1st Recumbent Cruiser Ride For 2011

I had to take my new black Sun EZ1 Super Cruzer (aluminum frame) down to the bike shop for better brake pads to be installed. Ride down and back to Urbane Cyclist using mostly bike lanes, nice day for a ride. Kate rode her Manhattan Cruiser. 7km.

MARCH 6, TORONTO INTERNATIONAL BICYCLE SHOW

The 25th Toronto International Bike Show was on this weekend in Toronto at the C.N.E. in the Better Living Centre Building and Kate & I  rode down there on sunday as the weather was much better than the all-day rain on saturday and the overnight snowfall.
We stayed mainly on the major streets that had bike lanes on them and found that they were mostly partly cleared of snow and slush, till we picked up the Martin Goodman Trail behind the Tip Top building at Stadium Road and Queens Quay, which had been plowed out. There are spots on the pavement of the trail where it looks like the plow caught the raised spots and tore them out (potholes now, that should slow down the radonneurs who use the trail, hehe) and it was a bit bumpy. Other than that it was clear and not many people using it. We parked at the front of the building in the CNE and wondered why there were only 3 bikes (ours included) in the bike rack out front when there were hundreds of cars across the street in the parking lot; after all it was a bicycle show. Going inside we soon discovered that we were in the the Direct Energy Centre (wrong building) and if they had put a sign out front we would have known that. Seems the Better Living Centre is about a mile west of there just the other side of BMO Field.
Arriving at the correct building, there were bike racks available with lots of empty space to lock up to. We were not the only ones who decided to ride to the show.
Admission was $13 each and the $1.00 off coupons I got from the bike shop got us in for $12 each. Let me say right now, the show was not worth the $12 admission price.
We walked down every aisle there and found only one cruiser bike dealer (Broadway Cycle) with a fine display of Electra cruisers and accessories.
No where in the entire building of 800 booths could we find anyone displaying recumbents or folding bikes. You would think that in a city the size of Toronto that you would!
There were not that many specials or cheap things to buy, even though we saw a few people walking out with newly purchased bikes. The biggest noise maker there was the crowds of people watching the BMX Jam Contests and the Mountain bike contests at the far end of the building.
Several manufacturers were on hand displaying their 2011 lines of bikes (mostly road, bmx and mtb).
All in all, a nice day out but not a very good show for the money!

We left about 6pm and headed back east to the Music Garden to feed the hungry ducks in the marina, they were so hungry that they were not satisfied with having us throw the bread crusts to them on the ice, they flew right up onto the dock and scurried around our feet like pigeons do. Then we rode downtown to the Pit Stop (Tim Hortons) at Sherbourne and Richmond Streets, then north to the village and home.
4 hours, 20km.

FEB. 27 RIDE TO PARKDALE

Kate and I took a chance on the milder temps to ride down to the a friend's photography studio in Liberty Village in Parkdale, to visit and hang out. Since I had to returne some stuff I borrowed , I took all the stuff down in my Wike trailer, which slowed me down a bit. We took Wellesley into the U of T King's College Circle and went in front of Hart House where the road was quite slippery, and it saw us walking our cruisers up the hill to the Soldiers Arch. On the other side of the Arch there was a group of University students who had built snow fort walls apart and were having a snowball fight. We then went out onto Harbord and took the bike lane to Bathust and south to College and over to Palmerston (which had less traffic on it) down to Queen. Passing Doc's Leathers on Queen Street west there was a mannequin on the sidewalk wearing a bright orange t-shirt with the black lettered caption ( about 5" letters) "Can You See Me Now Asshole?" I think it was made for motorcyclists, but it would also do for bike riders too, although a bit overdone with the word A$$hole on it!. Continuing on to Shaw and down to King and over to Hanna Street in Liberty Village. The trip took about 45 min.

We had a good  interesting visit checking out the studio and seeing and hearing about the aquarium for the soon to come scorpions. After hot Timmies coffee, and good munchies our trip home was uneventful and it seemed milder than when we went down. I had a slow leak in one of my trailer tires and it was quite soft, and since I forgot to bring a pump with me, we went over to the Esso Station on King Street and Strachan to get some air. I figured it would be .25 cents (was at the last gas station that I got air at back in the summer of 2010).

HA, what planet am I from? The air pump required $1.00, a total ripoff to pump up the 16 inch trailer tire. So needless to say I came home with a low tire on the trailer!
20 km round trip.

Toronto Islands Ramble and Naked Beach

We took the Hanlon's Point Ferry to the Island and checked the clothing optional beach at Hanlon's Point. So we continued on our ride to the Ward's Island Park near the Eastern Gap and toured around the cottages there. The weather was perfect for a ramble and lots of islanders were out in their yards giving us a wave or a friendly hello as we passed by.
We continued over to Algonquin Island to view the cottages there and stopped by the waters' edge for lunch (which we brought with us)! After lunch I decided to go and try to find my buddy who lives on a sailboat in the Toronto Island Marina (which islanders call the PPYC "Poor Peoples Yacht Club" as compared to the Rich Peoples Yacht Club I guess). We dodged the throngs of people coming off the Centre Island Ferry who were going to the Festival Of India on Centre Island. We visited him for a bit on his sailboat and then as the clouds started to roll in we headed back to the nude Beach. Heading back to the ferry for the trip back to civilization and along Queens Quay and up Sherbourne to home. Total for today 10km.

Martin Goodman Trail West Ride

Kate and I took a nice waterfront trail ride on the Martin Goodman from Jarvis west to Coronation Park and then cut through the city back home. We took the long way on the waterfront, in that instead of just riding on the trail we went down by the water's edge and took it most of the way west. We were in the new HTO Park down by the Marine Fire Dept HQ and along past the Music Garden. Stopping at the facilities in Coronation Park only to find that they were closed for the season, we cut through the city and headed home. Sun was out even though there was a chill in the air.