It’s the middle of August – almost 3 months after the BWR - and I still haven’t shared how it went. Oops! Consider this my very condensed post-race report. Finishing My goal was finishing in 10 hours or less. I finished in 10 hours and 3 minut…
BWR Canada (or BWR BC) is less than 14 days away. It's been a long winter and spring of training and preparation and I'm feeling as ready as I'll ever be. Training-wise, I've had some setbacks but have mostly stuck to my plan and am feeling the…
I have friends who raced in the 2017 Belgian Waffle Ride (BWR) California which is a cycling event known for its difficult multi-surface course. The winning time is often in the neighbourhood of 7 hours and thousands of cyclists participate. The BWR…
A few weeks before snow settled on the Yukon, I started to take notice of soon-to-be ghosts around downtown Whitehorse. Ghosts, as in symbols of the COVID-19 starting to fade into memory. Come spring, I imagine most of these will be gone or at least…
2018 Cervélo R3, 61 cm. Navy blue and red carbon fiber frame, fork and seatpost. Shimano Ultegra 11-speed drivetrain, 52-36 chainrings. Check the Pinkbike listing for more photos. I bought the bike new in spring 2018 and have upgraded some key …
This summer, on a drive home from our cabin with my boys, we listened to a music playlist they’d created years prior. They’d kept updating it year after year, adding new songs to the playlist while retaining the older ones. There’s about 40 songs. I remem…
In November 2020 I bought a new-old-stock 22" 2013 Kona King Kahuna frame as the base for a gravel/XC mountain bike. Most modern bikes are too small for me – I need a long seat tube and high stack to fit, and the former quality is not on trend –…
On May 2, 2022 a big landslide shut down Whitehorse's Robert Service Way. Photo by CBC Robert Service Way is the south route into downtown Whitehorse from the Alaska Highway. We also have a north route called Two Mile Hill. Mud and debris covered a…
I’m excited to announce that I’m going to be taking on a new role at the Government of Yukon. I will be the Manager of Visitor Services in the Department of Tourism and Culture. I'll be overseeing our visitor information centres and their staff thr…
My mom's dad and my grandfather, William John Cate was born on December 11, 1911 and passed away on May 7, 2013. I knew him as Grandy. Grandy was loving, patient, gentle, wise and generous. He was a skilled handyman, mechanically minded and always…
This morning I was updating some stuff on my website and ended up scrolling through the journal archive. I noticed that in 2018 I published an article on December 24. I wrote about the simple joys of bike commuting. This inspired me to ride my fat…
I've been working on government service teams for almost 6 years. For much of this time, the pace has been very high. In the spring of 2019, I paid the price. I burned out. Since taking a break, doing something else and then returning to government…
At work I'm part of an amazing team with the mission to make Yukon government services better for everyone. If you're tired of big city life and seek adventure in a beautiful wilderness city in Canada's north, we're hiring for the role of service…
Bought new in May 2020. Very well maintained and in excellent condition. Original purchase price was CAD $6,000. Shock and fork re-lubed and seatpost bled last week at bike shop, and not ridden since. All parts are stock except for the following…
I’ve written several reviews of bikes I’ve owned or been privileged to test from a big guy perspective. These reviews include a mountain bike hardtail, road bike and a gravel bike. A month before I sold my Kona Explosif, I bought a new-old-stock 201…
If you work in government or a large organization, you’ll likely have encountered some or all these scenarios when trying to get a new digital service shipped and into the public’s hands. Support staff are nervous about making a service ava…
I'm not a lawyer, so this is not legal advice. I'm merely sharing this information because I spent a year trying to determine the process myself before someone thankfully walked me through the steps. As far as I know, this information is not…
For the past couple of winters, I've run a pair of 45NRTH Vanhelga tires on my fat bike. When conditions are snowy or packed snow, the Vanhelga tires have been great. They are light, grippy and even at 26x4, they have surprisingly good float in…
As a middle-class, middle-aged straight white male, I'm used to privilege. It wasn't until the last few years that I realized how much privilege I had and how much of my life including my relationships and career, was impacted by it. In November…
As I sit here, nursing yet another mountain biking related injury I realize how tired I am of getting hurt. I've had this thought before; many times before. And yet, here I am again, hurt. My list of injuries includes: Flipping over the bars…
The ideal bike for big people who are rough on stuff and want a sweet hardtail. I bought the frame in 2019 and had my local bike shop build it up. Well-maintained and serviced regularly. Burly yet agile. This is a very fun bike. Frame: 2017…
