Few things I’ll admit to being my fault, actually just one fault. It was getting a bit late in the day to be riding where I was. I had wanted to do a 100-120km, 4hrs+ in the saddle. It’s been a bit of a brutal week for me so I needed to get some sleep and I needed some ‘me’ time on the bike.

I was on my bike by 0730 am but in retrospect I should have left 90 minutes earlier. So at 1130 when I was heading west on Bloor towards the Kingsway after doing the Ellis Avenue Climb in High Park, Bloor was packed with pedestrians and drivers. I slowed down, was aware of the imminent dangers, did not weave between cars but was patient in the right hand lane between the parked cars and live left hand lane of traffic, but could not stop the inevitable from happening.

At 1130 yesterday a Beck Taxi veered into me. The driver was changing lanes to make a right hand turn to go north on Jane. Unfortunately the driver did not check his right side view mirror or his blind spot. Who knows what the driver was thinking as he changed lanes.

As my mind went into panic mode I knew I had to make sure I was passed the last parked car as he was driving into me; being ‘squished’ between two cars was not an option. I knew I was going to hit the pavement. As the cab brushed up against me and my bike I managed to push myself away from the cab; I got my foot up against the door and forcefully pushed myself away. My bike was leaning to the right and I was afraid that as the bike hit the pavement I would be sucked under the cab.

A crew of strangers picked me and my bike up off the pavement. I cried trying to catch my breath as I was thinking what could have been. 911 was called. Police and EMS arrived shortly. As did a fleet of Taxi drivers. I was very happy that the police arrived before the fleet of taxi drivers. Forms were processed, everything was documented. And as far as I know the driver was charged.

Always a lesson to be learned:

1. Ride when the roads are quiet. Early mornings. In areas where there are low volumes of traffic, on paths or in parks where there are no cars. And ride with a friend.
2. In construction when you’re walking around the site you’re always supposed to make eye contact with the machine operators; accidents happen when they do not see you. I will always try to make eye contact with drivers, make sure they can see me in their mirrors, make sure they are away from me
3. Texting and driving. As the law was tabled in Ontario the notion of banning all screens while driving was discussed. My dad suspects that the driver was looking at his screen for the next ‘pickup’; he did not have a passenger in the car. The Ontario  rules state, “The new law will not affect mobile data terminals, logistical tracking devices and dispatching devices.  They will be exempt for commercial and public service vehicle drivers who are engaged in the performance of their duties.” Drivers should be required to stop responsibly at the side of the road to use their GPS and communication systems, not while they are driving; they are equally distracted as a regular motorist.
4. Always carry ID. I was wearing my pretty pink road ID and I had my cycling license in rear pocket. Carry something with your name and address on it. As well as something with emergency contact information.

As a rider I know that I’m the most vulnerable. I never play games with cars; they always win even when they’re wrong. I really love riding my bike. I hate that I’m going to have to drive to ride now. I hate that I’m a statistic between bike and car. I’m not afraid to get back on my bike but I’m very afraid to ride near parked cars and live traffic.

Last week I had the opportunity to attend the second day of the Ontario Bike Summit (#OBS2012) in downtown Toronto. I went as part of the Morning Glory Cycling Club’s Advocacy Committee, but I was thinking as a cycling commuter, recreational cyclist, driver, engineer and planner. It was a great event to promote cycling in Ontario. #OBS2012 is the brain child of Share the Road [www.sharetheroad.ca]. This year Share the Road set the following mandate for the conference (partial):

• To share information on how to develop a “Share the Road’ campaign in partnership with local law enforcement, media and other community partners
• To demonstrate innovative methods for mobilizing community resources, creating momentum and achieving success
• To share research and information on the connection between public health and the built environment
• To share tips and ideas on how to work more effectively with local governments to advance cycling – including strategies for securing more support from the province
• To share data and research that you will help you “make the case” for enhanced cycling
• To Inspire bicycle friendly cities on the 5 “Es” of a Bicycle Friendly Community: Environment, Encouragement, Environment, Education and Evaluation and Planning

Here are some of the great things I learned at the Conference:

1.  CAA Bike Assist Program: Have a CAA membership? Good news, it covers you on your bike! “If you run into a problem that cannot be fixed on the spot, CAA will transport you and your bicycle to wherever.” More on the CA Bike Assist program can be found here
2. More people would ride more if cycling was Safer and there was more cycling Infrastructure (i.e bike lanes, shared lanes, etc). Some numbers from CAA: 60% of members and non-members from CAA want to see more cycling infrastructure in cities, 70% of Ontario’s population thinks more needs to be done for cycling (i.e. Share the road campaigns, safety, awareness, etc). Share the Road is asking the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) to dedicate $25M (1/8th of 1% of MTO’s budget) of their budget to cycling infrastructure.
3. Cycling safety and an increase in infrastructure will only be improved through collaboration. Partnerships must be formed with municipal, provincial and federal governments. Governments must work together and not in silos; health care, transportation, planning, municipal housing and affairs, culture, tourism, etc. Partnerships must be made with the public and private sectors.

