Toronto City Life » bicycle

DSC_8478

TCL Flickr Pool — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 02:30:11 +0000

*bomben* has added a photo to the pool:

Everyday is An Adventure in Kato Land: 2

Katherine — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 18:50:16 +0000

To read part one, go here.

It was wonderful to wander around this place while it was pouring rain outside. People work and study here and there was a nice feeling of happy busyness. Someone was practicing piano elsewhere in the building and you could hear it throughout. Such a lovely place.

I used the castle-like facilities too. Thankfully the toilets were not medieval, they were the modern kind. The door into the washroom on the other hand, was heavy wood with iron embellishments all over it. Very cool. The castle-y windows were flung wide open too, so everyone outside got to listen to my business. Sweet.

There were huge red flower on this tree. I thought they were fake at first, they were almost too pretty.

Continuing with our walking. We walked for SIX HOURS, almost straight. My hips hurt when I got into bed later that night. But it’s alright, the hurt of exercise is always welcome. Uhhhhh…..sure.

Had a picture taken with the MADD crew here back in May, for the Toronto Marathon walk that Dave and I took part in.

He just takes it when I do this to him all day long. Look at him, he has gone to his happy place.

Waiting out another rain storm.

Look at that Macedonian profile! That was a nice way of saying I have a huge honker. It’s cool. When I am old and I look like a witch it will suit me just fine. I plan on being the cantankerous scary old woman on the block. Kids will whisper about me and I won’t give them their balls back when they throw them over my fence. In fact, I will squish their balls. What’s a good witch-y name for me? ‘Say Goodbye to Your Balls’ Kato. You guys know I am talking about tennis balls and soccer balls, right?

I like it! Bixi Toronto bike sharing. This city freaking rocks.

The Royal Ontario Museum. Interesting building no?

Yellow bike! The third in the series!

Oh man I was starving at this point. All I wanted was a fat hamburger and french fries. And a beer.

Hey all you dudes out there, I finally bought the Justin Bieber nail polish I wanted by O.P.I. This is all thanks to Ms. Raymi and her fabulous freaking nails over at Raymi the Minx. I must give credit where credit is due. She wore the baby blue color (called ‘Baby’….*eye roll*) over on her blog and I fell in love with it. Apparently Shoppers Drug Mart can’t sell the actual O.P.I. collection in their stores? So they have to sell it under the guise of ‘Nicole’. Whatever. Seems weird. His face was on the bottle so I knew it was legit. Funny story about this: I was telling my friend that I asked Dave to go and buy the nail polish for me, but in order to avoid embarrassment just say that it was for his 12-year-old daughter. My friend was like, “And then he did and handed it over to you…his 12-year-old girlfriend”. Fuck you! Ha! I didn’t actually force him to buy it for me.

Oh yeah, I also bought the ghetto version of crackle. I’ll let you know how this one goes.

Not very impressed by my brick burger. EASY ON THE GRILLING TIME BUDDY!

On our travels home we passed my old work place, St. Anthony’s elementary school. I worked in the behavioral classroom here as an EA. So essentially I did everything, because that’s what Educational Assistant’s do. The teacher’s don’t want to handle the kids because of their ‘issues’, so that is where I came in. I loved those kids though man. I was behavioral when I was younger, so I understood them. I didn’t quit this job because of the kids, believe me. I quit because of the adults. The teachers, in case you didn’t catch my drift.

Look there’s me! Something ate everyone else’s face. The little kid on the right was my first project when I started the job. VERY behavioral, to the point where I didn’t know what to do with him. But we learned together. I cried when I walked away from that place, specifically because of him.

I didn’t even have to yell at those kids. I would just give them ‘the look’. They backed down right away. They also thought I was super cool and they all loved me. I broke them down when I played hacky sack with them in the park once.

I used to exercise on these stairs. They are brutal.

BRUTAL!

West Toronto Railpath.. A must see if visiting Toronto!

There was a storm a-brewing.

Nice.

Even better.

Towards work.

Towards home.

Let’s try to beat this storm (we did).

Try to have a mini adventure this weekend everyone! That is what life is all about!

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This looks awfully familiar…

Patrick — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 15:29:21 +0000

Hmm….now where have I seen this bicycle before?

Oh yeah, now I remember: “Spontaneous act of art ordered removed from Dundas Street.” Maybe Mayor Ford isn’t trying to remove street art for the purpose of beautifying the city, perhaps he just wants it for his own living room?

Thanks for Councillor Mark Grimes for snapping that first photo, the Toronto Star for the second one, and to Rob Ford for providing the irony.

