Rides and Races - Toronto Fixed

Hi. Sorry to jump in here but, speaking of the tour, now that they're in the alps we're hearing a lot of talk about the steepness of the climbs. This has me wondering the % gradient some of our local hills here in Toronto. One of the climb's in today's stage was average 6.1% I believe. Anybody know what that translates to in Toronto terms? How steep are the hills we ride? Avenue Rd., Ellis Ave., Mt. Pleasant, Don Mills, Beech, High Park, Bayview, Pottery Rd., etc...

I've been told the Yonge stretch just before York Mills (long downhill) maxes out at 10% at the steepest.

I don't think the problem is the steepness but the steepness and the speed in which they're going up. I'd love to try some massive climbs. There are none around here. Unless I bulk up the only thing i'd be moderately good at is hills. I get my ass kicked on the flats regularly on club rides.



I'm without a fixie now (hit a car),

**** what happened?

Anyone for a ride anytime between 4-6pm today? Say yes :D I'll be at the wheat sheaf at 4-4:10

**** what happened?

j-walkers on university ave. cutting accross queens park and trying to run through 3 lanes of busy morning traffic... a whole bunch of drivers in front of me flipped out, tried to dodge the pedestrian by switching lanes, screetching tires, horns beeping etc.... I was riding at warp speed and not paying close enough attention either, so it's just as much my fault. No room to stop or hop the curb by the time I clued in, so I slammed into the back of one of the stopped cars (an SUV), bent the fork on my bike, put my elbow through the rear window and my knee through his tail light. The driver was out of his car though and yelling at the pedestrians...so he didn't hear what I was up to in the back of his truck. I picked myself up, brushed off the glass/plastic and fled before he knew I was there...

my old [bent] bike vs. rear ending some rich guy in his new SUV, I thought I'd better just leave while no one was looking.

so yeah....I'm thinking of converting a newish road frame into a SS... kind of like a Langstar I guess...

hey wasted, i'm glad you managed to bike away in one piece... although i'm not sure how you did it with a busted fork and elbow! traffic goes warp speed around that queens park loop.. i have no idea what pedestrians are thinking to even try jay walking through that.

rob, i don't think i'll be able to make the wheat sheaf today.. sorry.

how about this heat.. damn.

in case anyone is interested, cycle therapy is having their 1 year anniversary sale (1233 Dundas Street East 416 778-6473) SATURDAY JULY 16, 10:00AM - 6:00PM
25-75% off stuff.
i got on their mailing list somehow and received the mass email.

no comparisson, if you will double the Mt. Pleasant and make it a little steeper, maybe, extend the Scarborough Bluffs maybe, there's a climb I can,t remember the road its at Moore Street near loblaw,its a dead end road, and extend the climb, again maybe....



Hi. Sorry to jump in here but, speaking of the tour, now that they're in the alps we're hearing a lot of talk about the steepness of the climbs. This has me wondering the % gradient some of our local hills here in Toronto. One of the climb's in today's stage was average 6.1% I believe. Anybody know what that translates to in Toronto terms? How steep are the hills we ride? Avenue Rd., Ellis Ave., Mt. Pleasant, Don Mills, Beech, High Park, Bayview, Pottery Rd., etc...

Of coarse you can't compare the length of the climbs. I was just wondering the grades of the hills around town. I read an article that said Lance and the Spanish rider on stage 10 averaged 24-25 km/h on the final climb. They estimate that Lance was putting out 450+ watts for the 53 minute climb based on his weight and the grade of the climb. That's funny because most of us can ride for only about 2 minutes at that power output, which is just long enough to get up most hills around here. Not to mention this was at the end of the stage.

For me, my Tour De France type hill (although not comparable on length either) was the Hamilton Mountain. We did that on our fixies (52/16). We had to ride on angles for part of the climb since it was so steep. Of course we had just ridden 100km, but man...if there was a peleton we would have been dropped off the back!

j-walkers on university ave. cutting accross queens park

Yeah the students on our campus are morons. I'm guessing you were heading southbound where it was slightly downhill.

