I do believe this is called irony.
So, yesterday was the May Cupcake Ride (which was the April route, only not rained/snowed-out). We started at Dlish on Queen, then took the Western Railpath, which I have always meant to try out, up to the Junction, then down to the south end of High Park, going through it up a mother of a hill, and finally going back to the Junction to finish at Bunner's Bakery. It was a gorgeous day; thunderstorms were threaten but held off until evening, and I wore my long blue skirt as a test of the Opus's skirt guards. They worked perfectly. The cupcakes were yummy. It was a great afternoon.
I left early because I needed to get home and set a test and mark others. I decided to go home directly along Dundas, which is always a bit hairy because there's lots of traffic and the parking lane, which usually becomes a de facto biking lane, is quite narrow. Then there's that weird left turn at Roncesvalles. South of Bloor, the street is riddled with streetcar tracks, every cyclist's nightmare.
Especially the left turn onto College. There are six sets of tracks (2 going straight, 4 turning, which means lots of metal triangles where the rails intersect) and four lanes to negotiate.
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Weirdly, there's a bike lane over the bridge, but nowhere else on Dundas. It sort of continues after the turn on College, but stops a short block away. If there's a lot of traffic, I sometimes wait at the side until there's a suitable break and then cross over. This time, however, I did a quick shoulder check and saw that the cars were stuck at red lights on both sides, so I opted to take the turn immediately. I've done that turn before, and I usually manage the streetcar tracks well. The trick is to hit them not too quickly, at a greater than 45 degree angle, and not leaning to get the maximum traction from the tires.
So, yesterday was the May Cupcake Ride (which was the April route, only not rained/snowed-out). We started at Dlish on Queen, then took the Western Railpath, which I have always meant to try out, up to the Junction, then down to the south end of High Park, going through it up a mother of a hill, and finally going back to the Junction to finish at Bunner's Bakery. It was a gorgeous day; thunderstorms were threaten but held off until evening, and I wore my long blue skirt as a test of the Opus's skirt guards. They worked perfectly. The cupcakes were yummy. It was a great afternoon.
I left early because I needed to get home and set a test and mark others. I decided to go home directly along Dundas, which is always a bit hairy because there's lots of traffic and the parking lane, which usually becomes a de facto biking lane, is quite narrow. Then there's that weird left turn at Roncesvalles. South of Bloor, the street is riddled with streetcar tracks, every cyclist's nightmare.
Especially the left turn onto College. There are six sets of tracks (2 going straight, 4 turning, which means lots of metal triangles where the rails intersect) and four lanes to negotiate.
View Larger Map
Weirdly, there's a bike lane over the bridge, but nowhere else on Dundas. It sort of continues after the turn on College, but stops a short block away. If there's a lot of traffic, I sometimes wait at the side until there's a suitable break and then cross over. This time, however, I did a quick shoulder check and saw that the cars were stuck at red lights on both sides, so I opted to take the turn immediately. I've done that turn before, and I usually manage the streetcar tracks well. The trick is to hit them not too quickly, at a greater than 45 degree angle, and not leaning to get the maximum traction from the tires.
