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chariot festival parade
, originally uploaded by inklake.
Velut arbor aevo
Velut arbor aevo, originally uploaded by inklake.
May the tree thrive. Corner of Terminal and Main. This tree has appeared in photographs for over a hundred years.
260 northern st.
260 NORTHERN ST., originally uploaded by inklake.
Scene at the corner of Northern and Western Streets in Vancouver.
Is Vancouver ready?
We’ve seen the fuss around the simple addition of a bike lane across the Burrard Bridge. Are we ready for the Olympics? Here is an article from last March that projects some much bigger changes ahead for the city …
Copyright © James Page. Please click on the photograph to view his flickr site.
Olympic organizers, working under the umbrella of the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee, have developed a transportation plan for the Games. It foresees a drastic reduction in automobile use by residents of the Lower Mainland.
The projections are ambitious: “Games-time operations will reduce the capacity of the local road network into downtown by 50 per cent from the east and overall into downtown by 20 per cent,” predicts the plan, released this morning.
That reduction in cars is going to happen because some of the city’s major arteries are going to be given over to what’s called Olympic lanes. That essentially means clearing lanes for Olympic vehicles containing officials, VIPs and athletes. Some of the key roads shut to the public are Expo and Pacific Boulevards, the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts, and Canada Place and Waterfront roads.
So best forget about parking downtown from January 21st to March 21st. In fact, don’t even think about driving downtown unless you absolutely have to. You will probably regret it. Parking will be hell.
One alternative is try and work at home, if possible. But the option most people face is taking public transit. That’s what Olympic officials are hoping for.
So who’s Bob?
This is an original Chestnut canoe, named after the designer who crafted one of the world’s first durable “lightweight” canoes.
In a quirky bit of canoeing lore, it was someone named Bob who designed the boat, so “Bob’s Special” became the model name. But no one seems to know who Bob is so it’s impossible to trace the lineage of this fine craft. All I’ve ever known since childhood is that “Bob’s Special” is one of the fastest solo canoes around.
It was built in 1970 in Fredericton, New Brunswick, and it became one of the most popular canoes the company made. First and foremost it was designed for fishermen and solo-trippers. It’s still a joy to solo in.
Copyright © Kevin Teichroeb.
At the time it was the cutting edge for lightweight canoes, designed to weigh only 50 lbs, measuring 15′ in length and still able to carry upwards of 700 lbs.
Our Bob’s Special moved to Ontario when my father bought it new, and then on to Vancouver when he drove it out here for me to have several years ago. If I stretch the point a bit, I can say that this canoe has been to all three Canadian oceans: the Atlantic, where it was built, the Arctic, where we took it all the way down the Lake Superior watershed to James Bay, and to the Pacific, only minutes from where it sits in our garage now.
It’s a little worse for wear these days, 
but it still raises eyebrows when it’s taken off the roof of the car and set down in the water. The design beauty of a traditional cedar-canvas canoe definitely still holds some attraction on a quiet, early morning paddle along the upper reaches of Indian Arm, BC.
Alexei makes the Tyee
One of my photos was featured in the Tyee today. “Alexei’s Self-Portrait”. Click on the photo to see it on my flickr page.
When I bumped into him Alexei had just spent the entire afternoon taking portraits of himself with his Leica camera. As you can see, his 
knack for composition while looking into the wrong end of the lens was uncanny.
Said he was writing his autobiography and needed illustrations for it. My first thought was that none of his self-portraits included his trademark cigarette.
Canadian Men’s rowing looking to move past Beijing Gold
Derek O’Farrell and Gabe Bergen. Two of the newest members of Canada’s Men’s Eight rowing team. They’re heading to Poznan, Poland for the World Championships beginning on August 23rd.
Celebration of Light
I live about 10 minutes from here, so if I don’t see the fireworks every time, I definitely hear every kaboooooooooooooom.
Photo by Ahmed Hope. For more please click on the photo to go to his flickr page.
