The Rantwick Family's Komoka Hiking Adventure

A couple of weekends ago the Rantwick family went for a little hike in Komoka Provincial Park. My brother asked me to take some pictures, so I did. He enjoyed them quite a lot, so I thought I would frame them with a little writing and show them to you as well.

Komoka Provincial Park isn't like lots of other Provincial Parks... it is really just a nice wild area with meadows and trails and trees and no facilities other than a couple of parking lots at the entrances located just outside of London Ontario. It would seem that this unstaffed area was being misused with no consequences by some people, so the man put up a sign to indicate that the party was NOW over:




That should snuff out any monkey business; damn kids. Anyway, because my brother had requested some, we stopped and took family photos. First, kids with Mrs. Rantwick:

Then, with Dad:

Having gotten those pics done, we headed down the path. Almost right away I saw a bush with red berries:

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I'm not very knowledgeable about plants or bushes or trees, so I immediately gathered a big handful of the bright red berries and ate them. They tasted awful and made my stomach hurt. I figured the best thing to do was follow them with some mushrooms that looked like they might help:

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Well, let me tell you, I forgot about my stomach ache almost right away. Remember how I saw Mother Nature in the city a little while ago? She appeared before me right there in Komoka Provincial Park!

She didn't say anything. She just kind of hovered there for a few seconds and then faded away. It was wild. I immediately felt very much at one with nature; the birds, the grass, the flowers...

The hike had been going great until that point, as you can see. But then things started feeling weird. I started to become afraid of meeting wild animals. I was particularly terrified of meeting a "grumbear". A grumbear is a fictional bear who is angry and crazy and who was invented by my son in construction paper and wool form three or four years ago:


I keep the grumbear in my office at work and use him to scare away co-workers who are annoying me. Anyway, I had become afraid of meeting a real grumbear. Sure enough, one showed up on the trail right next to my kids!






As you can see, since my son was the grumbear's "father", he was not afraid and just gave him a friendly wave. The grumbear, like Mother Nature, vanished with no harm done. I was beginning to think that maybe this hike wasn't so fun as we walked down to the river's edge:



It was at that point that I lost consciousness. When I woke up several hours later, Mrs. Rantwick said I had been acting crazy on our walk, like I was possessed or something. I did a little research, and sure enough, those red berries are bad news!

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I bet those cursed berries could have poisoned me or doomed me to some sort of supernatural torture! Thank goodness I found those mushrooms! Anyway, my family had a very nice time out in Komoka, I think. I can't really remember. There's a lesson to be learned from all this, but I just can't put my finger on it. In any case, I'm bringing bear and shark repellant on our next little walk in the bush just to be on the safe side.

May all your Hiking Trips be good ones,

Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K

Miracle Bike Upgrade

John Romeo Alpha of One Speed: Go! just posted a little something I thought was pretty darn good, because you know, it is often the simple things that work best.

Another reason I'm posting this is that his blog is always interesting because it is sometimes a little artsy (in a good way) and even makes you think once in a while...

The "T" is for Thinker.

Enjoy your Weekend,

R A N T W I C K

An Observation on Chic Commuting by Bike

Being an online bike guy, I read lots and lots of stuff about bicycle commuting, and I'm getting kind of tired of one popular notion about commuting by bike. It is that it is feasible and/or easy to commute in the clothes you plan to wear all day.

When the weather is nice and the temperature just right, one can indeed commute to work and back without becoming a sweaty mess or a sopping wet one. That means that depending on where you live, you might be able to wear your regular work clothes quite a few times without incident. My concern is that people who plan to do it this way will inevitably get caught in the rain or get their clothes dirtier than planned sooner or later. That experience will suck, and they may be less inclined to ride next time.

Don't get me wrong; I don't think everybody needs to get all bike-specific with their commuting clothes (although bike clothes do dry more easily while you work). Keeping your work clothes dry and clean on the way in or leaving enough clothes at work on the weekend or whatever will prevent the aforementioned nasty experiences and make you more likely to keep it up.

Another bonus of commute clothes vs. work clothes is that you are more likely to ride harder and/or have more fun. Yes, you may sweat more, but some deodorant and a towel are enough to be fresh and pretty after you change for lots of people, at least the ones who shower every day. I don't know about you, but I commute by bike mainly for the sheer fun of it. Different clothes = more fun. That means that even fair weather only riders could be having more fun too.

I know some people are into this cycle chic thing, but I just don't get it. I mean, many of their bicycle choices are driven by the fact that they will be wearing "lovely shoes and trousers/skirt" (see the fenders section)... are these chic people really going to remain regular bike commuters in the long term? Not after the rain and sweat and dirt of commuting makes them look un-chic at work a few times. C'mon, chic people, instead of reducing the fun of cycling in order to increase the fun of wearing stuff, including your bicycle, just drop the high style and let your bike sing! A dutch city bike just looks like a depressed pack mule to me. That is what happens when you make a beautiful machine a mere servant of your clothes. Even if you really like that style of bike, why not do it some justice and ride the hell out of it instead of using it as an accessory?

You know what? Who am I to tell you what to do? Get your kicks however you like. Might I suggest, however, that a set of clothes separate from those you intend to wear at work all day would allow you to 1) ride more days of the year and 2) offer the opportunity to wear TWO fabulous outfits every day! The healthy glow and relaxed good nature that really commuting for fun will give you, combined with your awesome clothes, will make you even more attractive, I promise!

Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K

PS - Rain gear only makes your work clothes that much more hot and uncomfortable to ride in. Please feel free to argue with this or any of my points in the comments.

PPS - Counter-point comments of reasonable depth have been coming in... I invite you to read them, because cycling starts with balance.