Spring officially beings March 21 at 1732 UTC (or 1:32 in the afternoon two weeks this Sunday) when the vernal equinox takes place. The fact that I have already logged appreciable distance rides does not make the pending arrival of good weather any less exciting. (Especially given how crummy the weather was last year.)
The fact is were it not for the thought of long rides in the sun, with green fields and grass all around, I strongly doubt I would be at all sane by Friday. So in the spirit of dreaming of warm weather here my goals for 2010:
1. Do at least one, preferably all three OCA ITTs, try to average no less than 40km/h for distances of 15km or less and no less than 37 km/h for longer ITTs. (A little ambitious, but it is always better to aim high and come up short than aim low.)
2. Toronto to Rochester without wanting to just roll over and die when I get there.
2b. Rochester return to Niagara Falls if not all the way home, subject to weather.
3. Achieve demerit point velocities in a 60 (or higher) zone, in Ontario one must be driving at least 15km/h over the posted speed limit to get demerit points. (Note this goal cannot apply on downgrades greater than 3%. In other words, my goal is not achieved if I scream down a steep hill, I need to be on near flat, flat or up hills and doing the required 75km/h to reach this goal.)
4. Ride to Lake Simcoe a bunch of times, of course, hey it is my favourite ride. On McCowan between Doane Road and Ravenshoe road pull at no less than 40km/h the entire way. On the journey home, once south of Ravenshoe, on Warden, average no less than 33km/h to Stouffville Road. (If the lights are green, average at least 35km/h.)
5. Ride the panacke of South Western Ontario to Rattle Snake Point, climb said hill with a 53/39 chain ring and 11/23 cassette. Have enough left in my legs to still be able to catch any break aways or race David Silcox to the next Taxi without going into cardiac arrest as soon as we reach the "finish".
6. Do. Not. Bonk. Ever.
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Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Monday, March 1, 2010
On A Few Random Thoughts
Well the Canadian Olympic Men's Hockey Team won the gold. As a Canadian I think it is Federal law that I include that note at the beginning of my first post game Blog entry. So there, I said it!
Alright in fairness, as a Toronto boy growing up in the 70s and 80s, you do not follow hockey unless you had some sort of mental disorder. Hockey was predictable, The Leafs would loose. So I followed baseball; but, honestly is there a sport more boring to watch than a ball game? I gave up on Baseball after two back-to-back World Series wins and a strike, the back-to-back wins sort of felt like mission accomplished and the strike felt too much like a big "Fuck you" from the guys who were paid millions to scratch their male anatomy whilst spitting on national TV.
Maybe that's why I took up more speed based sports? Sort of me versus the clock. And I stopped watching or following sports for several years. Judging by the popularity of the PS3 and Wii, I would have to say I was ahead of my time.
Anyway enough lamenting my lack of sports heroes. Although after my previous rant, I really better say something nice, and this one is well deserved, Yes the Canadians were awesome, they won the gold and nobody expected them to, but we would be lousy sore winners if we didn't acknowledge the outstanding game the Americans had. Truth was the Americans should have clobbered us, maybe the loss in the first game against them woke our boys up to reality but the fact was at times, even in yesterday's game it looked to me like the Americans were skating circles around Team Canada. So yes we won, but I have to ask, why did I never hear the Star Spangled Banner? Maybe I remember wrong but do we not play the national anthems for all three podium countries? And why did no one from Finland come to collect a Bronze? (Or did they get that in a separate ceremony?)
Well enough of winter, I rode my bike to work and it feels like spring. I hope I'm right, shoveling snow sucks and I don't care how much the kids love the good old hockey game.
Alright in fairness, as a Toronto boy growing up in the 70s and 80s, you do not follow hockey unless you had some sort of mental disorder. Hockey was predictable, The Leafs would loose. So I followed baseball; but, honestly is there a sport more boring to watch than a ball game? I gave up on Baseball after two back-to-back World Series wins and a strike, the back-to-back wins sort of felt like mission accomplished and the strike felt too much like a big "Fuck you" from the guys who were paid millions to scratch their male anatomy whilst spitting on national TV.
Maybe that's why I took up more speed based sports? Sort of me versus the clock. And I stopped watching or following sports for several years. Judging by the popularity of the PS3 and Wii, I would have to say I was ahead of my time.
