Rides and Races - Toronto Fixed

ok,

so normally when i'm booking it along college, and a car starts getting to close to the bike lane i'll give a shout, and if they do it again i'll give their car a love tap.

what do you do when the car that repeatedly keeps almost sideswiping you is a cop car?

oh man! as i started reading your post i was thinking "funny i had a cop car do that to me yesterday" and on college no less... i guess the rules of indignant hood slapping change when he hood in question has "to serve and -ahem- protect" on it (or is it "deeds speak"?).

when i see cop car parked illegally, especially in the bike lane i'm always tempted to lay down next to the car and writhe in agony pretending i had hit it "oh, god sorry, i didn't see your car there!...if it were only parked legally!....[cue peter griffin clutching ankle] "aaahhhhh!!!!sssscchhhee!!!!!aaaaahhhhh!!!!"

i guess the rules of indignant hood slapping change when he hood in question has "to serve and -ahem- protect" on it (or is it "deeds speak"?).

funny i always thought "to punish and enslave" was the cops motto ala transformers movie...
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2134/2228923892_8426d9aa65.jpg?v=0

does that car transform into a dougnut-maker?

does that car transform into a dougnut-maker?

hahahahahaha yup...or a giant taser...

it turns out i have an unexpected day off so i'm going out for a ride (after i fix this flat) if anyone is interested in a spin or a coffee.

it turns out i have an unexpected day off so i'm going out for a ride (after i fix this flat) if anyone is interested in a spin or a coffee.

coffee good. six-oh-two, seven-two-nine-eight. I'm gonna pop out for somethin' to eat in a few. I'll likely be in Kensington.

Meet 2? Or you can find me at urbane around then - i'm going to ride up there (literally 2 blocks north).

I can't say for sure if I'll be able to get out, stupid work is stupid - but I'll try... if not, maybe tomorrow or wait 'til Thurs...

Cheers...

Ah those fine officers of the law, heh... Did I post here about the cop supervisor car that was too busy checking his/her laptop driving along Queen that he went up the curb at Brock? The driver decided to complete the 'turn' and humped the car over the whole corner - they'd drifted right over from the streetcar lane and up on the curb from not looking up - too bad I didn't have my camera on :(

On Sunday they'd closed down westbound Bloor at Castle Frank and eastbound at Parliament to allow a funeral procession to come off the highway at Castle Frank so I got stuck at Parliament for a few minutes. I was asking the officers in front of me who it was for (as I saw them all saluting as it passed), they seemingly ignored me, then the non-driver said "It was a soldier" and I said "Ah jeez, sh1t" and the driver looked through and said, in an accusatory tone "What did you say!?" I was like "I said ah sh1t" - I'm guessing he thought I said something disparaging about it, he looked like an a-hole anyway. Then after they were letting traffic go again, a lady was trying to turn right on the red (no can do there) from Parliament right in front of two bike cops, who screamed her out pointing at the no right on red sign - as I rolled by with the trailer I waved and shouted "Thanks Officers" beaming at the lady :)

The other day I was heading up Brock and a cop pulled a guy over in front of me. He was just getting out of his car as I passed and he quickly closed his door and backed up against his car to give me more room. He smiled and said "good morning" as I passed.

The other day I was heading up Brock and a cop pulled a guy over in front of me. He was just getting out of his car as I passed and he quickly closed his door and backed up against his car to give me more room. He smiled and said "good morning" as I passed.

hahah.. yeah, they're not all dinks thankfully. I've had a couple pretty funny run-ins with them actually where they've had pretty good senses of humor. Especially since in each case it was them joking with me after I'd blown through a stop sign / rolled through a red light in each case respectively. :)

oops - wes, i'm heading out in 10 minutes. i'll be at i deal shortly. four one six six five five six three six zero

Hi all,

A friend got me interested in the Aids benefit ride to Montreal this summer. Originally I thought to use this as an excuse to get a nice, classy touring bike but if I could do it fixed... Why not, right?
Has anyone attempted this ride or a ride of comparable distance fixed? Am I being ridiculous, or just ambitious?

