So I have a new client way off in the the land of the setting sun – Mississauga. To those outside of the greater Toronto area – think of any standard North American suburb – wide fast roads, big box stores, cavernous parking lots as well as large housing developments and industrial parks. Like someone pointed out in, I think, Radiant City, living, working, and shopping spaces are all segregated from one another and connected by big roads.
Anyway, I carpooled with a colleague for my first day but determined that at about 29km, it was a do-able commute and resolved to start commuting by bike on Tuesday. Yesterday was the big day and I loaded up my panniers, put on my clothes and looked out the window. As it was still dark and we’re pretty high up, I couldn’t tell what it was doing weather-wise. One clue was that all of the streetlights had halos, though, which meant snow. Undaunted, I checked the weather and saw that we were supposed to get 2-4 cm (1-2″) over the course of a day. How bad could it be?
The ride took me along Bloor street for most of the way and at least through the Toronto portion of Bloor, it was mostly fun. Traffic wasn’t that bad, weather was snowy but liveable, and there was no wind to speak of. Bloor is an interesting street that travels through several different neighbourhoods of every sort. That changed, though, as I approached the western limits of Toronto. At that point, the traffic got more dense, sped up a fair bit, and there were fewer bikes. I saw my last biker somewhere around High Park. Also, by this time the snow had picked up and was sticking to my glasses which required that I stop every km or two to clear them.
Finally I made it to Mississauga and the roads had become so slippery that it was time to move to the sidewalk. Now normally I am not a sidewalk-rider and am annoyed by those who do when there is a perfectly good road there. However, in the suburbs, what I’ve found is that the sidewalks only have people on them near bus shelters. And besides, with the snow, I wouldn’t be going much faster than a walk myself.
Finally nearing my destination I turned to cut through a quiet and empty residential area and went back on the road. The good news is there were no cars. The bad news is that there was also nothing but snow on top of ice. And as you’d expect as I slowed to prepare to stop at a stop sign my bike instantly turned on its side. I was fine, and the nearest car was so far in the distance he couldn’t be seen but still it shook me up a little and coloured the trip just that little bit darker. The bad news was that when I hit the ground I landed on the right side – the same side as the pannier that contained my laptop. The same pannier that came unhooked on a bump earlier that day and hung by its hook banging on the ground for a few feet until I stopped. Now the laptop is slow and a bit old but that’s not the way I wanted to get it replaced.
Finally, after about 2 hours I made it to work. I spent much of the morning feeling a bit defeated. While the first 10-12 km of the trip were really enjoyable, the last 15 or so were miserable on so many levels. The word soul sucking comes to mind. Still, part of me looked forward to the trip home.
Though the snow was meant to have stopped an hour before I left, as I left it was snowing and there was now a huge wind in my face. However, the difference with the return trip is that I had lots to look forward to. Where riding out to Mississauga only left me with the prospect of worse cycling conditions, the return trip promised to undo all of that. And indeed it did. The ride through Mississauga was about the same, but by the time I got past the 427, things improved steadily. The wind was now at my back, giving me a bit of a helpful push. And just after the 427 I saw my first other cyclist. By the time I got to Jane street, the streets were once again populated with people and there were a number of Christmas lights up. Now I’m not one to celebrate Christmas but there was something so welcoming about seeing that along with the other cyclists that started popping up more and more as I rode further east.
By the time I hit Dufferin, though, I was out of gas so to speak. Cycling burns calories as you know, and it is harder with the resistance of the snow. I’m sure also stress helps burn a few calories so it was time. Fortunately there was a hot dog stand and I picked one up. On the one hand this was necessary – I don’t know as if I’d want to try to make it home without a snack. On the other hand, I hadn’t thought about what would happen to the clothes I was wearing under my waterproof pants and shell which were now damp with sweat. I’ll tell you what happens – they get damned cold is what. By the time I had finished eating I was very cold and it took me a good 10-15 minutes to get back up to temperature.
