On rantings

It had been my intention to rant about the horrendous drivers in this city. I was going to cite specific examples of just how bad drivers in Toronto really are. I even started writing, I managed to get a couple examples down then I went for a ride and got a couple more, then another ride and a few more, and so on. The fact is I just cannot stop finding examples of how idiotic some people are. Drivers need to come to terms with a few very serious points:

• I have as as much right to the road as any car driver has. As I have pointed out in more than one post, the Highway Traffic Act is very clear, cyclists are vehicles and as such are supposed to fill an entire lane of road.


• I am just as, if not faster, on a bike than a car is on a regular arterial downtown road. Honest to god, I lost count of how many cars I passed - that never caught up with me on Queen Street, as I rode home from work on Sunday afternoon (I had to do some paper work at the office).


• I am not cocooned in one or two tons of Detroit (or Tokyo) steel, if I hit a car, the car might get scratched, the driver will be unharmed. If a car hits me, I will be lucky if I don't get killed.


• Every time someone buys gas they are helping to justify the killing of innocent Iraqis and they are sponsoring Al Queda's war on America. Like any good geopolitics this one is complicated, and in two parts. Consider Bush Jr second war in Iraq to be an oil war. If the need for oil was not so great would there be a need to keep 14 permanent military bases in Iraq, as well as the occupation of Baghdad? In addition by consuming gas, we consume oil, thus creating demand, as demand goes up, price goes up - simple supply and demand economics. Much new demand for oil is being met by the elephant fields in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Kuwait. Much of the royalties paid to these oil kleptocracies are turned over - by high level leaders of these countires - to Al Queda. (This is not news, its well known that Bin Laden's biggest supports are big time muckers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.) Thus everytime we use oil we are helping to fund the guys who attacked the World Trade Centre on Tuesday September 11, 2001.

Now I am not saying everyone should leave their car at the side of the road and never drive again. Rather, what I am saying is, if you need to drive, go ahead, but consider, do you really need to? Can you car pool? Take public transit? Walk? Skate? Ride a bike? Get an electic bike? Drive a sub compact? I'm not even saying don't own a car, from time to time, everybody needs to drive somewhere, saddly our cities, in North America, were designed almost from day one, for cars, not people. But ask yourself as you reach for the car keys, do I really really need to drive where I am going? And before you answer yes, ask yourself a second time, is riding or the bus not an option? And if the answer is still yes, please remember there are an awful lot of people like me who aren't driving and we have cars, so if you are obnoxiuous to us, why should we be any different when you smarten up and your on the bike and I'm driving to the supermarket?

In other unrelated news, Sunday I went for an amazing group ride with the Beaches Cycling Club. Here is the route:

We started as a group of about 30 or so in light rain that was predicted to last all day. As we got on to Don Mills from Eglington we started doing an Echlon drill just like at Scooters, but unlike scooters instead of doing laps around a track we did a lap around Toronto! (Oddly I managed to be the lead cyclist just as we hit a red light, the first time I was lead was at around Finch - red light, then again around steels - red light, then again around Highway 7.) Somewhere around York Mills the pack split in half, not wanting to be left behind I made sure to stay with the lead, not knowing there were a good 15 or 20 people behind me in the slow pack.

North of 16 Leslie became a two lane road and we stopped doing Echlon and started just routine pack riding in a single file. I did not really pay attention, I just tried to keep up with the leaders so when the decision was made to go on to New Market and do the 100km loop or turn at Stoufville and I saw who was doing the 100k I figured I better turn or I'd get dropped like third period French. (As it turned out the slow group was quite a distance behind and had I gone for the 100k I very like would have ended up riding by myself all the way home.) Instead I landed with a group who were very comperable ability to myself which was a very good thing, we all pushed each other harder and harder. Ultimately we did that 75k ride in about 2 hours, which means, of course, an average speed of about 37~38km/h. Considering we had red lights, and some pretty brutal hills it was an altogeather very satisfatory ride for me. My only complaint is I can't go this Sunday becuase its Father's day and Lesley and I promised my parents we would have father's day brunch with them. I really, really, love riding!