Rides and Races - Toronto Fixed

yeah $5 buy in, just enough so people care without really caring. Its more of an excuse to get together drink, smoke, eat and talk bikes without feeling like bike nerds.

I LOVE those home depot gloves!!!! There's a pair with serious grippies.
I'm not a huge card player but I might give it a try.

If this guy is lving in a tiny studio completely buried in ridiculously expensive bike parts while he eats dog food, well, then he has problems.
Or someone whose mom is going to be really mad when she gets here Visa bill...

So does anyone want to say what they went for new when they came out?

Well then, why not check out the BIKE SHOW!!!!!!!!
As of 5:30 ish this evening Cavern Cycle will have up to 8 passes that can be given away at his discretion. Yes, the wiggly fingered secret BF handshake is in effect. That is all.

Keith- do you think you'll have anymore passes for the show tomorrow?

save one for me if you do please.

I thought i had a bit of a e-bay problem, holy crap.
When i'm out bid i always like looking through what the person has been buying this guy takes the cake!
Crazy

New apartment: http://tinyurl.co.uk/p814
Secret location: http://tinyurl.co.uk/v3bv

Bomb has been planted!

nice - i think you'll like the neighbourhood.

nice - i think you'll like the neighbourhood.

Ya, I hope so. I'm looking forward to riding down Harbord every day. That seems like a nice street to commute on. Plus, I'll get to do one of my favourite little bits in the city: the downhill University Avenue time trial to Queen Street.

Its 800 metres from your place to my place

**** man, that'll cut our current "illicit rendezvous" commute time in half. :)

**** man, that'll cut our current "illicit rendezvous" commute time in half. :)

I didn't need to hear that

I LOVE those home depot gloves!!!! There's a pair with serious grippies.
I'm not a huge card player but I might give it a try.

It's all about: http://www.mechanix.com/


New apartment: http://tinyurl.co.uk/p814
Secret location: http://tinyurl.co.uk/v3bv

Sweet! Congrats! Harbord is a pretty good street to commute on, especially now that you have a bike lane basically right to your door (which was just finished last week). But, obviously the usual bike-lane issues apply (drivers ignoring them, and all the really bad cyclists in the city flock to it so there's lots of n00b dodging). Either way, welcome to the neighborhood. Now in the same little area we have myself, shiznaz, dom and you. If only Keith hadn't abandoned us.. :'(

ps. thank goodness for rain gear! What a fun ride in this morning.

Sweet location Eyefloater!!!! Harbord to the city, can't ask for anything better in terms of riding into the city. Hardbord to Wellsley, into Cabbage Town down to Dundas to work....in a flash. Hydro incl.? Server/render farm at Mike's house!!!!!!!!

Hahaha Oh man am I wet.

Rain gear is great and all, but when you ride through a puddle that goes up above your ankle, you're gettin' a soaker. Watch out for a lake forming on the west side of shaw at the intersection of dundas! I don't think any kind of booties would have kept my feet dry this time!

I had at least 8 people from work call me crazy so far, and one called me idiotic, but he's always kind of a jerk.

Still it was fun!

In other news: Keeping a fresh, clean, brand new pair of socks at work is a good idea. My feet are toasty!

The only thing better than commuting in the rain in full rain gear (I'm totally dry except my hair) is mountain biking in a downpour (assuming you don't have peanut butter mud to contend with). :D

:lol: I hear that Shizy, at one point I had visibility of about 6 feet near Jarvis when it opened up gor a couple minutes. I can't find my booties....so only my feet were wet, extra socks as well...baby. People are looking at my helmet and just shaking their heads as they head to their desks. Odd because they are all late, having driven, safe and dry from the rain. Hmmmm :rolleyes:

oh, also I have to put my love of cycling hats out there again. I was converted after wearing one the whole way to Montreal, and now I can't imagine riding in the rain without one. Without a helmet cover my head still gets soaked, but the brim keeps the rain out of my eyes nicely, especially in heavy rain like this morning.

My eyes!!!!! The goggles, they do nothing!!!!

I need to get mini-windscreen wipers for my shades. When I wipe the water off with my hands it just gets dirty and streaky.

Booties rock my world in a big, bad, hairy-assed way. My socks are actually still dry, and I don't even have a front fender.

The old Gore-Tex aint as waterproof as it once was but still kept my body reasonably dry on the ride in. feet I dont even worry about until the cold weather starts, then its flat pedals and Sorels ftw. On a sad note the assclown who hammered thru the massive puddle next to me, not only soaked me thoroughly, but killed the AC/DC cranking from the radio. I hope it dries out :(

Do you have neoprene ones or pack cloth ones? I'm gonna pick up a pair REAL soon.

I need to get mini-windscreen wipers for my shades. When I wipe the water off with my hands it just gets dirty and streaky.

:lol: You were shading in today? You're my hero. I've simply learned to stop wiping my glasses, nothing helps. Some of those moto style gloves have goggle squeegees on the thumbs. Killed your tunes?....of course you know...this means war. My booties were/are nylon and I love them, awesome in the winter as well. As long as my riding wasn't too too long I didn't need winter shoes/boots.

