vic.gedris.org

Back in January I noticed that these "Cyclists Dismount" signs were added along the Bloor St. sidewalk by the railway underpasses between Lansdowne Ave. and Dundas St. West.

I don't necessarily have a problem with telling cyclists to dismount while riding on sidewalks. After all, sidewalks are meant for pedestrians, and I have personally had some close encounters with sidewalk cyclists along here. It's especially dangerous to pedestrians stepping out from the Bloor GO train station.

However, these signs may be an indication of a bigger issue. Many cyclists hit the sidewalk when riding through these underpasses because they fear for their safety on the road. I often see cyclists ride on the roads along Bloor St., only to hop up on the curb when they reach the underpasses.

I can understand why cyclists might want to do that.

From the Don Valley to Central Parkway in Mississauga, this is definitely the worst part of Bloor St., for many reasons (Ok, Six Points stinks too). But for cyclists in particular, the problems are:

• Between Dundas and Lansdowne, Bloor St. opens up into four lanes of fast-moving traffic. The only bit of traffic calming is the traffic light at Symington Ave.
• The pavement is awful.
• Motorists seem to speed through here in a race to arrive first at the next pinch point in the road.
• When you're down in the underpasses, there's no chance to "escape" to a sidewalk in an emergency.
• It can be difficult and dangerous to make a proper vehicular left turn off of Bloor St.

It's no wonder that cyclists take to the sidewalks here. But instead of hanging up some signs to address the symptoms, maybe something can be done to address the actual problems of the dangerous and scary roadway?

Cross-posted to I Bike T.O.. I have also been doing alot of work on the South Junction Triangle Residents Association website recently.

Most people coming to my website would probably expect to see me write about cycling. All the time. And maybe some occasional computer nerd stuff too, I guess.

But the truth is, the few stories I posted about pigeons seem to be attracting the most people who write comments! I kind of miss those filthy yet beautiful birds on my balcony in Etobocoke, but in so many other ways I'm much happier in our new (old!) house closer to downtown.

Anyway, this post is not about cycling, computer stuff, or even pigeons. I just wanted to catch up and tell you about all the walking I have done lately. I still ride my bike to work most of the time, though I've been taking transit when I've been sick or the weather has been particularly bad, but I've started walking more often for more local tasks, and to explore my neighbourhood and city.

Here are some walks I've been on in December and January. Not surprisingly, I always had my camera with me! Click the links for more photos and commentary.

• December 1: A Saturday afternoon walk with Jen down Sterling Rd. and other parts of our neighbourhood.
• December 16: I was on a work trip to Ottawa when that big snowstorm came through Ontario. I went for a long walk around downtown and took plenty of photos.
• December 31: Another walk around the 'hood, this time with lots of photos of the Wallace Ave. bridge.
• January 1: A snowy New Years Day walk down Sterling Rd., through High Park, and more.
• January 5: Some interesting sights while walking downtown.
• January 12: Another walk downtown with Jen. MacGregor Park, Queen West, Trinity Bellwoods, murals, and more.
• January 20: Walking downtown again (we're really saving on TTC fare!). Zig-zagging through the side streets down to Queen West, and more.
• January 26: Yesterday I finally dragged myself out for a walk after being sick for almost a week. We went up to St. Clair W., enjoyed the view from the escarpment etc.

I have also been enjoying Michael's Bloor-Lansdowne blog lately. He posts some neat information about the neighbourhood, often from the perspective of all the walking he does.

(I haven't posted anything here in almost a year! need to catch up soon. You can always check the photo gallery to see what I've been up to. I also post on the I Bike T.O. website.)

Did anyone else have an awesome bike commute this morning? I sure did!

I don't often look forward to biking 20km to work in the rain, but today was amazing. It was 11 degrees outside, and a light rain when I left my west-end home at about 8:40am (yeah, I was running late!). I was dressed a bit lighter than I usually would in January: underwear, MEC Rad Pants, long sleeve light "Powerdry" t-shirt, rain jacket, wool socks, Shimano cycling sandals, and rain booties.

