Thirty

It’s that time of year again, and this time it’s marking my thirtieth birthday. This marks 10 years of doing these types of yearly posts, which is a cool accomplishment to look back on.

As I think about my major milestones, there are a few that I’m quite proud of, but don’t want to share due to wanting to live a private life. If you see me in person, feel free to ask what they were though!

Career

This time last year I was unemployed and living my best life. Taking a break from big tech was a well needed relief. Once the cold weather started coming and the travel and DIY plans all ceased, it was time to get back into focusing on my career. Long story short, while applying for jobs at some well known places, a ex-Shopify friend of mine reached out about joining his startup, Mantle. They wanted me specifically, their product was compelling, and the team of founders are jacked in the nerdiest and business sense way possible. Plus, I knew a bunch of them from my time at Shopify. It was an easy decision.

A few days later and I was already hired. It’s been a great change working at Mantle, reminiscent of the fun I had during my first year working at Shopify, but even more startup-y with the mindset of just go and build or do the thing. No need to double-check with others - it’s all about the speed of shipping. Did I mention that I’m back to writing code every day? Yes, it’s quite fulfilling to be back into building every day given I spent the last 4.5 years at Shopify as a manager of one sort or another.

Cycling

I’ve had to step back my cycling a bunch, at least early this year, given a car accident I was in. I’ve fully healed up though, so was still able to get out when the nice weather arrived to tackle a number of fun rides and the ususal training. Since I travelled to France with my partner in April, the jetlag I had was actually beneficial for waking up early and getting outdoors for some quite early morning rides. Sadly this only lasted for four or so months until I got back into my usual habit of sleeping in.

Being able to strap my bike on to the back of the car has been a great way to bike anywhere I want. There were several early morning rides I did out in Collingwood, specifically the 250 metre hill climb up Grey Road 19 that doesn’t offer much relief along the way combined with all the scenic backroads. One other day I rode to Creemore and back, combined with going to Thornbury which totalled up to just over 110k in a day. That day was tiring.

Out in Vancouver, I finally hit up my buddy Vince who I worked with for a few years to go on one of the big rides he frequents, and to show me around the greater Vancouver area. I brought my cycling gear but left my bike at home, instead renting a road bike from a bike shop near English Bay Beach. Vince took me from downtown through Stanley Park, into West Van, where we then continued on the beautiful and punchy hills along Marine Drive. We continued on that road with the dozens of other cyclists to Whytecliff Park and took in the views before turning around to take a break at the nearby Isetta Cafe Bistro, a common stopping point for cyclists and yuppies to grab a bite to eat. My legs were jelly at this point, so it was a well needed break. Arriving back in Vancouver and that’s 70k in the bag.

I also participated again in the CN Ride for CHEO, the local children hospital for eastern Ontario’s fundraiser ride. My close friend and I decided to sign up for the 70k this year instead of the 35k. We didn’t know this year would be quite rainy and cold. Thank you Canadian spring weather. It felt like there were a thousand or so people doing the 70k with us. Anyways, within the first 5k someone in front of me freaked out at a crack in the road they could have easily rolled over and sent their tire directly into it sideways, causing them to fall on the ground, and causing me who was a foot back from them to topple over them too. Long story short, we both had a few scrapes but were both fine, my bike in perfect condition too, thankfully. I was still able to continue cycling, which was nice to do after all that. Since we were quite behind the pack, the organizers forced any laggards on the 70k to end the ride early and continue down the 35k route to the finish line.

Skiing

This year some friends and I decided to go big and invest in our own ski gear. Previous years we would only rent and try out a few different skis, and try to remember what we rode in. This year we had a good idea of what we preferred, and with the help of Reddit, had some great recommendations to cement our decisions. Boy, was this a game changer: having your own fitted boots is next level. Being able to stay in your boots for hours with no discomfort is something I never knew existed, but glad I have it now. Even a fresh pair of skis that I can repeatedly build up the muscle memory of how it performs in all conditions has greatly helped me become an even better skier this year.

