Sunday, December 30, 2007

Ride for Saturday, 29 December

Down to the Farmer's Market for my weekly shop, which was very sparsely attended by farmers - there was only one farmer there, most of the rest of the attendees were selling processed goods like pickles, cakes and meats, or were crafters. I ended up with basil, oregano, thyme and sage from my usual herb supplier, a bag of smoked salmon (the sprog insists on it as a weekend treat), and a red cabbage and bag of cabbage - I hope the butcher has some produce in this week or we'll be eating a lot of frozen food for supper!

Heavy snow on the way home which made things interesting, but fortunately the wind (such as it was) was a tailwind, catching all my empty panniers and pushing me along a bit through the slushy snow.

Distance logged: 23.938km
Time: 84:47
Average speed: 16.9km/hr
Max speed: 46.4 km/hr
Temperature: -6C cloudy to -3C heavy snow
Cumulative distance: 5075.051km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.23
Monthly distance: 609.573km
Monthly cost per km: $0.4

Critical Mass ride for Friday, 28 December

Left work at 4:30 and with Idealbikes being closed I decided to just ride around until it was time for Critical Mass. I arrived at 6pm to see Dave there, Wayne arrived shortly after that with Rachel coming next. Rachel was expecting a friend but she never showed, and by 6:30 we decided to make a move. With pub rules in effect ("less then 10 people attending means convening at the pub") we headed off to the Just Us coffee shop on Spring Garden Road. We had a pleasant evening chatting about the state of biking affairs in Halifax and what needed to be done, and after an hour or so we headed out back home. Rachel probably had the furthest ride back to Dartmouth, riding a fixie with no fenders after all the snow must have left her a little damp at the end but she seemed pretty enthusiastic.

Dave pointed out that attendees for this month's Critical Mass doubled over the numbers for Critical Mass last December, which isn't bad at this time of year!

Distance logged: 27.386km
Time: 116:25
Average speed: 14.1km/hr
Max speed: 40.5 km/hr
Temperature: -3C to -6C
Cumulative distance: 5051.113km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.23
Monthly distance: 585.635km
Monthly cost per km: $0.41

Ride into work for Friday, 28 December

Slow ride in for a day back at work as I was carrying all my gear in.

Distance logged: 11.167km
Time: 37:28
Average speed: 17.9km/hr
Max speed: 48.6 km/hr
Temperature: -3C, light snow
Cumulative distance: 5023.727km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.23
Monthly distance: 558.249km
Monthly cost per km: $0.43

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Ride for Saturday, 22 December

Rode down to the Farmer's Market and did my weekly shop. A lot of farmers said they wouldn't be there next weekend, so I had to pick up extras - 2 weeks' worth of apples, for example, which made for a slow ride home.

My latest order from Probikekit.com arrived. This time customs had decided it was "clothing for women or young girls", and I got $25 duty and another $25 tax slapped on it as a nasty added extra. If anyone knows a Probikekit/Nashbar-alike in Canada I'd be most interested...

Distance logged: 25.650km
Time: 97:17
Average speed: 15.8km/hr
Max speed: 46.6 km/hr
Temperature: -11C to -8C
Cumulative distance: 5012.560km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.23
Monthly distance: 547.082km
Monthly cost per km: $0.44

Ride home for Friday, 21 December

Weirdo of the day stopped at the bottom of the small valley on Willett ahead of me, got out of his minivan, and shouted (I think) "All blue fnords are there!", and my response of "huh? what?" was met with a reply of "they're all blue! they're all blue!"; I might possibly have misheard him, but stopping at the bottom of a hill in front of another to talk to a cyclist isn't the greatest idea...

Distance logged: 10.836km
Time: 41:20
Average speed: 15.7km/hr
Max speed: 38.1 km/hr
Temperature: -7C
Cumulative distance: 4986.910km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.19
Monthly distance: 521.432km
Monthly cost per km: $0.08

Ride into work for Friday, 21 December

Distance logged: 11.327km
Time: 34:36
Average speed: 19.6km/hr
Max speed: 50.0 km/hr
Temperature: -7C, light snow
Cumulative distance: 4976.074km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.19
Monthly distance: 510.596km
Monthly cost per km: $0.09

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Ride home for Thursday, 20 December

