On Cycling (in Fairmont)
As the Summer progresses or as I see more, I see more cyclists wearing helmets. I also see more parked bicycles locked up. On one of my first outings I recall getting some strange ("What's he doing that for?") looks from a couple kids who just set their bikes in a rack and left them at that. Of course they also gave me looks for a couple other ( Read more... )
I also try to keep separate from the cars by three feet or so, but some of the roads are narrow that I can't. (The common saying is that much of Winnipeg isn't cycle-friendly, part of me agrees). And, after my cycling accident (where I still have the scar on my chin to remind me of), I"m leery about as getting as far over as possible to allow distance between me and the cars, at least on Mission Street. (I'm almost three feet from the edge of the road, actually, almost in the middle of the lane!) Thankfully, cars (and the big industrial trucks, Mission is in an industrial area) usually make a wide berth around me when I do so, usually going in the opposite lane (one of the few streets where cars do that and don't mind. Maybe most cyclists ride in the middle of the lane due to the hazardous shoulder, I was just one of the few stupid enough to do it *after* an accident)
I'm flabbergasted to hear about the "rolling stop sign rule" for bikes! I admit that I often use this perogative (especially when it's 5:30 in the am and I'm on my way to work, traffic is *dead* and I feel I can get away with it) - every time I do it though I know it's illegal. Even I don't want any law like that to be enacted here, for one it's also a slippery slope, first bikes, then they see no harm in cars doing it if traffic conditions allow. I hope that you fight that law and it goes down.
As I said above, Winnipeg is, and isn't a cyclable town. I know how to get from point A to point B by taking as few major roads as possible (many cyclists still take the major roads, then complain). There's often talk that we need more bikeways, but nothing is done (even under previous mayor, Glen Murray, who was a cycling enthusiast himself and was often known for taking his bike, not many (or none) new bike paths were made. There's talk about combining bike/walkig paths with the proposed Rapid Transit system, but Rapid Transit is a perpetual "talk" issue in this city - the key thing to remember about Winnipeg politics is that everyone complains that we should get innovate and change things, but no one wants change. So we have a lot of pie int he sky ideas (some good, some bad), but no one wants to change things the way they are. Yes, it's aggrivating, but after a while the apathy kicks in.
I like the idea of you making a map - we have maps of our bike paths here (I think it's a little out of date, and I've written to the people who make one of our more popular street atlases to include bike paths on it, but so far nothing), but that's mainly because I"m a cartophile and would use the flimsiest excuse to make a map myself - hell, I'd offer to do it for you gladly if I knew Fairmont well enough!
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I ought to ask the chamber of commerce if there is such a map.
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