Peter Sagan

People who don't know me well are often surprised when they learn that I watch a lot of sports on TV.  Not baseball or football or soccer or basketball. My interests lean more to sports where the individual is the star or they are working in concert with a small tight-knit team. I watch Formula 1 car racing, professional cycling and curling. The nature of those sports, and the way they are covered on TV, lend themselves to lots of learning about coaching and the human experience.

In all the sports, certain personalities float to the top. Sometimes it is because of their competitive edge and sometimes it is because of their attitude to their sport regardless of outcome. Rarely does anyone come along to match Peter Sagan. Sagan is a professional cyclist from Slovakia. He has ridden for a number of professional teams and most recently signed with Bora-Argon 18. Check out the Wikipedia article for more info.

photo from rideonblog.wordpress.ca

What sets Sagan apart is his individuality and his performance. He started as a mountain biker but converted to road cycling years ago and he has had enormous success on the road. But in this year's Olympics he chose to ride the mountain bike race. He managed to fit some training into his busy road schedule and was actually was doing very well in the race in Rio until he flatted (which may have been because of lack of experience on MTB tracks over the last few years.)

Sagan won the World Road Championships in Richmond Virginia last year with a courageous move very near the end of the race. He carried that championship into the 2016 season and surprised many by not succumbing to the curse of the world champion. He had one of his best years, posting amazing results and participating in some moves which will go down in history. After one memorable stage in the Tour de France, he answered "We are artists." when journalists asked why he rode the way he did.

It is very difficult to repeat as world champion. The organizers plan courses which favour different sorts of riders from year to year. In Richmond in 2015 there was a lot of climbing. The 2016 course in Doha was 257 km, almost completely flat and favoured the sprinters. Crosswinds broke up the peloton and only 80 riders were in the front group. Sagan was the last to hang on to that group. He spent most of the race near the back and only emerged at the front with a couple of hundred meters to go. He then outsprinted the best sprinter in the world to win his second world championship in a row. When he was asked how he prepared for the race his response was very different from many of the other cyclists. He didn't sweat it - he just showed up to race. “When I came here, for the first day, I was sleeping all day because I traveled overnight. Then one day I did three hours and already I was, ‘oh no, it’s too much.’ Then the next day I did just one hour because today was the big day."

And that's what I admire most about Sagan. He has managed to find an activity he truly enjoys, he doesn't take himself seriously and he has made art of his life. Here are some examples of why he is beloved in the cycling peloton and by admirers on the sidelines all around the world.




Sandy is played by his wife.








This wheelie was performed on one of the most difficult climbs in cycling.

Garden of Cosmic Speculation

My mother read voraciously right up to a week before she died. She had a wide range of interests - everything from the latest detective stories to esoteric tomes on Victorian England and many aspects of science and technology. After her death I took home a large box of books that she had finished reading.

One of the first books I grabbed from the box was a recent novel by Louise Penny (The Long Way Home). It made reference to a location called the Garden of Cosmic Speculation. I just assumed that it was a fictional construct and read past all of the references. When my husband picked up the book he recognized that it was an actual place and asked me to Google it.

Wow wow wow. I have a history of being fascinated by large scale art projects but I had never heard of this one. There isn't a good website about it but you can learn more by reading blogs written by people who have visited. This is a good one. You can also Google images and browse through lots and lots of views of various aspects of the garden.

The garden was designed by Charles Jencks, architectural critic and historian. His website provides details on many other projects.

If you want to visit, the garden is only open for five hours, one day a year. Mark your calendar for April 30, 2017.

My husband isn't usually drawn to things like this but as a mathematician he was intrigued. He suggested that we should do something similar on our land in Berwick. I think it's a good thing that he'd rather ride his bike than work in the yard.

High points

While there have admittedly been some low points over the last year or so, there have also been moments of joy and wonder. Here's a list off the top of my head.

Weather

I am a heat-seeker and this summer was the best ever for me in Nova Scotia. We had days and days of sun and the temperatures were above normal for much of the time. The Annapolis Valley is even warmer than the Atlantic coast and we spent a lot of weekends there. Unfortunately, the sun meant no rain and many people suffered as a consequence. That's why I'd rather live in a rain forest.

Rides

I am at heart a coach and there is nothing I love more than to walk someone through an activity that they thought they couldn't do. Our new home base in the Valley lends itself to shortish bike rides (40-50 km) with a lunch break. These are perfect for introducing people to cycling on the road. The terrain is pretty flat and there isn't a lot of traffic. On several occasions this summer I got to take individuals on a loop which ended up being personal bests for each of them. Here's a photo of just one of those people - surprised by and proud of her achievement.

If you frequent the Valley check out Baked Inn Bakery and Eatery in Centreville. Good food and idiosyncratic owners which make it a fun experience all around.

