Cycling in Canada

[niwell]

I feel unsafe even walking along Avenue, much less cycling. I’ve done it a few times and it’s not great. Dufferin is also quite bad and I try and avoid if necessary. I live on Parkside and too many people also treat it like a high speed highway - they removed parking restrictions but most seem to be unaware as I’ve gotten honked at for parking in front of my house. I’ll generally only cycle going south on it since the hill is in your favour. For all of these streets I’d actually support measures to improve the pedestrian experience before bike lanes or whatever - slowing down traffic will automatically make cycling easier.

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by Airboy

Plus I have gotten to use to riding gravel where people wave at you.

This still sounds like an urban legend to me. Or, I should say, rural. Aren't the prairies supposed to have a pseudo-Texan vibe? It sure felt like it whenever I went to the sticks from Winnipeg, which wasn't all that uncommon due to connections with a girlfriend and other friends with roots in rural Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

There are a lot of jackasses in pickup trucks around Stratford who drive like, uh, jackasses. When they aren't tossing empty beer cans out the window. Yeah, I've seen it happen, and the evidence is there for all to see in spring before the grass covers it up. More to the point, I only ride a concession or two on gravel maybe every third ride, seeing as how I'm on a road bike, but I've never encountered anyone slow down as they pass and their tires shoot stones at me, much less wave.

Then again, I'm doing my best to keep upright and avoid loose gravel as I hug the edge of the bare tire track while they drive by at 100 km/h, so maybe they really are waving and I just don't see it?

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by Vorkuta

Had a good close call myself on Tuesday.

I was on this:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@46.1427949,-...xRa3oaxRcrS5ARFtEKAOA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
working my way up to the next cross road (I'd heard the views were great)

Posted speed limit is 90kph and everybody gave me lots of room except one transport that blew by at about 110 less than 24" from me. Rattled me a bit. I don't think I'll be back there for a while.

That...phucking...pisses me off. I followed a transport to Sobey's once when the 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵 driver veered into me to avoid oncoming traffic, forcing me off the road and coming within mm of actually hitting me.

I was furious. So was he. There's a phucking bike path, get off the phucking road, he said. It's not a bike path, it's a sidewalk, I yelled back. But you have no right to "teach me a lesson" in a phucking eighteen-wheeler anyway, I added.

I cooled down on the way to the cop shop and decided to let it go. Wish I'd had a GoPro at the time.

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by Vorkuta

Had a good close call myself on Tuesday.

I was on this:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@46.1427949,-...xRa3oaxRcrS5ARFtEKAOA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
working my way up to the next cross road (I'd heard the views were great)

Posted speed limit is 90kph and everybody gave me lots of room except one transport that blew by at about 110 less than 24" from me. Rattled me a bit. I don't think I'll be back there for a while.

The shoulder does look a little narrow. Better than nothing though. Some of the most popular routes here have zero shoulder and I personally hate that but the options are limited. Waverly Rd. tends to be a very common route for recreational cycling in the summer and while there's a paved shoulder they've painted as a bike lane further down, there's a long stretch that looks like this:

https://goo.gl/maps/WCnxkkxPUtj5NnC99

Its main saving grace is that the speed limit is only 50km/h. Not that people are actually going that slow, but they're going slower than they do where the speed limit is a lot higher such as the road to Peggy's Cove which is pretty harrowing at times.

[rousseau]

From the weather thread, thought I'd take the liberty of posting a response here.

Originally Posted by jamincan

Out on a bike ride again today and it was a bit better than yesterday, but the heat and humidity were still really intense.

West of Waterloo is Mennonite country, and while there is an abundance of excellent food and drink options on Saturdays, it is a desert on Sundays. Where you can find an establishment that is open, it likely doesn't open till noon. We had carefully planned our route to go by a convenience store that should be open, only to find it closed. Fortunately there was a community centre in a park with publicly accessible washrooms so we could fill up on fluids before heading back, otherwise we might have had to resort to Uber Eats.

Mind if I ask your route, out of curiosity?

I think I'm getting old, because I don't do daytime rides when it's hot anymore. Instead, I go out at 9 or 10 pm with my lights on. Gliding through the countryside on your bike under a full moon at 25 degrees is a magical experience. Actually, a winter ride under a full moon at 0 degrees, snowbanks at the sides of the road akin to Moses parting the Red Sea, is to be savoured as well.

