Clay and Paper Theatre - 2 Wheels are Better Than 4

Here we see the Clay and Paper Theatre performing their song 2 Wheels are Better Than 4 at the Side Space Gallery, providing musical accompaniment for the opening of "Does this ring a bell?" by Georgette Peters.

Good Day At Pirates

The plan was to go for a ride into the east end, then head back and help out at Bike Pirates for a while. Luckily, on my way down Harbord, I saw this purple beauty in a pile marked "free stuff." You'll note that the pedals are taped on. The fenders and chain guard also rubbed, the tires were flat, and the hubs were all seized up.

I re-cajiggered the wheels, reusing the old bearings mostly, but cleaning everything out and using fresh grease. I bent the fenders and chain guard back into shape, and pumped up the tires, which thankfully seemed to be holding air. Unfortunately when I took the tiny beauty out for a ride, the brakes were shot; it will probably need a new back wheel.

It was a great day.

Critical Mass March '09

Here we are congregating. My old ritual was to pick up a burrito at Big Fat Burrito in the market. I didn't have time to go out of the way last night, so I checked out Burrito Bandidos on Walmer. It's quite good; they are exactly like Burrito Broz.


Hey, it's the oft celebrating young photographer Leanne Eisen! It was a day for star sightings.


Here we have a fireman getting involved. You probably can't see it here, but he was smiling. Last night had the "rolling party" atmosphere that a lot of the more "police intervention-ey" masses don't.


More about the star sightings that I mentioned earlier. I am not great with faces, but I think that I saw Sook-Yin Lee stopped in a car, near the CBC where she works. A few blocks later, I saw Michael Cera. I am more sure about having seen him because I heard someone behind me say "It's George Michael!" He's in Toronto to film Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, and I think he was driving his parent's Camry.



And this is a time lapse video I took of the proceedings.

My First Leslie St Spit Ride of '09

Spring sprung, so I went for a 40km ride. Need to lose the ~15 pounds gained over the winter, so there should be a lot of these.

Aura Lee Park

Aura Lee Park is a nice place to go for a walk. It connects with Ramsden Park, and is a great way to walk from Avenue Road over to Yonge Street. Here's a time lapse video (3 seconds long) of a walk through there:

RailPath Nearing Completion

After dark last night, I went for a stroll down the abandoned CPR line that is going to become the West Toronto RailPath. Currently the trail is only accessible by foot, unless you're one of those idiots who rides a mountain bike. The trail is all gravel and mud. There are lights installed and also some strange 20' tall wing-shaped metal structures which hopefully aren't ad pylons. I would have taken pictures but it was dark out.

Hopefully the city will manage to procure the rights to the rail corridor south of Dundas so that the MUP can be extended southward.

Not Allowed to Disagree

The Star won't allow dissent unless you've authenticated.

West End Bikeways Meeting # 2

The second meeting of the West End Bikeways planning was tonight. This was a follow up to the Original meeting in November, which sought public consultation for bike routes that would be easy to get approved politically.

This meant that the usefulness of any new infrastructure would be limited. People weren't happy with this, but cyclists are used to compromising with local merchants and City Hall. The most desired bike infrastructure in Toronto is a new major east - west route on the west end. Take The Tooker and Bells on Bloor have shown that a Bloor street bike lane would be very popular with cyclists, and there was a lot of noise at the first meeting about a Queen West bike lane. These two bike lanes would also be the hardest to get put in politically.

Since neither of these things will happen in 2009, the idea of sharrows on College St. west of Euclid is quite tantalizing. Nobody really likes sharrows, but as more of them are woven into the urban fabric they should become more accepted and useful. Currently College goes from being a half decent bike lane to being some of the worst Toronto cycling has to offer: being forced to ride in the door zone next to a street car track and busy traffic. If anything can be done to improve that, it would be great.

UPS Blockade

The UPS Blockade of Toronto's bike lanes will continue until Toronto cyclist's will to live has been broken.

State of the Trail

Substantial portions of the Don Valley trails are still iced over, as is the Rosedale Valley path. The shoulders on Bayview are awful.

The shoulders on Bayview should become bike lanes. It would be a nice way to get to the brick works.

Mini Critical Mass of Police Officers

From atop the bridge to Riverdale Park, I spied four officers riding up Bayview and taking up a lane of space that should be reserved for cars, god damn it!

Look out for cyclists...

Funny Bike at Curbside

I saw this funny sign at Curbside:

be noticed & scene
develop mad fixie skillz
and even learn 2 race at the velodrome
and put yourself through art school as a cycle courier

only $1729!