The cycleniagara.com website has been pretty much unchanged since, well, the last change. However, that's going to - you guessed it - change.
We'll be giving the entire Niagara Guide group of websites a "facelift", so to speak, with hopefully increased functionality and search capability.
As well, the back-end database I've been promised has materialized, so we are converting the sites over.
The cycleniagara.com site has already been converted to the new database format, which makes it easier for us to add new cycling businesses.
Thanks for visiting!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
I've finally decided which side I'm on
Perhaps it's age. Perhaps wisdom. Perhaps I just didn't have enough coffee this morning...
Whatever it is, I've finally decided what side of the "should cyclists cycle in accordance with the law or however the heck they feel like it" debate.
In my opinion, cyclists should act as though they are operating vehicles.
This means riding on the proper side of the road.
This means NOT blasting through stop signs.
This means taking their proper place in the left turn lane.
This means riding responsibly on the roads and not limiting themselves to bike paths.
I am fed up with seeing so many cyclists riding in ways that make them more likely to be roadkill and it's usually because they're not riding in ways drivers can predict.
So, with all the emphasis today's society is placing on going "green", perhaps a little should be done to increase awareness of road safety for both cyclists and drivers. I'll be harping on that in future posts.
What side of the debate are you on? Why?
Opinions always welcome.
Whatever it is, I've finally decided what side of the "should cyclists cycle in accordance with the law or however the heck they feel like it" debate.
In my opinion, cyclists should act as though they are operating vehicles.
This means riding on the proper side of the road.
This means NOT blasting through stop signs.
This means taking their proper place in the left turn lane.
This means riding responsibly on the roads and not limiting themselves to bike paths.
I am fed up with seeing so many cyclists riding in ways that make them more likely to be roadkill and it's usually because they're not riding in ways drivers can predict.
So, with all the emphasis today's society is placing on going "green", perhaps a little should be done to increase awareness of road safety for both cyclists and drivers. I'll be harping on that in future posts.
What side of the debate are you on? Why?
Opinions always welcome.
Getting back into gear
Well, my cycling career has seen many ups and downs, kind of like the hills in Niagara. However, I'm making changes that will see me get out on my bike more often this year.
In fact, I'm going to do something probably ill-advised, but hopefully fun anyway - going in this year's Pedal 100 for Heart & Stroke.
I haven't decided yet, but I'd like to do the 100 km route. In my "glory" days (i.e. when I was in my mid-20s and still cycling regularly), I could do the 100 km in 3 hours. Not bad for a recreational cyclist. I can hear the snickers of the racing crowd now... So what - I've never been one of them.
Anyway, in around 30 days, I'll hopefully be riding 100 km in the Pedal 100. My saga begins afresh . . .
In fact, I'm going to do something probably ill-advised, but hopefully fun anyway - going in this year's Pedal 100 for Heart & Stroke.
I haven't decided yet, but I'd like to do the 100 km route. In my "glory" days (i.e. when I was in my mid-20s and still cycling regularly), I could do the 100 km in 3 hours. Not bad for a recreational cyclist. I can hear the snickers of the racing crowd now... So what - I've never been one of them.
Anyway, in around 30 days, I'll hopefully be riding 100 km in the Pedal 100. My saga begins afresh . . .
Monday, June 4, 2007
Biking with the Kids - Kawabe Style
I suppose I used to be obsessive about bicycles and riding. Not any more, but I have the remnants of those days. A Marinoni road bike, a Raleigh mountain bike and a KHS Tandemania aluminum-frame tandem which has been collecting dust in the basement for a couple of years.
My wife was walking our daughter to a birthday party on Saturday. It was really hot and sunny and I figured my wife, who is quite fair, would burn if she had to walk back. I thought I'd do something unique and pick her up on the tandem. It took a few minutes to drag the frame upstairs, attach and pump up the tires, but I managed to do it fast enough to pick her up en route home from the party.