Has anyone tried these? I may just go back to MEC and get another set of what I had before but wouldn't mind something a bit warmer. I felt like I was going to lose little piggies at the Ice Races last winter. I don't think they are water proof, I'm wondering how the fabric might hold up to daily slushing/salting.
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/8528/picture2do9.png

The old Gore-Tex aint as waterproof as it once was but still kept my body reasonably dry on the ride in. feet I dont even worry about until the cold weather starts, then its flat pedals and Sorels ftw. On a sad note the assclown who hammered thru the massive puddle next to me, not only soaked me thoroughly, but killed the AC/DC cranking from the radio. I hope it dries out :(


Darn! I saw a mother and her 2 kids get tidal waved up to about the mother's neck this morning, right outside of my house. The kids disappeared under the brown wall of water for a little while and then the car blew the stop sign and tore off. The kids just started WAILING! I was very close to getting caught in the same wave. That sucks about radio. If you want blood... you've got it.

Do you have neoprene ones or pack cloth ones? I'm gonna pick up a pair REAL soon.

They are from MEC (big surprise there) and they are sort of treated nylon. They have a velcro seam up the back. Looking at them now, they are soaked through, but they kept my shoes reasonably dry. They look funny, but I care not.

^^^ RE: Shizy...there otta be a law^^^
I mean how evily disrespectful, of ppl on the sidewalk. With kids to boot, because you know that poor family either had to go home and change or the little ones will will damp all day.

DM ....big yellow reflective strip up the back and velcro strip under to hold the shoe? Snow gets packed in the bottom hole?

Booties rock my world in a big, bad, hairy-assed way. My socks are actually still dry, and I don't even have a front fender.

ditto.. good stuff. It feels so good to ride in the rain and be totally and completely dry.

tj: forget the motocross squeegees, you need the tear-away google lenses. :D Personally I just throw my glasses in my bag when it's raining, but whatevs.

edit: darkmother: sounds like we have the same ones.

I had tear-aways on a set of Scott moto goggles, waaaaaay back in the Alberta redneck moto days. Can't stand not having my eyes covered at this point. Rain, dirt, wind etc.... I'll peek over the rims if I have to, I NEED my glasses to see what's ahead.

ditto.. good stuff. It feels so good to ride in the rain and be totally and completely dry.

Everything else I was wearing is saturated. I can the water dripping on the floor of my office. Gotta love climbing into cold, slimy wet cycling gear at the end of the day. Delightful.

If one more person asks me:

1) If I rode my bike to work today
2) If I got wet this morning

I am going to go on an campus-wide orgy of killing.

That is all.

Is it raining? :lol:

In the mail yesterday I received the flyer regarding the next City of Toronto Auction. It is down at the C.N.E. and I am sure there will be a lot of bikes as usual.

The last one really sucked as there was some pretty heavy media coverage about the bikes and there were hundreds of people there. This was because the cops were getting rid of their old Aquila mountain bikes and I guess they wanted people to bid high, so they really got the word out. Lots of people who didn't know anything about bikes or auctions were there but I am sure there was a lot of money raised.

The funniest moment was the second bike up for auction, a pretty beat-up Rocky Mountain that hit $400! The guy who bought it rushed up and said "I didn't know it was me bidding, I wanted to bid on a different bike!" and the auctioneer just looked at him like he was nuts and said "All of these people knew what was going on; next item!". Hopefully this time there will be less stupidity and some better bikes.

More info here (http://www.toronto.ca/your_city/auction.htm)

I'll have to bring my housemate along to that. He was too slow and lazy to take up Keith's offer of a free miele, so maybe he'll come to this.

Best "getting soaked by some jackass" story.
There was this messenger guy named Dave. He was an odd sort of guy...real quiet, seemed very passive and rode a recumbent. He was heading up Bay street one rainy day when a van came tearing up the bike lane...narrowly missed Dave...and proceeded to veer to the curb at full speed to hit the massive puddle right next to the bus stop. Needless to say everyone at the stop was totally soaked. Dave caught up with the Van at the next light and started to tell off the driver as to his errant and inconsiderate driving. Upon getting an earful of profanity , he decided to lay down his bike in front of the van and tell the driver that he was calling the cops (apparently this type of maneuver is illegal) Making the assumption that this recumbent riding bike geek was not going to delay them any further, the driver and passenger got out of the van and advanced menacingly on our hero. By this time a small group of people who had witnessed assclowns ******like behavior had gathered on the sidewalk. Dave told the 2 that they were not going anywhere until the cops arrived and/or an apology was offered to the unfortunate folks who got soaked. At this point the enraged driver and passenegr decided to take matters into there own hands and took a swing at Dave. Unknown to them (or any of us who thought we knew mild mannered Dave) was that Dave was a third degree black belt. 2 successful throat punches later the 2 jackasses were on the deck. The bus stop folks were on the scene as was a passing cop car. Details were divulged to the cops and our messenger hero went on with his day.

