Cycling Thread 2

[cral12]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

This sad news was starting to circulate earlier this week while it was still unconfirmed. The Alberta cycling community lost a giant with the tragic death of Dr. Darren Markland while mountain biking out in the Nordegg area.

Known around the Edmonton area for his coffee machine/pizza oven cargo bike, towing a canoe by bike to commute partially to work on the North Saskatchewan river, his passion for shredding mountain bike trails just as easily as commuting to his shifts at the hospital by bike.

He was also a tireless advocate for proper healthcare spending in this province, and his tweets as an ER doc during the pandemic were a glimpse into a world of chaos that he seemed to be able to navigate with grace, and words of hope that struck a chord with so many.

I was lucky enough to meet him once, back when Calgary hosted the Winter Cycling Congress in 2019. He brought down the coffee cargo bike, and at the usual Friday morning "Coffee Outside" gathering he slung the beans and chatted with everyone. He is also the rider that introduced me to the world of heat exchanger masks for the cold winter riding.

We lost one of the good ones for sure, gone far too soon. RIP to the good doctor.

https://cyclingmagazine.ca/mtb/edmon...rren-markland/

Ah no!

I never met in person, but thoroughly enjoyed his musings on social media about biking and nature (and was a wise voice during the pandemic)...
Seemed like a great guy.

Ride in peace, Doc Darren...

[Kybosh]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

This is messed up.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calga...ered-1.7642927

Good lord, that's terrible. I ride under that bridge every single work day.

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

This sad news was starting to circulate earlier this week while it was still unconfirmed. The Alberta cycling community lost a giant with the tragic death of Dr. Darren Markland while mountain biking out in the Nordegg area.

Known around the Edmonton area for his coffee machine/pizza oven cargo bike, towing a canoe by bike to commute partially to work on the North Saskatchewan river, his passion for shredding mountain bike trails just as easily as commuting to his shifts at the hospital by bike.

He was also a tireless advocate for proper healthcare spending in this province, and his tweets as an ER doc during the pandemic were a glimpse into a world of chaos that he seemed to be able to navigate with grace, and words of hope that struck a chord with so many.

I was lucky enough to meet him once, back when Calgary hosted the Winter Cycling Congress in 2019. He brought down the coffee cargo bike, and at the usual Friday morning "Coffee Outside" gathering he slung the beans and chatted with everyone. He is also the rider that introduced me to the world of heat exchanger masks for the cold winter riding.

We lost one of the good ones for sure, gone far too soon. RIP to the good doctor.

https://cyclingmagazine.ca/mtb/edmon...rren-markland/

Obituary from the Edmonton Journal:

https://edmontonjournal.remembering....and-1093111486

Darren did not want a formal funeral. If you are reading this and want to honour him the way he would have wanted, do what he did every day: go outside, ride your bike, enjoy nature, and do something kind for a stranger.



The human heart is

The size of a

Fist

Clenched.

Indefatigable, and infallible

On pain of death.

And yet it skips

At the most curious

Times,

To remind us of its finite

Beats.

And perhaps to attend us

To use them both wisely

And with abandon.



— Darren Markland, August 2025

[mikephoen]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

If you are reading this and want to honour him the way he would have wanted, do what he did every day: go outside, ride your bike, enjoy nature, and do something kind for a stranger.

I was introduced to Darren and his wife last year by mutual friends, and had dinner with them just last month. I found him to be an incredibly interesting person. Even though we were only slightly more than acquaintances, his passing has been affecting me quite a bit since I learned about it on Sunday. I can only imagine how much his family and friends must be grieving.

His passing is a huge loss for the medical and cycling communities as well. And really all of society. There aren't a lot of people actively working every day to make a difference, but Darren was one. I'll do my best to honour the request from his obituary quoted above.

[ken0042]

Thinking about the guy who died after hitting the barrier under the Reconciliation bridge. I don't know the exact circumstances, however I have noticed in the morning a lot of people riding without a headlight. These appear to be regular commuters. I know some people say they can see well enough without one in the city; but it makes me wonder if that might have been a factor that could have helped?

I'm not trying to blame the victim at all- just a safety moment for us all to consider.

[Bigtime]

He hit that barrier at 10:45 in the morning.

As for the headlight-less riders, they only seem to be around on the shoulder seasons. Once we are in the grip of summer or winter it seems like only us lit up folk are still around. Just my anecdotal experience over the last 10 years of commuting.

