Take the Lane

A cross-border view of cycle cross

Michael Barry, Canadian pro road cyclist, author and Toronto-boy at heart, wrote this week about his late- season affection for cycle cross for the New York Times News Service. The subject was the Toronto International Cycle-cross Races at Centennial Park in Toronto last weekend.

I always enjoy seeing these New York Times articles written about Canadian events by Canadians. It's educational, I'm sure, for our American cousins to have their world view filtered through another set of experiences.

You can see his full article here.

Further to Died on a Ride and visibility

After I posted on Ontario's latest cycling fatalities, I was mulling over the problem of bicycling visibility. And I still don't get it: why are cyclists so casual about their on-bike visibility?

The coolest recumbent in the world surely has to be the low-rider tricycle. I don't know anyone who doesn't see one and say, "Wow, that would be fun to ride."

The other thing they say is, "How can anyone (i.e. motorists) see you on that thing?" Every time. It's probably the number one reason that recumbents aren't everywhere. Cyclists seem to think they have less road presence if they aren't upright on a "regular" bicycle.

So, it's not like these cyclists are visibility illiterate. They know that visibility matters. So why are so many of them wearing dark-coloured clothing? Hoodies, jackets, even cycle tights are black. Would it be so hard to run some fluorescent striping around the tights? When I bought my first official cycling jacket, I went to a fabric shop, bought some reflective tape and sewed extra stripes on the back of it. Some of my cycling friends suggested I looked like a Christmas tree.

I don't care if I look like a Christmas tree. I don't want to look dead! And what makes us think we have done the most to protect ourselves when we meet the minimum standards laid down by the law. Just because we have a rear reflector, doesn't mean we are safe. It may the requirement under the law, but anyone will tell you that the law is an ass.

Do better than the minimum. Wear a helmet. Wear reflective clothing. Throw a couple of lights on your bike. Clip one to your backpack or pannier. Be a Christmas tree. Just don't be dead.

Died on a ride, #16 and #17, 2008

Two more cases of cycling fatalities, and two more times to ask ourselves, are we being as smart on the road as we can be?

The deaths were in London, Ont. this fall. Two readers pointed me to the most recent, and in calling around, I learned of the earlier death.

The first was Oct. 1. A 20-year-old Fanshawe College student was hit from behind while he was stopped in a four-lane road, just right of the centre-line, waiting to make a left-hand turn. It was 7:30 p.m. (after sunset). He was dressed in dark clothing, with no lights other than the required rear reflectors. He died a few days later in hospital. The motorist has been charged with careless driving.

The second was Wednesday, around 7:20 a.m. A 21-year-old man rode up on the right-hand side of a line of traffic stopped for the gates at a rail crossing. As the gates went up and the traffic moved, the cyclist, according to the police report, pulled up alongside a tanker truck, which as it crossed the tracks, made a right-hand turn into a parking lot, striking the cyclist. The rider died at the scene. His visibility does not seem to have been an issue. No word on charges as yet. London police are looking for motorists who were in the lineup to come forward as witnesses.

I'm not saying that the cyclists were in the wrong here.

Sounds to me like the 20-year-old was doing everything by the book -- using the full lane to make the turn, had the required rear reflector. I can't help thinking that he might have been more visible at night with some reflective clothing, and a flashing light. I have climbed on the soapbox about this before, and clearly, will do it again. There's no shame in being excessively safe.

As for the 21-year-old, there's probably not a cyclist amongst us who hasn't shaved a second or two off our ride by pulling up alongside someone at a light or a rail crossing, and then moved ahead together. It's usually easy to make eye contact with the driver of a car. Harder to do so with a guy in a truck cab. Notwithstanding that, truckers need to make better use of their mirrors.

Parks Canada removes ghost bike

I used to have mixed emotions about roadside memorials: on one hand I understood the need to grieve, but on the other hand I thought the grief was inappropriately placed. I have since come to see the value of roadside memorials as a reminder to all road users of the dangers of the road, and their need to be mindful of themselves and others while using the road.