Anyway enough lamenting my lack of sports heroes. Although after my previous rant, I really better say something nice, and this one is well deserved, Yes the Canadians were awesome, they won the gold and nobody expected them to, but we would be lousy sore winners if we didn't acknowledge the outstanding game the Americans had. Truth was the Americans should have clobbered us, maybe the loss in the first game against them woke our boys up to reality but the fact was at times, even in yesterday's game it looked to me like the Americans were skating circles around Team Canada. So yes we won, but I have to ask, why did I never hear the Star Spangled Banner? Maybe I remember wrong but do we not play the national anthems for all three podium countries? And why did no one from Finland come to collect a Bronze? (Or did they get that in a separate ceremony?)
Well enough of winter, I rode my bike to work and it feels like spring. I hope I'm right, shoveling snow sucks and I don't care how much the kids love the good old hockey game.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
On The Olympics, Thoughts from a Cynic
I had a long rant mostly written on why I am not a big fan of the Olympics in their present form but I realized that it was, okay - I was, over the top. So I have stripped out almost everything and stuck to just two things that I don't like, from a veritable shopping list of detestable Olympic practices. But before I get to the good stuff, I would just like to point out a new survey I have going on my blog until May. This year I seem to be doing a seasonal thing.
Now back to the Olympics for one last wary backward glare (scowl?) at old man Winter.
Probably most people are not aware but the very first Olympic Torch relay started with a bunch of beautiful, I suspect blond haired and blue eyed, young men and women dressing as Greek Gods and Goddess on Mount Olympus with parabolic mirrors in 1936. These young people probably did not speak Greek, or Latin, but rather a language far removed from the ancient civilizations. They, very likely, spoke German and I'll bet my eye teeth more than a few were card carrying members of the Nazi party.
Someone in the Nazi government, possibly Reich Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, Mr. Joseph Sounds sort of like a make of baby food, or maybe it was the big wig himself, the Nazi top dog, he who's name bares no repeating, hit upon the idea of a relay of young Aryan runners carrying a flame to connect the cradle of western civilization to Nazi bigotry, xenophobia and gratuitous violence. The relay terminated, naturally, in Berlin.
Every torch relay since that run in 1936 has been paying a largely unspoken tribute to the creativity of the undisputed most rotten, vile and evil corruption ever to influence the human mind. Now yes it true that the modern torch relay has had its moments in the sun, but frankly I think it would be the height of bravery (and decency) to see an Olympics that lacked for a torch relay. Save the oil, heat someone's home.
The other Olympic notion that I really dislike is winning. Well no, not exactly, but the ideals behind the Canadian Olympic Committee program 'Own The Podium' which aligns smartly with similar initiatives all over the globe. Sure it is something nice when say my friend wins first place in a Crit or when I climb a hill faster than the next guy. But honest to goodness does it really matter if we, Canada, (or let's face it athletes who may have been born elsewhere but are representing 19th Century notions of a state, something that a modern Canadian would usually reject) win more golds than say, the Russians? Who cares! Sure watching the world's best is rather cool, but can we not just appreciate them for their talent and leave petty nationalism at the door?
My understanding of the "Own The Podium" concept was, do what can reasonably be achieved to ensure that athletes competing under a red maple leaf would actually win, ideally sweep all three podium positions, Gold, Silver and Bronze, hence "Own The Podium". Well one cheeky American is supposed to have remarked, after winning the Gold, "You guys can own it, we'll just rent it for a while."
Part of the whole program apparently included not allowing any foreigners to train at our facilities for several months after the various tracks and rinks were built. This was probably not the most sensible move right after Emmy award winning Steven Colbert announced he and his audience the "Colbert Nation" would sponsor the US speed skating team. Canadians became variously syrup suckers and ice holes.
Now besides the fact that restricting access to our facilities is as thoroughly Un-Canadian as high pharmaceutical prices and warm winters, restricting access means that going forward we can expect the same treatment from other nations. Given the lack of facilities in Canada, two public speed skating Ovals (Calgary and Vancouver) and one private 200m paved short track in South Western Ontario, I have to ask, how do we plan not to embarrass ourselves in future games since clearly we as a nation have decided that medal winning (and medal counts) matter? Maybe we should just pack it in after Vancouver and ask the Americans to compete for us because if there is one thing I have learned from my years of cycle commuting, Canadians do not appreciate athletics over convenience. We would rather shave ten seconds off our drive to work then put up with a bike lane. We would rather have a 1% sales tax cut then truly world class training facilities. Probably most damning of all, we would rather be obese and give money to the Saudi royal family, who pass it on to those who try to kill us then use our own muscle power to get to work every day.
