Cycling Thread 2

[Flames0910]

Whelp, I was nearly assaulted for **ringing my bell** on the river pathway today. I wish I was joking.

I was on the Memorial Covid Closure riding west and a group of six bikers was taking up the whole lane. I gave them a ring of the bell to let them know I was passing on the left (there was also an oncoming biker to avoid) and they guffawed and shouted about how I dare ring my bell when we have the whole road to pass.

Thinking nothing of it and already having completed the pass, I gave them the finger and rode on. Probably shouldn't have done that but knowing myself, I'd absolutely do it again... is what it is. Well, I should have paid more attention to their reaction because one of the knuckle draggers hopped on his pedals and chased me down on the river pathway.

He attempted to spit on me (I think his momentum probably carried him into his own wad of spit lolz), then tried to run me off the pathway / kick at me, and finally circled back and got all up in my face (no mask, of course) about how I dare give him the finger. I could have sworn a punch was coming but I kept backing up and shouting "walk away man, walk away" with the hope someone else might intervene or at least take notice. When I pulled out my phone and he realized I was calling the police he ran away with his buddies. There were six of them in total so the whole time I was waiting for the first punch, imagining his buddies jumping in and kicking the #### out of me before anyone could stop them, and thinking "what a stupid way to end up in the hospital" -- it was quite the helpless feeling.

Good thing he left too. The 911 operator had to ask what city I was in (thanks UCP), and then didn't know where "Memorial Drive between 10 street and the Peace Bridge" was. She said "let me look that up... that's in the northwest, right?" Wow. I was pretty hyped up on adrenaline and genuinely worried that they would change their mind and come back so the operator was actually pretty dismissive now that I play it back.

What really gets me though is the other folks on the river pathway, walking by doing everything in their power not to make eye contact while this kid is all up in my face threatening me in broad daylight. After he left, I even asked one couple "did you see that?" and they didn't even acknowledge me, just kept walking. All those people and not a single person acknowledged what had happened or said a word to me. Nice. Real nice.

Thankfully it all worked out OK -- the spit backfired, kick missed, no punches were thrown, and he didn't get so close for so long that I'd worry about COVID but it sure makes you realize how tenuous some folks grip on reality is that they would flip out like that over a ####ing bike bell (and a rude hand-gesture).

[Wormius]

Must be a full moon this afternoon. My son was out volunteering with this group painting the fish by storm drains, and some guy started ranting at them, wanting to fight, then I guess he started throwing stuff off of High Park at people.

[Flames0910]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Must be a full moon this afternoon. My son was out volunteering with this group painting the fish by storm drains, and some guy started ranting at them, wanting to fight, then I guess he started throwing stuff off of High Park at people.

I'm sure COVID has all these wingnuts all riled up right now.

[Fuzz]

I have never had a tire do this before. Felt some wobbling and up and down on my last km home. It's wild. The rim is straight, it's just like the tire has de-laminated or something. I've had it happen on a vehicle before, never a bike.

Spoiler!

[RichieRich]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

I have never had a tire do this before. Felt some wobbling and up and down on my last km home. It's wild. The rim is straight, it's just like the tire has de-laminated or something. I've had it happen on a vehicle before, never a bike.

Spoiler!

How old is that tire then? Possibly delamination of the inside layers, but not uniformly. I've also had a tire go "crooked" on me too and just got rid of it. Another thing maybe is whether it's equally deeply set on each side of the rim? It might have shifted for whatever reason - that's also happened to me resulting in a weird wobble.

[RichieRich]

I was told it couldn't, shouldn't, and would be crazy to do it. But I rode Big Elbow loop on my gravel bike today... had pretty fat tires at least. 15C in the parking lot, +5 up top. a few moving showers but pretty decent.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by RichieRich

I was told it couldn't, shouldn't, and would be crazy to do it. But I rode Big Elbow loop on my gravel bike today... had pretty fat tires at least. 15C in the parking lot, +5 up top. a few moving showers but pretty decent.

That actually sounds like fun. I was hoping to try that sometime. How long did it take?

[pope04]

Originally Posted by Flames0910

Whelp, I was nearly assaulted for **ringing my bell** on the river pathway today. I wish I was joking.

I was on the Memorial Covid Closure riding west and a group of six bikers was taking up the whole lane. I gave them a ring of the bell to let them know I was passing on the left (there was also an oncoming biker to avoid) and they guffawed and shouted about how I dare ring my bell when we have the whole road to pass.

