Steve's Cycling Blog
With the end of October upon us, I've taken the time to reflect on 10 months of cycling for 2018. At the beginning of this year, my goal was to ride 5000 km outdoors in 2018, and as of the end of October, I've surpassed that goal! I've also now surpassed my previous annual record … Continue reading October 2018 Ride Summary
On my bike commute from Waterloo to Guelph, I drive through a roundabout at Bridge and Lancaster streets in Kitchener, just before crossing the Grand River towards Bridgeport. I try to ride my bike to work about once a week while the weather is "decent", but on days I drive my car, I also take … Continue reading Building Cycling Infrastructure in a Car Culture. A Look at a Roundabout.
When I was re-introduced into cycling as an adult in the early 1990s, I bought a mountain bike and began to explore trails. In these early days, there weren't a lot of trails that were built exclusively for mountain bike, so my brothers and I would explore hiking trails around Dundas Valley, Oakville and anywhere … Continue reading KWCX – My first (and last?) cyclocross race
With the onset of autumn, I find it easy to stay inside. Daylight hours are shorter and temperatures are cooler, and I believe we have an instinct to begin our winter hibernation habits (or it's just my excuse to be lazy, eat and drink more and exercise less!).I've also scaled back this year in the … Continue reading 2018 Howling Coyote Gravel Grinder
The job of the book reviewer is to provide enough information about a book so the reader can decide if they want to read it. With that in mind, I should start by introducing the author of "Draft Animals" (Note: The full title of this book is Draft Animals: Living the Pro Cycling Dream (Once … Continue reading Cycling Book Review – Draft Animals, by Phil Gaimon
When I first started to look into gearing up for bikepacking a couple of years ago, I was immediately drawn to the Canadian company Arkel for a couple of reasons. First, they're Canadian (based in Quebec) and they manufacture their products in Canada. Second, the reviews I read commented on the durability of their products. … Continue reading Product Review: Arkel Rollpacker (A First Look)
In the 1990s, I started cycling semi-seriously as a mountain biker. I got my first "real" mountain bike in 1992 (an Iron Horse). In 2002 I got my first full-suspension bike (a Kona) and started to enter races. So my cycling roots are in mountain biking. In recent years however, I've found myself cycling more … Continue reading Mountain Biking at Turkey Point
Yesterday I had the pleasure of joining the second annual "Hold the Line" bike ride in Waterloo Region. For a nominal cost of $20, the 125 km route around geographical boundaries of Kitchener-Waterloo and Cambridge was available for cycling enthusiasts (a shorter 30 km ride was also available for less hard-core individuals). According to their … Continue reading Hold the Line – 2018
The end of August has a different feel than other months. It marks the end of summer for many of us, particularly those with kids who head back to school after Labour Day. By this time of year, daylight hours are noticeably shorter and temperatures are typically starting to cool. With this decrease in daylight … Continue reading August 2018 – Cycling Update
The day after we got back from our vacation in Newfoundland, I found myself in Toronto for an afternoon. It made perfect sense for me to take a bike with me and explore the city a bit more. I didn't have a lot of time to plan because we got in late Monday evening and … Continue reading Cycling in Toronto – Humber River and Waterfront Trails