Now back to the Olympics for one last wary backward glare (scowl?) at old man Winter.
Probably most people are not aware but the very first Olympic Torch relay started with a bunch of beautiful, I suspect blond haired and blue eyed, young men and women dressing as Greek Gods and Goddess on Mount Olympus with parabolic mirrors in 1936. These young people probably did not speak Greek, or Latin, but rather a language far removed from the ancient civilizations. They, very likely, spoke German and I'll bet my eye teeth more than a few were card carrying members of the Nazi party.
Someone in the Nazi government, possibly Reich Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, Mr. Joseph Sounds sort of like a make of baby food, or maybe it was the big wig himself, the Nazi top dog, he who's name bares no repeating, hit upon the idea of a relay of young Aryan runners carrying a flame to connect the cradle of western civilization to Nazi bigotry, xenophobia and gratuitous violence. The relay terminated, naturally, in Berlin.
Every torch relay since that run in 1936 has been paying a largely unspoken tribute to the creativity of the undisputed most rotten, vile and evil corruption ever to influence the human mind. Now yes it true that the modern torch relay has had its moments in the sun, but frankly I think it would be the height of bravery (and decency) to see an Olympics that lacked for a torch relay. Save the oil, heat someone's home.
The other Olympic notion that I really dislike is winning. Well no, not exactly, but the ideals behind the Canadian Olympic Committee program 'Own The Podium' which aligns smartly with similar initiatives all over the globe. Sure it is something nice when say my friend wins first place in a Crit or when I climb a hill faster than the next guy. But honest to goodness does it really matter if we, Canada, (or let's face it athletes who may have been born elsewhere but are representing 19th Century notions of a state, something that a modern Canadian would usually reject) win more golds than say, the Russians? Who cares! Sure watching the world's best is rather cool, but can we not just appreciate them for their talent and leave petty nationalism at the door?
My understanding of the "Own The Podium" concept was, do what can reasonably be achieved to ensure that athletes competing under a red maple leaf would actually win, ideally sweep all three podium positions, Gold, Silver and Bronze, hence "Own The Podium". Well one cheeky American is supposed to have remarked, after winning the Gold, "You guys can own it, we'll just rent it for a while."
Part of the whole program apparently included not allowing any foreigners to train at our facilities for several months after the various tracks and rinks were built. This was probably not the most sensible move right after Emmy award winning Steven Colbert announced he and his audience the "Colbert Nation" would sponsor the US speed skating team. Canadians became variously syrup suckers and ice holes.
Now besides the fact that restricting access to our facilities is as thoroughly Un-Canadian as high pharmaceutical prices and warm winters, restricting access means that going forward we can expect the same treatment from other nations. Given the lack of facilities in Canada, two public speed skating Ovals (Calgary and Vancouver) and one private 200m paved short track in South Western Ontario, I have to ask, how do we plan not to embarrass ourselves in future games since clearly we as a nation have decided that medal winning (and medal counts) matter? Maybe we should just pack it in after Vancouver and ask the Americans to compete for us because if there is one thing I have learned from my years of cycle commuting, Canadians do not appreciate athletics over convenience. We would rather shave ten seconds off our drive to work then put up with a bike lane. We would rather have a 1% sales tax cut then truly world class training facilities. Probably most damning of all, we would rather be obese and give money to the Saudi royal family, who pass it on to those who try to kill us then use our own muscle power to get to work every day.
Monday, February 22, 2010
On The Facts and The Rules
Yes I went for another bike ride yesterday, it was another beautiful 80km. I love the warm weather, too bad its supposed to snow a ton this evening, but let's face it is February 22, it is not like a major snowfall is unusual this time of year.
The drivers, oh god, one parked on the wrong side of the road, drove diagonally across the yellow line and stopped in front of me (I was in a bike lane and it was a no stopping zone) and then started to do a U-turn as I tried to evade a collision by passing to the left of the very illegally stopped/U-turning vehicle. There was no collision, thank goodness, but there were more four letter words than I'll bet the engineers at Specialized have for the UCI.
Turns out poor Albert Contador only came in second in the Volta ao Algarve because the bike a Specialized Shiv that he, his team Astana, and the guys on Saxo-Bank all use for Individual Time Trials and Team Time Trials is not legal. The UCI came to this decision on Friday, the first ITT was yesterday (Sunday). According to Specialized officials "they have been working closely with the UCI since last year to assure that the Shiv would be compliant to UCI rules."
