KIT survival

North Simcoe Rail Trail

2011-09-05T19:07:00.000-04:00

This past weekend I went on a solo bike trip to Emily's family cottage on Georgian Bay. I thought this would be a great chance to check out the North Simcoe Rail Trail and the Tiny trail it turns into as it goes north.

i planned my route: gmap. in the end i didn't follow the whole thing because the condition of the rail path was not up to my standards for biking. unfortunately it wasn't a very well groomed path and had fallen branches, tall grass, rocks, or just too much loose gravel to be very enjoyable to bike on. i had to watch where i was going so carefully that i couldn't enjoy the scenery. so i hopped off the path and rode on roads instead.

i've biked on many great rail trails (these are old railroads that have been ripped up and converted into recreational paths, usually with packed fine gravel as a surface which is good for many activities). usually you can keep a decent pace and have a clear path so that they are practical for bike touring and sight seeing. the north simcoe rail trail and tiny trail were way too bumpy and dangerous for viable travel. they'd be better for mountain bikes.

so instead i split off the rail trail and headed across Concession road 4 which was surprisingly smooth (all paved!) and scenic. on the way home i spent a good deal of time on Baseline road. both routes had hardly any traffic, were all paved and i could keep a good speed. good thing, because it was pretty cold this morning (~11C) and i needed to get to Barrie as fast as possible so i could get another hot drink in me.

then i spent 2 hours on the go bus and now i'm home! will that be my last tour of the year? i hope not, but if it stays this cold then it will have to be.

Pride NYC

2011-08-16T22:43:00.000-04:00

it was my first time ever in New York City this past June. i planned my trip to coincide with the Bike Film Festival but it also happily aligned with Pride and a great Archers of Loaf show! the Friday before Pride New York state voted to recognize same sex marriage, so there were lots of celebrations all weekend.

I checked out the Dyke March on the saturday between Bike Film Festival screenings... when i decided to split i just biked back downtown via the parade route. it was all half shut down to traffic so it made a great bike route!

I always miss the Dyke March here in Toronto. I also always miss the Bike Film Festival screenings, so it was a good thing to visit NY and do everything there.

biking over the Williamsburg bridge. i did it twice, it's quite a trip. biking across NY is waaaay more than my normal commute in TO.

bike chain

buy me one!

this is the view from my host's place.

who am i to feel so free?

2011-04-23T20:22:00.002-04:00

Nothing says spring like a fresh new ride. I just built this Nishiki Olympic up last thursday, using mostly parts from my old fixed gear. that one is outta commission right now because the lugged frame is separating and the seatpost is seized. my nice co-worker is gonna fix that up for me, then i'll have to worry about a second wheel set or build this bike up some other way.

the title of this post comes from a MEN song. we saw them last month as part of CMF. what is up with that name anyway, since a bunch of the headlining acts aren't canadian? next year i want to get a pass, there were SO MANY shows i wanted to see but my early work schedule and limited funds (and short attention span for line ups!) restricted me. next year! i really wanted to see young galaxy, austra, land of talk, zeus... so many bands and that's just one night's worth!

JD Samson rocks. i love the message of this band, which is all love and all positive support. i'm going to see the le tigre documentary, "Who took the bomp?", on May 6 as part of Hot Docs. i'm looking forward to seeing some of my fave ladies; kathleen, johanna and JD in that film!

anyway this MEN show was amazing. it was packed and sweaty but the crowd was all dancing and giving just enough space. the dude on the right is named Michael (i think) and it was his birthday, they handed out cupcakes at one point. everyone was having a great time.

Emily traveled from Peterborough for the show, and Amy came too. i ran into a bunch of peeps there too, the show was at Sneaky Dee's, the floor always bouncing up and down with the weight of people dancing and jumping up and down. the encore of this show was of Bikini Kill's double dare ya, which was amazing, brought down the roof! JD made a speech about how we all came upon feminist punk somehow, it led us all to where we are now, let's keep being feminist when we make art, etc.

dreaming of going far far away

2011-03-01T10:36:00.000-05:00

new dream bike!!

ok so my preference would be a Lynsky titanium touring bike with S&S bicycle torque couplings.

seeing as i don't have a couple thousand dollars kicking around begging to be spent, i might have to wait on that dream. but i could get an old steel frame like my trusty rusty Miyata 615 retro fit with the coupling system for about $500.

