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

Encounters with Rantwick, episode five: Sir John A MacDonald!

As you may be aware, "Encounters with Rantwick" is a series of videos featuring the people and things I come across in my daily travels on my bike. Since most of my visitors come from the US, you may not be aware that today is Canada Day! Celebrated on July 1, Canada Day commemorates the enactment of the British North America Act in 1867, which saw four provinces unite to become the country known as Canada. Most Canadians simply refer to it as Confederation or Canada's Birthday, and it is the holiday equivalent to an American's 4th of July.

How fitting is it, then, that on Monday June 29, just in time to get the video ready, I encountered none other than Sir John A MacDonald on the bike path!

Sir John A was Canada's first Prime Minister, the man who first governed our newly minted country after confederation.

One thing that most Americans seem to have in abundance is a sense of patriotism that is very visible and very powerful. Canadians love their country every bit as much, but might seem to show it a little less. Never has a cliche applied so well as when I say that when it comes to Canadian patriotism, still waters run deep. As such, I feel a little weird wearing my patriotism on my sleeve like this, but it feels really good too. In the spirit of putting my patriotism "out there", I am pleased to present the following video montage, which includes my bike path meeting with Sir John A MacDonald!

Although I often joke, I'm not kidding now. I love this country, and I wouldn't trade living in it for anything. Happy Birthday, Canada!

R A N T W I C K