This blog has now become Comfy Cycling - Life from a 'Bent Perspective and has been moved to a new Wordpress site at Comfy Cycling.
See you there.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Langley - Pitt Meadows Valley VeloRiders Group Ride
Start time: Aug 29, 2009, 09:06 AM
Total distance: 57 km
Total time: 3 hours 14 minutes
Average speed: 17.6 kmph
Total ascent: 304 m
Total descent: 295 m
This was a bike ride that I had planned from earlier in the week for today and decided to invite others from the Valley VeloRider cycling group. I was joined on the ride by Fred Lanigan and his daughter Krista.
We had a very enjoyable leisurely ride from Trinity Western University across the Golden Ears Bridge to Pitt Meadows and back. It was very scenic with very low traffic along country roads and a wonderful paved bike path parallel to but separated from the Loughheed Hwy. The weather was wonderful and the sun came out just as predicted by our favourite meteorologist, Mark Madryga. :-)
All in all a wonderful day.
Ride On!
We had a very enjoyable leisurely ride from Trinity Western University across the Golden Ears Bridge to Pitt Meadows and back. It was very scenic with very low traffic along country roads and a wonderful paved bike path parallel to but separated from the Loughheed Hwy. The weather was wonderful and the sun came out just as predicted by our favourite meteorologist, Mark Madryga. :-)
All in all a wonderful day.
Ride On!
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Commute Home from Work
I recently discovered a great new cycle logging site called CyclogZ that will read and upload the ride data from my Garmin Edge 305 cycle computer/GPS. For today's ride home I decided to test one of the features where it interfaces with Flickr to geotag photos and display them on the ride map. It also provides an interface to view more photo details. I stopped at a few places on my way home and used my iPhone to take the photos then upload them to my Flickr account straight from the phone. I must say that I am really impressed with Cyclogz and may just decide to use it instead of the Garmin Connect site. After a few more days use and testing all of the features I will post my review of the site.
The Ride
My commute home via Fort Langley and Derby Reach. It was a more leisurely ride as I stopped in a few place to take some photos to test the Flickr interface to cyclogZ. Check out the photos geotagged to their location on my ride home.
The Ride
My commute home via Fort Langley and Derby Reach. It was a more leisurely ride as I stopped in a few place to take some photos to test the Flickr interface to cyclogZ. Check out the photos geotagged to their location on my ride home.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Current Musings
So far it has been an eventful summer in the Metro Vancouver area. A lane closure on the Burrard Street bridge in Vancouver caused no end of commotion an "weeping and gnashing of teeth" with predictions of grid lock and angry motorist reactions. In typical fashion the media jumped on an anti-cycling bent and only further inflamed the situation with dire predictions of traffic jams and motorist angst over being delayed in their commute. The reality of course was that the lane closure came into effect on July 13 and traffic flowed easily with little or no delay for motorists trying to get to and from work. The benefits of course were quickly realized, pedestrians could use the sidwalk safely as could cyclists use the seperated bike lane keeping them and pedestrians safe. As expected by most truly sensible and objective observers, the increase in safety for cyclists resulted in higher than normal cycling traffic across the bridge with cycling ridership up by 30-40%. The real test of course will come in September when traffic levels increase with school back in session and most workers back from vacation. Kudos to the City of Vancouver council and staff for sticking to their well executed plans in spite of objections. More information is available at the Burrard Bridge Lane Trial site. For those interested on the stats of Burrard Bridge traffic levels before and after check it out here.
There has also been a flurry of bad journalism regarding cycling issues in the last month or two. First there has been an epidemic of editorials from journalists who failed to do even some basic research before posting their inaccurate and misleading information. I am speaking of the "time to end the free ride for cyclists" diatribes that have circulated in several Metro Vancouver media outlets of late. Even basic research will refute every one of their assertions. An excellent source of information about transportation infrastructure can be found on the Victoria Transport Policy Institute web site. I won't get into the details and rebuttals here, but here is a link to information that is available to all wanting to know just how our transportation infrastructure is funded.
As if this wasn't enough local media, specifically the Vancouver Province (with a little help from the VPD) printed a story predicting chaos and riots for the Friday July 31 Critical Mass ride. It made things worse as the Province had to close the comments section because of the threats of violence being posted (beating, shooting and vehicular assault) against cyclists. The truth as usual was that other than a couple of verbal exchanges, the event was "uneventful" and was reported as such by the Vancouver Sun the next day. While I have not yet decided on the effectiveness of the Critical Mass Rides, I do support their right to protest. Ah well, I guess the newspapers are losing market share and need to write something to sell their product even if it's totally false and misleading.
On a positive note, I came across a great video done by the fine people of StreetFilms about the "livable streets movement" in Bogota Columbia. Officials re-assign 70 miles of streets every Sunday 5 AM to 5 PM for a Ciclovia (spanish for bike path) event. These streets are closed to vehicular traffic but only open to cyclist, walkers, joggers, roller bladers, skate boarders etc. Here is the video.
Fortunately there has been a lot more postive happening in Metro Vancouver area even with the bad press of late and I will be focussing on these things in my next postings.
Ride On!
There has also been a flurry of bad journalism regarding cycling issues in the last month or two. First there has been an epidemic of editorials from journalists who failed to do even some basic research before posting their inaccurate and misleading information. I am speaking of the "time to end the free ride for cyclists" diatribes that have circulated in several Metro Vancouver media outlets of late. Even basic research will refute every one of their assertions. An excellent source of information about transportation infrastructure can be found on the Victoria Transport Policy Institute web site. I won't get into the details and rebuttals here, but here is a link to information that is available to all wanting to know just how our transportation infrastructure is funded.
