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Where I am most likely to do this (and have done it in the past) is King St in downtown. The street is already moving quite slowly, and it makes no sense for me and my partner to ride single file while taking the entire lane to each of ourselves.
(05-26-2016, 07:29 PM)tomh009 Wrote: So what does the HTA say on this topic? Slower traffic must move to the right (ie move over into a single file) or not?
Yes, that is correct. Slower traffic (including bikes) must move over when possible. Same as tractors and buggies.
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One of my coworkers, who is a hardcore cyclist, mentioned this site for me to help me get around the Region. It is fantastic!
http://opencyclemap.org/
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I'm a big fan of bbbike.org which also uses OpenStreetMap data for mapping and routing.
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I really like the Strava Global Heatmap. It's not a routing tool, per se; instead it takes the rides people have uploaded to Strava over the previous year (which is a lot, though probably more geared toward serious riders/runners) and that plots a heatmap based on the routes that see the most travel. This typically correlates with the best biking or running routes. I use it in conjunction with plotaroute.com (which conveniently will plot out elevation charts of the given route) to plan out my rides or runs.
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What is Strava? I saw something about it on Twitter and assumed it was a performance enhancing drug. 
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Strava has an app that you put on your phone and it records your ride via GPS and then you can post it and there are lots of people using it so you can compare speed and whatnot with other riders on popular segments. You can also upload files from garmin and other gps devices too. I don't use strava to plan routes but I think it has that feature on the website now. It's popular among roadies for analyzing performance and comparing oneself to other riders in the area. The heatmap is wicked if you're riding out of town and looking for popular areas to ride; assuming the popular routes are nicer/safer/etc.
I use ridewithgps.com to plan routes, it uses google's map system instead of opemaps but I like the interface and have years worth of data there. I can also upload GPS files to that site as well as manually draw a ride and then record that if you wanted to keep track of distances and stuff... I have a garmin now to record rides and it works as a speedometer too. Old ones are pretty cheap but a smart phone works just as well for that kind of stuff.
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05-27-2016, 12:47 PM
(This post was last modified: 05-27-2016, 07:24 PM by Canard.)
Why is it called "Heat map"? That makes me think of thermal imaging.
I'll have to check this out! I'm always curious when riding now on the urban trails if I'm going slower or faster than average.
Edit - OMG this is so cool. My coworker just showed me how it all works. I can't wait to get home and go for a ride!!
Edit 2 - Just did my first ride with it! I am so unbelievably addicted!!
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I think a heat map is just a general term for a two-dimensional colour representation of some sort of data, in this case, the frequency of Strava users riding on a given route.
Strava kind of positions itself as a social network for runners and cyclists, but it also has some very useful analytical tools. For people who are really data-oriented, there is a great Chrome plugin that works with Strava to provide even more options to dissect your runs and rides - Stravistix.
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I hope that Waterloo accepts that this is only one piece of data. As the article above note, there are potentially large segments of the bike riding population that would be absent, not the least of which would be school children under the age of 18 who, while some may have smart phones, they likely aren't using this. I doubt that anyone in my family would be counted since many don't have smart phones and those that do don't always ride with them. Data is nice, but it is important to remember that it only tells part of the picture.
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I don't think anyone was suggesting the Region is using Strava for bike data, we were just talking about biking apps.
I've really been enjoying using Strava the past week or two, although the interface is confusing and I don't understand most of the symbols or little trophies and all that. Sometimes a little black bar comes up that starts to fill in and all I can figure is its some kind of "frequent route" that its pulled from the global pool. The help file isn't very.  I wish there was a "Getting Started" type thing that assumed you knew nothing about what it was.
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The City of Waterloo has stated they're using Strava for bike data and encouraged riders on Twitter to use the app. Good article from Waterloons (aka zanate) on the caveats of this approach: http://waterloons.blogspot.ca/2016/05/st...mbers.html
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That was a really nice write-up. nms’ comment was right on the mark, too: you are leaving our certain populations when you rely on only one type of data. Strava specifically doesn’t track children, for good reasons, so an overreliance on its data will mean children are left out. People unable to afford smart phones, or people uncomfortable with having their geographic location tracked, will be left out.
But zanate’s point about existing cyclists not behaving very much like potential new cyclists is most important. Our generally poor bicycling infrastructure means that most cyclists (I feel very confident saying “most” here) are young and male. Data about cyclists’ habits are data about that group. We need information about other groups, who we want to start cycling. That will be qualitative information rather than data.
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Quote:most cyclists (I feel very confident saying “most” here) are young and male
I was about to emit some anecdata to refute and then stopped myself.
Do we have any actual data about who rides and who doesn't? And where? And why?
I'm kinda tempted to start counting the number and apparent gender of cyclists I see (and when and where I see them) as I cycle to and from work. I worry that I see far more people using the spur line trail north of and heading north on the only loop counter I've seen for the trail (just SE of Roger st, or about here), so that it must undercount.
(( anecdotally, I liked the spur line trail better in the Winter when no one else was using it. Curse you, successful transportation mechanism for allowing others to use what had previously been my semi-private domain! ))
I had a thought this morning that the continuing and evolving construction (paired with the excellent weather) has resulted in an explosion of cyclists in the cities. I have no data to support this, but it pleases me to think that some of these recent cyclists were previously drivers and may continue being cyclists when construction dies down.
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My observations are that there are more female riders on the trails than on streets, but that males are the majority on both. I think that males are a pretty sizable majority on-street. I haven’t seen data to answer your questions; it would be interesting.
That’s a silly place to put a counter. I guess it’s about halfway along the Spur Line, but a lot of people will get on the trail from Moore or Union.
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06-03-2016, 10:04 PM
(This post was last modified: 06-03-2016, 10:05 PM by jamincan.)
(06-03-2016, 12:52 PM)Canard Wrote: I don't think anyone was suggesting the Region is using Strava for bike data, we were just talking about biking apps.
I've really been enjoying using Strava the past week or two, although the interface is confusing and I don't understand most of the symbols or little trophies and all that. Sometimes a little black bar comes up that starts to fill in and all I can figure is its some kind of "frequent route" that its pulled from the global pool. The help file isn't very. I wish there was a "Getting Started" type thing that assumed you knew nothing about what it was.
Strava is really geared toward athletic cyclists (and runners) for lack of a better term, as opposed to leisure cyclists. The trophies mark your performance on a particular segment. A segment is simply a stretch of road or trail that you might be interested in tracking performance on. It might be a particular hill, or a long stretch of road with no lights or stop signs where you can really just pour on the gas and go. It tracks your individual performance from ride to ride (the medals), but also your performance against other cyclists. If you get a gold crown, it means you have the KOM (King of the Mountain) for that segment. Basically it's gamification of biking, as if it weren't fun enough on it's own. 
Strava's explanation: https://support.strava.com/hc/en-us/arti...s-Glossary
I don't use the app (Strava syncs with my watch), but most likely the black bar is related to the segments mentioned above. Perhaps showing you how much of the segment you've completed?
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