Hi all,

A friend got me interested in the Aids benefit ride to Montreal this summer. Originally I thought to use this as an excuse to get a nice, classy touring bike but if I could do it fixed... Why not, right?
Has anyone attempted this ride or a ride of comparable distance fixed? Am I being ridiculous, or just ambitious?

Two of us here have done that ride. While it's totally doable fixed, you'd be happier not to. I did it two years ago, and the one fixed rider didn't seem too happy most of the trip. Then again, that may have simply been his default demeanor. :P I had originally planned on doing it fixed, but the constant grind up hills and spin down the other side got a little old. Not to mention how nice it is to be able to coast for a few seconds every now and then just to adjust/stretch/take-your-weight-off-your-butt-for-a-few-seconds/drink/eat/etc is quite nice.

Either way, it's a really fun ride.. plus this year is the 10th anniversary so it should be a pretty big turnout.

oops - wes, i'm heading out in 10 minutes. i'll be at i deal shortly. four one six six five five six three six zero

I can't believe you stood me up on our lunch-date. I totally thought you were coffee-date material... now I'm not so sure.

I've had bike cops thank me for ringing my bell while they were mingling about in the far left lane on Adelaide (dealing with tracks/doorzone/bike cops warranted a bell ring :p) - for the most part I've had good interaction with the police so far here though.

Got my registration for the hairshirt acknowledged, woo.

Can someone URL me for this ride to Montreal? Is it the canadaride.com thing from Burlington VT?

I can't believe you stood me up on our lunch-date. I totally thought you were coffee-date material... now I'm not so sure.

hey, i showed up and you weren't there so i left you a message. way to make assumptions [cries into pillow while kicking feet in the air]...

vote to name new Toronto cycling magazine: http://spacing.ca/wire/?p=2698

Can someone URL me for this ride to Montreal?

http://www.bikerally.org/

The City is organizing this ride tomorrow, which should be fun even though it's only supposed to be -7.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008
12 p.m.

Who: All cyclists are welcome

What: Come out to City Hall at noon for a group ride to Metro Hall on the statistically coldest day of the year. Warm up at Metro Hall with free Pedal-Powered, Stone-Ground, Fair Trade and Freshly Made Hot Chocolate brought to you by Choco Sol. If you would like a table on Metro Square for this event, please e-mail: bikeweek@toronto.ca

Where: Meet at City Hall (100 Queen Street West) on the west side of the square (at the post and rings). The ride will go across Armoury Street, south/left on University Avenue, west/right on Wellington Street to Metro Hall (55 John Street).

Why: This event is to draw attention to the feasibility of using bikes for utilitarian transportation in the winter.

About Toronto's "Coldest Day of the Year".

* The day for the coldest day of the year ride was chosen based on weather averages for Toronto.
* The average temperature range in Toronto for January is -1 degree to -9 degrees.
* On average there will be 16 'wet days' in Toronto in January. Wet days are defined as days when there is 0.25 mm of precipitation or more.

Looks like it's set to be pretty miserable tomorrow, too, on account of the winds. :)

Lucky they're having it right in the middle of a work day.

vote to name new Toronto cycling magazine: http://spacing.ca/wire/?p=2698

funny how they have cog as one of them, i got a copy of cog yesterday

of coarse i was going to make a post about it but matt was well ahead of me

i can't believe people still think it's a good idea to start a print magazine

funny how they have cog as one of them, i got a copy of cog yesterday

of coarse i was going to make a post about it but matt was well ahead of me

i can't believe people still think it's a good idea to start a print magazine

i was going to order a copy of that but it was like $17 postage so i didn't bother... did they sort that out? what did you pay?

i think print magazines are still a good idea - i don't know how economically viable they are and they may not be entirely environmentally friendly but i don't like to bring my laptop to the bathroom with me... most of the time.

http://www.bikerally.org/

On that note.. anyone here planning on doing the "Ride to Conquer Cancer" (money funding PMH cancer research)? I think I've had enough of the Ride for Heart and the inexperienced crowd that goes with it, but don't know if I'm ready for the toronto-montreal AIDS rally / "friends for life".