If I were a Specialized Engineer I'd be ready to come after some UCI officals with... well how about a blond... on a cell phone... driving an oversized black SUV... while applying makeup!... and eating!... and Sexting on her second cell phone!
One aside, some careful readers might notice a similarity to the bike Contador came in second on, that is to say his legal TT bike, and my TT bike. The similarity is not a coincidence, which is cool. The part where Contador is probably a bajillion times faster than me is how the bikes differ. :)
The drivers, oh god, one parked on the wrong side of the road, drove diagonally across the yellow line and stopped in front of me (I was in a bike lane and it was a no stopping zone) and then started to do a U-turn as I tried to evade a collision by passing to the left of the very illegally stopped/U-turning vehicle. There was no collision, thank goodness, but there were more four letter words than I'll bet the engineers at Specialized have for the UCI.
Turns out poor Albert Contador only came in second in the Volta ao Algarve because the bike a Specialized Shiv that he, his team Astana, and the guys on Saxo-Bank all use for Individual Time Trials and Team Time Trials is not legal. The UCI came to this decision on Friday, the first ITT was yesterday (Sunday). According to Specialized officials "they have been working closely with the UCI since last year to assure that the Shiv would be compliant to UCI rules."
If I were a Specialized Engineer I'd be ready to come after some UCI officals with... well how about a blond... on a cell phone... driving an oversized black SUV... while applying makeup!... and eating!... and Sexting on her second cell phone!
One aside, some careful readers might notice a similarity to the bike Contador came in second on, that is to say his legal TT bike, and my TT bike. The similarity is not a coincidence, which is cool. The part where Contador is probably a bajillion times faster than me is how the bikes differ. :)
Sunday, February 21, 2010
On Riding on a Warm Winter Day
I went for a ride on Saturday (February 20). I think the fact that a person can ride in above freezing weather in February speaks volumes about global climate change. Of course Bill O says global climate change is a hoax on account of a massive snow fall in along the Atlantic coast, hmmmm, well Bill O is not known to be wrong, maybe.
Anyway the route has only subtle changes from last week's ride so I won't bother republishing it. I will say I sent a letter to the editors of Toronto's four major daily newspapers, The Globe, The National Post, The Star and The Sun, aka The Old Grandmother, The Daily Tuby, Hmmm does the Star have a nick name?, and The Comic Book. Here is my letter:
Anyway the route has only subtle changes from last week's ride so I won't bother republishing it. I will say I sent a letter to the editors of Toronto's four major daily newspapers, The Globe, The National Post, The Star and The Sun, aka The Old Grandmother, The Daily Tuby, Hmmm does the Star have a nick name?, and The Comic Book. Here is my letter:
Date: Sat, 20 Feb 2010
Subject: A thought on the Olympics
I realize it is very exciting to watch Canadians win medals but besides the mortification I suffered when I learned that we were not allowing non Canadian teams to train at our facilities (a fact that is going to haunt us for the next several games). I think we, Canadians, should stop medal counting because frankly the way we treat athletics in this country leads me to believe any strong athlete is a lucky happenstance and not a result of environmental conditions.
Consider, as a former very amateur speed skater I took up the performance enhancing technique of cycling to cross train, a habit I did not kick when I gave up on speed skating. Now I would like the reader of this little note to consider the irony of my situation. I nearly got killed, the same day we celebrated our fourth Olympic Gold Medal by a reckless driver on a Saturday afternoon while riding in a bike lane beside a public school. The school had a large sign that read "Go Canada".
Now I realize I was never going to Vancouver, or any other winter games for speed skating, but there are ways to win Olympic Gold with a bicycle. Except to be frank, even if I was strong and young enough to make the Olympic team, I do not think I have the guts to do the required training and risk my life on account of the 'victims' of the so called "War On The Car".
A thought for motorists in the GTA, exactly how are Canadian athletes supposed to "Go" anywhere, besides a funeral home, if the act of training is life endangering?
Friday, February 19, 2010
On A Few Small Notes
In honour of the fact that it is almost spring, except in regions of the World covered by Faux News, I have a new survey. Also in honour of the new season, I found the video below, I am not keen on the way this guy tapes his bars (they should finish in a way that ensures that if one rides on top of the bars the cyclist does not cause the tape to unravel) But all things being equal, this is a reasonably good video on how to tape a bar.
There actually quite a few instructional videos on YouTube, too bad none have the correct way to win millions of dollars in the lottery.
