Cyclists of the world Unite

As promised I am happy to present a pdotproductions exclusive on how to box your bicycle for air travel and not get scammed!
Before we begin I need to make a couple of things clear. This box must be one of two bags to be checked, the box must not exceed 158 linear cm combining height and length (width within reason is irrelevant) and the box must not weigh more than 20 kg.
If you are employed by Air Canada or any other airline you must understand that this is an honest attempt to save fellow cyclists money. I fly on average 4 times during the course of the racing and training season. If I was to be charged $60 each way for a bicycle that would amount to $480 in additional expenses I cannot afford. That extra cost represents 2 domestic flights and encourages me to make the effort to travel for training by air instead of driving. In the end the airlines get their money and my business because I am in a better position financially to be able to give them my business. What makes an airline think that because I purchase a roundtrip flight for $240 that I can dump $120 into shipping my bike? Do they think the bike is a toy I just feel like bringing with me!? The fact is cyclists either travel with their bicycles or they don't travel at all. We are traveling to train and race, not on some flipping vacation. What's it going to be? I say it is in the airlines best interest to sell more tickets rather than cash in on lame bicycle charges that upon further reading you will discover are completely unfounded. This report is in the best interest of sport, in the best interest of poor competitive cyclists everywhere and is an encouragement for cyclists to stand up for their rights to travel without undue discimination.
Here are the steps that must be taken to ensure that your $120 hard earned dollars stay in your bank account:
1) Get yourself a Cannondale cardboard bicycle box from your local Cannondale Dealer. The reason for the Cannondale box is that most importantly it is wider than standard bicycle boxes as it is designed to carry the bicycle with both wheels off beside the frame. I have found through long term experience that the quality of the cardboard in these boxes is superior as well as the glue used to seal the box at the base.
2) Remove the stem, handlebars, seatpost, pedals, cranks rear derailluer and fork from your bicycle. It is essential that the frame be unobstructed from being the determining factor for the maximum dimesions for your box. Make sure there are no potruding bits (ei. remove the seatpost collar as well).
3) The most crucial step in the operation is that you must now measure the smallest possible box length and height that will accommodate your frame. It is important to note that this is all relative to your frame size. A larger frame will dictate the box size. If you are riding a compact or 54cm or smaller frame size the height of the wheels will likely dictate the height of the box.
4) Now that you have determined the height and length of your box start cutting! The width of a Cannondale box is more than enough room, but interestingly enough the width is not factored into Air Canada's baggage size policy (according to their website and the clerk I talked to). You need to make sure that the linear dimensions of the length and height does not exceed 158cm. When cutting your box make sure to do it so that the flaps remain in order to better seal the box. Try to use as many of the original features of the box as possible to maintain its structural integrity.
5) Place pipe insulating foam around all of the bicycles tubes to prevent frame damage due to parts rubbing together as it is quite tightly packed together in this size of a box. Place the frame inside with the handbar and fork. Cut an extra piece of cardboard to separate the frame from the wheels. Make sure you remove the hub skewers and place plastic end caps on the ends of the hubs. From personal experience this is very important as uncovered hub ends can eat through even wheel bags and cardboard during a flight and scratch your frame through the foam.

Now that the bike is in the box you are ready to head to the airport and make your final bid for freedom from the senseless bicycle charge the airlines love. I have always questioned this charge and always assumed it was due to the extra work involved with packing and transporting the bicycle on and off the plane. From this past trip I learned that this is not true. If you come to the airport it doesn't matter how small the box is. As soon as you say there is a bicycle inside the $60 is coming out of your pocket.
This fact leads us to the hardest part of the operation for many, but this step essential to the operation's success. You must lie! As long as the contents of the box is not a bicycle you are fine. I have my own line that works every time, but that is my little secret, my patent on the whole idea if you will. Be creative and you will thank me.
To my surprise the clerk upon tagging the box directed me to the oversized baggage station just like if I had been transporting a larger bicycle box. This means that the airlines are simply concerned with charging for bicycles because they are bicycles, without actually being concerned about the size or shape of the luggage involved. As long as the box is within 20kg, 158cm and is your second piece of baggage your fine. If I am transporting 20 kg of catfood in a box, or 20 kg of aluminum, carbon fiber and rubber what it the difference? This is a case of discrimination that must be fought. Don't give them your money just because they ask for it.
When you go to pick your bike up at the other end it may come out though the oversized doors or onto the carousel. Depending on the size of the airport and the carousel system this is variable.
To all of you with hardcases this may be a bit of an adjustment to be packing your bike in cardboard. The fact is I have traveled to Asia, Europe (3 times) and domestically (8times) and only gone through 2 of these Cannondale boxes without ever damaging my bicycle in the process. I have carried the box for 25 minute stretches with 2 backpacks on to catch busses at 4 am, taken the whole works up and down stairs in the Brussels train station, piled into bus/train seats and packed it into countless backseats of cabs and cars. This system is superior to any hard case. The box is lighter, smaller, free and allows for some extra gear plus up to three wheels.