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TCL Flickr Pool: back in time

TCL Flickr Pool — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 12:46:20 +0000

Shabnam – Morningdew Photography has added a photo to the pool:

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Sweat and Spandex 2010

Patrick — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 18:38:25 +0000

The only sport I watch with any regularity or enthusiasm is Formula 1. I’m not really even sure if it really qualifies as a sport – I know that the drivers have to be physically fit, but that fitness isn’t the major contributing factor to them winning races. In Formula 1 it’s truly a team effort requiring a skilled driver, skilled pit crew, and skilled engineers. If just one of those elements is missing, the race is pretty much over.

The other reason I like Formula 1 is because it seems much more fair than most competitive sports. I like to compare it do downhill slaloms, for example, where differences in athletes’ times can be in the tenths of seconds — easily accounted for by an errant gust of wind. The athlete’s training, the coaching, the equipment, etc., can all be negated by something completely beyond the athlete’s control. Luck, in other words. In Formula 1 the whole aim of engineering is to mitigate the effects of luck, but even more important, all the drivers race at the same time so that elements like wind, rain, etc., affect everyone equally.

The Toronto Criterium is very similar to Formula 1 in these respects.

The bike race ran the same route as last year through the streets of the St. Lawrence neighbourhood. I’m not a fan of oval racing tracks; they tend to get boring real fast. If it wasn’t for the various pubs, restaurants, and cafes lining the 1 km (0.6 mi) route, I’d find much greater fault with the event. However, the oval seems to be the only negative in a race that’s otherwise all pluses.

Last year I lamented the fact that I didn’t witness any wipe-outs. It’s not that I want anyone to get seriously hurt. Quite the contrary, in fact, I’d like nothing else than to watch them crash again another day. But be honest, spectacular collisions are the best parts of any race, am I right?

This year I also stuck around to see who the winners were. After 74 laps at an average speed of 47.6 km (29.6 mi) per hour, team SpiderTech powered by Planet Energy dominated the first four spots, led by Andrew Randell.

And just like Formula 1, Andrew cracked a bottle of bubbly on the podium and sprayed the audience. I can attest to the fact that real Champagne is indeed used. Not bad either.

No pit crews or fiery collisions, but not bad for a competitive sporting event. I’d love to see something more complex than an oval because right now all the cyclists do is continually turn left. The trick to setting up another course, however, would be to ensure that there are enough depots along the way for folks to wet their whistles; spectating for five hours takes some serious stamina!

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Sweat and Spandex

Patrick — Sat, 30 May 2009 03:37:25 +0000

The Criterium had all the bone-crunching, flesh-rending action I was looking for. Too bad none of it happened where I was standing. Oh well, here’s some other stuff instead:

No visible injuries, but we can be certain that at least a good number of testicles were crushed (have you seen those seats?!). Next year perhaps they’ll incorporate fast and hungry animals or perhaps someone riding shotgun, with a shotgun, in the pace Lamborghini. Just for the psychological effect.

Still, it was a pretty good race and I got to smell the ass crack of almost every racer. It was a very real, very intimate experience.

And plenty of alcohol along the route too!

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Good old-fashioned road-tanned hides

Patrick — Tue, 26 May 2009 00:12:54 +0000

I wasn’t intending on writing about bicycles in Toronto quite so soon again, but then the mayor said this:

“NOW THEREFORE, I, Mayor David Miller, on behalf of Toronto City Council, do hereby proclaim May 25 – June 25, 2009 as ‘Bike Month‘ and encourage everyone to get outside and ride!” — here’s the PDF.

Guess that’s Life for ya — in the City of Toronto, no less. Unfortunately Bill Carroll wasn’t on hand this morning to appraise the situation; perhaps he’s at home fearing for his life. Us bikers can be a pretty aggressive bunch, it’s true.

Yes, I biked today. My highly affordable and questionably-constructed Freespirit Aluminum Concept 6061 (that’s the name … can you find the web site? … ‘cuz I can’t), made the ride quite exciting. Aside from the single occasion I had to explain, in passing and quite loudly, why a truck didn’t need to block not only my lane but also the lane of traffic next to me just to make a left turn, it was a pretty smooth ride. The pavement needed some work in sections and I could see someone getting a surprise facial makeover if they weren’t careful, but for the most part the ride was without incident. Cars were unexpectedly cautious; perhaps it was the gentle swaying motion or the empty liquor bottle I was dangling loosely from my left hand, but everyone seemed to give me a pretty wide berth.

The biggest annoyances on the road today were actually the other cyclists. I’ll be honest, I don’t really care how stupid they’re being in front of cars or trucks because, let’s face it, that’s Darwin’s theory being played out in perfect harmony with the universe. It’s nature’s way of preserving a base level of intelligence in the general population, don’t you think? If the need to show their brains pubicly is really that profound, what goddam right do I have to stop them? But when they start pulling that shit in front of other cyclists or pedestrians, it’s a bit different.

