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Cycling in Waterloo Region - Printable Version

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RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Pheidippides - 06-06-2018

(06-05-2018, 09:57 PM)Canard Wrote: Wow, we have had really, really different experiences - and I totally respect that.  I'm always kind of amazed that I generally have no issues and so many other people have such a bad time out there.

I am jealous of your experiences.

I am getting more and more convinced that it has mostly to do with the time of day.

Probably 90% of my bad experiences/close calls are during my 10min commute to/from work between M-F 8:00-9:00am and 4:30-5:30pm which only represents probably 30% of my total weekly kilometres. Honestly, the difference of riding +/- 15 minutes outside of those windows is astounding.

I don't think it is the areas that I cycle in because I have lots of positive experiences cycling in the same areas as my commuting route(s) when I cycle outside of those hours during the week or any time during the weekend.

Plus, I am sure there is probably a bit of recall bias as it is like any bad experience. Your brain is hard wired to latch on them and remember them as a defence mechanism to keep you alive in the future so I probably remember more of those. I should probably try and be mindful of the positive experiences I do have to have a better perspective.


RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Canard - 06-06-2018

A very un-helpful response by the project team when asked about this specific area of track:

https://twitter.com/rideIONrt/status/1004367737697677312


RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - danbrotherston - 06-06-2018

The answer is they have no answer. I've talked to the actual senior engineers involved with the project and I'm pretty sure we got a literal shrug in response.


RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Canard - 06-08-2018

The Cambridge Tour de Grand is this Sunday!

Sadly, they’ve made the discriminatory decision to eliminate many potential riders:

Quote:
  • Bicycle helmets are mandatory for all cyclists.
  • No motorized or powered bicycles permitted.
  • No baseball caps, headphones or earbuds.

Once again, people don’t seem to realize that there is a huge difference between the Chinese electric mopeds with superficial bike pedals and true e-bikes (Pedelec’s) actually are.

Until organizations and engineers realize that the world is changing and refuse to keep up with trends toward sustainable mobility, they are hurting their own event by closing it off to some who might have otherwise enjoyed attending.

[Image: commute.png]
Not a thread: with a maximum assisted speed of 32 km/h, electric assist bicycles (Pedelecs, “e-bikes”) do not present a hazard. Most road bikers ride far faster than this in a much more aggressive fashion and are far greater of a safety concern.


RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - darts - 06-08-2018

many riders? how many are really going on an endurance race using an e bike? I'd be annoyed if I peddaled 160km while the guy in front of me had to put in half the effort, they might as well just have done in using a pc simulator
it might be lack of real classifications but they probably mean the ebikes where nobody really uses it like a bike


RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - danbrotherston - 06-08-2018

(06-08-2018, 03:47 PM)darts Wrote: many riders? how many are really going on an endurance race using an e bike? I'd be annoyed if I peddaled 160km while the guy in front of me had to put in half the effort, they might as well just have done in using a pc simulator
it might be lack of real classifications but they probably mean the ebikes where nobody really uses it like a bike

The Tour de Grand has routes all the way from 10 km to 160 km.  People have cycled the 10 km route on a unicycle.  I can easily see someone who's not confident in their ability to do 10 or 20 km on a bike wanting to ride their ebike.

Also, why would it annoy you if the guy in front of you biked the same distance with less effort?  It isn't a race, it's a tour.  They're not winning anything away from you.  And, really, most of the people who ride the 160 km race do put in less effort than I do, because they're riding lighter faster (more expensive) bikes and they're riding in a pelaton to draft off each other.  I don't feel that those folks diminish what I achieve.

I have no idea how many people this affects, but it's unnecessary to block them IMO. It is rather surprising given how otherwise inclusive the tour de grand folks are (see the aforementioned unicycle rider).

I'm sure helmet and ear bud rules are an unfortunate aspect of insurance rules, although folks with ear buds did kind of bug me on the Heart and Stroke ride in Toronto, not that ear buds specifically were a problem, but some of the riders with ear buds were also not so good at checking their surroundings before moving laterally. I don't really care if they keep a straight line and check their blind spots.


RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - jamincan - 06-08-2018

(06-08-2018, 04:53 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: And, really, most of the people who ride the 160 km race do put in less effort than I do, because they're riding lighter faster (more expensive) bikes and they're riding in a pelaton to draft off each other.

I'm not discounting your effort, why do you feel the need to discount other riders' effort? Effort is entirely independent of equipment. Averaging 35+kph over a 160 km route is in part due to equipment, skill and cooperation with other riders. It's also very much due to working really hard.

E-bikes are relatively new, so it's going to take time to figure out how they fit in. I personally have mixed feelings on the matter. On the one hand, it lets people bike who otherwise wouldn't or couldn't. It might let a couple of differing ability ride together. I don't think I need to list all the benefits.

On the other hand, in the context of riding in a group, I'm quite a bit more reserved about e-bikes. There are certain skills that you need to ride safely in a group. As your speed increases, those skills and experience become ever more important. Prior to e-bikes, sticking with faster groups meant you had to be strong enough to stick with the group. Over the course of become stronger on the bike, you also became more experienced and skilled.

E-bikes remove this barrier. Yes, they are restricted to 32 kph, but that potentially massive boost in power below 32kph will still make an enormous difference. In an event like the Tour de Grand, you could see a situation where a reasonably fit but completely inexperienced rider stays in the mix with a group where the required skill level is well above their head.