that may seem expensive but if you consider most airports will charge you $100 each way to fly with your bike, it will pay for itself if you take it with you a few places. i'm just not sure if i want a touring bike or a more versatile road or cross bike for taking to other cities. i may not always be on tour, and want something lighter/less valuable/durable.

maybe this is something i could do with my recently acquired '84 Nishiki Olympic road frame. Maybe a simple 8 speed build with fenders and rack... hmmm....

here's Zinn talking about why traveling with an S&S coupled bike is so obviously the way to go:

roller derby is cool again

2011-02-12T11:58:00.002-05:00

last night i watched whip it! thanks to my friend's friend's netflix account and this weather/winter making me feel like holing up in my house permanently. i thought i had heard that i wouldn't like it but actually it's a pretty good fit for my film tastes. the only annoying part was the romance side of the film. i mean, it's a movie about "be your own hero" and girls being tough etc, why does she have to fall for some rocker dude for no reason? then lose her virginity and get mad at him for some photo of him with another girl. then tell her mom. ah well, i guess i always want protagonists that i like to make the same decisions as me, and obviously that isn't going to happen.

i've avoided the roller derby trend since it started popping up around me. i'm still not about to hop on the ttc all the way up to downsview to watch a toronto match. but if someone wants to drag me along i guess i'd go, as opposed to before when i turned down invitations. i like tough girl stuff, but i've never wanted to do it myself. i'm tough, but not into getting myself hurt. which is why i've dabbled with things like skateboarding, but never really got into it, because injuries are just too common. my friend died last year practicing longboard racing. she was gutsy, she was a firecracker. but she died at 27. (RIP Glenna Evans).

should i watch Battlestar Galactica?

tonight is the Ice Race at Dufferin Grove Park. come out!
article

MEN

2011-02-08T10:50:00.002-05:00

Going to see them Mar 12 @ Sneaky Dee's. Get to dress up in neon colours and draw on my face.

I saw them last year or so with Amy when they opened for Gossip. now they have a full album out, and get their own tour.

friends

2011-02-05T17:01:00.003-05:00

wow. i am truly lucky to have such cool people in my life. all of these people i can say have been as close as family, and many are still in my daily life today. there are others not on here that i would like to include but a quick search of my flickr didn't turn up their photo. there's also new friendships blossoming and i bet come spring they'll burst into bloom with the seasons of our social lives.

aren't they pretty? thanks, guys.

flu

2011-01-31T11:23:00.002-05:00

got the flu. first time i've been sick like this since grade school. ugh. the nauseau only lasted less than 24 hours (probably because i wasn't eating or drinking anything) and today is the day that i get to try to eat. been snacking on apple sauce. nervous.

went to the Leafs game last Saturday. we lost. but i had never been to see a live game before and it was really fun. it's a much better perspective than the constantly-changing camera viewpoints.

this woman was in front of us. you can kinda see in this pic how far up we were. almost as far away from the ice as you can get. but the view was still good. i'd definitely go again. afterward we went to c'est what? for dinner and drinks. that's a pretty good place to check out if you must be downtown but want decent food and beer selection. they managed to offer me a couple vegan choices, and they have a rotating local beer menu with lots of interesting options.

this is how i transported my rim home last week for a wheelbuild i did over the weekend. used inner tubes, cut the valve out, wrap them around the rim and lash it to the rear rack. transporting rims is harder than transporting a full wheel, and those are pretty awkward too.

the finished product. my first dynamo wheel. it's a deore lx hub, a step up from the basic shimano nexus dynamo. i'm putting this on my touring bike and hooking up a charger for my iphone/other usb charging things. hope it works.

resolve

2011-01-03T17:57:00.002-05:00

happy new year friends.

we decided to host some visiting friends for a quiet(er) new years eve. jessi lives in victoria, and chris and kevin are living in London England now, xuan-yen lives in TO but we invited her anyway.

we made pizza. unfortunately i don't have a photo of the amazing vegan pizza but let me describe it. pesto sauce mixed with spicy pepper walnut sauce for the base layer. add on caramelized onions, slightly fried mushrooms, and broccoli and coated with Daiya "cheese". so, so good. i accidentally made the pizza dough recipe from La Dolce Vegan instead of Garden of Vegan but it turned out ok. i still prefer the basic recipe from GOV.