It was mostly the inattention that got me: making a turn and simply not looking anywhere but forward; cutting out in front of cars on red lights; pulling out across the middle of the lane or the sidewalk and just sitting there; sometimes it’s just an unnecessary inconvenience and sometimes it’s just plain dangerous. Perhaps the topic of a future Guide to Urban Insolence for drivers?

Speaking of dangerous biking, this month is being kicked off with a close-quarters free-for-all race called the Criterium which, if the photographs speak true, promises some good old-fashioned road-tanned hides. The starting-line scrimmage should be wipeout central — *THE* place to be! I’m so excited that I’ve taken to wearing Depends all the time now.

Unfortunately, not everything will be this festive. The month-long celebration allows you to pack the pounds you’ve lost back on with a variety of pancake breakfasts and a bike tour of Dufflet stores. I think the Dufflet slogan should be: “Does this in any way taste like you want to know how many calories it has?” They have very very tasty cakes. Very tasty. For a reason.

There are a bunch of workshops and a couple of parades where people from all walks of life get to exclaim “I love to ride!”, which if you interpret it sexually as I do most things, is quite funny. I’m not sure what’s going on with the Leslie Street Spit other than some people bitching about the cormorants, but it’s going to be a popular destination with at least two tours of the area and another just across the water on Ward’s island. There are also a variety of group events such as the “Tuesday Ravine Ride”, “Wednesday Night Ride”, “Fast and Furious Friday Night Ride”, and the popular “Weekend rides” which are also open to enjoyably sexual connotations.

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Spokes are Swastikas!

Patrick — Thu, 21 May 2009 00:20:23 +0000

Bill Carroll put me on the Wall of Shame this morning.

Actually, it was all Torontonians and not me specifically, but I still felt the cold finger of blame pointed squarely at my face.

If you don’t know, Bill Carroll is the prime time personality for local radio station CFRB (AM 1010). His soothing repartee is my morning wake-up, usually taken with a caffeinated beverage, and followed by 680 News and a sunny toilet bowl.

The “Wall of Shame” segment, usually on just after 8 a.m., is a way for Bill to vent his rage and frustration in a generally non-violent way. Usually it’s the denizens of city hall or some child-abusers (I don’t think Bill sees a difference), who receive the honour of the simulated hammer-and-nail routine, but this morning Bill decided that Toronto — and everyone in it — was worthy of being shamed.

What got Bill so mad? The “minority” bicycling population of Toronto is trying to impress their anti-car agenda on the city and we’re all just lying back and taking it. This stemmed from news that the group is trying to revive the proposal for a bike-only lane to be added to a section of Bloor Street West. Bill took this to be a personal afront: he drives, these people are obviously anti-car, hence they’re against him.

Usually Bill fake-hammers the virtual nail with measured disdain, but today he was pounding and yelling into the microphone like a man on a mission.

Why aren’t all car drivers furious with this “minority” agenda, he asked? Why is city hall filled with car haters? Why the hell isn’t the population of Toronto up in arms?! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH ALL YOU PEOPLE?! (or something similar)

Bill phoned the deranged organizer of this three-ring circus to ask him what the big idea was. The guy on the other end replied that the city would be much better off if everyone rode a bike: environment, health, etc. Bill disagreed vociferously. The plan would be unworkable for the “vast majority” of people. It’s unconscionable how the bike-riding “minority” is trying to hijack city hall for it’s own nefarious purposes. How many people would use this extra lane anyway? Numbers! How many people, really?! TELL ME HOW MANY OF YOU SONS OF BITCHES THERE ARE!

The interviewee couldn’t come up with any stats.

How typical! Bill was sure it wasn’t a lot of people, not like drivers; there’s a lot of those, definitely a “vast majority”.

As Bill launched into another tirade, this was pretty much the end of the dialogue. Perhaps the interviewee left the conversation, maybe Bill hung up on him. The voice on the other end of the line simply stopped attempting to speak in between the Carroll deluge.

Now with only himself to convince, Bill kept absentmindedly knocking the imaginary nail while slowly descending into something resembling normalcy, all the while trying to re-frame the topic so that even the thickest of us would understand how awful it really was.

The phone lines were opened up.

The first caller agreed with Bill’s assertions and managed to earn himself a second sentence. “Why not lead a protest group like the Tamils?” he asked. “I can’t get involved,” replied Bill. “If you’re famous and lead a protest, they’re all over you. Somebody else needs to do this. Are you listening, Toronto? I’m so sick and tired of…”, and so on.

And then came the traffic report.

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