http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=univers...09012&t=h&z=18 <-- Harbord and St. George ... that little S-bend. I always end up taking part of the lane there when I'm heading west because if I don't inevitably some useless **** will cut the bend in the road and almost take me out.

^^ The S-bend is just as treacherous going south: drivers take it too shallow and inevitably go right through the bike lane.

On one of the blackboard walls at the office:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3342/...3869a487_o.jpg

want: http://toronto.en.craigslist.ca/tor/bik/1058347159.html

Noah ending up winning Best Paint at the NAHMBS. Huzzah, I dare say.

nice

You can check the winning paint job on mike barry's blog (the pics are a bit fuzzy).

g'damn.

I have experienced a similar lack of lane discipline, eastbound turning onto the Prince Edward (Bloor) viaduct, cars always seem to cut the corner there - it really grinds my gears!

Almost had a run-in with a GMC Acadia.. and a garden chainlink fence. I was following the guy, dead centre but a few metres back - on a single-lane one way street, I was in no hurry and was just going to roll by him as he stopped at the inevitable stop signs ahead. However, he stomped on his brakes, so I skipped around hard to slow, looked right and decided I'd go left due to the parked cars on the right. I went left.. then noticed as I was alongside him he popped on the old left-turn signal and started to move... into me. I ducked onto the sidewalk and almost into this guys fence (he kept going almost into the driveway and was onto the sidewalk already when he stopped) - I carried on and I was pissed I didn't get a turn signal, causing me to look like a prick. I kinda feel guilty, but I think it's his fault. Gah!

Happened on Silverthorn south of Rogers Rd (having just downed the hill across the lights in time, yay!)
Nice escape, kergin. Sounds like a crap ordeal elTwitcho.

There is an Olmo bike hanging on the wall of Cherry Bomb on Roncesvalles Avenue that has been repainted by Velocolour as well; I stopped in the other day and stared at it for 10 minutes or more, it is truly stunning.

Going Westbound on Queen just after Ossingtion, the street goes from 2 lanes to 1 with no indication and, through no fault of their own, the drivers don't realize that they have to merge and quite often I find myself smushed between the parked cars and the moving ones. It sucks and it is only because I am so familiar with that part of the street that I haven't literally been smushed....one day, it will happen to an inexperienced cyclist and someone will get badly hurt.

The city really should be on top of this (and all of the other pitfalls that we face) but nah, cars are more important, blah blabh blabh

Yeah, that area of Queen is bad - going east toward Shaw presents a similar problem, except there are rarely parked cars, just a RTOL.

So for that CHIN picnic deally... What exactly would I need? I've never raced (I intend to join the midweekclubs' learn to race course). So I don't have any type of license/membership to UCI/OCA/whoever it needs to be. Is a citizens permit acceptable? I'm completely clueless on how this stuff all works.

Does anyone here use a Crumpler bag? I think they look nice but they seem really expensive but I just saw a whole bunch listed on eBay.ca and they are super-cheap---linky-----what do y'all think?

Looks nice, but pretty small (8L).

Yeah, that is kinda small I suppose but I just need it for day to day stuff like my lock/cable, lunch, tools, etc. I think this is the warehouse for the Cumpler store down on Queen. I guess I will check one out in person tomorrow..my MEC bag has a bustd zipper and is a replacement for my first one which also got a busted zipper...I guess I am hard on my stuff..

I own a couple of Crumpler bags (Mahoubar backpack and Complete Seed messenger bag). They're well made for average riders (ie. I can't speak to couriering with them 5 days a week year-round). My only complaint with the current stuff is the lack of a dedicated attachment point for a light (which I prefer to have on my bag than my bike).

How much racing are you planning on doing? If you plan on doing a lot of racing, it's worth it to get your UCI licence (I'm not sure how the citizen's permit works), at least that's what the OCA guy told me.

I've heard that they'll be selling UCI licences at the bike show for $10 cheaper than the regular rate. This'll be my first year of racing as well, and I think I'm also going to do the Midweek weekly series (even though I'm all the way in north york... :()

I've had the beer back for about a year now and I'd recommend it. Things stay dry in driving rain, the laptop pouch (mine is a laptop backpack) holds my computer perfectly, and if I need to I can fit my laptop and camera bag with a few lenses in it. I've carried a decent amount of stuff in it (use it for grocery shopping) and it's been solid. Really well made too IMO

With being new I suspect not /too/ much, but I do intend to try a few events, so I dunno - maybe I'll go hassle the folks at the show.

edit: and the midweekclub has a requirement for a license/permit. (And yeah, the ride out there is going to be a pain in the ass for me, too.)

check this out http://www.ontariocycling.org/web_pa...o_join_OCA.php
it's got a bunch of info on UCI vs. citizen's permit (you need one or the other). For CHIN, I think citizen's permit is fine. UCI is for racing OCUP, or at a national or regional (not quite sure what classifies as regional...) level. It all sounds very confusing to me.

Congrats to Noah!

I count myself lucky to have 2 of my bikes painted by him. I left him a lot of latitude when it came to color and design, and I must say, I still like just sitting and looking at both of them. I bet he could restore my Nagasawa frame to pristine condition (it's pretty good already, so I should probably leave well enough alone), but I doubt my wife will allow me to do any bike building this year after last year's 3 new bikes and 2 rebuilds.

If you want a bag that is water resistant...look elsewhere.

My old one is crap for that, but the ones I've bought in the past ~2 years have been much better. There's still no truck tarp action like PAC/PTE but I've never ended up with soaked what-nots after ~30min in the pouring rain.

I have this dream to get a CX bike done up in the Belgian colours with a design like these bikes:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/47/15...336707.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3098/...26784cb2e6.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3314/...b7052410a1.jpg

You can probably get away with just a one day permit. If you plan to do more races you should consider a Citizens permit, or the UCI license which will allow you to race anywhere and everywhere.

The Midweek program is offers a excellent for those wanting to start racing, it will help keep you from getting killed ;) The group is very friendly and there to help.

Chin is a great race but well known for crashes. Last year was a little treacherous and I think there were 2 crashes in the M3/S3/4 field, and one in the M2/M1 field. Fun race, just stay near the front !

To join Midweek it's about $50 which includes your insurance (would have to double check the cost), plus a additional $5 per Midweek Monday or Tuesday session. I think the year fee for the Mon or Tues is about $80. Well worth it if you plan to attend on a regular basis.

For a beginner, I'd say the best first race would be the Milford RR. It's far less hairy than a crit and you have plenty of time to get the legs in shape.

Midweek also has some excellent group rides on the weekends with the same coaches that run Monday. Generally they practice racing tactics (echelons, protecting riders etc), that can't fit into the Monday night session.