Sometimes I Hate Grand Lake

Ok, the title isn't entirely true. I love Grand Lake, always. But when I was there last on vacation I saw many things that really grind my gears (technically many things, but one general thing in many forms).

If you've read my blog before you know that I like to think I'm environmentally friendly. Grand Lake is one of those places that make you want to be environmentally friendly. You have a huge beautiful lake, a picturesque back lake, plenty of forest, and even a family of osprey. My girlfriend even saw a deer during one of her bike rides.

I brought my bike with me to Grand Lake to 1) burn off Nana's cookies, cakes and pies and 2) to take in the sights. However I was just a few feet past the camps (their camps in NB, not cottages) and getting into the less populated area of the ride when I saw the first thing that upset me; a Tim Horton's cup. "It's alright", I think. It's just one litterer, or maybe a careless truck driver who's garbage flew out of the truck bed. Then, not even one full pedal of the bike later I see an empty box of Alpine, then a can of Alpine, then a pillow (a pillow!?!), then another Tim Horton's cup. It went on and on and on. The side of the road is littered with litter. It was like watching that episode of Mad Men when they just threw their garbage anywhere while on picnic.

Come on people of Grand Lake. It isn't that hard to find a garbage can. There's one just a few kilometres away in Douglas Harbour. You're ruining what is a beautiful part of the province. In fact, prior to re-branding NB's slogan to "Be...in this place" NB used to be the "Picture Province".

It's no surprise that given this lack of eco-friendliness that the area of the lake that was public (actually privately owned, but generously available for public use) is no longer. The owner decided that they didn't want to put up with the filth that people leave behind (even diapers). It's also no surprise that people ignore the no trespassing signs and continue to use the beach and litter. I implore you NBers and Grand Lakers, stop littering. You're really messing up my bike ride and picture taking. Maybe you think that you alone can't stop garbage from piling up. Well if everyone thought that way we'd end up with a big garbage island somewhere in the Pacific twice the size of Texas. Wait, what? We have one?

Cyclists and Drivers (a related post by my man G)

Head on over to GValentino's blog to read a post related to my cycling post from earlier this week. Living in Bippity Town (i.e., Toronto) can only increase the dangers for cyclists.

Here's the link: http://www.gvalentinoisrandom.com/2009/06/love-riding-his-bicycle-loves-riding.html

For Rachelle (or in Defense of me)

I got an email the other day from my friend Rachelle. It read:

You should blog about bad cyclists!

I could tell she was adamant about it because she used an exclamation point. Rachelle can get excited about things, but I've rarely seen exclamation points in her emails (side note, is it e-mail or email? I like hyphens, but it seems unnecessary).

So I responded with:

I blogged about the ones on the bike path, sort of, in The Most Important Lesson I Ever Learned.

Do you mean the street ones? I’m probably one of them.

She said:

Yes.

Not stopping at red lights
Driving on the sidewalk
Driving the opposite direction on a one way street
Driving the opposite direction on a one way street on the sidewalk or in a bike lane

I hate that

I responded to her that I did all those things so I didn't think I'd blog about it. She said URGH!

So after work tonight, I hopped on my bike, biked the wrong way down a one way street, hopped on the sidewalk for a spell (biking the wrong way), then sped down Bay Street running red lights and stop signs. Then I see this pretty girl with a big red/grey dog wave at me. It was Rachelle. She caught me (though maybe she didn't realize it) in the middle of my biggest streak of running red lights/stop signs. So then I thought maybe I should blog about it.

I get where Rachelle is coming from. The rules of the road should apply to cyclists. Though I have my reasons for breaking the rules.

I only bike the wrong way down certain one way streets; the ones I live on. I live on the corner of two one way streets. So if I want to get to Bank street, I have to go two blocks out of my way to get somewhere that is half a block a way. I think it's OK to bike the wrong way down the street here. Plus, there is very little traffic on my street.

I only bike on sidewalks for my own safety (and ensure the safety of others when I do). For example, when I'm biking down O'Connor (a one way street I bike the proper direction on), there are plenty of cars taking sudden turns, opening doors unexpectedly or blocking your path by inching into a right turn. I like to think I can anticipate what they are going to do (by remembering the world is full of stupid people), so sometimes I hop on to the sidewalk to protect myself, while ensuring I'm not endangering others.

Another time I ride on the sidewalk is when I head to the Ottawa River bike path. I like to ride on the bike paths and sometimes the only way to access them is to ride on the sidewalk for a stretch at first. So I don't see anything wrong with my sidewalk riding.

I also run red lights and stop signs. I do it because I like to ride fast. I think Rachelle may have a point here. I have no reasonable excuse except the Ricky Bobby slogan of "I wanna go fast".

I never bike the wrong way down a bike lane. It annoys me too. I almost hit this guy today riding the wrong way down a bike lane. What ticks me off the most (and I'm guessing Rachelle) is that on the other side of the street or on the next street over there is a bike lane that is heading in the right direction that those people can use.

So Rachelle, it was nice seeing you on my ride today. Sorry I didn't stop to say hi, but I like to ride fast and I was setting a record for fastest speed down Bay street while running all stop signs. I hope you still invite me over to see your new deck.