I have now been sick for 4 days and I am going to have to take antibiotics for the next 10 days. I have a kidney infection which has caused my temperature to soar, 102F last night. This meant a trip to the hospital was neccessary. It was the second time in 3 days that my temperature had gone out of whack. The first time I started popping Tylenol which brought the fever down and convinced me that I was suffering from the flu. Somehow I figured the reason I wasn't exactly peeing with force was strictly caused by the fever. After a day of Tylenol my temperature dropped from 101.5F to normal so back to work I went feeling run down but thinking the worst was over with. By the time I got home from work yesterday I again had the chills and a temperature of 102F and could hardly pass water at all so it was off to the hospital.
It turns out it wasn't the flu and fever causing the problems, it was a urinary tract infection most likely in my kidneys which was the root of my misery. Taking the Tylenol to reduce fever masked the origin of my troubles and in the long run caused things to worsen.
All this may have been avoided if I simply drank more water through the day, in particular when I am at work where I am quite active but because I don't sweat profusely there I don't drink much water. Water flushes out the system and helps prevent infections from proliferating.
I have already talked about my bad water drinking habits while riding my bike and I have improved in reminding myself to drink all the water that I bring on a ride. That is simply not enough it seems and it will now be neccessary to remind myself at work to continually be hydrating. It seems the simplest things are sometimes the most important.
I should also mention that going for hard rides now or for the next few days would be counter productive. The best thing is to just rest and not worry about losing some conditioning. I learned this the hard way many years ago when I had a bad cold a few weeks before the 24 hours of Adrenaline. Instead of resting and making sure I ridded myself of the cold I continued to ride and consequently took much longer to get better. My nose ran like a tap on every lap I did and for the first time ever I had severe leg cramps. Another lesson learned.
P.S.......I don't like to use the emergency at the hospital but I figured not being able to pee for a couple of days before I could see my own doctor meant I had to go. For a while I was waiting beside a woman and her young (roughly 6-7 years old) daughter. Mom had brought the daughter in because she had been swimming in a chlorined pool 2 hours before and now her eyes were sore and red. No problems seeing, no swelling, just irritated. How ridiculous!
Ice climbing at Eugenia Falls
Eugenia Falls
Sunday 29 July 2012
Wednesday 25 July 2012
Rescued on the high ropes
Last night the Scenic Caves ecotour staff were invited by Blue Mountain to try their Timber Challenge High Ropes. At the Caves we have our treetop walk which is fun but is simply a nature walk high in the trees whereas the Timber Challenge High Ropes are more of an obstacle course walk.
It starts off with the fitting of a body harness and helmet followed by ground school where you learn how to work the safety clips and pulley. The two safety clips were very high tech. Only one clip would open at a time so when transfering from one obstacle to the other you would remove the clip that opened, clamp onto the new safety cable and then place the clip over a sensor which released the other clip allowing it to be removed from the first cable and transferred. Very cool and it meant that you could never be caught out with no clips attached to the safety cable.
There are three levels of difficulty on the high ropes and they use the same colour code as the ski runs, green for easy, blue for more difficult and black for advanced. The greens and blues have some fun obstacles but the real test is when you start the blacks. After climbing a ladder where the steps spin on a rope making it unbelievably hard to get up to the platform your first obstacle is a set of 8 ropes with 8 inch square blocks on the bottom for footing. The ropes are knotted higher up so you can get a good grip. Just getting on the first rope and trying to stand on that small block of wood was tough enough. Then you have to grab the next rope about 3 feet over and move to it while trying to stand on its block which is swinging all over the place. Very difficult. I was doing OK but I was getting caught up in the ropes I had already used which meant I had to stop and untangle myself resulting in a lot of energy expended which I would need to make it across. Suffice to say I didn't make it and ended up sitting down on a block 2 ropes from the end.
This meant I had to be rescued by the wonderful Alexa who came out on the safety cable and then used a 3 in 1 to lift me to the platform level and then pull me across. During the rescue I got very up close and personal with Alexa's crotch which at one point was about a foot away from my face as the crow flies. I bit my tongue..........and said nothing.
All in all it was a great time and I would recommend it to anyone who is adventurous and in good shape. It is completely different from the nature walk at the Caves which just about anyone can do. Both are great in their own way.
