May 2026

Two wheels on four wheels

Now that Ally and I are cycling more we started to get a little bored of always hitting our local trails and wanted to make some trips this summer to explore more of BC. I spent a few months pitching the idea of a roof bike rack, this would also open us up to getting a roofbox for some additional storage for the occassional trips we made by car, something we needed more of now that we have Bao and also need to pack for him. Ally was pretty against a roof rack though since for her smaller frame it would be a lot more effort getting a bike up there and knowing how absent minded I am I’d eventually forget I had my bikes up there and crash into a garage. Since I have a carbon frame I wanted to make sure that our rack supported our bikes by their wheels so I wouldn’t end up cracking my frame and ended up settling on the Thule T2 Pro XTR with the help of a discount code from Estelle. With the rack on the way all that was left was to find a shop that could install a hitch onto our Impreza. I decided to spring extra for a hidden hitch that would come out of the bumper, instead of hanging below, in order to also save some ground clearence. After shopping around it turns out U-Haul was our cheapest option.

First Biking Mini-Venture

With the appointment scheduled in North Van, I figured we could kill two birds with one stone, driving down to get the hitch installed, going on a bike ride in the North Van mountains, and then returning home to Squamish with our bikes hanging on the back of our new rack. Upon recommendation from Kevin we decided to take the fisherman’s trail and spur 5 up to Seymour Lake, a nice 3-4 hour ride which is also how long our hitch install should take. I spent the night before removing the front tires from Ally and I’s bikes before squeezing them into the back with some cardboard to protect everything.

The next morning we quickly dropped off our car at the u-haul and re-assembled our bikes, ready to seize the day. After consulting the map to figure out how to get to our trailhead we set off on the main city bike path. It was nice to see so many people on our bike path as well, knowing we were all getting in a good days exercise in our tight chamois. Transitioning from a suburban street into a gravel trail we began our course up to Lake Seymour. The sun was shining and we were joined on this path by fellow gravel bikers, joggers and dog walkers. While we were enjoying our time there were quite a few serious riders who’d smoke by us, gravel crunching under their tires. So fast were they that Ally wondered if they were on e-bikes but I could see their thighs and knew they were the real deal. At one point, having gotten ahead of Ally after a hill, I was waiting for her to catch up when I noticed a dog behind me, which was weird because I didn’t see a dog walker. Ally later caught up and exclaimed that there was a deer right off the trail. Not wanting to miss out I sprinted back, hoping I could get a glimpse. Not being very observent though I actually raced past the deer again before turning around again and finding myself face to face.

Building out the rack

After our deer encounter we continued on our way, encountering deer a few more times but not really stopping to pull over as we’d gotten our shots. I was expecting a nice view of Seymour at the end to reward our efforts but the lake is actually fenced off as it’s the main source of fresh water for the region. For the return we took the Seymour Valley Trail which is a paved road. There were lots of serious road enthusiasts whizzing by us but also some e-bikers and also some hikers. It’s a pretty long and boring trail for the most part so I was wondering why people would even do this trail on foot as Ally and I continued through the rolling hills. I thought this section would be mostly downhill but we actually had our steepest grades here at the beginning before eventually finishing with a nice downhill free wheel back into town. Back at the U-Haul it was time to assemble our new bike rack, still in its box from delivery and sitting in our trunk. As I tore open the packaging and read through the manual I quickly encountered a problem. Thule uses a special quick release pin for ease of use, but with our hidden through the bumper hitch, there was no additional clearance for this pin. Talking with the U-Haul mechanics we had two options, run our rack without the safety pin and hope our locking mechanism never failed, which if it did would probably destroy our bikes and cause an accident, potentially killing someone. Not wanting that on my conscience I decided to go with option two, which was to cut a larger access hole. Luckily the mechs did this addition free of charge.

Not wanting to take up too much space as the U-Haul was starting to get busy with returns I moved to the Tim Hortons across the street and finished up the rack assembly. Our four wheeler can now lift an additional 4 wheels :D. I glanced through our rear mirror quite a few times making sure our bikes were still attached but after a few mins was pretty happy with our setup and drove home worry free.

