Fridays

I always look forward to Fridays as far biking home from work goes. I have no idea why but there is more traffic and people behind the steering wheels are more anxious to get home and chill out. I love it because I've gotta be a little more aware and my adrenelin gets going good and I'm in a rush too. The first stretch is just autos zooming by me and they are going hell bent for leather...to get into traffic jam. Hello.

The second stretch is nothing but hills and a lot of the lanes are turning off into side streets and I have to get between the vehicles turning off and those are going straight ahead. Sometimes I get in between a bus and a gravel truck and I'm stopped at light and I think: I know one has to turn right and the other has to go straight, gee I feel small. And I'm trying to bike up a steep hill, they just have to step on the gas.

The third stretch is the most interesting by far. Up until now I was in the 'burbs more or less. Now I'm in the 'crazy' part of town: two lanes, cars parked on either side, pedestrians going hither and thither (no one pays attention to crosswalks in this part of town and mainly most all Torontonians ignore them) and so the danger is hitting a pedestrian or someone opening their car door. It's beautiful though. All along this stretch (of Ukranians, then Koreans, then Italians, then chinese, etc.) are small shops that cater to their own community. Toronto really is a big city of small communities.

The fourth stretch is a calm one (because it actually has a bike lane) but an interesting one. It's on a street called Harbord. The first part is where mainly Portugese live and then it disects Spadina which is Chinatown and then it goes through St. George St. which is all about the University of Toronto. The ivied buildings and the students milling about. And then Harbord Street runs into Queen's Park which means the Ontario legislative buildings and it gets confusing (it took me a while to figure out the best bike route through this little stretch).

And the final stretch. Disecting Bay, Yonge, Church, Jarvis, Sherbourne, and then finally Parliament Streets. It sounds like a long way, but I usually make it home in an hour. Fridays though, I get home and say: "I survived, yay, that was a lot of fun"