::Summer Updater::
Thursday, July 14, 2011 
Having twitter has had a negative impact on my blogging. I'm going to get back into it. I'm going to be better.
I've been in Hungary the past two weeks, taking part in the annual Australian tradition known as "The Summer Slaughter". This year's edition features Anders "ag79" Gustafsson, Kenny "Walrus" Wallace, Tate "Hey man" Smith, Dave "Smitty, no relation" Smith, Murray "the Muzz" Stewart, Luke "jealous of your Orange boat" Morrison, and myself, Adam "fill in the blank here, Kenny" van Koeverden. Training has been killer, water has been fast (really windy and wavy though, busy and crappy, don't come here to train)... all in all, Summer Slaughter has lived up to it's name and reputation, and I'm stoked to race the World Champs here in a little over a months time.
It's been a while since I was home in Toronto, but I read the news. If you're following me on Twitter you'll know I'm incensed with disgust and rage at our Toronto City Council's decision to remove the Jarvis bike lanes at a cost higher than their original installation. Firstly, this goes against Mayor Ford's pledge of respect for taxpayer dollars (his favourite term), although it is not surprising, given his apparent distaste for the very basic in community infrastructure. Thanks goes out to Mike Layton, and the other City Councillors who tried to have the issue split, and double shame on those Councillors who voted both for the installation of those bike lanes AND their removal, you are spineless. We need a long term plan for our city, a philosophy, a coherent concept of what a great city is. We needn't re-invent the awesome city wheel, I'm fortunate to travel a lot, to have friends from a lot of different countries, and some cities are just getting it right. Look to our city peers for inspiration, who is doing it best? Copenhagen is one of the most rideable cities in the world, Melbourne, AUS and Portland, Oregon have incredible public transit systems, putting ours to shame. Closer to home, Montreal and Vancouver are making their cities more accessible for those who choose not to drive, and beautifying their once industrial areas. Let's get inspired Toronto, let's be progressive and innovative and cool.
Ok back to Kayaking. Shut up kayaker, are you a city-planner architect expert? Um, no. I'm not. I took gym in University... but still. Stoked to be paddling fast with my mates here in Hungary, fortunate to be injury free and healthy and happy in my boat.
I promise to get some good media up on my site, pics and vids... and blog more often. More news soon!
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