Fabulous ride today, up around Denholm, down towards Wakefield and then back past Edelweiss and up through a series of back roads that ended up with a four kilometre stretch of ATV trail. Hilariously, part of it was totally underwater as spring runoff from the surrounding hills was using it
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cmkl: Bushtukah changes gendered promo copy after complaint from awesome blogger
Okay, I admit it. Irene Jansen is my partner. But I still think it’s pretty cool that she got the normally excellent outdoor gear retailer Bushtukah to change some of the promo copy for its kids bikes so that it’s not so Ken and Barbie.
Continue readingcmkl: The first 2000km
With the exception of my spring break 100km ride in Essex, UK and 180km of commuting when I remembered to turn on Strava, it’s all been indoors. Today I had planned to ride outside. With both wheels. I spent some time yesterday getting all the sensors lined up, took the
Continue readingcmkl: Back on two feet
I made my way back to the bike hire place today, wending my way down from Hackney through Shoreditch, Liverpool Street and Bishopsgate to London Bridge. I don’t know quite how bike commuters handle it. I found riding very tense, the streets utterly choked with cars, buses and taxis. One
Continue readingcmkl: Humbling ride through the wilds of Essex
At a certain point I just fell off the back. I’d been keeping up with the three Cycling Club Hackney riders in the group that chose the longer route, albeit wheel sucking the whole way. But about 10k from the planned rest stop the other riders just kinda floored it.
Continue readingcmkl: Biking on the wrong side of the road
? ?I am in London for my sister’s 50th birthday party. It occurred to me that since they don’t really have what you and I understand by ‘winter’ here, that I should set up to go for a ride while I’m here. Like outside. Moving forward. But two things struck
Continue readingcmkl: Going to Lap the Gats again: please sponsor me
We don’t have real climbs, where I live. Well, not really anyway. But we have this. Please consider sponsoring me to ride this fundraiser race/ride to raise money for the University of Ottawa’s Parkinson’s Research Consortium. Any amount helps. It’s true adequate medical research money should be one of the
Continue readingcmkl: I’m thinking I should own these
The time is fast approaching, if today is any indication. But it seems hard to locate them. Phat Moose, says they do. But oh the price.
Continue readingFrom a Friend: Performing Cyclist Identity
#throwbackthursday to the time I tried to understand gender and sexuality theory via cyclist identity and my friend Melanie Patenaude made me this: Filed under: Cycling Tagged: Bike Culture, Bike Politics, Cultural Theory, transportation culture
Continue readingcmkl: Dudes yelling at me won’t ruin a great ride
I’ve been riding twice this week and both times – once on Colonel By, once on the Ottawa River Parkway – a young white dude has taken it upon himself to roll down his window and point out the bike path just off to our right. I wish there were
Continue readingcmkl: I’m thinking posted speed limits might help
I don’t generally use my bike on Ottawa’s multipurpose pathways. Because I heard somewhere that you’re only supposed to do 20km/h on them. I prefer to ride faster than that. Once, while cycling on Colonel By (not five feet from one of said pathways) I had a motorist yell at
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: The Elf on the #ReThink Tour
I met “Sustainable Joe” (Stephen) at Hillside this year, and barraged him with questions about his ride. I want one! And, at $5,000, I could probably make it happen. But he cautioned me to wait for the next model – upgrades to include shocks. Apparently he gets hassled by the cops,
Continue readingcmkl: A bad biking week that ended well
Earlier this week a guy pulled up beside me as I was riding south on Bank Street at Catherine. He rolled down the window of his full-size SUV to give me grief about how I was taking up too much space. “Man do you know how easily I could have
Continue readingOlivia Chow is the Best Choice for a Bike-Friendly Mayor of Toronto
On October 27th of this year, Toronto will have the opportunity to elect a new Mayor who will commit to improving transportation in our city. For those who want a bike-friendly mayor who understands the importance of all modes of transportation, Olivia Chow is the best choice.
Continue readingThings Are Good: Doctors Say Healthy People Come From Good Urban Design
A new report written by a handful of doctors titled Improving Health Care by Design concludes that in order to have a healthy populace we need cities designed for health. There is nothing startling in the report but it does provide one more reference and tool for people to use
Continue readingcmkl: Home again: another Rideau Lakes Cycle Tour done
This was waiting in the fridge for me when I got home from day two of the Rideau Lakes Cycle tour earlier this afternoon. I have some statistical trivia to share but the most important number to note is that in the last few months I’ve spent on average seven
Continue readingcmkl: Kingston
I’m in Kingston now, holed up in my residence room after a couple of recovery beers. I don’t have my numbers because I only brought my phone and the GPS wants a computer to cough up the data, but I think I did well. From what I can tell my
Continue readingcmkl: All systems go
A short, mostly flat ride to test some new gear that I think will make the Rideau Lakes Cycle Tour a bit more comfortable and enjoyable for me this year. A new jersey, new socks, and a new rear shifter. Thanks to the Cyclery for digging up the part for
Continue readingcmkl: Lap the Gats: redux
I’m pretty pleased with my performance at Lap the Gats today. I was 27th out of 200 riders, 15th in my age group. I did better still at the hill climbing part of the event – 11th overall and 5th in my age group. All those training rides have paid
Continue readingcmkl: Introducing the Idaho stop
Aka Why cyclists should be able to roll through stop signs and ride through red lights. It’s not totally nuts you know. I like the point tht it would put an end the odd dance that occurs when motorist and cyclist are watching each other at intersections, trying to figure
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