+- Waterloo Region Connected (https://www.waterlooregionconnected.com)
+-- Forum: Waterloo Region Works (https://www.waterlooregionconnected.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=14)
+--- Forum: Transportation and Infrastructure (https://www.waterlooregionconnected.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=25)
+--- Thread: Cycling in Waterloo Region (/showthread.php?tid=186)
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Canard - 03-01-2017
Do you know what the size of the tube is?
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Canard - 03-01-2017
(02-19-2017, 12:43 PM)Markster Wrote: The Northfield bridge really should have made the sidewalks wider, and declared them as MUTs. I saw that part of the confusion you had was that the bike lane was half full of snow. If they gave even half the width of that bike lane to a widened sidewalk, it could work.
After giving this another shot this weekend past, I realized where my original confusion came from. Here's a photo showing the lane markings (or lack thereof).
Note on the right the arrow on the "Bike Lane" sign is pointing directly at the Sidewalk/MUT. When I went across the tracks, I looked up and that's what I saw (and didn't see a bike lane on the road), so I rode on the sidewalk. I rode across the 85 Southbound On-Ramp, across the little triangle of land, across the Hwy 85 Southbound Off-Ramp, and then realized "oh shoot, there's a bike lane now to my left".
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Canard - 03-02-2017
The Toronto International Bicycle Show is this weekend, March 3-5 at Exhibition Place!
https://www.bicycleshowtoronto.com
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Viewfromthe42 - 03-03-2017
That looks cool, but looks more for high-performance bikes than city cruisers, yes?
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Canard - 03-03-2017
I went probably 15-20 years ago and that's where I bought my first bike - they have everything!
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Viewfromthe42 - 03-03-2017
I've been thinking a lot about getting a new bike, but haven't been able to convince myself to pull the trigger. Things like that keep prodding me.
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Pheidippides - 03-03-2017
The Region of Waterloo 2016 Collision Report
http://calendar.regionofwaterloo.ca/Council/Detail/2017-03-07-Planning-and-Works-Committee/PA2017-0307%20to%20post.pdf#page=96
• The number of collisions involving cyclists decreased by 19% (107 in 2014 to 87 in 2016);
• The total number of cyclist collisions in 2016 on a per capita basis also represents a 20-year low;
Top 10 Cyclist Collision Locations (http://calendar.regionofwaterloo.ca/Council/Detail/2017-03-07-Planning-and-Works-Committee/PA2017-0307%20to%20post.pdf#page=105)
1 Cedar St at King St KIT
2 Hespeler Rd at Munch Ave/Isherwood Ave CAM
3 Courtland Ave at Siebert Ave (commercial driveway) KIT
4 Hespeler Rd at Avenue Rd/Jaffray St CAM
5 Hespeler Rd at Bishop St CAM
6 University Ave E between Regina & Weber WAT
7 Highland Road at Fischer-Hallman Rd KIT
8 Ottawa St at Homer Watson Blvd KIT
9 Water St at Main St CAM
10 King St at Stirling Ave KIT
The first 10 ranked cycling collision locations for 2016 shows that there were 6 locations moving into the top 10 cyclist collision locations list in 2016. Staff will review 5 years of collision data for these locations along with the other locations in the top 10 list.
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Pheidippides - 03-03-2017
Staff recommending $5,000 to the Waterloo Cycling Club to help make a documentary about the HydroCut trail and trail stewardship:
http://calendar.regionofwaterloo.ca/Council/Detail/2017-03-07-Administration-and-Finance-Committee/FA2017-0307.pdf#page=81
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Canard - 03-04-2017
Went for a 35 km bike ride this afternoon and I'll say it again: I absolutely hate the paint job of the "bike lanes" on Northfield from Parkside to Conestogo/Colby. I've completely given up on trying to ride in them and just ride on the sidewalk, laws be damned. I never see anyone walking here anyway. Grr...
The section right by the LRT tracks is the absolute worst.
On a positive note, I love the Forwell Trail so much that I actually went back and forth on it 3 times just to soak it up. That is such a gem! I wish it was longer.
