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This is what happens when:

1. The rim of your bicycle wheel wears down after years of being used as a braking surface
2. You notice that it's all worn down, and then do nothing about it
3. You top your tire pressure back up to 100PSI before riding to work
4. ....and then wait for the inevitable

So there I was, sitting in my office listening in on a teleconference with my bike parked less than a metre behind me... BANG! Scared the hell out of me, and had co-workers coming to see what blew up. We assumed it was one of the heat pumps in the ceiling above my office. While the building maintenance people were here to check on the pumps, I noticed what happened to my wheel. We had a good laugh about that unexpected discovery.

So, lesson learned: Check your rims for wear from the brakes. If you can feel a groove, it's probably time to replace the rim. I knew this, but never got around to doing it.

In fact, the rear wheel of this bike did the same thing a few years ago, but I caught it in time before there was any catastrophic failure.

August 12, 2011. One of the brightly painted bicycles from the "Good Bike" art project, installed on Indian Rd. just outside the Keele subway station.

April 8, 2011. I spotted this penny farthing bicycle riding on Dupont St. at Perth Ave. I saw this guy (I assume it's the same person) a couple of years ago on Campbell Ave., and someone else recently reported another sighting on Twitter. So I'm glad I had my little camera with me to get this snapshot. Next time, I hope to flag him down for a chat. I'd love to know where he got the bike, and of course I'd fancy taking this highwheeler for a spin.

October 16, 2010. Somewhere along 16th St. near Folsom St. in San Francisco, on a fence with a bunch of other signs that appeared to be hand-painted by kids. I can agree with this. Riding a bike makes me happy too.

After a nice evening out in Montreal, Jen and I borrowed some Bixi bikes to ride back to our hotel.

Here's Jen riding along the segregated bike path on Boulevard de Maisonneuve.

We really loved the Bixi bikes in Montreal. What an incredibly convenient system! They're hoping to start up a Bixi system in Toronto next year, and this trip to Montreal convinced me to subscribe for Toronto's program. Even though I have my own bikes, I can see the benefit of just being able to hop on a bike just about anywhere, and drop it off at another station, without worrying about theft etc.

As a follow-up to my previous post, where I expressed my love of cycling and Hamilton, here's a self-portrait of me cycling in Hamilton last Saturday, August 21st.

A group of eight of us from Toronto caught a GO train to Burlington in the morning. From there, we rode down Brant St. into downtown Burlington and to Burlington's waterfront. Then on to the Burlington and Hamilton Beach Strips towards Confederation Park in Stoney Creek. After stopping for a delicious lunch at a lakeside restaurant, we carried on to the Stoney Creek Dairy where we re-fueled again. Awesome. And then up The mountain via Mount Albion Rd., which was closed to traffic when they opened the Red Hill Creek Expressway, so we had a fun and relaxing ride up the hill (only a short bit that's very steep!). What goes up, must come down....so we headed right back down the east end rail trail that leads right back into downtown Hamilton, where we split up to get dinner, catch GO buses home, etc.

A totally fantastic day. Hamilton rocks, especially for cycling. I'm already scheming a west end rail trail ride.

In this photo I'm cruising down the escarpment along the east end rail trail near the end of our ride. This was taken with my small point'n'shoot Canon Powershot SD800, which I sometiime carry when I don't want to lug my bigger SLR camera around.

More photos with captions are here.

...and I think squirrels are kind of fun too.

This photo was taken in Macnab St. pedestrian underpass that goes under the railway tracks in downtown Hamilton. I was meeting up with Jen at the Hamilton GO Centre last Friday after work and was a bit early so I went for a little walk around downtown. I hadn't been through this tunnel before, and I was pleasantly surprised by the really bright and cheerful mural here, so of course I took a few photos.

I grew up in Hamilton, and I appreciate it more and more every time I go back. It's a great city to do some cycling in too. Looking forward to going back very soon, with a bike.

August 13, 2010.

Looking into the window of the Toronto Free Gallery (currently the "Change" exhibit) during the New Bloor Festival on Saturday.

I was out for a walk after work on Tuesday by McGregor Park (near Lansdowne / Whytock / St. Helens) when I saw these guys riding by carrying a rug between the frames of their bicycles. I caught up to them as they turned onto Lansdowne and snapped a few photos.

I always like seeing people do creative, practical things with human power.

Jen and I were out for a walk in High Park to see the cherry tree blossoms. I think half of the city had the exact same idea, except that many people drove there, gridlocking the roads around the park.

It's so much easier to walk, cycle, or take the subway to the park. No getting stuck in traffic, searching endlessly for parking, or worrying about getting a parking ticket.

Parks are so much better when they're not full of idling cars, angry honking motorists, and smelly exhaust.