That same day, my son had a mishap at a party he was at, and came home with a really sore jaw. The party was for his best friend's birthday, so he really wanted to go back, despite the pain. I suggested that we try and see if he'd fit on the tandem. The grin went ear to ear as he realized what I was talking about and he gladly got on and off to test whether he was big enough to ride. He was and the kids thought the bike was really cool.
We had a couple of tandem rides over the weekend, and I've expanded this now to picking the kids up on the tandem - Paul on the back and Emily in the trailer. She's too big for the trailer, really, but without a trail-a-bike or something like that, it'll have to do for now. Besides, at least we have a "trunk" to put school bags into.
So yesterday, we had an almost car-less afternoon. Picked up the kids from after-school care on the tandem, drove them to piano, drove home to get the tandem & trailer. Then I picked them up from piano on the bike and did the soccer evening all on the bike.
Going home from the soccer field was a bit of a challenge. 8:15 pm - everyone's in a hurry to get somewhere. Being on a tandem with another 150 lbs of kids and trailer in tow is a good workout. Especially when you go over the bridge on Richmond St. over Hwy. 58. Anyway, my quads felt it when I got home, so that was something I'll probably repeat.
My bike computer for the tandem appears to have bitten the dust, so I have no idea how many km were ridden yesterday. I estimate it was at least 15, so there's 83 notched for the year. Considering I was planning to do at least 100 km per week, I think I have some catching up to do...
200 km in one day in August. It's only three months off at this point...time to hustle.
My wife was walking our daughter to a birthday party on Saturday. It was really hot and sunny and I figured my wife, who is quite fair, would burn if she had to walk back. I thought I'd do something unique and pick her up on the tandem. It took a few minutes to drag the frame upstairs, attach and pump up the tires, but I managed to do it fast enough to pick her up en route home from the party.
That same day, my son had a mishap at a party he was at, and came home with a really sore jaw. The party was for his best friend's birthday, so he really wanted to go back, despite the pain. I suggested that we try and see if he'd fit on the tandem. The grin went ear to ear as he realized what I was talking about and he gladly got on and off to test whether he was big enough to ride. He was and the kids thought the bike was really cool.
We had a couple of tandem rides over the weekend, and I've expanded this now to picking the kids up on the tandem - Paul on the back and Emily in the trailer. She's too big for the trailer, really, but without a trail-a-bike or something like that, it'll have to do for now. Besides, at least we have a "trunk" to put school bags into.
So yesterday, we had an almost car-less afternoon. Picked up the kids from after-school care on the tandem, drove them to piano, drove home to get the tandem & trailer. Then I picked them up from piano on the bike and did the soccer evening all on the bike.
Going home from the soccer field was a bit of a challenge. 8:15 pm - everyone's in a hurry to get somewhere. Being on a tandem with another 150 lbs of kids and trailer in tow is a good workout. Especially when you go over the bridge on Richmond St. over Hwy. 58. Anyway, my quads felt it when I got home, so that was something I'll probably repeat.
My bike computer for the tandem appears to have bitten the dust, so I have no idea how many km were ridden yesterday. I estimate it was at least 15, so there's 83 notched for the year. Considering I was planning to do at least 100 km per week, I think I have some catching up to do...
200 km in one day in August. It's only three months off at this point...time to hustle.
Dropped off the face of the blogosphere
I feel burned out, so I'll get back to my blog...yeah - that makes NO sense...
...but I did manage another ride a couple of weeks ago that I never got around to talking about.
A night ride - through the Thorold Tunnel to Niagara Falls for a standing Wednesday night meeting. Always interesting what you see when you ride at night.
For starters, there's the bit about going through the Thorold Tunnel.
You can't take the road, and there's only a pedestrian entrance on one side. However, once you've navigated down the relatively steep approach (and through a couple of steel gates that will test your balance and manoeuverability), the tunnel itself isn't much to worry about. The worst thing I think is the fear of meeting a cyclist or pedestrian while zipping along the sidewalk at 35 km/h.
Anyway, I took Thorold Stone Road from Thorold to Niagara Falls, then down a bit of Stanley to get to my destination. Some people get really freaked out when I tell them I rode Thorold Stone Road. They freak out even more when I tell them I rode it at night.
