Category: travel

My Skyrace in Norway 😀

On By Rick McIn health & fitness, hiking, travelLeave a comment

I was stuck in Tromsø — the Paris of the north — waiting on my bike and gear which were stuck at Heathrow airport for over 2 weeks. Why not race !!

Tromsø Skyrace was launched 2014 by Kilian Jornet and Emelie Forsberg.

Kílian Jornet is the fastest mountain runner of all time though Karl Egloff has bettered some of Kilian’s records.

Emelie Forsberg is Kilian’s partner, mother of two, and also an insane mountain runner.

I’d like to claim I was in the mix with the sponsored super athletes in this video … 😀

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

There are 3-4 different distances raced each year. Mine was shortest.

I signed up 2-days in advance of the race for the EASY 16km up and down.

It was more of a hike than a knife edge ridge.

I ended up 153rd, 1hr 44min behind the winner in the short race. My time 3hr 11min.

BUT I was happy with how I did. Running in I still felt great — avoiding muscle cramps which threatened throughout. I’d not really gone running in over a year before this day.

Louise finished ahead of me. We recovered with free vegetarian chile. So tasty, I bought some to take cycling.

In fact, at that point, Louise was wondering what happened to her brother Henry — turned out he had kept going at the short race turnaround. Henry ended up running an extra 7km or so.

Happily, his luck changed later — winning an official race hoody.

Norway – the most successful nation 2022

On By Rick McIn economics, ethics, government, human rights, travelLeave a comment

I’m in Tromsø, Norway as I post.

Most oil rich small nations suffer from severe economic and social issues — but not Norway (5.5 million).

Norway kept control of natural resources in Norway. In 1990 they created the Norway Sovereign Wealth Fund – today worth about $1.2 trillion.

By comparison, the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund where I live is worth only about $18.9 billion. Norway did it right. Alberta did it badly. The 2015 Fraser Institute report titled Fumbling the Alberta Advantage details the bungling.

Norwegians pay some of the highest taxes in the world — but enjoy some of the best health care, education and infrastructure. Small towns well above the Arctic Circle enjoy a good quality of life.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Airlines NOT Paying Compensation

On By Rick McIn bad news, economics, ethics, government, travelLeave a comment

DON’T ASSUME AIRLINES WILL PAY YOU THEIR LEGALLY OBLIGATED COMPENSATION.

Summer 2022, their lawyers are doing everything possible to avoid payouts.

As I feared, Westjet airlines will not compensate me for being stranded at an airport overnight.

They are pretending there was a delay at my international connection in Toronto — my Westjet flight from Europe landed on time and I planned a long layover just-in-case.

My Toronto flight departed 80 minutes late causing me to miss a connection by about 10 minutes.

The problem had nothing to do with my international connection.

My cost was only about $100 and time — so I don’t think I’ll take Westjet to small claims court this time. But if I did, I’m sure I’d win.

westjet-lied-to-meDownload

Cycling Arctic Norway – the Lyngen Alps

On By Rick McIn cycling, food, travelLeave a comment

I went to cycle and hike the Lyngen Alps inspired by Matthew’s recommendation.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Starting in the tourist town Tromsø, I cycled out to stay 2 nights at Magic Mountain Lodge is in Lyngseidet.

It’s an excellent adventure hotel that also offers dorm beds for about $35 / night.

I’ll never forget their reindeer stew with lingonberries served me on night #2.

I cycled to enjoy the best views I could get of the Lyngen Alps. Finishing in Nord-Lenangen where I caught the fast ferry back to Tromsø late on a Sunday night.

Click PLAY or watch highlights of my 3 day adventure on YouTube.

Here are a few of the photos I captured.

Reindeer close to the Ferry terminal
Fast ferry back to Tromsø

Vancouverism

On By Rick McIn travelLeave a comment

Rockin’ informed me of Vancouverism:

… an urban planning and architectural phenomenon in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. 