There actually quite a few instructional videos on YouTube, too bad none have the correct way to win millions of dollars in the lottery.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
On A Long Weekend Ride
The July 27 stage of the 1954 Tour De France was a mountain stage from Grenoble to Briancon. At the top of the Romeyere climb Federico Bahamontes the famous Eagle of Toledo stopped, several minutes ahead of the lead chase pelaton, bought an ice cream from a near by truck, sat in the grass and waited, he was too terrified of descending to go it alone. -From: Inside The Tour De France by Eric Delanzy. I bring up Bahamontes ice cream adventures for reasons that will become apparent later on.
Yesterday, Family Day, February 15, 2010, I went for a little ride, here is the route.
I want something explained to me, what is a shared use lane? Because on Scarlett road near the Humber River there is a sign, that states that the right lane is a shared use lane. Is a shared use lane a place where the city cannot afford to paint a white line for a bike lane but the road is wide enough anyway? I am sorry if my tone sounds frustrated but even in broad daylight, Scarlett road is terrifying. I was rolling down the hill at over 50km/h and hit some rough patches and all I could think of was The Eagle, too scared to ride alone on the decents would always wait for the rest of the Pelaton before going down the hill. I really wish the city could afford some road repairs.
Riding in the Winter, on dry roads, presents some interesting sights. For example, the Humber River at Bloor was snow covered, I was hammering just as fast as I could, there was a steep hill climb coming, but I couldn't help but steal a quick glance at the white blanket between the lush Evergreen trees over my right shoulder.
Really I shouldn't complain, in sub zero weather I burned through almost 80km at an average of over 27 km/h, consumed over 3000 calories and still hurt a day later. The truth was Monday was a good day for a ride, the auto traffic was relatively light. The temperature, almost tolerable.
Despite what really was a good ride I managed to come up with a list of the three most dangerous or otherwise ill conceived things the car drivers did on the near empty roads:
Yesterday, Family Day, February 15, 2010, I went for a little ride, here is the route.
I want something explained to me, what is a shared use lane? Because on Scarlett road near the Humber River there is a sign, that states that the right lane is a shared use lane. Is a shared use lane a place where the city cannot afford to paint a white line for a bike lane but the road is wide enough anyway? I am sorry if my tone sounds frustrated but even in broad daylight, Scarlett road is terrifying. I was rolling down the hill at over 50km/h and hit some rough patches and all I could think of was The Eagle, too scared to ride alone on the decents would always wait for the rest of the Pelaton before going down the hill. I really wish the city could afford some road repairs.
Riding in the Winter, on dry roads, presents some interesting sights. For example, the Humber River at Bloor was snow covered, I was hammering just as fast as I could, there was a steep hill climb coming, but I couldn't help but steal a quick glance at the white blanket between the lush Evergreen trees over my right shoulder.
Really I shouldn't complain, in sub zero weather I burned through almost 80km at an average of over 27 km/h, consumed over 3000 calories and still hurt a day later. The truth was Monday was a good day for a ride, the auto traffic was relatively light. The temperature, almost tolerable.
Despite what really was a good ride I managed to come up with a list of the three most dangerous or otherwise ill conceived things the car drivers did on the near empty roads:
3. I guess because the previous day was Valentine's day some people see red and their thoughts turn to matters of love. I saw red and wiggled my toes to warm them up. In front of me was a guy who almost missed his advance green, I was making a left and was stuck behind him. I got fed up with waiting in the cold and rode around him. Our protagonist, finally pulled away from his sweetest to drive and found himself stuck behind me. He honked when I forced him to drive (at the posted speed limit) behind me. Frankly I'm of the opinion that people should stop making out while driving and concentrate on the road, his wife wasn't too happy at being stuck behind a cyclist either, she yelled something pretty rude at me.
2. Another young man honked at me, and yelled, while I was in the bike lane. Personally I ride as far from parked cars and door prizes as possible. If a driver needs both the car lane and a bike lane, should they be operating a moving vehicle on our highways? Anyway this honking adventure was probably not wise given that we were one city block from 22 Division.
But the winner of the Ignorant Driver award for Family Day is worse than both our intersection lover and honking big behemoth, combined! The ignorant driver of the day has to go to:
1. A parked car in a no stopping zone and a bike lane, with a baby on board rear window sticker. So I am to drive safely when around them but they can endanger me any time they want? I must remember to drive drive like a reckless lunatic the next time I see a Baby On Board sticker. (Too bad I don't drive much anymore.)
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