"Till I'm six feet under, I won't need a bed.
Gonna live while I'm alive, I'll sleep when I'm dead."
Jon Bon Jovi
In the beginning...
I was born in Welland Ontario Canada. My family moved to Brandon Manitoba Canada when I was 4 years old. I grew up in Brandon (a city of about 35,000 people). From the time I was about 10 years old until I was 16, I would spend each summer at our cabin. It is here that I began to love the outdoors. I would spend the days exploring on my dirt bike or water skiing on the lake with the boat. In the evening we would sit around the fire and tell stories. The lessons I learned during these times are priceless and I look back on this with fond memories.
I completed my first year of college in Brandon before moving to Winnipeg on my own for the second year. When in Winnipeg I learned more lessons about life and how to live in a bigger city. After college I packed up everything that I could fit into my 1972 VW minibus and headed to Calgary Alberta with $700 cash and no job. After living in a campground for one month it was starting to get too cold at night (September/October), so I got a one room apartment for $300 in October. It left me with only $200 and still no job. Well to make a long story short, I finally got a job in November and began to build my life in Calgary.
Endurance Sports
I started running and riding my bicycle to get into shape when I was living in Winnipeg and I really enjoyed it. The bike riding reminded me of the motorcycling that I did when I was younger. It allows you to explore and gives you the feeling of freedom. Before I moved to Calgary, a friend sent me a newspaper article about an Ironman Triathlon, and I thought that I had to do that some day. I started training seriously and did a couple of short races and one "Half Ironman" race in Manitoba. When I got to Calgary I joined a triathlon training club at the University of Calgary and continued to train for the Ironman race. I completed my first Ironman Canada in Penticton B.C. in 1989 and now I have finished Ironman Canada five times with a best time of 10 hours and 31 minutes. I have done a number of different running and endurance events, and lately I have been interested in ultra distance endurance events. Below is a list of some the events that I have completed:
Ironman Canada (Penticton BC) 5 times
Great white North Half Ironman (Stoney Plain AB) 6 times
Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon (San Francisco USA)
Keauhou Kona Half Ironman (Hawaii)
St Croix Half Ironman (U.S. Virgin Islands)
TinMan Triathlon & Half Ironman (Mordon MB)
Skaha Lake Ultra Swim (11.8km) (Penticton BC)
24 Hours of Adrenalin - 24 Hour Mountain Bike Race - Solo (Canmore AB)
The Riding Mountain Loppett 50km XC Ski Race (Manitoba)
Portland Marathon (Portland USA)
Peach City Marathon (Penticton BC)
Victoria Marathon (Victoria BC)
Okanogan International Marathon (Kelowna BC) 2 times
Big Sur International Marathon (California USA)
Pikes Peak Marathon (Colorado USA)
Frozen Ass 50km Run (Calgary AB) 3 times
Lost Soul 50km Ultrarun (Lethbridge AB)
LostSoul 100km Ultrarun (Lethbridge AB)
I still love to run and ride my bikes I have a Cervelo P3 time trial bike for triathlon races, a Gianni Motta road bike for road riding, a Kuwahara mountain bike for commuting to work, and a lightspeed mountain bike for off road riding and racing. The basement of our house has a small workout area with a True Treadmill, a Computrainer, a set of rollers and some free-weights.
Motorcycles
My parents bought me my first motorcycle when I was 10 years old. It was a Honda CT 70. That's right 70cc's and a 3 speed transmission with an automatic clutch. It was a great bike to learn on and after one year I got a Honda XR 75. This thing at least was a real dirt bike with a real clutch and a five speed gearbox. After two years on the XR I got a Honda dual sport 4 stroke XL125. I road this quite alot and started to get interested in motocross racing. We had a race track set-up and I learned to ride/race, first with the XL, and then with a 2 stroke CR125. After a couple of big crashes and the fact that I was getting older and moving on to college, I sold the bikes and stopped riding until I got to Calgary and met Ruby. Ruby was the first person that I met in Calgary that was really "into" motorcycles. She was traveling the world on her bike and doing things that reminded me of things I dreamt about when I was a kid. She got me back into it and helped me buy my first street bike. Ruby hooked me up with a friend of hers that was selling a Ducati 996S. The bike was awesome and I had to buy it. The Ducati is a bit of a hand-full, due to my lack of street riding experience I crashed twice during the first year of riding it. The Ducati is amazing and it gives me a thrill every time I ride it. The second bike I purchased in Calgary was a BMW R1200GS. This is the bike that will take me around the world. It does everything while carrying a huge load. When I look at the GS I think about all the places it has taken me and all the places that it will take me in the future. The latest motorcycle that I purchased was a Yamaha YZF 250 dirt bike. It reminds me of when I was a kid, except my body now has trouble keeping up to what this bike can dish out. It is great training for the off road riding that Ruby and I will be doing on the GS, and it's great fun to adventure out where there are no roads.
