May
7
Doing the ‘Shrug’.
Filed Under On the streets. | 4 Comments
My latest pet peeve are drivers who honk their horn at me because I am stopped at a light or stop sign waiting my turn. If you look at them they motion for you to be on the sidewalk, unless of course they are walking on it yelling at you to ride on the road. I am doing my best to ignore them or follow the advice of Tino’s partner to simply not look at them and shrug your shoulders. I have totally given up on trying to educate them.
Been also thinking of getting a shirt that reads, “Honk if you need a blow”. Crass. Very.
How do you respond?
May
6
Toronto cyclists are way too polite.
Filed Under Rants | Leave a Comment
Used to have a neighbour, let us call her Betsy, that anytime a neighbourhood cat would shit in her yard she would be on the phone to her city councillor. She got action cause her councillor knew that if she ignored her there would be hell to pay. My neighbour was so good at it she even managed to get herself her very own private street parking spot. Almost anyone I know that has had an issue with the City deals directly with their councillor. Even when it is a collective issue they deal with their councillor.
I said “almost” because cyclists are an exception. They want something and they go off sheepishly to the Cycling Committee, now named the Toronto Cycling Advisory Committee (TCAC). This committee is so valuable to the City that the Mayor allowed it to go dormant for over a year. Even if TCAC could get something before council, provided the City Councillor who is Chair allows it, the issue is so diluted that it is useless. How many countless times has the committee been asked to do something about parking in the bike lane and still nothing happens or has ever happened. Think Betsy would waste her time with TCAC or would she go directly to her councillor?
Next comes the cyclist who is concerned about traffic safety. They drone on about how bad things are with drivers yet finish their spiel with “…cyclists do not deserve equality with cars as some do not obey the law. They need to obey or otherwise they make all cyclists look bad. blah blah blah”. Could you imagine a spokesperson for the CAA paint all drivers with the same brush as they do errant drivers… or even be apologetic for the morons on the road?
Cyclists, you want something? Ask for it, be proud, do not be like snivelling apologetic mice. You are worth more than Betsy’s issue with cat shit. If Betsy were a cat she would eat you for dinner.
Our American cousins would not put with half the crap we do. If the councillor does something they feel is not right they make sure the councillor never forgets it. Your concerns should have priority. Do not worry about the bureaucracy, your councillor gets paid to deal with it. Let them deal with TCAC. Trust me, very few with deal with them.
A lot of people feel that the “give them love” approach works best. Show me a cycling issue where that has worked. I do not entirely disagree with the approach, yet it needs some tough love. No one at City Council has earned a free pass to stump all over us.
In closing I would like to say that I am really really sorry if I insulted anyone.
Loading … Loading …May
1
Too close for comfort
Filed Under On the streets. | 12 Comments
I have been hard at work observing how cars respond to a cyclist’s position on the road, especially those that ride a metre from the curb. The theory behind riding a metre from the curb is to keep away from sewer grates, avoiding getting the door prize and changing driver’s behaviour by getting them to give you more space. I agree wholeheartedly with the first two but feel that the behaviour bit actually puts cyclists at a greater risk at getting hit, an unacceptable greater risk. I have observed that no matter what distance I ride from the curb about 50% of drivers tend only to move as far over to the first lane stripe to their left. In most cases this leaves you an uncomfortable passing distance, in about 5% of the time the drivers will act with aggression. This typically means that they will purposely aim their cars at you and see how close they can get to you.
Thoughts?
Apr
30
“Bicycle Day” Albert Hofmann dead at 102.
Filed Under Bizarre | Leave a Comment
Word comes that Albert Hofmann passed away at 102. April 20th, known as ‘Bicycle Day’, was when he discovered the effects of LSD by experimenting on himself. After taking his first hit he rode a bicycle and his description of that ride is probably one of the most vivid rides in history. And no. I do not smoke or toke or whatever you do with LSD. Nor have I ever.
After posting I read Ibiketo.ca and they are listing Bicycle Day as the 19th of April, which seems to be consistent with other sources. Originally found out about Bicycle Day because it was listed as a possible explanation for ‘420′… and no I have not smoked that either.
OK mystery solved. 420 because he took the drug at 420pm and recovered fully on 4/20, the day of ingestion was 4/19.
