Stanley Cup

Sometimes it's not what you know but who you know. I have a very good friend who is the brother in Law of the assistant coach for the Detroit Red Wings. Since the Detroit Red Wings won the Stanley cup it has been a tradition for each player and coach to have the cup for a day.

Since I am sidelined from bicycling I thought that going to this event would be fitting.

The cup arrived in Antigonish, NS Tues. and was at their residence for a private party. On Wed. the cup traveled into town to the local arena where he had started his hockey career for a public cup viewing. Earlier in the day the cup was at the local hospital for patients that were unable to travel to the public viewing. Later in the day it was back at his residence for a final party. We all got to get photos of the cup, with it, drinking out of it, reading all the names on it and just being overjoyed with it's presence.

Thank you to the family for the once in a lifetime invitation to share in this special event. Until the Red Wings win again!

Sidelined

We went on vacation Fri. Aug 8 and ended up in Carleton, Yarmouth County, NS.

Sat. we went down the Chebogue river on relatives motor boats. We spent the day getting fog burned on Crawleys Island at the mouth of the river.

Sun. was very similar but we went farther out from the mouth of the river to Green "Rock" Island. Three fast speed boats and a fishing boat travelled to Green Island. The island is very small that had a manned lighthouse which has been converted to an unmanned post. There were a lot of seagulls circling waiting for returning fishing boats to get a free lunch. There were puffins in the area which was a wonderful sight as I thought they were only located farther north along the Newfoundland and Labrador coasts. The occasional seal bobbed by inquisitively to see what we were doing. The currents created by the changing of the tide in the area is extremely fast, raising or lowering 4 metres (13') in 6 hrs. Two of my cousins and a friend went scuba diving along the ocean bottom near the island. Two of the divers couldn't manage the currents on the ocean bottom and had to surface. We sent out a zodiac to pick them up but with the strong currents the zodiac was not making very good headway returning. I raised anchor on one of the faster boats and proceeded to pick up the divers who by this time had attached themselves to a fishing boat which was travelling with the tide. The third diver surfaced and was picked up by another boat. I then went to were the third diver was and got him on board the boat so we had all three divers back on the boat that we started on. All the boats rafted up together and the divers removed there cumbersome gear. We then returned to the mouth of the Chebogue River.

Mon. I biked from Mink Lake Route 203 Carleton to the Hardscratch road along route 340. return 30km.

Wed. I biked from Mink Lake to Yarmouth following route 203 to 340 to the Pitman Road, Left on lake George road and back onto the 340. Following the 340 again to Hebron and onto the 1 and when I got to the intersection of the 1 and Stars road I made a left following Stars road back to the Hardscratch road and back to Mink Lake. 60 km.

Fri. I did the same route as Wed. 60 km.
It was nice to find that the traffic in the area seemed more considerate to a fellow on a bicycle. My Aunt and Uncle were having a party for all their friends around Mink Lake so we spent the day setting up for the party. My cousin flew in to enjoy the party and spend the night. He has a piper cub and wanted to take me for a fly.

This is where the sidelined part comes into play!

I proceeded to attempt to prop-start the airplane and in the process dislocated my shoulder. I originally dislocated my shoulder skiing at age 21 and then again playing hockey. I had surgery on it in '92 and dislocated it again playing in a hockey tournament a year later, I have since quit hockey. I have had no problems with my shoulder since quitting hockey up until now. I spent Fri. night in the Yarmouth County Hospital getting x-rays and having to go into surgery to be knocked out. The pain medication and muscle relaxants were not working so they had to put me in the Operating Room and put me under to put my shoulder back in place. I now have 2 weeks off work with my arm in a sling, with no bicycling until I see my family doctor about physiotherapy.

Whites Lake to Queensland

Went for a ride today 122km Home to Queensland Beach and back. Taking a page out of The Squeaky Cyclist of My Bicycle Musings I had 2 energy bars and 2 bottles of water. The ride there was uneventful with the odd car screaming by. Why do they have to get so close? Watched the waves crash on the beach. There were only about 30-40 people on the beach, I guess the clouds kept them home. After leaving the beachgoers I had driven about 1/2hr. down the road, then it started to rain. It was a good thing I had put on my "forward deflector" and rear "rat tail" before I left home. It didn't rain long and it was warm. I never do like driving in the rain because of the lack of visibility between me and the cars passing. The rest of the trip home the pavement was wet so when I arrived home my shoes were "squishy". Average 31.15km/hr.