Tour de Strathmore

With all the snow from this morning, I figured it’d be wise to ride the pink bike with studs for lunch. I did a little exploring of Strathmore, and I’ve come to the conclusion that you can actually have some fun without leaving the town limits. There are great canals, wooded parks, and dirt bike paths for exploring.

Right off the bat, I found a nifty window scraper on east boundary road. I normally don’t pick up too much while I’m riding, but since I don’t have a decent scraper for my car, I figured this would be worth my while. I stole a Christophe toe straps from my burrito wrap, and lashed my new treasure onto my rear rack. One thing I like about leather toe straps is they have a little stretch in them compared to their synthetic counterparts. I was able to zip that sucker nice and tight and it didn’t even think about moving, even when riding some rough gravel.

All the cool kids ride with widow scrapers on their racks. You heard it here first.

Next I cut along the canals, which was a real workout. Once speed is great for riding when you want exercise. Sometimes, you’re spinning out of control, sometimes, your legs scream at you as you try for the next revolution on the pedals. Pond hockey season is drawings to a close.

Winding my way aimlessly though town, I figured I’d better give Grey’s park a tour. I used to practice trials on the boulders when I lived in town, but hadn’t ridden there for several years. The paths have been expanded and they are a really nice, hard packed gravel/dirt. Lots of Canadian geese telling me to buzz off as I rode through. Nice to have them coming back home.

I ended up on the other side of town with 10 minutes to be back at work (not that I’m all that constrained to a schedule, but I try to be not much longer than 1 hr for lunch rides). I boogied the paved bike paths on the way back, and made a stop in at the recycling yard. The bike I rode today even was one found at the recycling last year. Sometimes it’s surprising what bikes people have just left there for the taking. The Apollo, my old Bianchi, and as I mentioned the pink bike I rode today were all free via the recycling yard. Heck, I even found the Christophe toe straps that I use to lash my burrito with here. I (heart) free bikes. While I was there I ran into my buddy Cory. He and I have coffee Friday @ 10:30, and he was quite excited to see me today. Cory is the king of haul stuff on a bike. He's hauled things on his bike that I wouldn't even attempt. And yet he seems to do it quite well. His bike is a BSO replacement from when he was hit last year. His trailer is atrocious. Homemade, everything cobbled together with zip ties and duct tape. But he puts more miles a year on his bicycle than I do on mine, so I have respect for the man.

He showed me his old brake pads that he just had changed at Canadian Tire. I would say it was high time.

Ride yer bike kids.