Mon, May 21 2007 - Victoria Day: Cycle to the Leslie Street Spit (View Original Event Details)
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Victoria Day: Cycle to the Leslie Street Spit (May 21, 2007)
Sue arrived at my place at about 9:45 a.m. We were planning to ride down to Cherry Beach together, where the Victoria Day Bike Ride to the Leslie Street Spit was to begin. After fitting Sue with a pair of navy hiking socks (her feet were cold), we made our way to Cherry Beach, getting there at 11:00 a.m. sharp. Upon our arrival, there were about 10 cyclists already there, eager to go on the ride.
After the necessary paperwork was completed, our convoy of cyclists headed north on Cherry Street, then east on Commissioner’s Road, and then south onto the Leslie Street Spit.
It was a spectacularly sunny day. Although there was a cool breeze, the riding kept us all warm.
We found our way up to the lighthouse at the southernmost tip of the Leslie Spit. A few members arrived a little late, as one person—Darlene—had low tires that needed some pumping up. Upon her arrival at the lighthouse, Arkady, who had kept her company on the way there, and Gerry, assisted her with adding some air to her tires.
Everyone seemed to be enjoying himself/herself up at the lighthouse, so we took some time to enjoy the scenery and to chat. A few members of the group ate their lunch by the lighthouse. Kris, who is beginning a degree in environmental science at the U of T this fall, was on her first event with the TOC, having spent some years in the UK and, as I recall, in Panama. Rodica was also on her first event with us, and she appeared to be enjoying the ride.
After about 30 minutes at the lighthouse, I felt that it was time to lead the group to the eastern beaches, where we could sit on the grass and spread out some blankets for a picnic, and perhaps toss around the football that I had brought with me. I announced that it was time to climb back on our bicycles and move on.
Well, after nearly everyone was beginning to roll forward, it was brought to my attention by Arkady that my front tire was flat. I looked down in disbelief at the tire: sure enough, it was flat. I looked up at the members of my group rapidly cycling away from the lighthouse, leaving me in the dust. Not a good situation!
With Arkady’s assistance, I attempted to pump up my front tire with a small pump that had been packed away in one of my pannier bags. No luck…the tube seemed to have a major leak. I then tried calling Perkin on my cell-phone. When I got through and asked Perkin if he could lead the ride in my absence while I fixed my tire, Perkin announced that, at that very second, he too had sustained a flat tire of his own.
I sent Arkady forward to inform the group of my situation. I soon got a cell-phone call from Veronica, who passed her phone to David Block. I asked David if he could take over leadership of the ride until I was able to fix my tire. He agreed to help out. I suggested that he and the rest of the group continue on to the eastern beaches, as originally planned, and that I would catch up as soon as I could.
Then, remembering that I did have a spare tire tube in my pannier bag, I flipped my bike upside down, removed the front tire, and replaced the damaged tube with the spare tire tube. After figuring out how to work my small air pump, I started pumping the tire up. By this time, Perkin had made his way back to where I was. He was still having some tire trouble of his own. His tire appeared to have a slow leak. He pumped his own tire up while I was putting the front wheel back onto my bicycle. Just as we were starting to roll again, Elena and Arkady were returning to give us assistance. That was very nice of them. The whole tube-replacement process took about 30 minutes, and we ultimately got to the beach about 40-50 minutes after everyone else. (I was quite happy with myself for carrying an extra tube, an air pump, and a set of tools in my pannier bag. These items came in especially handy today. From now on, I think I will ask riders on bike events to carry an extra tire tube of their own. You never know when you’re going to have a flat tire!)
When Perkin and I arrived at the beach, various people from the group had already left, thinking perhaps that, due to my flat tire, the ride and the event were over. I’m sorry if, due to my flat tire, the event did not work out quite as planned. However, those who stayed with the group had a wonderful time lounging around on the edge of the beach: Sue and David napped in the sun; Lisa and Lynn were chatting happily and eating lunch; Gerry was his usual conversational self; Jay, who had met the group at Cherry Beach and signed a non-member waiver, was also still around.
Once lunch was over, I pulled the football out of my knapsack, and Lynn agreed to play catch with me. To her credit, she caught most of the footballs that I threw at her. At one point, Lisa pulled a frisbee out of her bag. It was not a “hard” plastic frisbee, but a cloth frisbee. At one point, as I recall, someone thought it was best described as a “flaccid” frisbee.
David Block, intending to demonstrate his proficiency at flinging the frisbee, picked it up and, without a moment’s hesitation, threw it straight at Lynn, who had just retired from the football field. Unfortunately, Lynn was not looking at the time that David released the frisbee, as she was commenting to Lisa on how it was less likely to be injured by a “cloth” frisbee than a plastic one. Well, David’s throw, much to his dismay, caught Lynn right on the lips. But, luckily, no serious damage was done.
The football again took over, and a group of us—Linda, David, Perkin, Lisa, Arkady, and me—threw it around on the grass next to the bike path. It was nice to get an upper-body workout to complement the lower-body workout that the cycling had made possible.
At the end of the afternoon, when it was time to return to downtown Toronto on our bikes, a few of us—Lynn, Gerry, Sue, Perkin, David, and me—stopped at a pub with a patio at the south end of Sherbourne Street, just off of Queen’s Quay. A few of us had supper and everyone had drinks.
But, if you can believe it, on the way there, Sue discovered that she had a flat tire—our third flat tire of the afternoon! She had to walk the last kilometer to the pub. David accompanied her.
We sat on the patio when we got to the pub, and we had a nice perspective on Lake Ontario. It was a little cold, but we pulled out some extra sweaters and enjoyed the food and refreshments.
Sue was forced to take her bike home in a taxi.
Three flat tires in one day!!! But we still had a good time, I think. The moral of the story is that bike riders should always carry at least one spare tube with them when on rides with the TOC, and perhaps a wrench or two to be used when necessary.
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