Take the Lane

Should retailers install lights and bells?

Lots of interesting comments from people about the clip-on flasher offer. Regular respondent Anthony Humphreys raised a point that is worth repeating: why not have the bike seller install the equipment that makes a bicycle street legal? Why is a bicycle considered to be a toy on the showroom floor and equal to a motor vehicle out on the street?

Imagine selling a car without a horn or headlights. Just don't drive it at night.

Or would parents fear that their children would be encouraged to ride at night if lights were standard equipment? That's the old anti-helmet argument: some believe that a helmet offers a false sense of safety, encouraging a rider to take greater risks. If a 12-year-old is equipped with lights, might he stay out later or rush through crosswalks because he assumes he is visible?

I hope that mentors of younger cyclists make them understand that protective gear can only work in conjunction with common sense and an awareness of the road and the riding conditions.

About those flashing clip-on lights

Wow. The flashing clip-on lights offer was over-subscribed in a matter of hours.

There were more inquiries than I had lights, but I believe I can get enough for everyone who asked, up to the point where the link was removed.

There were a whole lot of interesting responses, from people who had never really thought about bicycle lights, to those who wondered if these clip-on lights are legal.

To answer the second question first, I wasn't really considering the Highway Traffic Act, I was thinking about being more visible. Under the HTA, a bicycle is supposed to be equipped with a front white light and a rear red light (and white reflector tape on the front forks and red reflector tape on the rear forks). These clip-ons do not fulfil that requirement. What they will do, is make you stand out.

Frankly, there is a lot of material out there -- such as reflective vests, reflective pant-leg clips and even reflective sidewalls on bicycle tires -- that has advanced the science of visibility. None of these items are specified by the HTA, but they are widely available for use and will make you more visible.

Which takes me to the first question: thinking about lights. The weather is warmer, and summer is on our doorsteps. The kids will be out of school and staying out late. You'll be saving on gas by riding down to the bookstore for a latte and some chat time. And if you come home in the dark, you need to be visible.

These little clip-ons are a start, but I hope they stimulate some thought about being seen on the road.

Free lights for night riders

UPDATE: All the lights have been spoken for. Thanks to everyone who responded!

It drives me crazy when I see cyclists at night without any lights whatsoever. I've had a couple of near-collisions with such cyclists. I know that many people feel they don't need to plunk down the bucks for a bike light because they don't expect to ride at night. Yet, circumstances occasionally can force anyone into a situation they had not expected. And then you need a light.

I have a simple solution: Free flashing lights. I have a limited supply of free, clip-on flashing lights (blue lens, flashing mode only) for members of the Take The Lane community.

These lights are small, slip easily into a pocket and can be clipped to a shirt, jacket, bike cable, etc.

I'm offering two per respondent. Send me a note letting me know why you want them (backup for yourself or because someone needs a hint, or whatever) and your snail mail address, and I'll entrust a pair to Canada Post for you.

Busy bicycling week ahead

If you haven't tuned up your two-wheeler yet, this would be the time. There's a busy bicycling week ahead of us.

It starts Sunday with the Manulife Bike and Hike for Heart, for the cardiac care centre at St. Mary's Hospital. I've been riding for more than a decade with our Corporate Challenge team, The Cranks, and with every passing year, we get crankier. Nothing takes the edge off crankiness like carrying your pledge, but you don't have to pledge to me: you can make a general donation or register to ride here.

And Sunday is also the first day of the Commuter Challenge, the 21st century iteration of "ride your bike to work week." All aspects of alternative commuting are welcome that week: ride your bike, walk, take the bus, carpool or tele-commute. And the Region is tracking the results. Register and see how well we are reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The  Commuter Challenge runs through to Saturday, June 7, but if you interpret a week more liberally, then the last cycling event of the week is the Cambridge Tour de Grand, on Sunday, June 8. Register and pick from rides varying in length from 10K to 160K. First 600 participants get a wicking T-shirt. And there's free food before and after. It's a family-friendly event and a great way to spend part of your Sunday.

Bicycle rage, Down Under

The "stuff" really hit the fan earlier this month in Sydney, Australia, when a pack of nearly 60 cyclists, including contenders for Australia's Olympic team, was involved in a road-rage incident.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, a 6:30 a.m. training ride turned ugly when an impatient motorist wheeled around the pack and then pulled in front of it and stopped. Bikes smashed into the motorist, a following semitrailer jackknifed to a halt and vars. cars swerved to avoid hitting the fallen cyclists. No serious injuries, but about $50,000 in damage to the bicycles.

