Two Cyclists

Spring’s First Sunday

It was a gorgeous day weatherwise; a slight chill in the air early but bright sunshine and a pleasant warmth if one stayed out of the shadows.

I awoke early to watch the Milano-San Remo cycling classic — pouring with rain much of the race, with a surprise winner beating the favourites on the line after a gruelling 294 kilometers.  Exciting stuff.  It is a part of the world I know or knew quite well, and the run along the coast west from Genoa still reminds me of when we lived in Nice damn near fifty years ago, and when I hiked through the region ten and twenty years later.

Then, talking of hikes, it was time to hit the streets as the Grandview Heritage Group set out on a walk of discovery west and south of Britannia.  About a dozen of us joined in to find houses over one hundred years old that we could celebrate for our 2014 Centenary House Signs project.  We went up and down the streets between McLean and Clark and along Woodland and Odlum, chatting, swapping history stories, and taking lots of pictures.  We found some gems this time, and I look forward to the research work that will be needed to pin down their histories.  It was a tiring but well worthwhile two-hour tramp through the neighbourhood.

Our group was shadowed all morning by an SFU Communications student who is making a class project about me, the neighbourhood, and the changes that may come as a result of the Community Plan.  After the walk, he and I relaxed in Grandview Park with hot chocolates from Renzo’s and chatted for another hour or so on camera.

Then home, a quick lunch, and a well-deserved nap!  Not a bad day at all so far, and there is a whole evening to go.