Take The Lane

WPIRG seeks cycling input

The Waterloo Public Interest Research Group is holding a public gab-fest about cycling in Waterloo Region tonight (Thursday, July 30) in their offices at the University of Waterloo Student Life Centre (room 2139) from 5:30 p.m. on until the talkers wear out or everyone decides to go out for "refreshments."

Raj Gill, who has been among other things a council candidate in Waterloo and a longtime WPIRG spokesperson, is host for the event. She promises discussion in an "action-oriented atmosphere." There are many ways to achieve a critical mass, and this kind of gathering is one of them.

Died on a ride #4, 2009

A 69-year-old cyclist was killed earlier this month in Hamilton in a nearly classic example of the crosswalk peril.

According to a report from the Hamilton Police Service, the man was westbound on a sidewalk when he rode into the crosswalk at an intersection. He was hit by a garbage truck turning right onto the street he had been travelling along.

While I have noted on more than one occasion that some of garbage truck drivers wheel around corners like they are driving sports cars, it is still the cyclist's responsibility to stop at crosswalks and walk across if that person chooses to use the sidewalk as a bicycle trail.

Why are they supposed to stop and walk their bike across? Next time you're in a car at an intersection, try checking left, then right, then left again and imagine if a cyclist was approaching from the right. It's natural for motorists to check left twice, because that's where the major traffic flow is coming from. They aren't expecting fast-moving sidewalk traffic, esp. from their right.

Cyclists, and pedestrians for that matter, seem to feel that the two white lines of a crosswalk bestow upon them some kind of invisible shield of protection. (Ha. Crosswalk lines are just a way to bunch peds together to make a larger target.) It's still up to them to proceed when it is safe to do so.

X-Country Olympian cycling for safety

Nice to see the Share the Road cycling coalition get some air time on Canada AM this morning. Devon Kershaw, cross-country ski Olympian and cyclist, will be co-hosting a Share the Road ride on Wednesday in Sudbury. You can check the details on the Share the Road website.

The point of the ride is to remind motorists that the road is there to be shared, by roller-ski-using x-country racers in training, and by cyclists. It would make an effective statement if there was a good-sized crowd for this. Interested cycling Sudburians will want to have their bikes at Science North on Wednesday at 6 p.m. for the 15K ride. Drag out your friends.

Is Waterloo Region saying bye-bye to bike lanes?

A recent Jeff Outhit column in the Waterloo Region Record suggests that the designated bike lane may have dropped off the radar of Waterloo Region transportation planners and politicians.

According to Outhit, regional council recently approved a revision to its cycling facility construction standards to encourage the addition of extra pavement in certain areas, but not dedicated bicycle lanes. The logic was that it is easier to add 65 centimetres of extra asphalt at the curb, than to add the 1.5 metres of space needed for a full bike lane.

Don Pavey, chair of the regional cycling advisory committee, is quoted by Outhit as saying, "In a perfect world, I would look on it as a disappointment."

I agree, but wide lanes are as useful to cyclists as bicycle lanes. You could even argue that wide lanes are better than bike lanes. Wide lanes, generally, are too narrow for hot-rodders to pass regular vehicular traffic on the right, while bike lanes often provide enough space for them to do so. Bike lanes often become the repository of the flotsam of the road, while wide lanes are generally plowed or swept right up to the curb.

OK, those are pretty weak arguments. Outhit supposes that transportation funds should be spent on roads, not bike lanes, since few people cycle, and of those, few use either roads or bike lanes, preferring to use recreational trails, sidewalks or gym club spin classes.

As much as Outhit's pro-auto columns irk me, I admit to my own frustration at seeing cyclists using sidewalks instead of bike lanes. Although I do believe that a comprehensive network of bicycle lanes would nurture a cycling culture, even in Waterloo Region, it is not an easy position to defend.

Died on a ride #3, 2009

It's been a brutal week for the cycling culture in the Ottawa area. You've already heard about the van that plowed into a group of riders last weekend and sent five of them to hospital, leaving one of them in life-threatening condition.

Well, on Tuesday of this week past (July 21 to be exact), a 22-year-old cyclist was hit from behind in Ottawa's East End. He died of his serious head injuries Thursday night. Ottawa police have not released his name. Vars. media have reported on it, with the Ottawa Citizen having the greatest detail. The newspaper's web report said the cyclist weaved out of the bike lane into the traffic when he was struck. Police say that charges will not be laid. The cyclist was not wearing a helmet.

This might be one of those cases where one can argue that bike lanes work against cyclists. I suspect that motorists tend to pay even less attention to cyclists (if that is possible) when they are in bicycle lanes, because a bike lane is "not part of the road" in the view of the four-wheelers. If a cyclist strays from his bike lane onto the road, he is deemed to have made a driving error.

But we know that bicycles are the equivalent of a motor vehicle (at least in Ontario under the Highway Traffic Act) and entitled to a share of the road. Really, unless there is signage or local bylaws requiring bicycles to use bicycle lanes where they exist (which ain't that often, bucko), cyclists can use the roads.

