How Cyclists See Toronto

If you had to guess which city would be nicer to ride your bike in, would you choose Toronto, Ontario, Canada or Dallas, Texas, USA?

I'm thinking that most people who don't know either city would guess Toronto. Canadians are usually so well mannered, right? Right?

Here's a post from one Texas cyclist who didn't really enjoy Toronto's downtown cycling scene. I think it should be seen as a wake-up call to anyone who thinks Toronto is doing OK when it comes to cycling...

Second Class in Toronto

I would encourage Torontonians to respond to that post as they see fit... I'm looking forward to seeing their comments on it.

Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K

The Olympic Ideal

There's something that has gotten a lot of play on Canadian media that I want to share with my non-Canadian readers because it is just so cool. In this case, it is the Canadian who slipped up and a Costa Rican who just might be the best sport ever.

Here's the deal. Canadian triathlete Simon Whitfield wiped out while passing over some wooden structure that was built over top of a speed bump. His mistake. Video available here. Sorry I couldn't embed it in this page, CTV wasn't having any of that kind of good functionality happening, no way.

When I first saw that footage I was sad for my countryman, but frankly I was more concerned about the guy behind him that he took out... Simon has won medals (including Gold) and was participating in his 4th Olympics, but what about that poor guy? He managed to continue and finished 48th, having been in 18th place after the swim and somewhere around 21st right before the crash.


That poor guy was Costa Rican triathlete Leonardo Chacón Corrales, who posted the following on facebook the very next day:

That is one Costa Rican who will have many Canadians rooting for him in 2016! I know I will be.

Hey, be a Leonardo and show some class, will ya?

R A N T W I C K

PS - If coverage of this has been more widespread than I thought and is old news, my apologies. Although, when you think about it, you knew I was gonna waste your time one way or another anyway.