Travel
I have always loved to travel. Unfortunately until I met Ruby I have never met anyone who likes to travel like me. It has always been a struggle for me to travel, because I do not like to travel alone, but I would go when I could. I have been to many provinces in Canada and many cities and states in the USA. Work has taken me to South America, and while there I got a chance to do some sightseeing and travel. As you know, both Ruby and I love to travel and our lives now focus on traveling around the world on our motorcycles. Below is a list of the places I have been to:
Canadian Provinces
British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Yukon, North West Territories
U.S.A. States
Washington, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Nevada, Wyoming, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Michigan, Ohio, New York, North Dakota, Minnesota, Florida, Hawaii, Alaska
Dominican Republic
U.S. Virgin Islands (not a state)
Puerto Rico
South America
Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay
Europe
Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece, Albania, Serbia & Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, Romania, Austria, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Spain, France
Africa
Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho, Botswana, Namibia, Angola, DRC, Congo, Gabon, Cameroon, Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal, The Gambia, Mauritania, Morocco
Middle East
United Arab Emirates, Oman, Yemen, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon
Friends
My best friend (other than Ruby) is Randy. Randy and I think and live our lives much the same. I know I am more "reckless" than Randy, but we both approach the world and the people we meet in much the same way. I enjoy the time I spend with Randy, because he is totally honest with me and everyone he meets. I admire this very much in him and I think honesty is the most important character a person can have. We have traveled together and competed in races together. I know that I can always count on him to be there for me and I will always be there for him.
Hal and Jill are my next best friends. They also live life to the fullest every minute of each day, and they display the same truth of character that I admire so much in Randy.
The time spent with Hal and Jill is always full of fun and great times. My only regret is that we all have busy lives and I never seam to have enough time to see them as often as I like.
Other Interests
Over the years I have found myself trying to always do as many different things as I can. I could never understand the person who said "No, I don't think I would like to try that." I never refuse the chance to try something new, I think it's a part of being alive, and if you say no, you may never get another chance. I have played various sports (Hockey, Baseball, Volleyball, Basketball, Football, Racquetball, and Squash). I rollerblade, mountain bike, trial run, and cross country ski. I taught cross country skiing in Manitoba and I am a Certified Level 1 coach. I have studied Karate and I am now very interested in Kendo and Japanese swords. I have no artistic talent (Ruby's an awesome artist), but I love to collect art (paintings and sculpture). I collect coins from ancient Rome and modern times. I love history and science and I read about them when I get a chance. I had an old Camero Z28 and I rebuilt entire thing including the engine myself and spent far too much money making it go fast.
Family
My mom has spent her whole life caring for her three children. She has made many sacrifices in her life so that her children will be happy and succeed. I will never be able to thank her enough for all her love and support. My older sister Mary lives in Vancouver is married and has 2 children (Brian and Jenny). My other sister Sharon lives in Brandon and has three children (Sabrina, Chris, and Ricki).
In the Future
I have been in Calgary for many years now, and during that time I have had many ups and downs. I first saw Ruby in 2000 when we were both working at the same company. I was very attracted to her right away, but due to a number of circumstances it took about 4 years before we got together. My life is now full and I have found my SoulMate. I am always amazed at how much alike Ruby and I are. We seem to be always thinking about the same things and often do or say the same thing without knowing. We are both very "driven" people and we are both afraid of not having enough time to accomplish all of our goals. I cherish every moment that I am with Ruby whether we are at home just "hanging out", or on the road in a "far off" country.