Bicyclists suck!

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

No. I don't.

I ride on studded tires in the winter. My grip on sheer ice is roughly equivalent to riding on a dusty road.

I guarantee you that my stopping distances are shorter.

So go F yourself.

See. I am a dink, but as stated earlier, it has nothing to do with riding my bike.

Great, you have studded tires and you've taken the necessary precautions.

You having a few bolts loose for riding in winter conditions has very little to do with you specifically and very much to do with the environment in which you're riding and the risk you're subjecting yourself to. People drive like idiots and winter only makes this more obvious. But at least in summer, there's no chance of them hitting ice and sliding into you.

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

Great, you have studded tires and you've taken the necessary precautions.

You having a few bolts loose for riding in winter conditions has very little to do with you specifically and very much to do with the environment in which you're riding and the risk you're subjecting yourself to. People drive like idiots and winter only makes this more obvious. But at least in summer, there's no chance of them hitting ice and sliding into you.

I don't really see how that's any different than driving in the winter.

Besides, honestly how many days per year are the roads (especially in downtown) really that treatcherous?

I just started riding to work this summer and I'm actually planning on buying a mountiain bike so i can continue in the winter. I doubt I'll ride when it's less than -10 and I probably won't ride after a major dump of snow (when the roads/pathways will be by far at their worse), I'm pretty sure that still means I'll be able to ride about 90% of the time.

[MoneyGuy]

I used to train for marathons and ran all year, including -40 or worse. I don't do it anymore because I no longer compete but it's safe as long as runners observe some common-sense rules, although some people thought I was nuts (freezing your lungs is a myth, for example).

Bike riding is much the same. I think some bike riders are misunderstood and I admire those who do it safely year round.

I'd like to get my bike out this winter.

[kermitology]

I rode for the better part of two winters. I wouldn't ride below -15 generally speaking, but outside of that, it was great. One of my favourite memories is riding behind Fort Calgary in November during a snowfall where all I could hear was the sound of my tires through the snow.

It's no more dangerous than driving. In one particular winter storm everyone was stuck in traffic for 2+ hours and I had the most fun and hard working ride of my life through 3 ft snow banks.

Not to mention the city does a fabulous job clearing all the main pathways.

[You Need a Thneed]

If you are driving on main roads, or cleared pathways, there's less than 10 days a year where they have snow cover. Even on snow cover, that's what studded tires are for.

I don't see how driving on a dry road at -30 is any different than riding on a dry road at +25.

[Bill Bumface]

The only risks I see with winter riding, besides maybe going down and taking a couple bruises:

1. Drivers aren't expecting bikes on the road, you need to keep this in mind. Assume no one sees you.

2. You are riding in the dark. Lights are important. If you normally don't walk across crosswalks, you may want to now (see point 1).

I keep my ride, in winter especially, to the pathways as much as possible. They are well maintained besides occasional icy patches after a big melt/freeze cycle. Luckily my current office is only a block away from pathways, but when I used to work further downtown there were days when I'd choose to walk my bike down the sidewalk rather than risking going down beside cars in the death-slush. There is nothing that can help you keep traction in that stuff, so some days you just have to suck it up.

Riding by the river after fresh snow with ice fog hanging over it in the morning while the sun rises is actually nicer than you think. Riding into a stiff wind on a -20 night the same day makes up for it though...

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

You having a few bolts loose for riding in winter conditions has very little to do with you specifically and very much to do with the environment in which you're riding and the risk you're subjecting yourself to. People drive like idiots and winter only makes this more obvious. But at least in summer, there's no chance of them hitting ice and sliding into you.

People all over the world think we have a few bolts loose for living here.

If you aren't comfortable with it, that's fine, you don't have to partake. I don't blame anyone for not riding a bike in the winter. I never thought I'd do it, but all you have to do is give it a try when traffic is gridlocked and the train is broken, and suddenly it doesn't seem as bad.

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

People all over the world think we have a few bolts loose for living here.

If you aren't comfortable with it, that's fine, you don't have to partake. I don't blame anyone for not riding a bike in the winter. I never thought I'd do it, but all you have to do is give it a try when traffic is gridlocked and the train is broken, and suddenly it doesn't seem as bad.

Yup, anytime biking in the winter in the most painful, driving is going to be painful too, for mostly the same reasons.

A bike can reroute easier than a car can.

[habernac]

That's what started me on the whole bike commute thing: Transit went on strike. I needed a form of transportation I could depend on. And I found out pretty quickly that I could get to work as fast or faster than the bus (when it chose to run).

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by habernac

That's what started me on the whole bike commute thing: Transit went on strike. I needed a form of transportation I could depend on. And I found out pretty quickly that I could get to work as fast or faster than the bus (when it chose to run).

I bike because we only have one car, and me taking the car means that my wife is stuck at home and can't go far. That adds up to cabin fever pretty quickly in the winter.

I hope to try and bike more often this winter, but I might need to get some studded tires. When I can't bike, I take transit, or on some days I can take the car, if my wife knows she just wants to stay at home that day. The route I normally take is usually impassible by bike in the winter, since I ride across a couple of fields, where the snow doesn't melt off of, plus some side streets. Thus, my ride in the winter becomes a greater distance, plus puts me in traffic's way much more.

