reflections on the Olympics part 1

Just a little background: I signed up to volunteer for the 2010 Olympics and recently I have been officially offered a position as an NOC (National Olympic Committee) assistant.

I have been attending the training sessions since April. I did run into a cycling friend in one training session but other than that these are all strangers to me. Being the anti-social self I have not been interacting with my fellow volunteers. All that changed today as I have my driver training. Three of us were assigned to a car and our job is to go through a couple of the Vancouver venues to locate the entry roads, dedicated parking, loading zones, etc. And for a few hours the three of us have to interact, make conversation and discover the solution for the problems posed to us.

Here is my reflection: as diverse are the people coming to compete in the games, the volunteers are similarly as diverse. We don't have to be friends, we don't have to have the same political views, we don't have any similar interests. We are all there just to make the games work. And as long as that objective is achieved that is the bottom line.

busy

I am volunteering for this, this and this. It's going to be busy for a while.

mishap

When I was commuting to work, there was an accident in the intersection of Cornwall and Cypress. A cyclist was knocked down and emergency crews were treating her right there. Let's hope she's alright and everyone please ride safe.

note to self

Riding a fixie on snow without brakes is not a good idea. I just saw one fixie sliding into a car. Ouch.

a little bit of history

As the Canucks are getting ready to launch their new logo and jersey, let me share a little story about their previous jersey launch.

I joined a small software company in 1997, replacing a guy who went to a big game development studio. It was all in good terms and this developer was in touch with the few of us. A few days before the jersey launch one of my colleagues received a email from this guy with the Canucks whale logo in an attachment. This ex-colleague was not on the hockey team but somehow got hold of the logo. We were admiring the logo and another colleague came by, saw the picture, called his girlfriend and forwarded the email over to her. This person worked for CKVU and it was a matter of minutes when Don grabbed hold of the picture and ran a story at their six o'clock news.

So this little company played a pivotal role in leaking on the logo last time.

A race

I was finishing my morning ride and spinning to the office when I met Gord on Macdonald and Cornwall. Gord is a strong rider and the president of the cycling club. We exchanged pleasantries and he took off. I continue spinning away but there was always an urge to go after Gord's wheel. I lost sight of him after the uphill section and was surprised to see him in front, slowed by the lights. I almost caught him at Burrard but the light turn green before I could reach him. Gord took off again. This time it is a struggle because of 2 weeks' vacation I lost a lot of fitness. The climb up the Burrard bridge is a challenge when you want to push but your HRM disagrees with you. At the end I decide to go with my HR zone and let him go.

Little did I know that he was caught up in traffic lights again and I caught him around Smithe. This time I have the legs to ride away from him and did not see him again. He looked at me from his Subaru in disgust as I smiled and waved bye bye.

I once was blind and now I see

At the end of spring break, we were driving back from Sun Peaks. We stopped for lunch and I mentioned to my wife, "look, cherry blossoms". She said "it's been blooming for well over a week".

That same night a friend sent me a email saying how happy she was about the cherry blossoms. I replied back saying I only saw it today.

So the following workday I made the effort to count how many cherry trees I can find along the way. Turns out:
- there are less than 5 along South-west Marine between 41st and 16th.
- probably a couple more between 16th and North-west Marine.
- there are roughly 10 along North-west marine, close to where the houses are.
- probably around 5 along 4th from NW Marine to Alma.
- around 5 along Burrard between the Bridge and Hastings.

So far so good. Can't say I missed much.

But there are A LOT of cherry trees along Cornwall. So many that I don't know how I missed it. Lame excuses includes:

- there are a lot of cracks and potholes
- i am concentrating on my speed and heart rate.
- I like to look at cars than flowers.
- my neck hurts, can't look up.

Anyways I justed realized what I was missing. :-(