Avoid the Outdoors on Your Bike
Chris has some disappointing news, presented in an amusing way.
“That was really close,” one councilor said. “Just imagine. If we’d created those bike lanes, cyclists might have gotten used to them! Heck, some people might have even tried biking to work in safety for the first time and enjoyed it. It could have been habit forming.” When asked if he was trying to equate cyclists to drug users, the councilor replied, “what do you think?”
Another councilor agreed. “Drivers can rest assured that this council will not do anything to jeopardize their unquestioned supremacy on the roads,” she said.
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Comment moderation gets turned on at Rawlco radio news site/blogs. For the time being, my comments sections will remain open, and I hope they always will be able to be, since that’s really the standard of blogs on the Internet (at least the blogs that the most people enjoy the most).
One problem that not moderating eliminates, is being accused frequently of deleting comments. I was beginning to wonder where my comments on John Himpe’s ridiculous rant about cyclists, had gone. Then I figured out that the same terrible blog post was on both 980 and 650 news sites, and the comments don’t transfer from one to the other. I was looking on 650, but commented on 980. Fortunately, Michelle who also works at a Rawlco station, had much better thoughts on the subject.
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UPDATE:
Sphere: Related ContentCommuter Cycling Workshop
Learn How to Ride Your Bike to Work : safety tips, road skills, and much more.
Workshop 1 - “Bike Commuting 101″
Thursday May 8 @ 5:30 pm
City Hall Forum
Light Supper provided
Workshop 2 - “Cycling On” (Practical)
Saturday May 10 @ 9:00 am
SIAST Wascana Campus
Bikes and Helmets Required
(Pre-requisite: Workshop 1)
To register, email greenribbon@regina.ca with “Commuter Cycling” in the subject line. Registration is free.
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Answers to Questions about Cycling
Canadian Cycling Association: ABC Bicycle Check
Tags: cycling
![[EFC Blue Ribbon - Free Speech Online]](http://www.efc.ca/images/efcfreet.gif)
May 2nd, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Hey! I don’t have anything against cyclists… in fact, I don’t mind picking up the bike and taking it to work every once in a while.
My point is that there doesn’t seem to be a standard in the cycling community as to how and where they want to utilize the road… and frankly, when I choose to be behind the wheel of a car, I have more than enough things on my mind without having to read the mind of a cyclist and what s/he might do next.
I know where I’d like to see cyclists… on bike paths and secondary residential thoroughfares (when I go cycling to work, etc., I try to keep to those places if not for any other reason than for self preservation given how horrible some drivers are) and not on major arteries… but that’s a whole other debate.
As for comment moderation… well… sadly not everyone likes to talk like a grown-up on the sites and so it’s become a necessity. However, work is well underway on the next version of the News Talk sites, and in it will be common commenting… so one comment will end up on two sites. (Hurrah!) There have been some great adventures in Drupal coding in the last couple of days. :)
- Himpe
May 2nd, 2008 at 3:11 pm
There’s no standard in the cycling community because there are so few standard bike routes that we have to invent our own in many places. If motor vehicle drivers had to be as creative to get from point A to point B, there would have been proper routes and signs, and lanes created long ago. I’d like to see cyclists on major short-cut streets that are currently reserved for the elite - drivers. Give cyclists their own lane, at least 6 months out of the year, and you’ll see a cycling culture develop that leaves both drivers and cyclists educated as to the rules of the road.
Incidentally, today I saw a maroon car blazing through the bike lane, intersection (on green fortunately) and bike lane again beside the UofR. The ticket for something like that is less than $100. If it was $200, people would take better care.
May 2nd, 2008 at 3:46 pm
What an ass. I commute everyday to work through downtown Saskatoon (on 24th) and yep I take up 1/2 of the lane specifically because of idiot drivers who like to swerve around you, and even cut you off on purpose. Saskboy is right, if there was more bike infrastructure in our cities then we wouldn’t constantly be having to battle against moron drivers and moron cyclists.
I agree with the point that there are a minority of cyclist out there that don’t obey the rules and cause drivers headaches and trouble. I have even yelled at these same cyclists from time to time from my own bike. However, contrary to this bloggers opinion, cyclists have every right to be on any road they wish, as long as they follow the rules. If you as a driver can’t be bothered to pay attention to the road than don’t drive, pure and simple.
Saskboy is also right in challenging the opinion that converting existing to roadways to bike friendly can and is being done. Unfortunately, they are not giving it the attention or money that it deserves. For example, here in Saskatoon we have a 2 or 3 million dollar bike plan that is being spread over 10 years! At the same time there is no such timeframe on spending over 320 million on a new bridge. As a taxpayer I am tired of subsidizing continuous road construction, when with just a little investment we can create a transportation culture that will encourage less cars on the road…and that is better for the city as a whole both environmentally, financially, and citizen health-wise.
May 2nd, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Love the irony on the bike thing. That might have been said at the Ottawa council as well… except for the experimental farm, good luck with biking in Ottawa. Which is a shame because the city is pretty spread out and we have a lot of parks etc.
May 3rd, 2008 at 12:14 am
I liked biking Hogsback park when I lived in Ottawa, and I was able to bike over to work near Billing’s Bridge from Dynes Rd. on the other side of the canal.
May 3rd, 2008 at 6:25 am
I have 2 motorcycles and 2 pedal bikes (and no car) that I ride regularly, and I cannot tell you how much time I spend trying to read the minds of my 4-wheeled brethren and trying to figure out what they might do next in the interest of my personal safety and well being on the summer time 30k pedal to and from the office.
There is no doubt that I have seen some pretty stupid and careless bike (motorized or human powered) riders out there but I have seen far more stupidity and carelessness out of cars, trucks, and SUV’s.
The funny thing about 4-wheeled people though is that they tend to judge every pedal bike and motorcyclist by the idiot they saw last week but do not use the same thinking for their chosen method of transportation - it is a pet peeve of mine that I bring up each and every time one of my friends starts railing against some 2-wheeled antics they saw on the way to work.
If I had my way there would be a 10km circle drawn around city centre that cars and trucks had to pay $10 to get through from the 1st of May until the end of September whether they were coming in or going out (in addition to downtown parking) and leaving the streets (at least relatively) free for cyclists, scooters, and pedestrians - talk about safe streets and clean air ‘eh?
May 3rd, 2008 at 10:32 am
Way off topic, as usual, but have you seen the information on contributors to the parties in the provincial election? The SK Party had several big donations from Alberta companies. How is that even legal? And also they got donations from “Companies connected to the Rawlco radio station companies and the Rawlinson family, which contributed about $102,000.” While the SK party received more in corporate donations than individual, the NDP was the opposite.
May 3rd, 2008 at 7:07 pm
“How is that even legal?”
Not just the Alberta part that worries me (but I don’t know if that should be illegal so long as it’s a private citizen donating, not a business registered in another province) it’s the size. How is $102,000 legal? And this isn’t to pick on Himpster’s employers either, this goes for anyone giving more than what the feds have set as their limit.
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Stageleft, I agree there should be more car-toll zones. In Regina that would be the nail in the downtown coffin however, and would never fly here without a lot of ground work to set something like that up.