Armstrong’s bike on the team car before the Ventoux stage
More to come soon …
AFP PHOTO LIONEL BONAVENTURE (Photo credit should read LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP/Getty Images)
STAGE STANDING BY POINTS
Result after stage 20
Total distance covered: 167 km
Standing Rider Rider number bib Team Time Gaps
1. GARATE Juan Manuel 45 RABOBANK 4h 39′ 21″
2. MARTIN Tony 76 TEAM COLUMBIA – HTC 4h 39′ 24″ + 00′ 03″
3. SCHLECK Andy 31 TEAM SAXO BANK 4h 39′ 59″ + 00′ 38″
4. CONTADOR Alberto 21 ASTANA 4h 39′ 59″ + 00′ 38″
5. ARMSTRONG Lance 22 ASTANA 4h 40′ 02″ + 00′ 41″
6. SCHLECK Frank 36 TEAM SAXO BANK 4h 40′ 04″ + 00′ 43″
7. KREUZIGER Roman 93 LIQUIGAS 4h 40′ 07″ + 00′ 46″
8. PELLIZOTTI Franco 91 LIQUIGAS 4h 40′ 17″ + 00′ 56″
9. NIBALI Vincenzo 95 LIQUIGAS 4h 40′ 19″ + 00′ 58″
10. WIGGINS Bradley 58 GARMIN – SLIPSTREAM 4h 40′ 24″ + 01′ 03″
11. VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen 17 SILENCE – LOTTO 4h 41′ 00″ + 01′ 39″
12. KLÖDEN Andréas 23 ASTANA 4h 41′ 03″ + 01′ 42″
35. HESJEDAL Ryder 54 GARMIN – SLIPSTREAM 4h 45′ 06″ + 05′ 45″
Championship ride
Failing a complete disaster for Contador in the remaining stages, this is a photo of the next TdF champion.
With every tour champion comes the doping allegations. Contador’s performance has been stunning, and Greg Lemond was quoted today in the Australian press openly questioning Alberto’s advantage …
Contador dodges questions on doping
Rupert Guinness at Lake Annecy,
July 24, 2009 – 7:12AMIt took only two questions into Tour de France leader Alberto Contador’s press conference after winning the stage 18 time trial before the Spaniard found himself fending off questions about a newspaper column by former triple champion Greg LeMond that said he must prove he has raced clean.
——————
LeMond, referring to the 8.5km climb at an average gradient of 7.5 per cent, wrote: “Never has a rider in the Tour climbed so fast. How do you explain such a performance? According to the last information published by former Festina trainer and specialist in performance Antoine Vayer in [the French newspaper] Liberation, the Spanish rider would have needed a VO2 max (consummation of oxygen) of 99.5 ml/mn/kg to produce such an effort.
“To my knowledge this figure has never been achieved by any athlete in any sport. It is a bit like if you took a nice Mercedes out of the car showroom, lined it up on a Formula 1 circuit and won the race. There is something that is wrong. It would be interesting to know what is under the bonnet.”
Armstrong racing around Lac d’Annecy
Excellent photo of Lance Armstrong racing around Lac d’Annecy today by Harold de Haan. Click on the photo to view his flickr page.
Here’s the photographer’s note on the photo:
Lance Armstrong on the Yoshitomo Nara Speed Concept Time trial bike during Stage 18 of the 2009 Tour de France.
