail: Riveley’s Pond to Saltery Bay (16 days, ~145 km, 2019)
- Forbidden Plateau: Cumberland to Mount Washington (6 days, 57 km, 2020)
RACES
- Sea to Sky Adventure Race (kayak portion, 1999)
- Vancouver Half Marathon (21.1 km, 2001)
- Times Colonist Half Marathon (2:15:08, 21.1 km, 2015)