The rest of the trip home was relatively uneventful and I was physically feeling good by the time I got to within about 5 km of my home. I even considered making a quick stop at the store to pick up a few things. Fortunately I didn’t because a couple km later my legs started making suggestions like “Perhaps you could coast home the rest of the way or maybe make a sail out of your coat and give us a break. We’ve just about had enough, thanks!”
After 2 hours I got home totally wiped out, we were extremely bad and ordered pizza instead of making dinner, and I spent most of the night on the couch reading a book.
And today I go back. However, suburbia has beaten me for the time being. It is bad enough that it is about 60 km round trip (which I could get used to over time), but with the snow, bad drivers, and generally bad feeling about the whole city, I just am not up to the task and am picking up a rental car this morning. Part of me feels bad about it. After all, I could do it again if I had no other choice, and really, isn’t it this same attitude that has equipped everyone in the suburbs with a car? On the other hand, I am pretty pleased that I made it as far as I did under the conditions that I was faced with. It was definitely an interesting adventure though one I would rather not attempt again until the weather and road conditions improve.
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NMFP?
Yesterday I came across an article on blog.to talking about the banning of plastic bags in China and wondering if it couldn’t be done here in Ontario or at least Toronto. I have to say, overall, the comments thread has been very disappointing.
What I see most of all are representatives of an attitude that seems to be epidemic in North America. Excuse-making for why a person (or government) is not doing something that could potentially help the environment. Here are some examples of general ideas I’ve seen:
“Why should we do ‘x’ – it is just too hard! Nobody will do it.” Whether someone is talking about reducing emissions, eliminating plastic bags or switching from one’s personal car to transit or bike, this one is trotted out all the time. It’s a tired excuse and says more about the person giving it than anything. What other hard things don’t you want to do? Properly parent? Go to university? Get up early in the morning to go to work?
Another one that bugs me is simply denying that the problem exists. Whether it be climate change, litter, or environmental illness many people and even governments are prone to denying either the severity or the existence of the problem. My response: So what? What’s the worst that happens if you implement it? Quality of life improves one way or another. Reduce the number of cars in the city of Toronto and you can expect smog to improve, and traffic to improve for people on bikes and travelling via transit. Take steps to reduce carbon and other emissions by reducing use of cars and electricity or by choosing alternative energy and if the climate isn’t really changing then big deal – we’ve reduced other emissions, made our petroleum supplies last a bit longer and are better prepared for the eventual point when we actually are far enough into peak oil that it really isn’t feasible to drive everywhere in our gas-powered cars.
There’s also the camp of “So what if I stop, everyone else is going to keep doing it.” This has been trotted out by governments to support their not signing on to Kyoto and by individuals as well. Why should I inconvenience myself with reusable bags when people will just keep using them and I’ll be the only one inconvenienced. Get over it, everyone gets inconvenienced sometimes, maybe it’s your turn for a change.
Annoying also are those who point out “bigger” problems. Why deal with plastic bags which are only a small piece of the trash – start with cups and cigarette butts. They’re the real problem! I’ve got an idea: Deal with those problems also.
Perhaps the most annoying are apologists such as Beth Maher in the linked article who simply state “If it’s hard and I have to go out of my way to do it, I probably won’t do it. I’m lazy.” Again, as I said above, get over it. There are hard things you have to do in one’s life, deal with it. The value of doing something is not dictated by how high the fun to difficulty ratio is.
Which is not to say that I haven’t, and am still not falling into some if not all of the above traps. There are days when I think it is too hard and not very fun to cycle to work in the rain and I take transit. There are days when I think a bowl of Vietnamese beef noodle soup sounds too good to pass up. But can we at least, as a society, at least agree on a positive direction to move in and actually do it more than we avoid doing it and quit kidding ourselves with excuses as to why it isn’t our problem and start doing things because they’re the right thing to do and not because they’re fun and all our friends are doing them?