Ask The Tough Questions:

I challenged the members of parliament on their current cycling strategy. A lot of the discussion on Wednesday circled around the ‘war on cars’. I know that it has been at the forefront of discussion in Toronto because of Mayor Ford. I challenged the MPPs to move away from the polarized discussion of cycling commuters and cars. I asked why cycling as a recreation was not a part of their discussion. I tabled my question stating that I was an engineer, an environmental planner, occasionally a cycling commuter but I was asking the question as a recreational cyclist.

What I heard back. Recreational cycling used to be a part of the discussion, but cycling was not a popular sport at the time. The shift was then to commuters since they were the most visible. But no MPP answered the question! Share the Road Board Members and a few other key speakers really appreciated the question. The idea of bringing recreational cycling back into the conversation is on the horizon. Let’s see what happens next.

Share the Road:

Learn more about Share the Road and sign up for their newsletter here. Share the Road’s goal is to make Ontario more bicycle friendly for everyone by: Enhancing access for bicyclists on roads and trails, Improving safety for all bicyclists, and Educating citizens on the value and importance of safe bicycling for healthy lifestyles and communities. Share the Road represents all cyclists – children, tourists, commuters, recreational riders, mountain bikers and racers.

I had a great time at #OBS2012 and look forward to attending again next year. If you have any other questions about the conference send me an email and I’d be happy to try and answer your question.

Happy Cycling.

(A slightly different version of this blog post can be found on the Morning Glory Blog Site)

As with most of my blog posts I had an incident that sparked this conversation. While riding to work yesterday I jumped on the sidewalk at the York Mills and Yonge Intersection. It is a busy intersection that has a subway/bus interchange to the east, to the north is the main highway corridor, Highway 401, and it’s at the bottom of a large valley. Add to that motorists and buses like to park in the westbound right hand turn lane to drop off and pick up passengers from the subway stop. As I approached the intersection a Canar bus was parked in the right hand turn lane. I had essentially come to a stop on my bike and was politely asking the passenger and driver if they could ‘excuse me’ and let me pass. The passenger boarded, the driver blocked the sidewalk to inform me that I wasn’t allowed on the sidewalk. Thanks but I’d rather not get squished by a car because your bus is blocking the intersection!

Tristin Hopper confessed to doing the same in the National Posts Urban Scrawl: Confessions of a Sidewalk Cyclist. At least I’m not the only one! If there is a bike lane I’ll be in it. If the road is free and clear of cars and safe I’ll be on it. But sometimes I need to be on the sidewalk too.

And when I’ve been on the sidewalk and seen the police no one has stopped me. In Toronto it is illegal to ride on the sidewalk if your wheels are greater than 61.5cm/24″. It costs you $110 if you get caught on the sidewalk or in a cross-walk. Don’t get caught!! Or ride respectfully and remember that the pedestrian has the right of way; slow down, make eye-contact, use a polite and respectful voice.

For now I’ll practice safe-cycling! I’ll use bike lanes where they exist. Stay on the roads where it’s safe. And use the sidewalk as a last resort when I feel the situation is too high risk!

Bixi Bikes comes to Toronto

BIXI Toronto launched May 3rd with 1000 bikes in over 80 locations. They can currently only be found within the downtown core (from Bathurst east to Jarvis and Queens Quay north to Bloor) but Bixi is hoping to expand. If you live and/or work in the downtown area Bixi might be for you, especially when it’s only $95/year for a well tuned bike whenever you need it. If you’re only in Toronto visiting BIXI has both day rates ($5/day) and 3-day rates ($12). I was hoping to use BIXI when I go to one of my favourite restaurants this week, Pizza Libretto. But there are no BIXI stations near by and it could be up to an extra $12+ if I don’t return the bike within 90 mins!

Toronto Bike lanes

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford recently announced that he is removing the bike lanes on Jarvis Street. Traffic engineers at the city of Toronto claim that commuters are faced with much longer commuting times and only 600 cyclists are using the Jarvis Street Bike lanes. This may have been more digestible to city cyclists if Ford had offered up some alternative. There is a cycling culture in downtown Toronto and Ford could have proactively offered up another street for bike lanes. Cyclists could instead be offered north routes on one-way Bleecker Street and southbound access on another adjacent route to Jarvis.

