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What streets do you like to ride on?

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What streets do you like to ride on?

Old 06-10-14, 08:34 PM
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I come through this intersection most days although the pavement is rough (the photo doesn’t show the worst of it). I may have mentioned this anecdote before, and if not, Roody at least will appreciate it. A couple of years ago I noticed an old-style commuter bike spray painted gold and adorned with flowers locked to one of the bike stands in the park as shown. I went to investigate, and it was Jane Jacobs’s bike, placed there as a tribute as she had lived nearby. In fact, many years ago she help block this lovely old neighbourhood from being razed for a freeway.



I also learned through genealogic research that my great grandfather lived in the house immediately to left of my camera position, across the street (not shown) at the time of the 1911 census.



This is Poplar Plains, one of the first bike-striped streets in Toronto, offering a gentle, low traffic route up the Spadina Escarpment, a modest rise that cuts across Toronto just north of downtown.




This picture shows Toronto’s most basic, yet useful bike facility: recommended routes. These blue signs guide cyclists across and around the city on a network of comfortable streets – with or without bike lanes or sharrows, etc.

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Old 06-10-14, 08:41 PM
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Originally Posted by cooker
I come through this intersection most days although the pavement is rough (the photo doesn’t do it justice). I may have mentioned this anecdote before, and if not, Roody at least will appreciate it. A couple of years ago I noticed an old-style commuter bike spray painted gold and aadorned with flowers locked to one of the bike stands in the park. I went to investigate, and it was Jane Jacobs’s bike placed there as a tribute as she had lived nearby. In fact, many years ago she help block this lovely old neighbourhood from being razed for a freeway.

I also learned through genealogic research that my great grandfather lived in the house immediately to left of my camera position, across the street (not shown) at the time of the 1911 census.

This is Poplar Plains, one of the first bike-striped streets in Toronto, offering a gentle, low traffic route up the Spadina Escarpment, a modest rise that cuts across Toronto just north of downtown.

This picture shows Toronto’s most basic bike facility: recommended routes. These blues signs guide cyclists across the city on a network of comfortable streets – with or without bike lanes or sharrows, etc.
Nice pictures that show how varied bike facilities are, and how unobtrusive when nicely designed. I love old neighborhoods like these. Every place I've lived has been similar.

Any chance you could post a picture of Jane Jacobs' bike for me?
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Old 06-10-14, 09:13 PM
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I guess my memory was a little off on the fine details, but here it is. Maybe the flowers were my imagination, or they had been stripped off by the time I got around to taking a picture.

Now, I wonder if it was really hers or more of a fan's creation. It was there for several months, in 2011 if the date stamp on my image file is correct.
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Old 06-10-14, 09:31 PM
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Originally Posted by cooker
I guess my memory was a little off on the fine details, but here it is. Maybe the flowers were my imagination, or they had been stripped off by the time I got around to taking a picture.

Now, I wonder if it was really hers or more of a fan's creation. It was there for several months, in 2011 if the date stamp on my image file is correct.
Thanks!!!
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Old 06-11-14, 12:15 AM
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Some of the streets in my area:

The first one has views of gardens full of beautiful flowers, and no lane markings at all, so I can ride right out in the center and avoid the door zone on both sides. There's little traffic. There are a lot of streets like this in my neighborhood, and I think they are my favorite type for riding.

The path beside the second street is a shortcut that cars can't use. It continues straight (or you can turn left onto a street) while the road curves off to the right in the distance. To my mind this is a sidewalk, but the city claims it's a MUP, so I use it as one even though the whole thing, which is supposed to accommodate two-way bike traffic plus pedestrians, is only about 7 feet wide. Luckily it's not too crowded.

The third and fourth streets are part of my commute. I like that both have a nice bike lane with no parked cars. Note in the fourth picture, to the left of the silver car, the sharrow in the center turn lane. This road also features special induction loops for bikes to trigger traffic signals. Until a few months ago, it had no bike facilities at all and poor pedestrian facilities; this new design is part of the sustainable streets initiative.

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Old 06-11-14, 05:13 AM
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Originally Posted by Ekdog
You are presented with the facts and all you do is deny, deny, deny. That's just sad.
What facts are they? I don't see any mention of 16,900 bighorn sheep being hit by vehicles in the linked pdf.

Remarkably, the only roadkill I have experienced on that road and others through the Canadian Rockies while riding my bicycle have been skunks, and a very small handful of deer.

Tell me, how much roadkill through the Canadian Rockies have you personally seen?
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Old 06-11-14, 05:40 AM
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Originally Posted by cooker
Your pictures are amazing but they aren't "streets" (although Roody did mention both streets and highways in the OP). Got any more conventional "streets" you prefer to ride around Taz for commuting or utility purposes?
I'm getting there.
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Old 06-11-14, 06:02 AM
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Still in Alberta ...

