Lies Your City Tells You

Vancouver prides itself on being a green city. They promise to compost your leaves in the fall, so you don't just throw them on the street.

Not only do leaves in the street make a slippery mess for pedestrians and cyclists, but they also block the storm sewers, leading to flooding during the rain storms we get in November and December.

The City of Vancouver promises unlimited leaf collection every week during the Fall.

Like a good citizen, I pick up my leaves and put them in the appropriate containers.

Never have they picked up my leaves, without me calling, or e-mailing, or e-mailing a city councillor. They always give some lame excuse that they didn't get to my street that week because they were busy. Well, if you're that busy, hire more staff. Or stop telling people you pick up the leaves every week.

During the last municipal election campaign a few months back, I tweeted that I wasn't voting Vision (the party in power) because they couldn't even organize leaf pick-up. Someone actually tweeted back that it wasn't the councillor's job to make sure the City met its commitments.

Maybe that's the real problem. Our politicians have completely dropped the pretence that the City should exist to serve its residents. Am I too naive to believe that that's what a city government is for?

3 Degrees No Wind

3 degrees and no wind. Cloudy, but only a few drops of rain here and there. A long-sleeve poly undershirt, my heavy cycling jersey, my cycling jacket, long pants, booties (to keep the wind out), a headband, and a helmet cover. I was warm enough while riding, and got really warm when stopped. But when I was fiddling with some adjustments outside after I got home, I got a bit chilled.

The new Castelli Chiro 3 gloves worked great. I may have finally found the right glove for Vancouver. Thanks, Angela, for the great Christmas present.

3G 2014

The Grunt, Grind and Guzzle, 2014 edition, was tonight. The stats:

The Grunt on bike from Lonsdale Quay (sea level) to the bottom of the Grouse Grind: 23:40 (50 seconds faster than last year). The Grind (the Grind) to the top of Grouse: 43:32 (50 seconds slower than last year). A sad last place in the Guzzle, drinking a beer as quickly as possible.

Thanks to Dale the world's greatest race master, and all the other contestants that made it such a fun event.