What's new

I decided to take a winter break from blogging, but not from biking of course! Through seemingly neverending snow the trusty beater bike slogged its way through. I am happy now that spring has sprung, and the nice bikeys can come out and play without fear of getting corroded by copious amounts of road salt.

The bike fleet has expanded! First this sweet vintage cruiser. I wanted a nice simple ladies frame (to make it easy to ride in a skirt!) with single speed and a coaster brake to be a simple basket bike. The challenge? Finding one that wasn't horribly small as I'm nearly 6 feet tall. This one fits great (Swedes must be tall! This is made by Swedish bike company Crescent) and its a lot of fun to ride, though it takes some getting used to backpedalling to brake, stopping and starting up again. It has a great rack, and a chain guard - awesome for me who seems to manage to always grease my pants despite pant clips. Not recommended though to ride it around all day, then take a different bike out and attempt to backpedal to brake while approaching a busy street from a minor one. Ahem. I still need to find a nice matching basket (and a matching skirt of course!)

And here's a sneak peek at Puck, a work in progress.
Puck will become my first fixie. And a good learning about bikes project. Including painting them. So far I've completely disassembled her. I've figured out that taking a bike apart is much easier than putting one back together. Both of these bikes were finds from Community Bicycle Network (CBN). I built the back wheel for her at a CBN workshop, and quite enjoyed the process.

With this ever expanding fleet of bikes it is handy to have a place to work on them all. While CBN is a great place for that, home can be handier for routine stuff, so I bought a Park PCS-10 repair stand.
On careful observation you will note a Cannondale road bike hanging in the background. What? Not another bike?! Nope not for me.

Which brings us to the most exciting new news of all! I have a new roommate whom I'm madly in love with. Dave, my touring partner from my fun BC bike adventure, has left the beautiful wet coast, and has parked his bikes chez crazybikerchick.

Dear Thief

I hope that my Planet Bike superflash taillight helped you not get run over on your way home, because it sure made me nervous riding home without a light. Thank you for not taking the quick release seatpost and seat that it was attached to. (yes I know get a bolt already) And for leaving my headlight, which I usually take with me, although I never bother with the taillight figuring it is not a worthwhile steal. I wonder if my wheels would have vanished as well if I hadn't taken the time to run a cable through them. Or maybe you just needed a light. You probably (because I don't remember) now have two AAA rechargeable batteries now too.

Blinky blinky love,
Crazy biker chick

The view from the broomstick

Hallowe'en is always my favourite time of year to be on a bicycle. Dressed up in costume everyone around smiles, rather than the usual frazzled road moods about. Since my new recumbent looks like a giant broomstick I couldn't resist dressing up like a witch. Here I am in front of Community Bicycle Network:

If you live in Toronto, you should definitely drop by. Now is a great time of year to buy a secondhand bicycle so you don't salt up your pride and joy (oh but it won't snow this winter, no not at all...) You can also pay by the hour to make use of the repair stands and tools and learn how to fix your own bike. There are workshops, and believe me these are amazing if a spatially-challenged type like me can build a really good wheel (more on that later!)

So being that Hallowe'en fell on the last Friday of the month this year, I was a bit conflicted whether to hand out candy to little ghouls and goblins, or one big fun costumed bike parade. Dressed up cyclists won out (sorry kiddies!) Here's a small selection of the many amazing costumes:
Arrr ye mateys, pirate Tammy Thorne, editor of Toronto's new bike magazine, Dandyhorse.
A different kind of pirate: Toronto Cyclist Union assistant coordinator Yvonne Bambrick as a pirated CD collection
The gals of "Critical Sass" dressed up as police officers leading a lovely law-abiding cheer. There were dozens of folks dressed up as police officers on tonight's ride, some kindly blocking traffic to keep the mass together at intersections.
Derek Chadbourne, owner of the Bike Joint can doctor up your broken bicycle!
The postman delivers - rumored to be the last appearance of Martin de la Rue - did you get your telegram?
Thing One and Thing Two
Gerry the human moving pylon
More recumbent love! Fellow randonneur Mike and his skeletal stoker on a Rans Screamer
Tall bikes!
And around and around and around we go! The mass of cyclists entertaining the trick-or-treaters around Walmer Road circle.