Thinking nothing of it and already having completed the pass, I gave them the finger and rode on. Probably shouldn't have done that but knowing myself, I'd absolutely do it again... is what it is. Well, I should have paid more attention to their reaction because one of the knuckle draggers hopped on his pedals and chased me down on the river pathway.

He attempted to spit on me (I think his momentum probably carried him into his own wad of spit lolz), then tried to run me off the pathway / kick at me, and finally circled back and got all up in my face (no mask, of course) about how I dare give him the finger. I could have sworn a punch was coming but I kept backing up and shouting "walk away man, walk away" with the hope someone else might intervene or at least take notice. When I pulled out my phone and he realized I was calling the police he ran away with his buddies. There were six of them in total so the whole time I was waiting for the first punch, imagining his buddies jumping in and kicking the #### out of me before anyone could stop them, and thinking "what a stupid way to end up in the hospital" -- it was quite the helpless feeling.

Good thing he left too. The 911 operator had to ask what city I was in (thanks UCP), and then didn't know where "Memorial Drive between 10 street and the Peace Bridge" was. She said "let me look that up... that's in the northwest, right?" Wow. I was pretty hyped up on adrenaline and genuinely worried that they would change their mind and come back so the operator was actually pretty dismissive now that I play it back.

What really gets me though is the other folks on the river pathway, walking by doing everything in their power not to make eye contact while this kid is all up in my face threatening me in broad daylight. After he left, I even asked one couple "did you see that?" and they didn't even acknowledge me, just kept walking. All those people and not a single person acknowledged what had happened or said a word to me. Nice. Real nice.

Thankfully it all worked out OK -- the spit backfired and he didn't get so close for so long that I'd worry about COVID but it sure makes you realize how tenuous some folks grip on reality is that they would flip out like that over a ####ing bike bell (and a rude hand-gesture).

Some folks have no idea it's an act of consideration to ring your bell instead of just silently whizzing by their left elbow.

[Wormius]

That said, when I am just biking or walking, I do find it irritating to be "dinged" at when I have been sticking to the right side of the path and not meandering or zig-zagging around. If you're approaching from behind, you can tell from my behavior if have been erratic or if I am about to pass somebody in front me. Is it really necessary to ring your bell at everybody you pass?

Anyway, it's more of an annoyance, I get that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure in these situations.

[Flames0910]

Originally Posted by Wormius

That said, when I am just biking or walking, I do find it irritating to be "dinged" at when I have been sticking to the right side of the path and not meandering or zig-zagging around. If you're approaching from behind, you can tell from my behavior if have been erratic or if I am about to pass somebody in front me. Is it really necessary to ring your bell at everybody you pass?

Anyway, it's more of an annoyance, I get that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure in these situations.

It really is a no win situation for cyclists.

If you ring your bell, people get annoyed at you for just the reason you described. If you don't, or try to moderate it so you're only ringing when it's truly necessary, people give you lip for "sneaking up on them" or when you make the judgement call wrong and they move unpredictably.

Add to that people with headphones, dogs on leash, dogs off leash, strollers, kids, photoshoots, selfie sticks and people who need hearing aids or just don't give a #### and it's kind of a perfect recipe for conflict (also don't forget infrastructure in all it's states: construction/missing/broken/inconsistent/in-the-way -- it's amazing we all get anywhere safely).

[combustiblefuel]

Originally Posted by Wormius

That said, when I am just biking or walking, I do find it irritating to be "dinged" at when I have been sticking to the right side of the path and not meandering or zig-zagging around. If you're approaching from behind, you can tell from my behavior if have been erratic or if I am about to pass somebody in front me. Is it really necessary to ring your bell at everybody you pass?

Anyway, it's more of an annoyance, I get that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure in these situations.

Yes, ring your bell evertime you pass someone. Is just common sense and courtesy.

[Northendzone]

I had to face palm a bit yesterday as I was riding some of the single track in fish creek park and I could sense another rider on my six.

Was coming up to a blind corner and I caught a glimpse of an oncoming rider so I slow down. Buddy behind me locks up his brakes and his front tire is right close to my cassette. I just looked back at him.

As soon as it was possible I let him pass. That is a rider who is just brain dead.

[RichieRich]

Originally Posted by Wormius

That actually sounds like fun. I was hoping to try that sometime. How long did it take?