It starts off with the fitting of a body harness and helmet followed by ground school where you learn how to work the safety clips and pulley. The two safety clips were very high tech. Only one clip would open at a time so when transfering from one obstacle to the other you would remove the clip that opened, clamp onto the new safety cable and then place the clip over a sensor which released the other clip allowing it to be removed from the first cable and transferred. Very cool and it meant that you could never be caught out with no clips attached to the safety cable.
There are three levels of difficulty on the high ropes and they use the same colour code as the ski runs, green for easy, blue for more difficult and black for advanced. The greens and blues have some fun obstacles but the real test is when you start the blacks. After climbing a ladder where the steps spin on a rope making it unbelievably hard to get up to the platform your first obstacle is a set of 8 ropes with 8 inch square blocks on the bottom for footing. The ropes are knotted higher up so you can get a good grip. Just getting on the first rope and trying to stand on that small block of wood was tough enough. Then you have to grab the next rope about 3 feet over and move to it while trying to stand on its block which is swinging all over the place. Very difficult. I was doing OK but I was getting caught up in the ropes I had already used which meant I had to stop and untangle myself resulting in a lot of energy expended which I would need to make it across. Suffice to say I didn't make it and ended up sitting down on a block 2 ropes from the end.
This meant I had to be rescued by the wonderful Alexa who came out on the safety cable and then used a 3 in 1 to lift me to the platform level and then pull me across. During the rescue I got very up close and personal with Alexa's crotch which at one point was about a foot away from my face as the crow flies. I bit my tongue..........and said nothing.
All in all it was a great time and I would recommend it to anyone who is adventurous and in good shape. It is completely different from the nature walk at the Caves which just about anyone can do. Both are great in their own way.
Wednesday 18 July 2012
The Thunderbird
Today I rode the Thunderbird zip line at Scenic Caves for the second time. I must admit it's a pretty cool ride. It's 2600 feet long with a significant vertical drop which makes for a fast ride down the hill. Sadly it's not open to the public yet because they still have many finishing touches to complete as well as getting the green light from a government safety group.
The ride starts with ground training where we have 2 cables set up beside the zip to demonstrate how we will harness them and to allow guests to get a feel for the braking system. Once we feel they are comfortable with ground training they will have to climb the 60 foot spiral staircase to the "launching" platform. The guests are then harnessed up again, two at a time side by side about 10 feet apart. When all systems are go the two gates open simultaneously, we inform the catchers at the bottom that we are releasing and send the two zipliners on their rapid descent. A ride down will take anywhere from 40-60 seconds depending on how fast the guests want to go.
On todays zip ride I went side by side with friend and co-worker Skip who happens to weigh about 20 pounds less than me which meant that the race to the bottom was no contest with me, the fat guy, arriving much earlier than Skip. For me I think the coolest part of the ride is when you are hanging there in the harness and the gate finally opens. You get this incredible view of the bay area and of the cable stretching down the hill to the unloading platform which looks pretty small when viewed from the top. I suspect there will be some guests who will be unable to go through with the ride when the gates open and they get a good look at what is about to happen.
All of the Ecotour staff is now training on the Thunderbird and we will be ready to go when construction is complete and the approvals are in place. We are hoping that will be in about a weeks time.
An interesting note. It's called the Thunderbird because the Rama Ojibway believed the thunderbird, which they thought controlled the weather, had its nest on the escarpment near Collingwood. That seems so silly now because we all know God controls the weather.
The ride starts with ground training where we have 2 cables set up beside the zip to demonstrate how we will harness them and to allow guests to get a feel for the braking system. Once we feel they are comfortable with ground training they will have to climb the 60 foot spiral staircase to the "launching" platform. The guests are then harnessed up again, two at a time side by side about 10 feet apart. When all systems are go the two gates open simultaneously, we inform the catchers at the bottom that we are releasing and send the two zipliners on their rapid descent. A ride down will take anywhere from 40-60 seconds depending on how fast the guests want to go.
On todays zip ride I went side by side with friend and co-worker Skip who happens to weigh about 20 pounds less than me which meant that the race to the bottom was no contest with me, the fat guy, arriving much earlier than Skip. For me I think the coolest part of the ride is when you are hanging there in the harness and the gate finally opens. You get this incredible view of the bay area and of the cable stretching down the hill to the unloading platform which looks pretty small when viewed from the top. I suspect there will be some guests who will be unable to go through with the ride when the gates open and they get a good look at what is about to happen.
All of the Ecotour staff is now training on the Thunderbird and we will be ready to go when construction is complete and the approvals are in place. We are hoping that will be in about a weeks time.