This is an interesting situation. Between Bentley (which used to have a fascinating bicycle shop ... may still do) and almost all the way to Gull Lake (but not quite all the way for some unknown reason) there is a paved cycle path. It's beautiful. But so is the road. However ... your choice. Sometimes I rode the path, sometimes I rode the road.




Over to lower mainland BC ...

This is in a more populated area ... not nearly so remote as the ones I've posted from Alberta. But there's a lot of lovely cycling in the area.





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Old 06-11-14, 12:45 PM
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Originally Posted by Rowan
What facts are they? I don't see any mention of 16,900 bighorn sheep being hit by vehicles in the linked pdf.

Remarkably, the only roadkill I have experienced on that road and others through the Canadian Rockies while riding my bicycle have been skunks, and a very small handful of deer.

Tell me, how much roadkill through the Canadian Rockies have you personally seen?
The link said most of the animals killed in Alberta were deer. I think sheep, if any were killed, must be included in 2% other animals. It's sad that things we enjoy so much, like easy automobile access to wilderness areas, carry a high price for the animals that live there. (And I will admit that I very much enjoyed a car trip in the Canadian Rockies several years ago.)

I don't know about Canada, but some of the US National Parks have strictly limited car access.
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Old 06-11-14, 02:43 PM
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Originally Posted by Roody
It's sad that things we enjoy so much, like easy automobile access to wilderness areas, carry a high price for the animals that live there.
I don't know about Canada, but some of the US National Parks have strictly limited car access.
So I guess you've never run over a possum on your bike, or a rabbit on foot? Actually I don't believe either animal died or was hurt badly.... Where I live cars are the main population control for deer. The deer tend not to live up in the real woods, where they are hunted, but around more populated areas. But the speed limits are high, there.
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Old 06-12-14, 12:58 AM
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I find the whole "Mary Poppins" effect very interesting. I never thought about it, but, that could be a real topic for conversation on urban cycling.
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Old 06-12-14, 01:13 AM
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Originally Posted by MickeyMaguire
I find the whole "Mary Poppins" effect very interesting. I never thought about it, but, that could be a real topic for conversation on urban cycling.
Why don't you start a thread?

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Old 06-12-14, 02:21 AM
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Heading over to Manitoba ....

I did a lot of cycling in Manitoba. Tens of thousands of kilometres. It is mostly flat there ... I had to make some effort to find hills. And there isn't much in the way of shoulders. But there are a whole lot of quiet country roads.

This road was the most beautiful road in Manitoba ... unfortunately I discovered it my last year there so I didn't have a lot of time to ride it. And it is remote, but that's the way I like them!!




This was part of my "usual" cycling route ... I rode out here almost every day after work. And that's about as much traffic as I would encounter out there.





(as with all my photos, if you click them, you'll see more usually in the same sort of category)


[HR][/HR]

I don't seem to have much in the way of photos of Winnipeg, but my commute there was pretty good.

The street I lived on had the features I like ... dual carriageway with wide curbside lane. I have to laugh a bit ... since I left they've painted little pictures of bicycles on the street close to the curb here and there. I cycled that road for 13 years without needing some faded white sketches of a bicycle to tell me where to ride.

I did a left turn off that street onto a main arterial bridge which had both a bicycle path (which I hardly ever used) and a shoulder (which I usually used).

That road crossed another main arterial street and became an interesting dual carriageway. The curbside lane was also used for parking. But usually there were only one or two cars parked on it. That was enough so the moving traffic stayed in the median lane, and I had the curbside lane to myself. It was wide enough so that I could zip around the one or two parked cars with no difficulty at all.

It was actually quite a fast and easy commute. The one downside were potholes ... they did tend to collect potholes near the curb. A mtn bike with knobby tires was the way to go.

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Old 06-12-14, 02:36 AM
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And speaking of commutes, this was one of my Alberta commutes. It was a long commute, but it was a beautiful commute. And yeah ... remote.

















(as with all my photos, if you click them, you'll see more usually in the same sort of category)
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Old 06-12-14, 05:23 AM
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Originally Posted by Roody
The link said most of the animals killed in Alberta were deer. I think sheep, if any were killed, must be included in 2% other animals. It's sad that things we enjoy so much, like easy automobile access to wilderness areas, carry a high price for the animals that live there. (And I will admit that I very much enjoyed a car trip in the Canadian Rockies several years ago.)

I don't know about Canada, but some of the US National Parks have strictly limited car access.
I agree with what you say. There is a stretch of highway in Tasmania that I rode once where there was a carcase every 50 to 100 metres. This was in summer. The stench was terrible.

I am a quite careful driver. The only animals I have hit in the past five years have been birds that have flown into the vehicle, and have felt badly about that every time.

My worst recent experiences was being behind a pick-up truck driver who swerved to try to hit a kookaburra sitting on the side of the road. Fortunately, he missed the bird by fractions of an inch, and it took off in front of me (I missed it). I have real trouble with people who intentionally hit animals because they believe them to be vermin.