I will now cast the spell of velo-love upon you all, and I'll be flying off into the night on my broomstick (much more fun than a car, although I was told "Get a car, witch!" as I flew past a late evening traffic jam)

Crazy gets lazy

Yes it has been a long time since I have written. Never fear I'm still helplessly bike addicted, but it seemed to me that there wasn't a lot new to write about. Insert rant about crazy driver. Rave about how much fun I'm having on two wheels. Yadda yadda.

Well now there's something new to tell you about! Yet another new bicycle! (much to my cat's disgusted look from me to the bike, you are bringing ANOTHER bicycle-shaped object into the house?!) I finally decided to join the dark side (or the comfy one, depending on your perspective!) and get 'bent!



Really I just wanted to lie down and enjoy the ride while I pedal along. Having several 'bent friends, I was told I would be a speed demon and very aerodynamic. I find it unfair when I see other people coasting up hills I am pedaling furiously. However, the instant speed demon is all an illusion! So far I get passed by every weekend warrior on big squishy tires on the bike path. Apparently it takes time to develop something mysterious called "bent legs".

The bike is great for attracting attention and having people talk to you. However I find the questions and commentary a little odd.

How much did your bike cost? Note, no hi how are you, that's a pretty bike, or other banter, they just cut right to the point of what they want to know.

Can the bike climb? Hmm, you'll have to ask me later, as I just got it a week ago, and I haven't gotten used to climbing on it yet. Read: a masher must learn how to spin! I gleefully discovered I still can mash actually by pressing my back into the seat and pulling on the handlebars, but somehow this method does not seem to be a good thing for my knees.

Struggling to get up a short hill out of the Humber Valley in the granny gear does not bode well for the bike's intended purpose (read touring across the rocky mountains hauling all my camping gear) but I'm hoping that some smaller gears plus acquiring these mysterious "bent legs" will help with that.

Gee you must be really strong! Said while mashing my way up a small incline. Do I look like I'm disabled on this thing? (okay in fairness someone else was pushing bike on said incline)

Are you clipped in on that? Isn't that scary? Why no actually its scarier for you to be clipped in. I can unclip and put my foot on the ground without getting off the seat. Ah I like this being close to the ground thing.

Oh what a Bee-You-tee-ful bicycle!! Yes this commentary is better!

There's all kinds of new things to figure out. Hmm my jerseys have the pockets backwards. When its dusk and the bugs are out they swarm into your eyes much better than on a head-down bike. It feels much more vulnerable to have my face at mirror height in traffic than my shoulder, so I hate anyone passing too close, and am more likely to take the lane. I wonder why some of them turn right around me from the middle lane of the road, and then I figured out maybe they are trying to get a better view of the bike! Gear changing happens more often, my wrists are getting quite the workout from the grip shifters.

I can't wait to take it out in the country and bounce over some real rollers, because this thing is a whole ton of fun going downhill.... Whee!

State of the Traffic Union

I'm strolling along Richmond Street and bright flashing lights distract me in the distance. As I get closer I notice a motorcycle cop has someone pulled over. The criminal? A responsible-looking helmeted cyclist. The crime? Unknown. He hands her a ticket. Maybe she was endangering the lives of those cocooned in 2-tonne steel cages by not having a ding-a-ling bell to warn them she was there since checking mirrors is becoming passé.

The fine for not having a bicycle bell? $110. Cyclists are getting stopped for this infraction at random as part of the police's plan to make cycling safer entitled Safe Cycling – Share the Responsibility.

The fine for improper opening of a vehicle door? $110. The driver that recently committed that exact offense resulting in the death of a cyclist on Eglinton West? Not ticketed. According to the police ''If she didn't look, would that be negligence? It'd be very hard to label that as negligent,'' said Sgt. Burrows. Share indeed.

Over at I Bike T.O., many cyclists have weighed in with comments on their recent traffic tickets. Sadly, the police campaign is only serving to discourage cycling as a mode of transportation. As one reader points out, after receiving two hefty tickets (one for the bell!) for rolling through an empty four-way stop after deciding to take his bike rather than his car out, he'll think twice in the future.

I admit that my bicycle bell is sometimes useful in waking up drivers about to make a right turn off a side street without looking to their left. But the manic bell ringing seems to do nothing to stop the door flinging without looking. Maybe they do look, and they think whacking cyclists is funny.

