Monthly Archive for May, 2008

The Toronto Criterium

Published on May 31, 2008 in 2008, Chris and Leah and Goin' Out. 0 Comments

Tonight Leah and I ventured into the city to check out The Toronto Criterium – a timed bike-race around a short course (approximately 1km) in the heart of St. Lawrence Market. Judging by the crowd this is sure to become an annual event! The cyclists were really ripping – cruising at speeds of 45km/h for most of the race.

My only complaint is that they did not take advantage of the makeshift beer garden created by the barricades for the race. The stretch of Church street between Front and Esplanade looked like a party waiting to happen… but sadly none of the bars, pubs or restos in the neighbourhood had any street presence.

Looking forward to next year…

Garmin Edge 705

Published on May 24, 2008 in Chris and Leah. 0 Comments

I splurged and bought a new toy – a Garmin Edge 705. I’d been reading reviews online about it for weeks and was very hesitant in making the purchase. Users had complained that it didn’t live up to the hype, nor was it really worth the price. Furthermore it was complicated to get set-up and operating, augmented by a poor manual.

Well I fully disagree with the dissenters regarding it not being worth the price, or living up to the hype. It is awesome. The “manual” on the other hand is a piece of crap. I’m all for digital – but putting the manual for something on a disc means that in order to read the manual you need your computer next to you while you work.

As most people would work on their bike in the garage, with greasy, grimy fingers, my laptop is the last thing I’d want next to me. And for those without a laptop lugging your bike into your bedroom/office/den/etc isn’t the most appealing office… so for heavens sake Garmin, print a proper manual.

Over the hurdles of attaching it to my bike and configuring it correctly, the Edge 705 works like a dream. And once I’m back at home after a ride, the Garmin Connector software plays nicely with my Mac and enables me to upload my rides to the web to analyze and share with other users of the Edge 605 & 705.

Here are a couple (Ride 1 Ride 2) of my recent rides – my return journeys from Gears Bike Shop in Port Credit.

I haven’t had a chance to try out the virtual training partner, but as soon as I do I’ll post a review.

Kanye West, TFC, Six Straight, Traffic Chaos

Published on May 22, 2008 in 2008, Chris, Complaints, Funny and Toronto FC. 1 Comment

Last night TFC defeated DC United to run our unbeaten streak to 6 games. Also at The Ex, the Toronto Marlies defeated the Chicago Wolves to continue their playoff run. And just across the street Rihanna and Kanye were performing at The Molson Amphitheatre. Now as exciting as it is to have all of these events taking place in our fair city, having them all share a parking lot, and then deciding to try something new in managing the traffic is just stupid.

I live 6km from the venues and it took us nearly 1 hour to get home. That is unacceptable. The Toronto Police and staff of the Exhibition Grounds closed off a number of roads and were trying to direct traffic… but come on; an hour to travel 6km????

Now on a high note… we didn’t know who was playing at the Amphitheatre so we asked the two guys sitting next to us if they knew. The younger guy (in his 30s) didn’t know. His father, who bears a resemblance to Uncle Leo from Seinfeld, stood up and asked the crowd, “Does anyone know who’s playing at the Amphitheatre? Anyone?”

A couple of younger girls in the row behind us responded, “Kanye and Rihanna.”

Uncle Leo sits down and says to me, “Don’t act like I nevah told ya!”

And we laughed. 

2 Transports, 5 Cars, 1 Motorcycle and 0 Police

Published on May 19, 2008 in 2008, Chris and Complaints. 0 Comments

On a weekend touted as being heavily patrolled by the police – looking for speeders, racers, dangerous drivers, etc, etc, we saw plenty of people breaking a wide variety of laws, but didn’t see a single police vehicle at any point outside of the City of Toronto.

In theory if you travel at a speed just slightly higher than the posted limit you should pass every other vehicle as they should all be travelling at or below the limit. In reality during the 265km journey from Kingston to Toronto on a long weekend, we passed a grand total of 8 vehicles – two were loaded transports going up a long hill, and the motorcycle was vintage and carrying two people, up another long hill.

Why is everyone is such a hurry? What am I missing? Slow down, take in the scenery, save fuel, save the environment…

BIG IDEA: Reward Cyclists For Riding Instead Of Driving

Published on May 14, 2008 in Chris and Leah. 0 Comments

With all the talk of rising gas prices, and the suggestion that the government should cut taxes on gas to help consumers I think it’s time that people pull their heads out of their asses and realize that cutting the tax on gas will not reduce the price at the pump. Cut the tax and the oilco’s will raise their price.

Instead we should provide incentives to people who ride their bikes instead of driving. This will reduce congestion, reduce fuel consumption, and perhaps, in my utopic world, reduce the price that drivers are paying at the pump.

Tardiness

Published on May 12, 2008 in Chris, Complaints and Ideas!. 0 Comments

If you are running late, don’t stop and get coffee. Especially if the event you are already late for requires your attendance in order to proceed. And there are a number of other people already there waiting for your arrival.

I can’t understand how many of the women (yes, it’s only the women who do this) in my cycling class don’t understand this. The class starts early on Saturday mornings, and I understand that people think they need their coffee to get the day going, but come on! The class starts at 8. Get your ass out of bed 10 minutes earlier, get your coffee and show up on time, ready to go.