Not quite a year after leaving government, I'm returning. Our world is in a crisis and I want to help. Now more than ever, it's important that government services are easy to find and simple to use. This is especially true when we are told to have…
Known as the land of the Midnight Sun, Yukon offers two very different outdoor experiences in summer and winter. During the summer, typically around June 21 the sun never really goes down. There’s dusk around 3 a.m. but even in the forest you don’t nee…
After leaving government in May 2019, I joined Proskida. Proskida is a Whitehorse, Yukon technology start-up that first had success making and selling performance measurement sensors for cross-country skiers. Their software takes data from Proskida…
Last weekend (September 28, 2019) I rode in the third annual Gravel Growler, a gravel cycling event that naturally, starts and ends at Winterlong Brewing. Gravel Growler poster The agenda: Waffles, bacon, coffee, dirt, rocks, mud, bikes and beer.…
Many of the road bikes I've owned have been at most 62cm in size. That's usually the largest frame size available from mainstream manufacturers. They've fit me pretty well with some exceptions. Those exceptions were bikes with a long enough seat…
I'm selling my 2018 Norco Torrent HT 2 XL frame, rear wheel and headset. I recently moved the other parts over to a Kona Explosif which is a taller and longer frame. The Explosif fits me better. The Torrent HT is a fun, tough and versatile…
Last week, after four years in the public service I resigned from my job. I was the first employee at the Government of Yukon's recently established eServices for Citizens branch. During my time, we grew the eServices team to seven people and…
Sometimes it – life, work, family, health, future – all seems like too much for me to handle. Sometimes I just want to, and do walk away and disappear. I'm consistently mentally and emotionally overwhelmed and exhausted. Like a jug, sitting in a sin…
I'm selling my 2005-06 F2 Speedster RS 183cm alpine race snowboard with F2 bindings. I originally purchased this set-up from YYZCANUCK, as it was one of Dave's (the owner's) personal boards. Top sheet and bindings are in great shape. Only very minor…
I live in the Yukon where typically it starts to freeze and begins to snow in October, then progressively gets colder and colder. This weather often lasts until mid-March and then begins to let up in April. Since I commute to and from work most days…
I ride my bike to and from work at least three times per week. It's about 8 km per way, depending on the route I choose to follow. In winter, I ride my fat bike. In summer, spring and autumn, my Cove. Sometimes commuting by bike is hard, especially…
My now-defunct business, Subvert Marketing Inc. used to build a lot of websites. Looking back at our eight-year history of projects, often more than 70% of the company’s annual revenue came from website design and development work. We designed and d…
Government in part exists is to provide services to citizens. These services should be easy as possible to find and use. Unfortunately, many government "online services" are still PDF documents that people need to download, complete and…
My wife and I have three kids. Life is loopy. In between work, house and cabin maintenance, kid-related activities, the dog and a long list of other responsibilities I tend to ignore (or start, but never finish) I'm all over the place. For me, extra…
In March 2018, I excitedly walked into Icycle Sports to pay a deposit for a brand new, navy blue 2018 Cervélo R3, size 61 cm. Bennett Lake This day came after nine long months of hours spent working on freelance projects and commuting on my fat bike …
A short time ago, I recognized I take pride in my ability to have "just enough". I also recognize that I'm incredibly privileged to be able to make the choice. There are many, many people who don't have enough food, shelter, money or the…
I don't have an account on any of the major social media networks, except if you count Linkedin. I guess Linkedin loosely qualifies as a social network, but for me it's really just a place to host my resume. Otherwise, Linkedin doesn't provide me…
As I wrote about in the ideal big guy mountain bike there's now a number of options for strong, sturdy and affordable bikes that suit folks of larger stature. I sold my Kona Hei Hei mountain bike in April; it was not from this genre. When I bought…
In April 2015, I became the first employee at eServices for Citizens. Two years later, I was extremely happy to gain two talented co-workers. Lee is our eServices web architect and Ash is our eServices delivery manager. We have a great team that’s a…
I'm selling my well-maintained Kona Hei Hei Trail mountain bike, size XL. I bought the bike brand new in 2016 and have taken very good care of it. This is a lively, fun and agile trail assassin. Over the past year, I've put on new Specialized…
