true affection

Recent obsessions:

• Mavic Ksyrium SL wheels
• True Affection, by the Blow
• Hot lemonade at Jet Fuel Coffee
• Staying warm

Read Full Post »

ice race 2007

 

bicycles + ice rink = good times

This is seriously one of the most fun things to watch in Toronto. I am too chicken to actually ride on ice, but I love to help out with this. Totally worth the risk of severe frostbite for my poor feet.

[photo by Martino]

Read Full Post »

portugal, abridged

I am back! Two weeks is hardly long enough for a holiday, but it was so so so good.

There were lots of cool little towns, plenty of wine and sangria, a running of the bulls festival, a surfing lesson, many hills, exploring Lisbon, beaches, swimming, hot weather, flamenco dancing, bikes jammed onto the train, and the End of The World.

6 days of riding, covering 480.3km in a total riding time of 24:03:46. Average speed: 20km/hr, max: 52km/hr.

Best meals were grilled chicken, beans and octopus, fish rice, Soleros… hell, just about anything. It was 2 weeks of eating well and, thanks to the cycling, eating a lot!

Read Full Post »

all i ever needed

A quick update before I ignore you all for 2+ weeks as I head on vacation.

eat me

I should have posted this long ago… I have to thank Minna again for sending me candy in exchange for kool-aid. These candies, a licorice-flavored toffee, are the best. I received them a couple of months ago, neglected to tell you, threw them into a corner, and recently unearthed them. I am surprised I didn’t eat the entire bag on Friday night. They are soft and chewy and full of licorice deliciousness.

On a more timely note, I finished a pair of socks this week. Could it be a sign of a coming apocalypse that I have (1) actually finished knitting something, and (2) am really and truly blogging about it?

fresh knit socks

These socks are part of my experiments to find out the exact formula for perfectly-fitting socks. I have a (crazy?) feeling that there is some magic combination of number of stitches and needle size that will warrant a pair of socks meant just for me (and others with identically-proportioned feet). I intend to discover this formula, and this pair is my first try.

Yarn: Socks That Rock (in “Fire on the Mountain”)

Needles: 2.5mm Addi Turbo

Pattern: Toe-up socks, knit using magic loop. 72 stitches around, short row toe (with 16 unwrapped stitches), and short row heel (with 12 unwrapped stitches). Foot length 7.8″, leg length 7.4″. Picot bind off.

Comments: These socks are a bit too loose – I either need to go down a needle size or knit over fewer stitches. I also don’t like how loose the picot bind off is – it is supposed to be cute little points, but you wouldn’t know because of the way it rolls down.

As I said, I’m off on vacation shortly. Here’s a gratuitous shot of the new socks in action:

packing the bike bags to go to portugal

Later, my dears!

Read Full Post »

bikes and socks

Yesterday was a nice sunny day. I did a shift of inventory at Karma Co-op, and then spent part of the afternoon in High Park, watching bike racing. It was great weather, and the perfect day for sitting in the park, knitting, and watching fancy bikes go speeding by…

my favorite combo: nice bikes and handknit socks

My newly-finished Jaywalker socks enjoyed the racing! These socks have been on the needles since Christmas, but I was soon distracted by the Socks That Rock I acquired over the holidays. I used Fortissima Colori from a crazy project I rarely speak of (it involves sock yarn and a short sleeve sweater – as if I have the patience for that!), 2.75dpns, and overall enjoyed the pattern.

happy feet

They are fraternal twins – the stripes are far from matching – and a little loose, making them quite different to wear from the Yarrow Rib socks of my last post. Again… wool socks in the summer? Not the most necessary knit accessory for this hot weather, but guess what I have on the needles as we speak!

did someone say socks?

(Gentleman's Fancy Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks, Louet Gems Pearl in Charcoal, 2.5mm needles, magic loop)

Read Full Post »

camping

I have been really wanting to plan a bike trip. Or maybe not so much plan one, as to just go on one. Luckily, a couple of opportunities are coming up soon.

First, Victoria Day long weekend! I am thinking of taking the bike and going camping. There are a few provincial parks within 100km of Toronto – I have a tent, I have a bike… really, what more do I need?!? A couple of friends have expressed some interest, but otherwise, I would consider going on my own. I mean, if I can deal with two weeks of solo bike riding in Ireland, surely I can handle a weekend on my own. Anybody fancy sleeping in the woods on the long weekend?

Another sure-to-be-fun thing is the Tour de L'ile, on June 2 and 4. It's actually a night ride on June 2, and last year it was so much fun. So I have registered for both rides this year. Details on how I'm actually going to get to Montreal…um, we'll sort that out later. Sadly, my photos from last year are crap (funny, for someone who has taken two photography courses, I still seem to take a lot of crap photos!), but it was fun. I promise.

Read Full Post »

dear spring!

Can I tell you how much I love spring? Spring and fall are my favorite two seasons (especially in Toronto, where I think summers are too hot and winters are too cold).

Dear, dear spring! Sunshine, green grass, cats wandering the neighbourhood… it's all great. And gloriously long, sunny days, which mean even if I am stuck at work until 7pm 8pm, it is still light out as I head home.

Last night was Critical Mass, and it was a very relaxed, fun ride.  I had originally intended to meet someone there to pick up the Collective's button machine. There was a large crowd at Bloor and Spadina, and it was great to see so many people I haven't seen in a while. I had planned to go straight home after picking up the machine, but decided to start the ride. And the ride was so fun, and there were so many people to catch up with, I just kept riding. It was great! By the time we reached the Viaduct, I knew there was no turning back…

And so rather than going home and having a relaxing evening, I went for a lovely bike ride (though it was kind of chilly), and went to the opening City Idol event, which were short speeches by all the candidates. I love City Idol, and will post more about it later. In the end, I made it home around 11:30. Not the night I planned, but it was nice to just get swept up in events around me, and to not worry too much about anything else.

Read Full Post »

star-crossed

Second place! Last year I raced my first season of cyclocross – it was sort of on a whim, partly because I had bought the perfect bike last February, and largely inspired by a wicked pep talk from a good friend. And the result: second overall in the series! This past weekend, at the Toronto International Bike Show, I finally got my prize… I was sitting at the CBN table, when someone at the OCA booth (directly across) recognized me and waved me over because they had something for me. It was my second place photo. Purolator was unable to deliver it over the Christmas holidays because I was out of town, and they held on to it until they saw me at the show!

OCA Southern Ontario Cyclocross women’s podium

While it is fun to pretend that I’m some awesome racer, I must offer full disclosure. I basically got my ass kicked every weekend. I normally placed 5th or 6th for Senior Women, and when you added in the Masters women… well, I got my ass kicked!

But it was fun, and I loved it, and so I went back often. In fact, I did 7 of the 11 races, including Provincials. I would like to think that my consistency paid off – and it did, to an extent. But what really paid off and got me that second place overall finish was my willingness to keep going to races. What it ultimately came down to was the fact that the series rule was that you had to start the last race of the season (it was in late November and there was lots of snow). And so, if you showed up, did the race, and there were only 3 senior women in the race… well, you’re bound to walk out on the podium, even if you do get lapped by the whole damn field.

Read Full Post »