Learning to embrace Toronto’s seasons without a car

Before moving to Toronto, I was confident that I could live here car-free. All those bike lanes! Milder winters than the Minnesota ones that I’d grown up with! A frequent public transit system!

Yet, it’s taken me awhile to get acclimatized to winter again after living so long in Texas. And, the first winter here, I made the rookie mistake of riding my bicycle in the snow (and thus, the salt over-liberally applied on every street and lane way). Was not fun to bring my bike back to the shop only four months after I bought it, with the gears completely rusted. The shop mechanics took pity on me, gave the gears a good brushing down with some steel wool; and, I returned home not to leave the house on a bike until all the salt had gone for the spring.

But that was fine, I was the one who kept singing the praises of the Toronto public transit. Subways that ran every 4 minutes without having to deal with traffic! However, since I didn’t actually want to live on a bus or subway line, any time I wanted to catch the subway or streetcar, it was a 10-15 minute walk out of my quiet neighborhood. My solace on those really snowy days, was all my neighbors digging out their cars. Suckers! 🙂

Participating in a community band this year has gotten me used to riding in the rain. Even though I bought cycling rainpants, have a raincoat, and even a large brimmed bike helmet visor, I would previously use the rain as an excuse not to leave home. However, now, I have to go to band practice one evening a week, no matter the weather outside, which has made me much more competent in rainy weather! It’s not something that I dread anymore. Plus, even in rainy weather, it’s always faster on my bicycle than taking public transit (even the subway, due to aforementioned 15 minute walk to subway stop).

My gear expanded to include a used bike pannier from the thrift store. It has been wonderful for carrying home heavy groceries as well as my clarinet to band practice. And, it turns out that it’s even waterproof! I easily stuff in 10-20 pounds at a time. However, on this rainy evening bouncing along the Danforth bike lane, there was a sickening wrenching sound of plastic giving way. I braked immediately. Turning around, I saw my pannier barely hanging on by one of its three clips to hold it to my bike rack. My clarinet was still safely inside! This pannier easily converted into a backpack, so, I shouldered it before searching for the other two clips, finding them in puddles in the bike lane.