Monday, August 20, 2007
Long Friday
Friday evening ended with me pushing myself through a freak north headwind as I worked my way up Yonge Street. I had failed to find the memorial ride for Charlie Prinsep after riding all over Cabbagetown and the east end, following some guys on fixies around who were also looking for the group, and hanging around at Jet Fuel Cafe thinking people might return.
Since I heard about Charlie being killed by a driver on the transcanada highway, I've been reading his blog, and getting to know him, in a way. The whole thing is a painfully sad story. He was doing what I think many of us would dream of. And on top of that, as his blog proves, he was obviously a really nice guy, and would have been an interesting guy to know. He clearly had a big impact on a lot of people.
Riding into the city after work, I felt like there was a chance I was going to make it to the memorial ride on time, thanks to a freak north tailwind that was keeping me moving steadily at around 30 km/h. After about 10 minutes, I got a flat. It was my second flat of the ride this evening. As I looked down at my rim that was barely above the asphalt, I remembered what I had just read on Charlie's blog about glueless patches sucking. I didn't want to use one, but I had no choice, and now I'd use one again. The second time it seemed to work, and eventually got me downtown, although half an hour late.
Until I left work, my day was dominated with talking to people about my morning ride in. It was an eventful one. A driver of a minivan hit me while trying to pass me. I won't get into details because it's going to court, but I can give you a summary. A minivan pulls up at a red light behind me. We're on Yonge Street, and the lane is a little bit narrow here. The light turns green. He knows I'm in front of him. After we reach the other side of the intersection, he attempts to pass without changing lanes and hits me with his right side mirror. Fortunately, the mirror folded in, and I managed to avoid falling over. He didn't slow down, but I managed to get his license plate number. I called the police.
The police arrived in about 15 minutes and took my statement. I hear a lot of things about how the police in Toronto don't care about cyclists, but I have to say that my experience was the exact opposite. The police officer (inspector?) was very understanding and concerned about what happened. I would not hesitate to call the police if something like this happens. One thing I'm not sure about is calling 911. I called the non-emergency number, but I think I was routed to an emergency dispatch when I told them what happened.
To be continued (in about a year?) ...
Since I heard about Charlie being killed by a driver on the transcanada highway, I've been reading his blog, and getting to know him, in a way. The whole thing is a painfully sad story. He was doing what I think many of us would dream of. And on top of that, as his blog proves, he was obviously a really nice guy, and would have been an interesting guy to know. He clearly had a big impact on a lot of people.
Riding into the city after work, I felt like there was a chance I was going to make it to the memorial ride on time, thanks to a freak north tailwind that was keeping me moving steadily at around 30 km/h. After about 10 minutes, I got a flat. It was my second flat of the ride this evening. As I looked down at my rim that was barely above the asphalt, I remembered what I had just read on Charlie's blog about glueless patches sucking. I didn't want to use one, but I had no choice, and now I'd use one again. The second time it seemed to work, and eventually got me downtown, although half an hour late.
Until I left work, my day was dominated with talking to people about my morning ride in. It was an eventful one. A driver of a minivan hit me while trying to pass me. I won't get into details because it's going to court, but I can give you a summary. A minivan pulls up at a red light behind me. We're on Yonge Street, and the lane is a little bit narrow here. The light turns green. He knows I'm in front of him. After we reach the other side of the intersection, he attempts to pass without changing lanes and hits me with his right side mirror. Fortunately, the mirror folded in, and I managed to avoid falling over. He didn't slow down, but I managed to get his license plate number. I called the police.
The police arrived in about 15 minutes and took my statement. I hear a lot of things about how the police in Toronto don't care about cyclists, but I have to say that my experience was the exact opposite. The police officer (inspector?) was very understanding and concerned about what happened. I would not hesitate to call the police if something like this happens. One thing I'm not sure about is calling 911. I called the non-emergency number, but I think I was routed to an emergency dispatch when I told them what happened.
To be continued (in about a year?) ...
Labels: bad drivers, cycling, group ride, mechanical, police, Yonge Street
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Taking the lane and taking some pain
These geese in Richmond Hill demonstrate how to take the lane.