For an urban, supposedly active city Toronto’s bike lanes are disconnected, random and usually dangerous to say the least. Biking Toronto has a great website where cyclists can interact and they offer up a map of the existing bike lanes. I try and ride my bike in the city, but it’s usually not on bike lanes (mostly because there aren’t many in the area I live in). Driver behaviours vary day to day; you never know when someone is going to try and cut it close. My suggestions for safe city riding:

1. Wear a helmet (duh!)
2. Ride about 0.5 to a full meter from the curb or parked cars. As a cyclist you have the right to be in the right hand lane (as a slower moving vehicle). If you leave yourself some ‘wiggle’ room by the curb you can save yourself from falling over. It also indicates to drivers to move almost over into the left hand lane to get around you.
3. Do NOT ride on the sidewalk (it’s for pedestrians)
4. Wear bright colours. The more visible you are, the more likely other cars and cyclists will see you.
5. Carry ID, a mobile phone and have money for a cab.

The Sidewalks are for Pedestrians

Suggestion #3 is to not ride on the sidewalk. One it is illegal. And two it frightens pedestrians.

One of my favourite ways to stay active and healthy is to run track workouts down at Varsity Stadium with the University of Toronto. For my warm-up and cool-down I usually go and adventure through Queens Park and campus, seeing old buildings I used to attend classes in and getting my legs ready for something blisteringly fast (well fast for old lady legs!). Recently my fear factor has gone up significantly; there are so many cyclists jumping on and off sidewalks or just steadily riding on sidewalks. I am very afraid that one of them is going to plow into me one day. While it wouldn’t be as devastating as being hit by a car, I think the damage could still be quite significant.

Cycling friends please leave the sidewalks to those of walking and running.

With summer here I’m going to try and get in as much time on my bike as possible. I may even start waking up and ridiculously early hours just to get in a long road ride before I go to work. My goal is try and ride my bike to work once my competitive track season is over, but we’ll see given how dangerous it may be.

Enjoy your summer.  Why not enjoy your summer on your bike?

When I arrived at his office I texted him to say I had arrived, walked into the lobby of his building, bike in tow, and was waiting for the elevator. And then it happened. This overweight, googlie-eyed man started yelling at me ‘This is private property. What do you think you’re doing? There are no bikes in here! Get out. This is for private residents.’

I couldn’t be one of those residents? I didn’t have anything on that would suggest I was protesting something. I had no posters, stickers or any other paraphernalia I was going to post somewhere. I was standing there in my plain MEC bike shorts, solid coloured bike shirt with my backpack and helmet on.

Whoa! I couldn’t believe that with all the ‘green’ movements in Toronto I couldn’t bring my bike in. I did say to him ‘Ok. I’ll be sure to check the Toronto laws.’ At which point a yelling match ensued. He also then used his stature to intimidate me – all 165cm and 51kg (5’6″ & 115lbs) was no match as he came storming towards me.

Here’s the part that really got me. I was being thrown out of the building for having my bicycle with me, actually thrown off their ‘private’ sidewalk too (yes the city owns the first 3m of your property, if not past that to water main), when people can bring their pets to work. I think that was what made me so angry.

Don’t get me wrong I’m not anti-pets (I have two siamese cats, a husky-lab dog, help out with my brother leopard gecko, etc). But it did get me thinking.

Unlike a pet my bike will not pee on you or the floor. Same for #2. My bike won’t jump up on your lap, your desk or anything else. My bike will not scratch the walls (I might scratch the walls but cyclists are usually aware and careful). My bike will not give you fleas. My bike will not make your allergies attack you. And most people don’t see a bike and run with fear (yes my white bike with pink trim is quite menacing, especially with my light blue helmet).

What should we do for the ‘green’ future?

It really got me thinking. As we become more environmentally friendly do we really need to create bi-laws that permit us to bring our eco-friendly transport with us? Or can building managers just adapt? More research is needed on this but I wanted to post my frustrations.

Not everyone needs to be an envorinmentalist or environmentally conscious, but we all need to be accepting of each others choices. Maybe what also angered me yesterday was the complete lack of tolerance for someone who cared about the environment, for someone who carpooled.

It felt like it happened in slow motion and with in microseconds of me hitting the ground a woman, who happened to be enjoying a pint at the Lakeview Tavern, was at my side picking me and my bike up. Shortly afterwards I was sitting at a table, glass of water in hand trying to shake my fall off.

The Karma Circle

The woman, who I’m calling my urban angel, recounted the story of the first time she fell off her bike because she had fallen into a streetcar track. Someone else, her urban angel, was there to help her up, get her bike and calm her down. It’s a karma circle – she had passed on the good karma of the person that had helped her.

As I waited to be picked up I could help but think there was a group of these urban angels that helped cyclists everyday. I certainly was the only victim to fall prey to those streetcar tracks. I wonder how many other urban angels there were yesterday? And already today?

