Cycling in Waterloo Region

[clasher]

Fat bike is better. Lower air pressure = better traction.

As for the derailleur; it can get frozen in place. I've had it before where I'm effectively riding single-speed and stuck in my pedals. Single-speed solves this problem completely and can be a great choice for your about-town beater. You might want to adjust your derailleurs if you were pulling on them like that as you might have stretched your derailleur cable which would affect your shifting.

Single speed until the pawls freeze and you're just spinning and not moving forward. Best to run fixed gear for ultimate reliability

[chutten]

Is there a law against touching cars? Damaging/defacing them would be vandalism, certainly... but I can't think of a statute we'd be falling afoul of for touching, tapping, leaning on... even rearranging the wing mirrors or beetling the windshield wipers.

[danbrotherston]

Is there a law against touching cars? Damaging/defacing them would be vandalism, certainly...  but I can't think of a statute we'd be falling afoul of for touching, tapping, leaning on... even rearranging the wing mirrors or beetling the windshield wipers.

There's a fine line, the officers didn't continue to discuss that I folded in the mirror, only asked about it, but any more, and officers have a lot of discretion, I still think you'd spend the night in a holding cell, even if you might eventually beat the charge in court.  Certainly stickers I think would qualify as vandalism.

And of course, endangering someone by blocking a bike lanes pales in comparison to the crime of defacing someone's car.

</bitter>

[Spokes]

The other problem I'm having which is new is with my shifters. I have 3x8, usually 2x4 is where I ride, but yesterday on the way home I couldn't shift out of 2 at all, and on the back end, I could move maybe from x4 down to x2, but if I went to x1 or tried to go to x5-8, the controls would advance the red flag on my shimano shifter to the right number, but I would feel a lot of excessive tension, and never actually get a "click", which was new and alarming. In the basement at home, I could move through all rear gears, but the front didn't want to reach the 1 or 3 extents, so the chain could be heard rubbing against the guide. I'd brushed off all snow from all the chain, toothed components, shifters, exposed cabling, etc.

If I'm understanding you correctly, I'd put money on it being on the spring inside the derailleur having ice built up on it

[Viewfromthe42]

The other problem I'm having which is new is with my shifters. I have 3x8, usually 2x4 is where I ride, but yesterday on the way home I couldn't shift out of 2 at all, and on the back end, I could move maybe from x4 down to x2, but if I went to x1 or tried to go to x5-8, the controls would advance the red flag on my shimano shifter to the right number, but I would feel a lot of excessive tension, and never actually get a "click", which was new and alarming. In the basement at home, I could move through all rear gears, but the front didn't want to reach the 1 or 3 extents, so the chain could be heard rubbing against the guide. I'd brushed off all snow from all the chain, toothed components, shifters, exposed cabling, etc.

If I'm understanding you correctly, I'd put money on it being on the spring inside the derailleur having ice built up on it

That would be interesting, as I'm only outside with my bike for the 12-15min I commute. Neither storage space is hot, but both are comfortably well above freezing and snow melts.

[jamincan]

It can also be possible that it has gotten jammed up with dirt/dust.

[Coke6pk]

I'm not aware of any rules against touching a car.... you open yourself to liability issues should the car owner claim damage.

Its why by-law officers "fold" the ticket into a U shape, then slide across the windshield under the wipers as opposed to lifting the wipers. You learn this quickly when the car owner sees you lift the wiper arm and then promptly puts in a complaint that the wiper blade is damaged, the motor doesn't work anymore, etc. Not worth the aggravation.

Coke

[Spokes]

Cycling in a car-centred city

Cycling in Waterloo Region is a mixed bag — a chance to relax and get fit, and a way to get stressed and put yourself in danger, according to a new academic study that focused on the region.

The study, "Whose Lane Is It Anyway? The Experience of Cycling in a Mid-Sized City," was published in the journal "Leisure Sciences" last week by Rebecca Mayers, a PhD candidate at the University of British Columbia, and Troy Glover, a professor of recreation and leisure studies at the University of Waterloo.