It was snowing most of the afternoon and the back roads hadn't been cleared, so I took the main roads most of the way. I couldn't ride around the queues of traffic because of all the snow at the sides and centre of the road, but it was better than slipping around the ruts on the back roads. On Bayer's Road I tucked in behind the 81 bus and rode in its tyre tracks the whole way to Joseph Howe. It wasn't the fastest way to get along, but it was (a) out of the wind, (b) on a clear bit of road, and (c) no-one was going to complain I was going to slow if I was right behind a bus. Since the traffic was massively backed up going across Joe Howe I stayed behind the 81 all the way till it turned right on Joe Howe and then hopped off my bike onto the sidewalk and waited on the corner for the lights to change. While I was doing that a police van pulled up next to me and the officer looked at me, I gave him a cheery smile and wave and he gave me the hard bitten, "in the force for 30 years and seen it all" thousand yard stare and slight tilt of the head. He would have pulled this off better if he looked older than 25, I feel.

Sketchy ride up through Fairview as it hadn't been ploughed at all. I skidded a couple of times and could hear the studs scraping and biting on the pavement, but I never went down.

Distance logged: 10.294km
Time: 43:32
Average speed: 14.2km/hr
Max speed: 28.7 km/hr
Temperature: -6C, snowing, windy
Cumulative distance: 4964.747km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.19
Monthly distance: 499.269km
Monthly cost per km: $0.09

Ride into work for Thursday, 20 December

Slow ride in with tired legs. It looks faster than it was because I took the quick route into work via Lacewood, and had a bit of a tailwind, too.

Distance logged: 11.828km
Time: 33:54
Average speed: 20.9km/hr
Max speed: 49.7 km/hr
Temperature: -8C, cloudy
Cumulative distance: 4954.453km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.19
Monthly distance: 488.975km
Monthly cost per km: $0.09

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Ride home for Wednesday, 19 December

Lots of muppets on the roads tonight, I even saw two of them racing on Dunbrack with engines going full blast. I guess people must be getting antsy from the approach of Christmas...

Distance logged: 12.181km
Time: 43:11
Average speed: 16.9km/hr
Max speed: 39.5 km/hr
Temperature: -7C
Cumulative distance: 4942.625km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.19
Monthly distance: 477.147km
Monthly cost per km: $0.09

Ride into work for Wednesday, 19 December

Over to Bedford and back for a physio appointment, on the way I was struck by how handy it would be if the snow ploughs didn't use the bike lane to dump snow in...

I saw a pedestrian get hit right in front of the crosswalk. A driver had parked on the crosswalk, the pedestrian was walking in front of the car to get on the crosswalk, and the car just started driving off without looking and clipped the pedestrian. Fortunately the pedestrian had time to jump out of the way and just got nudged; he continued on walking through the crosswalk shaking his head.

Distance logged: 30.397km
Time: 87:55
Average speed: 20.7km/hr
Max speed: 50.0 km/hr
Temperature: -14C to -11C, sunny
Cumulative distance: 4930.444km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.19
Monthly distance: 464.966km
Monthly cost per km: $0.09

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Ride home for Tuesday, 18 December

The roads now seem to be mostly clear apart from chunks of ice here and there that appear to have welded themselves to the tarmac. They're a bit on the bumpy side, but at least there's plenty of grip on them.

Distance logged: 13.465km
Time: 49:03
Average speed: 16.3km/hr
Max speed: 43.6 km/hr
Temperature: -6C, clear
Cumulative distance: 4900.047km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.2
Monthly distance: 434.569km
Monthly cost per km: $0.1

Ride into work for Tuesday, 18 December

Running late so I took the fast route via Lacewood again.

Distance logged: 11.837km
Time: 34:06
Average speed: 20.8km/hr
Max speed: 50.8 km/hr
Temperature: -8C, clear
Cumulative distance: 4886.582km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.2
Monthly distance: 421.104km
Monthly cost per km: $0.1

Monday, December 17, 2007

Ride home for Monday, 17 December

Worked late tonight so I took a shorter route home, since there was no traffic on the roads I could take routes that are normally too busy. Still fairly windy but the wind had worked its way round a bit so at least I wasn't riding into a headwind all the way home!

Distance logged: 10.752km
Time: 41:35
Average speed: 15.5km/hr
Max speed: 37.5 km/hr
Temperature: -6C, windy, light snow
Cumulative distance: 4874.745km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.2
Monthly distance: 409.267km
Monthly cost per km: $0.11

Ride into work for Monday, 17 December

Heavy snowfall overnight but it was mostly cleared by the time I set off. It was very windy, but I lucked out once more - it was tailwinds almost all the way into work.

