monkeymartian » commuting

public service announcement

Andrew — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 20:04:39 +0000

A little sign told me that Weldrick Road East will be closed at the CNR level crossing from July 20-24. Weldrick is great to use to get between Bathurst/Yonge/Bayview/Spadina in order to avoid the super busy arterials.

For a detour, I will be going a little north to take Crosby eastbound over to Spadina. Please note that there is no through traffic on Spadina southbound from Major Mac during rush hours. No problem, just hop off your bike and use the pedestrian crossing!

when bicycle commuting becomes routine

Andrew — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:34:44 +0000

Here are some random thoughts on a lazy Canada Day morning. I’ve been a “bike commuter” since 2004. When I first rediscovered cycling after a long lay off, I was amazed at the volume of traffic in my stomping grounds in York Region. I’ve written about it now and then, and used to focus on the bummer encounters with motorists. I suppose I’ve matured a bit and only write about the more egregious stuff that happens out there.

It’s strange that the more cycling becomes part of my day, the less I have to say about it. On the other hand, perhaps it’s not all that strange. New drivers probably gush about their new found skill and ‘freedom.’

In other biking news, I’m following the Tour Divide mountain biking race from Banff, Alberta to Antelope Wells New Mexico along the great divide. The race has been decided with a winner, but it’s far from over. I’m always in awe of what these riders can do. I’ve been thinking about mountain biking a little more seriously over the last few months. I’m not sure that I want to spend the money on a rig right now with job security being so much up in the air. Besides, I never seem to get much time to ride on the weekends. However, after completing the Toronto City Chase a couple of weeks ago, I feel hooked on the ‘adventure racing’ kind of thing and I’ve been looking around at some of the more outdoor oriented events. Of course, these events feature mountain biking! I guess I must be getting close to 40 or something…

In other news, I saw today that Steve at Bikining in Halifax, NS is blogging again after what appears to be a long illness. Welcome back!

for sandra

Andrew — Thu, 07 May 2009 11:44:56 +0000

I got a comment from Sandra that she had recently moved into Markham and needed some suggestions about how to get around the heinous crossing of 16th and Highway 404. Here goes

Highway crossings are always tricky, but here is one method that works pretty well for me. It does requrie some sidewalk riding and a little walking. Use at your own risk.

From the east: take the sidewalk on the south side of 16th and go under the first bridge. The sidewalk ends under the second bridge where it becomes a narrow dirt trail. Follow the little dirt trail on to the triangular piece of gravel between 16th and the 404 on ramp. Wait for a gap in traffic and cross the ramp. You’ll find another dirt trail that you can use to access the parking lot on Leek Crescent. Take Leek Crescent over the Mural Street and head North. You can get back on 16th from the light there. See the photo below or the Gmaps Pedometer Route.

Sneaking around 16th & 404

I don’t find the eastbound leg to be as much as problem, as there is only one ramp on the south side of 16th to navigate. From the light at 16th and Leslie, travel east towards Mural Street. Just east of Mural is the entrance to a parking lot. Turn in there and do a bit of a U turn. Wait for the lights at Mural to go red for the westbound traffic and you should be able to get a nice clear road past the southbound on-ramp (Thanks to Paul, who showed me this little strategy). Alternatively, you can use the sneak shown above.

seen

Andrew — Wed, 06 May 2009 13:36:06 +0000

I saw a Google Street View car on my ride in to work this morning @ 16th and Woodbine in Markham. I would have liked to photograph the photographers, but I didn’t have my camera with me. Besides, I was busy riding through the interesection. When I saw the bemasted car, I made a face like I had just dipped into my suitcase of courage and hammered past.

close encounters

Andrew — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 13:10:09 +0000

A few weeks ago I noticed that the creek in the Beaver Creek greenway appeared to be damed up by, well, beavers. There were a bunch of beaver chewed trees around as evidence, but they looked older. Yesterday afternoon on my ride through the greenway I was rewarded with the sight of a family of beavers swimming about in their pool. I saw what looked to be three or more adults, plus a bunch of kits. I spooked most of the adults, who instead of slapping their tails on the water simply slipped beneath the surface. I think it’s really cool to have these beavers essentially living in people’s backyards. I’m worried though that the path will get flooded out and prompt someone to complain about it and have the animals removed. I managed to grab a few quick photos. I also saw the first rabbit of the year, and managed to get a photo of it before it dove under a fence. (Click photos for bigger).

finding the northwest passage

Andrew — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 15:34:14 +0000

Todd has a post at Quirky Outtakes detaling his commute into the hinterlands of suburban Vaughan. Suburban bike commuters face tough routes choices, and are forced to ride on scary busy arterials to get where they need to be. Todd has found a way to use the Bartley Smith Greenway in Vaughan allowing him to have a nice ride away from the busy arterials.