Apr
27
Recycled stories.
Filed Under On the streets., Rants | 1 Comment
Looks like the media is right into this green thing, always recycling stories on cycling facilities in Toronto. This from the Toronto Star and they are not alone in the blame.
How many years do we have to hear about how Toronto compares so poorly with other cities in terms of kms of bike lanes? The story is always topped off with some politician making promises that very rarely come to fruition. Specific to the Star story, Heaps recycles an old announcement about the installation of bike lockers at Union Station, an announcement that is already two year’s old! The Star should have asked why they have not installed them in other areas of Toronto in that time, ie Kipling, Kennedy and Downsview Subway Stations as a start.
On a more general note, these comparisons of who has more bike lanes is pretty useless. Installing a bike lane and then turning a blind eye to cars parked in it does not make a bike lane. Quality counts much more than quanity when it comes to bike lanes, sadly Toronto fails both. As I have droned on in the past, bike lanes alone are not a measure of how bicycle friendly a city is. The bike lane issues should have been solved long ago and we should be working on other facilities to encourage cycling. OK. So I ask for too much.
Loading …Apr
26
I finally made it back!
Filed Under Critical Mass | 3 Comments
After several failed attempts at trying to get back to CM I finally made it. The leftover from the stomach flu nor the threat of rain was going to stop me. Even if just for five minutes of riding. The weather turned out to be perfect and there was a ton of ‘massers. Probably the most children that I have ever seen at a CM in Toronto too. I managed to last for the first hour and a half of the ride before I had to part company… er… did have to take the subway home though. Was pretty expired at that point. The ride was perfect throughout. The cops showed up at one point but only stayed for a few minutes. Think they figured there were more important issues to deal with than a bunch of people on bicycles.
One miss on my part. I thought I went to CM with a videotape that had 57 of 60 minutes of free room on it, turned out to be the other way around. So a very short video. Did try with my cell phone to grab some pics but not expecting great quality. Will put those up shortly if they are half decent.
Apr
26
Be careful out there folks.
Filed Under Cyclists in Danger | 2 Comments
Many of us woke up this morning to find out about the TTC workers rejecting their contract offer which has resulted in a full blown transit strike. Bike the Strike people but be very careful. There will be many many frustrated drivers out there looking to take out their frustrations on anyone they feel like is delaying them during the strike, cyclists are the customary target. Feel some compassion for them, do not make their lives worse. Do not get involved in fights, it is better to back down than to fight and lose your life over it. Let the high price of gas be your revenge.
There is good news in all of this. There will be more cyclists out there and usually in greater numbers comes a lot better protection.
Apr
24
CM: Diversity on two wheels
Filed Under Critical Mass | Leave a Comment
I was having a discussion with my best man from my wedding. He has lived in Canada for most of his life though he was born in India. We were talking about the nuclear bombs, it was in the news cause India and Pakistan were nattering at each other about their capabilities. I asked him why would India spend so much money on a N-Bomb when they have so many poor mouths to feed. He retorted that the US’s military budget was enough to make sure that the world’s population would not go hungry and they had the power to annihilate the world 10 times over. What is wrong with India wanting to protect itself from its neighbour?
Apr
23
Heaps plan is good… if.
Filed Under Critical Mass, Politics | 3 Comments
Report from Heaps’ meeting with cycling advocates has some good news for cyclists but there is a big if.
Heaps demonstrated that he has some much needed leadership skills. He claims that he has all the Councillors on board to move all votes on installing cycling facilities to the full Council. The thinking is that local Councillors could not stop things like bike lanes installed in their wards at Community Councils. The Councillors agreed to this provided that nothing too controversial is put forth in the next two years. He claims that the Mayor will provide more leadership in progressing cycling issues come the next election or more precisely after he is re-elected for a third term.
Read more
Apr
21
Have you participated in critical mass Toronto?
A graduate student at York University is conducting some research on the experience of critical mass in Toronto. He is conducting a survey and is hoping for your input. The survey is part of a case study and is completely anonymous and confidential. If you can spare three to five minutes, just go to:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=_2bd637nc23HQRvIBtWxQ8nw_3d_3d
If you would like more information about the research, please contact Andrew Bieler at bielerandrew@yahoo.com.
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