Wow, some rough times had by all by the sounds of it!
When I wasn't bike commuting, I used to see an older guy who'd always be on his paper-run in the morning. He walked down the street instead of on the sidewalk, and one day I finally had chance to ask him why. He said that the road was softer than the sidewalk, easier on his legs/knees. So this isn't the first time I've heard of that.

My ride home was tough going. I had a decent enough ride, until around Adelaide/Jarvis, waiting for the lights I knew I had to giveit some effort off the line to try and keep in with the traffic and not to delay anyone - so off the line, I powered down.

The pedals went, I got going, but not nearly as quick as usual and I noticed distinctly something wasn't right. The pedals were going 'round but faster than they were pushing the wheel. I immediately figured my freewheel (not being super knowledgeable about bike mechanics) was buggered or something. By this time I was over the intersection, and had pulled to the left (I was in the left lane of a one-way street) and stopped once I reached the opposite sidewalk. I looked the bike over, turned the pedal cranks with my hand - everything looked OK, freewheel was working, gears/derailleur was working. Once I got back on the road, the problem was still there, but as I didn't know what it was and it was still OK to ride - I carried on, tested my gears up from 1st to 7th cog on the cassette, seemed just fine, etc.

I later discovered when this happened, it wasn't pushing the drivetrain, so the chain wasn't affected and thus the rear wheel/derailleur was fine. Not sure how/why yet, but the pedals and/or crank are slipping when I'm putting down power (think of it like a permanently, but only half-engaged clutch - some power gets through, but not much, and certainly not enough for my liking). I'll take some photos, I've definitely got some damage on the front derailleur (more than before) so I guess it'll need replacing.

I rode home all the way, and although it was tough up Sherbourne and with the wind, I had a wonderful ride - loved it and had some really great tailwinds to pick me up too Seeing as most of this mechanical issue affected me on start-offs, I just tried to time lights better and keep momentum.

The rain yesterday morning and water on the roads was heavy as heck, so I was wet getting in (well, shoes, pants and socks) - the brakes worked incredibly well, no problems. On the way home, there was no rain - just some water on the ground. The brakes didn't seem so hot. So I'll be replacing my rear pads again (fronts are still bike-original, and still work great) and also give the bike a washdown - I think the crap all over the rims could be hampering the brakes too.

I felt unsafe, because not being directly connected to the power train I felt disconnected from the bike a little, but I knew I was OK and the ride went well anyway. After some harsh buffeting around this morning, I had a great ride and some really helpful tailwinds