Distance logged: 11.841km
Time: 34:17
Average speed: 20.7km/hr
Max speed: 52.6 km/hr
Temperature: 2C, windy
Cumulative distance: 4863.993km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.2
Monthly distance: 398.515km
Monthly cost per km: $0.11

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Ride for Saturday, 16 December

Rode down to the Farmer's Market for my weekly shopping. After being short on sleep for the past few days and fighting a headwind on the way back, I was absolutely exhausted when I finally got home.

Distance logged: 24.741km
Time: 91:43
Average speed: 16.2km/hr
Max speed: 48.5 km/hr
Temperature: -11C, windy, light snow
Cumulative distance: 4852.152km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.2
Monthly distance: 386.674km
Monthly cost per km: $0.11

Ride home for Friday, 15 December

For Doug:

Today, I rode home. The end.

Distance logged: 12.190km
Time: 41:34
Average speed: 17.6km/hr
Max speed: 40.7 km/hr
Temperature: -6C, snowing
Cumulative distance: 4827.411km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.2
Monthly distance: 361.933km
Monthly cost per km: $0.12

Ride into work for Friday, 14 December

Tough ride in after an early morning and late night yesterday, not helped by a layer of snow on the roads.

Distance logged: 11.824km
Time: 37:32
Average speed: 18.9km/hr
Max speed: 44.4 km/hr
Temperature: -14C
Cumulative distance: 4815.221km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.2
Monthly distance: 349.743km
Monthly cost per km: $0.13

Ride home for Thursday, 13 December

Went down to IdealBikes after work, then on to the Halifax Cycle Coalition meeting. There was a pretty good turnout of around 50-60 people. The most surprising attendee for me was the motorist who turned up, saying (paraphrasing from memory) "I see what you guys have to put up with every day on Quinpool and I just don't think it's right that you have to go through that" - interesting that people do actually notice what's going on!

Doug gave an intro at the start of the meeting and then we went through the bylaws, which took an awfully long time but was finally completed. After that was voting on directorships. As I'd already been pushed forward as a nominee I at least got the chance to pick what I was a candidate for, and went for Membership Director. There were two other candidates contesting against me, one of whom started his candidacy speech with "I realise I'm not going to win against Steve, but I thought it was important that it was at least a proper contest" - at least democracy was given a chance, so kudos to Adrian and Andrew! As Andrew predicted I won the vote, and I did at least manage to get Doug on the board despite his protestations that he didn't want to be an executive director; he's on as "Member at Large", a special non-executive position I put forward to be created in his honour for all the hard work he did getting it started. Now that HCC is officially started as a non-profit, it's time to start doing some hard work drumming up membership and getting things moving, so if any of my readers have experience of cycling non-profits in their area I'd be interested to hear of their expertise.

Rode home after the meeting with the new co-chair Andrew (I think that was him under all the winter clothes) and Peter. It was a snowy and icy ride home, but taking the back streets we were able to take it easy and ride together, which made a pleasant change from my usual solo ride.

Distance logged: 16.808km
Time: 70:37
Average speed: 14.3km/hr
Max speed: 33.6 km/hr
Temperature: -10C to -12C, snowing
Cumulative distance: 4803.397km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.2
Monthly distance: 337.919km
Monthly cost per km: $0.13

Ride into work for Thursday, 13 December

Very early ride in as I had an 8am appointment for an X-ray, followed by an appointment with the surgeon. I took a short fast route in down Lacewood and up Bayer's Road - not normally a wise route to take but at 6am the roads were dead. I was in the office just after 7 (as it turned out the building didn't open till 7), got changed and wolfed down some breakfast and headed off to the appointment. As I had to do some work in the data centre after I had my id badge on which raised a few eyebrows; after spending 10 minutes working on my X-rays doing analyses the X-ray tech asked me what I did, and on explaining that I was a sysadmin said she didn't understand how anyone could learn something so complex - I mentioned that what she did looked far harder and more variable than what I did!

The surgeon's analysis is that the breaks are healing well, and shouldn't take too long to heal - only another year or two...

Distance logged: 10.7km
Time: 27:04
Average speed: 23.3km/hr
Max speed: 55.2 km/hr
Temperature: -11C
Cumulative distance: 4786.589km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.2
Monthly distance: 321.111km
Monthly cost per km: $0.14

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Ride home for Wednesday, 12 December

The roads were still covered with slush, and as the temperature started to drop ice started to form on the roads again - not a huge amount of fun, and I could feel the studs catching several times as I started slipping going round corners.

