Utilitaire-12 task #7: Bike to work = my usual day. With a twist.
[Having finally caught up with my write-ups and tweeted about them, MG of chasing mailboxes gave me extra credit for going to the museum in the snow. Other people are doing very cool things. And riding very long distances. And I'm starting to feel like I'm the only one not getting her hair cut. I have big plans to finish those pictures, though, let me tell you!]
On to the commute.
(Update: I fixed the video --again -- because I couldn't sleep. In general, I mean. I'm fairly certain the insomnia wasn't due to the video...)
When I was tracking my usual route on Google maps, I was surprised to see that they suggest going all the way along College to Jarvis. I've always gone along Harbord for several reasons. It's quieter, for one thing. There is an awful lot of traffic, but it's only one lane and I'm not playing leapfrog with streetcars. The hill at Grace is less steep on Harbord. There are bike lanes almost the whole way. It's pretty, especially near the university and heading through Queen's Park.
It's a pleasant ride, is what I'm saying. Except for the bits where the road is cracked and full of potholes.
Google, however, says that I will save 2 whole minutes each way if I go along College directly to Jarvis. This intrigues me. I have a feeling that the straight-line aspect will be wiped out by the delays due to a nastier hill and leapfrogging streetcars. I believe I will test this theory out in a few weeks for a future utilitaire.
Anyway, I made a little video of my commute, sped up 4 times because it does take me about 20-25 minutes. (Here beginneth the litany of things that are wrong with it.) The angle is wonky because my camera's tripod hole is off-centre, which means it's right-heavy and the slightest jiggle made it lean over.I can't correct it because I don't have the most sophisticated editing software.* The lens was then blocked a bit by the brake cable. The camera turned itself off partway through and I didn't notice until after I got through Queen's Park. Also, there aren't nearly the number of people parked in the bike lane as usual. Anyway, I'll think of a way to stabilize the camera and redo it sometime.
I had a bit of a hard slog on this ride. I'm not sure if it's because I'm still sick and my legs are tire or if the chain needs oiling or tires need pumping; probably a little of all three. It took a lot longer to pass the rider going up the hill at 1:35 than I'm used to. I'm trying to be more zen and less competitive about my commuting, but it frustrates me when I feel that the biking is hard.
What you don't see, because it's not there, is in Queen's Park, the tree guys blocked off the path again. This makes about 5 times in the past month the path has been blocked. I know, I know, protect the public from falling limbs and so forth, but couldn't they wait until after rush hour? Why do they have to do it during the morning commute?
Since you didn't get to see Queen's Park, I will share this video I took last fall of the extremely stupid early-ending pedestrian signal. Why why why?
Anyway, I arrived safe and sound at school.
My commute home is along the exact same path, only today I had to detour to the Black Swan to pick up my wayward glove. Once home, I made oatmeal and banana pancakes to celebrate this, the happiest of all days.
And then I had chocolate cake in a mug. I'm almost sorry S told me about this. I made it with whole wheat flour and vanilla soy milk and put it in the microwave for 3 minutes at 70%. So. Much. Yum.**
Mileage: 10.6 km/6.6 miles (round-trip) + 5.0 km/3.2 miles to Black Swan & back
*Naturally, I didn't find out about VirtualDub until after. Sigh.I will fix the video sometime soon. I fixed the first part, but the second part was slowly righting itself and I didn't feel like doing a tonne of splicing. It's an imperfect world.
**I really like Instructables.com; I can only wish that my landlord would let me do this to the fridge...
[Having finally caught up with my write-ups and tweeted about them, MG of chasing mailboxes gave me extra credit for going to the museum in the snow. Other people are doing very cool things. And riding very long distances. And I'm starting to feel like I'm the only one not getting her hair cut. I have big plans to finish those pictures, though, let me tell you!]
On to the commute.
(Update: I fixed the video --again -- because I couldn't sleep. In general, I mean. I'm fairly certain the insomnia wasn't due to the video...)
When I was tracking my usual route on Google maps, I was surprised to see that they suggest going all the way along College to Jarvis. I've always gone along Harbord for several reasons. It's quieter, for one thing. There is an awful lot of traffic, but it's only one lane and I'm not playing leapfrog with streetcars. The hill at Grace is less steep on Harbord. There are bike lanes almost the whole way. It's pretty, especially near the university and heading through Queen's Park.
It's a pleasant ride, is what I'm saying. Except for the bits where the road is cracked and full of potholes.
Google, however, says that I will save 2 whole minutes each way if I go along College directly to Jarvis. This intrigues me. I have a feeling that the straight-line aspect will be wiped out by the delays due to a nastier hill and leapfrogging streetcars. I believe I will test this theory out in a few weeks for a future utilitaire.
Anyway, I made a little video of my commute, sped up 4 times because it does take me about 20-25 minutes. (Here beginneth the litany of things that are wrong with it.) The angle is wonky because my camera's tripod hole is off-centre, which means it's right-heavy and the slightest jiggle made it lean over.
I had a bit of a hard slog on this ride. I'm not sure if it's because I'm still sick and my legs are tire or if the chain needs oiling or tires need pumping; probably a little of all three. It took a lot longer to pass the rider going up the hill at 1:35 than I'm used to. I'm trying to be more zen and less competitive about my commuting, but it frustrates me when I feel that the biking is hard.
What you don't see, because it's not there, is in Queen's Park, the tree guys blocked off the path again. This makes about 5 times in the past month the path has been blocked. I know, I know, protect the public from falling limbs and so forth, but couldn't they wait until after rush hour? Why do they have to do it during the morning commute?
Since you didn't get to see Queen's Park, I will share this video I took last fall of the extremely stupid early-ending pedestrian signal. Why why why?
Anyway, I arrived safe and sound at school.
My commute home is along the exact same path, only today I had to detour to the Black Swan to pick up my wayward glove. Once home, I made oatmeal and banana pancakes to celebrate this, the happiest of all days.
And then I had chocolate cake in a mug. I'm almost sorry S told me about this. I made it with whole wheat flour and vanilla soy milk and put it in the microwave for 3 minutes at 70%. So. Much. Yum.**
Mileage: 10.6 km/6.6 miles (round-trip) + 5.0 km/3.2 miles to Black Swan & back
*Naturally, I didn't find out about VirtualDub until after. Sigh.
**I really like Instructables.com; I can only wish that my landlord would let me do this to the fridge...
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