As a longtime cyclist, I have a particular interest in the "ghost bike" phenomenon, where bicycle advocates or friends of a dead cyclist paint a junker all white and fix it to some point near the scene of a bicycle fatality. It's a strong visual reminder.

There was a ghost bike attached to the fence along the Trans-Canada Highway in Banff to mark the spot where University of Guelph grad Collin Cureatz had been killed in June 2007. It went up in September when the man charged in his death went before the courts. The decision on the motorist won't be known until January of next year, but the verdict on the ghost bike came down in the middle of last month. Parks Canada officials, according to an online story by Rocky Mountain Outlook, took down the bike last month because they feared visitors to the park would misinterpret the bike as some kind of pointer to bike routes in the area.

Get serious. So, are those roadside crosses an indicator of churches ahead? The Rocky Mountain Outlook article suggests that those who supported the placing of the ghost bike respect the Parks Canada decision. I liked the roadside warnings in Scotland and the north of England that reminded drivers how many people are died on certain stretches of highway. I would rather see more ghost bikes, or some similar signage, to remind motorists that their roadways are not just easy-breezy conduits from point to point, but places where inattention or aggression can lead to tragedy.

Biking in Barcelona

Here's an interesting New York Times News Service story (from an interested reporter) about the European growing pains with bike-sharing.

The author suggests (no hyperbole here) that European mayors are climbing over each other to get bike-sharing programs launched. After all, why buy a bus when you can get a couple hundred bicycles for much less of the taxpayer's hard-earned funds.

As always, there are problems, and it may be that the compact, dense European cities will always be better suited to bicycle use. But, we North Americans seem to like everything else that comes from Europe. Bike-sharing is surely next.

See the full story here.

Guelph bike institute gets T.O. nod

Luke Siragusa of I Bike T.O. did a nice piece in his blog about being a student at the Winterbourne Bike Institute (well, except for describing the WBI's Guelph setting as a Scarborough industrial mall without the shootings).

He's right: spending your vacation in a bike mechanic's course would be a worthwhile investment in your cycling future. Not a cheap one, particularly, but if cycling is important...

You can see the whole article here.

Where were the cyclists today?

If there was ever a day for riding, this was it. Who would have thought it could be so warm and wonderful on Nov. 4? Definitely, bicycle shorts weather.

Yet after more than two hours wandering the streets of my fair city, I saw only five people with bicycles, and one of them was pushing his bike. Where was everybody?

Moron of the week, #19

It is totally ageist of me to assume that younger cyclists are the ones to zoom past pedestrians without so much as a how-do-you-do.

Today on the sidewalk along Homer Watson near Ottawa, I was buzzed by a full-grown, mature adult on a mountain bike who did not scare the daylights out of me, but came mighty close. It happened so quickly that I was stunned long enough for him to get out of audible range, though I thought some mighty thoughts.

Use your bell. Use your voice. How hard can it be?

More forward thinking about our cycling future

I know that this is a beautiful fall day and all of us should be outside enjoying it, but if you have a few spare moments after all that riding and before you settle in for a dose of Sunday night television, take a couple of minutes to have a look at the Rails to Trails Conservancy's report, Active Transportation in America: A Case for Increased Federal Investment in Bicycling and Walking.

This 44-page report released last month is an incredibly accessible (i.e., made simple for politicians and others with no time for reports) look at the benefits of walking and bicycling to America. It's a summation of everything cyclists already know: more bicycles means fewer cars, money invested in cycling infrastructure pays greater benefits than money invested in automotive infrastructure, active transportation is a tool in the battle against obesity, etc.

The beauty of this report is that it backs up these premises with facts, not so much that the reader faces death by statistics, but enough for the average person to say, "Hey, maybe there is something to this."

Have a look, print out a copy and show it to your friendly local municipal councillor, MPP or MP. They need your guidance.

Halloween Critical Mass

The Halloween edition of the K-W Critical Mass will be this Friday at 4:45 p.m., gathering at the bandshell in Waterloo Park.

It being Halloween, costumes are encouraged. Boarders and bladers are also welcome to join the cyclists on their parade down King Street.

If you are a Facebook addict, you can join the Critical Mass Waterloo page and accept or decline the invite.