Big Ride and the North End Roundabout

I've been on a really undesireable work schedule for the past three or four weeks. Although it's opened up a bit more space to do more riding more often, things haven't exactly worked out that way. In any case, I was able to grind out enough time last week to throw down about 150 km all around Halifax, Bedford, Dartmouth and beyond. 

One of those rides was a pretty large loop through Lawrencetown, to Porters Lake and back by Dartmouth via Main St. Clocking in at 70km, it's one of my larger routes that takes me from peninsular, Metro Halifax to suburban and rural HRM. If you're used to longer rides, I totally recommend this one. It's also a great starter or warm-up route if you're looking to transition from 50-60 km rides to about 75-100 km ones. 

In other news, it looks like the construction at the North Park and Cunard streets is coming along quite well. For anyone not in the know: this is the future site of downtown Halifax's first roundabout. 

Now don't get all crazy! 

This little guy is not going to look like the Quinpool Rotary/Roundabout. It's going to be much smaller, with only one lane of travel for cars, and four entry/exit points. In contrast, the Quinpool Rotary/Roundabout is a three-lane monstrosity with five entry/exit points. The North Park and Cunard Roundabout is going to be more compact and --dare I say-- European in design. Having used Euro-Roundabouts both as a cyclist and motorist, I can tell you these changes are going to make these intersections much smoother to get through than the current lighted setup we've been dealing with for the past several decades. 

"What does this mean for cyclists going through?" you might ask. "Aren't roundabouts more dangerous than lighted intersections?" The short answer to that is: Yes. After reading a fair deal about roundabouts from several reports from the Netherlands, Germany and France, there are signs that collision rates between cars and bikes are higher in roundabouts when compared to lighted intersections. A few of these studies go a bit further to see why this happens and have come up with two main suggestions for cyclists that drastically reduce your chances of collision:

1) Position yourself in the centre of the lane! Probably the most important rule of thumb for cyclists in roundabouts. Staying to the right --as you would on most streets-- puts you in a danger zone as this finds you in a blind-spot for most vehicles. Stay directly ahead of cars so they can easily spot you while traveling through a roundabout.

2) Signal your intention to exit. More near-misses were recorded in one study by observers when cyclists failed to indicate they were exiting a roundabout. Although I'm not a big fan of turn signals while cycling, I probably will try to do so when using this Roundabout when it's finished. 

In any case, I'm glad to see this change in the street-scape of the North-End. It should be better for drivers (less congestion, less 90-degree collisions), somewhat better for pedestrians (no waiting for those bloody lights to change, maybe some art-project in the middle of the Roundabout to fancy-up the place, less traffic), and with proper biking habits, better for bikers. 

In other news, I'm hoping to ride out to Peggy's Cove and back sometime in September, and possibly to Windsor and back on another trip as a two-day tour. Will hopefully have a lot of pictures to share from these adventures. Also, I've been hoping to make a few top-three lists of routes, gear and apps for cyclists. Keep your eyes peeled and I hope to see you out on the streets! The cycling season is almost over for those fair-weatherers out there...

The ride that almost wasn't and SWITCH Dartmouth

I swear to God, I probably wasn't meant to go out for a long ride today. After leaving some of my biking gear at work, having to pick it up, setting out later than what I like, and then running across a crowd of folks helping an elderly man who had fallen outside of the Halifax Forum, I thought to myself "Maybe these are all signs that I ought not to be cycling today." Despite this nagging feeling, and considering I was outfitted and off already, I decided to push ahead and tackle the Bedford Loop. 

Anyone familiar with this loop knows it's general difficulty level is pretty low. There are no major category-worthy hills, it's generally quite flat, and traffic along the stretch is courteous. This is probably because one section of the Loop --Waverly Rd. in Dartmouth-- is allegedly the most cycled road in Halifax. What has shaken the cycling community up this summer is that a bridge along the route has been closed for major renovation/replacement. A great idea as the bridge was starting to crumble pretty significantly in some places --especially on the shoulder where bikers tend to be found. The detour consists of turning up Duke St. after getting through Bedford-proper, then connecting to Cobequid Rd. and heading along there until you reconnect with Waverly Rd. Although this increases the degree of difficulty of the overall ride and adds a proper Cat-climb to the route, I think I'll be using this route option quite often from here on out. The route itself is scenic. The road is in great shape with a fair-sized shoulder. Despite taking you out a little farther from Rocky Lake Rd., the overall distance added is less than 10km. 

