Archive for the 'General' category

In Over My Head at the National Cyclocross Championships

I shouldn’t have been standing at the centre of the second row of the start line. I joked with the rider beside me, “I feel bad for the guys behind who’ll have to get around me.” In a cyclocross race, the sprint from the start line to the first corner is key. It’s easier to [...]

Fifty-Six Riders Return to the 2011 Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec and Montreal

Of the roughly 176 cyclists who raced in last year’s inaugural Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec and Montreal, 56 are returning this week for the 2011 editions. BMC seems to have the most returning riders with five. For the full, tentative 2011 start lists, visit Canadian Cyclist. Did I miss anyone?

Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions, now Garmin-Cervelo)
Timothy [...]

Why a Fellow Cyclist Said Nasty Things to Me this Morning

I was heading east on Dundas this morning when I stopped for a red light at Shaw Street, east of Ossington. A scruffy guy pedalled up from behind, ambling in a high gear, and blew through the red. It changed to green and I was at the guy’s rear wheel after a few pedal strokes. [...]

Organizer Serge Arsenault on Canada’s Two ProTour Races

Quebec City and Montreal will be hosting International Cycling Union (UCI) road races this September, the first ProTour races ever to be held in North America. I not only want to attend these races, the Quebec City and Montreal Grands Prix Cyclistes, to watch dudes bike up hills faster than I can bike down them, [...]

The Memorial Ride for Darcy Allan Sheppard

I joined the ride at about 5:10pm at Bay and Bloor. The ride went east, taking up the whole eastbound side of the road, to Yonge and then south to Queen. Riders rang bells constantly, but I opted for silence. The Toronto Star estimates that the event comprised about 1,000 cyclists.
At Dundas and Yonge a [...]

10 things I can do quicker than Lance Armstrong can

Watching the Tour de France is humbling. I like to think that I’m a pretty speedy cyclist and that the 40 minutes it takes me to bike roughly 13 kilometres up Yonge Street to work is a respectable time. Yet, on the first day of the race, each of the 180 cyclists in the Tour [...]

First Bout of Twitter Guilt

I didn’t mean to dis The Agenda. Well, I did, but not to that extent.
I was jumping between three live blogs of Obama’s visit today, including The Agenda’s. (Holy. Lots of love for Cover It Live.) It seemed Mr. Paikin’s Web event was relying mostly on the #obamawa hash-tag feed. Disappointing I thought. I was [...]

Et tu, Malcolm Gladwell?

I fear the following observations will sound as if they are coming from an insecure backpacker with a maple leaf on his luggage. But really, The New Yorker has been picking on Canucks as of late. Last week’s issue featured a profile of Naomi Klein by Larissa MacFarquhar, who portrays the Toronto-based activist as a [...]

Duck and coverup

When 500 ducks landed in a tailings pond near Fort McMurray, Ed Stelmach was on a tour of the United States.
The Stelmach government—which was selling itself in Washington as environmentally responsible when the incident occurred—is facing accusations of a coverup for refusing to release photos of the ducks.
The provincial government is also being skewered for [...]

On guard for native rights

Today, our own Naomi Klein writes on the Guardian website about Shawn Brant and the Mohawks who blockaded the Kingston/Toronto CN line two weeks ago. In an act that seems designed to suppress the growing militancy of native groups, the OPP arrested Brant despite an agreement between police and demonstrators that gave the latter immunity [...]