There was a group of us so a fair bit of stopping the first half for clothing adjustments (showers were coming/going), photos, enjoying the views, chatting. One rider wasn't having a good energy day although they did their best to have a good attitude and appreciate the ride nonetheless, so they kept plugging along. In the end I think my moving time was about 2hr45 but we were out there over 4hrs.

[Flames0910]

Originally Posted by RichieRich

I was told it couldn't, shouldn't, and would be crazy to do it. But I rode Big Elbow loop on my gravel bike today... had pretty fat tires at least. 15C in the parking lot, +5 up top. a few moving showers but pretty decent.

Wait, who said not to do that on a gravel bike? There’s one sketchy hill but other than that, the loop would be a beautiful ride on a gravel bike (I’ve done it on my mountain bike and the suspension / weight is a bit overkill).

That’s a great ride. Some real beautiful country. If you ever wanna bikepack it there are some great campgrounds with free firewood that are usually pretty easy to book last minute, too.

[RichieRich]

Originally Posted by Flames0910

Wait, who said not to do that on a gravel bike? There’s one sketchy hill but other than that, the loop would be a beautiful ride on a gravel bike (I’ve done it on my mountain bike and the suspension / weight is a bit overkill).

That’s a great ride. Some real beautiful country there. If you ever wanna bikepack it there are some great campgrounds with free firewood too.

heh heh... EXACTLY!! Gotta try something before saying it's not possible!
That said there are actually several quite technical areas for a gravel bike... everyone thinks primarily of that one long fast downhill off the high-altitude meadow. Yes that was a bit nuts to go down... it was fun the first half (I was catching air, purposefully, off the water bars). But then my neck, arms started hurting bad and my riding glasses bouncing between my nose and helmet made it tough to see. It's not technical, just super fast and some loose stuff and a few grooves to grab the tire, and on a gravel the risk/difficulty is proportional to your speed.

So after the base of the hill, you turn left back towards the start instead of towards the overnight camping area. Some awesome fun singletrack - there are a definitely a few sketchy or technical sections in there too where I almost bit-it. On my Full-Sus I'd just plow through some of those rocky areas or loft the front wheel or even jump stuff and not think about it. Being on a rigid changes things, a lot.

[Flames0910]

^ well that’s awesome. Now I just need to get myself a gravel rig

[RichieRich]

Originally Posted by Flames0910

^ well that’s awesome. Now I just need to get myself a gravel rig

I definitely got quite a few strange looks riding this bike around Elbow.



My advice is to think carefully what you want out of gravel riding, where you'll ride, HOW you'll ride. Sure you can have a blast on less than ~42mm wide tires... but maybe you'll want to give it a super-gravel/cross look and be able to take larger. Remember that this is a bit of a niche type of ride... so you're not doing road/cross, nor are you doing mountain bike. So don't expect excellence in those categories either.

My bike is definitely a bit of a frankenstein and I've been riding it for 3.5yrs now, which is basically when gravel started being a thing, but before it was a fad. Key upgrades which have made a world of difference include Red Shift suspension stem, carbon seatpost, 2nd wheelset so I can rock the 38mm lightweight tubeless tires or choose my beefier 2.2" mtb wheelset (in the winter I install studded tires). I do think I need to find a better rigid carbon fork but those can be pricey too.



Because I actually do rides like Elbow and light MTB trails too the gearing selection is important - too many gravel riders use closer to road gearing and struggle or find some trails impossible to ride.



More than anything, this has become my "go-to" ride, and I ride it year round. Whatever you get, as long as your ride and enjoy that's all that matters.

[pope04]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Is it really necessary to ring your bell at everybody you pass?

Yes.

[Fuzz]

We also encourage following these safety tips when riding on city pathways:Ring your bell/horn or use your voice to alert others when passing or approaching a blind spot such as a corner or hill.

https://www.calgary.ca/transportatio...-pathways.html


Cyclists are damned if the do, damned if they don't.

[Mazrim]

Originally Posted by Ahuch

Haven't tried for a few weeks, it was complete most of the way but was still closed, though you can get around the first set of construction fence pretty easy (uhm... allegedly). There's another fenced off portion towards the Calf Robe where it was under active construction that I turned around at, but again haven't been for a few weeks...

I tried this route yesterday and it's still closed near the Calf Robe bridge. I love the Strava segment names for the sorta closed stretch between Glenmore and the actual closure.