Club Events 2007
| 2007-06-08 : COC - Jumpingpound Loop MTB, and CCC - Calgary Farmers' Market |
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COC - Jumpingpound Loop MTB, Slow and Moderate Pace, Plus Tailgate BBQ Yes, dad, I'm too clumsy for this kind of thing, and yes, dad, maybe I should start to act my age, but I'm not going to! Before we set out, Marty gave me a challenge... he wanted to see blood on my legs (not just mud) to prove that I'm a hardcore mountain biker. I didn't disappoint him. This didn't turn out to be Jumpingpound Loop MTB Plus Tailgate BBQ... it turned out to be Jumpinpound Loop MTB Plus a Trip to the Emergency Room. We cycled the first little section of trail together, and then split into the fast group and the Rhonda and Kelly group. Just before the middle of the trail (where there's an exit to the vehicles), I took a tumble off of my bicycle... a very gentle tumble (slipped off the trail, went over sideways, trippity-trippity-trip down a small bank, grabbed a tree with my left hand to stop my fall), unfortunately culminating with the brake lever of my bike impaling my right thigh. I mean, it IMPALED it. 5" of brake lever in my leg. I looked at it and thought my leg was wedged in between a couple parts of the bike so I was going to try to un-wedge my leg, when I felt something poking out of my skin. I thought maybe I broke my leg (although I didn't feel like it) and then realized that it was the end of the brake lever poking out from underneath my skin. I extracted the lever from my leg and called to Kelly for help (ok, so actually I freaked out and shrieked to Kelly for help... something like "Kelly... blubberblubber... help... Kelly... help... blubberblubberblubber...Kelly!!"). I was extremely lucky that I didn't hit any major arteries... but it was still pretty gross with blood and flecks of fatty tissue and other pieces of me that belong on the inside scattered about on my leg and pants. Do NOT view the photo album unless you want to see a photo of this. Poor Kelly raced to help me, assessed my wound, and created a temporary tourniquet from my shoe lace, and then at my urging, raced off to try and find the boys. She walked up and down the road, yelling, to no avail. Returned to the vehicles and left notes and then returned to me and kept me company. Because the boys were doing a figure 8 with the trail, and I was right in the center of the trail, we waited there for about twenty minutes and then the boys arrived. Gave me a bit more first aid and helped me limp my way out the short 0.25km to where Marty had the truck waiting. Thanks to everyone for being so great. Kelly... thank you for taking such good care of me... you're awesome, girl. Aaron, thanks for the first aid. Glen and Phil, thanks for helping me down the hill (and for being short enough to do so). Jake, thanks helping get the bikes out. Rick, thanks for photographing the whole ordeal - I'm looking forward to seeing your photos asap!! Most of all, thanks to Marty for taking me to the hospital and spending the entire evening with me there, leaving me only for a half hour while the wound was being cleaned lest he hurl (sissy) from the sights and/or sounds. The doc froze my leg, cleaned the wound by squirting it with saline, and then they put polysporin and bandages on it. Because it's such a large and deep wound, he decided not to stitch it right away - he's leaving it open for four days for it to expel any crap that may still be inside and then I get to go back for stitches. I have to wear a knee-stabilizing splint for the four days - it goes from my hip to my ankle, so I'm really hobbling around. Like when I broke my finger, I have no pain... weird. However, the needles (freezing, tetanus and antibiotic IV bugged the heck out of me... especially the needle for freezing... OUCH!!). My bicycle has officially been named "Christine" (bone up on your Stephen King if you don't get the reference). This is the third time Christine has gotten me, and while unloading her when we got home, she gave Marty quite the gash on his leg as well. There's no doubt, I'm the number one COC-Breaker (TWO injuries, now, requiring a hospital visit). Ed has the solution, though - he's going to get me a portable padded cell. Marg thinks I should just have a travel airbag attached to me. Alissa says a giant plastic ball like a gerbil ball would work better - I could happily run around safe inside my big plastic ball (which Alissa will market as a "Rhonda Ball"). John and Sandy think I should just get myself a suit made of bubble wrap. Hmmmmmmm... the good ideas are just pouring in! From now on it's just "Fluffy Bike" for me, and every effort to keep the things that belong inside of me on the INSIDE and the things that belong on the outside, OUTSIDE!! -- Rhonda Update, June 11th: I am going to see my GP tomorrow. He advises to NOT have it stitched up at all because it will get infected. He says it is better to leave it open and wait for it to close/heal on its own. Argh! I have been looking forward to getting the stitches so I don't have a disturbing open hole in my leg, and also so I can resume activity. Well, I guess living with the open hole for a bit longer is better than getting an infection. How, exactly, did this happen, you may ask? Brake levers are not especially sharp or pointy, and skin is not easy to puncture. Well, I have a fairly large scrape below the hole on my leg. I wasn't going fast, but I believe what happened was the handlebars swung around quite quickly and the brake lever scraped up my leg underneath my capri pants. The angle must have been such, or perhaps my skin buckled, so that instead of continuing to scrape up my leg, the lever actually pushed its way through my skin. A very freak accident. If I'd been wearing longer pants it probably wouldn't have happened, and I had bike shorts on that were quite tight around my thigh a few inches above where the lever went in - I think they may have contributed to my skin buckling where it did, enabling the lever to pierce my skin. Want to see more photos? See my personal album. |
