Thank you for bearing with me as I set the stage for what I am about to reveal. Peter is an amazing friend. He is very special because he chooses to live his life very differently from most people I have met. He makes his own living in a way that few people do. He spent years working as an employee, then years self-employed as a quality control consultant, constantly travelling. It was very physically demanding and his work took its toll. Then something snapped. Peter went from earning his living taxing his body, to doing it by taxing his mind. He re-invented his consulting practice as a virtu ..read more

My very best wishes to all my readers for the holidays, may your hopes and wishes for the new year that is almost upon us, all come true. With a little luck my Brompton will pop out of its perch next to the back door to rack up as many happy kilometres in 2024 as it did in 2023, plus, with a little more luck, a new adventure or two ..read more

If there is a feeling that leads to a deep sense of happiness for me, it is the feeling of being inspired.  I felt inspired often during our recent trip to Malaga and Seville in Spain, and to Lisbon in Portugal. This was our third trip to Spain and our first trip to Portugal. I tend to find inspiration when I am out of my comfort zone. In this trip I was quite literally seldom in a comfort zone because I had managed to mess up the soft tissues in my right leg in a variety of ways. Three trips to our physiotherapist in the week leading up to our departure was clearly too little, and too la ..read more

Is it because I bought a leather saddle that needs to be broken in? Is it because we will be taking a break vacationing in Spain this fall? Is it because I was a little stressed-out in the days leading up to a half-day course I had to teach solo to a class of thirty or so colleagues on records management?  It's hard to say. Why would I stress out on giving a lecture when I literally wrote the book? What's certain is that my body got itself into a funk that has required that I take a break. A break from my morning exercises, trading time in the saddle for time with Melina, our brilliant p ..read more

 I have been a good boy. My Brompton has been a good bike. My Brompton and I have accomplished more than I expected when we were first introduced, hombre a bicicleta. If that sounds weird, please take into consideration that in three weeks' time Susan and I will be on the Costa del Sol...  practice is warranted.  I felt like it was time to mark our - bicicleta's and my - considerable accomplishments, so I splurged on our new Brooks B-17 Special saddle. What makes it special are the hand-hammered copper rivets. I hope my Brompton likes it. It matches her Ergon grips. Th ..read more

Corrie Vaus, a professional videographer and producer reached out to me yesterday in an email to request permission to use an interview of Ken Wilson I posted on my YouTube channel, informing me that Ken had passed away. He passed away earlier this summer in June. The news left me deeply saddened. I had no idea. In February 2017 I was very fortunate to participate in an Oyster Tour, a Vespa tour ranging from Tampa Florida to the town of Apalachicola in the Florida Panhandle, so named by Ken Wilson and Bill Leuthold in honour of an iconic little oyster bar on the Gulf coast. I now know that Ken ..read more

 At 71, I don't think so. Marc is my very dear friend. Susan and I went to Montreal last week to surprise Marc on his birthday. He is now 82 and he has been exploring his neighbourhood on the West Island for as long as I can remember. Marc still rides his bike. Yesterday I was on YouTube nosing around and I watched a delightful video on Susanna Thornton's channel that I am sharing with you here. Susanna's dad took up cycling at 60 and cycles roughly twenty minutes each day. Now he is 87. Have a look to see how well he toured with his daughter along the Welsh borders, in Herefordshire. I ..read more

Actually, I did 'them'. The 'it' happened on Friday, August 18, 2023. I rode exactly 11 kilometers and that brought my kilometers logged to 3,000.03 kms.  I wouldn't say it was a goal, it's just a milestone, yet well worth celebrating. The other thing I did was much more complicated, very boring to many, but once done, something that came with quite a bit of satisfaction. It’s computer-related. So if that has you rolling your eyes and stifling a yawn.  Maybe stop here.  Oh, right… it’s all about my Apple iMac. I’m guessing a bunch more of you are already off to TikTok. I’l ..read more

It's not what you're thinking.  Though my name is David, my target is not Goliath, and this has nothing to do with stones. It's about my slings. No... I didn't break or sprain my arm. I'm talking sling bags. My first sling bag Before our trip to France last year I picked up a very basic sling/waist bag from Mountain Equipment Coop. It did the trick for our trip and it also worked well for bike rides. What I don't much like about it: a) the strap is too thin b) the bag is ORANGE. Definitely not something that will pass unnoticed, and somewhat unlikely to match whatever it is you're wearin ..read more

I am not, definitely not, absolutely not, a "tool guy". My father's lifelong hobby was woodworking. He was really good at it. My sisters and I have some serious furniture our dad created for us. Our dining room table, stunning, solid, refined, and generous, with cherry, oak, and ebony hardwoods, exotic veneers, and exquisite and rare inlays. Truly special. My father's legacy literally lives on in our daily lives. That is the true meaning of treasure.  I inherited some of his tools, but only the everyday tools, and only those I might have an actual use for. A hammer my dad owned for ever ..read more