I hope that this information can be used constructively by all and not abused so as to alert the airlines. If you are on the same flight as me you better have a good story!Before, with a regular sized (unmodified) Cannondale box in the background.

The frame is the maximum dimensions of my box.

Nice and cozy, ready for a long journey

"The mod" relative to a regular Cannondale box and a standard box.

Gloves Off!

First off congratulations to the Canadian Team for such an outstanding performance in these Olympic Games despite the countless 4th and 5th place finished and poor wax jobs.
Canada stepped onto the Olympic podium in Turin a total of 24 times. This is a new record in Canadian Winter Olympic history.
With this information on the table I would like to turn the focus to the Canadian podium attire which included a pair of nifty leather gloves. These gloves were worn at all of the medal presentations and when I say worn I would like to highlight the fact that they were not removed during the course of the medal ceremony. Normally in western culture we remove our gloves when shaking someone's hand. This was not the case for the majority of the Canadian athletes who had the honor of receiving medals from some of the top officials in their respective sports including various senior IOC members and sport federation presidents. How can this blatant sign of disrespect have gone unnoticed by the media and team officials alike. Am I missing something!?

Rainy Day Time Out

I hit up the Canadian hot spot for reading week, bringing my bicycle and making it a training camp. The trip started out really well with my new bicycle box concept clearing Air Canada as checked baggage! I cut a Cannondale box down to the exact maximum suitcase size outlined by AC and after a short debate with the check in clerk I got it in for $0, awesome, groceries are paid for! I will have pics when I get back to save all of you readers from getting scammed.
Staying with James S and a house full of cyclists out here including neo pro Phil Abbott. It's the ultimate cycling house, great fun.
The riding has been great. The weather has been clear all week, today is the first day of rain so our planned ride out to Salt Spring Island is cancelled in favour of Jordan River to avoid a cold. Done about 17hrs in 4 days so far with over 2500m of climbing so far. I also got some testing in with my coach Rick Theissen of the Pacific Sport Center Map is looking good and my hillclimb up Willis Point was right on par, good to know the training is on track.
I will try to get some pics for you all in a couple of days. I hear its snowing in Ctown, ouch.

Svesk Historie!

http://www.cbc.ca/olympics

I am not the biggest fan of hockey or women's hockey for that matter. However this morning I had the great privilege of viewing the semifinal between the USA and Sweden during my 2 hour trainer session. The game was a nail biter to the end with Sweden finally taking it in a shootout to topple the US hockey domination over European nations 3-2. This is the first time Sweden has beat the US in international competition and finally we get to see the blue and yellow in the final. I have to say a huge day for women's hockey, for sport and for the future of the Olympic games!
On a sidenote Norway is continuing the medal domination with 13 medals even with disappointing performances in speed skating and xc skiing. Canada has really picked up the pace at 11 medals. Many Canadian medals are coming in new or relatively new Olympic sports which is important for future sport development in Canada. Good stuff!

Also please note a new feature starting on pdotproductions! I messed with some HTML and have created the Hot or Not section on the bottom right side of the page. I am pretty proud of myself for figuring it out as I am not in the possession of ANY real computer skills. Check it weekly for what I think is hot or not so hot on everything and anything I come across.

Chilly Willy

Today was one of the coldest days this winter, at least from what I can remember of winter. I have told most of you international readers about how nice our winter has been. Today it turned back to more of what a central Canadian winter used to be. The temperature today was about -25C, but the windchill made it feel well below -30C. Since I am leaving for Victoria BC in a couple of days this makes me very happy actually. Now I can really justify the money I am spending to get out there to ride. Rumour has it the trees are blooming and the grass is looking really green out west.