What I'm trying to say is in case you've been avoiding the Bedford Loop because of the construction and closure of Rocky Lake Rd., I urge you to try the detour! It's totally worth the bit of extra effort. When have we shirked away from something that is a tad harder than normal?

A little treat was waiting for me on my way back through Dartmouth. The Open Street Party known as SWITCH was going on downtown. Although I think I pulled in around the end of the festivities, I have to say that there were still a lot of kiddies and families enjoying the events. I'm not sure people really understood the concept of an Open Street as 90% of pedestrians were still using the sidewalk almost exclusively. 

But what can you do when you're working with nearly 50 years of heavily endorsed and reinforced car culture. 

The street party was great. The businesses in Downtown Dartmouth definitely deserve some major recognition, considering the general fear that most business communities display at anything that reduces traffic flow and on-street parking. Major props to the SWITCH organizing team, particularly Ross Soward --great guy who was also an incredible Halifax Cycling Coalition co-chair. 

"So when is Halifax's next SWITCH Open Street Sunday?" you may ask. According to this article, it's probably not too far away. Without support from local business associations, however, these events become much more difficult to plan and execute. So if you're shopping at any business within the North End Business Association (NEBA) make sure you let them know you're a cyclist and you want an Open Street Party! Writing to your municipal Councillor is also a great way to lend your support. Volunteering with the SWITCH team is definitely another way to lend a much needed hand. Most importantly though, when this event rolls around, don't forget to join in the fun!

Safe riding out there! Summer is almost done. Cram that Bedford loop in!

BeerFest and my unit is too hot over the summer

Well it's been three days since I went to BeerFest, and I've just sufficiently shaken off my hangover enough to start writing on this again.

It was really a great time! Good lot of beers there. Although I did make a list of beers that I was interested to try, a lot of them were either out of stock, or the crowds around the brewing booths were just too ungodly dense to wait it out. 

It didn't help that I left my super-organized list at home by accident and had to rely on a crappy bit of scrap paper with some beer names haphazardly scrawled thereon before rushing to the Fest after work. 

Some beers that I found pretty notable --for better or worse-- were: 

- Pretty much every stout for their thick, easy drinking quality; 

- A new type of beer called a "Sour Beer" which tastes exactly how you'd think it would;

- "Princess Wears Girl Pants" at first for the funny name, but it ended up tasting swell;

- Pump House Blueberry ale was great! Last year I found the blueberry taste was way to sharp, but this year it was balanced out quite a bit better.

Fast-forward to Monday: I drug myself out of bed after a particularly slow night shift and powered out a good 7k run from the North End to the Rotary and back. It was delightful. 

Speaking of work, I might not have put much thought into my schedule for the next six weeks as I'm doing a bunch of on-off-on-on-off-off patterns repeatedly--other nurses will likely get that. It might burn me out a little bit, but the timing couldn't be better as our summer slowdown is still in effect (we close a pretty high proportion of our beds because the heat in the summer coupled with the lack of air-con on our unit makes recovery as a patient pretty miserable, and working there becomes a physical strain --literally). Nevertheless, this schedule pattern might actually allow me to squeeze in bit more cycling over the next couple weeks. So we'll see how things go. 

Sambro-Loop Ride

Hey y'all!

Just getting back and unwinding from a great ride along the Sambro Loop with my good friend @redwards5. I wish I would have known about this loop when I first got into biking as it's easily one of the most Maritime-esque rides you can find within the HRM --without busting your butt out to Peggy's Cove and back. 