An interesting note. It's called the Thunderbird because the Rama Ojibway believed the thunderbird, which they thought controlled the weather, had its nest on the escarpment near Collingwood. That seems so silly now because we all know God controls the weather.
Sunday 15 July 2012
3 Stage 2012
This morning I headed over to 3 stage to go for a quick ride. It was already 25C at 8:30 AM and quite humid and it wasn't going to get any cooler so the morning was a good time to ride. I also took the smart phone along so I could map the ride with Strava just for the heck of it. I rode many of the trails up top and worked up a hell of a sweat in the 1:24.44 that I was riding. I covered 16.1 kms at an average of 11.4kph. There were some new downed trees and because I don't ride there near as often anymore some technical sections seem to have different lines, due to erosion and in some cases people removing rocks to make things easier. There are also some sections that have been deliberately bypassed which really pisses me off because some pussies are too lazy or lack the guts to try something difficult for once in their life. My favourite mountain bike saying is "ride like you've got pair". Sadly not all riders adhere to this.
I had some technical problems on the ride as well. One thing that bugged me for most of the ride was my right nut kept leaving the nest and twice got caught in a squeeze play between my seat and my leg. Ouch! I am hoping this is not the start of early onset old man nuts, a condition which all guys who have ever been in a change room with some 80 year old men walking around naked are familiar with. Scary.
The other technical problem I had was with my bike. Some days I like this Gary Fisher Hifi and sometimes I hate it. I didn't like it today. In previous rides I was lifting the front end on tough technical climbs and therefore losing my steering so I tried to move my weight forward by sliding the seat ahead 1/2 inch and rolling my bars forward a bit. This worked well for the climbs but had some other not so pleasant effects such as making it easier to go over the handlebars. The back end of the bike seemed to be bouncing me around more as well. I ride normally with my rear shock on Pro-pedal which limits travel but I eventually gave in and and switched it to use all the rear travel. Frustrating. The front end was a bit like a pogo stick again so I checked the air pressure on the fork and it was at the low end of my weight range so I pumped another 15 lbs in it and that helped a bit. This Rock Shox Recon fork is a little too pressure sensitive for my liking although if I rode more I suppose I would pay more attention to it.
I have to say once again that without a doubt the Gary Fisher Sugar is a much better bicycle than the Hifi.
I had some technical problems on the ride as well. One thing that bugged me for most of the ride was my right nut kept leaving the nest and twice got caught in a squeeze play between my seat and my leg. Ouch! I am hoping this is not the start of early onset old man nuts, a condition which all guys who have ever been in a change room with some 80 year old men walking around naked are familiar with. Scary.
The other technical problem I had was with my bike. Some days I like this Gary Fisher Hifi and sometimes I hate it. I didn't like it today. In previous rides I was lifting the front end on tough technical climbs and therefore losing my steering so I tried to move my weight forward by sliding the seat ahead 1/2 inch and rolling my bars forward a bit. This worked well for the climbs but had some other not so pleasant effects such as making it easier to go over the handlebars. The back end of the bike seemed to be bouncing me around more as well. I ride normally with my rear shock on Pro-pedal which limits travel but I eventually gave in and and switched it to use all the rear travel. Frustrating. The front end was a bit like a pogo stick again so I checked the air pressure on the fork and it was at the low end of my weight range so I pumped another 15 lbs in it and that helped a bit. This Rock Shox Recon fork is a little too pressure sensitive for my liking although if I rode more I suppose I would pay more attention to it.
I have to say once again that without a doubt the Gary Fisher Sugar is a much better bicycle than the Hifi.
Thursday 12 July 2012
Thoughts on climbing
I have always thought that momentum is a bikers best friend. It is especially true in mountain biking where being able to see ahead, read the trail and pick the right line means a smoother faster ride with less energy spent. I used to love it when I was gaining on another rider while he was pedaling and I wasn't. I often thought that if I rode well on a particular day my time spent pedaling would be less than any of the other riders. This in turn would leave me with more energy for climbs and riding the more technical sections of a trail. I have always said "speed is your friend" for technical sections which simply means if you can have good forward momentum and hit the right line you will like flow over rocks and roots instead of bogging down like a slower rider would.
After road riding for a few years now I am discovering that there is a lot to be said for momentum on the pavement as well. In particular I am learning some climbing techniques which I think work well for me on smaller climbs and now seem to apply on longer climbs as well.