Considering I cut my teeth cycling in Toronto traffic, Thorold Stone Road or any other road in Niagara's pretty tame by my standards.
You also have to remember that in the country, you get a flurry of cars going by, then a few moments of still and silence before the next flurry of cars catches up. You get to see really neat things if you pay attention.
The thing that caught my attention that night was the turtle trying to cross the road. I didn't stop to see what kind of turtle it was - but it was heading across the road, trying to get from one wet ditch to another. Why? Who knows. I didn't see it when I came back, either alive or as roadkill, so I'm assuming it either gave up on the idea or actually made it across.
I used to have a set of Nightsun lights. I still do, but the battery for them croaked so I made do with an old light I used to ride with in Japan. Now I remember why I used to ride with two of those lights - one wasn't enough. Great spot lighting, but not enough floodlighting to see the potholes in front of me. My suggestion - get a good set of lights if you plan to do any serious night riding. If they cost a few hundred dollars and that seems extravagant to you, consider what would happen if you rode with inferior lighting and had an accident you could have avoided if only you had seen that pothole better...
I ran out of batteries ONCE when I first moved to Niagara. It turns out I was at Vansickle Rd. & Pelham Rd., but I didn't know that. At the time it was pitch black (no suburbs built there yet) and I could barely see the road by the moon and starlight. Freakiest cycling experience at night in the "city" ever. Moral of the story: get good lights.
This ride turned out to be 34 km round trip, so I'm somewhere around 68 recorded km for the year - by May 23rd. What day's today? June 4th. Lots of work yet to do to get ready...
...but I did manage another ride a couple of weeks ago that I never got around to talking about.
A night ride - through the Thorold Tunnel to Niagara Falls for a standing Wednesday night meeting. Always interesting what you see when you ride at night.
For starters, there's the bit about going through the Thorold Tunnel.
You can't take the road, and there's only a pedestrian entrance on one side. However, once you've navigated down the relatively steep approach (and through a couple of steel gates that will test your balance and manoeuverability), the tunnel itself isn't much to worry about. The worst thing I think is the fear of meeting a cyclist or pedestrian while zipping along the sidewalk at 35 km/h.
Anyway, I took Thorold Stone Road from Thorold to Niagara Falls, then down a bit of Stanley to get to my destination. Some people get really freaked out when I tell them I rode Thorold Stone Road. They freak out even more when I tell them I rode it at night.
Considering I cut my teeth cycling in Toronto traffic, Thorold Stone Road or any other road in Niagara's pretty tame by my standards.
You also have to remember that in the country, you get a flurry of cars going by, then a few moments of still and silence before the next flurry of cars catches up. You get to see really neat things if you pay attention.
The thing that caught my attention that night was the turtle trying to cross the road. I didn't stop to see what kind of turtle it was - but it was heading across the road, trying to get from one wet ditch to another. Why? Who knows. I didn't see it when I came back, either alive or as roadkill, so I'm assuming it either gave up on the idea or actually made it across.
I used to have a set of Nightsun lights. I still do, but the battery for them croaked so I made do with an old light I used to ride with in Japan. Now I remember why I used to ride with two of those lights - one wasn't enough. Great spot lighting, but not enough floodlighting to see the potholes in front of me. My suggestion - get a good set of lights if you plan to do any serious night riding. If they cost a few hundred dollars and that seems extravagant to you, consider what would happen if you rode with inferior lighting and had an accident you could have avoided if only you had seen that pothole better...
I ran out of batteries ONCE when I first moved to Niagara. It turns out I was at Vansickle Rd. & Pelham Rd., but I didn't know that. At the time it was pitch black (no suburbs built there yet) and I could barely see the road by the moon and starlight. Freakiest cycling experience at night in the "city" ever. Moral of the story: get good lights.
This ride turned out to be 34 km round trip, so I'm somewhere around 68 recorded km for the year - by May 23rd. What day's today? June 4th. Lots of work yet to do to get ready...
