Here are a few photos of my fancy new bike on one of our early bike rides! You can see the battery pack in the larger picture.
It has been slightly disorientating these last few weeks. The trees say it’s still winter, with no sign of leaf. Yet the brilliant sunshine and temperatures have been almost like summer, rising well over 70F over the Easter weekend!
Took my new bike out for a spin along the lake shore this evening – fabulous!
I am neither particularly competent nor particularly competent as a cyclist. Additionally, I have had some issues with my back for a number of years. So we have splashed out on a power assisted Schwinn bike which we managed to catch at the half-price point at Canadian Tire (by explanation for non-Canadians, Canadian Tire are one of a number of stores that publish a weekly flyer featuring significant bargains if you are prepared to watch and wait!). This is like having a security blanket – I know that if I get tired or feel a bit insecure I can cut the electric motor in, and it’s great for starting off!
Shore reflections
So, for now, it’s goodbye skating, hello cycling!
There are lots of trails to explore within Toronto, as well as numerous Provincial Parks further afield. This means that, for now, I can enjoy the exercise and beautiful surroundings, without having to brave the traffic. It would be nice, though, to be confident enough at least to ride down to the shore rather than load the bikes on the car, though I will be very glad of the battery to get me back up the hill if I ever reach this stage!
Fabulous weekend weather – the whole city buzzed in a laid-back way, strolling in the sun!
We have continued to be blessed by the most amazing mild, sunny weather. The sunlight seems much more intense than in the UK – so often as I look at the Lake I think of the phrase ‘shining waters’. Perhaps this is less surprising when you realise that London is actually a lot further north at latitude 51N than Toronto at latitude 43N – the sun really is stronger.
Whenever we go walking on the shore, as we did on Sunday, I still pinch myself! It is so beautiful, so incredibly peaceful and restorative, yet here we are living in a major city.
And the expanse of sand at Woodbine Beach as it curves into Ashridge Bay is to die for . . .
Below is the Google street-view of the house we are hopefully buying (ignore the house numbers as they are only approximate and may not represent our address!) – you can move around the locality and see the immediate surroundings.
The house is about five minutes from the GO station (Danforth) and just a couple more from the subway. There is a small Mall just up the road on Danforth, as well as a variety of shops along Danforth itself. And Loblaws, one of the key supermarkets, is a five minute walk (they also sell petrol).
We can walk down Beach’s leafy streets to Queen St – if we walk the most direct route we come out at the bottom of Beech Ave, on the corner of which is our current ‘local’, Quigley’s, with the Remarkable Bean close by and the shore a further five minutes or so’s walk.