Going back to my first comment, though, I know many riders who are far more skilled than me, but due to their physique struggle to keep up with more powerful riders with less experience. An e-bike could act as a really useful equalizer in situations like that.

And then finally, in the context of the Tour de Grand, my guess is that most people on e-bikes wouldn't be mixing it up in a group, and even if there was a few, it wouldn't make a huge difference anyway. Events like the TdG already end up being peppered with strong riders with little group riding experience, so you have to be more vigilant than normal anyway.


RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Canard - 06-08-2018

Curious: have you ever riden one, Jamincan or darts? I’d encourage you to give a Bosch or Shimano equipped middrive bike a try. I think you’d be quite surprised at what they can (and can’t) do. There’s a perception they’re motorcycles or scooters. They’re not. This is what I want to push to fix - the perception that the nearly-illegal electric scooters have destroyed.


RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Canard - 06-08-2018

Also, I think Jamincan that you’re thinking someone is going to be riding one in a road-bike platoon. I don’t see that at all. My husband rides one because he’s new to cycling. He and I can’t therefore go together (and the two of us ride together) because of this stupid rule. It wasn’t like the two of us were going to seek out some giant group of roadies flying along and buzzing everyone, we just like tooting along on our own at 18-22 km/h.


RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - jamincan - 06-08-2018

If you read my post again, I think you'll appreciate that while I have some concerns about e-bikes in the peloton, I'm mostly supportive and think the concerns are probably overblown.


RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Pheidippides - 06-08-2018

I took a walk through uptown this afternoon.

The west side lane is essentially complete. If it were not for the stacks of paving stones destined for the east side, an occasional safety cone, and a couple of rough transitions between the road and the lane and Princess and Dupont, it is more-or-less rideable.

The east side has had good progress this week with lots of concrete in place, and most of the forms done and read for more concrete.
   


RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - plam - 06-08-2018

And no cars!


RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - danbrotherston - 06-08-2018

(06-08-2018, 05:41 PM)jamincan Wrote:
(06-08-2018, 04:53 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: And, really, most of the people who ride the 160 km race do put in less effort than I do, because they're riding lighter faster (more expensive) bikes and they're riding in a pelaton to draft off each other.

I'm not discounting your effort, why do you feel the need to discount other riders' effort? Effort is entirely independent of equipment. Averaging 35+kph over a 160 km route is in part due to equipment, skill and cooperation with other riders. It's also very much due to working really hard.

I'm not sure why you feel I'm "discounting" other rider's effort.  The complaint was, that other riders riding an ebike in would diminishes the accomplishments of riders not on ebikes.  I don't think that's true, and I pointed out that it's already the case that some individuals have an advantage in equipment and such an advantage doesn't diminish anything.  This isn't a race, nobody should let anyone else diminish what one accomplishes.  The goal is to have fun, that shouldn't depend on others.


RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - jamincan - 06-09-2018

(06-08-2018, 04:53 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: And, really, most of the people who ride the 160 km race do put in less effort than I do.



RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Canard - 06-09-2018

(06-08-2018, 10:22 PM)plam Wrote: And no cars!

I’m sure the fence helps!

A half-height fence that looked like that would actually be just fine. Or maybe some “pipe hoops” that were like 1.5 m long with a 1 m gap between them, to allow cyclists and pedestrians in and out, but not card.

I guess that’d be a safety hazard because it’s an intermittent obstacle (whereas a continuous fence might not be since if you fall into it, it’s just a slide injury not an impact in the direction of travel).

I just hate those flexible bollards visually so much...

Jamincan: sorry if I sounded like I was being harsh. I was really annoyed with the rules yesterday. I am always, always amazed at how far you ride; like your 90+ km jaunt the other night or your 200+ km rides. I could never do it. I peaked at about 50 km and I’m ok with that.

But here’s what I’m getting at: I use my ebike if I’m commuting or if I’m tired but still feel like going for a ride, and my regular bike for everything for everything else. last night I grabbed my (regular) bike and just absolutely slammed out a ride, I had a stressful day and just blasted it as hard as I could. 25-30 km/h the whole time, gasping and panting. Today I’d *like* to go for a ride but had I not had the option of grabbing my ebike and puttering along with some help I might not have otherwise gone anywhere and sat on my porch eating chips. And I’ll probably be riding at about 15-20 km/h, far slower than I was last night, no “threat” to anyone.

Here’s another slant. Last year and this year I’ve used my Shimano STePs-Equipped bicycle for commiting to Cambridge from Kitchener for work. I’d never have tried this on a regular bike; I have to get there, and I can’t be sweaty and exhausted when I do. I’m still tired out by the ride (250W is not much extra power, but it takes the headwind away and somewhat flattens steep hills), but able to do it. But! I’m actually thinking now about giving it a try on my regular bike now. Again, I’d never have had the guts to try that had it not been enabled for me by ebikes.

The whole thing is there’s no threat and nothing bad with them at all. More people on bicycles is better. They are everywhere in Europe. In rural Germany, half the bicycles I saw had Bosch middrives on them. I was thrilled seeing the massive expansion of ebikes even just between the 2017 and 2018 Toronto Bike Shows. People are finally starting to “get it” and the best way to do that is to grab one and take it for a test ride at the show. Everyone comes back with this absolutely ginormous grin on their face.

[Image: bosch-ebike_urbane_mobilitaet_11522x856.jpg]