Sure its safer to ride outside the door zone. But on narrow downtown streets like Queen, often doors open right out to the cyclist spilling streetcar track rut. Ride between the tracks in the only mixed traffic lane? Often its too congested, and way too slow moving for sanity - filtering next to the parked cars is the only choice. Faster moving? Gee maybe I would feel incredibly self-centered about slowing down a streetcar packed with 70 people on it, something that the SOV motorists making a left turn don't seem to give a second thought to. No streetcars and moving along? Better watch out for Angry Motorist (TM). After about two seconds of ignoring his horn, he will put his vehicle in park to get out and start a fistfight.

More effective than a bicycle bell for a cyclist alerting others to their presence is their voice. Clearly staking out my safe space in the center of a lane too narrow to share, I often find motorists, in particular cabbies, changing lanes right into mine so that if I kept my speed constant we'd collide. Maybe they didn't see me. Maybe they looked right through me. "HEY!!!" I bellow. "Whaaaaaaaaaaaat?" replies the cabbie. Maybe he does see me. Maybe he just does not give a shit. Stopped at the next red light seems like a good time to have a discussion to educate him, but you know what, if he doesn't understand what he was doing wrong, no amount of conversation is likely to clue him in. In the interest of road peace I keep my eyes focussed straight ahead and my mouth shut.

Handheld cell phones are still legal while driving in Ontario. The premier might think about. Without fail, every single clued out motorist conflict I have on my bike, has one glued to their ear. Oops. Sorry, one exception. Someone was eating lunch with no hands on the steering wheel.

Clued out drivers it is possible to be defensive against. Actively hostile ones are another matter. And one only gets a split second to judge if someone is just a hurried honker, or may have potentially lost their marbles while in control of a potentially lethal weapon directly behind you. Anger seems to be going in the direction of gas prices.

You would think that downtown SOV traffic would be on the decrease with the higher cost of gas and the excellent alternatives - if pedaling is not for you, it is well served by public transit. 6:30 pm downtown (past prime rush hour) its more logjammed than ever and frustrating on a bicycle. My Kona Dew has pretty wide handlebars, and with the rearview mirror sticking out another couple of inches to the side, filtering through it is tricky.

My rule on filtering? I won't pass anyone that is likely to have to repass me in the next few blocks. Its just rude. But when all the wide vehicles have to merge to get around one parked car, a bicycle can use that dead space to continue right on by. Its frustrating when drivers squeeze up so close to the next stopped car that there's no way to reach the dead space.

I watch as the majority of cyclists squeeze next to one car stopped at a light. There's no room for the motorist to start driving where they are as the cyclist starts riding. I'd almost feel sorry for the motorists having to deal with repeatedly passing these vulnerable cyclists - but I don't. We simply don't have enough room downtown for everyone to be sucking up valuable public space with a wastefully large vehicle. If people do not-so-smart things that cause drivers to have to drive slower (and thus safer for everyone) and with more attention, then that is a Good Thing.

I'm not meaning to sound so gloomy and doomy. Some days though in the traffic madness its easy to lose sight of the bikey love. I give brief thought to trading in the bike for another way. But what better way is there? The speed, the freedom, the virtually zero cost, the familiar motions of legs moving in circles that distract even when sick, low hassle parking, connection to the surroundings, ease of interacting with people, and the smiles.

The whimsy of it all. Zooming along at 30 km/h, but in an instant able to flick up a kickstand and fill a wicker basket or milk crate with goodies from the sidewalk fruit market. Detouring off the road into the canopy of trees on a ravine path. The orange glow of dusk and utter silence except the chirping cormorants or the scurrying of a bunny at Tommy Thompson Park.

Smiling at other cyclists. The fashionista with a red PVC rain coat and flowery messenger bag on a matching red Dahon folding bike. The elderly Chinese woman with a wizened face toodling along a busy street, looking anything but afraid. Staring curiously at the interesting geometry of a Moulton. All kinds of cargo being carried solely by human power - from the precious cargo of a smiling infant, to paddles on cycles heading for the lakefront. A one-legged cyclist who I can barely keep pace with.

Life happens on a bicycle. At a pace we can see and interact with.