I think the moon is the common denominator here.

[jamincan]

This was our route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/37245569

Anna Mae's in Millbank or Country Sisters near Dorking would have been the preferred stops (the plan was originally to go up closer to Conestogo Lake), but they're both closed on Sundays. Wellesley and Milverton have stores open on Sundays, but not until after church, which would have been too late.

New Hamburg/Baden was really the only option in the distance we wanted for a Sunday morning, and it was kind of the wrong direction.

[Nashe]

All those straight-line / concession road grids throw me for a loop in S ON. They actually confuse me a bit when I visit. Cycling must be... different from here, for sure.

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by jamincan

This was our route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/37245569

Looks like a nice ride.

Originally Posted by jamincan

Anna Mae's in Millbank or Country Sisters near Dorking would have been the preferred stops (the plan was originally to go up closer to Conestogo Lake), but they're both closed on Sundays.

Not surprised at all by this, and I think I even knew that.

Originally Posted by jamincan

Wellesley and Milverton have stores open on Sundays, but not until after church, which would have been too late.

This, though, I did not know. Looks like your route really did circumvent any available retail establishments.

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by Vorkuta

All those straight-line / concession road grids throw me for a loop in S ON. They actually confuse me a bit when I visit. Cycling must be... different from here, for sure.

The grid thing is a sore point for cyclists here, for sure. It's bland, and we look at the road spaghetti in the northeastern US with envy. My brother-in-law lives and rides in and around Ithaca, NY. The hills, scenery and multitude routes there are to die for.

The only good thing about the long, straight roads around Stratford where I am is that they're quiet. Cycling around here is a meditational exercise. Which may not be exciting, but it's restorative in its own right.

[urbandreamer]

^I agree I miss biking on rural routes in the winter, especially at night. Used to do this as a teenager, snow piled high. I also went down various frozen creek/river beds (by day.)

In Wellesley I like Pym's Village Market - pick up some apple butter farmer's sausage so good. They're open Sundays. Anna Mae's has always been closed Sundays, as is Zehr's Country Market. On drives (or bike rides), I rely on Foodland - they're always open. Try St Jacobs/Elmira/Floradale/Yatton/Wallenstein/Hawkesville/Heidelberg route next time.

[Airboy]

Originally Posted by rousseau

From the weather thread, thought I'd take the liberty of posting a response here.


Mind if I ask your route, out of curiosity?

I think I'm getting old, because I don't do daytime rides when it's hot anymore. Instead, I go out at 9 or 10 pm with my lights on. Gliding through the countryside on your bike under a full moon at 25 degrees is a magical experience. Actually, a winter ride under a full moon at 0 degrees, snowbanks at the sides of the road akin to Moses parting the Red Sea, is to be savoured as well.

I think the moon is the common denominator here.

My riding group decided to go out early on hot days. Try to be done by 11 or 12 am. Some rides would start at 7 or 8 am. depending if we were doing 60 or 100 kms. The week day rides we start at 6 am so we can get a 90 min ride in before we all start work. that is usually 35-40 kms.

Love winter riding especially at night. the tunnel effect is quite something. Plus you don't need much illumination. I use maybe 500 lumis.

I think the night rides here are usually at about -20C.

[Airboy]

Originally Posted by Vorkuta

All those straight-line / concession road grids throw me for a loop in S ON. They actually confuse me a bit when I visit. Cycling must be... different from here, for sure.

The grid is powerful stuff out west as well. 1 - 2 mile sections of straight road. we tended to zig zag to break it up. however i gravel ride has a 20km straight section.
Road rides are tougher to map out since some municipalities only pave major roads.
And when the wind blows real hard we tend to hit the River valley trails. in 100km you can do about 1000meters of climbing if you plan right.

There is also some pretty good rides along the front range, I missed out on this one this year but have done some others further north.
https://thegravelexperience.com/

most riders I know have done the road or gravel route in and around Drumheller. Both are spectacular.

[Airboy]

Originally Posted by jamincan

This was our route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/37245569

Anna Mae's in Millbank or Country Sisters near Dorking would have been the preferred stops (the plan was originally to go up closer to Conestogo Lake), but they're both closed on Sundays. Wellesley and Milverton have stores open on Sundays, but not until after church, which would have been too late.