I'm selling my much-loved Kona Zing Supreme road bike, size 61cm. I bought the bike brand new in 2013 and have taken very good care of it since. No crashes, no issues. This is a very reliable, sturdy yet sprightly steed. Last summer I put on new…
As a cyclist, even though Whitehorse’s automobile traffic is far from busy compared to a bigger city I still try to stay away from main roads because of how scary distracted drivers can be. When at a stop light, I’ve seen people staring down at a pho…
In the past, if you were a big guy and into mountain biking, breaking frames and components was a regular and expensive occurrence no matter which parts you chose. Thankfully this is no longer the case if you buy the right "large fella…
I've spent most of my adult life on two wheels, whether commuting, racing or just plain riding. I didn't own a car until I was 25 years old and even then I still rode my bike to and from work after I'd bought the thing. Heck, nowadays I still…
Almost two years I was poking around Pinkbike's Buy and Sell, and came across a brand new 2002 Cove Handjob XC frame, size XL for sale by a fellow in Vancouver. The frame had never been ridden and had only seen a seat-post and headset installed.…
I think it's important to regularly make choices that you know will result in discomfort, worry and fear. I say this from a position of privilege, recognizing that as a white, middle-class dude I have many cards in my favour. Other people do not…
At first the exit from Strava's community was hard, and I guess that was the saddest and most revealing part. I was clearly hooked on Strava. Back then I would be riding and thinking, "I wonder if I'll be faster than..." and catch myself…
After over two years working in the public sector, I’ve had the opportunity to look back and consider what went right, what went wrong and what was missing in our previous company. In government, I’ve grown substantially as a designer. Daily exp…
As a kid, I had lots of heroes. They started out from the super variety like Batman or Spiderman and as I grew older, they morphed into sports heroes. Posters of superstar baseball, hockey, basketball and football players lined my childhood bedroom…
I ride my fat bike in winter both on single track trails and to and from work almost every day. I also happen to live in Canada's Yukon. This combination means that I ride in some pretty cold weather on a regular basis. By no means am I a hardcore…
This is something that's been occupying my thoughts as of late. In the minutes before you die, what will you have left in your possession? Most likely, simply memories of a life lived. I say "most likely" because I'm really just guessing.…
Across Tagish Lake from our cabin sits a mountain called Jubilee. At one of its peaks is a microwave tower and a fire tower, both of which are easily visible on a clear day. Hot day, tired dog This past summer I decided I'd take our dog and try to…
I've been riding alpine snowboards for nearly 20 years. According to The Carver's Almanac people who purchase carving gear, like me, represent less than 1% of the total snowboard market. In a way, that's sorta depressing. But in another way, it's…
Before I joined the government, I thought that "service design" was mostly related to the realms of customer experience design, user experience design, visual design or interaction design. In other words, the design of things that people…
In elementary school, I took up skateboarding. I still skate today - mostly to and from meetings on my longboard - but if you asked, I'd no longer consider myself a skateboarder. 1991: The year I figured out the trick to skipping school without the…
I've been employed at Government of Yukon in the eServices for Citizens branch for more than a year and a half. In this time, I've been part of a very small team - me, my director, several local programmers and a development company out of…
Like me, if you've been riding higher-end "performance" bikes for a while, you know first-hand how much better they are than they used to be. And by better, I mean way more fun. My first mountain bike (that is, not the Canadian Tire-sold…
I've been working in my new job for about eight months. I've really enjoyed the stuff we've been doing and are about to start shipping. Additionally, I get to work with some pretty awesome people in and outside of the government. All in all, it's…
I started snowboarding during the winter of 1987/88 so this season of 2015/16 will mark my 28-year anniversary. Crazy! A couple of years ago I sold one of my older snowboards (up until then, I had three) and that experience made me think about all…
The other day when I left our house and climbed aboard my bike to ride to work, I was feeling extremely overwhelmed. Not only did my shoulders feel heavy (a big backpack full of papers and gear didn't help) but my mind was jam-packed with worries,…
When you choose to follow your dreams - to do something dramatically different than you are - you seek to live out an ideal. An ideal life, an ideal situation or perhaps an ideal relationship; something that you believe, based on assumptions, will…