… high-rise residential towers

… reliance on mass public transit

… green park spaces … preserving view corridors

Vancouverism developed in part as a product of Vancouver’s geographical context. Wedged between the sea, mountains and the border with the United States, there was not much room to expand as the city grew.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Arrived Norway … 🤨

On By Rick McIn cycling, travelLeave a comment

I wanted to start my planned Bikepacking trip through Norway and (possibly / hopefully) Faroe Islands and Iceland on July 22, 2022.

Surprisingly, I made it to Tromsø, way far north of the Arctic Circle? 😀

Barely. Heathrow was a disaster.

BUT my bike is still in London. Who knows how long it will take to get to remote Tromsø.

Meanwhile …

Lofoten islands.

I NOW own 2 Drones 🤔

On By Rick McIn photos, travel, video3 Comments

In December 2021, I gambled CAD $349 for the low end DJI drone.

Surprisingly, I really enjoyed it.

As DJI is close to discontinuing — and the latest, greatest replacement costs at least 3x as much — I bought a second one. But this time with the full kit. CAD $592.20 including tax and two year warranty.

In fact, it seems I bought the last Mini SE in Canada. It’s been out of stock on the DJI Canada store ever since.

When one eventually dies, I can use the accessories with the other.

Quality and features are good ’nuff for my YouTube hiking and cycling videos.

Click PLAY or watch a sample on YouTube. Moorecroft Park is my favourite place to drone near Parksville, Vancouver Island. It’s legal and not crowded.

Most important to me with the NEW kit are the 3 batteries plus charger. With my original battery, I now have 4 total which is more than I can imagine using in one day.

Warranty is essential as it’s very easy to crash these things. I’ve crashed about 6 times already, the drone surviving each … SO FAR.

My old Mini SE will be the back-up. I’ll carry both on cycling trips. Just the new combo on hiking adventures.

Click PLAY or watch some samples of my footage on YouTube.

Click PLAY or watch a review on YouTube.

Salmon & Halibut – Port Renfrew, Vancouver Island

On By Rick McIn food, McCharles family, travel1 Comment

Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!

SURE I puked and wanted to die.

BUT I did catch the biggest halibut of the day. 😀

Fisherman don’t lie. FIGHT ME if you have any doubts.

For the 3rd time ever I joined in on one of the deep sea fishing charters organized by my Dad and brother Rob.

I had a great time last year out of Port Hardy — Murdering Salmon & Halibut — and took a chance again.

This time they were going out with their favourite guide — Josh — with Wild Coast (formerly Trailhead Resort). An all inclusive package including accommodation out of Port Renfrew.

The GOAL for my family is to bring home enough fish to cover the cost of the charter. We made it this year and on our trip last year.

In 2022 we came back with 45 pounds of salmon and 78 pounds of halibut.

At the last minute, Rob decided he couldn’t fish due to some weird medical complications. Rather than cancel his spot, Yvonne went in his place.

Needless to say, Yvonne didn’t get seasick and did catch a lot of fish.

My Dad never gets seasick.

Each year Dad decides he can do one more year reeling in halibut. If you haven’t done it, imagine lifting a FREEZER from 200 feet underwater with very thin line. While the FREEZER is fighting you the whole way. 😀

Visiting London 2022

On By Rick McIn science, travel2 Comments

I couldn’t live in the EU. Europe still sucks.

BUT I would like to spend a month based out of London. It would take that long to visit all the attractions I’d like to see. And learn the city.

Whenever one of my international flights starts or lands in London (often) I try to add a layover. This time I stayed 3 nights.

London is expen$ive. No question. Double or triple the travel costs of Spain, for example.

But I spend most of my time walking. And in the free public museums.

This time I visited:

Both are excellent.

Darwin holds court over the Natural History Museum. A great scientist.

Over in a public park I watched a guy defend the Flat Earth theory. Even in 2022.

His arguments were silly. And hilarious. But he certainly sounded passionate.

It’s easy to prove the Earth is round. You can see if with your own eyes from an airplane.

Yet somehow folks delude themselves into anti-scientific thinking — that the Earth is only 5000 years old, for example.

My point here is that London is endlessly entertaining. There is so much to see and do.