Riding Bare-Handed

I ran some errands yesterday morning on my bike. As I was leaving, the temperature stood at around three or four degrees (C). Not a cold to bring Amundsen or Franklin to mind, but it still felt mildly winterish out.

I wore a toque under my helmet and had on my winter-weight gloves. I was ready for the cold. But in the time it took me to go to the first store on my list and make my purchase, perhaps half an hour, the sun had come out and the cold was going away.

Because I had forgotten a receipt I needed for another of my errands, I briefly returned to my house. While there I switched my toque for a Lycra tube (I think it is meant to be worn around the neck, but I like it around my head and ears when I need something to cut the wind). I also ditched my scarf and switched my heavy gloves for lightweight ones. As I got on my bike to start part two of my trip, I decided that I should probably unbutton my coat. At this point I was wishing that I had gotten around to repairing the zipper on my windbreaker last fall…

By the time I got down to Queen Street it was feeling downright spring-like. It was very sunny and the temperature had risen to ten degrees. As I got on my bike to return home I removed the Lycra tube from my head and even took off my gloves. It felt unusual to ride with no gloves for the first time in months. Riding bare-handed is a sure sign of spring.

Licence to Ride

The other day I witnessed an almost comic example of clueless cycling. A man slowly glided his bike across Danforth Avenue, a major Toronto street, forcing a driver to have to slow down and then change lanes in order to avoid the cyclist. I’m not sure what was going through this man’s mind as he slowly made his way across Danforth, but I can make a better guess at what was going through the driver’s mind...

I remember reading a letter to the editor by someone who thought cyclists should be licensed and tested just as motorists are. This seems like a sensible idea to me. A report by Ontario’s coroner that was released in June 2012 found that of the 129 cycling deaths that occurred between 2006 and 2010, 44 were blamed on the actions of the cyclists involved.(1) I think it is time to bring some seriousness to the way cycling on city streets is approached.

Although I have noticed an improvement in cycling behaviour over the past several years, there still exists a Wild West mentality to cycling in Toronto. Some cyclists take the rules of the road seriously, but many still don’t. I don’t think obeying traffic rules should be optional. In fact I would be happy to see police handing out tickets to cyclists, an event I have yet to witness. Police do occasionally launch ticketing blitzes directed at cyclists, but I would rather see them enforcing the rules every day.(2)

Testing and licensing cyclists would ensure that all cyclists are aware of the traffic rules, and would hopefully reduce the number of deaths and injuries.

1. http://www.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=187427
2. http://www.cp24.com/news/police-dish-out-tickets-in-bicycle-safety-campaign-1.949200

Waiting for Spring

As I write, Toronto is covered in a mess of slush and has been for several days. Even the most indefatigable cyclists are having to find other ways to get where they’re going. Like everyone else at the end of February, cyclists are starting to look forward to spring. For one thing, the thought of riding in warmer temperatures is starting to seem more and more enticing. It’s always a great feeling to be out on your bike in shorts and a T-shirt. Especially the first few times you are able to do this in the spring.

And it’ll be a happy thing when a few rains have washed the salt from the streets. My bike has taken a beating this winter. It is covered in grime, salt, and grease; I’m looking forward to a warm day when I can thoroughly wash it. In fact, it needs a bit of a tune-up as well, but I would be too embarrassed to take it into the shop this dirty.

This winter in Toronto has been a little more wintry than usual. During the last few winters, we had almost no snow, but this year we have had quite a lot. And the snowfalls we’ve had haven’t immediately melted away--a common occurrence in recent years. While Toronto does not get the snow that surrounding areas typically get, or other parts of the country for that matter, we’ve had enough this winter that cycling has been an on-again, off-again activity. Before this year, I had grown accustomed to being able to ride more or less all winter. While I am happy to see some snow for a change, the cyclist in me is waiting for spring.

Rough at the Edges

One of the things I least enjoy about biking in the city is having to be on the sides of roads. The conditions of the surfaces at the sides of roads can be extremely poor and are usually much worse than conditions in the middles of roads.

For example, the other day I was riding eastward on Lawrence Avenue and then southward on Bayview Avenue, two Toronto roads much in need of repair in the area of that intersection. The surfaces at the margins of these two roads, particularly Lawrence, are terrible. They have been patched so many times that the pavement is like a bumpy asphalt quilt. There is even the occasional pothole. Gutter is definitely an appropriate word to use!

Riding on surfaces like these is a bone-jarring experience, especially if you are travelling at all quickly. And not just bone jarring but also bike jarring. I’m reasonably sure that riding on these roads caused my crankset to be loosened. I’m going to have to take my bike in to the shop because of this.

Not only are the surfaces at the sides of roads a problem; so too is all the debris that ends up there. The sides of roads end up being covered in pebbles, broken glass, nails, etc., and sometimes even larger bits of trash such as the piece of metal that gauged one of my tires the other day. And let’s not forgot sewer grates that are often sunk many centimetres below the level of the surrounding asphalt.