It was actually colder in my garage than it was outside. As soon as I got into the alley, I knew I'd be shedding layers soon. Riding along Annette St., I was opening up my cuffs and unzipping the top of my jacket for more air. By the time I was around Dundas St. and Royal York, I had the pit zips open.

The headwind was very light, barely noticeable. I was flying along. I think I ride faster when I'm in a really good mood too. Warm January days do that to me.

Burnhamthorpe Rd., somewhere in eastern Mississauga. Really cookin' now, and even my feet were feeling hot! I stripped off one of my booties and shoved it in my pannier's rain cover. A few intersections later, at another red light, the other booty came off and now I was riding in a stylish combination of wool socks and sandals.

I hiked up my Rad Pants to let my ankles and calves breathe more. At the next red light, Dixie and Burnhamthorpe, I completed my transformation into a summer cyclist by taking off my jacket and rolling up my sleeves.

The final 4.5km to work were the best. Starting with the downhill from Dixie Rd., I was grinning like a madman as I pushed my way towards the centre of Mississauga. The people cooped up in their cars probably thought I was nuts. I think they're nuts. The rain was picking up a bit now too, but I didn't care. I was having too much fun to be annoyed by it.

Hell yeah. Bikes rule. Can't wait for the ride home!

(Ask me about riding when it's 11 degrees and raining in the summer and you might get a totally different opinion from me!)

Cross-posted to I Bike T.O.

Sometimes the best ideas are the simplest ones. There aren't many better ways to end a day at work than taking the "Long Way" home on your bike!

The Long Way Home is something I try to do often, but not often enough. I commute almost every day by bike, and almost always enjoy it, but sometimes it's nice to see something else besides the same stretch of Bloor St. I often shake it up a bit by riding various sections of Rathburn Rd., Burhamthorpe Rd., or when I'm feeling more ambitious I'll ride all the way down to the lake and then head east.

That's what I did today. I just took off straight down Hurontario St. to Port Credit, and then took the slow, meandering Waterfront Trail route back to Etobicoke. Of course I stopped at many places along the way to take some photos and just enjoy the spring evening.

The long evenings, warmer weather, and awesome sunsets make Spring an amazing time of year to "take the long way home". I'll have to do this as often as possible. How about you?

A bunch of photos from my ride are posted here.

On Saturday Night Jen and I went down to Dufferin Grove Park (West end, Toronto) for the annual Ice Bike races on the outdoor arenas (poster). We were there mainly as spectators to watch and cheer on the racers with their home-made studded tires flying around the track. I joined in on the final "rubber class" race at the end, where lots of people piled onto the ice and did laps while trying not to fall and crash into each other (without much success!).

Some people from the Georgian Bents recumbent group came down for the races with their flashy recumbent trikes/sleds to add some more spice to it all.

What a fun night. I can't believe I missed the races last year....definitely looking forward to next year already!

Quite a few people took photos and videos of this event. Here's what I've found so far:

• Vic's Photos - I've got about 100 photos!
• Jun's Links:
  • Photos of Me and Jen
  • Photos on Flickr
  • Videos!! Me doing a lap, Rubber Race Wipeouts, Last Lap!
• Martino's Photos
• Darren / Bikerefugee's Photos and Video
• Joe Clark's blog and photos
• Kaibot's Photos
• Wendy Lucas' Video of the Rubber Race
• Tanya's Photos

Repeating a short weekend bike tour I did in June, Jen and I took off east of Toronto for the weekend. With our bikes loaded with camping gear, we hopped a Friday evening GO Train to Oshawa and then rode to Darlington Provincial Park.

We camped at the park Friday and Saturday night. On Saturday we did a day trip to Port Hope, about 50km away, and then rode back to Toronto on Sunday. I had a great time doing this little tour again, and Jen seemed to enjoy it too!

