Coupla things to say...

Hey Jeremy! Thanks for setting me up with the Bridgestone. Haven't been able to build it up yet but I'm getting a kick out folks' reactions to its sheer size (and the mauve-ness of it).

But on a more serious note...

What the heck are folks thinking? I was eastbound on the Martin Goodman Trail, just coming down from the Humber Bridge and rounding the Breyers stand (used to be the PizzaPizza) when I was almost run down by someone on (I believe) an electric or very quiet gas moped thing, coming my way on the trail.
Now, I get a chuckle out of people on the electric-assist bikes. I've even seen some Cox-powered razor scooters (ridden by guys in ties) on the trail. But this was a Moped for God's sake. Like, no capacity for self propulsion, meant for the road kind of thing.

Point is, it kind of Irks me. Keep that kind of stuff off the trails I s'pose is what I'm feeling.

But now I've had ice cream and I feel alot better.

DG

Only way you can get a legit speeding ticket on a bike is if it has a motor.

One of the few things that still makes me want to chuck a u-lock at someone's head is the ol' moped/scooter in the bike lane scenario. Getting buzzed with no warning by those idiots (half the time on the right it seems) is no fun at all. I wish I had a higher def camera so I could go Martino-styles and take a quick photo of them to send off to the local P.D.

Yeah, it's actually *really* hard I think - technicalities aside - I've asked now a couple times when I've seen them tagging with the laser gun, but they usually ignore or refuse to tag me (I just wanted their number to compare with my speedometer :)) Good luck though - be careful :D

I'm taking next weekend off and going to Ottawa sans bike, so I'm probably going to do a road ride this weekend - I want to get in some distance, regardless of geared/fixed - I've no particular destination in mind, I just want to ride for a while - anyone else doing any road rides I can tag onto? I don't need a hammerfest, just distance.

In Vancouver, the city police run radar on the Stanley Park seawall, and happily give out tickets all day long to rollerbladers and cyclists for speeding.

Ugh. I'll have to remember that when I head out there next month.

There's a couple training rides for the Friends for Life bike rally this weekend. Saturday is ~50k, Sunday is ~60k. http://www.bikerally.org/index.php/calendar.html.

Those are some nice rides maps. I think I may ride some of them over the summer. It's nice to have maps for where you're going, otherwise I tend to do the same routes over and over.

Youre forgetting most parks have a speed limit of 20 km/h. I disregard and destroy that regularly, and bike cops can actually screw you for it, ive got a warning before.

Flim, It looks like ill be dodging back and forth up the Don on the weekend, youre welcome to come with. If im in the mood i might start from lakeshore and head all the way to the northern end of the paved trail.

-by the way, am I supposed to be in a sitting sort of position with knees bent on my MTB? i have full extension on the Raleigh, and the sitting position is kinda weird as hell.

...and not wearing helmets. The last time I was out there they were in the midst of a helmet blitz and a cop stopped me and asked me where my helmet was and unaware that it was required I responded with "at home, in my closet." He asked where home was and I said "Toronto", he asked how long I'd been in Vancouver and I said "about 9 hours" to which he replied "that's long enough to know you need a helmet to ride on our streets." hahaha

About 5 minutes later another cop had these two kids pulled over and they pointed at me and said "what about that guy?" to which I replied "thanks, guys" and kept on riding, ignoring the cop that at this point trying to wave me down.

Hey ya'll... I'm thinking about a 9am ride in the Don tomorrow to start the weekend. Anyone up for meeting at Pottery Road trailhead just before 9 and knocking out a loop?

I would love to, but my girlfriend might strangle/straddle me if I tried to leave early on sleep-in day.

Ill try. But not too hard.

I was encouraged to read this headline (which I can't post here, but is worksafe (probably) as it's the BBC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/2/hi/...re/7390109.stm

My friend and I totally almost got run down by the exact same guy! Was this yesterday around 8:30 or 9pm? Jerkbag!

I got honked at by one of those electric scooter things in the bike lane on College yesterday. It was a friendly honk, just to let me know he was there. Those things are so very very quiet, I guess he had startled people in the past.

I am sorta surprised that those things haven't been legislated yet....they can go pretty fast (I would guesstimate 40m/h) and they are pretty heavy (maybe 150lbs + the weight of the rider = 300lbs or so) yet there is no need for a license to operate one. I wonder if you even need a driver's license? I should ask one of those guys next time I see one parked...

damn, i love the uk.

at the bottom of that page, this is a headline


"Taser parties
Meeting the women shunning kitchen ware for stun guns"

You dog!

Apple generation1,2,3, owners who had catastrophic battery failure. http://www.apple.com/ca/ipod/settlement/

needs no license whatsoever. they are pretty cool, i pass one on the way to the store all the time. id just feel really lazy with one.. and where the hell to put it?

I don't think you need a license and apparently it is totally legal for them to ride in the bike lane. We had some guy, all smiles, ride by us a while ago and he was all "hey guys! have you seen these things? they're electric!!! they're great!!!" and then zoomed off. he was hilarious.

On an unrelated note, Jet, my buddy Rob ended up with your Razesa a couple of weeks ago and he's lovin' it! I sent him the CL link knowing that you'd just put some work into it and he was in the market for a new bike and he'd sent me a bunch of "what do you think?" emails with a bunch of links to **** fixed / ss bikes on ebay and I was like "dude, get THIS one!"

He may still end up with a new fixed / ss bike but for the meantime he's really enjoying the road bike - he's always ridden MTB in the city so this is like a whole new world for him.

My partner's boss has one of those. He converted a bike. The only real indication is the huge rear hub, behind the seat battery pack, and the extreme weight. I saw him take off w on college in the lane passing those in the bike lane 'just coasting' it was pretty funny.

Cool! He really seemed to like it and I was happy to give it to someone who would appreciate it, I am glad to hear that. That bike is crazy fast and I would never have sold it but it was just a bit snug on me, c'est la vie. I even lent it to my friend who is looking for a roadie and he gave it back to me a week later saying it was too fast for him ;)

no problem, glad to clear out the basement a bit. thanks for the peugot! i've actually built it up already for the whopping out of pocket cost of $30 (front loooong reach brake). couldn't find red fenders wide enough for it though.

i agree those electric scooters annoy me. all the convenience of riding a bike and all driving a car with none of the accountability.

Anyone have a short reach rear side pull brake kicking around? Trade for a long reach? Thanks.

Hey I've got a Simano Exage rear, single pivot with pads. Free.

Edit: It's missing the barrel adjuster. Sorry for the crappy offer.

On the upside, they get people out of cars (maybe) but like any conveyance, jackasses can use them too. I have more tolerance for those using them who would be unlikely to use a bike, but as for the others, sure, why ride a bike when you can use coal generated electricity! Wooka.