What’s All This Then?! 29: Cycling – Jarvis Lanes, Cycling Culture and Politics, Critical Mass, Couriers, and Ford Nation
Yah! What’s All This Then?! is back. Today, all about Toronto’s current cycling issues: the Rob Ford bike plan, the potential removal of the Jarvis Bike Lanes, Critical Mass, etc, etc… Read more
Cycling Toronto-Saskatoon: Day 11
Day 11 (august 10 2010: Kakabeka to Ignace
Trains – Storm – Rural Superheroes – Dire Wolves – Toilet Paper Fire – Kids vs. Hippies vs. Cops vs. Me
Kakabeka Falls - Ignace (218 kilometers)
The same railway line that ran through Lake Superior’s north shore mountains toys with the road northwest of Thunder Bay, crossing and re-crossing the highway; disappearing into woods and hills to and emerge hours later. This railway zigzag-paralels the Trans-Canada for, I think, its entire length.
Cycling Toronto-Saskatoon: Day 10
August 9, 2010: Nipigon to Kakabeka Falls
Thunder Bay – As Artist/As Tramp:
Arriving at Thunder Bay on this, the tenth day of my cycling odyssey from Toronto to Saskatoon, represented the second time I’d been there. The first was for a concert Kristin and I were doing: she’d won a “very prestigious competition” and the prize included a national tour, a good bit of money, and the great nuisance of having to deal with the most obnoxious artistic director imaginable. During that stop-over we’d stayed with a Lakehead University music theory professor and his wife who, as well as being very nice and a lot of fun, are also the collective owners of what has to be the most-bizarre-ever portrait of Jesus in existence. They keep it in a special room in the basement, covered by blankets. I wish I’d thought to take a picture of the thing — it’s just not an image one can recreate in words. Read more
Cycling Toronto-Saskatoon: Day 9 (August 8 2010)
August 8 2010
i. a congealment of hitchhikers:
Regardless of how tight the fist of contemporary respectability, insecurity, and normalcy squeezes the human spirit, some tiny portion of wanderlust will always squeak through. That being so, I’m happy to report to you that hitchhiking culture is alive and well in Canada.
Throughout my cycling journey from Toronto to Saskatoon I found roadside rest stop washrooms graced as much by their marker-drawn slogans as by their misaimed urine: bold words Read more
Cycling Toronto-Saskatoon: Day 8 (August 7)
Zeno’s Paradox of Infinite Disitance:
Before arriving, one must get halfway there. Before he can get halfway there, he must get a quarter of the way there. Before traveling a quarter, he must travel one-eighth; before an eighth, one-sixteenth; and so on. This requires one to complete an infinite number of tasks, which Zeno maintains is an impossibility.
Along the north shore of Lake Superior, the Trans-Canada Highway becomes a 300km long slow-motion roller coaster. The slopes seem to grow as you grind slowly up, unfurling an endless length of road behind while maintaining a constant distance between yourself and the summit. Read more
An Existential Dream = Fulfilled! (my music was on Tank Riot today)
A short post to memorially carve the day on which music I wrote was played on Tank Riot into the living bark of the internet.
I’ve been a fan of Tank Riot for a long time and I’m really proud that something I made contributed in a small way to one of their shows.
They use a track from The Torture Memos as the outro to the show, and say some nice things about Kristin’s voice. It’s part of Episode 103, which is mostly about their all-time favorite novels.
If you don’t know Tank Riot you’re missing out. It’s the champion of all podcasts. Check it out!
Cycling Journal: Day 3 (August 2)
Cycling Toronto-Saskatoon Journal
Day 3 (August 2): My Comrade Ray – The Chi-Cheemaun – Rainy Manitoulin – Drinkin’ wit some native kids – I run into a bear (literally)
Woke up in my bushcamp outside Tobermorey feeling surprising well rested. I was back in Tobermorey by 7:30, intending to catch the Chi-cheemaun Ferry to Manitoulin Island but discovered that the early ferry had left at 7:00 and the next trip across wouldn’t be leaving until after 10:00. So I had breakfast and decided to spend a bit of time cleaning my bike (pushing it through the bush to and from my guerilla camp hadn’t been good for it) and patching the tubes that were punctured yesterday, in case I needed them later on. Read more
Bike Trip / Doctors Without Borders Fundraiser
I’ve got a page up about my Saskatoon-Toronto ride + a donate button for the Doctors Without Borders fundraiser. It’s here!
