There is just a touch of humorous irony in this.

We had a bad ice storm on Saturday. There are still many without power, six days now over Christmas. Traffic lights were out all over the city. We had single digit temps after the ice storm, which made it very bad for those who had no power--about half the homes and businesses in the area. Today it went up to 33F, which had everybody outdoors to enjoy the "warm" weather. My grandson and I walked downtown to the Grand Traverse Pie Company, and took a bus home.

The power outage actually made bike riding easier on the main streets, as all traffic stopped at the intersections. Side streets were almost impassable for bikes, so I pushed my bike for a few yards to the big street near my house. So it wasn't a big deal. As soon as the cars could get out, I could too.

December 24 ...

I left work early (so did everyone else) and took the opportunity to walk up to the library to drop off a book, then I walked to a fresh fruit and veg market where I picked up some veggies for Christmas, and then I walked home.

I have been thinking about the possibility of walking home from work for a while ... and it would take me about an hour, but it can be done without too much difficulty.

The whole walk on Christmas Eve was 6 km. If I just walked home from work without the trip to the library and trip to the market, it would be about 4 km.

December 31 ...

Rowan and I wanted to see tonight's New Year's Eve fireworks, the early ones, and so ... we walked! The fireworks took place across the river from where we live, so we walked down to the river and found a quiet little bench along the cycleway. It was a perfect view!

And right in the middle of it all, a large seal swam past. :)


Happy New Year!!

I rode to meet with the realtor at the house I'm in the process of buying (a whopping half mile from my apartment), then to the bank and home again. I remembered to take my ski mask and goggles off before entering the bank. Maybe three miles total, and a nice excursion in the snow/ice and 2F temperature. I somehow stay upright better on wheels than feet in this kind of weather :P

Happy New Year!

Found some dirt to ride on.

Walked ... 4.2 km round trip to my church and back. Most of the walk was along the cycleway (MUP) on the edge of the river. Very pleasant.

Rode downtown to the coffee shop, then to the post office (I used the drive-through mail drop off!), then to the food co-op to get some tea. It was very windy - I got a nice tailwind on the way home!

Got groceries so
I won't have to go, out in
the snow tomorrow.

Oh ho! I'm digging your haikus. Do you make them up while you're riding?

I ride when riding. Haiku is better done just sitting.

I ride when riding
and sitting's just for sitting.
when to write haikus?

or

I ride when riding
and sitting's just for ****ting.
when to write haikus?

For the second time (since I've been working at my new job), I used human-powered transportation to get home from work ... a 4 km walk. And somehow I managed to miss the rain!

:thumb:

Walked home again today ... 4 km! And it took me about 45 minutes. Now I'm in the very early stages of toying with the idea of walking to work ... just not sure I want to get up half an hour earlier.

It was a bit chilly out there, and windy of course, but nicer than yesterday.

I can't wait until it's summer here, and we can rub it in about how "chilly" it is at 60 or 70 degrees F! We're at minus 11F right now, with wind chills having gone up to minus 35. I'm a lot less adventurous than I used to be. Yesterday I only went outdoors once--ironically to help push the household car out of the driveway. Tonight I will walk to work, but that's only a few blocks.

It was 13C (55F) walking home. For the height of summer, 13C is chilly. Think how you'd feel to have a run of days ranging between 10C (50F) and 15C (60F) in early July. I wish it were 21C (70F)!!!!

Fortunately it's supposed to start warming up a bit tomorrow. :)

Oh and ... winter temps here don't usually go below freezing. What we're experiencing right now are almost winter temps. :D

I started the vehicles today and let them run for a few minutes. Today's high -1 and with wind chill -18 . Haven't been more then 50 feet from the house in a few days. I see the bikes in the basement and they are talking to me, "Ride us".

We got down to -23C today (-9.4F), which is super cold for Toronto. However my former home (and Machka's, at a different time ) of Winnipeg has been brutally colder. One day the high was -33C (-27.4F).

It's tough walking, as the ruthless wind seems to be always in your face, and the sidewalks have a lot of rutted ice from earlier freezing rain a few days ago. I've been doing the short (500m) walk to the bus stop, not the slightly longer (1200m) walk to the subway.

Normal winter day in January. :)

I used to cycle to and from work in that ... or if there was a lot of snow and/or the wind was howling, I'd do a bus/walk combination.

Another day walking home from work ... 4 km. :)


About half my commute:

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3675/1...b93b5f37b8.jpg

Mid-afternoon ride.
Pedaling for groceries.
Ice covers the creek.

Did you ride on the ice? It's great fun if it's thick enough. I will be getting out there as the sub-zero temps moderate a bit.

Talking about wind and bridges (in another thread) is it safe to walk over that?

3mi. walk to Target, you don't think carrying a few bags is that big of a deal but it can be a real workout
My favorite type of siding:thumb: