Hamilton Stuff
Aug. 10th, 2021 12:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stormdogDanae's parents bought me a one-month membership with the Hamilton bike sharing system because they are caring and thoughtful!
I've been out a couple times now and had good experiences. The bikes have a shaft drive instead of a chain or belt which is new to me. The gearing is a Nexus 3 speed internal hub, and the brakes are a matching Shimano Rollerbrake system. The Nexus hardware is pretty typical in the Netherlands, but rare in the US except for uses like bike share where they prioritize low maintenance designs. My bad weather bike (still in the states) has Nexus brakes and gearing, but it's a 7 speed, as was the bike I owned in Amsterdam.
Yesterday, I biked into downtown to buy SIM cards (unsuccessfully I might add) and back. Comparing the bicycle infrastructure here to the Netherlands just makes me want to cry, but other than that being out and active felt good. Today I rode for a while on the nearby unpaved Chedoke Radial Trail, which I believe follows a former railroad right of way up the Niagara Escarpment. Bottom gear on a 3 speed bike is just not low enough for me on lengthy hills right now.
There are stairs up the escarpment just up the road from where I'm staying, but my knees are still hurting from such a long period of being mostly inactive followed by lugging heavy suitcases around for a day. My knees have been hurting just going up and down stairs in the house here. That's an experience I've never had before and it's alarming.
I can't help but think of walking up the Manitou Incline in Colorado a few years ago and feel really disappointed in my physical state right now. Maybe that will provide sufficient motivation to do something about that. It helps that the scenery here along the escarpment is so enticing! Climbing up and down things and looking for sweeping vistas has always made me really happy. There's nothing much like that closer than a couple hours from Regina. If I manage to get a driving license, going to those will be worth doing anyway. That (the driving license) looks like it may be complicated for me...
I've been out a couple times now and had good experiences. The bikes have a shaft drive instead of a chain or belt which is new to me. The gearing is a Nexus 3 speed internal hub, and the brakes are a matching Shimano Rollerbrake system. The Nexus hardware is pretty typical in the Netherlands, but rare in the US except for uses like bike share where they prioritize low maintenance designs. My bad weather bike (still in the states) has Nexus brakes and gearing, but it's a 7 speed, as was the bike I owned in Amsterdam.
Yesterday, I biked into downtown to buy SIM cards (unsuccessfully I might add) and back. Comparing the bicycle infrastructure here to the Netherlands just makes me want to cry, but other than that being out and active felt good. Today I rode for a while on the nearby unpaved Chedoke Radial Trail, which I believe follows a former railroad right of way up the Niagara Escarpment. Bottom gear on a 3 speed bike is just not low enough for me on lengthy hills right now.
There are stairs up the escarpment just up the road from where I'm staying, but my knees are still hurting from such a long period of being mostly inactive followed by lugging heavy suitcases around for a day. My knees have been hurting just going up and down stairs in the house here. That's an experience I've never had before and it's alarming.
I can't help but think of walking up the Manitou Incline in Colorado a few years ago and feel really disappointed in my physical state right now. Maybe that will provide sufficient motivation to do something about that. It helps that the scenery here along the escarpment is so enticing! Climbing up and down things and looking for sweeping vistas has always made me really happy. There's nothing much like that closer than a couple hours from Regina. If I manage to get a driving license, going to those will be worth doing anyway. That (the driving license) looks like it may be complicated for me...