I didn't even bother considering the fire trail...

There is another meeting of the Halifax Cycling Coalition tomorrow, doors open at the DalTech School of Architecture Auditorium (5410 Spring Garden Road) at 6pm for a meeting starting at 6:30 - the entrance is on the east (harbour) side. I'll be attending, from what I'm seeing it should be a good turnout.

Distance logged: 13.482km
Time: 48:07
Average speed: 16.8km/hr
Max speed: 41.3 km/hr
Temperature: 1C
Cumulative distance: 4775.889km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.2
Monthly distance: 310.411km
Monthly cost per km: $0.14

Ride into work for Wednesday, 12 December

Headed off to Bedford for physio, with a snowfall of 5cm or so it was an interesting trip. I was one of the faster moving vehicles on the road for large parts of the trip since lots of people were having issues driving in snow without snow tyres.

Stopped off at Bicycles Plus to get a new mirror since I destroyed my cheapy MEC one when it caught against the door on the way out.

Finally made it into the office in a rather wet state as the freezing rain hit. My winter boots turned out to be great in the cold, but not quite so great in the damp...

Distance logged: 33.972km
Time: 121:58
Average speed: 16.7km/hr
Max speed: 39.8 km/hr
Temperature: -3C to 0C, snow changing to freezing rain
Cumulative distance: 4762.407km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.2
Monthly distance: 296.929km
Monthly cost per km: $0.15

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Ride home for Tuesday, 11 December

Decided to ride home via the fire trail to see what it was like. It was just about ridable, but extremely bumpy. I suppose at least the juddering should help stave off osteoporosis, at the cost of losing a few brain cells!

Distance logged: 12.304km
Time: 46:14
Average speed: 16km/hr
Max speed: 42.1 km/hr
Temperature: -5C
Cumulative distance: 4728.435km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.2
Monthly distance: 262.957km
Monthly cost per km: $0.08

Ride into work for Tuesday, 11 December

The temperature was nominally -11 but as I approached downtown I'm sure the temperature went up - after riding all the way in without any problem I noticed at the intersection of Oxford and Quinpool I was dripping sweat. Presumably this is the Urban Heat Island Effect in full force...

Distance logged: 11.824km
Time: 34:23
Average speed: 20.6km/hr
Max speed: 50.7 km/hr
Temperature: -11C
Cumulative distance: 4716.131km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.2
Monthly distance: 250.653km
Monthly cost per km: $0.09

Monday, December 10, 2007

Ride home for Monday, 10 December

Back home again avoiding the fire trail. The short cut behind the back of Sobey's on Park West Plaza is proving to be extremely handy!

Distance logged: 13.501km
Time: 47:51
Average speed: 16.9km/hr
Max speed: 39.7 km/hr
Temperature: -8C
Cumulative distance: 4704.307km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.2
Monthly distance: 238.829km
Monthly cost per km: $0.09

Ride into work for Monday, 10 December

With the fire trail still clogged up with ice and the side roads covered with clumps of crushed snow, I decided to take Lacewood all the way in. Even this nominally major route had half the right hand lane covered in snow for most of the way, which doesn't bode too well for the rest of the season...

Distance logged: 11.809km
Time: 32:40
Average speed: 21.7km/hr
Max speed: 50 km/hr
Temperature: -12C
Cumulative distance: 4690.806km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.2
Monthly distance: 225.328km
Monthly cost per km: $0.09

Sunday, December 09, 2007

Ride for Saturday, 08 December

Nasty slushy day as the temperature hovered around the freezing point. I thought I'd try the fire trail on the way down to the farmer's market but found that I kept slipping off; there was about 3 inches of slush on top of an inch or so of partially melted rutted ice that I just couldn't get a decent purchase on, I ended up coming off one of the sidepaths and taking the road in - much easier avoiding the slush.

Stopped at IdealBikes on the way home and got Dave to replace my front derailleur cable. We discussed studded tyres, I'm toying with getting a Nokian when my rear Snow Stud wears down and swap it with the front, the other option is a Schwalbe Marathon which seems well thought of on Bike Forums - plus it has a few studs down the centre as well as along the outer rim, for better grip on ice.

Thought I'd give the fire trail another go on my way back to see if carrying 40 pounds of groceries would give me enough weight to crush through the slush. As it turned out... It didn't. Dropping the tyre pressure down to 20psi helped a little, but I ended up coming off early again - and riding home heavy loaded on low pressure tyres was interesting, I had to take the corners really easily to make sure the tyre wouldn't roll off and the rolling resistance was inordinately high!