In case you didn't see it on our website or read about it via email or Twitter...yesterday we announced Subvert is shutting down. Okay, well not so much shutting down, but we're, hmmm, dimming the lights. The company will still be open for business…
Just like you shouldn't take cooking advice from a skinny chef, you probably shouldn't accept business advice from someone who has never run their own business. Photograph of the Boyardee family courtesy of NPR. A number of years ago, I went to the…
I don't buy much non-essential stuff—that is, everything that isn't groceries, medicine or clothing (okay, and fuel)—online, but when I do, I try NOT to purchase from Amazon. One of their warehouses is below. A typical Amazon warehouse. Instead, I try…
Even after being on the market for more than four years and making a lot of progress with both the quality and quantity of apps in its store, Microsoft routinely still gets lambasted for not having enough Windows Phone apps. Or the right apps. Or…
I first learned about Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's flow more than twenty years ago in university (or to be more accurate, 1993; ancient history). Lately I've found myself actively seeking that state as a means of stress release and emotional reset.…
I finally did something I've been wanting to do for years and that's to scrape together and then consolidate content from all of my various personal blogs and websites, right back to the beginning in 1999. My objective was to have everything be…
My hand span (as pictured below is something that you measure from the outside tip of your thumb to the outside tip of your little finger) is about 22 cm or 8.7 inches. Not especially huge, but big enough to make it difficult to find a mouse that…
Subvert has made and sold a handful of our own different software products over the past few years. All have been mobile phone, tablet or tiny desktop apps. Flik: Network chat and file sharing application for Windows desktop Our first was Flik, a…
It's March and that means road cycling's spring classics are in full effect. I love watching the Giro and Tour as much as the next roadie nerd, but the spring classics truly have my heart. From Omloop Het Nieuwsblad to Gent-Wevelgem and Tour of…
I've mainly ridden the same snowboard since 2001, an Option Supercharger 174. As far as boards go, this one is big, stiff and built like a tank. Hence, why I've owned it for 13 years. I've ridden (and crashed) it all over Alberta, BC, Alaska and…
I subscribe to a neat magazine called Offscreen. Inside is a regular feature titled A Day in the Life in which people lay out their typical day, about hour by hour. Most of the interviewees are younger than me and very few have kids, so I find their…
Over the past couple of years, I've found myself becoming a more anxious person, whereas growing up and even into my early 30's, I had a fairly mellow personality. It could be my age (I'm turning 40 next spring), it could be that it's been almost…
I've always been a social person, but the effort of socializing exhausts me. I need regular time alone to recharge and have the energy to talk to people once again. My wife is the opposite: she loves to socialize and draws energy from the people…
I spent from September 1997 to May 1998 in Whistler, BC and I have only a single photo to show for the entire experience. Random cliff drop somewhere in Whistler, B.C. These were the days long before mobile phones, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.…
Childhood can be a lonely place. Despite my parents' best efforts, I remember it feeling like sometimes I was the only person in the world.I've never suffered from depression, but I certainly recall feeling anxious and scared. Whether it was from…
When your children are very young, it's easy to think that you're going to do everything better than your parents did. When your baby is only a few months old, those ideas are all new and fresh in your mind. You're going to be the Best Parent Ever.…
Yesterday my friend died. He had brain cancer. The day before, I went to see him at the hospital. I hadn't seen or talked to him in several months. All I could do was look at him and talk to his wife and daughter because he had been sleeping for…
In Whitehorse, you first see road cyclists hitting the pavement in early April. Basically, whenever the Alaska Highway is dry enough to be ridden. Cyclists wave to one another as they pass by. Groups of three or four riders are common, but I've seen…
A number of years ago, Jesse Bennett-Chamberlain posted a drawing his daughter made of him, "Grumpy Daddy". That illustration has stuck with me ever since, for various reasons. That's not to say I'm always "Grumpy Daddy", but…
A Yukon summer evening Barely any wind in either direction. Midnight sun ablaze (photo taken at 10:00 p.m). Storm clouds in the distance. Thick humidity in the air and endless road ahead. It was a pretty amazing way to spend a Yukon summer evening.
