Transport: Bicycling in the Heat

TORONTO, ONTARIO - The temperature at Sea-Tac Airport near Seattle, Washington reached 103 degrees Fahrenheit (39 degrees Celsius) today, the highest recorded temperature in the history of the weather station, which became the location of record for Seattle in 1945. When I was growing up in that area, the highest temperature ever recorded was just 99 degrees.

One of the days on which 99 degrees was reached was 23-June-1992, which I remember specifically because it was the day before my family departed on a California vacation. On that day, I chose to say goodbye to some friends, traveling by bicycle. First on my agenda was to talk to the crew of the local freight train that passed through town. Wanting to get an early start, I bicycled ten miles to downtown Renton, Washington and met the train there--which was a good thing, since on that day they didn't come north to my home town. A railroad strike was set to begin the next day, and I wanted to get their take on the situation.

When the train went to switch the Boeing aircraft plant in Renton, I set out on a twelve mile bicycle ride up to Clyde Hill, Washington to check in with a friend. The temperature likely wasn't 99 quite yet, but there were a number of hills on any reasonable route northbound from Renton, and my water bottle was long-since empty, refilled at a public fountain, and empty again by the time I arrived at my destination. By the time I headed home on a final three-and-a-half mile leg, the heat was out in full force and I wonder in retrospect how I made it.

The key to bicycling in the heat, of course, is drinking water along the way. Planning a route with public fountains to refill one's water bottle, and taking as many water bottles as possible are keys to keeping going. Having rags that can be dipped in water and wrapped around one's head can also be of significant value.

In coverage of this week's Seattle heat wave on local public radio station KUOW, it was mentioned to also "spray water on one's head--that's what the vents in your helmet are for." Personally, I always thought the vents were for general ventilation, so this comment was a bit of a surprise to me. On my day of bicycling in the extreme heat, I don't recall splashing water through my helmet--I guess I wasn't as prepared as I thought I was on that day.

After living in Boston, where the streets are substantially more unsafe for bicycles and the weather precludes bicycling for up to three months a year, I abandoned bicycling in favor of walking and public transit. On 35 degree days and warmer, riding in air conditioned transit vehicles, that decision seems pretty sound.

Margin Notes: Krieghoff, Bikes, Cranes, 'BZ

Kennedy Park near Bloor and Runnymede in Toronto, Ontario looked quiet on 4-February-2009

TORONTO, ONTARIO - The works of Dutch painter Cornelius Krieghoff have been mentioned on this blog before. This winter, I think I have grown to understand his fascination with winter in what was then Lower Canada, even if I am in what was then Upper Canada. The scene at Kennedy Park in my neighborhood looked like an urban version of a Krieghoff painting to me, but no man with a dog walked by to complete the scene so I was left with the emptiness above.

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An anti-war message adorned a bicycle along Bloor Street West in Toronto on 3-February-2009

Not far away from Kennedy Park on Bloor Street, I found the above bicycle parked in the snow at dusk. The concept of a bumper sticker or rear-window sticker certainly is not new, but I think this is the first time I've seen a readable message on the rear of a bicycle. Appropriately, the bicycle was not far from an open house on the Georgetown South rail corridor covered last week.

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VIA Rail Canada train #84 from Sarnia, Ontario passed the construction cranes at the West Toronto diamonds on 2-February-2009

One of the minor questions I asked at that open house was whether the construction going on at the West Toronto diamonds was really going to lead to a four-track right-of-way on the current CN Weston Subdivision underneath the CP North Toronto Sub. As shown in the photograph above taken on Monday, it sure looks like the retaining walls being constructed leave room for only two tracks. Perhaps these are only for the purpose of making a "shoo-fly" track for use during the construction, but I wonder.

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My eyes weren't deceiving me on the world wide web earlier this week. Starting on Monday, CBC Television's The National started using their High Definition format on the Internet archive of the program, instead of the traditional television format. Of course, most of the advantages of HD are completely missing on the web, but it still struck me as an interesting change--television as we knew it is changing north of the border, as well.

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Another media organization deserves credit for doing some things correctly. Last month, I criticized twice WBZ Newsradio 1030 out of Boston, Massachusetts for ending their overnight talk show and not replacing morning sports reporter Gil Santos. Apparently, audience complaints have paid off, as WBZ has re-hired Steve LaVeille for the overnight slot and Walt Perkins will take Santos' morning sports slot. While the lack of overnight news reporting and an incredibly obscure time slot for Lovell Dyett (4:30 am Sunday) have been noted by Scott Fybush's Northeast Radio Watch, at least it now appears that WBZ is trying within the confines of decreasing ad revenue to maintain its brand, and it should be commended for that. Perhaps there is hope for the radio business yet.

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Is there hope for the concept of "read dating"? The combination of speed dating and book clubs came to Seattle last week at the University Book Store. In an interview with KUOW's Ross Reynolds before the Thursday event, spokesperson Stesha Brandon noted that plenty of women that expressed interest in the eight-minute one-on-one book discussions, but no men had said they would come. Apparently they did, as a blog posting on Friday implied that the event was a success. I have a feeling that the over-age-30 restriction placed on the meeting may have had something to do with that--unless the plan is to share things read on a Kindle or iPhone, I have my doubts the concept would work with members of Generation Y.