Sweet! Neck punches alway win!

The rules about splashing people are kind of grey... you can't purposely splash people, but you shouldn't do anything unpredictable to avoid a puddle. You shouldn't even really drive through puddles if you have a choice... Splashers are just jerks. I got head to toe mud splashed when I was 6. I was on the curb of the school about to start grade 1, first day ever, and some ****** in a red honda tears by the school zone and dumps a whole puddle on my head. My mom had to drive me home and I had to have a bath and change and I was really late and stressed by the time I finally started school!

Fun retribution....Only thrown by those in the know lest you accidental crush their windpipes and you kill them. Note a third dan BB.

God.... listening to these wonks ***** and moan about how difficult the drive in the rain was, the reasons they were late, and I'm sitting here thinking ...screw you. Is that bad?

Fun retribution....Only thrown by those in the know lest you accidental crush their windpipes and you kill them. Note a third dan BB.

God.... listening to these wonks ***** and moan about how difficult the drive in the rain was, the reasons they were late, and I'm sitting here thinking ...screw you. Is that bad?
The best part is that Dave really was the guy you thought least likely to ever get in a violent confrontation. I never looked at him the same way ever again.
And no....it is not bad.

I hear complaints from the cubicles around me, "Some jerk with the seats in front of me is ruining my leafs season tickets. He keeps selling them to all these loud obnoxious people. I switched to the red section to get away from these guys!"

I hear complaints from the cubicles around me, "Some jerk with the seats in front of me is ruining my leafs season tickets. He keeps selling them to all these loud obnoxious people. I switched to the red section to get away from these guys!"
Its called a fan...something most of the inhabitants of the platinums know nothing about. Ever notice at the beginning of a period the platinums are almost empty as the "privledged" are busy "networking" at the platinum club. I hate the fact that the real hockey lovers are restricted to the nosebleeds (if they can even afford to go) and the choice seats are filled with people who are only there to be seen. :mad: End Rant!
Edit...if I ever get fortunate enough to inhabit the platinums I am not gonna bathe for a week...wear my well worn but unwashed hockey jersey....and try to start a wave at every opportunity.

The ones you least think so are the ones with scary degrees of ability. I had a roomie once and unbeknownst to his mates he taught, at 19, the police in contact point kung-fu and literally had a get out of jail free card. If he was picked up say in a fight, the card from the police identifying him as an instructor who wouldn't use excessive force and not to detain him. He could knock me down with his thumb.

now that i've been to a soccer game in south america, i am spoiled for seeing fanatic fans (http://flickr.com/photos/_nica_/76309695/). at the first game of the season there were people lighting road flares, women in bikinis throwing confetti, playing instruments and EVERYONE was in team colours or jerseys (even me), no one sat at all or stopped singing during the game and only a fraction of the seats are reserved for tourists.

i would love to see some of this hysteria brought to hockey but i don't think that's going to happen due to our country's over polite british upbringing.

with all this talk of wet weather, has anyone tries the new cycling waterproof jacket from MEC? i'd like to reaplace the goretex ski jacket i'm using as it is sweaty and bulky as hell.

i would love to see some of this hysteria brought to hockey but i don't think that's going to happen due to our country's over polite british upbringing.

It used to be like that.... when Canadians would watch the games outside.

Is that the whoosh jacket? I may actually break down and get waterproofs this year. Similar to Keith, the olde goretex isn't what it used to be.

Heads up that CBN's bike swap is Oct 22 http://tinyurl.com/egdnt.

Keith, check your PM's.

Are you talking about the 'NEW' Hydrocycle jacket? I was asking one of the MEC clerks about it and he said there was a production flaw (the factory in china used the wrong fabric or something) and the release of the jackets is being pushed back to some time in november. I like the look and functions of it though so I may bear with my crappy cycling jacket for a little while longer.

I think mine is the Whoosh, but I could be wrong. Either way, I totally *heart* it. :P

no, it was aboutr $100 and a companion to the pants they sell. i saw it on their website the other day but it appears to have been removed.

Are you talking about the 'NEW' Hydrocycle jacket? I was asking one of the MEC clerks about it and he said there was a production flaw (the factory in china used the wrong fabric or something) and the release of the jackets is being pushed back to some time in november. I like the look and functions of it though so I may bear with my crappy cycling jacket for a little while longer.

yeah, i think that's the one. for $100 it sounds like a steal.

what's with the $500 brand name waterproofs that MEC is selling these days? i thought they were supposed to all about value and functionality.

with all this talk of wet weather, has anyone tries the new cycling waterproof jacket from MEC? i'd like to reaplace the goretex ski jacket i'm using as it is sweaty and bulky as hell.

I've always stuck with non-waterproof cycling stuff, as I find goretex always = sweat sauna for me. Maybe the technology has improved though. Anyone have a jacket that is waterproof that you can actually excercise in?