The heat is ruining my plans to push hard this week. I need to make myself into a faster cyclist. In a couple weeks, I'm meeting up with a bunch of guys I know from university so we can go on a big bike ride. The speed I need isn't so I can show anyone up. It's just so I can keep up.
It's fair to say that most people I know think of me as being a little bike-obsessed. And that's OK (thank you Stuart Smalley). But among the people I went to university with, for some reason, the vast majority are at least somewhat into their bikes (or were, last time I checked). And this particular group of guys I'm meeting up with are all what I would categorize as "fast". They were all on sports teams in university and many compete in triathlons and races now.
If only I was on those teams with them, and engaged in the same training, pushing my cardiovascular system, learning how to handle lactic acid build-up and how to fuel my body for intense exercise. Instead, when I met with them, the only fuel we worried about was ethanol, and calling it a fuel in our application is a bit of a stretch.
This is why I'm now riding my one speed bike. I dropped off my regular road bike to get the bottom bracket replaced. I know I don't have a lot of time for the effects of the one-speed to kick in, but I'm hoping my strength, or at least my pain tolerance, can be improved in short order.
The heat is ruining my plans to push hard this week. I need to make myself into a faster cyclist. In a couple weeks, I'm meeting up with a bunch of guys I know from university so we can go on a big bike ride. The speed I need isn't so I can show anyone up. It's just so I can keep up.
It's fair to say that most people I know think of me as being a little bike-obsessed. And that's OK (thank you Stuart Smalley). But among the people I went to university with, for some reason, the vast majority are at least somewhat into their bikes (or were, last time I checked). And this particular group of guys I'm meeting up with are all what I would categorize as "fast". They were all on sports teams in university and many compete in triathlons and races now.
If only I was on those teams with them, and engaged in the same training, pushing my cardiovascular system, learning how to handle lactic acid build-up and how to fuel my body for intense exercise. Instead, when I met with them, the only fuel we worried about was ethanol, and calling it a fuel in our application is a bit of a stretch.
This is why I'm now riding my one speed bike. I dropped off my regular road bike to get the bottom bracket replaced. I know I don't have a lot of time for the effects of the one-speed to kick in, but I'm hoping my strength, or at least my pain tolerance, can be improved in short order.
Labels: animals, commuting, group ride, weather
Monday, May 28, 2007
Group Commute Day - Yonge Street Edition
My commute lands me up in the Highway 7 and Leslie area, the city that hath no name. It's technically half Richmond Hill, half Markham, but that's beside the point. What does matter is that the employment area north of Toronto is so vast that it's difficult to have organized group commutes from one place to another.
Desparate for some company, this morning I met up with the southbound group commute from Yonge and Lawrence, heading to city hall. I would only ride with them far enough to qualify myself for a free t-shirt, which I decided was Eglinton Avenue.
The group was well formed upon my arrival at 7:25 AM. There were two cycling ambassadors who were busy giving out t-shirts. Two police officers were among the group. One sporting a bullet proof vest, one just wearing his short sleeve uniform shirt. They must have turned down the free t-shirts before I got there.
One cycling ambassador announced that we'd be leaving in about two cycles of the lights. We were told that we would try to stick together as a group, and if the group was separated by a red light, the front of the group would wait for the others. A police officer added that we should all ride to the right, in single file. Everyone looked around at each other, a little surprised by this. There were at least 40 cyclists here. The other officer asked if we could ride two abreast. They had a quick, quiet discussion and announced that we should ride single file, so the right lane was still available for cars.
I didn't ride in the group commute last year, but I did show up at the gathering point. In 2006, it happened to be on the day of the TTC strike, so Yonge Street was entirely jammed. That day the discussion was about whether to ride as a group behind the cars, or to try to "filter" up the side past the cars. The decision was to ride as a group in the right hand lane. I heard from others there that in previous years, the group used the full right lane.
Back to 2007. Eventually one person piped up and said it didn't make sense for us to ride single file. With this many cyclists it was safer for us to clearly take the full right lane. The officer reiterated his position that we should ride single file, but added "you don't have to listen to us". As surprising as that was to hear, it was actually a very truthful thing to say. The way we ride on the road is up to us. Each of us has to look out for ourselves, and essentially what the officer was telling us was just his advice, and not the law. At the same time, "advice" from a police officer carries a certain weight.