Andrew — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 14:24:35 +0000

It was a perfect week to start cycling to work again. The roads are clear of ice and snow, leaving only the detritus of a winter’s worth of salt, sand & litter behind. The greenways that I use are mostly passable. In the early mornings, the gravel and dirt sections are frozen and I can ride over them, but they become soggy in the afternoons as the temperature rises.

On one part of my ride, I noticed the carcasses of several bicycles strewn through a field. I don’t know how fresh these are, as there isn’t a lot of rust on them.

Scene of the Crime

Separation Anxiety

thinking about long tail bikes

Andrew — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 20:53:33 +0000

So it’s the dead of winter and I’m not doing much, if any riding. This is the time of year when I daydream about bikes. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about what I’d like to do on a bike and fabricating reasons why my current bikes don’t fit the bill. Something I’ve been looking at are these long bikes, in particular Xtracycle and the Surly Big Dummy, which was designed to fit all the stuff for the Xtracycle. I love these long bikes with all my Fredness: they’re huge, run on big tires and they can carry hundreds of pounds of cargo. I could have used a bike like this several times when I needed to get stuff from the hardware store. I could have done it in a single trip, rather than three. It might even make grocery shopping fun. I could see myself using this as a commuter, particularly in the unstable months in Spring and Fall when I need to haul lots of clothes for my commute. It would also be nice not to have to worry too much about stopping at the grocery store on the way home and finding a case of mangoes on sale and having to balance it on my knees as I limp home. Still, do I really need such a behemoth, or am I just giving in to bike lust? I don’t know, but it’s nice to dream. I’m guessing that there are lots of uses for it that I haven’t thought about yet. Winter bike? Kid Hauler?

My winter bike project never got even got past the brain fart stage, so I still have the 80s touring frame collecting dust. It seems that the Xtracyle bolt-on might be the cheapest alternative, and I saw the Urbane is carrying the free radical kits. I took a look through the Xtracycle site, and it seems that my frame would need some cold-setting, but this is pretty much what I would have to do if I wanted to put a modern drive train on it anyway. Still, something about bolted on apendages doesn’t really appeal to me and my aesthetic sense. The lure of the Big Dummy is that it’s a purpose built frame, ready to haul lots of stuff. I’m not sure where to get one in Toronto, and the MSRP is quite a lot, but seemingly worth it as the stuff I’ve read from BD owners is pretty good.

Image from Surly website.

welcome, bikes

Andrew — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 14:06:01 +0000

Another great project by the Urban Repair Squad? Keep up the good work.

2008 my cycling year in review

Andrew — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 16:01:45 +0000

Even with all the wet weather, 2008 was a fantastic cycling year. From April until the end of November, I rode to work every workday except for three. In 2007, my commute was a round trip of approximately 20 km, but an office move in 2008 increased that to 30km. Most of my saddle time is commuting, but I averaged about 200-250km a week in total. Not bad.

In 2008 I was finally able to reach a goal I’d been hunting for about four years – a metric century (100 km). I’d never been able to find the time to get out and do it. Not only did I meet the goal, I surpassed it and almost made a real century (100 miles) on the Tour de Greenbelt. Sadly, this had some repercussions for me.

I rode the 20 km from home to the ride start and the weather was unseasonably cold for September. Instead of stopping and putting on my knee warmers, I kept riding. I was afraid I’d miss the ride start. This turned out to be a mistake as my knees started complaining. I did the 55 km ride, had lunch and decided to ride the 55km back to the start. On the way back, I got lost and had to ride a little more. My knee was feeling pretty trashed. The next day, I rode to work and felt sore but okay. As the weeks went by, my knee really started to hurt after only 10 km of riding. Bicycling is my major mode of transportation to work, so I kept at it. By mid November, my knee was aching all the time. By the end of the month, I figured it was time for a rest.

I got out and did some errands by bike early in the New Year, but riding in the snow and slush wasn’t much fun. Well, it was a little bit fun trying to stay upright, but I wouldn’t want to have to deal with rush hour traffic when doing it! Even though I had illusions that I’d stick with winter riding, I think I’ll probably wait until March, snow conditions permitting before riding to work. My legs are restless though, so who knows.

I’m not a resolution kind of guy, but my goal is to do at least one ‘big’ ride this year. I’m aiming for a Century (100 miles) or perhaps a 200 km Brevet.