East end, shirtless man

just roll

Back in the Toronto days, it would get stupid, stinking hot in the summer.

The heat, was bad.

The humidity?

Worse.

And the stupidity that came with the boiling moisture of a Toronto summer day was enough to poach the fertilizer in my underpants.

There was a guy with a simple solution to this complex problem.

He was known, by us, as East End Shirtless Man.

When the weather became hot, he’d ride around on his 1980’s ten speed with the handle bars turned up the wrong way. On his feet? Flip flops. His haircut? Mullet, completely without irony. Ditto the moustache.

His wisdom was simple:

They say you need layers to keep warm. I get that. When the pressure is on and things heat up? You gotta get rid of the layers.

His shirtless ways were not his only source of wisdom.

Hot or cold outside? That doesn’t make a difference. Ya gotta keep moving. When it’s cold, you move to make some heat. When it’s hot, hop on a bike and make your own wind. The key? Don’t work too hard when it’s hot outside - pedal ped…