Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Squeaky Wheels...

Top of the evening everyone...

As you all know, I like to ride my bicycle.  Between the lousy weather and my shoulder, I have not really been out since early December.  It is nice to be back out.  The shoulder is by no means fully healed, but you would not know that from my daily living.

Many of the riders in Toronto give cyclists everywhere a bad name.  I have seen and heard of many who flaunt the rules of traffic, who communicate with drivers using digital communication (the middle digit, to be precise), and who otherwise cause mayhem and discontent whenever and wherever they ride.

It was with the image of those riders in mind that I decided anyway to attend the annual meeting of the city cyclists' union.  I am glad I went, and not just because of the wonderful beer that I had (Flying Monkeys Smashbomb IPA).  It is a reminder not to pre-judge a situation.  The people there were an eclectic bunch of highly educated and accomplished folks.  Amongst many others, there was the person who started Ticketmaster in Canada.  There was an MPP (also a member of the union - does not own a car).  People running for the executive committee included an environmental lawyer as well as a graduate from the London School of Economics.  The folks there were not the squeaky wheels who give us a bad name.

It is my hope and goal to get two things accomplished out here.

1.  Construct a safe north-south route from out here to the downtown core

      I have tried to ride south during rush hour several times.  It is scary.  There is no room to maneuver.  The potholes are terrible.  Going under the 401 is dangerous.

2.  Build a bridge over the reservoir in G. Ross Lord Park

      Going through the park is not safe.  There are blind spots.  The walking paths are well used.  Many of the walkers do not have great hearing, great reflexes, or great balance.  I do not like to ride in there.  There is another path that goes to the dam at Wilmington (SW corner of the park).  The path that goes through the park is on the other side of the reservoir, maybe 150 metres away.  A bridge there would make the east-west route complete, and make the part safer for all.

Spring may finally be here.  Enjoy the nicer weather.  It may yet get warm.

Good night all.

R/SCG

1 comment:

  1. Ellen Kruger-BloomApril 3, 2014 at 9:10 PM

    Yeah you're back to biking and blogging, that's great!!

    ReplyDelete