UPDATE ON TIME TRIAL RESULTS:
1. CONTADOR Alberto 21 ASTANA 48′ 30″
2. CANCELLARA Fabian 33 TEAM SAXO BANK 48′ 33″ + 00′ 03″
6. WIGGINS Bradley 58 GARMIN – SLIPSTREAM 49′ 13″ + 00′ 43″
9. KLÖDEN Andréas 23 ASTANA 49′ 24″ + 00′ 54″
16. ARMSTRONG Lance 22 ASTANA 50′ 00″ + 01′ 30″
21. SCHLECK Andy 31 TEAM SAXO BANK 50′ 15″ + 01′ 45″
35. SCHLECK Frank 36 TEAM SAXO BANK 51′ 04″ + 02′ 34″
43. HESJEDAL Ryder 54 GARMIN – SLIPSTREAM 51′ 21″ + 02′ 51″
OVERALL STANDINGS ON TIME
1.CONTADOR 73h 15′ 39″
2.SCHLECK A. 04′ 11″
3.ARMSTRONG 05′ 25″
4.WIGGINS 05′ 36″
5.KLÖDEN 05′ 38″
6.SCHLECK F. 05′ 59″
7.NIBALI 07′ 15″
55.HESJEDAL Ryder + 1h 06′ 37″
Lac d’Annecy – stage 18 time trial
A good view of Lac d’Annecy in the Haute Savoie, the site of stage 18 of the Tour de France. The lake is about 30km south of Geneva, Switzerland. You get a good idea of the length of the lake here. It has about 35km of shoreline.
This beautiful photo is by Etienne Cazin. Please click on the picture to visit his flickr page.
Presqu’ile de Duingt entre mes pieds
Trans. “Duingt Peninsula between my feet” — a stunning aerial view of Lac d’Annecy by Bruno Lamaison. Click on the photo to view his flickr page. Couldn’t resist looking ahead to Thursday’s Tour de France time trial around the lake.
From the Lac d’Annecy website:
After 11 years, the Tour de France finds Lake Annecy and its left bank. What a wonderful place for the last individual time-trial all around the lake! The Tour Caravan will pass from Sevrier to Duingt between 9.10 and 9.26 am. Competitors will race through Annecy at 10.50 am. The first cyclist will pass in Sevrier at 10.53 am; the last one at 5.02 pm in Duingt.
Ryder Hesjedal – Stage 15 breakaway leader
Ryder Hesjedal – Tour de France 2009, stage 15, originally uploaded by Garmin Slipstream Pro Cycling Team.
Ryder was a key catalyst 
in the breakaway group today, bringing home points toward the polka dot jersey by finishing second on the category 3 Prevonloup climb and finishing right up with the escape leaders on the Col des Mosses category 2. He also got a lot of face time on Versus when they aired a profile on him as he climbed the Col des Mosses.
Solid day all round.
The peleton eventually caught up to the escape group for the final ascent up Verbier, with Ryder ending up 44th for the stage, 4’23” back. Hesjedal now stands in 57th, among notable Tour vets Jens Voigt and Christophe Moreau.
Contador was clearly the story of the day, pulling away with ease from the other leaders to take the stage by 43″ over Andy Schleck, and 1’35” over Lance Armstrong, who finished 9th.
The Tour has the strong feeling of an anti-climax, partly because Contador has twice attacked Armstrong with no response, and also because there have been no real shake outs since the early Pyrenees stages. Tour organizers have managed to make this a fairly pedestrian tour so far, long on gorgeous French, Spanish, Swiss, and Alsatian landscapes, but very short on dramatic attacks.
Armstrong admitted in a gracious post-stage interview that Contador is clearly the better rider right now. Looks like he’s setting his sights on second place as the notorious Ventoux lies in wait for the Tour leaders.
marine building, vancouver
Vancouver’s historic Marine Building, back lit by the morning sun to make it look like a “cubist illustration from the art deco period” that inspired the building itself.
Beautiful work by tilo driessen.
Mallorie Nicholson
Mallorie training last year on 16 Mile Creek with the Burloak Canoe and Kayak Club as part of our shoot for CBC Sports.
He’s back!
… and you know who everyone will be focused on for the next three weeks.
A picture taken on July 4, 2009 in Monaco shows frontpages of French and Italian newspapers announcing the start of the 2009 Tour de France. The Tour, which starts today, will cover 21 stages (10 flat stages, 8 mountains, 2 individual time-trials as well as one team time trial) before it ends 3.500 km later in Paris on July 26.
Photo: NATHALIE MAGNIEZ/AFP/Getty Images
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