Cycling Thread 2

[KTrain]

Anyone else doing the MS Ride: Airdrie to Olds this weekend?

Weather looks to have improved but the headwind isn't going to be fun.

[stone hands]

i always stop at stop signs myself

[the_only_turek_fan]

Originally Posted by KTrain

Anyone else doing the MS Ride: Airdrie to Olds this weekend?

Weather looks to have improved but the headwind isn't going to be fun.

Hi KTrain. I am sitting across the table from you!

[Northendzone]

Did a test ride down to the new office in downtown today - 49 k round trip. Took me about 130m of moving me. Going there was not overly fun, but coming home was.

Hard not to stop at the inglewood burger joint for fuel.

Managed to navigate the parade at bow valley square and find the showers somewhat easily.

Next weeks forecast does not look conducive to riding though

[jayswin]

When you're travelling north on the bow river beside quarry park and get to the glenmore overpass. Is there anywhere else you can go to keep heading north? I looked around a bit but it seems everything is blocked off from the floods in 2013?

[Ironhorse]

Yup, go up the hill to Lynnwood Ridge, and then back down into Beaverdam Flats.

[Northendzone]

That section of the pathway has now finished being rebuilt. In addition you can also take the streets thru Lynwood to Ogden road

[ken0042]

The pathway going from Pearce Estate Park to Inglewood Bird sanctuary (under 17 ave SE) is fully open. May have been for a while, but yesterday was my first time to try it recently.

[stone hands]

Originally Posted by KTrain

Anyone else doing the MS Ride: Airdrie to Olds this weekend?

Weather looks to have improved but the headwind isn't going to be fun.

This year was my first year, had a total blast(aside from the headwind all day on the first day)

Friend of mine hurt himself so I rode with him the 2nd day at a super leisurely pace and felt super good. This is the first time I've done anything like this (my longest previous ride was 65k) and it felt totally awesome. I have had a goal in mind to ride from spruce meadows to bragg creek and back since I see people doing it while going for hikes all the time, and after this weekend I think it is totally doable and am going to be trying it in the next week or two. Totally re-invigorated(not that I was even slipping, mind you) my love of cycling

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Riding to work is great... until I get downtown. At that point it's annoying. I was riding down 10th ave this morning, which I usually do because it's a wide street, and riding on the right next to traffic. As I pull up towards 8th St, there is a line of cars, and just as I'm coming up one of the cars I guess sees me in his mirror and deliberately pulls over to the right to block me so that I can't get by. I stop, unclip, tap on his window and ask him what he's doing - not angrily, just, "wtf are you thinking here?", and he starts yammering something I can't understand because his window is still up. A line of cyclists forms behind me, all equally confused. Then the light goes green and he drives off.

Basically, people suck.

[KTrain]

Originally Posted by stone hands

This year was my first year, had a total blast(aside from the headwind all day on the first day)

Friend of mine hurt himself so I rode with him the 2nd day at a super leisurely pace and felt super good. This is the first time I've done anything like this (my longest previous ride was 65k) and it felt totally awesome. I have had a goal in mind to ride from spruce meadows to bragg creek and back since I see people doing it while going for hikes all the time, and after this weekend I think it is totally doable and am going to be trying it in the next week or two. Totally re-invigorated(not that I was even slipping, mind you) my love of cycling

It was my first year doing the ride as well. I managed to get with a good group of 5 towards the front and hung on to their wheels for dear life. We took the "Challenge" route with the extra 25km. Which ended up being the most enjoyable part because of the sun and tailwinds.

Day 2 was decent with the tailwind and the rain wasn't too bad. I rode with one friend that day. We managed to be the first through on the long route so some of those checkpoints weren't open yet but we wanted to push through anyway.

Spruce Meadows to Bragg would be a fun ride. There's a lot of construction going on with the ring road right now so you may want to scout your route before hand. Wind would a factor as well but you're used to that after this weekend.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

Riding to work is great... until I get downtown. At that point it's annoying. I was riding down 10th ave this morning, which I usually do because it's a wide street, and riding on the right next to traffic. As I pull up towards 8th St, there is a line of cars, and just as I'm coming up one of the cars I guess sees me in his mirror and deliberately pulls over to the right to block me so that I can't get by. I stop, unclip, tap on his window and ask him what he's doing - not angrily, just, "wtf are you thinking here?", and he starts yammering something I can't understand because his window is still up. A line of cyclists forms behind me, all equally confused. Then the light goes green and he drives off.

Basically, people suck.

If it helps, there is a cycle track on 8th ave and 12th ave. But ya, people suck.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

If it helps, there is a cycle track on 8th ave and 12th ave. But ya, people suck.

Yeah, I use 8th ave when there's a train, but then I have to turn left at 8th st and 10th ave on the hill after the underpass there and it's... unsettling, to say the least. I could use the 12th ave one more though, I guess, even though it would require me to turn left at some point. I'll try that on the way home and see if it helps. It just sucks, though... Everything between my house and Shaw Millenium Park is just so much more enjoyable.