Mayers, who was living in Waterloo when she did the research for the paper, said she was keen to study the experience of cyclists in a medium-sized city.
...
"Mid-sized cities aren't studied a lot in the literature," Mayers said in an interview. "It's usually Toronto or Vancouver or Copenhagen."

She also thought it would be useful to study the perspective of cyclists in a "car-centred city," where the vast majority of trips taken are by car.

Mayers interviewed 16 cyclists, aged 25 to 57, seven of whom were women. Unlike statistical research that measures specific data, Mayers' qualitative research aims to flesh out cyclists' actual experiences using cycling infrastructure.

https://www.therecord.com/news-story/915...tred-city/

[danbrotherston]

Cycling in a car-centred city

Cycling in Waterloo Region is a mixed bag — a chance to relax and get fit, and a way to get stressed and put yourself in danger, according to a new academic study that focused on the region.

The study, "Whose Lane Is It Anyway? The Experience of Cycling in a Mid-Sized City," was published in the journal "Leisure Sciences" last week by Rebecca Mayers, a PhD candidate at the University of British Columbia, and Troy Glover, a professor of recreation and leisure studies at the University of Waterloo.

Mayers, who was living in Waterloo when she did the research for the paper, said she was keen to study the experience of cyclists in a medium-sized city.
...
"Mid-sized cities aren't studied a lot in the literature," Mayers said in an interview. "It's usually Toronto or Vancouver or Copenhagen."

She also thought it would be useful to study the perspective of cyclists in a "car-centred city," where the vast majority of trips taken are by car.

Mayers interviewed 16 cyclists, aged 25 to 57, seven of whom were women. Unlike statistical research that measures specific data, Mayers' qualitative research aims to flesh out cyclists' actual experiences using cycling infrastructure.

https://www.therecord.com/news-story/915...tred-city/

It's a good article.

The key line for me: "Participants rated better cycling infrastructure higher than cycling education or better enforcement on the roads."

Cyclists know how to make the roads safer.

What is the region doing?  Education of course.

[KevinL]

[ijmorlan]

ICYMI:

This is a huge improvement. Will have to see the detailed design to be sure, of course, but very promising.

I like the use of the same circular blue signs as in the park to mark off pedestrian vs. bicycle lanes.

[Canard]

I'm not a fan of them, in their current embodiment. They used the text "LEFT" and "RIGHT" instead of directional arrows.

The flex boards will be a nice touch, but I'm surprised if the "BIA" is so against even having different colour of the pavement for demarkation could somehow be okay with big ugly bollards sticking up.

(why does the "BIA" have so much pull with what decisions the city makes? Can't the city just do what they feel is appropriate?)

[danbrotherston]

I'm not a fan of them, in their current embodiment.  They used the text "LEFT" and "RIGHT" instead of directional arrows.

The flex boards will be a nice touch, but I'm surprised if the "BIA" is so against even having different colour of the pavement for demarkation could somehow be okay with big ugly bollards sticking up.

(why does the "BIA" have so much pull with what decisions the city makes?  Can't the city just do what they feel is appropriate?)

I am surprised to hear flex bollards, they were originally recommending metal bollards.  I don't understand the change.

I'm not going to fight it, but it seems like yet another concession to cars.  The bollards are really only flex in the face of a car, if you hit them on a bike, you're still going to have a bad day.

[Canard]

I’d far rather clip a flex bollard by far on a bike than a concrete or steel pole. A rigid bollard will break bones or cause death, as you’ve pointed out before with the deaths caused by gates on trails. Flex bollards may cause you to fall if you clip one, but that’s it. You should be riding slowly on those trails anyway, so a tumble will result in minor injuries only. Also, a rigid bollard will not withistand the impact of a car either. It will also not give if you clip it with your handlebars, so it will most certainly cause you to bail. If it’s a flex bollard, you clip it and just keep on going.

I think we could all agree the best solution from the onset would have been a raised curb separation.

[panamaniac]