I bought a full season’s pass to the nearby ski hill over on the Quebec side: Camp Fortune. They have a wide variety of lifts and challenging runs, even though it is still a hill. Since I was unemployed for part of this season I wanted to make the pass worth it and really increase my skill level. I ended up going out a few mornings each week for several weeks in a row, which absolutely helped with getting better and learning all the runs inside and out. For most of the days it was hard-packed trails, but on the odd day or two we were graced with powder. What a blast. As the season went on, more of the challenging trails opened up until the entire hill was open. I spent most of my time on the Skyline lift as the runs there were in my sweet spot of not too challenging but still fun to ride and those that I can challenge myself on. The Heggtveit run offered me the most growth when dealing with steep slopes, forcing me into learning how to angle myself even more into the slopes. Then it became a race for how fast I could go down it. Strava provided me with the satisfaction that all my “hard” work was paying off. I’m quite exicted for this next season, but will likely get a season’s pass at another hill to switch it up.

Our now usual trip to Collingwood for a ski weekend at Blue Mountain happened again. I took some time off of work to ski during the “best” of the two days - slightly slushy runs during a weekday. It was a real testament to be able to hit every single run with confidence and speed without falling - even the double black diamond I remember tumbling down the season earlier. That last one felt the best. I was able to take my partner out to help improve her skiing as well. It was a beautiful day with some light powder. Let’s just say that Blue Mountain doesn’t have a great variety of beginner routes. It was a fun day at least!

Travel

It’s been a big year for travel. My birthday last year was a few days spent in Prince Edward County enjoying the fine beer, wine, and food with my wonderful partner. Definitely a place to keep exploring, especially if the weather is good enough to go around by bike.

In February, my partner and I travelled to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic to stay at a friend’s place that they were renting for the entire month. It was a great change relaxing at a condo full of expats rather than a resort packed full of people. The days were spent reading on the beach, hitting up the few dozen restaurants in the area, and spending time with friends. One day we had a scenic boat excursion out to do some snorkelling - no scuba diving on this trip or this year though.

In early spring we spent a week out in France. This was my first time out there, so it was a good feeling uncanny valley everywhere I went. Paris had to be my favourite big city. I would choose it over New York since every place you went there would always be good food, and the transit was nice and convenient. We split this trip into a few parts. The first bit doing some of the scenic bits of France since it was my first time out there: Eiffel Tower stair climb. Next was Reims, which was one of the main cities in the region of Champagne. We tasted a lot of champagne, explored the city, and took our rental car for some drives around. Last stop was Colmar, a city close to the border of Germany which contained quite a few historic towns right out of the 15th century. It was crazy picturesque. We stopped at a random family winery in the area too and discovered a great new style: Viognier. Overall, the food and wine were some of the best parts of this trip.

Each summer feels like it gets busier. This summer was no exception. Right after France, each week or weekend we had something going on. Whether it was spending a few long weekends or entire week at the cottage, going out to Vancouver for a week to visit friends and do some cycling, a weekend in Montreal, a birthday in Niagara on the Lake, a week in Collingwood, or work events in Toronto, by the time August rolled around, it felt like no time has been spent at home to relax. Even my bags didn’t really get put away, since there was somewhere else to go. I was certainly glad to spend several weekends enjoying the tail end of summer in Ottawa, where the patios and seasonally late warm weather was enjoyed.

This next year

I’m quite looking forward to this next year. Working at my first startup is exicting and really engaging to help grow Mantle by building awesome product and enabling great customers. My fingers are crossed for the weather working in favour of a killer ski season this year as I plan to sample all of the nearby hills, and maybe a big trip or two. I already have some epic travel plans, some already planned out! Lastly, with the cold weather arriving I’m excited to jump back on my bike trainer and get some good hours in. See you next year!