Experience report: Inner-city Toronto Triathlon

Posted In: Triathlon July 24th, 2017 divider No Comments »

I love adventures, especially when they pop out of nowhere. Saturday was another one of those…

So I had to run some errands when I got to Toronto before meeting up with old friends. Since it wasn’t too far I decided to keep the car parked and walk around to see the sights and get some more steps. So far so good, I pop in the address in the GPS and follow the directions even if I had a feeling I wasn’t heading in the right direction. I just chalked it up to the fact it’s not my city and enjoyed the walk.

After walking another 20 minutes I finally used another software to see if my directions were accurate. They were not. Apparently I had hit Spadina Rd instead of Spadina Ave…

I had to get back in 30 minutes to meet my best friend at the hotel. The problem was that I was 3kms from my errand and then another 2kms from the hotel. What’s a man to do? I could have ran but I had new walking shoes and they were already rubbing a few places. Plus it was humid as could be.

I could cab it but that’s no fun (and costly). As I passed the BikeShare stand, it gave me a great idea. Just rent a bike!

That was an adventure it itself as the bikes aren’t really like my bikes and I’m not sure they’re made for 6’4″ people. Anyway, it did get me to my spots in good times as I was listening to the lady yell instructions from my pocket. The only issue was to stash the bike while I went and picked up some items. I came back and the bike was still there. Big win for Eric.

And to complete the triathlon, I had a cold shower back at the hotel since I got sweaty on the first few legs. It was another warm and muggy day in The 6…

The ironic thing is that Toronto was hosting a big tri event, the Toronto Triathlon Festival, that weekend and I had event asked a few people why some streets were closed. Maybe I should do my next tri with a rent-a-bike. Maybe not.

I hope you had a chuckle since I sure did. And all that to say, try the bike sharing program in your city next time instead of taking a cab. You’ll get to your destination with a smile on, burn some calories and maybe have an adventure along the way!