[Mean Mr. Mustard]

Originally Posted by MarchHare

Quoting myself because I saw yet another ###### cyclist at the same intersection during my walk home from work today. This moron decided that he'd rather ride on the sidewalk and cycle through crosswalks even though there is a dedicated bike lane two feet to his right. I watched him do this for two blocks along 11th St. (from 10th Ave to 12th Ave). The stupid camera app on my iPhone didn't load fast enough for me to get a photo of him using the sidewalk instead of the bike lane, but I did get this shot of him cycling through a crosswalk.



[Edit]
Here's a Google Maps street view of the same intersection clearly showing the perfectly good bike path that he wasn't using.

I need to learn how to read, I thought that he was driving a car while taking a picture of a cyclist, not walking! My mistake.

Living in Edmonton though, they don't have a speed limit on the bike paths in the river valley and I find that they are used a lot more than the bike paths in Calgary. I think that if the city really wanted to cut down on cyclists in the main routes they would been to put high speed bike paths where there are the current pathways, this would allow for everyone to be safer and for a faster commute by cyclists as well. Have bike routes on roads that lead to the paths whenever possible. A cyclist will never be as fast as a car, I can usually hold a constant speed of around 30 km/h, depending on hills, so sometimes a driver may need to take an extra 10 seconds on their commute to pass, it isn't the end of the world and no reason to get upset in my opinion, the difference in time is going to be negligible at best

[freedogger]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

You don't see how riding a bicycle in the icy, slippery conditions of winter could make someone perceive you to be missing a few bolts?

Not if the bolts are actually studs on those tires. My winter bike with studded tires does just fine on anything with less than 10cm's of snow or ice on it. I can stop faster and beat most cars across the intersection and I have never fallen over with these type of tires. The best times to ride are often when its -30 and stormy. Four hours commuting in a car is mental compared to an hour on the bike. There's really no such thing as bad weather for biking, just poor clothing choices.

[freedogger]

Originally Posted by habernac

That's what started me on the whole bike commute thing: Transit went on strike. I needed a form of transportation I could depend on. And I found out pretty quickly that I could get to work as fast or faster than the bus (when it chose to run).

So true, the fastest way to work is always the bike. My times to work are way more consistent on the bike which is important if you have to start at a specific time every day. Accidents, construction and weather make driving by car unreliable. Some days its fast, others it takes forever.

For the people who are annoyed by bikers, biker attitudes and biker behaviours, a couple of points: One, most bikers also have a car. They pay just as much taxes to drive and ride on roads as other people do. Bad behaviour on the road is lame, I see it equally spread among bikers, pedestrians and car drivers. No one group is any better behaved.

Secondly, even though you have to slow down a bit and use a trivial amount of driving skill to pass a biker, you can still get by cyclists. Two percent of people biking to work any one day does take a meaningful amount of traffic off the road. It make your commute by car significantly faster. If you think cyclists suck, make them all drive a car and see how much that sucks! Spending a sliver of the city's budget on cyclist infrastructure benefits everyone.

[freedogger]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

All you cyclist haters would have loved my maneuver this morning when I decided it should be no problem getting 3 feet of air to jump a puddle at Memorial and Edmonton trail (heading onto the path to get out of the way of drivers on the narrow bridge). My left foot unclipped, I think caught my front spokes, and wham, right over the bars. It's pretty embarrassing to come into work bleeding from your 7 minute bike commute.

Coming in to work bleeding is almost a badge of honour. Embarrassing is trying to pull a wheely across an intersection in your forties and falling right to your back in front of a whole bus load of laughing kids, with granny then stopping to see if you are all right.

[normtwofinger]

3 posts for that?! You're even taking up too much room on the forum, let alone the road.

[chemgear]

Maybe this would help the car versus bike angst (probably NSFW even though pasties and a bit censored):

The last bit is kinda funny when they throw it up on the tv screen.

http://www.g4tv.com/videos/53856/sar...de/?quality=hd

Then again, probably not (didn't that study show <10% bikers were gals?)

[chemgear]

Third dead person on the NE line in 3 weeks. Not sure why people can't seem to see the trains, it's not like they're small . . .

http://calgary.ctv.ca/servlet/an/loc...ub=CalgaryHome

[chemgear]

More to the "hey, the rules don't apply to me" thought.

http://calgary.ctv.ca/servlet/an/loc...ub=CalgaryHome

A Calgary woman is furious over what she says is a cash grab by the city after she was issued a ticket for riding through a pathway construction zone.

Warnock admits that she didn't see the signs and says if she had she would have dismounted.

[Byrns]

Originally Posted by chemgear

More to the "hey, the rules don't apply to me" thought.

http://calgary.ctv.ca/servlet/an/loc...ub=CalgaryHome

A Calgary woman is furious over what she says is a cash grab by the city after she was issued a ticket for riding through a pathway construction zone.

Warnock admits that she didn't see the signs and says if she had she would have dismounted.

I saw bylaw deploying there this morning and was wondering what they were up to. (I saw at least 3 getting out of the truck and setting up)

[Julio]

Originally Posted by chemgear

More to the "hey, the rules don't apply to me" thought.

http://calgary.ctv.ca/servlet/an/loc...ub=CalgaryHome

A Calgary woman is furious over what she says is a cash grab by the city after she was issued a ticket for riding through a pathway construction zone.

Warnock admits that she didn't see the signs and says if she had she would have dismounted.

She also said later in the article that she might have to do what I do in that area (although not in rush hour)...which is to then ride 25 km an hour on Memorial...which of course is so much better for traffic flow.