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Thinking about the guy who died after hitting the barrier under the Reconciliation bridge. I don't know the exact circumstances, however I have noticed in the morning a lot of people riding without a headlight. These appear to be regular commuters. I know some people say they can see well enough without one in the city; but it makes me wonder if that might have been a factor that could have helped?

I'm not trying to blame the victim at all- just a safety moment for us all to consider.

Most lights under say $60 are more about being seen than you seeing better. At best you getter a better view of the pavement right in front of you and anything really reflective. It looks like these gates do have lots of red reflectors on each side, so riding with a light in daytime might have helped a bit.

[Icantwhisper]

Big day for Canada, go watch replay

[M*A*S*H 4077]

Originally Posted by Icantwhisper

Big day for Canada, go watch replay

Thank you! I nearly missed this without your post. Fantastic stuff

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/s...hips-1.7645717

[RichieRich]

bumping this hibernating thread...


Road riding today...had some a$$h@t pass me in a schoolzone, he musta been doing about 40-42kph, enough to pass me doing 35'ish. Then sits right in front of me. Dunno if they were attempting speed control of me. Then they did a bad attempt at cornering, as they exiting the playground zone. Then they couldn't decide if they were pulling over into driveway or not (ie wobbled back and forth a few times into the riding "lane"). Sadly it was my route too and they honked at me as I passed. Yes I had a mega front flash going (it was about 430pm, or sunset on a dull light evening), plus perhaps me putting out my hand and doing a thumbs-down may have contributed eh?


Anyways, Monday first "real" snow fall. Hopefully it's cold enough now that it doesn't leave nasty ice underneath. Gotta wonder how Parks has contracted multi-user pathway snow removal this year... and what time it'll start from Edworthy.

[Bigtime]

Was a relatively easy ride in at 5:30 this morning, about 3cm of light fluffy snow cover. The ride home though? Could be no good terribleness, snirtageddon in spots for sure. Really hoping we got at least one pass from the sweepers on more major pathways.

[Icantwhisper]

Got yelled at for riding on ninth in the bike/bus lane through Inglewood, that was interesting. Also yelled at by a homeless guy for riding a bike while it's snowing, latter was definitely mental ill, guy in back of Rav4 probably was too.

[Fuzz]

It's wild how angry people can get just by seeing someone doing something that brings them deep psychological shame. Because their is no rational justification for the hatred, other than they got mentally broken at some point. And then you think of all the people driving around that feel the same anger but have just enough restraint not to roll down the window and yell at you(many seem to post on CP) and ya, there are probably a lot of severely broken people out there.

[GomerPile]

If I ever have to date again. “Do you get road rage?” Is going to be at the top of my list of questions. I don’t want anything to do with people who become unhinged at a person over a potentially 2 second interaction. It endangers you, the people in your car, the other vehicles and in a cyclists case - them. It also speaks to some sort of imbalance that needs to be dealt with.

I’ve actually shifted away from some long term friends after road trips through the years.

- You can add people who yell at airport staff for just following protocol to my list.

Rise safe!! It’s peloton season again for me!

[Bigtime]

Lots of ice out there this morning. Even with studs it was quite sketchy in spots. The pathway around the zoo and west along the north side of the Bow was not cleared yesterday afternoon, it must have gotten a pass yesterday evening. Which was appreciated, but it left a pure layer of ice behind. However, I would gladly take that versus riding in what it could have been this morning if not cleared, probably would have had to walk quite a bit of it.

[Icantwhisper]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

It's wild how angry people can get just by seeing someone doing something that brings them deep psychological shame. Because their is no rational justification for the hatred, other than they got mentally broken at some point. And then you think of all the people driving around that feel the same anger but have just enough restraint not to roll down the window and yell at you(many seem to post on CP) and ya, there are probably a lot of severely broken people out there.

It was a little puzzling, whether I'm riding in the lane as I'm allowed or not, the cars still aren't allowed in that lane in the mornings, I had no effect on his day at all other than he saw me.
I don't think he was mentally broken, more than likely he was raised by a piece of #### and surprise, surprise, he became a piece of ####.

[puffnstuff]

I seem to recall there was a CPer who did bike maintenance or am I misremembering? Now that the riding season is done for my summer bike I should get it tuned up before I put it on the indoor trainer.