7 posts tagged “bicycle”
It's Bike Month and Toronto cyclists are kicking it off with a number of events for the two wheel inclined.
- The Toronto Cyclists Union launches this month, with the goal of "ensuring that cycling is a legitimate, accessible, and safe means of transportation." Now accepting memberships starting at $2 per month.
- The TTC is now equipping more buses with bike racks so you can hitch a ride back home if you get tired.
Saturday, May 24th
- The Green Toronto Festival at Yonge-Dundas Square will feature a performance by Chantal Kreviazuk and an attempt to break the world record for largest bicycle bell ensemble at noon.
Friday, May 30th
- Toronto launches its first official bike race in well over a decade with The Toronto Criterium at the St. Lawrence Market.
- The monthly Critical Mass event takes place on Bloor and Spadina at 6 PM blocking traffic for cyclist avocacy.
Sunday, June 1st
- The Heart and Stroke Foundation's Ride for Heart event takes place across Toronto, from the CNE, down the Gardiner Expressway, up the Don Valley Parkway and back all with a goal of raising $3 million. I'll be taking part again this year, so feel free to make a donation.
Friday, June 13th to Monday June 16th
- Toronto hosts the 16th Annual Cycle Messenger World Championships, for bike polo, various fixie events, and a 3-hour race circuit.
Saturday, June 14th
- You won't catch me at the World Naked Bicycle Ride (NSFW), but you can participate if you're not timid.
In other news, I purchased a pair of Michelin Krylion Carbon tires and a F'iz:ik Arione Wing Flex saddle with Ti rails. Hopefully they will ship here before the actual event.
Heart and Stroke Facts: 40% of all Canadians will develop some form of heart disease or stroke over their lifetime and at 75,000 deaths in Canada each year, it is the leading cause of death.
As I mentioned before, it's cold out, so I have my bike hooked up to the indoor trainer. Earlier this week, I did a short ride on the trainer and noticed a pile of black particles on the floor behind my rear tire. On closer inspection, I discovered that the particles were actually little bits of tire that somehow got worn off. I have never had this problem before and was surprised that I had burnt off a noticeable chunk of my rear tire in a period of 10 minutes!
So, now I am left pondering how this could have happened and I'm hesitant to use my bike lest I find myself riding on rims. One thing that I noticed is that the rear wheel is slightly out of true, wobbling ever so slightly both radially and side-to-side, so I'll have to bring it to the bike shop for them to take a look at (I suck at truing wheels, so better to leave it to the pros). But that won't necessarily guarantee that I won't end up still increasing my powdered rubber collection, I may just end up with a more evenly spread wear.
On top of that, I now need to buy myself a replacement tire, as well I'm contemplating buying either a really cheap tire exclusively for the trainer or a specialized trainer tire. Either solution will still leave me swapping tires between trainer and road, and I really don't want to have to invest in an extra set of rims, hub and cassette.
Buggers.
Happy Valentines Day!
What better way to say I <3 you than with a gift for the heart?
It's cold outside and more snow is expected, so my bike's been spinning on the trainer all winter. Registration starts March 1st. R4H 2007 takes place Sunday, June 3rd with a goal of raising $2.7 million for the Heart and Stroke Foundation, supporting medical research and survivorship. I'm doing the maximum 75km route, hopefully in about 2 hours. More info as we get closer to June.
Random search for something completely different brought me to Bohemian Bicycles. Nice fancy decorative stainless steel lugs that sparkle.
Although I was holding a shaky-cam riding a road bike down the Gardiner Expressway, I'm pretty happy with the way this photo turned out.
I took this during the 19th annual Heart and Stroke Foundation Ride for Heart fundraiser event.
13,000 cyclists riding across Toronto for Heart and Stroke research is indeed a pretty sight.
I wonder what terrible thing I did recently to deserve such bad Karma.
Looks
like nothing is working right recently, the number of things breaking
down is quite staggering. I'm usually a little overprotective over the condition of all my stuff and rarely have any issues, but lately, it's a very different story.
My motherboard has been out of commission after I discovered that the SATA controller was shot. Went though a nightmare RMA process for two months and I finally got a replacement unit from Asus (not to blame them, just awful bad luck).
Went on a charity bike ride downtown for the weekend and came home Monday to find that the subwoofer unit on my PC speakers just crapped out. 6 months old, worked fine before the weekend. Now I'm desperately looking for the receipt, which I always file away, but I just can't seem to find.
This afternoon, I noticed that my Internet connection was down for whatever reason. Checked on the wireless router to find none of the normally blinking lights blinking. Turned out the router's power brick just kicked the bucket. How often do AC adapters fizzle out? Thankfully, I had a spare.
Fridge has been temperamental for quite some time. It seems to build up a lot of condensation inside so that I get puddles, then sometimes freezes it all up. I find soggy bread and frozen vegetables in there all the time.
If anything else around here breaks down, it's gonna be me.