Biking in Whistler

With good timing the following weekend we went on a bike trip with our friend Calvin in Whistler. With our newly installed bike rack the three of us were able to car pool up, with two on the rack and on in the trunk there was enough room to squeeze one more person in the back. Looking at Strava heatmaps and the Whistler bike network I put together a nice paved loop that would hit all four lakes in the area. This was a nice intro for the Whistler area and a fun excuse to get to use the bike rack. Since Cal only had a road bike we decided to stay paved but next time we’d like to explore more of the gravel trails. Towards the end we ended up riding the lost lakes section on gravel which had the nicest views of our ride. Cal was pretty convinced after that gravel biking was the way to go and that he’d have a gravel bike before long. We finished up by getting some beaver tails in the village for some much deserved carbs.

A little beach biking fun

Wrapping up our biking adventures this month we did a nice ride out to the estuary in Squamish. With a very low tide we were able to ride our bikes on the beach and enjoy the good views.

The Final Drive

Last month Sam and I decided to explore a potential FA link up, linking from Sharama’s arrete into driveshaft having already done drive shaft. In keeping with the automobile drive chain theme we looked up the next part after the driveshaft and found it was called the final drive, a fitting name for this line. While it seemed a little contrived at the time after working the moves on it some more I found it to be quite a steller line, traversing across a lip from its lowest point to its highest, as far right as possible going as far left. The into moves demanded just enough tension that by the time you got to driveshaft you were desperately holding onto the slopers. Having previously done driveshaft via a cut loose campus move I realized I’d need to refine my beta to make this sequence as easy as possible.

I spent the next month working on this project, a few times with Sam where he managed to get the first ascent and then another night where he did a neighboring line on the boulder, and a few times with Adam, who was working a sport project nearby and we’d take turns between a few working burns on my boulder and a tie in session on his sport climb. Going 1-2 times a week I managed to learn a little bit with every session, making one part or another better as I settled on different betas and remembered small nuances that helped. One time it even rained partway through our session, but even in that session the worse conditions forced me to reel in my heel more and helped me learn to twist my ankle for better engagement.

All this came together in one session where after climbing with Ally I decided to give my project one try. To my surprise I cruised through to the final jug before the top out. Feeling a little nervous I asked Ally for my chalkbag but unfortunately not having rehearsed the chalk up beta my hand got stuck in the bucket as Ally kept trapping my arm and I fell on the next move. 3 days later I ended up back at the boulder with Adam and had the foresight of wearing a chalkbag. Unfortunately though the final top out moves were too much for me and I ended up falling at the lip. Not deterred I came back again after work with my friend Dillon. It was hot but very low humidity so I was hopeful that conditions would be good with the wind busting through the forest. After showing him all my beta he ended up suceeding on his flash go. Feeling psyched I pulled on right after and also ended up sending on my first go of the day, putting an end to this month long project.

Ally’s a Crusher

During this month Ally was also getting into the swing of climbing. On the hunt for a project there was a newly bolted 11d called Echolocation on the Cacodaemon boulder next to Adam and I’s respective projects. Having tried it last year and written it off as too hard she felt like it was time to try again. On one of our night sessions Ally ended up joining us after our warm up at the coop. I initialy told her we’d warm up at 4 and head out not too long after, what I forgot to tell her is that we enjoy a lengthy warm up and didn’t end up leaving until we’d each done 4 or 5 moonboard benchmarks, finishing up at 6pm. Still with the long days Ally got one burn in on Echolocation which had her psyched on the route again. A few days later she went back with her friend Rebecca and ended up sending the very next session.

Riding her high she decided to revisit a boulder called Swank Stretch V5. She’d put two sessions in January after our friend Tiffany had sent on a trip to Squamish. While able to do all the moves Ally wasn’t quite able to piece it together then but felt ready now. Going with her to support I did my best to coach her through some warm ups and tactics to help learn the movement and build links. After having done the boulder in two overlapping links Ally put in her first bot rip (bottom rip) as the boulderers say and ended up sending.

With the confidence from so many sends under her belt Ally decided to go back to another V5 called Dad Bod. Having tried it on and off a few time last year and this year she had done all the moves with multiple betas. Unfortunately when you have so much choice it can become a struggle to settle on what you think is the best beta. Her previous session Ally worked out a pretty promising layback but this session she seemed unable to replicate the move. Being a little bored I brought a wire brush and cleaned up the boulder a little more throroughly in between burns and uncovered a better sloper at the lip. This combined with a previous kneebar beta had Ally standing on top of the boulder.