Monday, May 21, 2007
The first ride of the year
Well, as I said, I won't always be cycling in Niagara. Case in point - my first ride of the year was near Little Britain, ON (north of Port Perry, onLake Scugog).
Now, I have to say, I consider myself in moderately good shape. I train in Kendo twice a week and I'm not terribly overweight. Sure, I could stand to lose 20 lbs. Okay - maybe 30 - but who's counting?
Anyway, I figured that for my first ride of the year, I'd try to stick to around 25 km in total.
That didn't happen, but there's a good reason for it: I'm bad with maps.
We were visiting my in-laws this weekend. They live on Washburn Island (which is a Peninsula) onLake Scugog. When you leave the main road North out of Whitby, there's a small restaurant called Mike's Diner (I think) at the corner. My goal was to go from Washburn Island to Mike's and back.
I figured it was around 12 km there so the return trip would net me around 24 km. The terrain is "rolling", with some pretty darn good hills to go up and down, so I figured it would be a nice workout.
My first notion that things weren't going to go as planned was when I finally got off Washburn Island and realized that I'd already gone 3 km. By the time I hit the road to Mike's, I'd already gone 8 km and it certainly wasn't another 4 km to get to Mike's. At this point, my notion about sticking to 25 km went out the window.
The biggest challenge for me was not pushing the big gears early on in the ride. I like riding in the big ring, but knowing me, I would have blown out all my strength early on and then been suffering on the ride back. Since I knew I was going to be going more than 25 km, I disciplined myself against low cadence riding and stayed in the small ring most of the time - except on downhills.
It's always fun when you crawl up a hill around 15 km / hr and then zip down the other side at 40+ just coasting.
Anyway, lots of pedalling later, I reached Mike's and checked the computer. 18.5 km one-way. However, I hadn't really pushed it, so I figured my legs would have enough to get me home.
For most of the ride, I was fine. Then at around km 29, I was accosted by two very large black dogs. Very nicely kept dogs, but running loose and interested in me. The sprint to get past them was short, but energetic and my legs felt the first really good lactic-acid burn of the year.
I managed to pedal back to the in-laws in fairly good shape, pushing myself to clear the last uphill section going at least 25 km/hr.
Overall, I went 36.96 km in 1:29:06, for an average speed of 24.8 km/hr. My maximum speed was 52.9 km/hr, and that was coasting down a long, moderately steep hill, tucked into a ball. Sometimes gravity is my friend.
The stuff I remember reading about training for distance is that in general, you will be able to ride 3 times the length of your average training ride. My average training ride will need to be around 67 km at some point. I was happy to make it 37 km today.
Larry and Charles - be warned - I'm preparing for Toronto to Tara so I hope you are too!
I'd hate to have to ride it alone . . .
More tales from the roads of Niagara in future entries. I'll probably take pictures too once I figure out how to do that safely from the saddle.
Now, I have to say, I consider myself in moderately good shape. I train in Kendo twice a week and I'm not terribly overweight. Sure, I could stand to lose 20 lbs. Okay - maybe 30 - but who's counting?
Anyway, I figured that for my first ride of the year, I'd try to stick to around 25 km in total.
That didn't happen, but there's a good reason for it: I'm bad with maps.
We were visiting my in-laws this weekend. They live on Washburn Island (which is a Peninsula) onLake Scugog. When you leave the main road North out of Whitby, there's a small restaurant called Mike's Diner (I think) at the corner. My goal was to go from Washburn Island to Mike's and back.
I figured it was around 12 km there so the return trip would net me around 24 km. The terrain is "rolling", with some pretty darn good hills to go up and down, so I figured it would be a nice workout.
My first notion that things weren't going to go as planned was when I finally got off Washburn Island and realized that I'd already gone 3 km. By the time I hit the road to Mike's, I'd already gone 8 km and it certainly wasn't another 4 km to get to Mike's. At this point, my notion about sticking to 25 km went out the window.
