AEO

So, being inspired by other photo shoots and being yelled at for obeying the law on my bike, I figured I would bring my camera along with my ride to work. My commute area is constantly backed up because of the volume and poor (old) design of the road. It's faster through the area with a bike than it is with public transport or car. Taking these shots added about 5min to my commute.
This isn't peak rush hour, it's around 9:30am~10:00am

more here: https://s199.photobucket.com/albums/a...kes/commuting/
So, before I bore you with non-stop drabble... here's my commute. Minus a few blocks because it's very boring until the first shot.


bike lane closed? There ought to be a sign that says this before there's no where else to go. Stupid city traffic needs to filter into one lane. Got passed dangerously close, also illegally and also yelled at.


yeah, it's over a crest/bridge, one lane each way, bike lane closed, I just take up a full lane :-)


...aaand passed illegally, but with a safe margin and no yelling or honking. (This is the exact shot I wanted) car that passed me gained a total of... 3 secs, thank you kind sir!


about 100m away. I'd take a shot of what kind of obstacle I have to avoid, but I need two hands on my bars for that. (if you haven't noticed, rails... that split off.) Also nearly got side swiped by a parking enforcement car... still doing good.


cars trying to pass a streetcar... after the intersection and street car... no more traffic! Amazing!
then a slight S curve... still good...


Aaaandddd... stuck, if only my bars were still 38cm and not 40.5cm I just might be able to squeeze through this... lol


passed the bus and truck... that's a YMCA you see there to the right. Then tagging along with another commuter... I think I'll stay behind her for a bit... Squeezing through parked cars and cars stuck behind street cars... see, smart people use bikes to not get stuck in this traffic...

AEO

!!! not a smart idea... turning left from the right most lane onto the sidewalk, especially when a car is turning left.


another street car... they go fast sometimes, but not often. I got left in the dust... but only because I'm weighted down by my camera Little Italy at College st. coming up... nice residential area with exceptionally good food, except for the amount of parked cars all day long.


... and it's kinda narrow here... good place to get a door prize, but not for too long because...


bicycle lane!


This guy isn't double parked, but actually he can't decide if he WANTS to park or not, and not signaling his intentions...


Intersection at Bathurst St. and College. street car tracks all over the place.


And after that congestion, it's all smooth sailing to my work.

rajman

I posted a thread about wiping out over the Dundas st bridge between Sorauren and Lansdowne a while ago - that's a tough set of streetcar tracks.

Nice pics

AEO

Yeah, I saw one guy wipe out going west on that dundas bridge a few days ago, he was squeezing through the cars and concrete barrier when traffic started moving and got squeezed by a van at the intersection. He got up and left with a few scrapes. He was only wearing shorts. Was that you?

Check here for my evening commute. I put titles on them so I won't be dumping this thread with images :-)

https://s199.photobucket.com/albums/a...ing%20commute/
Check the extras for an on foot of this fairly trecherous bridge. :-)
https://s199.photobucket.com/albums/a...commute/Extra/

I_bRAD

Aw c'mon! That bridge on dumbass is annoying while its under construction, but there's plenty of room for both cars and bikes at the same time! The way the sun reflects off the painted over bike lane it almost looks like it's still there anyhow....

Lamourish

I've converted to taking the whole lane when there's no room as well. I get honks but it beats getting hit. I've been inches from mirrors as people try to pass, only to leapfrog them at the next light.

tuz

Yeah commuting in Toronto can be a pain on major streets even though there's a bike lane on some of them (which some motorists seem to consider as a suggestion only).

That's why I favor smaller & parallel streets. But sadly it's not really practical because in residential areas most of these streets are facing one ways... so you're stuck on the major roads.

+1 one on taking the lane, it's your right. However in rush hour it's tricky.

Fortunately I commute on the #35 bike path which is very good and quiet.

Cyclon

That's crazy with the lady turning left at the intersection from the farthest right lane.

I_bRAD

It's on a red though, crosswalk turn ftw

Flimflam

Didn't see this post until now - great pics - I've stopped taking Lansdowne since they chewed up all 4 lanes (meaning a sidewalk section for me to get to College). I take Shaw from Bloor down to Queen to Sorauren, meaning I skip that whole nasty intersection now - I started to get bogged down with having to deal with the hassles over that whole thing at night.

Nice commute!

brew

i believe i would have stayed behind that fellow commuter for a bit to