The only thing that dissuades me from doing the Niagara ride is that they require each rider to raise $2500.. I don't hang out with the richest crowd (mostly other students) and can't imagine raising that much.. my avg gathered for ride for heart is usually around 300-400 bucks.

i think print magazines are still a good idea - i don't know how economically viable they are and they may not be entirely environmentally friendly but i don't like to bring my laptop to the bathroom with me... most of the time.

Tobias: Well, yes, but I’m afraid I prematurely shot my wad on what was supposed to be a dry run, if you will, so now I’m afraid I have something of a mess on my hands.
Michael: It's just there's so many poorly chosen words in that sentence.

The only thing that dissuades me from doing the Niagara ride is that they require each rider to raise $2500.. I don't hang out with the richest crowd (mostly other students) and can't imagine raising that much.. my avg gathered for ride for heart is usually around 300-400 bucks.

Youch! The minimum for the FFL ride is "only" $2000, and that's fully supported with 6 days of riding/food/etc!

no print definitely isn't a bad idea as far as the medium goes

starting a print magazine is just seems like a bad idea business wise, a lot of magazines that have been around for years and years and years are going under ... i'm sure it can be done successfully though

oh, i got the cog magazine for free with an order from bens ... it's pretty good, i like how they have the fixed stuff and actual track racing aswell ... pretty much perfect as far as distribution of content goes, just which it was longer

i'm affraid i just blue myself

As long as you can sell enough ad space, one could conceivably chuck em all into the river after they've been printed. I'd love to see the print version, and how it was printed. Ad bucks are getting hard to secure these days. Web Magazine = Fancy Blog. If I wanted to a special section in the paper concerning the Messenger World's I'd have to secure 40-60K$ minimum before anyone would begin to listen.

As long as you can sell enough ad space, one could conceivably chuck em all into the river after they've been printed.

somebody should take this distribution idea to vice (first thing i could think of, i actually don't mind vice sometimes)

Thanks Wes - looks like a great ride.

LordFoo: I was considering it, but again the minimum is what scares me away. If anything, I'll do the FFL ride - 600k/6days isn't bad so long as I can raise the $2k.

For the Ride for Heart and the Pedal 100 last year I just paid the minimum registration fee needed to ride - same as I do for the CN Tower climbs, I'll happily pay $50 to climb the tower (I feel really awkward constantly badgering people for this, that and the other event I'm doing so I cheap out). Last year I asked the folks at work to help me in the Super Cities Walk, so maybe I could tap them for the FFL ride, though I'm still skeptical as $2k is a fair chunk of cashola.

Frankly the idea of riding into Niagara region vs. riding to Montreal is a no-brainer for me, I'll take the trip east hands down.

Re: print magazines - definitely depends on your audience demographic... Our online side of our magazine is behind the curve in terms of online generally, but we're pushing boundaries in our specific field/demographic (a lot of our readers are 50+ females, not so savvy, but keen-to-learn 'net surfers) - we broke all kinds of records for ad. sales last year online, which is always nice. I guess our website is a supplement to the print magazine still, though we do now offer a digital edition and are getting more online exclusive content, it was hard to sway the powers that be to allow us to have more content from the magazine as well as develop fresh/new stuff just for the web - old dogs don't learn so well...

somebody should take this distribution idea to vice (first thing i could think of, i actually don't mind vice sometimes)

I like some of the Queen West, too-hip-too-live magazines, I get some neat design ideas from them and I get to see what's going on in some design circles I'd generally not be privy to. Not being the hippest old man out there. As well the chinatown papers, party fliers, and Japanese rock mags.

i was going to order a copy of that but it was like $17 postage so i didn't bother... did they sort that out? what did you pay?

i think print magazines are still a good idea - i don't know how economically viable they are and they may not be entirely environmentally friendly but i don't like to bring my laptop to the bathroom with me... most of the time.