Friends with dogs

Years ago I met a woman in a workshop series that I was teaching in Massachusetts. It turned out that her father's family was originally from Nova Scotia. Fast forward a lot of years and I have had a chance to visit with her regularly on her annual trips to the province. This year Tock (youngest Beardie) and I had a magical day on the beach in Harbourville with her two Golden Retrievers. It was Tock's first time on a long long rocky beach with all the smells and detritus. One of the Goldens, who has a history of difficult interactions with new dogs, was perfectly behaved. The day ended with all of the dogs sharing bones as we ate a lunch made with noodles from The Noodle Guy in Port Williams. His shop has become a regular stop on trips to and from Berwick - it is easy to make a great dinner by throwing together a sauce for his fantastic noodles.

BTW, it was on this trip that the lightning bolt hit me and I realized that we needed to live in Berwick. That evening I identified the lot which we eventually purchased.

SAQA

I was appointed to the SAQA Board of Directors earlier this year. It has been a lot of work but I am really enjoying the experience. It is fun to work with a group of very talented people who are so committed to a single goal and who take their responsibilities very seriously. 

The Cat Came Back

In case the title alone didn't generate an ear worm, take a look at this. It is an updated version by a revered Canadian children's performer Fred Penner.





There has been a lot of galloping since the last post here on the blog. Some details may trickle out over the next few months but suffice to say that it involved deaths of family members, ailing friends, lots of time doing community activities and a new commitment to SAQA.

There have been major developments and I can draw a line between them and my un-reported activities over the last few months. My husband and I have bought a lot in Berwick, NS.

Here's the driveway entrance - it will run up between the two lines of trees to a private 1.5 acre space behind.



On the satellite view we own all of the green space on the left plus out into the tree lines at the edges. That weird line of stuff toward the left of our lot is a a group of blueberry bushes. We will be removing those this fall and giving them to those who want them. The green space across the road is a farm which will not be developed.




It is a three minute bike ride to grocery stores and a ten minute walk home from one of Nova Scotia's best live music venues. Cycling in the area (Annapolis Valley) is terrific and we spent a lot of the summer mapping some of our favourite routes.

We are building a house. It will arrive as separate units four months after we sign the contract - no agonizing over the weather or conflicts between subcontractors. Here is the first plan we gave the architect (without links between modules drawn in). Things aren't exactly to scale yet nor do they represent final dimensions. It will all be on one level, wheelchair accessible everywhere, lots of light but much of it coming from above. There will be a complete detached guest house (not shown) and a two car garage. The guest house will serve as rooms for friends now and eventually our nanny will live there when we need extra care.

I'm not sure our architect knows what to make of us. We have already asked him to change the name of the project on the theory that language matters and we thought the title he was using would limit him as he thought about the things we are requesting. All I can say is - it will be over for him, and us, in under a year.

There has been art-making and I have lots of pictures saved up to share. Here is a closeup (in progress) of my contribution to the SAQA trunk show.

Ups and Downs

Life has been interesting - lots of ups and downs and too much work. I'm back on track now and plowing through both the adminstrivia that's required to get a big event off the ground and have also picked up the pieces of the work in the studio. There's some evidence posted on the other blog. I have the 'safe' work out of my system and am definitely ready to move toward the weird.

I have a pattern drafted for a large vessel. I am going to go ahead and test it without developing the meaning. Right now it is more important to see it done and know whether the construction works than creating something interesting to look at.

Committed

At 7:15 this morning I was working upstairs and, as I reached for a needle, I accidentally knocked a bobbin off the table. It rolled under the table where it would be difficult to retrieve. For a moment I thought about leaving it there. But then my commitment to cleaning up as I go kicked in so I got down on my hands and knees and retrieved it. I then gave myself another pat on the back.

Something else interesting happened in working on one of my Inspired by CFT pieces. I'll wait and tell the story on that blog but it points to more fun, less angst in the future.

In my dreams

George and I are talking about building a home - a place that fits the way we live and which will allow us to stay at home as long as we can as we age. There will be a small central core - big enough for a great room and kitchen and a bedroom/bath. The rest of the house will be set up to accommodate our interests. There will be a large 'clean' wing for his office and studio and storage space for me, and a 'dirty' wing for our metal workshop, bike repair and storage. Somewhere in there we'll fit in a space which will triple as bike wash, dog wash and dyeing space for me. And we will build in an apartment for a dog, and then person, caretaker.

We are still in the "I wish" stages - before we find out how much our dreams will cost. Today I decided that I want enough space so I can leave photography gear set up. It is such a pain to get out the lights and the tripod and get everything lined up and level just to take one or two pictures. My dreams might never come true, though, so I am determined to keep hauling everything out over and over again on the theory that repetition and practice will reduce the time involved and improve the quality of the final photos.