Take The Lane

Kitchener lands a top-flight bike park

With today's opening of the McLennan Park bike park, Kitchener now is home to the two best bike parks in Ontario.

That's the opinion of Mark Schmidt, trail specialist and point person for the International Mountain Bicycling Association (Canada), who turned up this morning to watch the ribbon-cutting and test the four circuits on the city-operated free bicycle park.

Since Coun. Kelly Galloway told the 90-some people at the opening that city officials haven't been able to keep people off the courses prior to the opening (Snow fence? What snow fence?), I just assumed that Schmidt had already had a spin through the park.

"I was respecting the opening day," he said. Schmidt said Chicopee's bike park and the McLennan bike park will be magnets for those wanting to develop themselves as downhill and freestyle cyclists in Ontario.

There are four courses in the park: a jump track with three lines for different skill levels and a grade change of 13 metres; a race-style 4X course with a grade change of 28 metres; a 183-metre free-ride course with skinnies, boulder gardens, a teeter totter and other challenges; and a beginner pump track with rollers, table tops and banked corners.

 Among the jump track users was a cautious Kitchener Coun. John Gazzola, the only municipal politician to bring his own bike. (That's him in the orange shirt.)

There was a lot of energy this morning. And some of the challenges facing the city are already apparent.

Although signage is everywhere indicating helmets must be worn on the tracks, several riders who knew better were there, helmet-free.

A somewhat jaded Cody Frericks of Kitchener, anticipating the municipal response when the park records its first serious injury, said, "I give it five weeks before they take it down."

But other riders were just there to ride, and talk cycling.

"Take my picture on the teeter totter," said Matt Bingeman, 9. Although he's been riding jump tracks for only two months, he has clear competitive cycling goals: "When I'm 15, I want sponsors." 

Reps from East Side Cycles were there to offer support, and show jump frames to the adoring 10- to 12-year-olds who saw no problem in getting a $500 or $600 frame. Perhaps the parents are going to pop for them.

The youngest rider was Christian Hampton, who at three years old, is actually too young for the facility: minimum age is six. But he got to cut the ribbon with Mayor Carl Zehr, Galloway and nine-year-old rider Samantha Summers.

While officials and parents walked up to the "summit" of Mount Trashmore, the cyclists did what they do best. The clear favourites? The intermediate and advanced level jump tracks. A whole lot of air was being caught this morning, and although I am a roadie, and do not have the equipment to run these courses, I can clearly see the appeal.

Are cyclists blissfully self-absorbed or simply self-centred?

I asked this question earlier this week, when I was in Toronto helping my daughter and son-in-law make some fixes to their new house. Their house is right on the corner of a four-way stop in a tightly-packed suburban neighbourhood. Some traffic. A few kids in hot cars. The odd contractor barrelling along with a lot of lumber.

And lots of bikes.

Between jobs, I spent some time in the front yard and on the front porch, watching the bikes breeze through the intersection. I'm pretty confident that over three days, I did not see a bicycle stop for the stop sign. (In fact, a few cars breezed through the stop sign, as well.) Women with baskets of groceries. Guys on BMX bikes. A mom hauling a kid-trailer. A dad with an add-a-bike. Father and son on their separate bikes. You get the picture.

It's a four-way stop. I suppose the cyclists all thought the same thing, "I can see there's no one coming, and if there is someone coming, well, I'm on a bike, and he has to stop." At least, I hope they were thinking. Judging by the expressions, or lack thereof, on some of the faces, I wondered if they were thinking anything at all.

Waterloo Region CAN-BIKE picks up speed

It must be pretty satisfying for Colleen Cooper to see how her long hours invested in bringing CAN-BIKE training to Waterloo Region is paying off.

As a public health nurse with the regional health unit, she saw the idea of encouraging safe cycling as a no-brainer: alternative transport, healthier lifestyle, community connectivity. That people would be willing to pay to learn to ride a bicycle correctly -- that's a tougher sell. Nonetheless, she was able to host a CAN-BIKE instructors program here, and got a small group of people certified to teach children and adults how to safely ride their bicycles in traffic.

And she has discovered that there are people in this area who understand that you may have to part with some coin to learn a skill (just as you would for skiing, swimming or golf). Cooper is reporting more and more instances of groups and individuals who want cycling instruction. The next adult learn-to-ride session is Sunday, July 26 at A.R. Kaufman Y in Kitchener, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. For more info about certified cycling instruction, you can contact Cooper at 519-883-2008, ext. 5324.

Canadian Tire says, "Leave your bicycle helmets at home!"

Oh, the silly advertising design team at Canadian Tire. What were they thinking when they used a photo of four, smiling, helmetless children on bicycles for their "For Days Like Today" photo contest?

Are they perhaps unaware that there are helmet laws for juvenile riders in six provinces? Are they encouraging helmetless riding in Ontario, B.C., Nova Scotia, Alberta, New Brunswick and P.E.I.? Perhaps Canadian Tire has secretly joined the vigorous but unofficial anti-helmet coalition.

Certainly, they could not be unaware that in the country's most populous province and the home base for Canadian Tire (Ontario), helmets are mandatory for children and are excused from the provincial sales tax as an incentive to buy.

Regular respondent Alan Medcalf spotted this ad, and has written the folks at Canadian Tire, suggesting the photo be replaced.

Died on a ride, #3, 2009

According to the Toronto Star, a 60-year-old cyclist died on Friday, June 26 when he slammed into a left-turning SUV in Vaughan.

At the time of publication, police had not identified the victim. Witnesses at the scene said he had picked up some speed coming down a hill into the intersection at about 9:30 a.m. that morning.

I hope he was just unable to stop, and wasn't attempting to blow the red light when he hit the SUV. Police said he wasn't wearing a helmet when he hit the SUV, and you have to wonder if this might have been one of those cases when it might have saved his life.

Kitchener's new bike park opens Friday

Oh, you cynics. You know who you are. You're the ones who think the new bike park at Mount Trashmore is going to be free and unsupervised right up until someone breaks a leg or something, and than the hammer will fall, the tracks will be closed and that will be that.

Well, come on on Friday (July 10) at 10 a.m. for the grand opening of Kitchener's newest bike park and have a look around. Try the facilities out. Feel the energy. Get caught up in the possibilities.

Aside from the four bike tracks -- the 4X, free-ride, pump and jump tracks -- there will be displays put on by local bicycle groups. Reps from the city and the design teams will be there to answer questions. And of course, the tracks will be open for bizness. Details on the Kitchener city website.

Ride with Lance wants you

The Ride with Lance 2009 people are working hard to recruit their 50 riders for their 120K Waterloo Region ride on Saturday, Sept. 12. Part of their recruitment strategy is a spin class on Tuesday, July 7 at the Columbia Lake Health Club, from 4:30 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. After some revolutions, stay for a private reception at 5:30 p.m.

Some of the riders from 2008 will be there to share their stories of the event, along with a number of this year's riders. One rider who won't be there is Lance Armstrong himself, who will be in the team time trial at the Tour de France that day.

If you (and your spouse) want to attend just to hear what's involved in the fundraising (and the training) for the ride, you can call Marilyn Whiting at the Grand River Hospital Foundation at 519-749-4205 or email her at marilyn.whiting@grhosp.on.ca