This year, on my annual trip home to see my parents, I decided it would be a better idea to bring my bike with me instead of spending a week letting my brain rot on daytime TV. I'll admit that I was pretty paranoid about having my bike crushed by careless baggage handlers, but in the end, everything survived without incident in an EVOC soft case I was able to borrow from a good friend. I had actually booked the flight long before I decided I was going to bring it with me and if I was going to do it again, I'd fly with WestJet due to their much more lenient checked bag policy.
My parents weren't due to come pick me up until later the evening, so I set about finding enough caffeine to keep me going after only 4 hours of fitful dozing on the flight and wandering around downtown Toronto. By wandering, I really mean exploring Graffiti Alley to feast upon the smorgasboard of bike-against-a-wall opportunities. The level of graffiti art in Toronto is off the charts compared to Vancouver. The gallery below represents about 3 blocks or 1km worth of art in the Fashion District with a few others that I spotted on the way to grabbing coffee. It doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of the tagging and painting in all of the city's little back alleys.
I haven't ridden a bike in Kitchener since I was in high school. A lot has changed in the last twenty years and it was a novel experience to ride a modern bike on roads I'd only ever travelled by car. What I'd forgotten about was how windy Southern Ontario was. Many thanks to the Waterloo Cycling Club for letting me drop in on their Thursday threshold ride.