The Open Road

Since I'm pretty slow in getting my journal of my B.C. adventure online, I'll lead you over to Dave's funny account of the trip the three of us took. What you say? Didn't I mention before this was just a two person trip? Apparently I hadn't accounted for Cycling Mind.

Or you can sift through my snap-happy-ness over on flickr.

Since coming back from the trip I have been dreaming about where my next trip will be. Once bitten by the touring bug its hard to cure the infection. Week long journeys - there are so many possible choices. But then my mind starts thinking of epic journeys. Crossing Canada. Selling my possessions and wandering the world on my bicycle until I get tired of it. The Pan-American highway. So many possibilities.

The other night I went to a screening of the documentary The Long Road North by Vancouverites Gwendal and Tania, heading from the tip of South America to Inuvik. If you have the dream of epic travel on your bicycle, I highly recommend this film. Certainly it highlighted many of the challenges they faced. But challenges are necessary to experience the great reward. (Well that was my theory on all those hills I didn't want to climb out in B.C. anyway..)

Any ideas for some summer adventures? After beauty like Helliwell Park on Hornby Island, or the incredibly scenic highway to Tofino, its hard to not find heading from Toronto to somewhere to camp for a long weekend a bit boring. Where do YOU want to go? Where have YOU been touring? Please leave me comments to inspire!

West Coast Wonders: The Summary

The route: Vancouver to Tofino, backtrack to Parksville by bus, Denman Island, Hornby Island, along Vancouver Island past Courtenay/Comox and across the ferry to Powell River and return to Vancouver via the Sunshine coast

Distance: 560.8 km over 10 days (a vacation, not a mileage fest!)

Flat tires: zero
Mechanical issues: zero
Most useful bulky item carried: stainless steel French press coffee maker
Dead weight not used: 1 lb of gatorade powder (bring on real food calories!)
Most missed forgotten item: Non-bike shoes
Bear sightings: zero
Cougar sightings: zero
Theft: one loaf of organic sourdough bread
Thief: discriminating raccoon
Weather: Chilly and drizzly to sunshiney scorching hot
Hills: Plenty! Steepest posted grade: 18%
Ferry rides: 8 (I think?)

A few of the many things I learned:

• What locals call "a hump" is 411 metres tall and a bitch to climb over
  
• Ferry terminals always mean screaming descents and tough climbs out
  
• However do not get too excited if the screaming descent starts 10 km back of the ferry terminal, because you will have to go up up up again first
  
• The sunshine coast is not as I imagined gently rolling
  
• Small islands are also not flat
  
• The granny gear and I must make friends
  
• The rainforest looks so green and lush and beautiful because it rains there
  
• Mountains make for tough biking but really soothe the soul
  
• Charming touring partners who can kick mountains, carry extra weight, set up camp in the blink of an eye, and cook a camp meal as good as being at home totally rock!

Detailed trip reports coming soon!
day 0: Fly to Vancouver and bike assembly
day 1: 64.0 km ~ Vancouver to Rathtrevor Provincial Park (Parksville)
day 2: 65.1 km ~ Rathtrevor Provincial Park to Sproat Lake Provincial Park (west of Port Alberni)
day 3: 10.7 km ~ Rest day at Sproat Lake
day 4: 95.9 km ~ Sproat Lake to Green Point Campground (Long Beach)
day 5: 24.9 km ~ Green Point to Bella Pacifica Campground (Tofino)
day 6: 53.5 km ~ Tofino to Parksville via bus, Parksville to Denman Island Guest House
day 7: 49.4 km ~ Exploring Denman and Hornby Islands, to Fillongley Provincial Park (Denman Island)
day 8: 52.1 km ~ Fillongley to Garnet Rock RV Park (south of Powell River)
day 9: 75.9 km ~ Garnet Rock to Sargent Bay Provincial Park
day 10: 69.4 km ~ Sargent Bay to Vancouver
More vacation but not loaded down:
day 11: 43.3 km ~ Kayaking at Deep Cove
day 12: 41.3 km ~ Riding along the seawall and random Vancouver exploring
day 13: 30.8 km ~ Random Vancouver exploring
day 14: Farewell to the mountains

Greetings from Tofino!

