Cycling in Waterloo Region

[Canard]

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.