Junk Miles

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Happy Halloween!

October 31, 2009

pumpkin

Happy Halloween! Only about 20 of the lazy ass local kids bothered to climb my front stairs this year… well those 20 weren’t the lazy ones but I’m still saddled with a surplus of junk food. I’ve noticed a disturbing trend in costumes over the last couple of years of fewer girl pirates and way too many princesses, and this year I didn’t see any pirates at all. Kids today…

You can feel November in the air tonight. I better buy me some ice tires soon before it snows and they sell out, and I need to find all my wool socks…

Filed under: Other Stuff
Posted By: Adam

Tornado watch!

August 21, 2009

tornado watch

They said “tornado watch”, so I rode down to the beach to watch. I didn’t see any, but there was a tornado just outside town, about 20 crow miles away (and at least 3 others in Ontario)… and of course someone filmed it put it on youtube.

But I did see a really big puddle:

… and I wasn’t the only one out on a bike: (Read on …)

Filed under: Other Stuff, Video
Posted By: Adam

May

June 7, 2009

What with stuff, and rain, and what I’ve decided to believe was the swine flu even though it probably wasn’t, there’s not much to report for May. I even missed most of the Contact photography festival. But I did get out to the country last weekend to get rained on again.

mmmmmm... snouts

pano  storm

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Posted By: Adam

Alpacas!

April 21, 2009

img_5794-2009-04-18-medium

Saturday was the Alpaca Ontario Alpaca Show.   While all other animals are quite obviously evolved, alpacas must be intelligently designed:  they have a communal dung pile.  I wonder if they do their own laundry, too.  I bought myself some alpaca socks and they’re so comfortable I’m never going to take them off.

the-alpacas-2009-04-18

It was hard to take good pictures (we were segregated from the alpacas and there wasn’t really enough light for the long zoom)  but there are a couple below the fold.

(Read on …)

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Posted By: Adam

Bike Train Ontario

April 17, 2009

Hooray, not only is the  Bike Train to Niagara Falls running again this summer (it’s been running for a couple of years but for some silly reason I haven’t taken it yet), but they’ve added a route to North Bay as well!    It would be a fun few days to take the train up north and ride home.

Filed under: Other Stuff
Posted By: Adam

Tried and Liked 2008

December 31, 2008

Reporting on the bike things you tried and liked (and didn’t like) began as a yearly custom on the excellent iBOB (internet Bridgestone Owners Bunch) mailing list, and it’s now an annual tradition. Here’s my (slightly edited for style) list for 2008.

Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2008 10:48:00 -0500
From: Adam T <>
Subject: Re: [BOB] It’s Tried & Liked Time Again (2008 Edition)

On Thu, Dec 18, 2008 at 10:13 PM, (another ibob) liked:
> 1) Cyclocross.

I’m noticing a pattern here. If fixies are the new rollerblades, I
think cyclocross is the new fixed gear. Here’s my list:

1) Surly Cross-Check. I got the frame and stole the parts from my
touring bike because I seldom tour, and it was a bit of a tank for the
mixed pavement and dirt day rides I like. I still want a nicer
lighter faster long distance all-roads sort of bike, but when I get
one the Surly will make the ideal city bike (for the whole city, not
just the flat downtown bit where all those posey dutch bikes hang
out). I’m half tempted to put an ironic argyle top tube pad on it,
but earnestness is the new irony, so I put some reflective tape on the fender.

2) Schwalbe Marathon Cross tires (700×35). They had more centre tread
than I wanted for those mixed surface rides, but they were in stock
and they felt fairly supple so I got ‘em. I think they might actually
be a little faster than the Tourguard Paselas I was using before, but
it’s hard to tell with all the fluctuations in temperature, wind and
tire pressure. They did OK in the snow, too, though with today’s
storm I think it’s time to cobble together a proper snow bike.

3) Pumpkin Ale (St-Ambroise Citrouille, Post Road, and Great Lakes
Brewery). I never would have thought of it.. but it’s really good.

4) Creative Zen mp3 player. I have no iPod to compare it to, but a
lot of the user reviews I read say they like it better than the Nano.
The earphones sound as good as my AKG monitor headphones, which
impressed me. APart from running I lost interest in portable music
after high school, but I recently realized the streetcar is a lot less
annoying when I’m listening to Miles Davis instead of other people’s
phone calls.

5) Car sharing with www.autoshare.com: besides the convenience,
you’re a better spokesperson for the bicycle lifestyle if you aren’t
cadging rides off friends.

6) Fleece lined jeans from the farm & feed store

I’m ambivalent about the paselas… they roll, they aren’t egregiously
slow, and I reckon I might even appreciate the tourguard layer in
March when the snowbanks melt.

Things I might try in 2009? Cyclocross (though the surly isn’t quite
built for racing, and neither am I, and I cringe at the thought of
removing my fenders). Grand Bois tires. That removable Wald basket
looks good for grocery getting on the non-grocery-getters.


Adam “now where did that ski wax go?” in whited-out toronto.on.ca

http://walkonearth.net

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Posted By: Adam