I can’t participate in the opening pancake breakfast at Nathan Phillips Square because I commute the other way. Instead, I’m going to bike to work tomorrow morning even though they’re calling for thunderstorms in the afternoon, and either leave the bike there overnight or pick it up later in the evening.

Thursday’s a staff meeting at FreshBooks which is followed by a (decidedly un-bike-related) rock climbing excursion at Joe Rockhead’s. I’ve never climbed before but I’ve been meaning to for a long time (and it’s on my severely out-of-date 101 in 1001 list). But Thursday night brings back the bike content with a Bike Month screening of Pee-Wee Herman’s Big Adventure, with live action featuring various local personalities. Think Pee-Wee meets Rocky Horror. I should drag some FreshBooks people along.

Friday’s the last Friday of the month, which means Toronto’s monthly Critical Mass ride. I figure Bike Month is as good a time as ever for my first Mass. I know there’s a lot of opinions out there on Mass and I haven’t entirely formed mine yet, but I figure I ought to participate before I do. I know there’s been some issues with Mass in Toronto in the past but I’ve also heard that it’s cleaned up a bit (although I’ve also heard that a detour through the Eaton Centre is not unheard of).

Right after that is the first Toronto Criterium in the St. Lawrence Market area. The senior divisions’ race starts at 7:30 and lasts an hour and a half plus three laps. Crits are a blast to watch — especially compared to road races — because they’re laps, which means you get to see the peloton more than once, and because they’re short, which means they’re fast and aggressive.

And that’s just this week! I haven’t dug deeply into the rest of the month’s schedule, although dobbs on MetaFilter mentioned recently that the 2008 Cycle Messenger World Championships are being held in Toronto mid-June, so I’ll probably catch some of that too (and maybe catch up with dobbs there, for that matter).

(The Tour de Dufflet sure is tempting, though. And I need to remember to register for the Community Bicycle Network’s repair classes. But I might pass on the World Naked Bike Ride on the 14th.)

Post-and-ring photo at top by flickr user urbanmkr.

CETMA Rack on Flickr

Here’s the rack I was talking about yesterday. Picked it up after work today, took 15 minutes to install. I still need to cut the fender back a bit but didn’t have anything handy to do it with. Also I can’t find my bungee net from the motorcycle, which means I probably left it on the motorcycle. Ah well, cheap enough to replace.

Now I need something to carry! And a box to put groceries in.

feet elev.

miles

Unfortunate, especially since there are no showers at work. I might end up taking the bus up the steep part with the bike on the bus’s bike rack some days, or just figuring something out to clean up and change at work anyhow. I feel kind of silly because shorts and a T-shirt are fine at FreshBooks, but I don’t really like wearing shorts day-to-day, even in summer.

I do want to get something to carry stuff on the bike instead of my back, though. Even though I’ve got a nearly-new Timbuk2 messenger bag, I’d like to avoid the damp back that comes from cordura-on-cotton. Current plan is to pick up a CETMA 5-rail front rack:

They’re handmade by Lane Cagay in Eugene, OR of cromoly tubing, with a weight limit of over 40 lbs (although the racks can handle a lot more, that’s when steering starts to get a bit wonky, apparently — and here’s why the front). On a lark I checked Craigslist yesterday and it turns out there’s someone with an unused 5-rail for sale just a few blocks north of here, so that’s awfully serendipitous. I figure even if I don’t ride to work daily, just doing all my errands at this end of town on the bike will be a plus compared to walking or bussing it everywhere.

I’ll post photos once I’ve got the rack!

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