Devinci and I (and touring partner Dave) have reached Tofino despite my fears we would never make it here in one piece. First there was the summit to contend with before getting to Port Alberni (described as a hump) which to a flatland loving cyclist was quite hard to make my way up. And of course then I had to overcome my fear of descents.

The road between Port Alberni and Tofino had been described by a couple people as something I'd driven and never ever cycle. Something about twisty winding narrow hilly roads with no shoulder. Locals that asked where we were going made wild hand gestures describing the road. Camping outside Port Alberni at Sproat Lake gave a taste of the road and I really didn't think I could hack the constant rollers with all the gear.

But it was so much easier going than expected (oh for say 30 glorious km of ignorant bliss) Great pavement, a paved shoulder, rolling but with gentle grades. Then I curse my way up a 3km long 10%-signed hill to a marked summit, and figure hey the hard part of the day is now over! I knew there was supposed to be some steeper grades but they were much shorter.

Traffic was fortunately light going being Mother's day and the semis were virtually non-existent. We were blessed with glorious sunshine. Then all of a sudden reality had to hit. Narrow winding highway next 12 km sign (seeming to coincide with a pick up in traffic) An 18% uphill followed by an 18% downhill. Winding, twisty with a rock cliff on one side and a concrete curb over a steep dropoff on the other. No choice but to take the lane but I'll be going really slow compared to the traffic out of descent fear. And its raining now too so braking is tricky.

But the challenges were well worth the rewarding views. I wish I could show you the amazing view of Kennedy Lake coming around one of the twisty descents but absolutely no place to stop!

More details later! Time to get out of the Internet cafe and enjoying Tofino. I'll leave you with a shot of me and the loaded rig at the bottom of the hill.

How to get two bikes home

For the non-straight armed inclined. And with weather much too nice to want to take transit instead of the bike for a single commute.

Day 1. The new bike is ready! Walk to the shop from work leaving the beater in the underground garage at work overnight (the garage is locked in the evening) and ride the new lime green bikey home. Yay for lime green bikeys.
Day 2. Ride Twenty to work (without its usual milk crate) Ride the beater home from work. Move Twenty to the end spot on the rack to reserve an easy spot to lock up the trailer the next day (since the weather is gorgeous, the racks are busy)
Day 3. Ride the new Kona to work with the trailer attached. Move Twenty to a new spot and lock the bike with attached trailer at the end. (running a cable through the trailer arm)

Then at the end of the day, make sure to get out of the garage before lock-up time (as getting everything up through the building would be a pain) The trailer is a bit small to hold a bike but it is definitely stable. Ride it home hoping not to look like a bike thief.

First brevet of the year

I was really excited about riding my first 200k brevet this year. I missed the first one on the schedule, my legs didn't feel ready for it, and I was still recovering from a nasty cough which I kept pushing through. But Sunday was going to be the Grand River brevet - a new route to me, and sounded lovely and scenic. Remembering my mistakes from the past I was determined to be organized and ready to go on the ride.

Of course typical advice of increasing long ride distance gradually is ignored, and also of not changing anything before a big event. In an effort to spare pain, I asked the friendly folks at Duke's how I could set up my bike to fit me better. They suggested moving the brake hoods higher, which made sense. I also tried changing the angle of my cleat on my foot that was causing me pain. To test out the cleat I took a short test spin around the Leslie Spit.

Hmm strange noises emanating from the front wheel. This does not sound good. A friend suggested it could be the bearings in the hub. I took the wheel off the bike and spun it around and it seemed really wonky. No good, I can't ride 200 km on this! What do I do, its Saturday night. Must steal wheel from new bike. (New bike?! Oh yeah I'm behind on blogging, but I'll write about my new Kona Dew Plus for commuting soon!) New bike however has disc brakes but I'm hoping the disc can just be ignored on my other bike. Some frustration dealing with two tight tires later and I have the tires swapped around. I put the Kona wheel on Devinci happy that the rims are exactly the same width, only to spin the wheel and discover the disc rubs the fork. The disc has six bolts in it. My multitool has a matching head to said bolts. What am I crazily doing to my beautiful new bicycle? Fortunately the little tool gives nowhere near enough torque to budge the disc bolts and I decide it is just a plain bad idea.