Our youngest child is about 18 months old. In other words, a toddler. And boy, is he busy, curious and a little bit mischievous, as toddlers most often are. Here's how to tell you've got one on the premises: There's sippy cups in obscure places…
Today we returned home from a short family vacation to discover that we had not taken spare house keys with us. Luckily, the friends who were checking on our house were able to return the keys we had leant to them. Phew. After we got settled in, I…
Until tonight, I thought I knew about fear.I've done a lot of dumb stuff in my life, risking my own safety (and others; sorry). I've overcome my personal fears too many times to count and have come out relatively unscathed. Some broken bones, blood…
The older our kids get, the more moments I have where I think to myself, "I have no idea what I'm doing." The fact that I went through most of my life assuming that my parents knew the answer to everything proves that either they did or…
Last night our kids put on their pyjamas early and we sat down as a family to watch some episodes of Little Bear before they went to bed. This is not a regular occurrence, so it was a big treat for them. After two episodes were over - they are about…
I've lost count of how many times in the past seven years I've shown up to a meeting wearing a dress shirt that's covered in either food, toothpaste or snot. And those stains aren't of my own doing. Well, most often not. Other parents, whether to…
Do you daydream about getting an ulcer? Long for the thrill of panic attacks? Want to lay awake at night stressing out? Do you desire to cut your life short by a decade or two? Do you find enjoyment in giving other people, especially large…
On our company page of this website, we talk briefly about the culture of Subvert. From listening to other people's opinions to charity donations and outsourcing tasks to delivering both speed and quality, we have a number of core beliefs that keep…
Not particularly complicated, so it's surprising how many guys get these wrong. If you're a father, it's your job to teach these rules to your son. So, onto the list: No eye contact Even if it's your best friend, your long lost twin or Santa Claus,…
I'm very blessed to have had two grandfathers that I knew well and lived near growing up. Both, along with my grandmothers, resided less than 30 minutes from my childhood home located in Whitby, Ontario, Canada. My mom's father, William, on the far…
A couple of days ago I bought the newest issue of Snowboard Canada. This is the 20-year celebration of the magazine, which is a remarkable feat. Although my taste in snowboard magazines has changed - nowadays I much prefer Frequency over SBC…
Riding my bike home from work the other day, I started thinking about my family. About being a husband and a father, and how it is, at once, a blessing, a privilege and a promise. A blessing because each day with my wife and children is a gift. A…
After two years of running Subvert from the second floor of Horwoods Mall in downtown Whitehorse, we decided some additional room and newer digs were in order. Here's a couple of photos from the old office. Looking out into the hallway that…
I want to build an online Yukon campground reservation service. After yet another fruitless night of driving up and down our highways, searching desperately for any public campground with open spots, I believe it’s time for the Government of Yukon t…
New social networks launch every day, most with the same basic two features: find/chat with friends and share what interests you. Some of these networks make good money - others make a lot of money - so there's no doubt it's a smart business model.…
I've got both, so I guess it makes me a subject matter expert. There will be times, often quite regularly, that a business will keep you up at night and/or wake you early in the morning with thoughts of things left undone or general stress and…
A local three-day road cycling event, Tour de Whitehorse, held July 25-27, 2008, marked my formal return to bike racing after a three-year hiatus. Racing bikes is never an easy task, even when you're in the best of shape. Your lungs hurt, legs…
It's been a long-time dream of mine to own an agency. When I was in high school, I developed a company name and logo, designed our studio space, wrote a business plan (!) and labeled all of the creative work I did as if I were running a commercial…