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - timc - 03-06-2017
I assume that the bike lanes on Northfield will be better painted when the final paving is done. When they were first painted, it was fine, but I don't think they weren't painted to stand up to the winter weather.
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Canard - 03-06-2017
I'm told that it has to do with the type of paint the MTO requires. The same thing is happening with the temporary lane markings on 401, between 8 and 24 for the expansion (where the lanes shift back and forth a couple of times), and it's terrifying.
So I went to the Bike Show in Toronto yesterday. I'm trying to get my other half into biking and was thinking for our second bike, one with an electric-assist might be a good way of easing him into it. They had a test course there where you could ride them on, so I tried a Trek DualSport+ equipped with Shimano's STEPS system. I was really impressed. It smoothly matches your torque output and blends it in, and with a bunch of different modes you can decide how much assistance you want. For folks looking to get into cycling for transportation, these seem like the perfect entry into it.
Even for me; my commute would be 25 km one-way, which is a bit much to do every day. I'm comfortable riding ~40 km, but my knees get pretty sore after that. With a bit of extra help, I bet I could ride that daily.
I just wish they weren't so expensive. I only found out later that the one I rode was worth almost $4k!
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - jamincan - 03-06-2017
For what it's worth, the knee pain is likely due to something other than the length of the ride. In most cases, it can be traced back to poor use of gears and/or poor fit and you are only noticing the affects the more time you spend on the bike.
You seem to be mechanically-minded, so you probably make ample use of your gears, but it is really common to see people mashing away at a very slow cadence in a hard gear. This is going to put more stress on your knees and tire you out more quickly. It is safer and more efficient to pedal at a higher cadence, I say at 80 rpm minimum, but most people seem to agree that 90 is ideal and it neatly meshes with the generally agreed-upon ideal cadence for running at 180 spm. For city riding, this can be especially problematic since you are stopping and starting more often, and therefore should be changing gears more often as well, and using the full selection available to you (the small chain-ring exists for a reason people!).
Fit can be a bit more tricky to dial down perfectly on your own, but is something that a lot of people also get wrong. The key dimension with regard to knee pain is the distance between the seat and the bottom-bracket. Increasing the distance will increase the knee angle through the entire pedal stroke. The lower the angle of the knee at the top of the stroke, the more likely you are to have problems with your knee. Too high and you will have problems with power through the bottom of the stroke and you will likely also rock your hips or point your toes which will cause you other issues. The simple rule of thumb is to raise your seat as high as you can while still being able to pedal without rocking your hips. Normally you will find that your leg is noticeably, but just slightly, bent at the bottom of the pedal stroke if set in this position. Note that if you raise the seat, the reach of the bike (distance from your seat to the handle bars) will also likely increase with normal bike geometry, so you'll probably want to adjust the height of the handle bars or the seat position to compensate.
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Canard - 03-06-2017
Thanks, as always, Jamincan for your help!
I suspect I've got my seat too high - I'm tall and have very long legs, and I like riding as upright as possible. I didn't spring for a "fitting" at Ziggy's when I bought my bike last spring, but maybe it's something I should look at doing, especially now that I'm riding 100+ km a week.
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - jamincan - 03-06-2017
A fitting can be really good value, but go in knowing what you're looking for in the fitting. Be very specific about any discomfort you have when riding (do your hands/wrists get sore, are you comfortable in the saddle, knee pain or other joint pain etc.) and any goals you may have (ride longer distances, go faster, ride more regularly, be more comfortable etc.). You sound pretty happy with things as they are right now while riding at 100km/week. If you continue at that volume, I doubt you'd find the fit is good value. But if you were commuting to work, you'd be tripling the riding you do in a week and a bike fit may very well offer significant improvement. Just be very clear what your goals are going in to the fitting, any issues you are experiencing right now, and communicate them to the bike fitter. There is no one right fit, so they can't help you if they don't know what you're looking for.
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Section ThirtyOne - 03-20-2017
Went for a ride yesterday and was very surprised to find that the rebuilt Courtland Avenue has not included any bike lanes. Is there going to be a MUT or something that is not yet finished?