i love kevin's expression in this one:

today is my last day of holidays before it's back to work. it's been great. yesterday i took my old desk out of my room and moved in a bigger one without drawers, it's so. much. better. i guess i've sort of resolved to write a zine this year so this should help. my other resolutions are to play/learn guitar more, and do yoga.

i actually just got back from yoga today. i went to the expanding flow class at Kula for a sweaty 1.5 hours of vinyasa yoga and i do feel great. the classes that i don't want to miss there are the hour flow on tues/thurs mornings with Jen and the power hour class on thursday evenings with Josie. if it works with my schedule i would definitely go back to the expanding flow class too, especially because its 1.5 hours so i feel that's more for my money. maybe next month i'll decide to get an unlimited pass again, but damn it's so expensive.

oh Rob came home for the holidays:

every year he comes back around Christmas and we catch up on what's going on in Victoria/Vancouver/Sunshine coast out west. we didn't get long enough this time. oh here are some pics from when he visited in 2008:

these must be Chris' pics

aaand me

in 2007 i wasn't living in Toronto yet but i was here on my way home for christmas and rob and i went to kensington for the festival of lights parade. i was super sick and couldn't kick it. this year i am feeling so healthy it's awesome. probably because of doing yoga and working early (8am) which makes me go to sleep early (10:30ish pm). i'm trying to eat healthy too and take the supplements the nutritionist told me to.

going out to Clinton's in a few minutes to watch the world junior hockey semi finals with chris & kevin, andrew & erin, and chrissy. then back to work and life and all that stuff. before you know it the city will be covered in snow and minus 20 and all that shitty stuff about winter...

good luck on your resolutions. make 2011 the best ever.

2010-11-24T22:30:00.004-05:00

ah geez i said i would update this every other day or so, then last week went down the drain. actually i spent all last week working and doing yoga. i joined Kula Yoga for the month! the introductory deal is 30 days for $30 which is fucking unbelievable. for example regular classes are $19 EACH!! I have spent the last few months clearing my schedule by eliminating things i don't want to do, and learning to manage my time, so now I do yoga almost every day. I've also been taking advantage of the free yoga at lululemon on tuesdays and sundays. this past tuesday evening was great, a teacher from Downward Dog (Katherine I think) is teaching for the next four weeks. So come on out!

this is not becoming just a yoga blog. last saturday i went on the Toronto Girls' Cupcake Ride. i am not too into cupcakes but i love coffee, bikes, girls...

this one's from Hyedi's flickr:

(i put that front rack on Honey the night before. today i picked up an order of 22 burritos with it to take to my work meeting. )

we met at cafe nova near high park, rode a loop through high park, then north to annette, east on annette to the rail path, up and down the rail path, north to davenport, east to christie, and up the hill to st clair. ended the ride at Leah's which is a tiny standing-room-only cafe/bakery with tons and tons of options with which to rot your teeth:

oh! last week i was riding home from work and came across this amazing scene:

cats are cute.

my roommate and i have been living all month without an oven or a decent stove. back at the beginning of the month (Nov 1st actually) our oven broke. at first we could smell gas and realized the pilot light was out. i re-lit it and then discovered that the temperature control was gone. it was constantly on something like 350F. so we had to turn off the gas and rip it out and since then we've had nothing but a shitty two burner hotplate:

it's depressing to cook on. it takes forever. the burners are so small that bigger pans (all i have) slide off. it makes the fridge grind to a halt. so i finally got a phone call today from my landlords sons wife who had to do all the work to order us a new stove. it's coming next tuesday. that's nov 30th! that's one month without an oven or decent stove! i need to write a letter and ask for a rent reduction but i've been at yoga every day. i will try to write one tonight.

i usually cook every day. i have no groceries in the fridge because i can't even conceive of cooking. so what am i eating? umm apples, bread with almond butter, noodles, nuts and whatever warm vegetables i can scrounge up. last night i ate at Fresh, the day before i had a small dinner at Urban Herbivore. i cannot fucking WAIT until i have a new oven and i can bake my potatoes and green beans, boil water for quinoa and warm the place up with yummy food smells.

as mentioned above, i installed that front rack on my bike last friday. it's made by Gamoh, in Japan. the bike it's installed on is a Miele mixte road bike which i've added pink riser bars to for a more upright bike. i bought it intending for it to be a "grocery getter" style ride.

