Saturday, October 27, 2007
Salmon in the Don
My wife and I went for a walk along the Don River last Saturday. (No bikes involved) She heard that there were salmon swimming upstream to spawn. She had been looking forward to this for days.
For anyone familiar with the Don River, especially the section near downtown, the idea of seeing wildlife in the river might seem a little abstract. The water gets murkier and murkier as it heads south. I understand this is caused by the channelization of the river that increases the flow rate of the water, causing more erosion from the river bed. Something like this.
We walked for about 1 kilometre south along the river. "Tramping" as my wife likes to call it. Tramping in the woods. It just doesn't sound good.
Most of the way was along a path made by previous walkers, but in some places the path just ended so we had to push aside some branches. We would walk 20 metres, then move to the river's edge, peer for fish, see none, then move on.
This part of the Don runs under a huge iron bridge that looks almost like it's growing out of the bush.
Just when we were about to give up (of course!), we were standing next to the river when we heard a slapping sound.
This big fish was working its way up a short rocky stretch of the river. My wife started cheering it on, which I think probably freaked it out more than anything. Eventually it made it to the top, so the cheering must have worked. It swam in a few circles, then fell backwards down the other side of the river. No!
Then we saw that the fish had a couple friends. They were moving around in the pool at the bottom of the rapids, usually doing a little synchronized swimming action.
We waited for a while for them to do something more exciting but they must have been tuckered out.
On the way back, I saw this bit of graffiti. I'm generally not a fan of "tagging". It's the laziest of all graffiti. This one, however, gets extra points for matching the nearby flora.
For anyone familiar with the Don River, especially the section near downtown, the idea of seeing wildlife in the river might seem a little abstract. The water gets murkier and murkier as it heads south. I understand this is caused by the channelization of the river that increases the flow rate of the water, causing more erosion from the river bed. Something like this.
We walked for about 1 kilometre south along the river. "Tramping" as my wife likes to call it. Tramping in the woods. It just doesn't sound good.
Most of the way was along a path made by previous walkers, but in some places the path just ended so we had to push aside some branches. We would walk 20 metres, then move to the river's edge, peer for fish, see none, then move on.
This part of the Don runs under a huge iron bridge that looks almost like it's growing out of the bush.
Just when we were about to give up (of course!), we were standing next to the river when we heard a slapping sound.
This big fish was working its way up a short rocky stretch of the river. My wife started cheering it on, which I think probably freaked it out more than anything. Eventually it made it to the top, so the cheering must have worked. It swam in a few circles, then fell backwards down the other side of the river. No!
Then we saw that the fish had a couple friends. They were moving around in the pool at the bottom of the rapids, usually doing a little synchronized swimming action.
We waited for a while for them to do something more exciting but they must have been tuckered out.
On the way back, I saw this bit of graffiti. I'm generally not a fan of "tagging". It's the laziest of all graffiti. This one, however, gets extra points for matching the nearby flora.
Labels: animals, don river, photography
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Taking the lane and taking some pain
These geese in Richmond Hill demonstrate how to take the lane.
The heat is ruining my plans to push hard this week. I need to make myself into a faster cyclist. In a couple weeks, I'm meeting up with a bunch of guys I know from university so we can go on a big bike ride. The speed I need isn't so I can show anyone up. It's just so I can keep up.
It's fair to say that most people I know think of me as being a little bike-obsessed. And that's OK (thank you Stuart Smalley). But among the people I went to university with, for some reason, the vast majority are at least somewhat into their bikes (or were, last time I checked). And this particular group of guys I'm meeting up with are all what I would categorize as "fast". They were all on sports teams in university and many compete in triathlons and races now.
If only I was on those teams with them, and engaged in the same training, pushing my cardiovascular system, learning how to handle lactic acid build-up and how to fuel my body for intense exercise. Instead, when I met with them, the only fuel we worried about was ethanol, and calling it a fuel in our application is a bit of a stretch.
This is why I'm now riding my one speed bike. I dropped off my regular road bike to get the bottom bracket replaced. I know I don't have a lot of time for the effects of the one-speed to kick in, but I'm hoping my strength, or at least my pain tolerance, can be improved in short order.
The heat is ruining my plans to push hard this week. I need to make myself into a faster cyclist. In a couple weeks, I'm meeting up with a bunch of guys I know from university so we can go on a big bike ride. The speed I need isn't so I can show anyone up. It's just so I can keep up.
It's fair to say that most people I know think of me as being a little bike-obsessed. And that's OK (thank you Stuart Smalley). But among the people I went to university with, for some reason, the vast majority are at least somewhat into their bikes (or were, last time I checked). And this particular group of guys I'm meeting up with are all what I would categorize as "fast". They were all on sports teams in university and many compete in triathlons and races now.
If only I was on those teams with them, and engaged in the same training, pushing my cardiovascular system, learning how to handle lactic acid build-up and how to fuel my body for intense exercise. Instead, when I met with them, the only fuel we worried about was ethanol, and calling it a fuel in our application is a bit of a stretch.
This is why I'm now riding my one speed bike. I dropped off my regular road bike to get the bottom bracket replaced. I know I don't have a lot of time for the effects of the one-speed to kick in, but I'm hoping my strength, or at least my pain tolerance, can be improved in short order.
Labels: animals, commuting, group ride, weather