Steal the Sun

Carpe Diem, The Series: “DID SOMEONE STEAL THE SUN?!”

Paul Stevens For those of us who live around the Great Lakes area, we share a common affliction. The month of November is probably the dullest month of the year in terms of what seems like endless grey skies, falling leaves and temperatures, not to mention the constant threat of rain and wind. It can

Heroes

Carpe Diem, The Series: “TOO OLD TO HAVE HEROES?”

Paul Stevens Last week, there was a book signing event at the local library here in Sarnia. That sort of thing usually doesn’t hit my personal radar screen, but this particular one caught my attention. The author was Ken Dryden, a former National Hockey League player who was one of my favorites in my earlier

playing hockey outside

Carpe Diem, The Series: “IT’S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!”

Paul Stevens When you see the above words, your mind may wander to a Christmas-time song.  In my little world, it reflects the fact that hockey season is now upon us.  I look forward to this each year and especially this current one since last year’s start was delayed due to my run-in with a

cycling along lake

Carpe Diem, The Series: “SO, YOU THINK YOU’RE PRETTY GOOD, EH?”

Paul Stevens This past weekend, the Manditos (my cycling group in Sarnia) headed to the “thumb of Michigan” where one of our members has a family cottage.  Next time you look at a map, check out the outline of Michigan and you will readily see that, excluding the peninsula, it is the shape of a

woman with bike

Carpe Diem, The Series: WHO STOLE SUMMER?

Paul Stevens Looking at the calendar, Labor Day is but a memory and that means that summer if all but done.  I know, you are going to say that summer doesn’t actually end until September 21st but when the kids are back to school and the vacation period is history, summer is effectively done.  But

cycling group

Carpe Diem, The Series: I Didn’t Say It Was Going To Be Easy!

Paul Stevens Up here in the Great White North a.k.a Canada, we have a long weekend on the first weekend of August.  There is nothing of significance that happened around this time, no historical events or birthdate of some revered public figure that we care to celebrate. Nope, it’s just a good excuse to stretch

track and field runners at the starting block

Carpe Diem, The Series: Never Give Up, Never Surrender!

Paul Stevens Carpe Diem (but in a relaxed sort of way) “NEVER GIVE UP, NEVER SURRENDER!” For any of you that may have seen the 1999 Tim Allen science fiction comedy movie “Galaxy Quest”, you will know what the title line is all about.  It speaks to the attitude of the crew of a galactic

"riding for dollars"

Carpe Diem, The Series: “RIDING FOR DOLLARS”

Paul Stevens “RIDING FOR DOLLARS” This past weekend, I participated in another ride to raise funds for Multiple Sclerosis, a debilitating disease that is largely a Canadian phenomenon. For example, a Canadian is 13x more likely to get MS than someone in Argentina. If that doesn’t cause you to scratch your head, not much will. 

“150 FOR 150”

Carpe Diem, The Series: “150 FOR 150”

Paul Stevens “150 FOR 150” On July 1st, we in the frozen north a.k.a. Canada, celebrated the 150th birthday of the ‘True north, strong and free’. What better way to mark the occasion than to embark on a 150 km bike ride (just over 92 miles)! As you read this and are sitting there thinking

canal boat in london

Carpe Diem, The Series: Return To The Colonies

Paul Stevens “RETURN TO THE COLONIES” We recently returned from a trip to England, our first across the pond.  We have traveled throughout the western hemisphere but had never ventured eastward.  I don’t want this article to come off as a travelogue but let me share a few highlights with you. The trip had been

Size matters

Carpe Diem, The Series: Size Matters

Paul Stevens Carpe Diem (but in a relaxed sort of way) “SIZE MATTERS” Before you let your mind wander with the title of this article, let me take a step or two back to set the table here.  You may recall that when riding my bike, the wind and I are not on the best

group cycling

Carpe Diem, The Series: Wednesday Night Group Ride

Paul Stevens What a difference a couple of weeks can make!  To this point, we have had very sketchy weather with lots of rain and cool, blustery days.  Then, POOF! All of a sudden, someone found the heat switch and summer-like temperatures have arrived.  The timing for this was a masterstroke as the first warm-up