Tuesday, October 11, 2005
On the weekend, I had the chance to ride down to the MEC. Fortunately they sell more than just mountain equipment, as was evidenced by their bustling bicycle accessories section. There were many people there to buy lighting for their bikes, I guess because, like me, they're finding themselves heading home from work in the dark more often now.
Speaking of the approaching darkness (the sun rises here every day in the winter, despite what it may feel like to those in a windowless office): has Canada decided whether or not to follow the US extension to daylight savings time in 2007? The law was passed in the U.S. with the idea that it would save 10000 barrels of oil per day (effectively). That's 0.05% of the U.S. consumption per day, but that number probably hasn't even been right since the air conditioner became popular. Since air conditioners are irrelevant in Canada in October, ... actually this whole debate is irrelevant. We're all going to wake up and turn on lights during November and then we'll get home and turn on the lights. And since when is my 15 watt light bulb the source of anyone's problems? The Energy Hog will probably have a bigger impact.
Back to the co-op. I picked up a couple things to do some ride pimping. The price tag was over $30 including tax. I bought new gloves for this new weather. They're basic black tight-knit synthetic with grippy palms. I was considering something nice with leather palms to handle an accident better, but I decided to wait until it got a bit colder to choose those.
I got some earth-friendly soap since so much of my chain-washing mess ends up in the grass. Really, it isn't the soap that I'm that worried about. The chain oil and road grime that collects on my chain looks like it's much worse for the plants. However, all the road grime would either be on the road still or in some roadside grass, if it wasn't for me riding on top of it. There's not much I can do beyond trying to keep tidy.
And I got a few more flashy lights to put on my rear panniers. MEC has some small keychain sized lights that are prominently displayed all over the store. I decided I would dangle two of them on my left pannier, set them to flash, and set my main rear light to solid. I'm hoping this will do more to catch people's attention when they approach from behind.
Speaking of the approaching darkness (the sun rises here every day in the winter, despite what it may feel like to those in a windowless office): has Canada decided whether or not to follow the US extension to daylight savings time in 2007? The law was passed in the U.S. with the idea that it would save 10000 barrels of oil per day (effectively). That's 0.05% of the U.S. consumption per day, but that number probably hasn't even been right since the air conditioner became popular. Since air conditioners are irrelevant in Canada in October, ... actually this whole debate is irrelevant. We're all going to wake up and turn on lights during November and then we'll get home and turn on the lights. And since when is my 15 watt light bulb the source of anyone's problems? The Energy Hog will probably have a bigger impact.
Back to the co-op. I picked up a couple things to do some ride pimping. The price tag was over $30 including tax. I bought new gloves for this new weather. They're basic black tight-knit synthetic with grippy palms. I was considering something nice with leather palms to handle an accident better, but I decided to wait until it got a bit colder to choose those.
I got some earth-friendly soap since so much of my chain-washing mess ends up in the grass. Really, it isn't the soap that I'm that worried about. The chain oil and road grime that collects on my chain looks like it's much worse for the plants. However, all the road grime would either be on the road still or in some roadside grass, if it wasn't for me riding on top of it. There's not much I can do beyond trying to keep tidy.
And I got a few more flashy lights to put on my rear panniers. MEC has some small keychain sized lights that are prominently displayed all over the store. I decided I would dangle two of them on my left pannier, set them to flash, and set my main rear light to solid. I'm hoping this will do more to catch people's attention when they approach from behind.
Darren J 10/11/2005 04:52:00 p.m.