The biggest challenge for me was not pushing the big gears early on in the ride. I like riding in the big ring, but knowing me, I would have blown out all my strength early on and then been suffering on the ride back. Since I knew I was going to be going more than 25 km, I disciplined myself against low cadence riding and stayed in the small ring most of the time - except on downhills.
It's always fun when you crawl up a hill around 15 km / hr and then zip down the other side at 40+ just coasting.
Anyway, lots of pedalling later, I reached Mike's and checked the computer. 18.5 km one-way. However, I hadn't really pushed it, so I figured my legs would have enough to get me home.
For most of the ride, I was fine. Then at around km 29, I was accosted by two very large black dogs. Very nicely kept dogs, but running loose and interested in me. The sprint to get past them was short, but energetic and my legs felt the first really good lactic-acid burn of the year.
I managed to pedal back to the in-laws in fairly good shape, pushing myself to clear the last uphill section going at least 25 km/hr.
Overall, I went 36.96 km in 1:29:06, for an average speed of 24.8 km/hr. My maximum speed was 52.9 km/hr, and that was coasting down a long, moderately steep hill, tucked into a ball. Sometimes gravity is my friend.
The stuff I remember reading about training for distance is that in general, you will be able to ride 3 times the length of your average training ride. My average training ride will need to be around 67 km at some point. I was happy to make it 37 km today.
Larry and Charles - be warned - I'm preparing for Toronto to Tara so I hope you are too!
I'd hate to have to ride it alone . . .
More tales from the roads of Niagara in future entries. I'll probably take pictures too once I figure out how to do that safely from the saddle.
Cycle Niagara Blog
Welcome!
Mark Kawabe here. I'm blogging about cycling in Niagara. Well, sort of.
You see, I live here, so it's natural to talk about cycling in this area. However, I go out of area sometimes too, so I'll probably talk about non-Niagara cycling experiences as well.
A bit about me.
Age: 37
Gender: Name's Mark - you figure it out.
Weight: 210-ish
Cycling Experience: Lots - just none recently.
I used to cycle a lot. Used to be president of The Niagara Freewheelers Bicycle Touring Club.
I like to ride longer distances, although I haven't gotten anywhere near my bike for going on three years for anything more than a trip around the neighbourhood or to soccer practice with my kids.
That's changing this year, because a friend of mine turned 40 and I suggested we do some stupid bike trip that I did when we were both younger.
The trip: Toronto to Tara, ON (near Owen Sound). Approximately 200 km. We're planning the trip to happen sometime in August, or perhaps September when we're not too busy.
So, suddenly there's a NEED to do some cycling to get ready for this ride. It's not like you can just sit down and knock out 200 km in a day with no training. At least, not for me.
Since I'm going to be doing a lot more riding, I thought I'd blog about my training and some of the cool places I get to ride to / around / in living in Niagara.
Your comments are welcome. Enjoy!
Mark Kawabe here. I'm blogging about cycling in Niagara. Well, sort of.
You see, I live here, so it's natural to talk about cycling in this area. However, I go out of area sometimes too, so I'll probably talk about non-Niagara cycling experiences as well.
A bit about me.
Age: 37
Gender: Name's Mark - you figure it out.
Weight: 210-ish
Cycling Experience: Lots - just none recently.
I used to cycle a lot. Used to be president of The Niagara Freewheelers Bicycle Touring Club.
I like to ride longer distances, although I haven't gotten anywhere near my bike for going on three years for anything more than a trip around the neighbourhood or to soccer practice with my kids.
That's changing this year, because a friend of mine turned 40 and I suggested we do some stupid bike trip that I did when we were both younger.
The trip: Toronto to Tara, ON (near Owen Sound). Approximately 200 km. We're planning the trip to happen sometime in August, or perhaps September when we're not too busy.
So, suddenly there's a NEED to do some cycling to get ready for this ride. It's not like you can just sit down and knock out 200 km in a day with no training. At least, not for me.
Since I'm going to be doing a lot more riding, I thought I'd blog about my training and some of the cool places I get to ride to / around / in living in Niagara.
Your comments are welcome. Enjoy!
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