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CCC - Brunch and Shopping at Calgary Farmers' Market
We'll have brunch in the food court (lots of great vendors) and then do some shopping at the Calgary Farmers' Market. When you get into the market, head into the far right corner. Meet your coordinator at the edge of the food court seating area, in front of Simple Simon's Pies. We'll grab a table together. |
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CCC Details
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CCC List
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COC Details
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COC List
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Rhonda
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Kelly
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Hospital visit
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The injury
| 2007-06-12 : COC - Beginner Inline Skating at Carburn Park |
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COC Details
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COC List
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COC Group
| 2007-06-13 : CCC - Music Appreciation Night - FEEL GOOD Theme |
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Arrive at 6:30PM for introductions and to get settled in. We'll start the music selections at 7:00. We will have two CDs. We will have a round-robin to introduce our songs first. The music will be “mixed” according to my opinion of how it flows best – your songs will not necessarily all be together on the CDs. We will listen during the music, taking a break for visiting, potty breaks and snack refills in between the two CDs.
My apartment is small, and the atmosphere casual. We'll be sitting or laying around the living room while we listen. Bring a pillow or cushion if you like for maximum comfiness. Everyone must contribute 8-12 minutes of music for the evening. If the evening has a “theme” (listed in the title), you should (but don’t have to) bring music that fits your interpretation of the theme. Many of our themes are DELIBERATELY ambiguous for maximum creativity! |
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CCC List
| 2007-06-16 : COC - Upper Kananaskis Easy/Slow Hike |
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Herons: 1 Grizzlies: 1 Moose: 3 (including one repeat) Sheep: 2 Hawks: 3 Deer: 2 Coyotes: 1 Very Large Porcupines: 1 Raindrops: 0 In full defiance of the forecast of rain, we headed out today for our easy hike at Upper K-Lake and enjoyed a pretty full day of hiking, noodling and exploring with nary a raindrop to be found. We started at Interlakes and headed clockwise. Stopped for lunch at the boat launch and then hiked to the big falls at Sarrail creek. At that point, seven of us turned back and Marko, Ann, Lina and Lisa continued to do the circuit. Hopefully they were able to make it all the way around - we stopped at the info center on the way back and the gal there told us that Hidden Creek may be impassable due to high water at this time. My poor, poor Bridget bailed because she didn't want to hike in the rain and I can't wait to show her the photos and rub her nose in what she missed. -- Rhonda PS... Marty wanted me to mention that most of the wildlife sightings were from the car, not on the trail. Specifically the grizzly and mooses... |
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COC Details
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Upper K Lake
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Upper K Lake
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Upper K Lake
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Falls
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Hikers
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Hikers
| 2007-06-19 : COC - Backpacker Conditioning |
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COC Details
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COC List
| 2007-06-21 : COC - Baldy Pass - South Approach (Slowpoke Trip) |
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This hike today was just what I needed... or more precisely, just what my leg needed. I've gone out for a couple of walks, and 10km along the flat Upper Kananaskis Lake shoreline on Sunday since my injury on June 8th, and this was a good logical progression - a very easy hike, but still definitely a hike, with a bit of elevation gain and lots of uneven ground to test everything out on. The only bad thing is that my leg is healing so well, and I'm back at pretty much all of my activities (ok, not mountain biking!!), so the time of me milking this injury for something to talk about is coming to a close. True to my "summer hike nazi" ways we stayed together as a group today lest we encounter a bear (that grizzly that we saw on Sunday was actually not far from this trail). A great group and a beautiful day. Welcome to the club Anjanet - hopefully we'll see you out on lots more stuff (although I understand if you don't pick my slowpoke hikes anymore). :) -- Rhonda |
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COC Details
