david byrne's bicycle diary - speaks!

on this - the triple ten of days - i'm really pleased to share something that has a little bit of that

cooler than cool quality we all crave.

david byrne has been one of those iconic figures in my life who have lived louder than i dare.

his work with talking heads and then as a solo artist and especially the seminal work "my life in the bush of ghosts" which he co-created with brian eno, drove me to think beyond my thinking at that time, to see the world as something completely different and richer than i had previously known.

that david is a cyclist came as something of a revelation when i came across some mentions in his online journal that got me to thinking about how a guy who is a slightly off-centre personage, could fit cycling

into his persona and lifestyle.

it brought me to think about my own relationship with my bicycles and especially my own rationale for being a cyclist. which brings me to my own reading of david's book "the bicycle diaries". i read the book a little bit at a time last year, sort of like eating a bento box of sushi - the experience being a lot about unpacking small spaces and letting the unpacking extend into the bigger spaces of your experiencing.

i enjoyed the book from the perspective of reading words written by david because even though i haven't ever met him, he has a place in my life - a good place actually. i enjoyed the book because it's about an intelligent creative person talking about swimming ever so slightly upstream - riding a bike brings with it a very slender coolness quotient and regardless of how many other people are doing it, you really are on your own, carving your niche, making the space within which you wish to move from point a to point b and survive and thrive

and especially to love the experience for ever after.

if you're not a reader but you are a listener then you may be delighted to have the opportunity to hear the first audiobook i know of that features a guy talking essentially about cycling in an urban context.

an intelligent, hip, cool, insightful, streetsmart, artsy, wish he was my friend sort of guy.

curious at all?

good, then you belong here and you should give this a listen.

like it?

wanna spend some of last weeks pay cheque on more of it?

then go here for the book or you can go here for the chapter by chapter audiobook.

cobourg to peterborough

my ride from cobourg back to peterborough was under mostly grey skies.

the weather forecast - well it's a prediction really isn't it -

"60% chance of showers late in the day in the peterborough area".

you know what that means,

i know what that means

and even though i was offered two rides back to peterborough i politely declined because -

a ride is a ride and won't be put on hold for the "chance of showers".

my approach to cycling has always been to go riding and make the best of what you're given.

here's a shot from the day before.

sunny skies - perfect for sailing, cycling, heading out for a walk, a run - whatever strikes your fancy!

so after a photograph of the bike down by lake ontario,

i headed out of cobourg and flew across the kilometres to port hope courtesy of a steady and strong tail-wind.

(this, by the way is the bike i ride to and from school every day.

i call this bike, my "commuter".

it's actually a de vinci nassau.

i've had it for four years now and i love it for its huge gear range which gets me up hills and gives me good speed across the flats. it's relatively light and comfortable,

plus, it has a blackburn rack at the back so i can carry stuff!)

it's got about ten thousand kilometres on it.

i'd thought about stopping in at dreamers for another crazy cookie and americano but i'd had a good lunch at my mum's and figured i'd just pass through.

the climb up and out of port hope is long and fairly steep. lined with old houses and little shops, the distractions are many but eventually i reached the turn for hwy. 2 north and left port hope behind.

at the point where hwy. 2 becomes country road 10, i passed through the lovely little hamlet of "welcome".

it was not long before i was riding through a very rural landscape.

many of the farmers were working in their fields. i like to wave at them when i pass by -

sort of a thankyou for their work which helps get food to my table.

many of the fields are filled with tall corn plants.

i'm not sure what's growing in all of the fields but i was really drawn to the distant hills - despite having ridden up and over the oak ridges moraine, there were many more hills yet to go.

in fact on this ride there are a dozen or so good climbs.

each has an excellent view either in front or behind.

you can see that the skies are filling with grey fluffy stuff.

i came over one hill not far south of millbrook and saw this lovely old farm.

so many farms have the most spectacular views.

as i approached cavan the skies opened up. gently at first and so i was grateful for the cooling rain, but the tempo gradually increased and then i heard the distant ominous rumbles of approaching thunder which naturally drew closer and closer until they were passing overhead.

this was the third ride i've been on in two weeks in which i've ridden through thunder and lightning!!

it goes with the time of year but there is nothing to match racing along a road with the rain pelting down and the sudden flash of a lightning bolt coupled with a grand boom of thunder to remind you of

how tiny and insignificant and vulnerable you really are.

the cows know what to do at times like this. just sit down and wait patiently.

i had about ten kilometres from here, so on i pushed.

happily i made it home in one piece, had a hot shower, changed into dry clothes, got the laundry started up and was tucking into a nice dinner before very long.

about 70 kilometres. two and a half hours of riding.

here's the google map link for my ride from cobourg to peterborough.

peterborough to cobourg

once a year i ride my bicycle down to my mum's home in cobourg.

i see her more often than that, but this is a ride.

which means it takes extra effort.

so there's a form of satisfaction in not only getting there, but getting back home.

leaving my own family is always hard.

but then there's the open road, a bicycle propelled and steered by myself.

so the trade-off of a small amount of misery for a large amount of happiness works out - eventually.

to get to cobourg means crossing lots of long rolling hills. if you look at these two photographs, you should know that the hills in the distance are the height of land also known as the oak ridges moraine.

there are many other steep climbs and racing descents before i even get there.

riding almost entirely through countryside. the road is fairly quiet and you can hear the birds, the crickets, cows, the odd bit of farm machinery, the wind rushing past your ears,

and of course the sound of the tyres on the pavement.

and then the scenery does change abruptly when you enter the ganaraska forest.

there's a rich hush about the rows upon rows of conifers.

and then magically after a long climb around a sweeping bend you get your first glimpse of lake ontario

(it's just right of centre in the image).

on the africycle ride, bike buddy michael prepared me for this moment.

it's so simple,

this matter of the sharing of the very simplest and most astonishing joys.

and then before you know it you're in port hope.

in port hope there's a lovely coffee shop called dreamers

where you can get a really good americano and a crazy cookie (yep that's what they're called)

that like many baked goods, tastes a lot better than it looks!

nicely fueled up it's back on the road and across the bike lane beside highway two to cobourg!

here's the google map link for my ride from peterborough to cobourg.