Distance logged: 26.624km
Time: 97:30
Average speed: 16.4km/hr
Max speed: 50.8 km/hr
Temperature: 0C, cloudy
Cumulative distance: 4678.997km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.2
Monthly distance: 213.519km
Monthly cost per km: $0.1

Ride home for Friday, 07 December

Back to warmer weather after the cold snap this morning. I rode back on the fire trail and found it to be rather bumpy after being snowed on, then walked on.

Distance logged: 12.296km
Time: 44:18
Average speed: 16.7km/hr
Max speed: 42.5 km/hr
Temperature: -5C
Cumulative distance: 4652.373km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.2
Monthly distance: 186.895km
Monthly cost per km: $0.11

Ride into work for Friday, 07 December

A ride in where things were genuinely starting to feel mildly chilly. I was getting odd looks from people at bus stops by traffic lights where I stopped, probably because of the steam coming off me.

Distance logged: 11.957km
Time: 34:58
Average speed: 20.5km/hr
Max speed: 53.0 km/hr
Temperature: -12C, sunny
Cumulative distance: 4640.077km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.2
Monthly distance: 174.599km
Monthly cost per km: $0.12

Thursday, December 06, 2007

Ride home for Thursday, 06 December

After reading about some peoples' clothing choices for colder weather I can't help wondering what I'm doing wrong (or not). Around 45F (7C or so), one commenter wore "a long-sleeve merino wool base-layer, a fleece vest, my thin yellow rain jacket, and REI Sahara convertible pants (along with wool gloves with liners, merino beanie under the helmet, and wool ankle socks)" - although there was an admission of it being "too warm". I made it home with a Freeride jersey, windbreaker, leg warmers, waterproof pants, winter boots, liner gloves, ski gloves, overmittens and protective gear - and I was still sweating and overheating by the end. I know I'm not alone in my clothing choices as I see plenty of other people similarly dressed - although I do see one or two people that seem to need multiple layers on their head, for some reason.

I'm curious to know what other people are wearing on their bike in Halifax in this weather... Comments, anyone?

Distance logged: 13.489km
Time: 46:30
Average speed: 17.4km/hr
Max speed: 45.8 km/hr
Temperature: -4C
Cumulative distance: 4628.120km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.2
Monthly distance: 162.642km
Monthly cost per km: $0.13

Ride into work for Thursday, 06 December

Nothing particularly exciting happened. Not necessarily a bad thing.

Distance logged: 11.664km
Time: 39:19
Average speed: 17.8km/hr
Max speed: 57.4 km/hr
Temperature: -4C
Cumulative distance: 4614.631km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.2
Monthly distance: 149.153km
Monthly cost per km: $0.14

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Ride home for Wednesday, 05 December

Most of the drivers seem to have acclimated to the snow, but there's still a few muppets out there that think they can drive as normal so I kept rather wary of the traffic around me.

Distance logged: 12.185km
Time: 39:0
Average speed: 18.7km/hr
Max speed: 45.5 km/hr
Temperature: -4C
Cumulative distance: 4602.967km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.2
Monthly distance: 137.489km
Monthly cost per km: $0.16

Ride into work for Wednesday, 05 December

No ride yesterday as I had a report to do for another client, and (having no functioning desk at the office any more) I had to work from home/

Out to Bedford for my weekly physio appointment, then back to the office. The roads were mostly cleared after the snow, but the trails were still all iced up.

Distance logged: 33.627km
Time: 103:38
Average speed: 19.5km/hr
Max speed: 54.7 km/hr
Temperature: -5C, cloudy
Cumulative distance: 4590.782km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.2
Monthly distance: 125.304km
Monthly cost per km: $0.17

Monday, December 03, 2007

Ride home for Monday, 03 December

It snowed during the afternoon, about 2-3cm had stuck by the time I headed home. I don't know if most people had already left or if they were stuck downtown, but the roads were pretty clear of traffic. The only problem I had was at the crosswalks on Lacewood and Radcliffe, where I was stood watching the cars drive by without stopping. When a car finally did stop for me on Radcliffe, the driver in the car behind her leaned on his horn the whole time I was crossing. I'm not sure what he was trying to prove, apart from his stupidity...