If you want to watch the TDF, there's a bunch of torrents going around in the road cycling forum. You could leave it downloading while you're at work or something come home and voila.

I think Cavern ran out of those steel forks gokibiuri and me got on our bikes not sure.

that's alright about the fork... the frame is old, designed for 27" wheels, low BB... other reasons why I won't fix it up for a second time. Looking to build something new.....

yeah I've been downloading the torrents of the stages I missed for the TDF... good effort by someone out there....

WW - PM me. I have some frames etc.. (all new) and will try to help you get back on the road as affordable as possible.

thanks bikeo, PM sent.

in case anyone is interested, cycle therapy is having their 1 year anniversary sale (1233 Dundas Street East 416 778-6473) SATURDAY JULY 16, 10:00AM - 6:00PM
25-75% off stuff.
i got on their mailing list somehow and received the mass email.

Thanks for the heads up. Got a set of Arkel 42l bags, two seat posts, various tools and a Brooks champion flyer saddle for under $250. Yay!

Our next trip down will be Saturday July 30th. Anyone who would like to join us is welcome. Let me know if you are interested and we can make arrangements to get you down there. K.

Hey Cavernmech, is there one room for one of my friends to go down on the 30th as well?

Thanks for the heads up. Got a set of Arkel 42l bags, two seat posts, various tools and a Brooks champion flyer saddle for under $250. Yay!

Nice Score! I was going to head down myself just to check out the place (I've ridden by a lot of times but never stopped in) but didn't get a chance..

Any fixed gear guys into a long ride on Sunday? No gears allowed. The Toronto Fixed Gear Group is doing a 100km ride (but if you leave from Toronto, it will be 160km since the starting point is 30km away)

Any fixed gear guys into a long ride on Sunday? No gears allowed. The Toronto Fixed Gear Group is doing a 100km ride (but if you leave from Toronto, it will be 160km since the starting point is 30km away)

Possibly....Have to see if I'm free this wkend. 160 is a lot on a fixie...

It's a lot on any bike in my opinion. But I've done it a few times (mind you I was in much better shape then)...Should be fun!

Hey shiznaz, there's other fixies on campus!
Ran into a chick on a fuji track at SS, she was all decked out in messenger gear, know her?

no, was she hot?

My fixed is around campus whenever I am, with the ludicrous number of students at UofT I doubt the people can be the only ones on fixed. Though a hot girl on one would definately be a plus.

Hey shiznaz, there's other fixies on campus!
Ran into a chick on a fuji track at SS, she was all decked out in messenger gear, know her?

Do you think that maybe she was a messenger making a delivery on campus? I have a bunch of friends who are now grads, but rode Fixed while at UofT...

Do you think that maybe she was a messenger making a delivery on campus? I have a bunch of friends who are now grads, but rode Fixed while at UofT...

She didn't have a radio but I had the feeling she was a student. She was definitely hot.

So this is just a reminder that there is a FIXED GEAR ride tomorrow. From Toronto the total milage will be about 160km.

I am leaving around 800am from the corner of Yonge and Front Street. From there, I have to make a couple stops along the way (meeting with other Fixie buddies) getting us to the starting point in Mississauga around or before 10am.

If anyone is interested, the easiest would simply to show up before 8am at Yonge and Front...

Again, this is a FIXED only ride.

I might be added to the list by the end of the day I hope.. :D

Rob (Bikeophile)
how was your ride back to the city? I ride again today Sunady August 7, good turn out.
Oscar

I'm am now officially a fixie.. although at this point I'm a fixie with front AND rear brakes. Not sure how long that will last.. but I like riding on the drops, and it seems dumb to have an empty one. :)

Anyone up for a ride tomorrow starting from 4-5pm? Where is everyone? Shiznaz? Bikeo? Gokibiuri? Cavit8?

I'm here, and I'm down!

four's tight for me, coming from steeles and Leslie. Five's a possibility, but given I also have a stinkload of work to get done before i leave for my bike tour next week, don't wait for me if I don't show

blargh, I didn't get a chance to hop onto forums before I scooted downtown. Did you pick up your wheels shiznaz? I saw them hanging at cavern for serveral months, they look hot.

