Happy Holidays!

May your Holiday Season be filled with family, friends and good health!

Merry Christmas from the Jones Family!

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Photos - Some Favourites

Batchelor Bay - my favourite photo of one of my favourite places.

If you stop by here from time to time you know I like photography. Well, I just finished organizing about 6 months of photos on my computer (6,000+).... it was an epic project that I hope will convince me to organize them better each time I upload.

Anyway, I decided to reward myself by putting together a quick photo post with a few of my favourites.

Many of these have graced these pages already... but a few have not.

Click to ENLARGE...

Enjoy!

Will Routley and Nic Hamilton at the Yaletown Grand Prix. I took a bazillion shots there - this one was the best. This got published - once online (can't remember the site) and once in the 24Hours Newspaper.

Viggo and our big wooden pear.

One of my favourite photos I have ever taken... I love these bikes and the gritty wall, the shadow and the green crates... all behind Habit Coffee in Victoria. Missy even asked if she could have this for her wall which was quite an honour!

The smiles say it all - priceless!

Ha! Soon they won't let me do this sort of thing to with them... because it will be "uncool". Until then, they are my favourite 'models'.

Lighthouse Park on an amazing weather day - sunny AND black clouds = camera time!

First day of school. She was SO excited.

Sacha pushing the kids on the swings - summer evening in the city, out late.

Steph @ the Bay Challenge... I drove the boat and took photos, Steph and Susie put on a masterful display of swimming.

The Look... he's intense for a little guy.

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Hornby Island - Photo Post

Hornby was awesome.  

I took about a million photos ... so I'll let them do most of the talking.  

Family + Island + Beaches + Bikes = Great Holiday

Not much time to write or read these days as I am over-the-top busy - returning from holiday and getting ready to leave for Nationals (triathlon) in Kelowna this Sunday.

Enjoy the pictures...  CLICK TO ENLARGE for a closer look.

Cheers!  

I love a van/bike shot! Starbucks stop on the way out of town...

The van is awesome for family trips like this.

Don't worry we didn't drive like this.... Viggo 'drove' during ferry line-ups.

Dinner on the first night... Bert and I made Beer Chicken (one of about 3 or 4 things I know how to make!)

A pair of Beer Chickens ready to be BBQed.... they were tasty.

Aia on the 'Trail-Along' behind me... I got some great workouts pulling her everywhere behind me. We even got a bit crazy on the trails which was a blast....  Next year she'll be traveling under her own steam I'm sure.

Hornby Cycle Chic... Very fashionable Sacha and Mel on the way to the bakery or the winery - I can't remember.

Bert won a geodesic dome in a poker game.... we assembled it and had dinner inside once or twice. Who else can say they won a geodesic dome in a poker game?

One of my favourite shots from the trip. Remember being a kid and just throwing rocks at things all day??? Mattias and Finlay.

This is a color shot but seems black and white... I liked it.

Aia and Daisy. I left the shot tilted... thought it was kind of cool that way...

Dinner on the beach with friends.... it's pretty awesome to ride a bike to a dinner/bbq - I would like that kind of lifestyle at home.

Aia in full flight... she's getting faster these days! I would like to look that light on my feet in a photo!

Mattias and Finlay. Don't remember what this game is called but you draw a circle with a cross in the middle then the kids play tag running only on the lines. They get good and tired... it's awesome!

Sacha and her mom with Viggo. This beach was right outside our cabin - we got lucky with a waterfront location this year.

Aia - always perfectly turned out in white skirt with pink bow for a walk on the beach.

Mel with Daisy on her shoulders.

Mattias made some real breakthroughs in his riding on this trip - he was generally attacking the trails - accelerating out of the saddle and riding with a lot more confidence - it was super fun. No trail shots - it was hard enough to keep up!

Gary (father-in-law) and I (not pictured) on the road above Olsen's Farm (possibly the nicest real estate anywhere...). We circumnavigated the island a couple of times during the trip.

Photos of bikes work for me....  it's becoming an affliction.  I love them.  These two were behind Habit (a coffee shop in Victoria)...

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Subaru Vancouver International 1/2 Iron - Photos

Here are the photos I took at the Subaru Vancouver International 1/2 Iron event yesterday.  CLICK ON THE LOGO BELOW.

I highly recommend this event, the Lifesport team does a great job and the atmosphere at their events is second to none.

The photos I took are mostly of friends:  Justine, Jeremy, James, Kevin, Bree, Josh, Kate, Stephanie, Susie, and Vince

Lots of podium shots:  Not quite all of them as I missed the first couple...

Some pros:  at the finish line and giving interviews....

Some random:  There were a few others in there as well.... 

There were plenty of friends racing that I didn't manage to capture on camera....  congrats to you too!

As always, HELP YOURSELF, leave me a comment if you want to thank me!

Congrats everyone!

My race report coming soon....

Subaru Vancouver International 1/2 Iron

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Open Water Swimming

The photo is from last week - it's the point we use as the first corner of our Batchelor Bay swim course.  The water was pretty rough that day...

Kevin and I swam 3.5 km at Batchelor Bay at 6 this morning.  In the rain, which is kind of nice.  You feel extra connected with the earth.

As mentioned in my last few posts, swimming is what I do when my leg is not cooperating.  I am LOVING the open water this season.  Though I love the West Van Masters there is something about the ocean you just can't duplicate in a pool.

Here is my latest invention:  100 Stroke Drills.

Warm-up - maybe 10 minutes or so... then:

100 strokes hard (just go hard, concentrate on maximum effort to get the heart rate up)
10 strokes long, slow and easy (chill out)
100 strokes hard (this time concentrating on long, smooth, powerful arm technique)
10 strokes long, slow and easy
100 strokes (with all of the above AND nice tight, powerful kick)
10 strokes chillin'
200 strokes (all out with best form possible - will likely break down toward the end but try to keep it)

REPEAT - Do this as many times as you like depending on the intensity and length of your workout.

Warm-down - 10 minutes or so...

The workout portion described above requires between 500 and 850 metres of open water depending on your economy and skill.

Benefit: I find it is too easy to just cruise and lose all focus in the open water.  Next thing you know you are swimming at 75%, staring at eagles and multi-million dollar homes, while your technique goes to $h!t..... With this technique you are 'present' the whole time, dialed-in and working hard.

Anyway, try it some time and let me know how you like it. 

HUGE bald eagle I shot (photographically) at Batchelor Bay from a little boat we rented on Father's Day.

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Great Photo Blog

If you like mountain biking, nature or photography, or better yet all three, you have GOT to check out this guy's blog.

***NOTE Update - Matt has informed me:  That is not just some "guy", that is the blog of the great Mike Curiak, Ultra Endurance Mountain Biker. In '05, he rode the 350-mile Iditarod Trail Invitational, setting the course record.***  Duly noted.  Thanks Matt!

I will freely admit that I "read" it for the pictures...  I don't think he'd mind because he seems to focus almost every post on about a dozen (usually amazing) shots.

I highly recommend it for your Google Reader....  takes a while to load because the photos are big - but they are worth it.  

In other news:  I have a few great developments to update you guys on - it will have to wait for later in the week though...  

Cheers!

A few more from MC:

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