Distance logged: 11.239km
Time: 48:55
Average speed: 13.8km/hr
Max speed: 42 km/hr
Temperature: -1C, snowing, windy
Cumulative distance: 4557.155km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.21
Monthly distance: 91.677km
Monthly cost per km: $0.23

Ride into work for Monday, 03 December

Quiet ride in up until the derailleur cable came out of my front derailleur... I was wondering my I was stuck in granny gear with the shifter doing nothing, and then I saw the cable flailing around under the bottom bracket. A bit of emergency surgery with my bike multitool and I had it workable enough to get me going.

Distance logged: 11.861km
Time: 38:55
Average speed: 18.3km/hr
Max speed: 48.0 km/hr
Temperature: -5C, cloudy
Cumulative distance: 4545.916km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.21
Monthly distance: 80.438km
Monthly cost per km: $0.27

Sunday, December 02, 2007

Ride for Saturday, 01 December

Rode down to the farmer's market for my weekly shop. Took the mountain bike with studded tyres as it was snowing, and I rode back on Quinpool, across the Armdale Rotary Roundabout Traffic Circle and up Joseph Howe drive in order to take a route that I wouldn't risk being snowed on. Instead of fighting my way against snow, I had to ride uphill into a stiff headwind, so I don't think I was really any further ahead after all that anyway...

Distance logged: 25.664km
Time: 89:46
Average speed: 17.2km/hr
Max speed: 46.1 km/hr
Temperature: -2C, intermittent snow, windy
Cumulative distance: 4534.055km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.21
Monthly distance: 68.577km
Monthly cost per km: $0.31

Critical mass ride for Friday, 30 November

There was a good turnout this month considering the weather, I think the count was somewhere around 35. There was a good response from almost everyone around, both pedestrians and drivers (including a police officer in a marked van!), possibly because of the theme - "light up the night", where the competition was to see who could get the brightest set of lights going (I was excluded on the grounds that I'd be the obvious winner, even though I only had about 15 lights going). The only negative response was from an SUV driver who was apparently following behind us signalling to turn right, then when she saw we were turning left decided to turn left as well and shout out her window, "I own 3 bicycles! You shouldn't be doing this! I know the law, I have 3 bicycles, you're not doing it right!" as she barged her way past on the wrong side of the road forcing oncoming traffic to stop. It was amusing to see her signal right at the stop sign ahead of her, and as we started to catch up with her and also signal right, she decided to turn left instead. For some reason the phrase "dog in the manger" came to mind.

I took some pictures without flash that ended up on a half second exposure time (!) - some of them actually turned out reasonable well, after a bit of tweaking. Steve Bedard also put up a video on Youtube which did a good job of capturing the spirit of the ride.


Distance logged: 20.112km
Time: 83:55
Average speed: 14.4km/hr
Max speed: 41.7 km/hr
Temperature: -2C to -3C
Cumulative distance: 4508.391km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.21
Monthly distance: 42.913km
Monthly cost per km: $0.5

Ride into work for Friday, 30 November

No ride home yesterday as I was working extremely late helping trying to get a server up and running and ended up getting a ride home from a co-worker. I did, however, get a chance to go out to MEC and pick up a lanyard (amongst other items) so I could carry a camera on me to satisfy the curiosity about my commute - at least, up to the point where the batteries in the camera died!

Here's where I get on the Mainland North Linear Parkway:

Straight away I'm on an uphill. It's also very straight (as the name implies).

Up and over the hill, leading down to the crossing on Lacewood:


More linearity:


Riding along Willett, still in the thick jungles of suburbia:


Downhill on Central. The stepping of the houses gives a reasonably good idea of how steep this is.


So steep that no pedaling is required to hit 50km/hr:


Big jump to George Dauphinee Avenue after riding through some high traffic areas:


Up the little alleyway to the crossing across Connaught:


Somewhere on Connolly Street, I think:


Finally, going up Berlin Street:


As I said, not all that exciting, but it should give people an idea of what Halifax looks like from the seat of a bike.

Distance logged: 11.643km
Time: 33:40
Average speed: 20.8km/hr
Max speed: 56.8 km/hr
Temperature: 2C, sunny
Cumulative distance: 4488.279km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.21
Monthly distance: 22.801km
Monthly cost per km: $0.94

Ride into work for Thursday, 29 November

Distance logged: 11.158km
Time: 33:04
Average speed: 19.9km/hr
Max speed: 51.2 km/hr
Temperature: -7C
Cumulative distance: 4476.636km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.2
Monthly distance: 11.158km
Monthly cost per km: $0