By this time its too late to likely find anyone awake who is riding the brevet tomorrow, but I send a pleading email to two of them asking if they have a spare 700c rim I can borrow. I'm pretty stubborn, and I really want to go on the ride. The weather is supposed to be gorgeous to boot. I consider the realistic possibilities, ride wonky wheel, ride the Kona, or skip the ride. I like my new bike, but 200 km in the country on it? Its pretty upright and the wind will slaughter me. If the wind doesn't do me in I'll certainly be cursing my way up the escarpment on a heavy bike.

I have to show up to the ride as I'm the organizer! A fellow randonneur John is supposed to be picking me up at 6:30 a.m. for a ride to the start point, about 45 km away. I sigh, figure I'll need to take the Kona on the car, hand out the control cards to everyone, and then enjoy a pleasant 45 km ride back to my house.

3.5 hours of sleep later I'm completely dazed and groggy. I pull on bike clothes for the short ride plan. But I'm still really wishing I could do the ride and call up randonneur Mike. Do you have any spare 700c wheels? I ask wishfully. After he reminds me his recumbent uses 650 I'm like oh yeah... and then ask if his other recumbent could be ride-ready. 200 km on a recumbent when I haven't been riding one? Yeah it might spare my back, neck and hand pain, but it does use different leg muscles. Okay scratch that idea.

When John shows up I show him my wonky wheel, and for some reason it seems to be spinning just fine at the time. He thinks its probably okay to ride on. I pull its tire back off the Kona, and while I am frantically gathering last minute stuff (since I didn't plan to ride the brevet) John puts the tire onto not-so-wonky wheel.

In my non-caffeinated state we're driving along the Gardiner Expressway and I see a cyclist a couple of lanes over. I'm obviously confused. I have to ask John, that's a cyclist, on the Gardiner?!? Obviously someone with a suicide wish. I've seen some strange things with the increase in cyclists due to a weekend transit strike, but this was definitely the strangest.

13 riders are out on this lovely spring day, and I'm too busy handing out control cards and figuring out who I am supposed to collect forms from to look at anything on my bike. I haven't remounted the magnet for the computer after the wheel swap. Its 8 a.m and the pack takes off and I'm still adjusting the magnet. I know I'm too slow to stay with the pack for long but its always nice that first few kms of being in a group. I figure its not that important anyway (though its always helpful for navigation to know if you are at the right distance for your turn) and forget about it and get going with John who has waited for me.

As I start the ride I'm questioning the insanity behind wanting to ride 200 km on a questionable wheel, on very little sleep, with untested bike setup changes early in the season. When I definitely don't want to injure myself in any way because in less than 10 days from the brevet I'm going bike touring on Vancouver Island (yeah more blogging backlog!) The brevet is supposed to be a test ride for the trip, but on the trip I'll be more sane than riding 200 km in one day, and I'll be carrying a lot more stuff!

At some point towards Ancaster there's a sign marked 9% grade (downhill). Interesting because very few signs in southern Ontario mark the grade they just indicate trucks gear down. I've been obsessing about gradients after reading there will be 18% grades on the road between Port Alberni and Tofino. Not only steep grades apparently but narrow and winding at the same time, with a rock face on one side and a sharp dropoff on the other, and logging trucks on the road. And black bears. Not that I'm worrying or anything. Anyway said 9% hill seems really steep (so I'm really paranoid about 18!) and is quite twisty at the same time and I'm clutching the brakes really hard to make the tight turns and I have this feeling I'm going to fly over the handlebars. Not particularly confidence inspiring.

Some granny gear climbs and pretty scenery later (yeah what goes down must come up again!) and we're rolling into the first control at the 57k mark. The middle group of riders is just leaving the control. One of the riders that lives in the area warns about construction on Wilson street on the way back suggesting the sidewalk. I'm really not feeling up to 200 for the day, I'm already hurting and the coffee never woke me up. The bike is feeling pretty sluggish too and I'm not sure if its the wheel, the engine, or the damn headwind. Probably all of the above. Stubbornness kicks into gear and I start riding to the next control rather than turn back.

We ride along the Grand River and into the town of Caledonia, where I see no signs of any blockades, just a seemingly endless stretch of ugly strip malls. At least now the ride is relatively flat into the far point of the ride Cayuga.

