PAINFUL IN PICKERING
I have to say that it was a rather painful trip to and from the Pickering/Ajax area today.
There was nothing wrong once I was there, but travelling by pubic transit....never again.
It took three hours each way. That was six hours out of my day just 'travelling', and it was actually mostly waiting.
I would like to do it again, but the next time I am renting a car.
..and they can't figure out why people don't like using public transit.
I don't know. No idea.
Idiots.
Going there, I went to Pickering station, and that station literally does not have any signage for the Durham buses.
I could not find where the buses stopped, so I ended up walking from Pickering station to Brock Road. Not that far, about a 15 minute walk along Bayly Street.
That was once I figure out which direction to walk. I started walking the wrong way (Towards Toronto).
It was not 3 km, and did not take over 30 minutes.
I did not go the stupid way it shows on the map.
You do not have to cross Hwy 401. You can walk out the front of the station right onto Bayly Street.
I really don't know why it gives that dumb direction.
I was getting frustrated, but I have to say I was happy to see this:
I went to the Warrior Fight store at 981 Brock Road, and to my dismay they also had a very poor selection of shoes in my size.
Thay actually only had one model, blue Adidas Combat Speed for $99.
I bought those, and a new gym bag to replace the one that was falling apart. I got this huge Rival Boxing bag for $65.
Yeah, that is a lot for a bag, but it holds all my gear and then some.
I have to say that the person working in there was very friendly and helpful, but not at all pushy.
I am going to need more gear before my December bout, so I will be going back there...by car.
After I finished at the store, Decided that I did not want to walk to Ajax, so I took the Durham Transit. It was only a few minutes wait.
I took the 223 to Ajax station, and then walked to Durham Boxing Academy.
Another mistake.
From what I could tell from Google Maps, Station Street is very close to Ajax station.
Looks easy, doesn't it?
Misleading.
Station Street does not go all the way to Ajax station.
You have to walk along Fairall Street right to the end.
There you are met with a sign: Station Street, in three directions.
Yes. Three directions off of Fairall Street.
I had to guess which direct to take, and of course my first choice was the wrong one.
After finally arriving at Brock's other gym at just past 3:30, I ended up staying for almost three hours.
I did six rounds of sparring with a really fast younger guy.
I need a lot more of that. My opponent in December is not going to be standing still.
I left the gym at 6:30. and arrived back at my Toronto apartment just before 9:30.
Yep.
Next time...car...Note to self: Rent a car, damn it!
Wednesday October 19, 2016, will go down in history as one of 'The Brick's' most adventurous days.
One side note:
I noticed something very interesting in Pickering that Ajax, and even Toronto doesn't have.
Every couple of blocks was a tall pole with a bunch of loudspeakers pointing in all directions.
Anyway, I found out that this is a public alert alarm for if something happens at the power plant.
You know, people of Pickering. Those sirens will not do you any damn good.
If something does happen, you will have a grand total of maybe five minutes maximum after those sirens sound to haul ass, before it melts.
...but on the other hand, you will take Ajax, Whitby, Oshawa, and Toronto with you, and none of those places have sirens.
Remember Chernobyl?
This is Pickering:
BOOM!
