Living For The City

If I’m not mistaken we came within a couple degrees of being above zero this afternoon. If we’re really lucky maybe we’ll see that dream realized next week but I’m not overly hopeful. I need some nice weather, dagnabbit! I’ve got just over a month before I go away and I need to log some serious hours on the bike before then. Fortunately, even though I had a list that needed things crossed off it today the boys convinced me to roll around for a little bit and I’m glad I did.

Thanks to Sam & Anaïs from Under The Weather for putting together these custom tool pouches for me. Most “off the shelf” pouches won’t allow for a 12″ Chain Whip / Lockring Tool so it’s great to have such talented crafts people within arm’s reach. If you’re in the market for a new pack definitely check out their work: Under The Weather

Once again… Thanks Toronto.

When I look out my office window I see a fireman on a crane showering water on the smoldering bricks and timbers below. This morning a good little section of Queen St burned to the ground. I think the jury is still out on what caused the 6-Alarm fire but different news outlets seem to point to either Suspect or National Audio being the source.

My condolences go out to the people that lived and worked on this block; in particular my thoughts are with the fine folks at Suspect Video & Dukes Cycle – a family owned shop of 95 years, where many stupid bike questions have been answered for me over the years. It is a real shame to see two Toronto institutions gone in the blink of an eye.

There is a really fantastic photo set at BlogTo

Update: I took a quick walk over there at lunch and it’s not a pretty site – it looks like they’ve got the fire under control but the damage is just far too great. I had a quick chat with Avtar from Gandhi Cuisine and he said that all the surrounding businesses have been closed due to lack of power but may have to stay closed for a little bit due to smoke damage. He’s very thankful to still have his restaurant, though.

RIP Dukes

With the FHBC European Tour fast approaching, I figured it was about time I got myself a proper pack – the prospect of traveling for two weeks and doing a few solid days of riding with my trusty Metropolis became less and less attractive the more I thought about it. Packing the bag as much as I’ll need to (which may not even be possible – I’d probably need the Kremlin or a comparable bag) and having all that pressure resting on a single shoulder as much as it’s going to have to would have surely brought my whiney bitch disease into full effect!

Ideally speaking, I’d get a proper hiking backpack but the problem is that anything with enough volume is much too tall to ride with. Why does the height of the bag make a difference? Because in riding position your back takes on more of a horizontal arc but for the most part you need your head to remain upright – if your pack goes much beyond the top of your shoulders you’re not going to be able to hold your head up and somewhere between Florence and Sienna a little old man name Fabrizio is scraping pieces of you off the side of the road.

Fortunately, there are a few companies out there that have designed backpacks specifically for cycling and I’ve been completely satisfied with my Chrome bag for as long as I’ve owned it so I thought I’d see what they have to offer and the Sultan looked like it would fit the bill.

The Sultan checks in a pretty impressive 2475 cu. in. (around 40 Liters) and is completely waterproof thanks to it’s roll-top design which is likely borrowed from canoe backpacks and other packs designed to survive extreme weather and even submersion. It’s got four large compartments – the rolled one being the largest of them, a second large zippered outer compartment (waterproof zipper, at that) and two reasonably sized outside pockets.

I picked it up tonight after work, put my other bag inside and hopped on the old bicicletta and rode home. The chest and waste stabilizing straps were extremely comfortable and the back padding is a nice touch that I wish they’d integrated into their messenger bags as well. The strap adjustment system is extremely well thought out and easy to use which I’m sure will make mounting and dismounting the pack when it’s full a lot easier.

The single drawback, as far as I can tell is that my visibility when checking over the shoulder is somewhat compromised but I think I’ll be able to adjust to that easily enough. Also, I do like the fasteners on two of the three large outside compartments but I think given that we’re heading into areas where thievery is rampant it would be nice to have a little bit more security. Again, not a huge drawback – I’ll just make sure not to put anything too important in there and save it for the zippered / rolled & velcroed compartments. Some reflective elements like on the messengers bags would be nice as well but again – not a big deal.

Thanks to the fine fellas at Curbside for hookin’ a brother up so quickly and making sure that I didn’t break the bank on it either.

Because my camera is wicked awesome and hates the cold I managed to snap a grand total of 6 photos at the Icebike Race this past Saturday night before my camera shit the bed so I’ve stolen some of Tony & Wil’s photos. If anyone knows where I can get a good great deal on a Canon G7 or G9, please let me know.

