Saw CM going down yonge street, the bike cops were riding like idiots, one of them almost got smoked by a taxi because he was riding in the wrong lane

Yep, ask shapelike how they liked to (not) "share" the roadways... and then there's the 6 or 8 of them I saw barrelling down the street splitting the lanes of stacked up traffic going down the wrong side of the road, too - must be nice to be above the law.

The cops did a pretty good job of corking, and didn't seem to be hassling anyone for bells and such. If they want to behave and help keep the aggro drivers at bay that's just fine with me. I'm not a big fan of cops, but everyone is welcome if they don't act like a moron in my books. Now if they start telling us where to ride, or to get a permit then that will be a different story all together.

I even heard one cop explain to someone that it was critical mass and it's on the last friday of every month :)

It's nice that the cops are generally positive about CM, but I wish they'd practice better road manners, generally. The other day I saw three separate pairs of bike cops riding north on St. George (each pair coming maybe five minutes after the last) riding side by side in the bike lane so that the outside bike cop was straddling the line, putting cars over and not allowing any other cyclists to pass. Lame. They were obviously going slow. I saw them pull up to a stop sign and I watched as they just rolled right through. No feet on the ground or nothing! Grr...

Joshua Davis + Lance Armstrong ... what?! *worlds collide*

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2366/...69d5344042.jpg

Do YOU put your foot down and stop at all stop signs? I don't. If you get a ticket for it, it's cause you didn't spot the cop. If you can't spot a cop, then you might not be able to spot traffic or pedestrians either... so it's probably best if you do stop anyhow.

Dude.. seriously?

have you ever gotten a ticket for blowing a stop sign?

Going down Yonge, I'm near the yellow line ... I see a guy just up ahead in oncoming traffic move further away like he's trying to avoid me (there's no need - I'm not that close). I have enough time to think "huh" when a cop blows by me on my left with no heads up and basically brushes me back on the way by. I guess he was sprinting up to the next intersection to cork or ... ****, I don't know. Whatever, thanks for almost cross-checking me, dude. Nice work. From what I saw, some of the police on bikes really need to work on being competent bike riders. I saw some of them who obviously knew how to hold a line and not swerve all over the place when looking around but some were just as sketchy/oblivious as the people they were handing out tickets to all last week.

I also enjoyed when the dude on the tall bike was in the wrong lane and then 6 (six!) police did the exact same thing going after him before telling him off.

The EMS guys on bikes get Arkel panniers for their bikes. I found that to be pretty impressive. However, the Cannondales they ride apparently have frame failures all the time. Oops.

Is Bisegal still open? Is that the name? I did a google search and came up with a few posts but I figure I must be spelling it wrong. Anyone have their number?

http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&saf...5&z=13&iwloc=A

Contact info + map ...

i saw a cop cause someone to crash at younge and queen. luckily the rider was able to avoid seriously injuring himself (i.e. smashing his head) and got right back up and started riding again. there were like 6 cops who witnessed what happened, all with their mouths hanging open and i didn't see any of them check to see if the rider was ok. up until that point i was pretty much blissfully unaware of either motorists or escort.

hopefully someone will contact whatever division they were from to express these concerns: "if you insist on escorting us these are the things thou shalt and shalt not do..."

I think it's great that CM had a non-hostile police escort. With time, the fuzz's skills in riding in a group will improve as will other CMers who don't have group ride skills. While it would be nice to think they get some kind of training for riding, I expect that they dont or if they do it's not retained as they go back to a "community level" of bicycle skills. Most people have no idea how to ride in a group or have any sense of road etiquette or anticipation. That pretty much mirrors my experience with Toronto drivers.

i was blown away by the massive police presence when i rode by CM with a couple friends yesterday. is this going to be a regular feature now?

great movie. shane meadows also did a very underrated movie called Dead Man's Shoes. its a revenge horror film shot in the same "kitchen sink" style as This is England. if horror if your thing, check it out.

No, but I have no idea how that's related to the hypocrisy of cops doing the exact things they were ticketing for in their blitz. Plus I *did* see cops pretty much hiding in the bushes near a small, signalled intersection during their earlier bike safety campaign this year. I only noticed them after the light turned green and I proceeded through the intersection.

My eyes easily register moving objects like pedestrians/cyclists/cars when I do a scan while riding through a 4-way stop... however I'm not usually looking for stationary objects lurking out of immediate sight as they don't typically pose any threat to my safety... only my wallet! :P

Crack'n'fail? :)

I'm playing devil's advocate today... but of course if the cops want to play hide and seek I say return the favour!

I thought they were all great riders b/c of the CANBIKE course, and that's why they aren't a hazard to themselves or others. :rolleyes:
Should forward your concerns to the Officer quoted in that Star article as well as CC'ing the reporter. I've sent him several emails but oddly enough he's not seen fit to answer a one. I guess he's not willing to stand behind his words, or even bother defending them. Hopefully this 110$ ticket will set fire to his cubical.

hah.. my thoughts exactly.

Also: did anyone see today's Toronto Sun? The $110 ticket is in huge print on the front page.

The ticket is a big suck it, and it's definitely not sitting right at all with me. While it might not be manslaughter (she didn't kill him but rather her actions had more than just a bit to do with it) it certainly seems to be oh, ah, vehicular negligence causing death, maybe, possibly. I hope the Sun goes with it. I want a '$110' t-shirt.

was someone looking to get a set of speedplay frogs? pretty good deal for them here.

Group riding skills and CM = lulz

Real group riding skills, go hit the donut.

I thnk it was

"Dead Cyclist worth $100" in size 9999 font on front page. **** yeah.

Except that traffic and pedestrians aren't trying to hide.

I didn't realize they actually hid. That's pretty funny.

If anyone has a copy of the Sun could you snap a photo? I've got the article online but I'd like to see how they ran it in print.