In the last year I have noticed that on smaller climbs such as what you would find in an area with rolling hills if I keep my speed up starting the climb and work on keeping my cadence up, possibly shifting to a lower gear once or twice on the way up, I arrive at the top faster while at the same time spending less energy. It seems to me many riders don't attack these smaller climbs and therefore end up "hammering" up the hill with a low cadence resulting in their spending more energy to arrive at the top of the hill in a slower time. My idea is if you can keep your momentum at the bottom half of the climb the top half will be easier and faster to complete.
I am now learning that momentum is also your friend on the much longer climbs but in a much more subtle way. It seems the faster you can climb up a hill the more that momentum aids in gaining even more speed. Think about it. If you are riding up a hill doing 13 kph while Joe Biker is doing 20 kph his bike is traveling slightly farther every pedal stroke he takes because the momentum he has created. Certainly the fact that he is stronger and in better shape than me has a great deal to do with it but I don't think it is a 1:1 ratio where because he goes up the hill 50% faster he is 50% stronger and in better shape than I am. I have no doubt an equation could be created which which could explain mathematically the science of climbing regarding energy spent, power used and momentum created to achieve maximum speed.
Or it's entirely possible I am completely full of shit.
After road riding for a few years now I am discovering that there is a lot to be said for momentum on the pavement as well. In particular I am learning some climbing techniques which I think work well for me on smaller climbs and now seem to apply on longer climbs as well.
In the last year I have noticed that on smaller climbs such as what you would find in an area with rolling hills if I keep my speed up starting the climb and work on keeping my cadence up, possibly shifting to a lower gear once or twice on the way up, I arrive at the top faster while at the same time spending less energy. It seems to me many riders don't attack these smaller climbs and therefore end up "hammering" up the hill with a low cadence resulting in their spending more energy to arrive at the top of the hill in a slower time. My idea is if you can keep your momentum at the bottom half of the climb the top half will be easier and faster to complete.
I am now learning that momentum is also your friend on the much longer climbs but in a much more subtle way. It seems the faster you can climb up a hill the more that momentum aids in gaining even more speed. Think about it. If you are riding up a hill doing 13 kph while Joe Biker is doing 20 kph his bike is traveling slightly farther every pedal stroke he takes because the momentum he has created. Certainly the fact that he is stronger and in better shape than me has a great deal to do with it but I don't think it is a 1:1 ratio where because he goes up the hill 50% faster he is 50% stronger and in better shape than I am. I have no doubt an equation could be created which which could explain mathematically the science of climbing regarding energy spent, power used and momentum created to achieve maximum speed.
Or it's entirely possible I am completely full of shit.
Monday 9 July 2012
Strava
Today I headed out for a ride with my friend Brian. Our plan was to head up Grey 19 and then make our way over to Feversham.
Recently I heard some riders talking about a phone app called Strava so I loaded it on my smartphone and decided to give it a try today. I knew it uses the phones GPS to map your rides but after that I wasn't too sure of what else the app is capable of.
I stepped outside for the ride and went to the app and within a minute it was GPS capable so off I went. Brian was waiting for me at the base of Grey 19 and we started our climb. I made it to the top in what I thought was good time and as soon as Brian made his way up we continued on to Feversham. The trip back was down the Pretty River road.
When I got home I turned off the app and went inside to check out what information it had recorded. I was pleased to see that not only was my route mapped, it also gave me elevation gains and compared my time in certain sectors of the ride with the times of other riders who have the Strava app. Very cool.
Sadly when I see what my times are compared to the many other top riders doing these sectors the only conclusion to be made is I have an anchor dragging out behind my bike. On the bright side I am so far behind that any ambitions I had of being a half decent rider have gone out the window. Strangely I am not very bothered by that discovery.
I then went to the website and checked out my profile and I must say it is a great site. It gave profile graphs of the rides elevation and speed changes and will inform you when you have set personal bests plus lots of other interesting information. I would recommend it to anyone who rides. It's easy to use (I figured it out) and costs nothing unless you want to upgrade to get even more info. I give it 5 stars.
P.S. I had a big problem sweating in one of my eyes today (yes I'm a heavy sweater) so I have ordered a product called the Sweat Gutr and will report on it as soon as I get to test it.
Recently I heard some riders talking about a phone app called Strava so I loaded it on my smartphone and decided to give it a try today. I knew it uses the phones GPS to map your rides but after that I wasn't too sure of what else the app is capable of.