first of all, there is no way it costs $17 to ship one magazine, even if it's on 200-lb fine art stock and 200 pages long. those *******s are trying to gouge the suckers silly enough to buy em (no offense exhibitx). and the stories are virtually unreadable - it's obvious that whoever the editor is, he just started the magazine as a pet photography project -- and while i think the photos are fantastic, who needs a print mag to show off your fixed gear photos when there's flickr and web hosting?

the economics of running such a niche magazine will require a lot of ingenuity on their part, and unless they can scrounge up at least $3k in advertising per issue (which will be a stretch considering they probably only printed like, 750 copies, and no business is going to advertise in such a small mag) i predict they'll go under after the next one comes out.

that said, i am a hell of a pessimist for someone who's about to graduate from a magazine journalism program...

flimflam: what magazine do you work for?

Help me BFSSFGTOT!

Miche: Not blingy enough, cheap though
Paul: Don't like how they look, slow
Phil: As above, slow
Dura-ace: They non-sealed business scares me + road riding = void warranty
Campy: Same as above
Zipp: Uhhh expensive
Level: Proprietary cogs

Am I forgetting any track hubs?

looking at who carries them I wonder if they print in Japan and ship. I keep thinkn' Details (in it's first year) with 700c's.

Oh oh Rob is having a brand attack.

i've done the charity rides and have supported the various causes but i think i got fed up with all the "cause" rides when they started setting minimum fund raising amounts (never mind paying to ride my bike - one of the appealing aspects of cycling is that it should be free to participate). what happens if you sign up to ride and don't raise the requisite amount? do they keep your donations and not allow you to ride?

So I picked up my Razesa from Jet-Kote today and they did a pretty good job. I was concerned that the pantographing on the seat-stays and brake-bridge would get filled in by the coating but they are nice and clear still. The only problem is just a little spot on the head tube that was missed but I think I can fill it in easily enough. I am going to start building this thing up tomorrow, should be fun.

Help me BFSSFGTOT!

Miche: Not blingy enough, cheap though
Paul: Don't like how they look, slow
Phil: As above, slow
Dura-ace: They non-sealed business scares me + road riding = void warranty
Campy: Same as above
Zipp: Uhhh expensive
Level: Proprietary cogs

Am I forgetting any track hubs?
There are lots you are missing but none are gonna offer anything that the above mentioned hubs won't. Dura-Ace are fine for the street..the lack of sealing isn't a prob if you take care of them, but with the planned low spoke count radial action you have planned, prolly not a great idea.
Just spend the $$$$ on ZIPP's and get it over with.

haha rob, I wish I had your problems.
Miche man! they're good enough.

first of all, there is no way it costs $17 to ship one magazine, even if it's on 200-lb fine art stock and 200 pages long. those *******s are trying to gouge the suckers silly enough to buy em (no offense exhibitx).

none taken, i didn't pay for it or ask for it

i think the magazine is pretty good, for what it is, i don't think i would pay for it though ... but i'm just a guy reading about stuff i like, without any expectations of writing quality

edit: the magazine is $10 with shipping to canada, as opposed to $8 with shipping to usa ... so i would say it's overpriced to start with, the shipping isn't really the gouge

Help me BFSSFGTOT!

Miche: Not blingy enough, cheap though
Paul: Don't like how they look, slow
Phil: As above, slow
Dura-ace: They non-sealed business scares me + road riding = void warranty
Campy: Same as above
Zipp: Uhhh expensive
Level: Proprietary cogs

Am I forgetting any track hubs?

I've been pretty happy with White Industries so far.

Wait... are the Shamals for a fixie? Are you ok with that low spoke count in the rear?

dia-compe gran compe are nice, and sealed and reasonably priced

there is also the suzue pro max, but pretty sure they aren't sealed

I've been pretty happy with White Industries so far.

Wait... are the Shamals for a fixie? Are you ok with that low spoke count in the rear?

Yeah I think i'll probably go with the zipps. I was reading their site and they said they encouraged radial lacing on their hubs.

The problem with the shamals is that i'm restricted (lacing wise) to what it originally was supposed to be on the road wheelset. That is radial front, rear: 1 cross drive and radial non drive.

