Snow is a Four-Letter Word

But I guess I'll be saying it a lot in the next little while. Thankfully, this was only a skiff.

Prairie Girls in The Big Smoke

We were very extravagant and went to Toronto for the weekend to visit friends and do some shopping.

It was wonderful to see the many options people have for using their bicycles to access public transit.
This covered bike shelter was at a GO-train stop outside of the Greater Toronto area.
And these bike were locked up at Union Station.

We stopped at Curbside Cycle to look at a few things. They had a very cute tricycle.

Maple handlebars. Not recommended for winter riding as maple supposedly shatters in cold temperatures.
Of the hundreds of cyclists and their bicycles, these were the most obviously modified.

And we are now the happy owners of Brooks saddles.

The New-to-Me Winter Bike

This is a 1972 Eatons Glider made by Raleigh. I found it on Kijiji for a wonderful price. I had pretty much decided to buy her before I even saw her in person.
It had a bit of rust, and the chrome needed some polishing.

It has the original Glider badge
And a Sturmey-Archer 3-speed hub, that worked very well even without cleaning.

The pedals are really quite cool-I've never seen ones like this before.

And an old, white, Brooks saddle, which surprisingly, is not leather.

The front fender has some interesting details.

Sadly, inside the details, things were rather rusty.

The Geek applied some rust converter (I still have to research what the rust might be converted to. Gold would be good, especially at today's prices.) to stop it from spreading further.

She then painted on a coat of re-purposed truck-bed liner. That should keep any salt that gets in this winter from causing further damage.

Once the inner tubes were replaced and the seat adjusted, the handlebars were a little too low.
Yesterday we went to Naturalcycle and pestered Anders until we found the right stem/ handlebar combination to bring the handlebars to a comfortable height. Anders was somewhat concerned about the tire type and the open bearings on the wheels and how they will fare in the winter weather. Those things will have to be replaced if this winter riding thing catches on with me.
While we were there, a fellow walked in and told me that he had been looking at that bike and rightly identified that I bought it from a gentleman in Headingley. Sometimes Winnipeg is a very small town.

Once the old handlebars were removed and the brakes and gear-shifter were transferred to the new handlebars, she was ready to go.

Here she is beside Eselin. Even tho' she feels just as heavy, for some reason she doesn't have the same feel. No doubt it is because Eselin is much longer and has bigger wheels.

Now I just have to actually get up enough nerve to ride in the snow. Since the snow is late this year, and I am in no hurry for it to come, I'll have time to get to know her first.

And she will need a name. Pretty bikes like this cannot remain anonymous.

The Orioles Bike Cage

Today we took a load of 'retrieved' bicycles and assorted parts to the Orioles Bike Cage.
(My new-to-me bike is on the top of the pile, but it didn't stay there.)

It is located near the Orioles Community Club in Winnipeg's West End.



The 'Cage' is housed in what I think was the changing rooms for the nearby skating rink, but it has been converted to a well kitted out bicycle repair shop.

They also have a huge assortment of donated parts.

There were three volunteers working with several children when we arrived. The kids seemed to be having a great deal of fun riding around on their wheels and no doubt helping where they could.

Good Advertising

This cool bike rack is outside, of all places, a bicycle shop.

It would be handy for giving directions too. "Just head west on Portage until you see the big orange bike." Very cute.

Lest We Forget

A very large turnout at the Remembrance Day service at Bruce Park.I've never seen so many people in the 10 years I have been attending memorials here. And thankfully, a large number of children. Many worry that no one will remember those who were willing to stand up for their beliefs once this generation is gone. This gives me hope, that they can prevent the same from happening again.

An Old-Time Child Seat

My old brown bike is back on the farm again. The Geek gave it a tune-up and now hopefully my mom will use it from time to time.

I felt the need to take pictures of the old child seat that was installed on the bike when I bought it.
It meets all the local legal requirements for a child seat, such as a seat belt, a supportive back rest, foot rests and a guard to keep little toes out of the spokes, but I wonder if anyone would use it?
And best of all, it folds down compactly when not in use.


All it needs is a little polish and it would be good to go.

As it is, the Geek plans to make a box to rest on top so my mom can carry things back and forth to the garden.

What Season is This?

What ever it is, I'll take it!



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