We were thinking that next summer, preferably in June when we have the most daylight, it would be fun to get a whole bunch of cyclists to do this trip together. The Saturday ride loop can be shortened or lengthened to accomodate different riding preferences, and when riding back to Toronto on Sunday people can bail out at the Pickering GO station, or a TTC station once we get back to the city. I will probably start planning this next spring!

Plenty of photos and ramblings about this trip can be found, starting here.

My August Long Weekend started off with a bang: I worked late on Friday and spent all day Saturday just puttering around at home and cleaning. Very exciting. But it got much better on Sunday and Monday when I rode my bike to Hamilton visit my parents.

I've done this ride quite a few times since moving to Toronto last year. I've taken three different bikes, and even combined my trips with the GO train when I was feeling a bit lazy. You'd think I might get bored of doing this ride....nope! It's always fun. I enjoy riding along Lakeshore Rd., and stopping at various scenic and tasty places along the way. This time I changed my routes a little bit too, just for some variety and to explore some new places I haven't ridden through before.

On the way to Hamilton, I decided to go the "long" way across the Beach Strip and then back across the east-end of Hamilton. The Burlington-Hamilton Beach Strip is a great place to ride, with some excellent scenery too. I'll have to take this route more often. Riding through the industrial north-east end of Hamilton isn't very appealing though.

On the way back to Toronto, I explored the Chedoke Rail Trail in West Hamilton. I also decided to cut away from Lakeshore for a little bit through Bronte and Oakville, and treated myself to some slower and more scenic trails right along the lake.

It was a perfect weekend for cycling. Great weather, a fun route, and of course it's always nice to visit my family in Hamilton too.

More details about my rides are in my photo galleries for Sunday and Monday.

Kensington Market's Pedestrian Sundays (note: website rarely seems to work for me) are an event where several streets in Toronto's Kensington Market are opened up to pedestrians. Automobile traffic is blocked off, and people are free to roam the streets. Not only is it a chance for people to enjoy all the extra space without the (slowly) moving and parked cars, but it's an opportunity do other fun stuff in the streets: play music, skateboard, dance, and even something as wild as walking down the middle of the street.

I forgot about this week's PS Kensington event. I just happened to stumble across it after shopping at the Urbane Cyclist and going for some pho on Spadina Ave. I was glad I found it, as I had never been to a PS Kensington event before.

As I wandered through the market, I stopped to watch a punk band play some "oldies" for a while, followed by an electric sitar and didjeridoo duo that really rocked. I watched kids skateboaring. People were learning to tango in the street. Cargo was being moved through the market on bicycles and carts. Kids were running around playing. Stilt-walkers towered above us.

Another interesting feature was the More Parks, Less Parking! petition. Basically, this was a car that was completely painted white, where people could sign their names asking for more appropriate use of public space. The car / petition was delivered to City Hall on Monday.

I had a great time there. Bumped into a few people I knew, and spent way more time downtown than I had originally planned. I'll have to rmember to check out more of these events in the future.

I had my camera with me, so of course I took a ton of photos.

Wow, that was a heck of a wind and lightning storm tonight. Suddenly out of nowhere the wind picked up to an intensity that I've never seen since living in this apartment. It blew one of my bikes over, flung things around the apartment, slammed doors, etc. I could barely even get into the bike room to close the window because the wind was so strong.

Then the lightning started. I decided to watch the show from my balcony, while trying to take some lightning photos. I had never taken any lightning photos before, but tonight I managed to capture three strikes.

There was surprisingly little rain with this storm, and it blew by rather quickly. But that sure was fun while it lasted. Here are my photos of the lightning strikes.

Another fun Critical Mass ride through the streets of Downtown Toronto. Perfect weather, hundreds of cyclists, and a route that seemed to go forever into the long evening....fun! Of course, I took many, many pictures.