Which are you drinking? The water or the wave?

I have read John Fowles' "Magus" many years ago. Despite enjoying it a lot, the only clear memory and idea that stayed with me has been this question.

Is it the wave or the water? Is it the content, or the shape ? The essence or the appearance that we feed on?

It is, far too often, the appearance... And our society has specialized in re-inventing appearances, re-designing the wrapping around the candy, in the hope of making it more appealing to the consumer.

We are riding waves; we are creating waves; we get carried away by waves.

Yet we depend on water and it is also in water that we drown.

The question has stayed with me, perhaps, also because it relates to something that has always bugged me.

When interacting with people, gender-awareness seems to be taking over. We see the woman or man first, before we see the "neutral" individual behind.

The Ride to Conquer Cancer

26 years ago today my dad passed away. Last Saturday I was riding my orange bike to Seattle on the first Ride to Conquer Cancer in British Columbia. And somehow I felt closer to him than I ever had. He was never proud of me, the hyper kid fighting for independence and freedom from as soon as I was able to walk and talk. But here and now, on my bike and on the way to Seattle, I first felt he was proud of what I was doing.

A heartfelt thank you to all of you who have supported my ride in so many ways.

There will be another ride next year. Pepe has already signed up.

Random Thoughts

I am reading a most delightful book. It is a travel memoir of a remarkable woman. Dervla Murphy. To avid travellers and travel book readers her name is familiar. I only discovered her recently. The stories, the humor and especially the genuine, fresh impressions of people and places have set my imagination on fire. Afghanistan - will I ever see that land? Probably not, definitely not the land that she experienced and fell in love with. And it's not just her, but other people as well. I'll write down just one name: Steve McCurry. Look no further than National Geographic.



The other day I was riding Baby Oryx on a route I did approximately 2 years ago with Spiros while "preparing" for the Tour d'Afrique. To Spiros' amusement back then I felt like biking in Africa. I was traversing the savannah; looking around I saw places and images of remote beauty. Interestingly enough now, when I could pull up images from my memory rather than imagination, I was riding through this flat wind-swept area which in no way resembled any place in Africa. The green, the wind, the road, the ditches, the trees and birds, everything was different. How marvellous imagination works. How amazing the travels it allows to anywhere and everywhere instantaneously.



The inevitable, yet unexpected, has happened: I got a job. For a couple of days I was depressed. It was not about the change in rhythm going to happen, but the knowledge that I'd have to give up many trips in the mountains. For now I had to cancel two. Well, such is life. You can't have it all at the same time. That makes for variation :-)

The job is a new challenge - that makes it exciting. Will my brain be up to it ?

Fundraising I Am

Veggie and I have just finished a photoshooting session. Boy, I hate standing still!
But given the result and with the hopes of being more convincing in our fundraising efforts it was alright.
We need to go touring and tell people what we're doing and why. Can you also spread the word ?

If you make a donation you get a tax receipt for it. Supporting our participation has no benefit for us other than the exercise we're getting and the opportunity we're grabbing to meet other like-minded people. There's supposed to be over a 1000 participants already. Hmmm, I wonder, will there be a like-minded Pepa somewhere there, too ?


Support our Ride to Conquer Cancer

75 Days "Inventory"

It sometimes helps to make personal "inventories". When your positiveness tends to sip into the ground with the rain, especially, to check the balance and see it's in your favour gives you the much needed mood lift.

So here it is, the inventory of things I did over the 75 days since I returned to Vancouver:

17 days on skis

7 nights camping

6 times snowshoeing

<500 km cycling

>12000m "climbing", ie total elevation gain on all the trips

signed up for a weekend photography workshop

signed up for 2 courses (unfortunately, both got cancelled today :-( )

read 2 "brick-books" on design patterns and Web Services

lost 6kg

signed up for The Ride to Conquer Cancer

Apart from friends, Pepe, yoga and the sunshine, these are the things that made me feel good, in not so obvious ways, maybe :-)

I guess I can now face a few more hours on the computer, away from the fragrant cherry trees, the exuberant magnolias and the bold rhododendrons, away from the sun and the fresh air...

Pepe Goes Fundraising

There are many evils in this world. Some are within our control, others not, or not yet. People are very good at ignoring facts and threats that are not directly aiming at them as individuals. I guess, it's part of the natural, genetic traits we still share with our ancestors: react to concrete, obvious or imminent threats only. Forecasting, reacting to forecasts, prevention are not wired in our system, that's where thinking and education come in.

Our world knows quite a few diseases that kill people at a fast rate. Malaria, tuberculosis, and a whole variety of tropical diseases count among them. However, to us Westerners these mostly stay abstract. There is no name or face we can associate with any of them. Or hardly ever. Alas, many of us ignore these and the many issues related to them. And yet there's one illness that somehow stands out.

What makes cancer so different is that it strikes randomly - or apparently randomly - amongst us. All of us can put familiar names and faces next to it. And that makes it feel so much more scary.

My dad died more than 25 years ago. Most recently my mother-in-law died of cancer. During that timespan relatives and friends and relatives of friends and a lot of people I knew of have fought or fallen victims to this subtle enemy.
The number of people I know who have fought cancer, suffering directly or indirectly from it has multiplied in time.

My universe has expanded in many ways over the years, yet in other ways it has shrunk. There's less to explore but somehow more to fear these days.
Is it maybe just my awareness that has sharpened? I don't know. However, this and many other issues are of concern to me and I want to do something about it. And so, inspired by people who fought or are fighting the battle, I decided to participate in "The Ride to Conquer Cancer".

This is going to be yet another physical challenge for me. But, to be honest, apart from that, it is also another, more difficult kind of challenge for me personally. Asking for help and fundraising are not quite my thing. I feel embarassed and even writing this down took me a long while. Yet, I'm doing it.

My pledge today is for a cause that could be anyone's at any point in time. And I dare say that if, as Westerners, we may - wrongly - afford to ignore a disease like malaria, we should at least feel concerned about cancer. It's not something happening somehere in the 3rd world, in far away places we'll probably never ever get to, but it's something affecting us closely in surprising ways. Ask anyone who has suffered from it how it has changed their lives, ask their families and, eventually, ask yourself how cancer has affected yours. You may not even be aware of the impact it had one time or another on you.

The reasons why I join this ride for are numerous. I do it for my friends and family, for the families of my friends, for people I know and people I don't know but whom I'd like to be spared the suffering caused by cancer. Ultimately, I also do it for myself. You never know what the future has in store.

And Pepe, the funny soft-hearted traveller has decided to go fundraising, too.

To support our fundraising efforts please click here.

And Speaking of Attitude ...

Timeless is the delight winter and mountains inspire. As time goes by I feel more and more humbled by the magnificent snow-capped peaks and their solitary majesty.

Tracks on snow become mysterious signs of life, a lovely pattern, a play of contrasts and a direction to explore.

Turning away from the hypnotizing peaks I discover delicate beauty and fragility in the details. They, too, inspire with their play of light and shade and the lines and shapes. I am soon obsessed by the exploration of abstract shapes and carried away by the softness of curves and light.

A small tree lost among the long shadows cast in the late afternoon looks simply magical. It inspires me to play with the tools I have at hand: the colour palette and contrast.

For more go to Amiskwi Trip Pictures