If you still have I'll grab it.

Seeing how certain members of city council think this is a perfect time to bring up LAW AND ORDER AND HELMETS for cyclists, I propose this.... Seeing that it is indeed legal for cyclists to "take the lane" in the city limits of Toronto, and city council doesn't want to get behind a systemic sharing of road resources, maybe we cyclists should take the lane, all of us, everywhere , all the time. Despite being legal it generally infuriates motorists to no end. I got a giggle this morning picturing every cycling commuter taking up the curb lane.

I think this City Wonk's proposal, considering the timing, is offensive, shortsighted, and akin to taking a photo op at an accident scene. Is this guy an ambulance chaser before he got elected?

Yup, it's here for the taking.

if you don't mind paying a little more check out high park cycles. it can be an irritating experience trying to buy something in there but the guy does have nice stuff.

It's more of the "blame the victim" philosophy. Next thing you know pedestrians will be required to wear a helmet and have a license. After all they use the road at crosswalks, they jaywalk, cross at red lights, etc. Not forgetting those reckless joggers...

Thanks, I'll do that.

Regarding pedestrians .. they actually are annoying and reckless. When on the martin goodman I always find families with strollers stepping out right in front of me or taking up the whole (divided) path. It's irritating because there's a boardwalk for them.

oooh it just pisses me off so much because the numbers are in .... it's the cars. Period. Inattentive, badly positioned, mechanical bullies. Drives me bonkers to see how they push peds around. I thank the deities I'm not afraid of cars in traffic else I can't imagine just unpleasant an experience cycling around here would be. The complete lack of political will, or possibly, basic understand of the issue, borders on criminal. If this goes through the valuable resources squandered to make it happen....and all for naught, just boils my blood. Some enforcement blitzes , PSA's , billboards and some news stories could make this city so much the better place for everyone.

Exactly, cars need license and insurance because they weight a ton or two, contain explosive gasoline, and can go from 0 to 60 kmh in a few seconds. THEY are responsible (in large part) for all the carnage to peds, cyclists, not forgetting damage and wear & tear to infrastructure, etc. Putting cyclists and cars on the same level... jeez...

The ignorance of cycling in the political sphere is really not surprising. They probably have never ridden seriously. The effect of bike lanes, helmets, etc. has been studied and is well documented. Why ignore the facts?

Education, education, education. And lower the speed limit. Seriously, it works!

As far as the peds go, yes they do get pushed around at times by cagers but at least they have their own turf to retreat to. Their turf is protected by law, and they are partially protected by law when they venture into the turf of the cagers. In between the sidewalk and the street, there is... no man's land. It is a lawless area, claimed by cyclists, but contested by both the peds and the cagers who refuse to yield it without a fight.

A positive message I think I've seen coming out of the recent debates is that some police officers do seem to acknowledge that it is possible to ride illegally with care and consideration such that no ticket need be issued.

For me, it's seeing a car turn in front of people already in the intersection walking across the street. It's the most basic rules of driving. If you can't finish the turn ... don't start & if there are ppl in the intersection you don't go. Those are two golden rules I learned, and I've watched the Toronto drivers get more and more aggressive as time goes on. When I walk across the green with my daughter and I have to stop mid lane for a car pushing through, I wanna put a boot through the door. I'd never even consider turning the front of the car to face pedestrians (what if you get rear ended) let alone entering the intersection. I'll creep to the front of this area, but virtually never in such a way that a ped has to alter their motion to accommodate me, because they do have ROW and I'm encroaching. Whereas cars DEMAND/TAKE the ROW from folks who legally, already posses it.

$100 Benetto on CL today, it won't last long though...

http://toronto.en.craigslist.ca/tor/bik/1375409168.html

Thanks .. already on it!
Awaiting a reply, it's a sweet deal and pretty much just the kind of thing I was looking for.

What the hell? Eddie Izzard ran 43 marathons in the last 2 months?

Fyi:

So if I want to talk on the phone I just need to pull over into the bike lane where I'm not disrupting traffic.

Edit: I'll probably also do it suddenly and without warning so I can catch the call. Safety first!

It uses the word 'vehicle' rather than 'motor vehicle' (at least in that summary) so I wonder if it applies to bikes. I hope so, people that ride while holding a cell phone to their ear seem to be always weaving and causing me headaches as I try to pass them.

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/695759#Comments
hit up the comments

You're the best TJ :)

Done and done.
I've said it before and I'll say it again .. write letters. To the media, to the government and to the police.

I can't get over how bad attitudes have gotten against cyclists these days. WTF did people on bikes ever do to anyone other than put minor dents in vehicles when they get bones broken by drivers who are at fault 9/10 times?

There are a couple media outlets who's editors should be up against the wall for propagating this garbage.

I'm pretty steamed at the media and how they've fanned the embers of discontent, bringing it too a virtual fire.
There's no need for the inflammatory language to be used, and of course the excuse is "it sells papers". As long as the powers that be refuse to take on the motoring majority, nothing at all will change. They can legislate us to the subway tunnels if they want, but unless the MASS of the road life changes their migration patterns then we'll simply keep doing what it is we do to survive. An unfortunate result of this is possibly creating a more militant sub slice of the 'bad biker profile', which can only end up badly in one form or another.

Monster BIG UPS to the Dufferin Concrete Mixer driver who pulled over on Queen's Quay and parked in the curb lane and didn't obstruct the BL at all. You rock , whoever you are!

^^^ so nice to hear a positive anecdote!

also, "A Talking Head Dreams of a Perfect City":

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...Tabs%3Darticle

it gets better!

To the ******* who stole my white Deep V's tonight... (queen & ossington)
Date: 2009-09-17, 3:24AM EDT
Reply to: sale-adxtu-1378529925@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]

....you'd better hope that i don't find you, because i will not hesitate to bash your face in with my kryptonite evo.

stolen: a set of white machined deep v's (at the time, attached to my black iro mark v), between 11 pm and 2 am tonight at the nw corner of queen & ossington.

front: 36h "urbanite"-branded polished formula hub; small dent in the braking surface
rear: 36h quando dx polished flip-flop hub w/ 16T cog and 16T shimano freewheel

(wheels were equipped with a set of serfas seca 700x25 tires.)

to everyone else: if you happen to come across this wheelset, would greatly appreciate a quick note re: circumstances. at this point, i don't even care about recouping my $$$, i'd just like to give this guy a beat-down he won't forget.

http://toronto.en.craigslist.ca/tor/bik/1378529925.html

How was this bike locked? Sucks about the wheels, that's not you is it Trueno92?
Speaking of =rims does anyone have a handle on a possible sale on 36H rims?
I killed my back wheel on a city grate the other day.
So... I suppose it's time to get a set of new rims, and build up those IRO hubs I got last year.

I was going to go for a black out build but have since decided to go silver.