i ****ing hate bike bells.

i had a guy today on an old 3 speed cruiser behind me while i was at college and grace
he just kept dinging his bell, and then when i started rolling forward through the intersection
he passed between me and the cab, giving me a dirty look, and then proceeded to run the next 4 lights.

and then up a little further i was stuck behind a lady who is one of the people who dings her bell as she approaches every single car (parked or stopped at lights)

Here's a personal favourite of mine:

I normally don't tell people I'm going to pass them, I just wait for a safe moment and give them some room on the way by. Sometimes though I'll get a *****y *DING DING DING* after I've passed them (as though I should have used my bell to let them know I'm coming and now they're going to show me what a bell sounds like as a stern reminder). Well that's great, except for the other half of people who whenever they hear someone call or signal them from behind ("On your left" comes to mind) immediately turn to look (and unconsciously steer their bike in the same direction). Thanks, but the last thing I need is a Super-Cycle veering into my from the right and then having do deal with a cell phone-talking SUV driver on the left.

</rant>
</atleastthey'reoutriding>

10-4 on some Don footage. Any shop folks have any deals (new/used) on a crank for my TBL SS MTB, square taper to replace the XT funkiness? I generally prefer a bigger ring as I street ride mostly, but maybe it's time to get it dirty rather than just grimey. CL hear I come. As for not having a bell I will challenge ANY office to a yell off and leave him with ears ringing after giving them some diaphragm generated Sgt. Mills instructions. I'll still call 'left, good morning, passing etc.' It's for the betterment of all if they do learn to look without drifting over to the point of endangering someone. But even on two wheels it's the overtaker who's responsible.

i hate bell dinging mostly because i feel overuse desensitizes drivers to bells at all, eventually dinging will be ignored as readily as a car horn, and some of us will be screwed.

Can I ask where you got this information? I'd like to pass on the info, with a source - thanks!

Sam knows things.....
Tomorrow @ the Cameron House .... both Adam Vaughan AND Jack Layton are going to be auctioneers at my daughter's school's art auction...not art from the kids. Adam might be sending his kids to our school, if they can win the waiting line lottery.

"Alpha Art Auction (Alpha Alternative School/Queen Street Fire Fund) Live auction of art by Susan Szenes, John Coburn, Spike Love, Jubel Brown and others. 1:30 pm. Free. Cameron House, 408 Queen W. http://school. tdsb.on. ca/alpha."

AND licenced!! So cold ones on tap. So come on down... you too can become an art snob, or buy something you didn't want by making hand gestures at the wrong moments. :lol: I swear this only happens in movies.

Sam regularly channels Julian Fantino. It's not pretty, but it's handy at times. The part where his eyes roll back in his head freaks me out.

You are always right by my house bro! uncanny. (off topic but i browsed again as i scrolled)

LOL ...

hahaha.. nice. Sometimes it's hard to understand through all the projectile vomiting and backwards chanting.

Saturday, April 19 @ 8:40am (Kennedy subway station):

http://www.bikerally.org/index.php/D...-Loop-PDF.html

If anyone else wants to join in you're more than welcome. I'll be doing it as a pre-Paris-Ancaster easy ride and hanging out with some friends who are doing the Friends for Life Bike Rally this year. The ride itself is ~40k. If you're planning on showing up, please wear a helmet and bring enough food/water/repair supplies for the distance. The atmosphere will be really easy going. Be there and ready to go on time if you want to head out with the "fast" group, otherwise people end up grouping and riding w/ others of the same pace as the ride progresses.

gah, cant do morning that day, girlfriend will kill me, its sleep-in day.

im whipped, but shes smoking hot, and there are worse things in life than morningsex ;)

lol - that's sure got me giggling... :)

My camera is a basic sports camera, there's no frills such as external mic. hookups - it's what you have/get and that's it. I like it for what I want, it would be nice to throw a few $$$ and get more angles on the same ride - then do a DSR/group ride through the streets - just a forward facing angle can sometimes look like the riding is unbelievably tame.

FYI - MEC is doing a gear swap Sunday 11-1 in the parking lot underneath their building (Charlotte St. east of King/Spadina)

I can't make the ride, I'll be climbing up the CN Tower stairwell. (I love it, I do it all for myself :p)

sucks about the hookups, but its fair, you get what you bought and you use till it breaks, the only way.

whats a gear swap? *looks n00bish*

hahah oh god - sorry I asked...

hey... he's great at parties. Especially Halloween.

glorified garage sale from what I gathered from the desk-person last night.

First commute in just shorts + t-shirt today, no base layer no arm warmers nothing. First 10 minutes were a bit chilly, once I'd gone up the hill to Lansdowne/Dundas and on toward Bloor, I was warm. Yay spring! :D

I'm craving a beer on a patio... maybe time to start safety meetings in parks with a view to beerage?

Hooray for beers on patios and barbeques.

http://cavit8.clawz.com/images/tools1.jpg
http://cavit8.clawz.com/images/tools2.jpg

Wow... that just might be the best thing I've seen barring actual edible material on a 'Q - amazing :D

brilliance, thy name is parktool

Just went for a cruise/boot down to here

It might be that 13 years of my life were spent on it, but I've a fascination with water on warm days especially - I love riding by the lake, down on the spit, etc - it's gorgeous today, and even Whitby it seems has a few pieces of ... attractive scenery shall we say :) I made sure to put my mark on the end of the pier and do an obligatory trackstand to pose in front of the pedestrians :p

yo has anyone else seen the GMC trucks ad in the ss/fg forum?

kinna ironic...

I see no ads on account of the red StaR TM.

Yes, it's definitely spring and time for bbqs. The Pinarello's are back from their winter migration.
http://www.weemonkey.com/images/pin2.jpg

that bike is pure hotness...

anyone cruisin after work? any safety issues to discuss?

Funnily enough, I'm off to a BBQ. It looks like a great riding weekend though, so I'll be up for some riding. I'll probably be heading out to the spit at some point and may make the FFL ride shapelike posted. I need to do some dialing in after a lackadasial winter of commuting

ill be hacking my way to the patio at house on parliament. feel like some beer.

+1 that's one sexy Pini there, Cam.

I'll be going to a Marlies game tonight, I'll be in and around town tomorrow to grab brake+lever and get my steerer dealt with... then I'm off to imbibe beer at an alarming rate while sitting *very* still in a backyard.

Sunday, will be riding + GG + Afterkat - holler if you want to meet Sunday - I'll be cruising though, not wanting any heavy stuff.

Sorry Duppy, heading home and then off to Indian Buffet...mmm yummm, just came back from a lunch hour ride... nice outside dang!

However, as the weather is looking sociable, perhaps we should do a long range planning for a safety meeting / BBQ or some such relatively social endeavour.

This. I never call out when passing, nor do I use a bell, because that scenario has happened to me far too many times in the past. In fact, I make a point of going by as quickly and as quietly as I can. Too many less-experienced cyclists freak out if they perceive people to be in "their" space, so I don't give them the chance to lose it.