Stressfree Living

ooohhh what a day at the office yesterday was.  Being attacked by suprises of all different types on all different fronts turned me into a basketcase.  Riding the TTC home (it was really rainy yesterday), I almost lost it on a baggy-pantsed guy who was playing iPhone guitar hero or some ridiculous loud thing…luckily, I recovered just in time to offer my seat to a mother and her daughter, which lightened my mood a bit.  Regardless, my arrival home was followed by forcing Erin to listen to my work day run-down while she grew hungrier and hungrier…which is like a time bomb waiting to eat….tick tock….tick tock.

In the end, we headed to Mill Street Brewery by bike (routes posted below).  The Spring Bock is a must-try for this season, and last night’s CoffeePorter BBQ Beef Sandwich was perfect to get me back to positivity…that and the bike ride.  It was one of those days that could only be corrected by the freedom of sketching across the pedestrian walkway at a red light to keep from stopping, a good night to ride handsfree and just smile at how nice life is on the saddle. 

my only small complaint, and you may see this from the roundabout routes I’m taking, is that Parliament Street is a cyclist’s nightmare right now between u-turning cabbies, pedestrians shooting out, and the construction that forces a decision between taking the whole (and only) lane of traffic heading or being in the terrifying 8″ of concrete between construction barrels and streetcar tracks…please hurry and fix this street!

I’ve also noted that there’s a difference on MapMyRide between route mapping and workout tracking…but I’ll make sure time and even calories lost appear next time.

Today’s routes:

To Mill Street:

Mill street april 8
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From Mill Street:

Home from mill street 2010-04-08 9:55 PM
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No dollars saved today as I would’ve walked otherwise…but saved my day regardless

Unwrapping my new blog…

Today marked a big day in my quest to track how much money I save by cycling as I passed $50 in a little program I set up for myself called Savings Cycle.  Each time I take a bike ride for a trip that I would have otherwise had to take public transit for, I give myself the price of public transit saved.  So far, I’ve saved this year in Toronto (mostly) and Chicago (one round trip).  I do this really easily using a mobile banking app and have yet to determine what to use the untold millions that I’m sure I’ll have by the end of the summer for, but the exercise helps me automate my saving in a way that’s important to me…getting around in a way that is not only healthy for me, but for the urban environment in which I live.

I’ll share more on exactly how I determine whether I saved a TTC ride or not in the future, but today I was able to see a part of town that was new to me (The Annex) briefly, and also had some great meetings that should go a long way towards encouraging other Toronto Savers.

The day was full of thunderstorms and on/off rain, but I was lucky enough to only get caught out in it once.  I started off by heading over to see Erin at OnTheFourth, who is working hard to spread the culture of the city bike in North America by not only bringing Batavus bikes to the continent, but by really showing the value of the little luxury that is a loveable, dependable bike.  Batavus is sponsoring the GoGreenGoDutchGoBike event here in Toronto along with ING DIRECT.  The ride is a fun event comprised of a bike ride and dutch market at Nathan Phillips Square.  The cost to join the fun is $15, comes with a sweet t-shirt, and goes directly to purchase bikes for underprivileged youth.

After that I rode down to the Centre for Social Innovation and picked up my new key fob for the hot desk that I’ll be occupying for about 20 hours a month.  There are so many great things happening under the roof at 215 Spadina and I am thrilled to be joining them in working to keep Toronto changing and moving forward.  A trip home for lunch and then back out to a meeting at our branding agency, followed by a ride home in the rain.  Really productive day and I determined that the Annex is a neighborhood that I will certainly be spending more (and hopefully drier) time at in the future.
Today’s route:

Parliament and Dundas =>Sherbourne=>College=>Bathurst=>Bloor=>415 Bloor – – 5.25KM, 15 minutes, $3.00 saved

@MapMyRide http://www.mapmyride.com/route/ca/on/toronto/931127069316337855

415 Bloor=>Spadina=>215 Spadina – – 2.23KM, 7 minutes, this one’s on the house

@MapMyRide http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/on/toronto/128127069327726328

215 Spadina=>Dundas=>Parliament and Dundas – -2.95KM, 10 minutes, $3.00 Saved

@MapMyRide http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/on/toronto/502127069333622490

RT Parliament and Dundas=>Sherbourne=>Richmond=>Spadina=>44 Spadina – -6.44KM, 15 mnutes, on the house

@MapMyRide http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/on/toronto/260127069352622799

*Beer Run Dundas and Parliament -> Sherbourne=>Wellesley => Parliament => Beer Store => Parliament and Dundas – – 2.84KM – – 10 minutes – – on the house..

@MapMyRide http://www.mapmyride.com/route/ca/on/toronto/245127072510538628

Total for Day: 19.71KM and $6.00 in the pocket that would otherwise be with the TTC.

thanks for checking this out…I already found a new tool…iPhone app for MapMyRide.  One day in and we’re automating…love it.  I’ll work to clean up and add some brevity (that’s an interesting concept…adding brevity…)in the days/weeks to come.