More can be seen on Mike & Kergin’s Flickr streams.

I’d again like to thank the City of Toronto for making sure that our streets are safe to ride on. We especially like the way dented / warped rims give us that little bit of extra flare we so desperately need when floussin’ them wheeeeips.

The Taming of The Tobra Snake continues…

Don’t forget, Toronto, this Saturday is the 2008 Ice Race which will take place at Dufferin Grove Park @ 6:00 PM. I don’t think I’m going to race… not unless I spend the whole day tomorrow screwing… wait, that doesn’t sound like such a bad idea.

It’s gonna be a cold one so dress warm!

I’m sure Wes will be very excited to know that world famous singer, producer & underage female fan urinator on’er, R Kelly, will be performing his epic Trapped In The Closet this Wednesday night at The Royal Theatre.

Ok, he’s not performing at all but the hard hitting, thought provoking film being screened for the first time in the city – catch The Big Package on the big screen! Door prizes, including XXXL R Kelly Tall Tees, will be up for grabs so get there early and be sure to support the theatre by getting your snack on!

Word on the street is that there are a good amount of people coming so you may want to consider getting tickets when the box office opens (6:30 I believe) and then going back to the theatre before the show! Maybe grab a bite at Utopia or a coffee at Manic?

Update:

Nothing will brighten up a sucky day quite like a care package and tonight I was lucky enough to come home to one from my good friend Robbie B who is currently training for the crumpet master championships over in the UK.

My dorkitude will now be visible from at least a block away with this here little cap from London’s legendary Condor Cycles.

It would have been nice if he’d sent this instead but hey, I’ll take what I can get.

Robbie was also kind enough to enclose a European Limited Edition of Precambrian from The Ocean Collective.

I like this record a lot more than I expected to because I haven’t been listening to a lot of aggressive music as of late but it’s got enough atmospheric / pretty parts to keep me interested – think ISIS / Neurosis with a little Godspeed You! Black Emperor / Earth thrown in for good measure.

I used to be quite critical of “concept records” and have often written them off as pretentious and gimmicky but with each generic piece of garbage that floods the market trying to pass itself off as art – the idea of a band (or collective, as the case may be) putting a good amount of time and effort into shaping an entire listening experience out of a record becomes that much more attractive.

I’d pretty well decided to stop buying CDs (and will likely be selling most of my collection off soon) but unlike 99% of the records that will come out this year, this one has packaging that will well justify the space it will take up in my humble abode – solid design (reminds me at least a little of ISO50 / Tycho – only darker), die cuts, matte varnishes, glossy varnishes, clear CDs, etc. Simply beautiful.

On a totally unrelated note: my friend Katie is strongly encouraging everyone to go see her pal Yung’s film Up The Yangtze which is playing tomorrow night @ The Bloor Cinema & Thursday night @ The Cumberland.

Bike Nerds everywhere will be extremely saddened to hear that Sheldon Brown is no longer with us. The cycling community owes a debt of gratitude to a man who has forgotten more about bicycles than any of us will ever know and has so graciously shared his knowledge, his skill, his passion and his humor with all of us.

He showed great strength and maintained an extremely positive attitude in the face of Multiple Sclerosis but at the end of the day, no one gets to live forever – who’d want to anyway?

RIP Sheldon, you will be sorely missed.

Maddox Aidan Dwyer Munro

Congratulations Laura & Dave!

“All my friends are always telling me how hard it is to have kids. ‘Oh, David, it’s so hard.’ That’s not hard. I’ll tell you what hard is. Try talking your girlfriend into her third consecutive abortion. Yeah, that’s hard, that takes finesse. You’re just inconvenienced.”
-David Cross

Steph & I managed to plan a bit of a last minute getaway to Ellicottville, NY for the weekend and ended up staying in (sort of) nearby Bradford, PA. It’s a small town along the PA, NY border which – as I suspect of many small US towns – probably doesn’t have much to offer in the way of opportunity but has history and character bursting at the seams. We learned a lot on this trip about small town USA; but the most important lessons we’ve taken home with us are a) Americans don’t want you on, near or in eyeshot of their property – in fact, they don’t even want you thinking about their property and b) the food sucks.