as you can see she also has all the necessary accessories for foul weather (fenders), grocery shopping (rear rack), and bigger jobs (trailer hitch). now with the front rack i can carry fragile items or pick up a bigger load without needing panniers.

just picture 22 large burritos in there. they said they weighed over a pound each and i don't doubt it. steering a heavy load on the front wheel is pretty difficult, i wouldn't recommend it. it would also be hard to stop quickly. luckily the burrito place is just down the street from my work.

it's time for me to put together my winter bike. i bought a nishiki olympic frame off craigslist two months ago, but am debating in my head if i should just get a new touring frame (cheap from work) and make THAT into a practical winter fixie. the nishiki had 27" wheels so if i put 700c's on it i should have clearance for some wider tires (28c) and fenders. i don't need to get new wheels, but it would be nice. i can use the bb and crankset from my current fixie since i need to get the frame fixed anyway. i would need a new front brake, probably a medium or long reach considering the 27" fork. not too much work all in all, maybe i will get to it this weekend. unlike last weekend, i don't have meetings, rides or anything else planned. just brunch on sunday at Fressen with my old roomie.

when i'm with you i have fun

2010-11-14T18:58:00.003-05:00

when i want to feel better i tidy up the house and do little tasks to feel accomplished. today i cleared off this shelf in my room that i want to get rid of. it had knick knacks and candles on it, everything got dispersed to other surfaces like my window sill, my other (new-ish) shelf, or tossed.

i also did ten minutes of yoga then got bored. i listened to a bunch of 7 inches while hanging a light in the hallway. i still don't have an oven so i'm considering ordering thai food.

last night was great. hockey night in canada. veggie burger with gourmet toppings. chrissy's house. watched the lakeshore trailer. called my friend Laura in BC. drank beers and brandy and stayed up late. good good times. slept in this morning but woke up feeling good not too hungover. had brunch at the beaver and went to the record show at the gladstone. walked in the rain to 69 vintage and bought a belt.

pretentiousness doesn't really bother me. if someone decides they have to be the coolest one around, fine, good for you. i don't waste my time even noticing let alone getting upset or competing! i feel like i can stealthily go to all these hipster joints because i just do not care about the cool factor. i love when people are nice and i can have a quality interaction, but if they are not then i don't let it bother me.

i also don't really idolize people. i figure if i like something about someone i can be like that, or just appreciate it in them. i don't need to be everything that i think is great. i think i'm pretty great already, and i really value being chill over having everything perfect i guess. if something doesn't go according to plan i try to just go with the flow and achieve what is still possible in the situation. does any of this even make sense?

the problem with sitting around my house on the computer or reading is my cat climbs into my lap. i'm pretty much stuck where i am unless i want to deeply upset her. also, when she gets comfortable she'll randomly dig her nails in and that can be very upsetting to me. cats. they are so predictable. also if i try to read the newspaper on the couch or floor she'll inevitably curl up right on the piece i'm reading.

i was trying to capitalize proper names in this blog but i've given up as of this entry. no capitals!

blogiversary

2010-11-13T17:28:00.002-05:00

Thursday I made squash lentil soup and a green salad (with avocado dressing!) for Chrissy, Xuan-Yen and I. it was all delicious. then we went to wrongbar for the Raymi the Minx "blogiversary". i rarely go out late anymore because of my 8-4 workday, so i was thankful it started at 7.

I've fixed Raymi's bike once or twice, and met her a few other places too. at wrongbar on Thursday i also met Steph, Tracey (Raymi's mom), and Renita as well as "blogspotted" a bunch of other people who show up in her blog all the time. we were treated to a rum drink, tons of free food (which I didn't eat because it was dark and mostly cheese & non-vegan things), a performance by Raymi's dad's Beatles cover band and gift bags (with more rum). there was a "Raymi store" which i got to take a few things home from when my raffle number was called, including the infamous (IMO) heart cardigan:

and this skirt:

now I've been blogging (used to be livejournal, and before that scribble, and before blogs just writing and posting it on the net) since waaay before i heard of Raymi the Minx, but i would still call her an inspiration for this blog. I'm not trying to make a blog like hers whatsoever, i have other goals for this blog. but seeing someone blog every day has to be an inspiration. on that note all the people in my link list over on the right side of the page would be inspirations for this blog.

right now I'm feeling very confused. i never do this but maybe I'll read my horoscope. I'm trying to make a choice that is going to affect my life far into the future, and it's hard to know what to choose. this is not career related but rather about a relationship. and i should be worrying more about a career i suppose. right now i work at a workers co-operative bike shop. i have job security, but the job probably won't change much from what it is today, and I'm only 26, so what are the chances of me always being there? i could enroll in school and take the time as a "leave", not losing my membership. i would take journalism. or i could get a VISA to Europe and go live abroad for a year. what should i do?

