Posts Tagged: biking in toronto
out riding: bathurst street, wychwood barns, st. george street, king street
Like yesterday, the weather report isn' t cooperating with our plans. We briefly consider an alternative but the sun comes out periodically and things don't look too threatening so we grab our raincoats and go with Burger Day at Wychwood Barns as planned.
I'm feeling a little smug after my 30K re-entry into cycling yesterday; other than being mildly saddle sore, I feel great in the morning. When I get back on the bike, however, my legs complain. Kinda loud. But I soldier on; the ride to St. Clair via Bathurst isn't real far, but it's a mild upgrade most of the way, and at one point a steepish hill that has me huffing and puffing as I walk my bike up that hill. I love my seasoned-cyclist boyfriend for walking up with me.
Rain starts as we get to Wychwood Barns, and the place is teeming with humanity. Local restaurants are serving sliders and we enjoy the ones we try. Inside, some entertainment has started and we enjoy the 12-ish year old boys playing, and the great support from the crowd.
We go back out into the rain and ride downhill back downtown, enjoying it. We cut over by Casa Loma and then to the beautiful St. George Street to ride south in the dedicated bike lane.
We stop for a bowl of French onion soup on King Street, and the best moment of the day is when we arrive at the pub and I'm peeling off wet layers and my hair is mushed against my head from my helmet and my face is splattered from the rain from puddles and traffic and Ceri says, genuinely, "you look great!"
I feel pretty great actually. The fear I'd had of riding my bike in the close city streets was much overcome today by the freedom I felt in riding my bike in the rain. So much ground to cover; so little time.
Those boys with guitars today – they reminded me of this video.
not walking
My bike is finally cleaned up and operational again and so we'd planned to ride out to the Beaches to catch some of the Blues Festival there. It's windy looking out on the lake and rain is forecast, so we plan a shorter ride to Cherry Beach instead. We ride right by Cherry Beach, along the Martin Goodman Trail. We get to Leslie Street so we ride out to the end of the Leslie Spit. I suppose because of the weather and rainy forecast, there's hardly anyone at the conservation area and we enjoy a peaceful ride amidst the sometimes cacophonous birdsong.
We ride back off of the spit and continue east to the originally intended Blues Fest since we're practically there. We have corn on the cob and a beer and enjoy some blues, then head back toward downtown under increasingly overcast skies. We stop at the Gilead Cafe because we're both still thinking about the luscious poutine we shared there a number of weeks ago. It lived up to our memories, and as we left I asked Ceri, "where will we eat now?"
We decide to head back to my neighbourhood given the looming rain. We stop at the grocery store and I pick up some peppers and edamame and coffee filters. We get a little wet on the last leg, but it's a great ride. A great day. We watch the rain a bit and are rewarded with a rainbow.
published in the beautiful Bella Grace!
