rickohikes

The Wreck City Project

I’m always saying that I want to do more cultural things in Calgary. The truth is, I just usually don’t know about the happenings. Calgary was named Culture Capital of Canada in 2012, so undoubtedly there are lots of things to do. I need to start doing these things.

Yesterday I met up with my friend Adriane and she says to me she says: “I have something really cool we can go to!” Then she sends me the link for “Wreck City: An Epilogue for 809”. Hmm… I was intrigued. (http://wreckcityproject.wordpress.com/)

Taken from the website, Wreck City is a community-based art experiment transforming nine Sunnyside houses, three garages, and a greenhouse scheduled for demolition into temporary art, installation, and performance spaces. Sounded cool to me! I also read that the 809 Gallery was one of Calgary’s influential garage galleries (though I don’t claim to know what that truly means). It’s sad to see the demolition of old character houses, especially in a city like Calgary with constant construction and expansive urban sprawl. So the event is a send-off, and a way to commemorate the history of the artsy neighbourhood. After dinner and drinks at the Kensington Pub, Adriane and I made our way over to the houses for a walkthrough.

Concrete... representing the demolition? That's all I got. — Concrete… representing the demolition? That’s all I got.

I’ve never been great at interpreting art. I acknowledge that there’s a level of subjectivity to art, but I remember walking through the Tate Modern in London and pretending to really ponder the meaning and influence of the many art pieces. Usually I came up with nothing.

So I was happy to discover that this event was not like that. Instead, the houses were complete canvases for artists and every room revealed something quite different, interesting, shocking, eerie, or hilarious. The awesome thing about it was that the crowd was large and diverse- many came out to see incredible creativity and just enjoy what was presented. And let me say… there is something for everyone. I even hope to visit it a second time in the coming week. Wreck City runs until April 27th and should not be missed!

Thanks Adriane! What a great event to attend :) — Thanks Adriane! What a great event to attend 🙂

Kona Jake: A Sweet Ride

The new addition to fulfill my transportation needs

For the longest time I’ve wanted to buy a bike. I’m not sure how long ago I added it to my list of things to do, but it just always fell off the radar. This year, however, through outside motivation (os!) and interesting circumstances, I have been on a mission to find a suitable bike for the 2013 season! I can now cross this item off my list :).

The browsing went on for quite some time. I asked bikers, friends, and staff at The Bike Shop and Bowcycle: “What would be a good bike for commuting to work, but also one on which I could train for a triathlon?” Three different people said that a cyclocross bike was for me. A quick wiki search revealed that cyclocross bikes are designed similar to road bikes but are rigorous and rugged enough for cyclocross races and off-road use. Their popularity have increased over the last few years due to their versatility.

Eventually I decided upon the Kona Jake, which I found at Bowcycle. Big Dave was extremely helpful with providing great information about the bike, its measurements and other important details. Not that I know what the following specs mean, but for my own reference, the bike has:

Umm... what's a drivetrain? — Umm… what’s a drivetrain?

a Kona 7005 aluminum butted frame and a Kona P2 aluminum fork
Tektro Lyra mechanical road disc brakes with 140 mm rotors
Shimano Tiagra 10-speed drivetrain and Tiagra triple chainring crankset
a Kona double-clamp seatpost and WTB Volt Sport saddle

Sounds like a sweet ride to me! I also added some combination flat/clipless pedals just ’cause.

The funny thing is I’ve had the bike for about 3 weeks now and I still have not taken it out for a ride. At the moment, it makes a lovely decorative piece in my condo and continues to have that shiny new look and feel to it. But believe you me, I am looking forward to testing it out once I’m back into the swing of things. Whoohoo! It’s been a while since I’ve biked regularly. As Calgary continues to become a more bike-friendly city, it feels good to jump onto the bandwagon… finally.

The Bow: Admiring Wonderland

Jaume Plensa's Wonderland at The Bow — Jaume Plensa’s Wonderland at The Bow

I finally stopped by to see the head at the base of The Bow!

For a while now, I had heard there was a giant sculpture of a female head at The Bow, the largest building in Calgary (for now…). As I was driving on 6th avenue last night, it appeared suddenly on my right, so I pulled over and spent a few minutes admiring it. A quick google search revealed that the 12-meter sculpture by Barcelona-based artist Jaume Plensa is titled Wonderland. According to Jaume, “My vision for Wonderland is to inspire everyone who experiences the sculpture: I believe the architecture of our bodies is the palace for our dreams.”

I was quite impressed with it myself. At night, it’s lit up beautifully, which created a very serene feeling for me. Maybe that’s because no one was around at the time. It was quiet, and for several moments, I just stared at it. There are some interesting things going on in my life right now; things that preoccupy my thoughts. But for those brief moments, while enjoying the view of this great architectural piece in the city, it felt good to have my mind lost in Wonderland.

It's quite the addition to the city :) — It’s quite the addition to the city 🙂

Prairie Mountain: Hiking Season Begins!

View from Prairie Mountain. Always a wonderful sight :) — View from Prairie Mountain. Always a wonderful sight 🙂

It may only be the end of March, but I have now declared the start of hiking season! The weather has been so gorgeous lately that it’s hard not to drop everything and get out to the mountains. After Thursday’s attempt at Tunnel Mountain with Sony (only to encounter sheets of ice on the trail), I headed out to Prairie Mountain on Friday, which always makes a good shoulder season hike. Thankfully, all the squats from Shaun T’s Insanity have truly been doing wonders, and my legs did well to get to me to the summit. My XTR ice spikes also helped with all the snow on the mountain. Prairie continues to be a grind each and every time. I started the trail around 1:40 pm, reached the summit at 3:10 pm, and then was back at the car for 4:10 pm. This will be my initial metric to compare future times, as this will not be the last time I do Prairie Mountain this season!

Tunnel Mountain- We’ll get you next time! *shakes fist!*

Hiking Fullerton Loop

FullertonLoop2013-2 It’s been almost a month since my last blog post, yikes! It’s easy to say that life and stresses got in the way (which would be true), but that shouldn’t be an excuse. The first quarter of the year has been interesting, but I’m ready to put that behind me and start anew. What better way to get back into the groove than with a hike!

FullertonLoop2013-1

Today was a gorgeous day, so when my friend Lauren asked if I wanted to join her, her husband and their dog/small horse on a short hike, I couldn’t resist. Destination: Fullerton Loop in the Bragg Creek area. I’ve never hiked it before so I was very much looking forward to it. And since I haven’t done a lot of winter hiking, I was eager to get out and hike!

FullertonLoop2013-4

Fullerton Loop is not overly strenuous: at an elevation gain of 364 metres and a distance of 6.5 km, it’s not too bad. The interesting thing about the hike was the crazy amount of ice beneath the snow, which made for a slippery couple of hours. And since I hadn’t hiked in quite some time, my body was not used to the elevation gain and incline. What should have been an easy hike ended up giving me quite the workout! It sure felt good, and I can’t wait until the summer hiking season begins. There are many epic mountains on my list and lots to be conquered, but hiking Fullerton Loop reminded me that the hikes don’t always need to be extravagant. Today’s hike was a short one close to the city, but offered a great escape to the mountains. And when there’s awesome company, it’s an outing that’s absolutely worth the time.

FullertonLoop2013-3