New Hamburg/Baden was really the only option in the distance we wanted for a Sunday morning, and it was kind of the wrong direction.

That looks like a nice rolly ride.

[urbandreamer]

And that reminds me: the owners of Country Sisters in Dorking died of Covid19 a few months ago. Is it still open?

[jamincan]

Originally Posted by urbandreamer

And that reminds me: the owners of Country Sisters in Dorking died of Covid19 a few months ago. Is it still open?

I think it was originally owned by three sisters and is now being run by the remaining two. Either way, it's definitely open.

[jamincan]

Originally Posted by Airboy

That looks like a nice rolly ride.

I guess rolly would be somewhat accurate, though it's pretty muted. Keep in mind the scale is a bit smaller than it would be out in Alberta.

I'd say the riding around here is actually pretty solid. It's not outstanding, but I love how easy it is to get onto quiet country roads from the city. Dufferin County, further to the east, is actually legitimately spectacular if you're ever in the area.

[Airboy]

Originally Posted by jamincan

I guess rolly would be somewhat accurate, though it's pretty muted. Keep in mind the scale is a bit smaller than it would be out in Alberta.

I'd say the riding around here is actually pretty solid. It's not outstanding, but I love how easy it is to get onto quiet country roads from the city. Dufferin County, further to the east, is actually legitimately spectacular if you're ever in the area.

That was one of the things I hated about living in TO, You could not get away from people and I would have to dry a few hours to find some quiet. (Jordan Valley was one of my mains). Here I grab my bike an 5 minutes I am on a trail, country road (Paved or Gravel).

[Marshal]

Have great memories of riding the grid surrounding Ottawa. Never found it boring: the pavement was good, traffic low, and it was easy to settle into a groove.

Also big memories of the southern Saskatchewan grid, paved and gravel (long before fat tired options), always rolling from rise to rise. The 2nd day (going west) in the province was EPIC. Riding west of Weyburn into the wind and seeming to always be climbing, we got to the top of a rise and the wind was so strong that I could stand on my pedal and not be able to get it to go down . . . literally blown to a stop. We had to backtrack to Weyburn and take the diagonal towards Moose Jaw. It was the only retreat across the country.

That trip included many passes by vehicles going way too fast and coming way too close. A constant threat which had me always looking in my little rear-view mirror. I basically stopped road riding once I began living in Vancouver. There is no road in the Lower Mainland that doesn't have a ton of traffic, mostly moving fast. So, after arrival: no cycling for a few years until I discovered mountain biking.

[Airboy]

Originally Posted by Marshal

Have great memories of riding the grid surrounding Ottawa. Never found it boring: the pavement was good, traffic low, and it was easy to settle into a groove.

Also big memories of the southern Saskatchewan grid, paved and gravel (long before fat tired options), always rolling from rise to rise. The 2nd day (going west) in the province was EPIC. Riding west of Weyburn into the wind and seeming to always be climbing, we got to the top of a rise and the wind was so strong that I could stand on my pedal and not be able to get it to go down . . . literally blown to a stop. We had to backtrack to Weyburn and take the diagonal towards Moose Jaw. It was the only retreat across the country.

That trip included many passes by vehicles going way too fast and coming way too close. A constant threat which had me always looking in my little rear-view mirror. I basically stopped road riding once I began living in Vancouver. There is no road in the Lower Mainland that doesn't have a ton of traffic, mostly moving fast. So, after arrival: no cycling for a few years until I discovered mountain biking.

Wind "the prairies hills". when you go down a 10% grade and you have to pedal hard.

I do like just getting out on a country road and getting lost. Mentally and physically some days. The group I ride with have a tendency to talk a lot in the first hour , then we all get quiet and tune into ourselves for an hour or 2 then near the end we starts chatting again. You don't realise how much of a mental health assist this has become.

Talking with another rider yesterday. She commented about how superior you feel when passing MTBs on the trails while riding your cross or gravel bike. Yup you do feel that you are the better rider.

[Airboy]

The safe passing bylaw goes to Edmonton city council Sept 1. Looks and sounds like it will pass. Now we just need to get a provincial law in place.