At least he was uninjured!

The thing that makes my starfish pucker is seeing someone 10meters in front of me do the 'TAXI!' gesture. I can feel the 5 cabs behind me jockeying to try and get that fare. :lol: Man O man can it be fun riding sllllllow taking the full lane to teach some wank a lesson, or the move over at the light is always fun to perturb the turd. I am also accommodating to polite drivers as I will move over to the left so that they may turn right, ONLY if they have turns signals on. They can't honk like maniacs though, pull up, signals on and I'll move if I can, but only to the left.

i could probably do it if we start at 10 again.

You guys are coddled thinking Toronto is bad. Go cycle for a day in any major US city, besides maybe Portland, and you'll be as happy as I am on Toronto streets. After Washington D.C. and NYC, Toronto is a dream and even the worst Toronto taxi seems gentlemanly. Even if they are annoying sometimes most drivers in Toronto are atleast aware you might be on the road. If you really want to experience a hair-raising bicycling experience cycle Dupont Circle in D.C. at rush hour.

edit:spelling, teaches me to do 3 things at once

^^^totally^^^^
Every city is different.
Montreal can be much worse than here, but you get used to wherever you are riding.
The initial horror of riding here for me was the damned tracks.

I actually kind of like riding in NYC. Agressive drivers, to be sure, but I found them to be more skilled than their toronto counterparts. Maybe if I spent more time there I would change my mind though.

Difference between NYC and Toronto is in Toronto most of the drivers are coming in from Brampton/Miss/Scarberough in NYC the people who drive downtown tend to drive for a living so they are definately more skilled, and agressive. Don't get me wrong I love biking in NYC especially how you can hammer at 45+ through what seems like a wall of pedestrians without anyone breaking stride. NYC is all about the wave and finding a line in the traffic but its definately not basic urban biking, it may even be the PhD oral exam of the biking world. Either that or Beijing which I can't wait to bike in.

from what i remember toronto has recently scored quite low on "bicycling" magazine's survey of bike-friendly cities, coming in behind cities like NY, Chicago and of course portland. of course i'm talking about the GTA. you ever tried to ride your bike in Woodbridge or Markham? that's hair-raising.

try driving your bike in a British city

"The 30-year-old Grimsby man who was driving the truck was not injured."

No ****.

Headline: Dumptruck vs. Cyclist. Dumptruck unscathed.

oh yeah, i forgot to mention that there is a fixed ride happening this sunday AM, starting at 10 from Balzac's Roastery (in the distillery district); 100km or so, social pace. so far some of the toronto fixed group are showing up so who here is interested?

I'm pretty much afraid to ride on Paris streets. They have some physically segregated bike lanes crisscrossing the city, but the cars, motorcycles and scooters driver too much like I ride to be able to predict anything. And 95% of the time the only lanes that there are is the space you and your bike or car take up, so 'taking the lane' is not an option. Compound that with copious cobblestones, roundabouts, crazy intersections, fearless pedestrians and crazy fast drivers and you have a bike unfriendly city. You hardly ever see people riding their bikes around either despite france being a huge biking country; just by my parents place there is a constant peleton of roadies doing a big circuit around the outside of a hippodrome but they drive over there and unload their bikes. I think people just find the metro quicker and safer, or they driver or ride a scooter... All the messengers in paris are on scooters and the metro is so intensive its never more than a few hundred meters to a station.

Yeah Britain was weird because you have to retrain to drive on the wrong side of everything, damn backwards british. I loved just about everywhere else in Europe, especially Vienna. Nothing like getting hit on by really really hot Austrian girls on a bike (come on Toronto girls get with the program!) Though I have to admit the cobblestones did get a little jarring after awhile.

Woodbridge? Markham? That's not Toronto! Those are dirty suburbs whose borders I pray never to broach unless I am seeking excellent Italian in Woodbridge or deliciously delectable high-end Hong Kong Chinese in Markham. Plus those communities were designed around a car-centric culture. So anyone who wishes to be a pedestrian or a cyclist is immediately at a disadvantage simply for the way development has taken place. The post war bedroom communities that sprung up around Toronto were built using designs purchased from large american homebuilders making them perfect if you want to have to get into the car to get a carton of milk.

Its the exact reason why, even with the vastly lower property values, total cost of living is actually more expensive in the suburbs especially once you have kids of driving age. The entire amount of money I spend on my bike in a year wouldn't put a dent in what my car insurance would be. I think what will be most interesting in Toronto is the change to higher density housing. Besides rosedale, single family dwellings are going to become a rarity in downtown Toronto over the next 20 years.

not trying to be a Donny Doom but World War 3 will soon happen and bikes will be the main way to get around

What about Richmond hill ;)

Need more details, web link, etc...

Definitely interested.

Thanks.

No web link, we're just going for a bike ride. we typically go north out of the city up to newmarket and west to jane then south (doing some of those rollers) back into the city. if we're feeling fit we can always venture into and around the holland marsh. perhaps a stop at a bakery too. it's usually a casual ride, but the distance makes it a workout.

EDIT: sorry no route sheet because we typically stick together, so no one gets dropped. this ain't the doughnut ride!

yes they are part of the GTA and that's exactly my point, that because they are so car-centric there is much more traffic there than in downtown proper. and there are no sidewalks (at least NY is full of wide fast avenues with room for bikes). if you prefer to think of somewhere else think of scarberia or mississagua. when i was camped out at the hospitla in mississagua last winter with my father in law i walked "across the street" to a kelseys or outback or whatever it was and it felt like farenheight 451. people looked at me funny as i was walking across eglington av, which out there is as wide as university ave.
don't forget you have to ride through these boroughs if you want to ride in the country.

yes they are part of the GTA and that's exactly my point, that because they are so car-centric there is much more traffic there than in downtown proper. and there are no sidewalks (at least NY is full of wide fast avenues with room for bikes). if you prefer to think of somewhere else think of scarberia or mississagua. when i was camped out at the hospitla in mississagua last winter with my father in law i walked "across the street" to a kelseys or outback or whatever it was and it felt like farenheight 451. people looked at me funny as i was walking across eglington av, which out there is as wide as university ave.
don't forget you have to ride through these boroughs if you want to ride in the country.

Had fun biking down to the Hart House breakfast, and then found out about the grassroots breakfast on bloor/brunswick ave.; so I had both. And then elevensies at the bagel stop at college/beverly. Hmm, I;ll probably be riding around town later today, and might still go for the 8pm CV...

Richmond Hill? :lol: Kinda like the ugly cousin you don't want to introduce to your buddies, for fear of being laughed at.
jk'n:rolleyes: I used to commute to Woodbridge from Leslie /Queen, going up Martin Groove from Bloor. Riding in Woodbridge is weird.
Dundas in Mississauga is quite a thrill ride sometimes. eeeeww

Woodbridge is hell to bike through, but the rest of York Region is fairly decent. Riding on Yonge through Richmond Hill going south, you can keep up with traffic for the most part since it's so congested.

Moonlight Ride Thursday

This Thursday 9 p.m.
Meet at Warden Station.
Mostly downhill.
Bring lights.
The most romantic ride of the year.

A Bike Week Event. from Matino's Bike site http://bikelanediary.blogspot.com/

he's drunk with his fixie, aka CAM.

I might be interested. Depends on how zonked I am from the velodrome on Saturday. :)