Entering My Trail Running Era

Every year I always entertain the idea that I’ll get more into trail running but usually I get too sucked into climbing to end up doing a weekly lap up one of the local mountains. Still with my aspirations I decided to buy a running vest on sale from sport chek. This month Kevin asked if I wanted to run a quick lap of the chief via the alpine bypass route, which avoids the stairs to instead scramble up some 3rd and 4th class terrain. Having not done this route before I decided to join in just so I’d know the route. It was quite the calf burner to walk up all the slabs but a lot of fun to do some of the more technical climbing including a few 5.4 crack climbs.

Fraternizing with the enemy

Admist all this 51st state talk and trade wars and ICE tourism towards the US from Canada has reached all time lows. Despite all this though I’ve still been hopping south of the border, climbing in Vegas and Kentucky. Having been a few months since my last visit I decided now was a good time to visit my friends in Seattle, with the weather warm enough that we aren’t stuck doing indoor only activities I made plans to go on a bike ride around the city and to go climb in Washington.

Cycling around the city

Usually when I go to Seattle I’m excited to see all my friends from university but maybe not excited for the city of Seattle itself, not being too interested in any sights in the area. Usually I end up hanging out at my friend Eric’s and maybe climbing at the local gym. Now that I’ve gotten into cycling though it’s opened up a new activity to do in the city. I plotted out a few routes and pitched them to my friend Eric and we ended up trying a pretty large loop around Lake Washington, coming back on the 520 toll bridge. I might’ve sandbagged Eric though as he only had a hip city bike with a basket on the handlebars and insufficient gearing to tackle big hills. Still he was a great sport and we had a good time touring the city and enjoying some espresso and baked goods.

Bao and cousin Ollie

The other half of going to Seattle is to have Bao play with his (no blood relation) cousin Ollie. Ollie is also a cavapoo owned by Eric and Clara and was the role model to inspire us to get Bao. Only being a few years apart and the same size they love to play wth each other and it’s fun seeing them go at it.

Secret Crag Climbing

Joining up with our friend Jasper the next day we ended up driving out to go bouldering at a secret crag in Washington. I can’t say too much about the details but it’s a pretty cool spot and don’t go telling anyone. Unlike our roadside crags most climbing in Washington involves quite the approach with this one taking around 45 minutes uphill. The area is littered with boulders that form cold pockets, turning a hot 25C day into a chilly one wishing I’d brought my jacket. We ended up doing a tricky dyno boulder that could be anywhere from V5 to V7 depending on height and I also flashed a cool high ball called Root of All Evil that traversed a lip with a tree root right behind. There was a cool ring lock/thin hand crack boulder that unfortunately was seeping wet. Maybe I’ll have to come back in August when its dried up to snag the FA of that one. Finishing our climbing rather late in the day I did the long drive back home and made it back to Squamish around 11pm.

Working the Green Thumb

With summer quickly approaching I quickly started rushing to get all my seedlings going. I typically will do tomatoes and cucumbers in the community garden which gets a lot of sun and leafy greens in the backyard which only get about 3-5 hours of sunlight. Not wanting to waste plot space while the seedlings got going indoors I also tried sowing some spinach that I’d hopefully harvest before transplanting my tomatoes and cucumbers. Last year Ally really got into making green sauces and so I decided to also get some dill and basil going as well as try to transplant a mint leaf from my friend Kevin. Although a little late to the game I was pretty happy with where my seedlings were and with the cucumber and tomato seedlings transplanted into the community garden.

Outside of the garden berry season is also starting to come in. Early in the month I could spot salmon berries begginning to form, with ripe berries coming through by the end of the month. They’re growing all over the trails behind our house so I enjoy a little snack every time I take Bao out for a walk.

Surf and Turfing

May Also marks the start of summer grilling and spot prawn season. Spot prawns are a type of shrimp that for sustainability reasons can only be caught during a specific window in May. The season will begin and stay open while population numbers are monitored. When enough are caught the season closes and we have to wait another year to get fresh prawn. They’re best enjoyed poached or raw as sashimi.

I also take this time to get the bbq cleaned up out of the garage. The warm weather makes it perfect for an afternoon flipping some burgers after a day of climbing or biking. We kicked off the season enjoying some sausages, burgers and corn after a day of biking in Whistler.

Best of Bao