The motorist took off, later telling a talk radio show that he had been partying all night and needed to get some sleep. The 34-year-old man was eventually tracked down and faces charges of failing to stop.

The incident lit up the blogosphere Down Under, with plenty of heat generated between cyclists and motorists. You can get some of the flavour of it at LiveNews.com and the Daily Telegraph. I esp. liked the New South Wales Roads Minister who said that cyclists were "not helpful" by riding on roads during peak-hour traffic.
6:30 a.m. is apparently peak-hour traffic in Sydney. And bikes aren't to be used for peak-hour transportation.

Ah yes, that's a multi-modal approach to traffic planning.

Some buzz over charges, or the lack thereof

There's some buzz in T.O. over the likelihood of charges in the case of the 57-year-old cyclist who was killed as the result of a parked-car-door incident last Thursday.

There's a pointed letter to Toronto police Chief Bill Blair at Toronto Cranks

And the NatPost online quotes the fledgling Toronto Cyclists Union as calling for charges to be laid.

It really is a pity that the energy we need to improve the environment for safe cycling has to be expended on such a no-brainer as this one. The HTA says you are supposed to check before opening your door. How simple can this be?

Could someone legislate bicycle speeds?

I haven't really paid much attention to e-bikes, though I thought they were very quiet and cool when I first encountered them in China, so I was a bit surprised to learn from the piece in The Record's Etcetera section today on e-bikes that they are prohibited from going more than 32 kilometres per hour (20 mph) under the terms of the pilot project launched in 2006.

I can pedal faster than 32 km/h. I can cycle faster than 32 km/h on the winter beater bike. I wondered what the criteria was for setting the upper limit of an e-bike at 32 km/h. Once this pilot project is over in 2009, will some mandarin somewhere wave his magic bureaucratic wand and make such a limit apply to all non-combustion engine two-wheelers?

There could be the potential for some interesting exceptions. What about a bicycle with an electric-assist motor? Would the 32 km/h limit apply only when the motor is engaged? Would you be allowed to pedal faster than 32 km/h on such a bike?

Died on a ride, #4 2008

I don't know why we cyclists make a joke out of something that can be so deadly, but so it is with the term "door prize."

A 57-year-old man won the door prize in Toronto yesterday, on Eglinton Avenue West near Avenue Road at around 1 p.m., when a driver opened the door to get out of his parked car.

According to the Toronto Star report, the cyclist hit the door and fell off his bike into traffic, where he was hit by a cube van. He was taken to hospital where he died from his injuries.

The family of the victim has asked police that the victim's name not be released, so I won't be able to tell you much more about him. He was a guy on a bike, out for a ride. A reminder to us all that whenever you are sharing the road with traffic, moving or parked, you have to be totally alert and on your guard.

Cambridge thinking about a two-wheel future

Last month, Cambridge council had a look at a two-wheeled future, with the presentation of the city's Bikeway Network Master Plan.

It was an interesting report, since it was Cycling 101 for council members who may sometimes look at cycling as a frill rather than a real part of a modern multi-modal transportation system.

Some highlights:
-- The largest group of cyclists is the "interested but concerned" group, about 60 per cent. The next largest group is the "no way, no how" group, about 30 per cent. The Cambridge report identified the "enthused and confident" group as between 5 and 10 per cent. Would that be the fair weather cyclists?
-- The master plan seeks to make "a bicycle-friendly community for those who live, work and play in Cambridge." A noble calling, indeed.
-- A recommendation of adding 55 kilometres of bikeways within the next four years, at a cost of $1.35 million.

It's a lengthy document (and that's just the executive summary!) but worth a look, esp. for the "recommended policies and practices."

I was esp. pleased to see the recommendation for an immediate lobbying of the provincial Transportation Ministry to seek changes to the Highway Traffic Act and municipal bylaws pertaining to cyclists. An overhaul is long overdue.

Faster when wet?

I suppose the answer will turn out to be obvious, but nonetheless, I'd like you to ask one of your engineering friends: are cyclists faster when it's wet?

I flew home from work tonight. I was out on the road just after one shower had ended and got home just as another brief one was beginning. The road was wet, but not filled with puddles. Just that glistening black where every overhead light is reflected in the road surface.

I know that water will slow you down -- witness the pull to the right when you're in the car and one wheel catches a long curbside puddle. But will a thin coating of water speed you up?

I was roaring, almost effortlessly.

Maybe I was just happy to be going home . . .