Hehe.

I absolutly LOVED Jeremy the Bear when I was a kid.

Things holding up the Rob Roy build:
- seal for the headset (lost in the shuffle when C.T. closed and my frame got moved)
- two barrel adjusters (for front/rear brakes)
- chain whip (to de-cassette the rear wheel - current chain is already gone so no reverse rota-fixing)
- cold ... I have no idea to suffer through public transit in this **** today, though by tomorrow I'll break down (and it'll be even colder)

****, so go to school with the bike today, but decided to take viva back since i was feeling tired and didn't want to go back again in the cold. However i didn't bring money or tickets so i hop without one, and of course the guys checking for tickets had to come this day. $150 fine. At least i have a decent excuse and i hope it gets lowered. On top of that i had to bike back home anyway.

Just got back from a nice ride. I've been doing this short loop lately of my favourite hills in the west end. I'll have to make up an extended version of this soon.

The Best (hills) in the west

Me too! Back to back with fables of the green forest on TV0

You looted onto public transit without pleading your case or paying fair... are you mentioning this for sympathy?

Yes :innocent: I guess i got none from you though. I just did not plan on using transit today since i was biking, didn't bring cash or tickets, however i decided to get back with the bus since i wasn't feeling strong to bike home again. I pay my fair each and every time i use viva, and i am little pissed i got nailed the first time i didn't. and funnily enough, this is the first time i ever saw officers checking tickets and i've been using viva since september. I explained this to the officer but he didn't care of course, so i will try to get this lowered if i can.

I've got a chainwhip you can borrow, but I'm not mobile until late tomorrow night - you can come pick it up though, I'm around Queen/Ronces and should be home most of the day. PM me. edit: I'll be up for a couple hours tonight still too, if you want it tonight.

I took a bus briefly on Friday afternoon (pinch flatted at Keele/Finch, replaced the tube and took the bus as a time-saver...hah) - I had to get off at Lawrence because I was going crazy already. Filled my tube at the gas station there and went merrily on my way home again riding. It crept into my mind that this is the same 41 Keele bus route that recently had that shooting on, AND I pass through Keele/Eglinton W which also seems to be a hive of gang/shooting type activity of late... Yay!

I used to enjoy the TTC, never having driven regularly in Toronto (VERY rarely, in fact) - but now I'm used to my own space and my own direction/will I can't stand it. That and traffic drives me absolutely insane when I know I could be going past it all, but I'm stuck on a metal tomb. That being said, it's mainly other people on the TTC that ruin it for me - people are so damn rude and inconsiderate, bah!

aMull, don't feel bad - though I didn't get a ticket, I got a stern warning from GO Transit the other day when I just plain forgot to buy a ticket (usually I have a multiride pass, so I just stamp it and get on). $110 ticket luckily avoided, helped by my sweet talking I hope :)

...of late? Muhahaha... I used to go through that part of the city en route to Finch/27 on my bike for 8 months. It became a sport to watch the 11PM news and wait for info on murders/shootings/drugs/whatever in that area. Vaughan/Oakwood - Weston/Lawrence - Keele/Eglinton : a trifecta of **** XD

Speaking of the TTC, I had to ask some drunken chaps to stop wrestling each other on the yellow strip of the NB line at Spadina Stn. tonight. They said thanks and moved away, and I just told them I didn't want the train to be held up ... I think it was lost on them :P

Found some videos from last month... unfortunately the lense on the camera got all messed up with snow/water on the Sunday morning ride I went along for.

Here's the commute I do to the Keele/Steeles area:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWPSvBnhseM

This was very much a typical commute, I tried to draft a tanker at the end but only caught a slight pull before he turned off.

Here's the ride home, though I went via Dufferin Mall:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jN5ugVI6rwo

Not sure if there was anything to note on here either.