November marked the ninth month of Subvert Marketing Inc. being open. Business has been extremely good. So good, in fact, that the company is on track to hire a second employee (besides me, of course) in the new year. Here are two lessons I've…
Today while putting the final touches on a website interface design, I suddenly noticed that something didn't feel right. At first I couldn't pinpoint the issue, but after stepping back, staring at the screen and clicking around on the page, it…
Since I started Urban Yukon back in March 2006, the basic visual design has stayed intact, with some minor tweaks here and there. As the community has grown and the site audience has greatly expanded, the previous version was being stretched to the…
Most websites I've built over the years have either had the main navigation placed along the left side of the screen or straight across the top. On the rare occasion, I implement a right-hand design. While it's true that left-hand navigation is more…
I have utilized a technique called epicenter design for most of the website interfaces I've created over the past few years. The methodology encourages me to focus on the most important pages of the site first and then gradually design outwards,…
When I first moved to Whitehorse nearly 10 years ago, I did all of my Christmas shopping on Main Street. Stores were lit up with decorations, deals and of course, people looking for deals - or just buying whatever was left on the shelves. My family…
For blogs, a vibrant comments community is just as, if not, more important than the posts themselves. Comments are where readers talk about the subject matter, share their opinions and get involved. Typically, the more passionate and lively your…
I'm heavily involved with the local cycling club, acting in the volunteer role of mountain bike director. I coordinate and run all of the events from April to September. All in all, it's a fun way to spend evenings in the summer. Not being a…
I'm currently part of a tiny start-up developing what we consider to be a game-changing product. It has been a challenging experience thus far; planning and building something that's never been done before naturally leads to a considerable amount of…
Do you own more than one domain name? Of these domain names, how many are in use today as functioning websites or applications? At last count I personally owned 11 domains, excluding all customer or work-related stuff. Five are actually online and…
Jeff Veen, really big dude and recent appointee to Google via the acquisition of Measure Map, yesterday posted a podcast entitled Designing the Next Generation of Web Apps. What interests me is his third point, The Role of Design: User generated…
ADI Interactive has at its disposal a custom-built PHP/MySQL Content Management System (CMS) that we use for large websites and web applications: ADI ContentManager. We continually update the main CMS code-base and deploy new versions where…
January 19, 2006 I've been stoked on YouTube since it first went live in February 2005. It's much like Flickr but instead of static photos, people upload, share and tag videos. You can then link to your videos on blogs, other websites or through…
Unless my eyes were fooled by the early morning darkness of this northern November morning, the 4th and Black St. location of Midnight Sun Coffee Roaster here in Whitehorse is currently burning down. I've been a happy regular at Zola's original…
Today I am eating kraft dinner for lunch. Our receptionist, Cheryl, told me that you can now buy kd in microwavable pouches, thus making an already easy, low-nutrition value meal even easier. Can our lives truly get any more cushy? I would think…
Yes that's right. D & G to all you Ontario homies or for those who grew up on the right coast of North America in the seventies. This tv show was made in the late 1950's and used some pretty spectacular claymation (before it was called…
I have uploaded my mountain bike movie to the server so now you can check out my film work. This was my maiden voyage into the world of digital editing and I've learned a lot since the movie was made in August 2000. Soon I will upload another movie…
I have a lot of stuff to do, but it's not like I am doing any of it. Well, yeah. I have a bunch of side projects on the go, like a re-design for Northview community church which is a volunteer design job. I am collaborating with two other guys on…
This article was originally written by me and published by Brooke Geery on YoBeat.com. RIP YoBeat (1997-2018). I blame it on those videos. Those blasted snowboarding videos in which some overpaid, underworked professional freerider is ripping down…