Slow Food Cycle Sunday
The 9th annual Pemberton Slow Food Cycle Sunday went down last Sunday under dramatic, but not rainy, skies in the Pemberton Meadows Valley. Wow, talk about picturesque! The ride was 23km from downtown Pemberton to the last farm – Camel’s Back Harvest – where the glorious blacktop turns to gravel as the valley tightens and isolation begins to set in. All told, the 46km return was fairly easy on the flat roads, aside from a bit of headwind toward the end.
It was relaxing and invigorating – farms and vendors opened their properties and a real festival vibe was achieved with musicians, BBQ, distillery tastings and good times. People of all ages and walks of life, riding every kind of bike imaginable, took part in the event – about 4000 give or take. The Slow Food snail bicycle even made an appearance at the halfway point. I took home a pannier filled with beets, zucchini, berries, freshly roasted coffee, delicious savoury pie and of course a full belly to replenish those burnt calories. I will surely be back next year to celebrate local food, cycling the country roads and enjoying the spectacular scenery north of Whistler.
As always, click the first shot below to view them all large — the best way!
Pemberton, British Columbia, 2013.
West, From Chinatown
The view from the top of our office space in Chinatown. Vancouver, 2013.
Ten-striped Spearman on a Spike
A Colorado Potato Beetle takes a risk on the spiked stalk of an heirloom tomato plant. A pest in these parts and not welcome on this farm!
Keremeos, Similkameen, 2013.
Red Haven Heaven
Thousands of Red Haven peaches, freshly picked after ripening on the fruit trees in the Similkameen Valley, are sorted and ready for sale at Parsons Farm Market in Keremeos, BC. For me, this is the taste of summer and a visit to Parsons is an annual event to stock up on fresh BC fruits and veggies.
Keremeos, 2013.
Dressin’ for Summer
Summer with Sandra in Stanley Park, Vancouver, 2013.
Bikestyle Portrait: John Fluevog
Vancouver fashion and footwear icon John Fluevog was a featured BikeStyle profile in the recent Momentum Mag. Our office is just a short couple blocks from the Fluevog HQ in Gastown, so I spent about 45 minutes one afternoon with the assistance of Lily Holman, making some portraits on a sunny afternoon. We shot within a one block vicinity of their Water Street address, lots of choice and texture in that area for backgrounds. John was a very calm and discerning subject, and was kind enough to pose with his amazing bicycle – inspired and modeled after the famous Danish Pedersen bicycle of 1894 design. Since shooting this portrait, I have seen one other Pedersen in Railtown bringing my total to two…a very rare breed indeed.
Here are a few pics from the shoot, including the one we published, above. A great man, stylish bicycle and those shoes!
Vancouver, 2013.
Boca Bulbs in Buenos Aires
Seen in La Boca, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2007.
From Soil to Cup: Coffee in Guatemala
A visit to one of the world’s great coffee regions wouldn’t be complete without a look behind the scenes. We got this at Cafe Azotea in the highlands near Antigua (itself a short trip from Guatemala City). This place is geared towards visitors, with a soil to cup storyline, tours through the fields, well-stocked gift shop and a little museum, too. I didn’t know too much about coffee production before but I know what a good cup tastes like – strong, dark and delicious. It was a real eye opener to learn one Arabica coffee plant will provide between 1-5kg at most of dried coffee beans per year. In our household of two, we consume roughly 500g of whole coffee beans every 2-3 weeks. We would need at least a few plants of our own to sustain this 2-cup-a-day ritual. No wonder coffee is the gigantic cash crop that it is, to say nothing of the deep passions surrounding the beverage itself.
A coffee plantation isn’t just coffee plants either. Azotea has banana, avocado, beans, squash, exotic fruits and gorgeous flowering plants for pollination, shade and beauty. In the images below, you’ll see the green coffee berries, then becoming the red/orange coffee cherries. Inside these are the raw beans. The enormous paved yard is where the beans are spread out to dry in the sun, separated by hand and prepared for roasting. At the end of the day, one realizes how much effort – on the part of both mother nature and mankind – goes into a single cuppa joe. Speaking with an independent farmer later in our trip and visiting smaller coffee towns revealed how personal it can really get. I definitely take away more from a cup of coffee now knowing the long journey it’s had before reaching my lips.
Antigua, Jocotenango and San Juan La Laguna, Guatemala, 2011.
(click the first pic to view large)
Towering Presence
Vancouver, 2013.
Bicycle Portrait: Wendi McDonald
I was fortunate to spend an afternoon chatting and taking portraits of the lovely and inspiring Wendi McDonald at her Gastown residence for a Momentum Mag Wellness piece. Wendi chose to alter her lifestyle and incorporate regular cycling activity to manage her diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes many years ago, a lifestyle change that has had dramatic effect on her well-being. Coupled with healthy eating, Wendi forgoes drugs and insulin, instead managing her diabetes naturally and with positive results. She has used this strategy to help in her recent recovery of cancer as well! Amazing what the power of the bicycle can do – both mentally and physically nurturing in these times, Wendi has become so passionate about cycling she now mentors and inspires other women to ride, repairs bikes in her kitchen studio for delivery to Africa and participates in charity rides around the country. Read Karin Olafson’s great profile of Wendi McDonald in the recent issue of Momentum Mag – M62 out now.
Vancouver, 2013.
Meeting Fires Creative 