Anyone who rides on roads like these had better invest in good-quality, flat-resistant tires, preferably ones with a layer of Kevlar. But even these will not be a guarantee against flats, as I found out the other day when a nail caused a flat on my front tire, the first I had had in a long time.

I am often tempted to swerve around potholes or sharp-looking debris, but if there is much car traffic where I am cycling, that isn’t a safe option. Unless I want to risk getting struck by a car, the only choice I have is to slow down and bike carefully through the problem area.

One of the many reasons I enjoy riding in the bike lanes that exist here and there in Toronto is that while there may still be a certain amount of debris on these lanes (though rarely as much as on the sides of roads without bike lanes) the pavement is usually in better shape.

A Bike in Winter

I had a debate with myself the other day before going out on an errand. This was a debate I often have: should I take the subway or ride my bike? This time my indecision came not from trying to decide if I would rather read or exercise. I was undecided because although I felt like getting some exercise on my bike, I wasn’t looking forward to how filthy my bike would get if I took it out that day.

You see, we’ve had some snow in Toronto this winter. Snow has in recent years become somewhat of a novelty in this city. I don’t think we had even one snowfall worth the name all last winter. But this winter has proven different, with two decent snowfalls already. In fact, it is snowing as I type!

For cyclists, one of several problems that come with snow is that on city streets snow rapidly changes from a beautiful white blanket to a filthy, slushy, salty mess. And this slush tends to stick to the gears, sprockets, and so forth on the underside of your bike, causing them to rust. For example, if I’m riding in wet, slushy conditions, my chain will rust to the point of unusability after only two or three trips.

Of course you can bring a chain back to working order by applying oil, and spraying WD-40 on the other moving parts will help keep them clean and functional. And if temperatures get milder, and you have the time and energy, giving your bike a wash with warm, soapy water will always help. But the constant application of salt and grime in a snowy winter will definitely shorten the life of these components of your bike.

Many cyclists use a designated junker during the winter. This is a good idea if you don’t want to subject your expensive bike to winter conditions. But whichever bike you use, the winter will be hard on it and will eventually cause you to have to pay a visit to your bike repair shop.

Perilous Pedals

I am for the most part happy with my current bike. The only complaint I have is that it is too heavy. While that is not a major issue; occasionally, when I am lugging my bike up a staircase, I find myself wishing it were lighter. I guess the upside is that it is good exercise when I have to carry my bike.

A component of my bike I did change not too long after getting it, however, was its pedals. The reason I changed them was that they were far too slippery. My feet would sometimes slip right off the pedals’ smooth plastic surfaces, particularly when I was starting to pedal. And this problem was made worse when it was wet out.

For the most part, having a foot slip off a pedal is just an annoyance; it’s a bit of a surprise when you attempt to move forward when a light turns green but instead have your foot come off the pedal and smack to the road. But slippery pedals can be dangerous, too. Think of all the scenarios where failing to move your bike suddenly could be a problem.

Another issue I had with these pedals was that I would sometimes have a foot slip off while I was going up a steep hill. While this too can be dangerous, the main problem is that it is a drag to have to start biking again midhill from a complete stop.

So, I was lucky to have a friend who had a spare pair of pedals, which he offered to give to me to replace my original set. I much prefer these pedals. They are metal and toothed and so grip the soles of my shoes well. It’s possible to slip off these pedals, too, but it happens only very rarely. This is the type of pedal I recommend.

What's the Rush?

I’m cycling down a busy city street; the light ahead has turned yellow; I see an opportunity to make the light if I quickly go to the left of the car ahead of me, which is waiting to turn right; and no sooner has this thought entered my head then I dart past the car and through the intersection. I have a lot of experience biking in the city, and this manoeuvre is safe. Usually safe, anyway…

What can make it unsafe is if I do it so suddenly that I haven’t had time to adequately assess the situation around me. I’m living very dangerously by cycling so unpredictably and impulsively. Drivers should not be surprised by what I do. This is not fair to anyone on the road.

Remember, it is always difficult to predict what drivers will do. A driver may have a similar mindset as me and may also suddenly move in an effort to get across that intersection as the lights are changing from yellow to red. Two vehicle operators, of car and bike, making the same sudden decision to cross an intersection at the last moment (must … make … light!) might well collide. And we know what the likely result of any car-bike collision is.

I often have to remind myself to not make these sudden moves. Just because I think it will be safe doesn’t mean it will be. I have to resist the urge to treat cars as obstacles to be avoided as though I were playing a video game. The weird thing is that I am often tempted to bike impulsively even when I am not in a rush. It seems to be my default mode. I need to change my setting.

I’m reminded of the joke in the Seinfeld episode where Jerry talks of riding in a cab whose driver is driving like a maniac. But Jerry doesn’t feel as though he is in danger. He has the irrational belief that riding in a cab is safe no matter what the driver is doing. As a cyclist, I often have a similar irrational belief in my own safety, and I have to constantly remind myself that cycling around cars is a dangerous endeavour.