Yeah man, I've been rolling on butter since I got back. They are really obscenely smooth, and completely bomb proof

Does anyone know any courier companies I should check out if I'm looking for work in Toronto. The only ad I've seen in the Sun is for a place called Cy's courier house. I'm looking on the net but I mostly find car/van delivery companies. Any help is greatly appreciated.

there's a place on Yonge Street (Downtown) , its South of Queen, then another Small one way street (Can't remember the name) then another small street, turn right about 20 meters from the corner a small dilapidated Sports Bar, thats where all the couriers hang out... you can't miss it, and good luck on your job hunting




Does anyone know any courier companies I should check out if I'm looking for work in Toronto. The only ad I've seen in the Sun is for a place called Cy's courier house. I'm looking on the net but I mostly find car/van delivery companies. Any help is greatly appreciated.

there's a place on Yonge Street (Downtown) , its South of Queen, then another Small one way street (Can't remember the name) then another small street, turn right about 20 meters from the corner a small dilapidated Sports Bar, thats where all the couriers hang out... you can't miss it, and good luck on your job hunting
Thanks orguasch I'll check it out tomorrow.

there's a place on Yonge Street (Downtown) , its South of Queen, then another Small one way street (Can't remember the name) then another small street, turn right about 20 meters from the corner a small dilapidated Sports Bar, thats where all the couriers hang out... you can't miss it, and good luck on your job hunting
Thanks orguasch I'll check it out tomorrow.

The place you are thinking of was called Breadspreads or the temperance society, and was on Temperance Street. They have closed and now it is an Indian restaurant. There are still some messenger folks who hang out there but a better bet is probably the York and Adelaide intersection...south-east corner. Now the un-official messenger hang-out spot. DO NOT go to Cy's. You will get ripped off by them. Most of the better companies won't usually hire rookies but it is still worth a shot. Try the yellow pages under courier service. The better companies in Toronto include Messengers International, Critical Path, United Messengers, and Speedy. If you can manage to get in with one of these operations you can expect to make some $ right off the bat. If not take what you can get.....get a few weeks-months under your belt....meet a few more established messengers and get a referral to a better company. The warm season is coming to a close and the student-fair weather types will be hibernating soon, so there should be a glut of available jobs out there come late September. Good luck.

Hey thanks for the info Keith. I went around this morning looking for messengers and asking if they're company was hiring.
Found a wrench on a old school Mapei painted Colnago then I tracked down one on Dundas that works for The Messengers international. I told him I needed a job. He seemed hesitant at first, I could see that look in his face. He figures I"m going to potentialy take work away from him. So I told him he could just tell a couple of company names. He started shooting off names like crazy but I was only able to memorize TCC, United Messengers, MLI and Parss only I heard parvs. So I made my way down to Portland and the dispatch tells me to fill out an application. I waited for the secretary but she was taking a little long so i asked if she was on lunch, he tells me no then another guy just steps in and tells me just to go meet one of their guys so I can start training. Woohoo! Did a couple of runs with one of their walkers just to know where some of their big clients are. When I got back to the office he told me to come back tomorrow at 8:00. Got me a job in less the half a day of searching, awesome.

Anyone for a ride downtown today at 5:30? I'll be at St. George station (west entrance) for a couple mins at that time. Otherwise i'll be at the 6:30 tbn ride.

Hey Folks! I just thought I would pop by and see how things were going. I kind of gave up on the thread after it went to page3...I thought everyone had abandonned it.

Looks like you guys are around though! Awesome!

Got an email from Gokiburi yesterday too, so I am glad to see that you guys are around.

Charlie you're back?! I guess that means you're all "wheeled" with your Level wheels.

I've bumped into Operator a few times at Cavern (where I tend to be a lot during my free time hanging with Keith and pretending that I work there.

I even got to see Orguasch on the donut ride a couple times. I was riding the good 'ol spicer...and suffering my way into King City and back..Good sense of accomplishment doing it on the fixie.