As I took the picture of the thermometer a guy came riding up the street on his bicycle. He was decked out from head to toe in GoreTex, topped off with a ski helmet and matching goggles. That is hard core. We may not have many bicycle commuters in this city, but the ones we do have are dedicated! (I did get a picture of the guy, but my camera was in near mode and the shot of him just ended up being a blur, not worth posting).

Norwegian Culinary Delights: Lutefisk

As promised the culinary delights series is moving away from red meat to the bounty of the sea.
In this instalment of "Norwegian Culinary Delights" I am proud to showcase what is possibly the most stereotypical Norwegian dish in existence. The world famous Lutefisk. This dish is not exclusive to the Norwegian festive table however, Sweden is also known for their own version which is often served with nasal clearing mustard.
Today I give you my family's version of this unique dish from the frigid waters of the North Atlantic. The name lutefisk comes from the unique processing the fish undergoes before it is even cooked. The fish originates as cod which is dried in order to preserve the fish. It is in this state that the fish most often arrives in the home and the final unique preparation begins. The dried cod is cut into appropriate pieces and soaked in cold water for up to 8 days. For best results the water is changed twice daily with the fish being thoroughly rinsed each time. This soaking of the fish ensures that it becomes fully bloated again, to its original size. What really makes this fish special is the next step which involves the soaking of the cod in lye for 3 days. The process of soaking in lye gives the fish a distinct flavour, but most importantly it gives it a flaky, jelly like texture. After the fish is soaked in lye it is further soaked in water for a couple of days to rid the fish of too strong a lye flavour. After all of this painstaking work the fish is finally prepared in the standard way, boiled in water.
Lutefisk is served with fried bits of bacon, boiled potatoes, steamed carrots and that wonderful pea mush you are now all familiar with.
This dish is commonly served in areas of Norway during the Christmas holiday or at other special times during the year. Although lutefisk is very typical of traditional Norwegian cuisine it is not widely used these days, likely due to the enormous amount of work required in its preparation. The fish shown here was brought home by my parents after a festive evening at the local Scandinavian Center.

Lye is the key to the jelly like texture.

Drivers: Watch Yourselves

Cyclingnews.com 15/02/06
German rider Danilo Hondo, currently in training while serving a two-year suspension, was injured on Monday when struck by a car in what appears to be a road-rage incident in Somerset West, near Cape Town, South Africa. Tony Brown, an acquaintance of Hondo, and Matthias Kessler, were training with the German sprinter on the Paarl Vallei Road when a car drove past and abused the riders. Both Brown and Kessler said the driver, aged around 65, waited for them to pass before ramming Hondo's bike "with intent".
The extent of Hondo's injuries is not yet known, and Hondo himself isn't sure when he'll be riding again. "The doctors will have to check me out," he said. "Sometimes you get internal injuries from a fall like that - I'm not so worried about crashing, you can crash in any country. The problem is that drivers can do this."
In a strange twist Somerset West police said that the driver of the vehicle called the police station after the incident and reported the cyclists attacking him, something denied by both Brown and Kessler. Hondo is reported to be taking action against the driver.

Sounds like springbank, anyone reading this actually been hit before? I have had a few close calls, but never hit the tarmac because of a manic pedal pusher.

Eating Vday Hearts and Hummer Hate

I have never really done much for Valentine's, even in my not so distant, not so single years. This year however is the big 06 and that means I went all out. Check it:

After a long day its time to kick back with a good plate of waffles. It is Valentines day so I think the heart shapes are appropriate. Being single I get to spend the evening doing great things like watching ski racing and riding the rollers, and then eating about 15 hearts...Warm, soft, melt in your mouth good hearts...With jam and brunost!

The mound with some saskatoon jam.

With brunost and the flag of the mother land...Celebrating Norway's winning ways at the Olympics!

Now was your Valentines day this cool!?

