You pavement, me pain
Well, dear readers, we in Toronto are in the midst of a mild public transit crisis. Workers at the TTC are on strike, meaning the streets are eerily devoid of streetcars and annoyingly full of inconvenienced commuters.
Thankfully, I've been spared any real trouble, as I've been biking or running to and from work for the past few months, so aside from a slightly-higher-than-normal concentration of cyclists on College St this morning (which may have as much to do with today being the first day of Bike Week as it is with the strike), my ride in was placid and uneventful.
The same cannot be said about my pedal in Thursday last, when I met with my first real mishap as a cyclist in this city. Careening downhill onto College St from where it meets Dundas West, my wheels got locked into the streetcar tracks and I took a mighty tumble. Let's survey the damage, shall we? Gear: bike okay, shorts okay, helmet okay, t-shirt torn. Body: Ankle scraped, knees scraped, legs bruised, belly scraped (oooow!), elbow scraped, shoulder bruised, etc, etc. Psyche: pride wounded, mind fucked.
Seriously, the whole thing messed with me far more than I thought it would. I've been able to get back in the saddle, but not without considerable apprehension. I won't let it stop me, though. I'm a supporter of cycling in this city (unless I'm driving or walking, but the same can be said of pedestrians when I'm cycling/driving or motorists when I'm cycling/walking--I'm fickle that way), and I think it's important to get back out there.
A good way to start was to cover 25 or so klicks on a deliciously sun-soaked day, which I did on Saturday for Doors Open. Incidentally, if days like that are what Toronto's like in the summer, I suspect I'll be a pretty satisfied (if pink-shouldered and ice-cream-headached) girl come September. A few skinned knees are a small price to pay in the grand scheme of things.
Thankfully, I've been spared any real trouble, as I've been biking or running to and from work for the past few months, so aside from a slightly-higher-than-normal concentration of cyclists on College St this morning (which may have as much to do with today being the first day of Bike Week as it is with the strike), my ride in was placid and uneventful.
The same cannot be said about my pedal in Thursday last, when I met with my first real mishap as a cyclist in this city. Careening downhill onto College St from where it meets Dundas West, my wheels got locked into the streetcar tracks and I took a mighty tumble. Let's survey the damage, shall we? Gear: bike okay, shorts okay, helmet okay, t-shirt torn. Body: Ankle scraped, knees scraped, legs bruised, belly scraped (oooow!), elbow scraped, shoulder bruised, etc, etc. Psyche: pride wounded, mind fucked.
Seriously, the whole thing messed with me far more than I thought it would. I've been able to get back in the saddle, but not without considerable apprehension. I won't let it stop me, though. I'm a supporter of cycling in this city (unless I'm driving or walking, but the same can be said of pedestrians when I'm cycling/driving or motorists when I'm cycling/walking--I'm fickle that way), and I think it's important to get back out there.
A good way to start was to cover 25 or so klicks on a deliciously sun-soaked day, which I did on Saturday for Doors Open. Incidentally, if days like that are what Toronto's like in the summer, I suspect I'll be a pretty satisfied (if pink-shouldered and ice-cream-headached) girl come September. A few skinned knees are a small price to pay in the grand scheme of things.
posted by D. at
2:03 PM
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