I don’t think I’ll give up riding in the city anytime soon; I really enjoy starting my day with my ride into work. But I will definitely be on the lookout for those streetcar tracks and a little more cautious when entering an intersection that has them. I will, whenever I see any cyclist, pedestrian, inline skater, etc fall down, be there to pass on the good karma, because I never know when I’ll need it again.

I headed out on the same route, the waterfront trail along Lake Ontario and on the way home decided to take Lakeshore Blvd. Typically my bf and I like riding along Lakeshore Blvd because where it doesn’t have bike lanes, it has overly-wide right lanes. Aside from the lights it is a generally safer road to ride on.

Parked in the Bike Lane

As a cyclist I some times disobey the law … if I get stopped at a light and there are no cars coming I’ll turn right, do a u-turn and continue down the road or turn left before the cars have a chance, sometimes I’ll just slow down at stop signs and keep going if there are no cars, sometimes I jump on the sidewalk. I agree that I shouldn’t do these things but sometimes it’s for the sake of being safe.

If there are police on the road than I always follow the law, the last thing I want is a ticket while riding my bike! Yesterday there was a cop on Lakeshore and I made sure to stop at every light, wait for pedestrians and generally be a good cycle-citizen.

Up ahead what do I see a car parked in the bike lane, when just adjacent is street parking. The police look at the car, look at me and then drove away. No ticket, no warning, nothing.

Where is the incentive for people to obey the traffic laws when are police won’t even enforce them?

I was very disappointed in what I witnessed yesterday, but not surprised by it. In my quest to remain active I’ll have to accept these disappointments from time to time. I guess if I just didn’t break the law so often on my bike I’d have better karma.

Is it possible to ride through a city safely?

Thanks to green LA girl for pointing me to this article at bicyclesafety.com. The Article How Not To Get Hit By Cars suggests some great tips for staying safe while riding in the city. The site shows you the top ways of getting hit by cars and how to avoid these situations.

I have committed myself to riding to work as much as possible. I’ve had to adjust my route (it is now about 10mins longer) in order to avoid busy city streets adjacent to the highways.

In Toronto the bi-laws state that it is illegal to ride on the sidewalk, but sometimes it is the safest thing to do. Frequent Toronto cyclists have fairly good judgment and know where the sidewalks are very congested with pedestrians, but in those areas where the pedestrians are infrequent, sometimes it is just safer to ride on the sidewalk.

My few tips for city riding:

• Use judgement: road vs. sidewalk, city-street vs. residential road, etc
• Wear a Helmet: and gloves aren’t a bad option too, road rash on your hands is always super painful
• Wear Bright Clothes: cycling isn’t a fashion statement, make sure you are visible to cars
• Always let the Car have the right-of-way: even if you it is your turn and your right-of-way, the car’s size will over-power you and win.

A Close Encounter

Last night while riding a ‘joy-riding’ cube van decided to race toward my bf and honk its horn and yell “Roads aren’t meant for cyclists” to ‘spook’ him. And it worked my bf had one of those moments that made his heart beat a little faster, wobbled slightly on his bicycle but continued on and caught up to the cube van at the next lights. Wanting to report the incident to the police my better half took out his iPhone to capture the license plate of the guilty cube van. The cube van got angry and ‘pushed’ my bf off the road. Fortunately in the end my bf walked away with only scrapes and bruises but wasn’t able to capture a picture of the ‘joy-riders.’

Unfortunately there is no funding for police to patrol the streets for people like this. In Toronto I’ve heard of other horror stories of people being thrown from their bikes because of motorists. Like I wrote yesterday about the Netherlands collision prevention would happen if we made all motorists guilty in pedestrian/cyclist collisions. In an attempt to make cycling safer in Toronto city officials have written a list of 15 recommendations to reduce the number of injuries and deaths. But realistically this isn’t enough.

As the temperatures rise here in Toronto and weather improves there will be more people on the roads. Hopefully these angry, ‘joy-riders’ can learn to share the road, although I suspect not.

 What is active transportation?

Have you ever thought I’m going to combine how I get to work with my exercise for the day? Did you walk, run, or ride your bike to work? Those are all forms of active transportation. Active transportation is any form of human-powered transportation. The most popular are riding your bike and walking.

Active Transportation will soon be a new ‘buzz’ word, like sustainability. But it is better than sustainability. Not only does it combine sustainable, ‘green’ actions but it also improves your own health.

Toronto is trying to make it easier. Both GO Transit and the TTCare installing bike racks on the front of buses, by the end of 2010 the TTC will have 24 routes completely equipped with bike racks. This way you can combine using public transit and active transit.

I’ll continue to bike, run, and walk where I can. I’ve recently started running home from work, it’s a long way but very rewarding. As I’ve said to my friends I started running a lot again so I can eat more cookies, cake, candy, etc so if I run longer I guess I can eat even more!