The Icing on the Icing on the Cake (or suitable equivalent)!

Like all cyclists, I have a deep love of fresh, smooth asphalt. In terms of public investment, I personally value it above all the bike infra in the world. I am in a minority on that one, but that's OK. I like bike infra too. This post is about both.

I have not been riding as much as I would like, being limited by several factors. As such I had not ridden as far as I could go on the Thames Valley Parkway (an extensive and wonderful London Ontario Multi Use Pathway) in quite some time. I knew they City was working on the South branch, but wow, is it ever nice now!

There is beautiful smooth path all the way from Adelaide St to Meadowlily bridge, a ten minute ride for a slowpoke like me. This smoothness replaces all kinds of bumps and problems with many joyjoys. This, my friends, represents the Cake referred to in my title.

If you take the paved surface of the South branch of the TVP as far as you can, you come to a dead end. This dead end has had a sign in place for YEARS promising an extension that would overcome the obstacle of a rail line and connect it to the paths of Kiwanis Park in the east end of the city. It was beginning to look like it would never happen, but now there are new signs and honest to god shovels in the ground! Icing.

When I leave the dead end path and make my way to work on the streets, there was one bit of Hale Street that was in terrible repair. Again, it was that way for years. Now it has been repaired; nothing but sweet smooth asphalt in place of that ugliness. Icing on my Icing! Or, since I have no picture, let's revise that to Breadcrumbs on Juice! 

You may recall that this is not the first time I have reported

an Embarrassment of Riches...

Thank you, oh multiple layers of government that contributed to the best ride to work in a long while! Thank you, London planners who sometimes come through big time! Cake! Icing! Icing! (Or, if you like, Cake! Breadcrumbs! Juice! Hurrah!)

Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K

Ode to Smooth Pavement

In these times of government stimulus money, good things can actually happen, like new smooth pavement. These streets had been overdue for re-surfacing, and it seems to me that if I'm going to piss and moan about bad pavement, it is only fair that I also celebrate the good stuff.

So, without further adieu:

With most new paving jobs in London, bike lanes are being added. I don't know if they added width or just paint in this case. On this stretch of road I could take 'em or leave 'em. I ride in pretty much the same spot I would without the lines, and most cars seem to behave about the same.

Keep it Smooth this Weekend,

R A N T W I C K

All I Want is Smooth Pavement

These pictures were taken on the north end of Wortley Road, between Victor and Askin. This is a tricky area for cyclists that I plan to look at later with a video discussing the difficulties associated with this 2 lane stretch of road. For now though, I want to talk about pavement.

  There is much discussion of bicycle infrastructure out there these days. Lots of people are supportive of separate bicycle facilities, whether they be painted bike lanes or elaborate divided lane systems with their own signal lights, etc.

There are other cyclists who would rather just be treated fairly under the law and by motorists when they ride a bicycle just as they would a motorcycle; they are typically referred to as vehicular cyclists. Although I'm not a 100% VC kind of rider, I like that approach better.

If the bicycle advocacy role were mine alone to play, I would ask for just one thing. Smoother pavement. If governments and city planners could provide me with smooth pavement, or even substantially better pavement, I would be content. If a road seems too narrow to be safely passed on, so be it. I will adjust my lane position. Just give me smooth pavement. If downtown traffic flow is confusing, pedestrians are frequently in my way or parking layout creates lots of door zones, that's OK. I will deal. Just give me smooth pavement. If there aren't many good places for me to lock up my bike, that's alright. I'll find a spot somewhere. Just give me smooth pavement. If you want to ticket me for riding through a stop sign, that's fine, just remember to also ticket sidewalk riders, and, of course, give me smooth pavement. If you want to legislate me into wearing a helmet, go for it, I already wear one anyway. Just give me smooth pavement. I could go on forever, but I think you get my drift.

Bike lanes, bike lockers, sharrows, great green stripes,

helmet laws, bike racks on buses, sidepaths, bike monuments, big new bike racks,

bike blogs, 3' passing laws, bike boxes,

Other people care about these things. I'm not saying they shouldn't; some of these things are good ideas. All I'm saying is that if it were up to me, I would trade them all for smooth streets. Just give me smooth pavement, and I'll be happy to do the rest regarding my safety and access.

Hang on a second! I wouldn't trade "bike blogs"! That was a mistake, I like them too much! Give me bike blogs! And smooth pavement.

R A N T W I C K

Postscript: If you're riding that bit of Wortley Road, please note that if the crummy road and the crazy cars fail to take you out, there's still the banana peel...

click to enlarge