[stone hands]

Originally Posted by KTrain

It was my first year doing the ride as well. I managed to get with a good group of 5 towards the front and hung on to their wheels for dear life. We took the "Challenge" route with the extra 25km. Which ended up being the most enjoyable part because of the sun and tailwinds.

Day 2 was decent with the tailwind and the rain wasn't too bad. I rode with one friend that day. We managed to be the first through on the long route so some of those checkpoints weren't open yet but we wanted to push through anyway.

Spruce Meadows to Bragg would be a fun ride. There's a lot of construction going on with the ring road right now so you may want to scout your route before hand. Wind would a factor as well but you're used to that after this weekend.

I was part of a kind of big team (spokes and hoes) and everyone waited at each checkpoint. When my friend hurt himself and got trucked off, I was able to get in a group of 4 and rode with them from about lunch until the end and it was the best part of the day for sure, actually got to stretch my legs a little bit. I havent ever really ridden in a group before either, and wow does it ever make a difference. That headwind was brutal(if you were on the front) and yeah, thank god the wind didnt shift on the 2nd day. Not grinding through a wall of wind for 4 hours was beautiful

Thanks for the heads up on the bragg/spruce ride, I havent gone that way this year so I didnt know they were doing anything, I'll check it out

Definitely going to be doing the MS Ride next year - its interesting the range of emotions people had. Pretty much everyone on my team was ready to die by the end but I could have gone again lol

[KTrain]

Originally Posted by stone hands

Thanks for the heads up on the bragg/spruce ride, I havent gone that way this year so I didnt know they were doing anything, I'll check it out

Definitely going to be doing the MS Ride next year - its interesting the range of emotions people had. Pretty much everyone on my team was ready to die by the end but I could have gone again lol

I signed up again after we pulled into the finish line. I'm looking forward to doing it again too. The weather can't be worse can it?

If you're ever looking for people to ride with, there's a few of us on here that get out on the road every month or so.

[Northendzone]

i too find it a real PITA when i tunr off the pathway and ride to bow valley sqaure. i have been coming up first, but will adjust that as there is construction on it up to 4th.

also got turned around i the parkade and had a bit of trouble finding the showers.

on the plus side, the card reader for the secure bike cage was not working and the building operator had a security guard posted there. Nice to know they do this to ensure some level of bike safety

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

i too find it a real PITA when i tunr off the pathway and ride to bow valley sqaure. i have been coming up first, but will adjust that as there is construction on it up to 4th.

also got turned around i the parkade and had a bit of trouble finding the showers.

on the plus side, the card reader for the secure bike cage was not working and the building operator had a security guard posted there. Nice to know they do this to ensure some level of bike safety

Yah I see lots of sketchy folks in the parkade, nice to see some security there.

[Flames0910]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

As I pull up towards 8th St, there is a line of cars, and just as I'm coming up one of the cars I guess sees me in his mirror and deliberately pulls over to the right to block me so that I can't get by. I stop, unclip, tap on his window and ask him what he's doing - not angrily, just, "wtf are you thinking here?", and he starts yammering something I can't understand because his window is still up. A line of cyclists forms behind me, all equally confused. Then the light goes green and he drives off.

Basically, people suck.

I've had this happen —#usually at a red light where they want to block you from filtering. I usually stop and get off my bike, walk around them on the sidewalk, then put my bike back on the road directly in front of their car.

The other day though, a car swerved into me and tried to take me out. He rolled down his window and we had a shouting match at the red light literally 20ft down the road, so I took a photo of his license and called the CPS non-emergency line. The police took it surprisingly seriously — a former bike unit officer came by and took my statement. End of the day, the officer was apologetic b/c he expected it to end up as my word against the driver's, but he did say he would call the driver and read him the riot act, so at least that's something. Hopefully it makes the driver think twice next time.

As a heads up to other cyclists though, if you ask around afterwards and get phone numbers from bystanders the police will write tickets if there's somebody who can corroborate your account.

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

Riding to work is great... until I get downtown. At that point it's annoying. I was riding down 10th ave this morning, which I usually do because it's a wide street, and riding on the right next to traffic. As I pull up towards 8th St, there is a line of cars, and just as I'm coming up one of the cars I guess sees me in his mirror and deliberately pulls over to the right to block me so that I can't get by. I stop, unclip, tap on his window and ask him what he's doing - not angrily, just, "wtf are you thinking here?", and he starts yammering something I can't understand because his window is still up. A line of cyclists forms behind me, all equally confused. Then the light goes green and he drives off.

Basically, people suck.

I think the justification is cyclists are slow and having to pass them after every light can be a nuisance and even dangerous.

Whats the reasoning for cyclists to go to the front at every light anyway?

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by Weitz

I think the justification is cyclists are slow and having to pass them after every light can be a nuisance and even dangerous.

Whats the reasoning for cyclists to go to the front at every light anyway?

As a driver there may some merit to this. It is frustrating as a driver to work past cyclists (safely) only for them to filter past to the front of the line at the next light and you have to repeat the process particularly on a busy road.

That said I don't block them either, but it is annoying.