There’s a coffee cart a few blocks over from where I’m staying here in Stellenbosch. It’s only open until 9. Some mornings, instead of plugging the kettle in, I dress and walk the 0.9km for the best cortado in town. The path there meanders through the woods, along a playful stream that frolics towards town. […]
Category: Travel
Lopsided days
Abandoning routine I’m in Stellenbosch, South Africa, where I’ve come to escape the oppressive wet and grey of Squamish. When the magnolias bloom, I’ll head home, but not a moment before. So for now, I’m working remotely and riding my bike in the sunshine. Winter crushed me in so many ways, so I’m here to […]
Solo Travel
Most of the time, when I travel, it’s solo travel. I have no one in my life who’d want to go to South Africa to escape winter and ride bikes for an extended period of time. Ok wait – a few people might want to, but no one who’s ready to make it happen. When […]
A fleeting memory
A conversation with my brother sparked a memory from a trip to India almost 10 years ago. I think we were talking about solo travel in places with a language barrier, but I don’t really remember. I was traveling from Benares to Agra by train. I had spent a few days along the Ganges and […]
The best years of my life
I often talk to people who are holding their heads in despair as they approach 50, thinking the end of the world is nigh. When I was turning 50, someone sent me this graphic as a birthday greeting. What a clever way to reframe it. The year I turned 49, I took a solo trip […]
Falling in love with South Africa
Having grown up in Johannesburg, coming back to South Africa may seem like coming home. But my growing love affair with this beautiful country has little to do with being born here. This is an entirely new relationship, taking root in an completely different part of the country, that I never knew as a child. […]
Figs – a consumer’s manual
I purchased a punnet of fresh figs at the store today. When I got home, I rinsed them and pulled one open. It took some pressure top pull it apart which should have been a sign. It was alright, I suppose, but neither as plump or as juicy as I had hoped. It took me […]
Rambling on about racing
A friend called me out this summer when I said that doing the BC Bike Race (BCBR) is too difficult for me. After much contemplation and excessive amounts of overthinking as I tend to do, I have signed up to do the race next summer. The commitment is in place; working through the self-doubt is […]
The Last Best Ride
With my August race in Colorado having slipped off my calendar, I looked for one more race to do this year. It’s already been a great year of riding with Special Blend Gravel Camp being the perfect preparation for the Gorge Gravel Grinder, and then also Cranbrook Gravel Grind. I was hungry for just one […]
Cranbrook Gravel Grind
This race was back in May, and in the days after the race my life was consumed with the two events I work for, the Mega Volt and the BC Bike Race, so I never got around to talking about it. The race experience was particularly special in that the whole weekend was so filled […]