And I've said this before on these forums... I have real trouble understanding why we, as a society, put so much store in keeping dogs and cats as pets, yet our native wildlife can go to hell. In Australia, you have to have a special permit from the parks and wildlife people to keep any native animal as a pet... where is the logic in that.

I do have to say that I have been impressed with what the Albertans have been doing with tunnels and overpasses on highway rebuilds, to enable wildlife to pass without risk from cars and trucks. Highway 1 (the Trans-Canada Highway) that crosses the Icefield Parkway is actually fenced so that deer, elk, and bear are protected... and can still access the other side of the road through the crossovers.

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Old 06-12-14, 08:03 PM
  #91  
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Originally Posted by cooker
This is Shaw St. It seems wide with its grassy median, but the lanes are narrow. I used to see a lot of cyclists riding dangerously in the "door zone", as cars impatiently squeezed by, but since they painted the sharrows in, earlier this year, things seem better – more cyclists seem emboldened to take the lane, and the drivers seem more willing or resigned to waiting for a safe spot to pass.


Encouraging that they got cyclists away from parked cars. But isn't it wide enough for cars to pass if everyone is going slow enough?

Ok.. now that I blew this up, I see it isn't. So a really slow cyclist could hang traffic up pretty good.

Maybe a case for a "No parking" zone.
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Old 06-12-14, 08:08 PM
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Originally Posted by gerv
Encouraging that they got cyclists away from parked cars. But isn't it wide enough for cars to pass if everyone is going slow enough?

Ok.. now that I blew this up, I see it isn't. So a really slow cyclist could hang traffic up pretty good.
The road in the picture doesn't look like it's meant for fast traffic, anyway. And it is barely wide enough so that if you ride close to the parked cars, the cars will squeeze by you. If I rode there, I would probably take the full lane.
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Old 06-12-14, 11:02 PM
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Originally Posted by daihard
The road in the picture doesn't look like it's meant for fast traffic, anyway. And it is barely wide enough so that if you ride close to the parked cars, the cars will squeeze by you. If I rode there, I would probably take the full lane.
To me it looks like a crummy road for cycling because of the parked cars and narrowness. But it is hard to tell from a photo, so if cooker says it's good, I trust him. I agree that I would take the full lane, as the little paintings suggest. The paintings probably do a good job of explaining to motorists that they should expect and accept that cyclists use the lane too.
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Old 06-13-14, 02:04 AM
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Originally Posted by Roody
To me it looks like a crummy road for cycling because of the parked cars and narrowness. But it is hard to tell from a photo, so if cooker says it's good, I trust him. I agree that I would take the full lane, as the little paintings suggest. The paintings probably do a good job of explaining to motorists that they should expect and accept that cyclists use the lane too.
That's amusing. I was thinking it looked like a nice road for riding because of the narrow lane and the median. I'd feel justified in taking the lane aggressively, especially because it's clear that cars couldn't drive very much faster if I weren't there. I'd stay well to the left, away from the parked cars and would have no worries about oncoming traffic or turning cars, as the median is in the way.
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Old 06-13-14, 08:28 AM
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Back to BC ... Vancouver Island ...

The bit of a shoulder was nice ...


Love the quiet roads and old bridges ...


Even a little shoulder running through one of the towns ...
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Old 06-13-14, 08:30 AM
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Originally Posted by katsrevenge
I'm female, I ride upright and I don't dress like a 'cycling dork'. Long hair and an obvious skirt help. It's a thing.
Lovely Bicycle!: The Mary Poppins Effect?
Thanks, I will look into that.
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Old 06-13-14, 07:53 PM
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Originally Posted by Machka
Back to BC ... Vancouver Island ...

The bit of a shoulder was nice ...
Doesn't look like a very safe bike lane. I'd be in the middle of the street.

Here's a photo from Des Moines a few years ago. The newly striped lane is six feet across and you can still see the effect of a door.
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Old 06-13-14, 08:12 PM
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Originally Posted by gerv
Doesn't look like a very safe bike lane. I'd be in the middle of the street.
What doesn't look like a very safe bike lane? In my photo that you've quoted, there is no bike lane.
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Old 06-13-14, 08:14 PM
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Originally Posted by Machka
What doesn't look like a very safe bike lane? In my photo that you've quoted, there is no bike lane.
He probably mistook the shoulder for a bike lane.
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Old 06-13-14, 08:22 PM
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Originally Posted by daihard
He probably mistook the shoulder for a bike lane.
That might be it.



gerv ... It's a wide shoulder on a country road. About half of it is gravel and about half of it is paved. That works just fine for me. I can comfortably ride on the paved half, and if a car needs to pull over for some reason, there is room for the whole car to be off the main part of the road. And if we encountered that situation, we just went around them ... cautiously, of course.
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