Steve's Cycling Blog
The 2018 edition of the Ontario Spring Classic "Paris to Ancaster" was the 25-year anniversary of the event. I first entered this race in 2002 on my mountain bike and I haven't missed a year since (although several times, I entered the shorter 35-40km version of the race). In the 17 years I've entered this … Continue reading 2018 Paris to Ancaster
I'm sitting here in my warm house while 50 km/h winds (with 80 km/h gusts) shake the windows and walls. I'm all for winter cycling, but it's mid-April now and I don't feel like getting pelted with ice pellets at -2C in this kind of wind. Instead, I'm sitting at keyboard, writing and examining my … Continue reading April Cycling Update
A few months ago, I blogged about some of the Strava Apps I use. Since I'm an engineer, I like to play with numbers (and maps), so I've spent some time scouring the internet for more cycling tools. Here are a few more: Padvark: This website connects to your Strava account and summarizes the data. … Continue reading More cool Strava Apps
With March Break upon us (and nearly over), my family and I decided to take a mini-vacation to the Niagara Region. Rather than staying near the Falls, we found a little farm near Welland called "The Hoblet" that I'll talk about later in this post. As usual, I brought a bicycle to explore the area. … Continue reading Late winter cycling in Niagara
I thought I'd post with my ride summary for 2018 so far. We've had a wide variety of weather conditions so far in 2018 - from -20C to +15C. Lots of snow. No snow. Rain. Sun. Fortunately, I'm equipped to ride in all of these conditions and I've been able to get out and ride … Continue reading Cycling – January/February 2018
In 2016, on my 50th birthday, I decided to do something a little different. I plotted out a route that wrote out a big 5 and 0. I rode after work and the weather looked like it might cooperate (it had been raining off and on all day). When I completed that ride, I coined … Continue reading Bicycalligraphy
Cyclists don't have to look very far to find discussions about how to deal with winter in Canada. There's considerable information online about how to train indoors over the winter. There's also a lot of people who will ride outdoors in just about any weather conditions. And there are obvious benefits to both options. I … Continue reading Winter Cycling – Indoors or Outdoors?
On my first winter bike ride in the early 2000s, I made a critical mistake: I wore the only cycling shoes I had and thought with a warmer sock, I'd be fine. That ride lasted less than an hour and a half and by the end of the ride, my toes were in severe pain. … Continue reading 45NRTH Wolvhammer Winter Cycling Boots – A first look
Last spring, I took a tour of some local trails the day after a huge rain event just north of here. The result was a cycling route that had a lot of turn-arounds because some trails were flooded. As some of my Waterloo Cycling Club friends will attest, I've been known to ride across fast-flowing … Continue reading Frozen water everywhere!
This past weekend, I've been out cycling a few times in temperatures as cold as -17C. That's just the air temperature. When you factor in wind, it feels much colder. On cold days like these, I tend to ride slower and I choose routes that are sheltered from the wind. But sometimes, the wind is … Continue reading What it’s really like to cycle at -17C