P.S Won't be at bikechain today

On that note.. anyone here planning on doing the "Ride to Conquer Cancer" (money funding PMH cancer research)? I think I've had enough of the Ride for Heart and the inexperienced crowd that goes with it, but don't know if I'm ready for the toronto-montreal AIDS rally / "friends for life".

The only thing that dissuades me from doing the Niagara ride is that they require each rider to raise $2500.. I don't hang out with the richest crowd (mostly other students) and can't imagine raising that much.. my avg gathered for ride for heart is usually around 300-400 bucks.

I'm doing the Tour for Kids http://www.tourforkids.com which is either a 2 or 4 day ride raising money for kids cancer camps. I think the fund raising is $250 per day you ride.

Good ride too, either 100km or 200km a day depending upon your choice.

Hmm yeah, Tour for Kids would be a good one too.

Canice, House & Home.

Re: City winter ride, I'll go if the blizzard that's happening now dies down. Anyone else going to do this ride?

I rode into the headwind today (came from the east end this morning) and although it was slow, it wasn't too bad - the only time I almost got blown off the bike was when I was stopped at a light standing upright, heh. My water bottle is still thawing out from the windchill effect :)

Any of you folks riding a purple MTB with what looked like Time ATACs (I briefly said hi on Sherbourne, but was tailing until Richmond when I went west) - you were hauling ass and I followed you from around Bloor/Parliament to Richmond/Sherbourne - just wanted to say again "good pace, man!" :)

Re: City winter ride, I'll go if the blizzard that's happening now dies down. Anyone else going to do this ride?

I had planned on it since I first heard about it a month or so ago, but after just riding to a meeting and then to the office, I don't think I want to add any extra outdoor riding today. Particularly not in the mad wind-tunnel action down in the financial/entertainment district.

yeah, really intense wind today. it literally took my breath right out of my lungs. i had to come to a complete stop at one point, turn my back to it and put my head down just to be able to breathe. i do not like the feeling of suffocating/hyperventilating no i do not.

They're gonna talk about the winter bike ride on CBC#1 after 12:30. The promo is making it sound like some crazy ordeal. OMG! It's cold in January!

I totally planned on going down before work but I am instead home with a sick child. The living room is now a big fort for the most part.

Help me BFSSFGTOT!

Miche: Not blingy enough, cheap though
Paul: Don't like how they look, slow
Phil: As above, slow
Dura-ace: They non-sealed business scares me + road riding = void warranty
Campy: Same as above
Zipp: Uhhh expensive
Level: Proprietary cogs

Am I forgetting any track hubs?

You are forgetting Royce. My favourite track hub: http://www.genisysconsulting.co.uk/royce-uk/images/track_hubs_large.jpg (http://<a href=)

Get some Miche's and polish them. That would be blingy. Or as Keith said, pony up and get Zipps or Royce. They don't just look nice, the bearing quality, machining and finish is ****ing amazing. That's what you're paying for.

"Quality if remembered long after price is forgotten" - Cavernmech

They're gonna talk about the winter bike ride on CBC#1 after 12:30. The promo is making it sound like some crazy ordeal. OMG! It's cold in January!

Hehe - media sensationalism, gotta love it.

I did the ride, the route was short and we had the usual bike police escort, I rode alongside Councillor Heaps for most of it. A fair turnout, I'd guess at 25-30.

Saw Jesse there (no idea of his fullname, but he was there one night the sprints were cancelled and dusted me at the Ex. :p) and crazybikerchick - didn't really recognise anyone else. I didn't take my lock so I took off once at Metro Hall, but it looked like a decent spread laid out.

Wind FTL (but it sure makes things interesting :p)

Help me BFSSFGTOT!

Miche: Not blingy enough, cheap though
Paul: Don't like how they look, slow
Phil: As above, slow
Dura-ace: They non-sealed business scares me + road riding = void warranty
Campy: Same as above
Zipp: Uhhh expensive
Level: Proprietary cogs

Am I forgetting any track hubs?



http://toronto.craigslist.ca/oak/bik/552655393.html