To Toronto and Back by Bicycle

I biked from Buffalo to Toronto on Wednesday. It was 112 miles door to door. That's the longest I have ridden in one day by far. It took 8 hours and 40 minutes of actual riding and 11.5 hours overall (I spent an hour swimming in the lake). I rode back yesterday (Friday), taking a partially different route that was 105 miles in 8 hours, 11 overall. I found that the first third of each ride was the worst, both physically and psychologically, after that you get into a rhythm that feels normal. Unfortunately because I was spending a whole day in Toronto (I had a friend's art opening to go to), I had to bring a lot of stuff, heavy lock and cable, another pair of shoes, a change of clothes, a small messenger bag, etc. It would have been nice to travel a little lighter.

Port Colborne, Ontario, on Lake Erie

Swimming near Hamilton, on the way to Toronto

View from Missasauga

CN Tower, toy lens, Lumix GF2

Swimming near Hamilton on the way back to Buffalo

Lake Ontario, Oakville

My New Bike

I know this blog is mostly about books but, bikes also take up a big chunk of my brain. And right now I can't stop riding and thinking about riding my new bike. Three weeks ago I bought a complete Surly Cross Check in robin's egg blue. I switched out a number of parts immediately, including the handlebars, tires and saddle, and added long fenders, a rack, bell, etc. I also scratched off all of the Surly logos which, thankfully, Surly makes easy to do (it's a great company but their graphic design is not the best). Down the road there are all sorts of ways I could improve the components, but for the moment I'm very happy with this set up. Aesthetically I would love to have a Brooks saddle on the bike, but unfortunately my body seems to demand an "ergonomic" seat.

This is the bike I intend to use for long day rides and light touring, most of my around town riding is done on my Raleigh One-Way. The longest ride I have been on with this bike is 83 miles, I'm planning a ride to Toronto and back in a couple weeks, and that will be 108 miles each way.

Front Derailleur: Shimano Tiagra, FD-4500 Double

Rear Derailleur: Shimano Tiagra , RD-4500-GS Mid-cage

Crankset:Andel, Forged arms, Silver aluminum, granny ring compatible. 110mm BCD rings, 36 & 48t, ramped & pinned, Black

Bottom Bracket: Shimano , BB-UN54 68 x 113mm

CassetteShimano Tiagra , HG-50 9-speed 12-13-14-15-17-19-21-23-25t

Chain: SRAM PC-971 , 9-speed

Headset: Ritchey Logic Comp, 1-1/8" threadless

Handlebar: Grand Cru Course Handlebar- Classic Round Bend

Brake Levers: Tektro, RL340 standard levers on 52–62cm sizes, RL341 small hand levers on 42–50cm

Brakes: Tektro 992A, Black

Cable Hanger front: Tektro, 1271A

Cable Hanger rear:Surly, Stainless w/adjuster. Silver

Shift Levers: Shimano Bar-end type , SL-BS77. 9-speed

Pedals: MKS Sylvan Touring Pedals

Toe-clips: MKS Deep Steel Toe Clips

Seatpost:Kalloy SP-342 , 27.2 x 300mm. Black

Hubs: Shimano Deore , HB/FH590 32h, 100mm OLD front, 135mm OLD rear

Spokes: DT Swiss , Stainless Steel, 14g/2.0mm w/12mm silver brass nipples

Rims: Alex, DA16. 32h x 700c. Black

Tires: Schwalbe Delta Cruiser HS 392 Bicycle Tire (700x35, SBC Wire Beaded, Cream)

Fenders: Velo Orange Hammered 45mm Fenders 700c

Trunk Bag: Sackville Trunk Sack

Bike Trip

I was away for the last four days on a bike trip to Allegany State Park, my friend Ben's Family has a cabin just outside of the park in Pennsylvania. It is an 80 mile ride from Buffalo, the second half of which is very hilly. We rode down on Friday in perfect sunny weather and then it proceeded to rain for three straight days. On the ride back we got rained on hard for a couple of hours and never fully dried out. I shot a lot of macro stuff with an off camera flash while I was there.

A Red Eft soon to transform into an Eastern Newt

A different Red Eft

Ben's family's cabin

Ben, on the Pat McGee Trail, 12 miles of converted railway bed

Me, after a long climb through the rain

My bike, a 2009 Raleigh Sojourn, a very heavy, very rugged touring bike. Unfortunately, the leather Brooks saddle that the bike came with doesn't work for me so I've had to make the aesthetic sacrifice of going with an ugly seat. I have, however, added long metal touring fenders which are a big improvement over the plastic one the bike shipped with. Although I have already put 1200 miles on the bike since April, this was my first chance to try it out with loaded panniers (about 25 lbs.) it handled really well in a variety of conditions, dirt trails, rough gravel roads, etc.