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COC List
| 2007-06-22 : COC - Waterton: Camping/Hiking Trip |
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Thanks for organizing the Waterston trip, it was a blast!! Shabu is still talking about the Crypt lake hike, it was a real challenge for him, but he is happy he did it again after 10 to 12 years. He says he is 10 to 12 years older, wiser & stronger !!! On Sunday we hiked Rowe Lake, he found it easy, I wonder if the hike was easy or easier than Crypt Lake!!! Thanks again to Brad for helping us out at the Crypt Lake hike. -- Shaida Friday: We did a long hike (17km) with something god awful like 900m elevation gain on the "must do" Crypt Lake hike. We started out with the 15 min boat ride across Waterton Lake. This was a great way to start off the morning. We broke up into a faster and slower group. Along the way we saw at least 3 waterfalls, lots of beautiful flowers and some great vistas. The speed demons left me in their dust. Ed was incredibly inspiring as he scampered up the hike ahead of a couple slow pokes like me. The ladder, tunnel and traverse were much less intimidating than the hiking books led some of us to believe. Crypt lake was beautiful with snow melting into it from all around. A small group led by Phil, who still had energy to burn, hiked all the way around the lake to the USA side. None of them had passports with them but fortunately there was no US border control to contend with. Unfortunately (or fortunately) we did not see any bears on this hike. We did however see some beautiful looking flowers like lady slippers, Alberta wild roses, and Indian paintbrushes plus a cool looking plant called "Bear grass". We all made it back to the boat with time some time to spare before crossing back to Waterton. Saturday: The early birds and keener hikers vacated the campground before 9am. Some of us took a little more leisure time to wake up and stretch our sore muscles after a strenuous hike the day before. A small group of us decided to work our upper bodies instead today. A short drive to Cameron Lake and we got to enjoy more beautiful scenery. We kayaked around Cameron Lake and enjoyed the waterfalls on the USA side. Back in town nachos and beer were in order. The rest of the day was filled with R&R as we guarded camp with beverages in hand. Sunday: The campground was deserted by 9:30am and just a few of us stragglers remained to clean up. We decided to do an easy hike to Crandell Lake. A couple adventurous people decided to actually swim in the lake fully clothed. You can ask Cindy R. or Juan for more details on why they decided to do that. The rest of us sane people stayed dry and enjoyed the scenery. It was a good time in Waterton. Other than a bit of rain and the odd wind gust (how many times did my tent hit me in the face??) we had lots of good weather. A note for some, remember to bring ear plugs next time as you just never know who your neighbours might be. Also, it is a really good idea to bring your own sleeping bag and tent with you....right Joe? -- Juliet Thanks Rhonda for a lovely camping/hiking trip to Waterton. I had a fabulous time and memorial experience. I learned a lot about other people. Ed is incredible man who is physically and mentally strong and out-hiked most younger people. He never seem to be tired because he paced himself throughout the hike so I nicked name him "Eddy Steady". Ed gives me a lot of motivation. I hope I am half as strong as him when I am his age. Unlike Ed, Marco is young and risk-taker who is wild and afraid of nothing. On Crypt Lake hike, I watched Marco walked to the edge of a cliff and setting up a tripod to take some pictures of the cliff and waterfalls. For Marco it was nothing and normal; for me I was terrified. Renata and Gord taught me various ways on how to tie knots and save oneself from falling off snow cliff. These are the only few people that I remembered by names; others are just as incredible. Everyone was so nice and friendly. I would recommend to anyone that never hiked to do it. A million thanks to you Rhonda for a great weekend. -- Peter Thank you for coordinating this hike ! one of my favorite places I have traveled. Spent thursday night sharing Lora'z tent since I seemed to have been soo excited I didnt bring my tent Sleeping bag or pillow. SHe helped me so that I didnt freeze and later on friday my friends brought out more of my stuff and theirs to help me out. Crypt lake and the weather were stellar. My tent was fasioned out of a very large tarp and I was surprising warm and not bothered by any bugs. Many fun memories and and stunning photos to keep bringing back to visit that amazing area. -- Joe |
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COC Details
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COC List
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Rhonda, Ann, ?, ?
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Crypt Lake group
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Shabu and Shaida go to Crypt Lake
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Shabu and Shaida go to Crypt Lake
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Shabu and Shaida go to Crypt Lake
| 2007-06-23 : COC - Waterton: Camping/Hiking Trip |
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| 2007-06-24 : COC - Waterton: Camping/Hiking Trip |
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| 2007-06-26 : COC - Backpacker Conditioning |
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COC Details
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COC List