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As a follow-up to my previous post, where I expressed my love of cycling and Hamilton, here's a self-portrait of me cycling in Hamilton last Saturday, August 21st.

A group of eight of us from Toronto caught a GO train to Burlington in the morning. From there, we rode down Brant St. into downtown Burlington and to Burlington's waterfront. Then on to the Burlington and Hamilton Beach Strips towards Confederation Park in Stoney Creek. After stopping for a delicious lunch at a lakeside restaurant, we carried on to the Stoney Creek Dairy where we re-fueled again. Awesome. And then up The mountain via Mount Albion Rd., which was closed to traffic when they opened the Red Hill Creek Expressway, so we had a fun and relaxing ride up the hill (only a short bit that's very steep!). What goes up, must come down....so we headed right back down the east end rail trail that leads right back into downtown Hamilton, where we split up to get dinner, catch GO buses home, etc.

A totally fantastic day. Hamilton rocks, especially for cycling. I'm already scheming a west end rail trail ride.

In this photo I'm cruising down the escarpment along the east end rail trail near the end of our ride. This was taken with my small point'n'shoot Canon Powershot SD800, which I sometiime carry when I don't want to lug my bigger SLR camera around.

More photos with captions are here.

My mom's tricycle, tearin' up the streets in their Hamilton neighbourhood.

I bought the "Street Racer" license plate for her in Palanga, Lithuania, on one of the final days of last year's European vacation.

Similar to yesterday's photo, here's Jen riding up the Chedoke Rail Trail in Hamilton.

Two weekends in a row, Jen and I had our bikes in Hamilton visiting family. Here's Jen riding up the Chedoke Rail Trail, a very fun, scenic, and best of all EASY way to climb the escarpment.

I rode my bike more than 60km today. 20km to work in Mississauga. 30km to the CNIB on Bayview, north of Eglinton. Then another 12km home. Not too shabby for a workday.

Of course, I was famished when I got home. The Indian buffet from lunch had expired. Jen had some pasta ready for me when I got home. Three plates later, here's the result.

Looking forward to lots more riding (and eating!) with all this nice weather we're getting.

My bikey and my wifey on the Chedoke Rail Trail in Hamilton.

On Saturday, Jen and I rode out to Mississauga for an appointment, then down to Port Credit to catch a trail to Aldershot (Burlington). From there, we rode into Hamilton to visit my parents. My parents live up on The Mountain, so the last little bit of riding to their place is usually the toughest as we have to climb a few hundred feet up out of downtown Hamilton along the access roads (typically, the Jolly Cut).

But when we have some extra time and want to go for a nicer ride, we take one of the rail trails that start from the near the centre of the city and fan out up to the east or west end up The Mountain. This time we took the Chedoke Rail Trail from the top of Dundurn St., which leads to Scenic Drive on the West Mountain near the start of Ancaster. Always a lovely ride. Not steep at all, so it hardly feels like we're riding uphill. Plus, there are many excellent views of the West End and Dundas Valley, and a nice shady forest (in the summer, anyway).

I really do love riding my bike in The Hammer, and always look forward to it.

Jen and I were riding up the Railpath after work today when I spotted this poster. I stopped and turned around to have a closer look.

Funny stuff. But if we all do a little bit to keep the Railpath in good condition for each other, it will continue to be awesome.

June 20th, 2009: Unofficial opening parade on the West Toronto Railpath. One of my favourite features of the neighbourhood!

In the background is the Wallace Ave. pedestrian bridge, from which I took yesterday's photo.

(I haven't posted anything here in almost a year! need to catch up soon. You can always check the photo gallery to see what I've been up to. I also post on the I Bike T.O. website.)

Did anyone else have an awesome bike commute this morning? I sure did!

I don't often look forward to biking 20km to work in the rain, but today was amazing. It was 11 degrees outside, and a light rain when I left my west-end home at about 8:40am (yeah, I was running late!). I was dressed a bit lighter than I usually would in January: underwear, MEC Rad Pants, long sleeve light "Powerdry" t-shirt, rain jacket, wool socks, Shimano cycling sandals, and rain booties.

It was actually colder in my garage than it was outside. As soon as I got into the alley, I knew I'd be shedding layers soon. Riding along Annette St., I was opening up my cuffs and unzipping the top of my jacket for more air. By the time I was around Dundas St. and Royal York, I had the pit zips open.

The headwind was very light, barely noticeable. I was flying along. I think I ride faster when I'm in a really good mood too. Warm January days do that to me.

Burnhamthorpe Rd., somewhere in eastern Mississauga. Really cookin' now, and even my feet were feeling hot! I stripped off one of my booties and shoved it in my pannier's rain cover. A few intersections later, at another red light, the other booty came off and now I was riding in a stylish combination of wool socks and sandals.

I hiked up my Rad Pants to let my ankles and calves breathe more. At the next red light, Dixie and Burnhamthorpe, I completed my transformation into a summer cyclist by taking off my jacket and rolling up my sleeves.

The final 4.5km to work were the best. Starting with the downhill from Dixie Rd., I was grinning like a madman as I pushed my way towards the centre of Mississauga. The people cooped up in their cars probably thought I was nuts. I think they're nuts. The rain was picking up a bit now too, but I didn't care. I was having too much fun to be annoyed by it.

Hell yeah. Bikes rule. Can't wait for the ride home!

(Ask me about riding when it's 11 degrees and raining in the summer and you might get a totally different opinion from me!)

Cross-posted to I Bike T.O.