On a side note I went to the Market Mall today to score some end of winter season fashion deals and when I walked across the half full parking lot on the south end of the mall I counted 3 Hummers! 3 in one relatively small parking lot, on a Tuesday afernoon. I am sure that those who drove to the mall (I walked...suckers) needed that extra all terrain stability and traction to tackle that 0.02 mm of snow we got today. I really, really don't appreciate Hummers, or SUV's for that matter. I read this really funny tidbit from a car magazine while waiting for the doctor last week: Buying a Hummer because you one day may need to tow your Bayliner along a dirt track to the top of "Monkey Mountain" and back down...backwards, is like buying the PlayBoy mansion because you one day think you might have 17 dumb blonde girlfriends who all want to live with you at the same time. If anyone reading this blog owns a Hummer I encourage you to sell it, purchase a bicycle and a bus pass and start paying back the entire planet for all of the resources you burned away on whatever you want to call the status you think you gain from driving that middle digit magnet around town.

Back in action

After an incredible weekend last weekend I hit the ground running on Monday and was all set up for another extraordinary week when BANG it all came crashing down and I took refuge between the bed sheets. I came down with a nasty cold, flu, other weird stuff combo that included violent coughing fits and a dehydration scare. The latter was a first for me, I drink a lot of water, but walking 45 minutes in icy winds (missed the bus, too down and out to ride straight) to deliver a lab and then heading to the clinic, waiting an hour and half and then seeing a doctor, all without a drop of water and while being ill....its not a great plan of action and I almost paid for it in the worst way. When you are sick don't pull silly stunts like that.
Anyways, after a week of resting up I am good to go, almost. No hard training yet, but tomorrow I should be good for a round in the weight room and a roller spin. I am happy to report that as of yesterday Norway was rocking the medal count with 7! 4 million people, open face sandwiches and a true love of sport. Maybe sport Canada needs to take a look around before coming up with their "development strategies". I am mainly referring to cycling, they just busted out a new master plan that is about as sound as using wonderbread to filter your coffee. Its a good one for the kids in some ways, but ends up at the national team once they dump you out of Junior, with national team cuts, a program that is blowing money left and right, an extremely narrow focus and number of riders gaining acceptance, a faulty recruitment strategy, ill timed national championships, all they are really doing is creating somewhat of a development monopoly for themselves, discouraging excellence for the longterm and ultimately creating 100% reliance on a system we already know doesn't work the was it should. We need change, bigger change, we need people to take risks, I guess that is why Harper is the masses man. It frustrates me, I am living this first hand, my season planning has stopped up because of a big descision I have to make with direct connections to what I just talked about. I must be feeling better I can rant again! Good sign indeed.
Stay tuned on p-productions for more culinary delights, we are heading to the fruits of the sea next!
Also Victoria is less than a week away, I will have live updates on the progress and pics to make sure all you prairie dwellers are thoroughly jealous.

Weekend wrap: Riding and Stars

Another weekend is coming to a close. This has been the best weekend of 2006 for sure. The weather was incredible on Saturday so I took full advantage and did the "big loop". 6.5 hrs and 180 km later I was back home and ready for the year's first concert, Stars were in town. Stars was probably my favorite band of 2005. I discovered them somewhat by accident and got my hand on their latest release "Set Yourself on Fire" in September of last year. I listened to that same album for 3 months and never got bored of it. I know all of the words to about half the songs on it and when I saw that they were coming to Calgary I bought the tickets right away. Stars, for those of you who haven't heard of them, are a band from Toronto in the same underground Canadian indy genre as bands like Broken Social Scene, Arcade Fire and Metric. Their disc is incredible and I would consider it a musical masterpiece, I was pumped to see them live.
I met up with the younger 2/3 of the Morris sisters for the show at Mac Hall. The opener was a band I wasn't familiar with and wasn't to excited about so we spent some time milling around with the seemingly enless stream of hip urban indy types. Mark Webster was one of them, he was on assignment for beatroute magazine taking some shots etc.
This show was sold out and when Stars came on the musical magic that flowed from that stage was incredible. Stars has a unique sound with both a male and female vocalist, a violin and the occasional trumpet. This was a performance delivered with such quality and talent I cannot begin to describe it. They played a full show and then came back for 5 more enore songs as everyone was so into it they just couldn't stop. After about an hour and a half it was like waking up from a dream the show was that good. Stars mixed it up with some of their older stuff (from "Heart" another incredible album) and almost all of the tracks off "Set Yourself on Fire". They connected with the packed house like no other band I have ever seen and delivered a performance I will never forget. This was music the way it was meant to be. This band is incredibly talented and I encourage everyone reading this to get their hands on their albums. The last few years I have really started to get into Canada's indy offerings. Canada is the place to be for this type of music. Although some of these bands have somewhat hit the mainstream many stay relatively unknown, such as Stars, a true hidden gem of the Canadian underground music scene. Now I have to scrape together some cash for Metric who are coming to Mac Hall on April 4th.
I took a pile of pictures at the show the best of which you can see below. Let me know if you have tips for shooting concerts, I found due to the light and the constant movement of those on stage that it was difficult to get a clear shot. I moved up as close as I could get, but the front couple of rows were packed so tight nobody was getting in...
Today I went out for another ride, 5 hrs. It was a little chilly, but the wind wasn't to bad. I guess the place to be on Saturday's is still the Cabin Cafe at 11 and on Sunday the local fast cats are meeting up at the Second Cup in Westhills. Dispite my attempt to get a ride going at Cadance it seems it isn't going to fly. I appoligize if any of you showed up to Cadance on Saturday, but I was late to begin with and then flatted literally in my driveway. Might have to hit up those spots as I spent the last 315 km this weekend riding with me, myself and I. Although "The New Pornographers" (Canada's nice band with the naughty name, another great sound) and "Arctic Monkeys" (setting records in Europe, great bunch of 19 year old phenoms from the UK, the next big thing to hit the mainstream) made it all more than bearable.
Pics from last nights flipping amazing show:

Norwegian culinary Delights: The Hushovd Diet...

Remember when Thor Hushovd went to his parents camper for dinner during the 2005 Tour? Well if you don't remember he did and it was all over the papers in Europe. As one of the sprinting stars of the Pro Tour Hushovd is a man that gets attention and this didn't escape the mainstream media foxes. Anyways as a p-productions exclusive I give you the Hushovd meal that was consumed that sunny day in July in the back of that Norwegian camper. The Norwegian karbonade as prepared by my incredibly talented mother.

This dish is comprised of pan fried spiced meat balls, fried onion, tyttebaer jam, boiled potato, steamed carrots and the all important pea mush (ertestuing).

Everyday food with extraordinary results. Hushovd takes another win.

All set for a week in the tropics

Booked my flight to Canada's tropical wonderland yesterday. I will be jetting off to Victoria to feed my desire to fly faster than ever before on two wheels and my addiction to flying. Heading out over reading week later this month.
It's been a good year for travel. In the last 12 months I have flown domestically 3 times including this next trip and twice to Europe. I am supposed to be a poor cyclist who also happens to go to school full time...that is money management and some incredibly good luck for you! Every reader of this needs to know they to can live the dream, think not only big, but huge...always. $260 gets you to Amsterdam in the back of a charter, you get free french wine (red or white) with your dinner at that price. Air Transat doesn't even charge you for your bike, which Air Canada does now on all flights. You could ship a canoe or kayak for free with them if you wanted to, that is service. Hopefully some day soon I won't have to foot the bill for all of these adventures in pursuit of two wheeled glory.
Been putting in the biggest hours January has ever seen in my cycling history so that day is coming sooner than later. Thats the plan. Did you know 4 Alberta riders are signed on Continental squads for this year! And no I was not able to repeat last year's incredible fortune, but I am developing other plans.....some similar components, just not the Continental tag.
More adventures to come, stay tuned!
This post was incredibly random, I am messed after today's session. Now I need to go study the digestive system enzymes....incredible stuff, did this lab today, bile salts are incredible little molecules...

Magnus is a big man...

Magnus Backstedt stands over Danilo Di Luca's new ride for 2006 at the recent Liquigas-Bianchi presentation. I knew he was the biggest rider in the peleton, but I never realized he was that big, or that Di Luca was that small...Photo courtesy cyclingnews.com.

Gutted

Thanks to www.citynoise.com for this incredibly cutting edge footage of an assault on a Toronto courier. http://www.citynoise.org/article/2770
Turns out the driver of the van threw an object (food based) at the rider who then proceeded to throw the same object right back at the driver in the car. This action was enough to provoke the
driver from his vehicle and assault the female courier. Incredible. I have given a few good trunk slams in my time,know when there a nut behind the wheel.