If two cars were westbound on adjacent lanes of a multi-lane road, and one of vehicles cut over in front of the other and an accident resulted, would the vehicle that hit the other from behind be absolved of all responsibility, or would there have been shared responsibility for following too closely? I wonder what an auto insurer would say?

Come to Waterloo and let's talk about cycling

What will a bicycle-friendly Ontario look like? What policies will have to be in place to encourage and support cycling in Ontario? What will be the advantages to Ontarians of a bicycle-friendly province?

These questions and many others will be discussed Monday, Sept. 21 and Tuesday, Sept. 22 right here in my home turf. The City of Waterloo is the host city for the first annual Ontario Bike Summit, under the auspices of the Share the Road Cycling Coalition. Eleanor McMahon, Share the Road founder and senior dynamo, talked my ear off earlier this week about the event.

The intention of the conference is two-fold: to bring people together from across the province to talk about provincial cycling policy, and to share information to help all participants build a toolkit that they can use in their own communities.

Speakers will include Andy Clarke, CEO of the League of American Bicyclists; Congressman James Oberstar, the best-known pro-cycling figure in American federal politics; Justin Lafontaine of Bike Train fame; and Jim Sayer, exec director of the Adventure Cycling Association. There's even some pretty impressive political muscle on the agenda: the new Ontario Conservative Party Leader Tim Hudak; Minister of Transportation Jim Bradley; and NDP Leader Andrea Horvath.

McMahon is particularly excited about the promised municipal participation, places like York, Niagara Region, Waterloo Region and Toronto. "Municipal governments are the major driver to get provincial policy change," McMahon said. "They will be (the ones) to push the province to create a safe and secure environment for cycling."

Details on registration are expected next month. You can read more and keep tabs on progress at the Share the Road website.

Horrific hit-and-run sends five cyclists to hospital

The Ottawa Citizen is reporting that five cyclists have been taken to hospital, several in critical condition, after a hit-and-run accident in a bicycle lane outside the city today.

The five -- three men and two women ranging in age from 36 to 45 -- were among a group of riders doing a Sunday run at 8 a.m. today near Kanata. They were hit by someone driving a van, who left the scene. The driver and the vehicle were subsequently recovered and the driver has been charged. According to the Citizen report and photo, bikes and riders were tossed around like bowling pins.

Three had been listed in critical condition. The prospects for one of them are not good.

Braun's to trade in rare bicycles

There's a story in The Record and on the Record's website today about a new venture at Braun's Bicycles in Kitchener. The cyclery has purchased a number of rare and antique bicycles from a Welland shop and is selling them out of their Scott Street location. There are names like Raleigh, Majestic, J.C. Higgins and Sunshine. The sale runs all week. Should be a nostalgia trip for some, and a headache for the long-suffering spouses of others.

My (former) bike is on its way to Halifax

The touring bike that used to be mine is wending its way to Atlantic Canada as of today.

Sean Gallagher and Larissa Koniuk left today on a 2,000-plus kilometre trip from Toronto to Halifax, partly as a summer adventure and partly to raise money and awareness for the Ride for Refugees this fall. Ride for Refugees is a fundraising effort by the Elmira-based International Teams Canada, a Christian non-profit agency whichi provides refugee services and supports some church and community partners involved in refugee issues.

Gallagher's the guy I wrote about in this post about selling my much-loved Mikado D'Iberville. He wanted a touring bike for a ride of this magnitude. Since he and Koniuk have never tried a major ride before, this could be a life-altering experience. I hope the alteration is a complete embrace of the joys of long-distance cycling. After 2,000 kilometres, it may be more like a butt-altering experience.

The two of them will be posting to a blog, for those who wish to experience the pains and pleasures of cross-country touring. And for those who want to support them with a donation, you can go to their web fundraising page.

What do chainsaws, bicycles and trees have in common?

What do chainsaws, bicycles and trees have in common? Well, until this week, I would have said, not very much.

In fact, I thought the press release I got for the Stihl Tour des Trees was a gag. A chainsaw maker sponsoring a bicycle tour to raise awareness about trees? What next? Is General Motors about to sponsor Car-Free Day?

It's just my own ignorance that I had never heard of the Tour des Trees before. Little did I know that it is the biggest fundraiser for urban tree research in North America (admittedly, a somewhat limited field). The ride, for the Tree Research and Education Endowment Fund (TREE Fund), raises hundreds of thousands of dollars every year, attracting hundreds of riders from the United States and Canada. Since 1992, the tour has raised more than $4 million US for tree research.

It kicks off from a different location every year. For 2009, the riders leave New York City on Saturday, July 18 and end up in Rhode Island on Saturday, July 25 after an 800-kilometre trek that takes them through eight states in the U.S. northeast.

Stihl has apparently been a regular sponsor (hey, if you're going to cut trees down, first you have to grow 'em) and this year, took on the "title sponsor" role.

As I said, there are Canadian riders, including Milton arbourist Greg Hill and Toronto parks supervisor Warren Hoselton. Money raised by them (and other Canadian riders) goes to the Canadian TREE Fund. You can learn about any rider at the rider gallery. You can get more info at the Tour des Trees home page.

And no snickering.