I've been doing rides Tuesday and Thursday nights for the last couple of weeks. Basically a 48km ride along the waterfront trail. Usually its me, another fixie buddy and/or a roadie buddy of mine. We may NOT be riding tonight, but usually we hit at least one of Tues or Thurs. We will continue this ride as long as possible...so if any of you guys Fixed/Free/Geared wanna go for a quick ride to Mississauga, just drop me an email.

We typically leave 25 The Esplanade (Yonge and Esplanade) at 630-645pm.


Anyways, hope you guys are doing well
Rob

info@bikeophile.com

Buddy/Buddies
I am planning to do a Toronto-Niagara Falls-Toronto ride this Labor day Weekend, Will start in Toronto September 3 Saturday going to Niagara Falls via Niagara on the Lake, its a 40 K from St Catherine and a gradual uphill climb to Niagara Falls, and then Sleep over at Niagara Falls , then ride back to Toronto the Next day a good 390 k. round trip, Wasted Weasal (Tom) has done the TBN ride with me on that ride last June, so we can try it again, its a long long trip, so, are you guys up for it, I have to talk to Bikeophile (rob) and he say he will think about it.
PM'ed me, we can set this thing going...
oscar

howdy

i think everyone's still around but not posting as much.. god forbid real life getting in the way!
is anyone up for critical mass? it's starts a bit early for me but i'll try to be there.
i think i spotted keith at critical a$$ last month. rob, can you confirm? :D

Bikeophile: I usually don't pay too much attention to distances since I'm computer-less.. where do you turn around for 48km? how long does that take you?

gokiburi: I think I'm going to be at the c.m. tommorrow.

yeah hey guys whats up? I actually made a new toronto thread a while ago because I felt that the 24 pages on here was getting a little embarassing. Anyhow, the wheels keith built me are so nice it feels that I have a totally new (and way better) bike. While I don't think I'm up for a ride pushing 400kms, most rides below that would be just dandy for me! I'll try to be at critical mass at bloor and spadina tomorrow

Shiznaz,
dude you can do this one, the last time I went there to Niagara falls we started at High Park at 8:00 a.m. and arrive in Niagara Falls at 4:30 P.M. at there were a lots of stop. and going back was a little faster because it was downhill and it was a tailwind. from west to east.
Oscar

Bikeophile: I usually don't pay too much attention to distances since I'm computer-less.. where do you turn around for 48km? how long does that take you?

gokiburi: I think I'm going to be at the c.m. tommorrow.


I'm computer-less right now too, but my roadie buddy has a comp. There is a Picnic shelter that is on the opposite side of the inlet as the 3sisters (the smoke stacks). That is 24km out...From that point we sometimes take Lakeshore home (instead of the path).

If you take the path home, its the same distance home (obviously), if you take Lakeshore its 2km less.

yeah hey guys whats up? I actually made a new toronto thread a while ago because I felt that the 24 pages on here was getting a little embarassing. Anyhow, the wheels keith built me are so nice it feels that I have a totally new (and way better) bike. While I don't think I'm up for a ride pushing 400kms, most rides below that would be just dandy for me! I'll try to be at critical mass at bloor and spadina tomorrow


K so Spadina and Bloor...What time? I told Goki that I have plans at 7pm, but if it starts at 6pm I can ride for a bit...

Shiz, those wheels certainly are nice :)
I'm still riding my Level Rear (going on 1year now) and its still as awesome as day1.

Cavit8 actually got some BLACK Levels, but Im not sure if he has built them up yet.

This site (http://www.torontocranks.com/) has pics from last month's ride, so I assume the info is correct: 6:00 at Bloor & Spadina. Now whether it actually LEAVES at 6pm is another story. :)

Well if you guys are going to CM tomorrow (Fri right?) i'll be there at 6. Are we going to be able to find each other?

Well if you guys are going to CM tomorrow (Fri right?) i'll be there at 6. Are we going to be able to find each other?

I've got a beard and glasses, I ride a black framed fixie (with brakes). That should help.. :)

edit: oh, and my name is Wes, in case you can't pronounce somnambulant. ;)