It has everything you're looking for! Coastal fishing communities, the smell of the ocean, a very gradual decline for about 25 km to get to Sambro itself, and enough rolling hills to work off the booze you overdid it with last weekend! I'd give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars for difficulty and a 4.5 out of 5 stars for scenery. It's roughly 50 km out and back from the Rotary and back along Purcells Cove Rd. 

Because seriously, after the Herring Cove Bike Lane Debacle I refuse to support that business association. Except Pavia Gallery of course, but they're so far out, I feel like they fall outside of the typical, short-sighted group of neanderthals of the Spryfeild and District Business Commission. 

Let's jump back to over-boozing over the weekends though: This weekend I'm heading to the Halifax Seaport Beerfest to sample some wonderful and worldly beers from Nova Scotia and beyond! Having recently accepted and grown to love Guinness Irish Ale I'm looking for a local Irish Ale to add to my beer-list.  

Granite Brewery is a close contender with their Keefs Irish Ale. You should totally look into Granite Brewery. They have a great bevy of beers to explore. I'm also looking forward to checking out those Cape Breton brewery beers (Big Spruce), along with any blonde beers that tickle my fancy. 

Well... Here's to feeling good all the time!

Bearly's and a little bit about dog sitting

For the past month I've been babysitting this little munchkin

Not being a particularly intense dog person myself (yes, I'm a cat guy), I was interested in what the big hubbub around dogs was about. As such I've noted the following five items as a temporary dog owner:

1) It's not particularly more difficult to take care of a dog. It's mainly a lot of extra work. Going somewhere outdoors and fun? The dog is pretty much coming. Do you walk around a couple times a day? Let's make that five times a day --and you're bringing the dog. Visiting your friends and/or parents? Guess who you're bringing. It's the dog. 

2) Although dogs enjoy fetching, the conceptual deficits they have surrounding bringing back the ball/frisbee/toy can be infuriating. It's something I don't quite understand. I actually do enjoy playing fetch with the munchkin, even wrestling the frisbee out of that clap-trap of hers. The times that she gets the frisbee and just stays away tho... It's just frustrating. Perhaps the frustration comes from the fact that I'm trying to understand and justify the thought processes of an animal.

3) Dogs make good company. I wasn't sure if I'd really come around to this way of thinking. I thought I'd get the same sort of company as a cat, but dogs seem to actually hang out with you, no matter what you're doing. I've also found that I talk to the dog (thus myself) more often now. This may be less of a company thing and more of a sign of insanity. 

4) Dogs are pretty complex creatures. I really thought cats were more complex leading up to this doggy-sitting adventure. Cats definitely have unusual behaviour that isn't readily explainable. By most accounts they aren't really trainable. As satisfied as cats are to be indoor-cats, they will totally bolt out of your apartment door if you're not careful, but will be scared-stiff when they actually get to the front doors. Dogs are a little more difficult than cats in that you're replacing the blazé, pretentiousness of a cat with the more emotive, dependancy of the dog. Whether this is good or bad, you have to admit that either choice is better than a goldfish --those incredulous bastards. 

5) Lastly, random people that you pass on the street smile at you significantly more often when you are walking your dog. More over, they are way more likely to take things a step further and talk to you about your dog and, from there, start a full-blown conversation! I can see how dog-people get more dates than us regular, non-dog folks. Sadly, even with the odds so in my favour this month, I'm no further ahead in the dating portion of my life. 

On a completely different note, I was at Bearly's the other night. I feel like what I'm about to say might not sit well with a lot of people: while I understand and agree with the concept of Bearly's, I find real-life Bearly's to be an aweful venue for anything. 

Blues is a great musical genre. There aren't many blues acts in town, so Bearly's has opened their Wednesday slots to quasi-armature comedians. Whicked, right? Well think again! The acoustics of the room, though it might work for blues, is wretched for actual speaking events. It's virtually impossible to make out a word of what those funny-folks were saying! Brutal... Just brutal.

But don't take it from me. Head down to Bearly's on Wednesday and check it out for yourself! Starts at 8PM. Great burgers via Ace Burger Co.

Ta-Ta for now!