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.

Response from GValentino on Steroids

GValentino posted a reply to my steroids post. Read it and see how he works in Salieri, Bono, and a neighbourhood in Toronto.