Take the Lane

CBC radio piece on winter cycling

It's interesting that more attention is being paid to winter cycling this year. Not necessarily good attention, though.
The website for the Ottawa cycling advocacy group, Citizens for Safe Cycling, recently posted a CBC radio interview from earlier this month about winter cycling. You should be able to hear it at:
http://www.safecycling.ca/CBC_allinaday_dec18-07.mp3
Good basic stuff about bicycling in the winter, but the interviewer, I believe, did the piece with the thought in mind that winter cycling is questionable, if not somewhat insane.
Based on the number of accidents in winter involving cars, I wonder if anyone would ever consider winter driving to be questionable, if not somewhat insane.

Happy Christmas, and happy cycling

Almost exciting as seeing St. Nick himself, was seeing a cyclist riding down my neighbourhood street well into the dark of last night.
Delivering toys? Going to a party? Or just a reminder that we are part of a year-round, lifelong activity.
For those who don't ride in the winter, it's only a few more weeks until you can hit the road again. For those who do ride in the winter, thanks for being advocates for year-round bicycling. Best of the season to all.

It's summer riding down under

I was looking at at all the snow (and the unplowed bicycle lanes) and thinking: if we were in the land of kangaroos, we'd be riding our skinny tire bikes right now.
As much as you might think of Australia as the land of Paul Hogan, Fosters and the "barbie," it's also a land of bicycling, with a national cycling strategy.
And Australia has laws that are stacked more in favour of cyclists. According to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, cyclists are entitled by law to ride two abreast and to take the whole lane, if necessary, to make themselves visible.
I suspect that two-abreast cyclists who take the lane still hear from impatient motorists behind them, but it's nice to know it's enshrined in law.

Ah. we love winter cycling

Ya gotta love the front page of The Record today, which shows Bryan King riding to work at King Street Cycles in Waterloo. (http://news.therecord.com/News/CanadaWorld/article/283602)
The region basically grinds to a halt, and the viewed-by-some-as-dangerous bicycles just keep on rolling.
Power to the pedallers!

Take the Lane contributor in the news

Frequent Take the Lane respondent Alan Medcalf is the main subject of a feature in The Record's sister paper, the Guelph Mercury, which you can read at http://news.guelphmercury.com/article/271116
It does the heart good to see the mainstream media writing about bicycles in the so-called "off season," because it's a recognition that there really is no "off season" for bicycling: the two-wheeled alternative is a year-round option.

A sense of duty

If you wanted to know how much pull Procycle and Raleigh have in Canada, the answer is: a lot.
Today, Canadian Press reported that the Canadian International Trade Tribunal has renewed a five-year-old anti-dumping levy on bicycles from China and Taiwan. The tribunal ruled that Chinese bicycles are being dumped in Canada and are likely to harm the Canadian industry (that is, the 700 jobs at Raleigh and Procycle). The anti-dumping duties are roughly about 30 per cent.
Retailers won't be happy, because it means that a potential market of shoppers who might plunk down the cash if a bike was $60 or $90 cheaper, has been lost. Bicycle advocates won't be happy, because it may mean fewer people riding bicycles.
The 700 people at the Canadian bicycle companies will be happy, because their jobs have been saved. I have a sense of duty to Canadian workers, but I'd be happier if the Canadian bosses could lead us to a product that was innovative and well-designed. Our products should cut themselves a place in the market because they are simply better, rather than because some trade panel decides to protect them from outside competition.
The tribunal did decide that imports of Chinese bicycle frames would not harm the industry, and won't face anti-dumping duties. Does that mean that Canadian bike-makers will start buying their frames offshore?
I wonder about their sense of duty...

Boston Bruins and bicycling

You may have heard that eco-guru David Suzuki has partnered this week with the NHL Players Association to spread the green message, but you may not know that the Boston Bruins have already embraced one aspect of green thinking: the bicycle.
You can thank Edmonton-born Andrew Ference, a Bruins defenceman. He was the catalyst for the program that challenges NHL players to make green choices in their thinking, including buying carbon offsets for their air-travel to games.
But Ference was on the bandwagon before this. He drove a hybrid while with the Calgary Flames (deep in the heart of oil-country) and after he was traded to Boston, rode a bicycle to practices. His teammates gave him a razzing, until team captain Zdeno Chara joined him, and now others have taken to riding to practice: for fun, for exercise, for a warmup and as a smart choice.
That's a big switch for hockey players, who are more likely to be seen driving a gas-guzzler than riding a fixed gear bicycle.
But it is a sign of the times.

Is winter cycling stupid and should it be illegal?

A recent e-mail to The Record suggested that winter cyclists are a danger to both themselves and those (motorists) around them, and that winter cycling should be made illegal.
Then I got an e-mail tipping me to the University of Waterloo Daily Bulletin, in which a presentation about how to cope with a Canadian winter, delivered by the co-ordinator of the university's International Spouses Group to a group of new international students, is summarized. In it, the UW spokesperson says, "Don’t bike in the snow and ice — it's stupid and not safe!" You can read the article in the bulletin at http://www.bulletin.uwaterloo.ca/2007/dec/07fr.html
I was not particularly surprised when I got the first e-mail, and responded to the writer's concerns about unsafe cycling behaviours (if you're going to wear a hood, at least look around before you enter the intersection), but the presentation to the international students pretty much stopped me cold.
A lot of European, Asian and African students come here from places where there are more bikes than cars, and the first thing we do is warn them against using bicycles? Is this introductory talk funded by General Motors?
Actually, walking in snow and ice is not safe, if you try to do it in leather shoes at a brisk pace. Rather than buying boots with good tread, taking care where you put your feet and slowing down in unsafe conditions, perhaps newcomers should be advised to give up walking and just stay at home!
There's a contact e-mail address on the UW Daily Bulletin. Perhaps, after you read the article, you'd like to offer UW your opinion on the subject.
And get a car. Really, riding a bike in the winter. Are you nuts?

A bicycling Christmas

I love Christmas, because it's only three months to road cycling weather.
I also love Christmas because it means bicycling-related Christmas gifts under the tree. It's a pretty good bet that I'll get Wooleez cycling socks again, cuz last year's pairs are just about worn out, and I have been loudly mentioning how comfortable they are and what a shame it is that they are in need of replacement.
You think my family can take a hint?
I was wondering what your Christmas bicycle gift dreams were. What would make it a bicycling Christmas for you?

Air horns and goggles

Thanks to everyone  who has suggested air horn and goggle options.
I did get an AirZound, from MEC. I haven't used it yet (except in the basement to the annoyance of my partner) and in the first opportunity to use it on the road, I reverted to yelling. Old habits die hard.
As for the goggles, I haven't tried any yet. I should have mentioned that I wear glasses, so anything will have to fit over my specs.
Riding in the snowfall the other day, with my glasses fogging up pn the inside and the wet snow sticking to the outside, I was pretty frustrated by winter riding. I'm hoping your suggestions will help with the sticky snow/rain/muck part of it, anyway.