I stepped outside for the ride and went to the app and within a minute it was GPS capable so off I went. Brian was waiting for me at the base of Grey 19 and we started our climb. I made it to the top in what I thought was good time and as soon as Brian made his way up we continued on to Feversham. The trip back was down the Pretty River road.
When I got home I turned off the app and went inside to check out what information it had recorded. I was pleased to see that not only was my route mapped, it also gave me elevation gains and compared my time in certain sectors of the ride with the times of other riders who have the Strava app. Very cool.
Sadly when I see what my times are compared to the many other top riders doing these sectors the only conclusion to be made is I have an anchor dragging out behind my bike. On the bright side I am so far behind that any ambitions I had of being a half decent rider have gone out the window. Strangely I am not very bothered by that discovery.
I then went to the website and checked out my profile and I must say it is a great site. It gave profile graphs of the rides elevation and speed changes and will inform you when you have set personal bests plus lots of other interesting information. I would recommend it to anyone who rides. It's easy to use (I figured it out) and costs nothing unless you want to upgrade to get even more info. I give it 5 stars.
P.S. I had a big problem sweating in one of my eyes today (yes I'm a heavy sweater) so I have ordered a product called the Sweat Gutr and will report on it as soon as I get to test it.
Sunday 8 July 2012
Another confession
Today I decided to be lazy so I stayed in, farted around the house doing some odd jobs and then my plan was to watch the Toronto Argonaut football game at 3 pm. The plan was working until I noticed that the made for TV movie "Anne (spelled with an e) of Green Gables" starring Megan Follows was on at 2. When I first saw this movie 25 years ago I instantly fell in love with the lead character played by Megan so believe it or not I watched 4 hours of Anne (with commercials) instead of the football game. How sad is that. I think (I hope) most people see me as a manly kind of guy but as I get older my definition of manly seems to be changing.
Manly to me now means being able to admit that Anne of Green Gables is one of my favourite movies. It's a great period piece about an orphaned 13 year old taken in by Mathew and Marilla who are aging brother and sister living on their property Green Gables. They were expecting to get a boy from the orphanage but ended up with Anne. Anne can't seem to stay out of trouble. She is a dreamer who talks continuously of her wants and desires. She is incapable of holding her temper or her tongue which may be why I am enamoured with the character. I have always had a thing for red heads as well (thought I might marry one many years ago) so Anne to me was the perfect woman.
I can see it now. There's Anne across the kitchen table from me, expressing her wants and desires, dreaming of a great future for the two of us, barely stopping to catch her breath before moving on to her next vision of the utopian life we had in front of us. Two weeks of that and I would have strangled her.
Manly to me now means being able to admit that Anne of Green Gables is one of my favourite movies. It's a great period piece about an orphaned 13 year old taken in by Mathew and Marilla who are aging brother and sister living on their property Green Gables. They were expecting to get a boy from the orphanage but ended up with Anne. Anne can't seem to stay out of trouble. She is a dreamer who talks continuously of her wants and desires. She is incapable of holding her temper or her tongue which may be why I am enamoured with the character. I have always had a thing for red heads as well (thought I might marry one many years ago) so Anne to me was the perfect woman.
I can see it now. There's Anne across the kitchen table from me, expressing her wants and desires, dreaming of a great future for the two of us, barely stopping to catch her breath before moving on to her next vision of the utopian life we had in front of us. Two weeks of that and I would have strangled her.
Saturday 7 July 2012
Ziplines and treetops
I have now been working 4 weeks at the Scenic Caves and so far it has been a fun and educational experience. The job training has been constant due to the obvious need for safety and the "lectures" we have to give at certain points of the Ecotour take some practice to say the least.
Many of my days have been spent shadowing tours, helping out where I can and staying out of the way when I should. A tour starts in the basement fitting guests into their harnesses and helmets, then outside for introductions and an outline of the tour.
The first tour stop is the suspension bridge where we have a 10,000 sq km view of the area. We briefly talk about Collingwood and its' history and also about the bridge itself and how it was built. Great story actually. The bridge was built in winter of 2003 which made things even more difficult for the workers because work conditions must have tough on a breezy cold day. To start they poured 130 tons of cement at either end of the span. The trucks could not manage the steep hill going down so they were winched down. The two towers were erected and then the difficult job of getting two 8,000 lb cables across the span without touching the land below (the area is a Unesco protected area) required some thinking outside the box. Anyone out there have a guess on how they got the cables across? I'll tell you later on. Once the cables were in place a trolley was used to run along on the cables and place the supports for the I-beams and then finally a deck of 3 inch thick boards was put down. It cost $1,000,000 to build.