I've always had goals; places i want to move to or jobs i want to get or things i want to do. now I've been living comfortably in Toronto for three years, been working at a great job for over two years, in a relationship for one year, and I'm quite happy with my house. i don't want to disturb this peace but if i don't, it will slowly slip away from me without me noticing, and one day I'll have nothing. maybe i thrive in the struggle. they always say that a deadline motivates.

the sun has set on this foggy Saturday. I'm drinking a coffee and pondering what to do with my evening. I will probably do everything- make soup, play guitar, read online, read books, watch hockey and cuddle the cat. there is nothing going on in this city that I want to go out to. that is kind of depressing and might change with my mood. I wonder where my friends are?

Free yoga

2010-11-10T18:32:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I went to free yoga with Emily of Feel Good Food at a popular yoga apparel store. they offer a free class every tuesday at 8 so we thought we'd check it out. there must have been 80 people there! it was a fun, casual class with lots of laughing and not too much chanting (but there was still chanting of course), and some hands on partner stuff. the teacher mentioned that she taught at Kula, which I've tried once before and experienced the hands on encouragement also.

so was it worth the $0 price tag? yes, definitely not a waste of my time. it wasn't long enough (at only an hour) to really get me worked up, so i'm not feeling any stretch in my muscles today, but the room was a little bit colder than i'd have liked which i think caused me to pull something in my thighs during the lunges. i noticed when i hopped on my bike this morning and again riding home this evening. i liked our teacher (wish i knew her name) and she was really accommodating to all of us considering the latecomers and crowded room.

I get stuck finding cheap and free yoga because i'm hung up on the cost of $16-20/class. if it's a good class i do agree that it's worth that, but it's a big risk in case i don't like it. i'm going to join the west end ymca after i check out their yoga classes, because with your $60/month membership you get all the yoga classes you want. I'll try to go friday to try their hatha class and let you know how it goes.

in other news Chris called me from London, England last night. the five hour time difference makes it hard for us to talk between me finishing my work day and her heading to bed. I miss my buddy! we used to do all kinds of things together like bike rides, going out for food, concerts, etc. i'm not sure yet if i want to spend the time (in a plane) and money it will take to get me there to visit her though... come home soon Chris!

topics relevant here

2010-11-08T10:32:00.001-05:00

I'm starting a blog so I can explore topics that I'm interested in, get feedback, and hopefully learn along the way. The main topics in my life are vegan/cruelty free lifestyle, cycling, music/art/photos/zines, community/volunteering, my cat Calli, and the rest remains to be seen.

Recently I visited a nutritionist, for no reason in particular, just to see if I'm healthy and how I could be better. I've noticed a dip in my immune system the last few years, and I get really cold in the winter, so these are things I want to work on. She sent me to the doctor to get my blood tested, and I took the results back. I am extremely deficient in B12, as well as low iron and vitamin D. All in all those results were pretty predictable.

She suggested I take the following supplements: Udo's oil with DHA, B12 & Folic Acid, Floradix (for iron), Super Oxi formula (has beta-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, Zinc, Selenium, etc) HMF Forte (this is a probiotic formula with acidophilus and other stuff for "natural healthy gut flora") and vitamin D (up to 3000iu per day).

The diet recommendations (conveniently written up on a sheet for me) include having protein with each meal, drinking more water, and eating more fruits and veggies. The water is obvious, but you know how hard it is to do that? If I drank more water my skin wouldn't be as dry either. As far as eating habits go I need to start taking carrot sticks with me everywhere, eating hummus every day and making sure to sit down for all three meals. She says I could also sleep more, drink less and stop smoking.

The goal with the supplements is to get my body back up to an acceptable level then try to sustain that through a better diet. I'm going back in six months to check my blood again and maybe cut down on the pills.

ok friends that's enough for now. next time i'll talk about biking or something.