Although I don't commute South on Yonge Street, I use it often to get downtown. I know there are only about 2 or three short sections where it's wide enough to share the right hand lane with cars. The rest of the way, I take the full lane. One of the wide sections is just south of Lawrence, and another is just south of Davisville.
After sorting out what to do with the left-over t-shirts, we set off. The crowd spilled out onto the street and pedalled down Yonge Street. It felt good to be with so many other cyclists, and judging by the smiles around me, my neighbours must have felt the same way. One cyclist commented to me that riding on Yonge Street for a commute was a unique experience. I suspect many stick to side streets and the Don River trail. There was even a tandem bike among us. Its cyclists must have been happy to take advantage of this comfortable ride down Yonge.
For the part of the ride I was there, most cyclists in the front of the pack rode 2 abreast and chatted. The back of the pack was riding single file. Over 2 kilometres, one car managed to use the right hand lane to pass some other cars.
The ride was pleasant and casual. I turned around at Eglinton and headed north. Since I didn't make it to city hall, I'll have to speculate pancakes were eaten and enjoyed. I hope it was a good enough experience that a few cyclists are willing to keep going even without free t-shirts and breakfast.
(also posted on IBikeTO)
Desparate for some company, this morning I met up with the southbound group commute from Yonge and Lawrence, heading to city hall. I would only ride with them far enough to qualify myself for a free t-shirt, which I decided was Eglinton Avenue.
The group was well formed upon my arrival at 7:25 AM. There were two cycling ambassadors who were busy giving out t-shirts. Two police officers were among the group. One sporting a bullet proof vest, one just wearing his short sleeve uniform shirt. They must have turned down the free t-shirts before I got there.
One cycling ambassador announced that we'd be leaving in about two cycles of the lights. We were told that we would try to stick together as a group, and if the group was separated by a red light, the front of the group would wait for the others. A police officer added that we should all ride to the right, in single file. Everyone looked around at each other, a little surprised by this. There were at least 40 cyclists here. The other officer asked if we could ride two abreast. They had a quick, quiet discussion and announced that we should ride single file, so the right lane was still available for cars.
I didn't ride in the group commute last year, but I did show up at the gathering point. In 2006, it happened to be on the day of the TTC strike, so Yonge Street was entirely jammed. That day the discussion was about whether to ride as a group behind the cars, or to try to "filter" up the side past the cars. The decision was to ride as a group in the right hand lane. I heard from others there that in previous years, the group used the full right lane.
Back to 2007. Eventually one person piped up and said it didn't make sense for us to ride single file. With this many cyclists it was safer for us to clearly take the full right lane. The officer reiterated his position that we should ride single file, but added "you don't have to listen to us". As surprising as that was to hear, it was actually a very truthful thing to say. The way we ride on the road is up to us. Each of us has to look out for ourselves, and essentially what the officer was telling us was just his advice, and not the law. At the same time, "advice" from a police officer carries a certain weight.
Although I don't commute South on Yonge Street, I use it often to get downtown. I know there are only about 2 or three short sections where it's wide enough to share the right hand lane with cars. The rest of the way, I take the full lane. One of the wide sections is just south of Lawrence, and another is just south of Davisville.
After sorting out what to do with the left-over t-shirts, we set off. The crowd spilled out onto the street and pedalled down Yonge Street. It felt good to be with so many other cyclists, and judging by the smiles around me, my neighbours must have felt the same way. One cyclist commented to me that riding on Yonge Street for a commute was a unique experience. I suspect many stick to side streets and the Don River trail. There was even a tandem bike among us. Its cyclists must have been happy to take advantage of this comfortable ride down Yonge.
For the part of the ride I was there, most cyclists in the front of the pack rode 2 abreast and chatted. The back of the pack was riding single file. Over 2 kilometres, one car managed to use the right hand lane to pass some other cars.
The ride was pleasant and casual. I turned around at Eglinton and headed north. Since I didn't make it to city hall, I'll have to speculate pancakes were eaten and enjoyed. I hope it was a good enough experience that a few cyclists are willing to keep going even without free t-shirts and breakfast.
(also posted on IBikeTO)
Labels: bike week, group ride, police, Yonge Street