Next is a wagon ride pulled behind a tractor which takes us to the treetop walk. The walk has 15 spans between trees or hydro poles with a high point of 55 feet above the ground. Some guests have a tough time on it because it sways and bounces some so if you already have an aversion to heights it can be a scary thing. I have only had one refusal, a lady who after one span was crying so we turned her around and walked on solid ground to the end. Guests get down from the treetop walk by the first zipline which is 340 feet long. It's a short ride but fun one.
Next we go through the caves (they're caverns actually) and talk about the original native inhabitants and some of the geology of the area. On a hot day the caves are also a great way to cool down for a while. The one thing we can't do is take guests through Fat Man's Misery which is a passage in the rocks where at one point is only 36 cm wide, the reason being the harnesses the guests are wearing could get snagged.
Finally it's off to the big 1,000 foot zipline which takes everyone back to the start at 55 kph. It's literally a scream for some people. A tour takes roughly 3 hours and as far as I can tell everyone seems to enjoy it and feel like they have gotten their moneys worth.
For me it's lunch and then a second tour in the afternoon. By the end of the day I am tired and my feet are sore but I should get more used to it as I continue to do it. So far I would have to say it's a great job.
The answer to how they got the cables across? An archer shot an arrow across the span with some fishing line attached. They attached a cord to the line and pulled it across, then a rope, a bigger rope and again a stronger rope until they finally could pull the 8,000 lb cable across.
The new zipline is a few weeks away from completion. The Thunderbird will be 2,500 feet long and is a double zip so guests can go side by side down the line and also control their speed as they go. I'm looking forward to giving it a try.
Many of my days have been spent shadowing tours, helping out where I can and staying out of the way when I should. A tour starts in the basement fitting guests into their harnesses and helmets, then outside for introductions and an outline of the tour.
The first tour stop is the suspension bridge where we have a 10,000 sq km view of the area. We briefly talk about Collingwood and its' history and also about the bridge itself and how it was built. Great story actually. The bridge was built in winter of 2003 which made things even more difficult for the workers because work conditions must have tough on a breezy cold day. To start they poured 130 tons of cement at either end of the span. The trucks could not manage the steep hill going down so they were winched down. The two towers were erected and then the difficult job of getting two 8,000 lb cables across the span without touching the land below (the area is a Unesco protected area) required some thinking outside the box. Anyone out there have a guess on how they got the cables across? I'll tell you later on. Once the cables were in place a trolley was used to run along on the cables and place the supports for the I-beams and then finally a deck of 3 inch thick boards was put down. It cost $1,000,000 to build.
Next is a wagon ride pulled behind a tractor which takes us to the treetop walk. The walk has 15 spans between trees or hydro poles with a high point of 55 feet above the ground. Some guests have a tough time on it because it sways and bounces some so if you already have an aversion to heights it can be a scary thing. I have only had one refusal, a lady who after one span was crying so we turned her around and walked on solid ground to the end. Guests get down from the treetop walk by the first zipline which is 340 feet long. It's a short ride but fun one.
Next we go through the caves (they're caverns actually) and talk about the original native inhabitants and some of the geology of the area. On a hot day the caves are also a great way to cool down for a while. The one thing we can't do is take guests through Fat Man's Misery which is a passage in the rocks where at one point is only 36 cm wide, the reason being the harnesses the guests are wearing could get snagged.
Finally it's off to the big 1,000 foot zipline which takes everyone back to the start at 55 kph. It's literally a scream for some people. A tour takes roughly 3 hours and as far as I can tell everyone seems to enjoy it and feel like they have gotten their moneys worth.
For me it's lunch and then a second tour in the afternoon. By the end of the day I am tired and my feet are sore but I should get more used to it as I continue to do it. So far I would have to say it's a great job.
The answer to how they got the cables across? An archer shot an arrow across the span with some fishing line attached. They attached a cord to the line and pulled it across, then a rope, a bigger rope and again a stronger rope until they finally could pull the 8,000 lb cable across.
The new zipline is a few weeks away from completion. The Thunderbird will be 2,500 feet long and is a double zip so guests can go side by side down the line and also control their speed as they go. I'm looking forward to giving it a try.
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