February Freebie

The relatively dry roads and relatively mild weather was too enticing to ignore so I hauled my bike out of hibernation for a ride around the neighbourhood.

Damn, it felt good! Though by the end, I realized one of the downsides of winter cycling not mentioned by all the boosters of the off-season activity is ingesting several grams of dust and salt thrown into the air by passing vehicles.

Heading home along Laurier Avenue East, I noticed a new installation beside the Metro Station.

Apparently, these counters have been installed in cities around the world (http://www.eco-compteur.com/) and the city of Ottawa posts statistics for its counter for Laurier Avenue W (coincidence?) online (http://ottawa-laurier.visio-tools.com/).

In the spring, I will be curious to see if this section of Laurier Avenue East will resemble the artist's conception as posted on the city of Montreal's website (http://ville.montreal.qc.ca/portal/page?_pageid=7297,89053614&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL).

Spinning!

Charlie Sheen had it wrong; it's not winning! that counts, it's spinning!

I bit the bullet and signed up at the local Y, which offers numerous spinning classes (or Cyclo-Cardio as it is known for the Francophones).

As someone who never listens to music when I ride, I am not enamored with the speakers blaring throughout the class. Still, once the pedals starts turning and the sweat starts dripping, I can visualize a tree-lined road in my mind and ride on. 

Lance

Oh, Lance, I knew you only had one nut, but I always thought you had balls.