Yesterday was a beautiful day, so me and 2 friends we get on our bikes and decide to ride up to the Kortright Centre, about 30-40 km from downtown Toronto. We were really excited about it, as it was the first time it was going to be more than 10C on a non-working day. Hwever, the ride wasn't as much fun as we expected: we had to ride either on the road, straight, boring, with a lot of cars passing very fast and very close, making us fear for our lives at every moment, or either on the "bicycle trails" with pedestrians taking the whole width of the lane (even though there is often a separate lane for pedestrians only). So now I'm just wondering, where am I supposed to ride my bike? It looks like there is no place for me to ride! I come from Europe, and it's a completely different story there! I lived in the south of France for a year (Montpellier) and it was so great, I could just hop on my bike, ride 5 km out of the city and I was in the countryside, with nice small roads, lots of other cyclists and hardly any car! Of course accidents also happen there, but it was so much more fun to ride than any of the rides I've done around Toronto! So what's up with this car culture in North America? Why are they everywhere? Why is everything designed for the cars? It's even more disturbing when you think that cars is one of the major cause of death in the world, and if you had people who die of asthma and in oil war to people who die in car crashes if might well be the first cause of death in the world!
So today I'm really wondering, where do I belong? Now I'm just really looking forward to leave Toronto (I will in a few months) and go back to Europe.
Guest
04-10-04, 12:09 PM
I don't know what's up- definitely, people in Europe have smaller cars, and they certainly don't use them to drive 3 blocks to the grocery store to get a ding dong either.
One thing people told me was that in Italy, they drive like maniacs. BUT the one thing for Italian drivers- regardless of how crazy they drive, they RECOGNIZE bikes on the road, and you are treated as part of the traffic. I've never had a car jump in front of me to turn right and cut me off in any part of Europe, but it happens every week to me here in Chicago. I've never had people honk at me in such a nasty manner or call me names or curse at me because I'm riding my bike on the road in Europe, yet it happens all the time here in Chicago.
Overall, I feel much safer riding in Europe as opposed to riding in Chicago, and I've been in some heart racing traffic before in Europe, but never any problems once I've entered it. On the other hand, you can be riding solo with like 2 cars on the same street passing, and one of the cars will pull up to you and curse you out for being on the road (especially when you're getting all the way from the right lane to the farthest left turning lane, which I never do unless the traffic is light to begin with). It won't matter if the street is deserted when you're riding on it, or if it's full rush hour traffic.
Go figure.
Koffee
Erick L
04-10-04, 12:56 PM
"...on the "bicycle trails" with pedestrians taking the whole width of the lane (even though there is often a separate lane for pedestrians only)."
Funny how that's how drivers see cyclists :-)
Resident
04-10-04, 02:50 PM
I'm moving to Toronto next month. It's far better cycling there than here in Halifax! (better advocacy, trails, parking, road conditions, etc.)
claire
04-10-04, 03:36 PM
I'm moving to Toronto next month. It's far better cycling there than here in Halifax! (better advocacy, trails, parking, road conditions, etc.)
Actually it's interesting because the biking inside Toronto is not that bad. Except that the bike lanes are not cleared during the winter. But you're right, if you want to commute inside the city it's not bad at all. I'm mostly complaining about where should I go if I want to go ride 100 km on sundays, just for the fun of it. It ends up being much more stressful than fun.
DMulyava
04-10-04, 06:04 PM
claire,
Did you guys bike TO Kortright Center, or AT it? I'm curious because I've heard bikes aren't allowed there. I actually live within 5 km of Kortright.
Which route did you take? Either way.. I know what you mean. Having cars zoom by you at 90 is not fun :(
AndrewP
04-10-04, 08:34 PM
20 yrs ago I lived 6 or 7 km S of Kortright centre - then it was out in the countryside, but now it is caught up in the urban sprawl. Now if you go for a 100 km ride from the middle of TO you never get to the countryside. There are however nice bike paths along the river valleys, so I think with planning you can get a good ride with high intensity parts on the roads with cars, and the recovery sections on the bike paths.
claire
04-11-04, 10:49 AM
claire,
Did you guys bike TO Kortright Center, or AT it? I'm curious because I've heard bikes aren't allowed there. I actually live within 5 km of Kortright.