Both videos aren't of the greatest clarity, but you can see some of the nastiness on the roads - St. Clair West westbound both east and west of Caledonia is a crapshoot (it was awful around Old Weston Rd too, which is why I now cut through as in the video), and there are patches of Keele between Ingram Dr. (halfway between Eglinton W. and Lawrence) and pretty much the 401 that are sketchy as heck in the right-wheel curb lane northbound.

Southbound is mainly just Keele south of Lawrence for a few 'blocks' with the odd crevice/crappy area. Lansdowne between Bloor and Wallace is really ****ty, but that's a pretty small stretch. Same goes for Lansdowne between College and Dundas, all ~100 yards of it is just farked.

edit: fixing the home trip, initial length was too long (that's what SHE said...! no?... I'll get my coat.)

all due respect; i'm not sure that "i didn't plan to take the bus" is a reasonable explanation for taking the bus and not paying. $150? sucks, no doubt, but it happens. i don't think "i didn't plan on eating a sandwich" is a reasonable explanation for stealing a sandwich. in fact, i think "i wanted to eat a sandwich and didn't feel like paying for it" is equally reasonable and it's the excuse i use when i steal sandwiches. holy ****, it's 2:20 and i would ****ing kill for a sandwich right now. SANDWICH! BOOM GOES THE DYNAMITE! JAAAAAAAAAM!

http://toronto.en.craigslist.ca/tor/bik/1055480091.html

$750 colnago tecnos w/ dura ace in a 57?
someone want to lend me $750?

I get what you're saying, but as i was biking i did not have cash or tickets on me, because i wouldn't need them for the day. I guess i should have had some just in case, next time i suppose. I am actually more pissed by the fact that it was the first time i got on the bus without a ticket and it was the first time i saw officers checking, and on a day i had no intention of boarding the bus :o And what i did was more like tresspassing rather than stealing though :P I blame myself only don't doubt that.

filmflam nice videos, i used to take keele up to steeles all the time. I remember a tractor trailer just like that one passed me within centimeters once, glad to see the driver changed lanes when he passed you. Also it would be better if youmount your camera on the helmet i think, less sideways movement.

Really? I never leave home without at least a couple bucks. You were never a Boy scout I bet.

I have a 1/8 chain whip if you still need it. I'll be home around 10 tonight. I live near college and ossington. pm me if you want it.

ha ha

That's what I was thinkin. How do you go out with zero dollars?

easy...if you own a pair of tits

When i go out biking i usually don't bring money with me, unless i'm biking to go buy something. Lesson learned i guess.

:lol:

I lol'd

*cue Dom/Tam/Canice mass dropkicks*

I have a TTC token squirreled away for just that reason.

I hear you -

I had this discussion a few days ago with a good friend who was pissed at his boss for leaving him stranded somewhere without his wallet / cash. I asked why he didn't bring his wallet and he said "because I was going to be in the middle of nowhere" to which I replied "that's the number one reason to HAVE your wallet." Maybe it's just because my parent's constant paranoia taught me to always be prepared as possible in any given situation but I don't leave home without my wallet... ever. If nothing else, it's a means of quickly identifying my body.

In any case, it sucks to have to learn such an expensive lesson. In most cases, you can try to fight a fine based on your inability to pay it and if nothing else they'll reduce it.

Anthony Bennett; ladies and gentlemen.

Wow.

i can't imagine leaving the house without feeling in my pockets for my wallet, keys and watch.

it's the only time i "cross" myself: spectacles (safety/sunglasses), testicles (food/water/cajones), wallet (+ keys), and watch (cell phone)!

someone does sound jealous though... not that i take the ttc (much less viva), but the only way having tits makes a difference is between 9pm and 5am when you can ask for a "request stop". or maybe i'm just missing out?

Yeah me too, a token and 50c in quarters are regular features in my wedge bag, along with a repair kit, tyre levers and a valve stem adapter. I might've forgotten my pump before, but this bag or its contents go with me on just about every single ride I ever take.