Today's Commute

[joe]

How was your commute today?

Meet any cool cyclists today? Were there more cyclists than usual on the roads?

See any weird and wonderful bikes?

How was the weather?

(frequently, discussions of commutes turn into rants against drivers... let's try and avoid that here... we all know that some drivers are inconsiderate of others, and that some cyclists act the same way).

[Todd Tyrtle]

Today it looked like rain and I'm still trying to figure out logistics of commuting in the rain (see this thread if you have some ideas) and so I didn't ride in. And wouldn't you know it? The ride in and back to the hotel would've been perfectly dry.

In general, commuting here in Quebec City has been a dream - there are many bike lanes/paths and traffic on the streets is, for the most part, light, and considerate.

On another note, when it comes to rantworthy commutes versus good commutes, sometimes (and this is going to sound superstitious) my own mood and attitude affects my experience. When I'm in a good mood and have a positive outlook as to what I expect the commute will be like it tends to be decent, and when I'm in a crappy mood or have an attitude about drivers, the jerks seem to come out. See what I mean? Superstitious, but hey, it works for me and really, is a placebo any less effective than a drug if both provide a "cure"?

[joe]

That's a really good point Todd... I find the same thing... If I'm in a good mood or cycle with more of a calm or "zen" mentality, I don't find cars as bothersome.

Alternatively, when I'm grumpy I tend to notice minor transgressions of cars more.

Excellent point!

[joe]

I don't know if it's real or psychological, but this week I've noticed a lot less headwinds... while in the early part of June it seemed I was working against a lot of wind no matter which direction I was headed in.

This week has been great... I've been cruising relaxingly to work and back to home.

Oh yeah, and I'm pretty sure the numbers of cyclists are increasing... :)

[Todd Tyrtle]

I'm a big baby about the rain (at least on the way in to work - on the way back I don't mind getting wet) and it has been insane here. The weather reports are useless. The only thing that works is to watch the sky. A day with 80% chance of rain can be 99% sunny, and a day with 40% chance of rain can have a huge downpour at rush hour. I am finding the best thing to do is to just watch the sky and also the radar to see what's coming.

No matter what the forecast, though, there has been some amount of rain just about every day here for the last month...

[joe]

My commute was not good, unfortunately.

It may be the later sunrise or something else, but I had a disproportionately large amount of cars and trucks passing me way to closely.

Usually, I get 1 or 2 passing me dangerously (with the rest passing me safely - I keep track), but I had 7-8 in a stretch, this morning.

It ended near Gerrard and Pape, where I got annoyed at how close they were passing me and moved out further into the lane (I ride about 2 feet from the curb normally, to avoid the gutters, etc). A big white truck came up behind me and couldn't pass because a car was passing him in the other lane, so he/she honked at me (which in itself is a rare occurrence for me - having only been honked at a couple times in 4 years of daily riding), and then, annoyed at having to wait the 2 seconds while the other car passed him/her, not only passed me too closely, but turned into me once I was behind the cab of the truck. I was therefore nearly run off the road by the giant white side of the rear part of the truck.

Sure, I was mad (and still am, a little), but I have to remember that most (over 95%) of drivers pass me safely, and it would be unfair of me to paint them all with the same brush.

But, the white Toronto District School Board truck with the license plate 476-5JX was being driven by a less-than-stellar example of humanity this morning.

[joe]

Other than the above post, my commute was great. The cool morning air felt nice.

[Tory]

Road into work at Dufferin and Bloor.. It was good.. Nothing particularly interesting.

Rode from there to Ryerson... also a good ride... though, I rode pretty slow as I was tired.

Rode around campus a bit... learning a bit about it, as I am just starting there. I rode at a walking pace on the sidewalks.... Is that cool? It would be controversial for sure. The speed and the way I was riding was more well suited to the sidewalk in my opinion. Riding really slow and looking around isn't ideal on the road. Plus, I was trying to save my cleats.

Went to Dominion, some how attached a 12 can case of coke to my bag, rode with that to my locker.

Went to class, my new proff is a member of the cyclist union! sweeet.

The ride home was a bit eventfull. I was turning left on to college from yonge and, there was a car that was facing me that was also making a left. At the same time, there was a person making a right onto college from the oncomming side aswell. Just as I make start to make my turn, a cabbie rips out from behind the car making a left to get around him... Almost smokes me.

Then, there were a few rude people on the way home to etobicoke. One person startled me so much on the bloor humber bridge I could have fallen if it was much more.

[joe]

I think riding on the sidewalk is fine as long as you're not in the way of any pedestrians, and if the road was busy.

That's cool that your prof is a member of the cyclist union... maybe we can start up a Ryerson Cyclists group here on the community with you 2 as the charter members? :)

[joe]

My Commute today was nice and peaceful, like the other 99% of them, unlike yesterday. :)

I have emailed the TDSB and the proper division of the TPS about yesterday, so we'll see if anything happens. That's the first time I've reported a driver, so that tells you how shaken up I was (and am).


I should really carry around our camera and take some commuting photos.

[Tory]

I'm interested in seeing what happens.

A few times I have made it clear that I am taking photos of license plates at reds just to scare them a bit. heh

[joe]

I haven't heard anything back from the TDSB or TPS, but I'm not really surprised.

My commute this morning was great! Nice and cool. A bit windy from the remnants of Ike, but very nice.

[Jay Morrison]

My commute seems to be getting worse every day. Yesterday, I was almost taken out by some guy who decided at the last minute to crank into a parking lot while sending a text message. No turn signal of course. This morning I was almost side-swiped twice while driving westbound on Shuter. Aside from these daily near-death experiences ... my commute has been very nice lately. The cool mornings are great for the ride - going home though, the wind has been pretty challenging.

Sherbourne is in really rough shape. There is a lot of road maintenance needed there. Especially at the southeast corner. I make a right turn onto Bloor from northbound Sherbourne and the road there is pretty sketchy.

I would also like to point out to other cyclists, that if you are a user of northbound Sherbourne, unless you are making a right turn, there is no reason for you to be stopped there with your foot on the curb. There is a whole bike lane for cyclists continuing north of Bloor.