I'm pretty sacked by the control at the 100k mark in Cayuga. Efficiency is totally lost on me at this point and I can't think clearly to organize the control steps of getting my card signed, peeing, eating and filling up on water. I'm sitting munching subs with Mike and John in the park, and at this point napping in the park and waiting for someone to finish the ride and come back for my tired body is sounding quite appealing. Why did I think riding 200k at a time is fun again? I think I have already decided this is the last randonneur ride I will ever go on. 10k jaunts on the beach bike path for me from now on.

The wind seems a bit too chilly for park napping so I figure if I can make it part of the way back it will make getting home a little easier. Fortunately as we turn the other direction, cha-ching! Tailwind! Tailwinds how I love thee. This made the whole idea so much more bearable.

When at some point later when I'm just riding with Mike now he turns onto a road and I follow but don't check my route sheet. Hey you're going the wrong way I insist! We must be going south because we're going back into the wind again. I pull out my route sheet and squint at it going SOUTH 4 km to Haldibrook Road?!? They really want us to go south now? We were already on that road before, the start is to the north, is this some random distance adding loop? Because I really am all about efficiency at this point.

The scariest part was riding down the Hamilton escarpment into Dundas on Wilson Street. Super busy with fast moving traffic on a 2 lane road. They put a bike lane here (on a descent you could hit 70 kph on a bike) but I must admit its decently wide for a speedier descent, but its really cracked up pavement! The adjacent roadway is nice and smooth. I look over wanting to take the lane, and if I could maintain 60+ kph maybe I would (despite the fact the traffic is probably going over 80..) but if the road turns I really want to slow down on the descent so I just resign myself to going really slooowly down the cracked pavement. I don't see Mike at all until much later (he went for the take the lane plan)

I remember the warning from earlier about the construction and wonder where that is. Oh yeah there we go. Narrow pyloned lanes still descending. No way I want to ride sidewalk down a hill. At least I feel comfortable taking the lane here in that the pylons are narrow enough traffic will need to slow down. But what scares me is random construction debris that I can't see going too fast. And of course at one point there it is a messy pile of uneven gravel in the middle of the freakin lane.

Add in a few aggressive drivers passing too closely on descents and I'm just kinda in shellshock mode when we roll into the Tim Hortons in Dundas. (the third control point) Between the shellshock and knowing we are in a valley that we must now climb out of again the idea of quitting here seems awfully appealing. But I've gone 155 km, what's 50 more?

Fortunately I found the climb out of Dundas to be gentle. It was gradual enough, and just put the bike into the granny gear and spun up. I think one hill I stopped for a breather partway up but then got back on the bike again. I'm glad I got the small chainring figured out better, I had troubles shifting with it before so I would always try to avoid it. My knees are much happier with the new plan of actually making use of the triple.

I couldn't quite figure out why on the ride the saddle felt like I was sitting on a rock or something. Aha the moving of the brake hoods... a more upright riding position kindly puts less weight on my hands, but then the weight must get moved to my behind. Ouch. Add in a liberal dose of back pain and that's really why I found it hard to keep a decent pace going. (recumbents are looking more attractive all the time, especially the added bonus of aerodynamics to thwart my nemesis the wind)

At some point John has finished and calls to find out where we are since he offers to wait to give me a ride home! What a saint! This spurs me on to get back faster. Add in smooth roads, a tailwind, and the fact that busy Britannia road at dusk is not very much fun, and I'm finally pedalling at a decent pace. Mike seems shocked I can go that fast and there's some mumbling about training so I can keep that up all the time. (the word training really kills the fun in biking for me)

I finish the brevet in 12:35. Already thoughts of my first 300 are entering my head. How quickly I forget my "last randonneur ride" mutterings.

The best part of the ride were the lovely scenic views. Scary descents and tough to grunt up hills usually have rewarding results. I'm sure I'll feel the same about the tough climbs I'm dreading on the Vancouver Island trip. I'm really excited about touring and being able to go at a relaxed pace. No time limits, lots of time to stop and take pictures, eat, enjoy the scenery. Fortunately my touring partner Dave both likes to take lots of gear (a hope of keeping up on the hills!) and really knows what he's doing having crossed the country bike camping before.

PS The wonky wheel was not just my imagination, apparently the cones were pitted. But its all fixed up and ready to roll now thanks to Sherri at Community Bicycle Network.