As if this wasn't enough local media, specifically the Vancouver Province (with a little help from the VPD) printed a story predicting chaos and riots for the Friday July 31 Critical Mass ride. It made things worse as the Province had to close the comments section because of the threats of violence being posted (beating, shooting and vehicular assault) against cyclists. The truth as usual was that other than a couple of verbal exchanges, the event was "uneventful" and was reported as such by the Vancouver Sun the next day. While I have not yet decided on the effectiveness of the Critical Mass Rides, I do support their right to protest. Ah well, I guess the newspapers are losing market share and need to write something to sell their product even if it's totally false and misleading.
On a positive note, I came across a great video done by the fine people of StreetFilms about the "livable streets movement" in Bogota Columbia. Officials re-assign 70 miles of streets every Sunday 5 AM to 5 PM for a Ciclovia (spanish for bike path) event. These streets are closed to vehicular traffic but only open to cyclist, walkers, joggers, roller bladers, skate boarders etc. Here is the video.
Fortunately there has been a lot more postive happening in Metro Vancouver area even with the bad press of late and I will be focussing on these things in my next postings.
Ride On!
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Sun, Jul 12, 2009 - 42.59 km [Cycling]
Sun, Jul 12, 2009 - 42.59 km [Cycling]
42.59 km in 02:22:53 hours at 17.88 km/h on ActionBent T1A. [Cycling] This was the first in the series of lower mainland Great Rides organized by the VACC and sponsored mainly by MEC. There wasn't as much of a turn out as hoped, but the route and event was well organized and those of us volunteering had a lot fun as did the participants. It was great to see whole families turn out for this ride which was a very family friendly route. It included free admission to the Fort museum and access to the annual Caribbean Festival in Maple Ridge as well as bike valet parking.
Posted from My Cycling Log
42.59 km in 02:22:53 hours at 17.88 km/h on ActionBent T1A. [Cycling] This was the first in the series of lower mainland Great Rides organized by the VACC and sponsored mainly by MEC. There wasn't as much of a turn out as hoped, but the route and event was well organized and those of us volunteering had a lot fun as did the participants. It was great to see whole families turn out for this ride which was a very family friendly route. It included free admission to the Fort museum and access to the annual Caribbean Festival in Maple Ridge as well as bike valet parking.
Posted from My Cycling Log
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Sun, Jul 5, 2009 - 21.35 km [Cycling]
Sun, Jul 5, 2009 - 21.35 km [Cycling]
21.35 km in 00:55:44 hours at 22.98 km/h on ActionBent T1A. [Cycling] I decided to do a short ride this morning since I was going to tackle 88th Ave hill coming out of Fort Langley. It was quite humid and warm already this morning so it was a good thing I went out early. It was also a chance to do a test ride after performing a toe in adjustment on the front steering. Boy, what a difference, at least 3-5 kph faster on flats and slight grades up and down. Next comes new Schwalbe tires and a front fairing.
Posted from My Cycling Log
21.35 km in 00:55:44 hours at 22.98 km/h on ActionBent T1A. [Cycling] I decided to do a short ride this morning since I was going to tackle 88th Ave hill coming out of Fort Langley. It was quite humid and warm already this morning so it was a good thing I went out early. It was also a chance to do a test ride after performing a toe in adjustment on the front steering. Boy, what a difference, at least 3-5 kph faster on flats and slight grades up and down. Next comes new Schwalbe tires and a front fairing.
Posted from My Cycling Log
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Wed, Jul 1, 2009 - 55.06 km [Cycling] Happy Canada Day
Wed, Jul 1, 2009 - 55.06 km [Cycling]
55.06 km in 03:00:20 hours at 18.32 km/h on ActionBent T1A. [Cycling] This was a shorter ride to replace the ride I had originally planned to do today. My original plans were to ride the 142 km Canada Day Populaire but because of a painful Fibromyalgia flare up over the last several days, I decided to do a 55 km ride instead as the longer ride would have done more harm than good. I also intended this to be a more leisurely ride, not pushing myself. I didn't really care how long it took me and didn't use the HRM with my Garmin, instead just enjoying myself and the ride.
I encountered quite a few other cyclists along the way including more recumbents that I have ever seen around here. Fort Langley was very busy and it seemed like everyone was enjoying Canada Day to the fullest with lots of flags and people celebrating. A very enjoyable ride on one of my favourite local routes with great scenery along the Fraser River.
Posted from My Cycling Log
55.06 km in 03:00:20 hours at 18.32 km/h on ActionBent T1A. [Cycling] This was a shorter ride to replace the ride I had originally planned to do today. My original plans were to ride the 142 km Canada Day Populaire but because of a painful Fibromyalgia flare up over the last several days, I decided to do a 55 km ride instead as the longer ride would have done more harm than good. I also intended this to be a more leisurely ride, not pushing myself. I didn't really care how long it took me and didn't use the HRM with my Garmin, instead just enjoying myself and the ride.
I encountered quite a few other cyclists along the way including more recumbents that I have ever seen around here. Fort Langley was very busy and it seemed like everyone was enjoying Canada Day to the fullest with lots of flags and people celebrating. A very enjoyable ride on one of my favourite local routes with great scenery along the Fraser River.
Posted from My Cycling Log
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