Take The Lane

I hate bicycle lanes in the springtime

Bicycle lanes in the springtime are a promise unfulfilled.

Here's the sign that proclaims the existence of the bicycle lane, such as on Hagey Boulevard at Bearinger Road in Waterloo, and what is there on the right-hand side of the road is so much gravel that the white demarcation line is not visible.

Any ride along a bicycle lane in Waterloo Region can turn up squashed catalytic converters, brake pads, flattened squirrels, windshield wipers and fabric items ranging from sodden winter mitts to ragged T-shirts. 

Any CAN-BIKE course will suggest that you stay in the left-hand side of the bike lane, to avoid debris, but who would expect the debris to go on and on and on?

No wonder many cyclists prefer to ride on the sidewalks.

 

Charges will stir up cycling community

Oh, this is going to stir up the local cycling community, and probably some motorists, too.

See this story on the Record website. Briefly, a cycling group was on a township road last month when it was overtaken by a truck pulling a horse trailer. The truck may have cut in too soon, and several cyclists hit the ground. Two cyclists and the truck driver have been charged with the Highway Traffic Act offence of careless driving. The driver has been charged with failing to avoid a collision with a bicycle, and the cyclists have also been charged with failing to move to the right when overtaken, and a township bylaw infraction regarding riding two abreast.

Frankly, it sounds like the investigating officers just decided to charge everybody and let the chips fall where they may.

I think the question will be whether riding two abreast (exclusive of the township bylaw) is careless driving, and whether the cyclists needed to pull over to the right.

They are entitled to occupy the entire lane if that lane is not sufficiently wide for both the motor vehicle and the cyclist.

The act says that the slow-moving vehicle must pull to the right as far as "practicable," which is a pretty open definition. While a horse and buggy might be able to straddle the pavement and the gravel shoulder, the law doesn't require the cyclist to hit the shoulder to allow the truck to pass. In urban areas, that "practicable" space includes the space that might be occupied by the opening of a car door, for instance. In rural areas, that practicable space might include allowance for crumbling road edges. The truck is supposed to wait for the opportune moment to pass, just as it would have to wait for a bus or a tractor.

We'll have to await the court date to hear both sides fully, but on the face of the news story cited above, it sounds like both the motorist and the cyclists will need good lawyers.

 

A shoulder to ride on

Thanks to Jim Wiebe for a Highway 6 cycling report. He sent me an email saying he'd been riding from Tobermory on Tuesday, and "the shoulders were great."

He said the shoulders, about three feet or two and a half feet wide, might not be suitable for the nervous cyclists, as the road is fairly busy and some motorists tend to stay on the right-hand portion of their lane, instead of sliding a bit to the left to give cyclists a wider berth. He turned off at Mar and continued on to Sauble Beach.

Wiebe wrote that he had driven up on Monday and noticed northbound shoulders around Wiarton were quite broken up. Clearly, a project for the Ministry of Transportation...

Iron Horse Trail, interrupted

If you are an occasional user of the Iron Horse Trail, you might like to know that the bridge just west of Victoria Park over the Schneider Creek in Kitchener will be out of service for a week.

Here's the story from The Record about the brain-deficient firebug who charred a number of floor timbers that now have to be replaced. Some people have been lifting their bikes over the fence to use the off-limits and adjacent former rail bridge. Not sure that that is a wise idea, but it might be better than the detour back onto the "mean streets" if you are just using the trail for a weekend amble to Vincenzo's.

Drunken lucidity about bicycle lanes

I was having one of those moments of inebriated lucidity (without having had even a whiff of alcohol, mind you) as I was contemplating the state of our roads.

In the midst of our pavement, we have potholes the size of meteor craters. Never mind that a bicycle rim might be turned into useless scrap metal on falling into one of these canyons, imported cars could disappear into them.

On the other hand, the bike lanes in our fair cities are full of post-winter/pre-spring crap: enough gravel for an Olympic jogging track, car parts that were squashed before they could crawl to the safety of the curb, enough broken glass to begin your very own recycling depot.

My plan: put the bike lane crap into the potholes. Seal with crazy glue. Ride safe.

Next, I'll work on peace in our time.

Rough road alert #2

Cambridge rider Frank Edwards writes about "potholes and severe depression."

"In Cambridge, on Fountain Street heading north just by the old Knotty Pine, there is an old road cut repair 3 feet wide by 6 feet long that has sunken at least 6-8 inches and forces a cyclist into the middle of the road to avoid it.

"Between the Shantz Hill light on Fountain Street and the above depression, several of the catch basins have become severely depressed once again, forcing a rider into the middle of the road to avoid them. This situation worsened dramatically from last year to this year.

"On Fountain street heading south towards the Grand River, there are numerous broken patches and depressions between Shantz Hill and the beginning of the bicycle lane which force a cyclist into the middle of the road, all need substantial repair. This particular section of Fountain has heavy traffic and is narrower than the northbound lane..because cars are allowed to park on the Northbound side making the road problems even more dangerous. Most cyclist ride on the sidewalk in this area...I do not.

"I believe Fountain Street is a regional road."

Something for Regional Chair Ken Seiling to think about, perhaps?

An insanely potholed road

Regular contributor Frank Xavier asked if I would launch a new category for damaged sections of road or potholes that are a hazard to cyclists, to warn us and to have a list of roads needing repairs that we can show to our local politicians.

I'm all for it. Of course, it depends on you. Send me the details on the rough roads that you encounter. And let me know when they've been fixed. I'll post them under the category Rough road alert.

And I'd like to contribute the first alert:

Stauffer Drive in south Kitchener is cool, tree-lined and insanely potholed. The yellow "rough road" sign doesn't do this roadway justice. It would be a great country ride if you weren't worried about destroying your rims.