Which route did you take? Either way.. I know what you mean. Having cars zoom by you at 90 is not fun :(
We biked to Kortright. Bikes are not allowed on the trails (which makes sense because there was a lot of families with small kids). I didn't see anyone who came by bike. The good thing of coming to Kortright center by bike is that we managed to get in for free, since we don't have to pay for parking. There is actually something interesting about getting to Kortrigth center: the center is devoted to sustainable energy sources and they like showing that everywhere. For example in the washrooms there are signs explaining that they use less water in the flush, etc... But there is no way to get there by public transit! The only way to get to Kortright center is by car (or bike)!
DMulyava
04-11-04, 11:21 AM
claire,
You think it's possible to ride the trails illegally though? Let's say like on a Monday afternoon. (Like tomorrow) I would think they wouldn't mind.. would they?
hockey
04-11-04, 12:37 PM
Hello Claire. I live in Toronto and agree with most of what you say about riding outside Toronto. I live near the Rouge river and took a nice jaunt up by the Toronto zoo, 10th line to Stoufville and then north to Mussellman's lake. Very little traffic and scenic route. Get out your road map and experiment with the many paved side roads of southern ontario. Good Luck.
claire
04-11-04, 12:53 PM
claire,
You think it's possible to ride the trails illegally though? Let's say like on a Monday afternoon. (Like tomorrow) I would think they wouldn't mind.. would they?
Mmhh... I wouldn't go tomorrow, since it's still a holiday for schools there might still be a lot of kids around. On their website they say that they don't want bikes on the trails because it's hard on the trails themselves. Personnaly I would be more scared of hitting a kid. They might have school visits or stuff like that during the week.
orguasch
04-11-04, 06:00 PM
Claire
I am from downtown Toronto, I am at a lost were is Kortright Center is?, Claire, what kind of bike riding are you into, because there's are a lot of cycling club out here, we have the Scarbrorough Donut club, the TBN, the Bramton cycling club you goes out on Saturday/sunday and they ride like 100/150 k on a good day. and if Kortright Center is just North of Toronto, like North of Steeles, there a lot of country road up there, and if you try riding the Don Valley Bike path from Lawrence Ave go south all the way to to Lakeshore and go west that is a good 80 to 100 k right there. and if you turn back and go east along the lake it will take you all the way to Victoria Park and that's another 60 K. hope you enjoy Toronto.
Oscar
orguasch
04-11-04, 06:21 PM
and looking at your previous post I beleive you are a hardcore cyclist, you can fit into this ride, so the Donut club meets at Laird and eglinton on Saturday/Sunday and leaves the Donut shop at 9 a.m. and goes North, and goes to king City and take another donut break at Grandmas bakery and goes again up north, see you there next Saturday
John E
04-11-04, 06:34 PM
Claire raises a good general issue regarding Class I versus Class II bicycle facilities. In north coastal San Diego County, we almost lost a near-perfect stretch of Class II (very few intersections, where the road parallels a railroad right-of-way) bikelane on Pacific Coast Highway 101 when construction of a mixed use rail-trail pushed the curb 4 feet / 1.3M toward the centerline of the road. We are supposed to get a new Class II lane soon, but both it and the outer travel lane will obviously be narrower than before. If transportation cyclists had not spoken up, we probably would have lost the Class II entirely, left to enjoy the blissful adventures of sharing a path with alert pedestrians and considerate dog-walkers.
claire
04-11-04, 07:27 PM
Claire
I am from downtown Toronto, I am at a lost were is Kortright Center is?, Claire, what kind of bike riding are you into, because there's are a lot of cycling club out here, we have the Scarbrorough Donut club, the TBN, the Bramton cycling club you goes out on Saturday/sunday and they ride like 100/150 k on a good day. and if Kortright Center is just North of Toronto, like North of Steeles, there a lot of country road up there, and if you try riding the Don Valley Bike path from Lawrence Ave go south all the way to to Lakeshore and go west that is a good 80 to 100 k right there. and if you turn back and go east along the lake it will take you all the way to Victoria Park and that's another 60 K. hope you enjoy Toronto.
Oscar
Hi Oscar,
Thanks a lot for all this info. I was a member of TBN last year and did quite a few enjoyable rides (even though I get bored when I have to ride 20 km in a straight line as it often the case when we go north of Toronto). I have some problems to find the right category for me though. I'm not very fast (I ride a really nice comfortable Mikado touring bike and I usually average 22-23 km/h) but I like doing fairly long distances (100 km or so). Usually the group that rides my speed wouldn't do more than 40-50 km rides and the group that rides more than 100 km would be much faster and drop me right away! I'm thinking maybe a randonneuring club would be more appropriate for me.
Oh yeah, and Kortright Center is just south of Kleinburg. I'd say 30 km from downtown.