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Cycling in Waterloo Region
The took the sand out of the ones between Bridgeport and Princess (or maybe it was Princess and Dupont) on the west side. I am secretly hoping someone tries to park there before the new concrete is poured.
Everyone move to the back of the bus and we all get home faster.
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(05-14-2018, 08:15 PM)Pheidippides Wrote: The took the sand out of the ones between Bridgeport and Princess (or maybe it was Princess and Dupont) on the west side. I am secretly hoping someone tries to park there before the new concrete is poured.

Or while it’s setting! Big Grin
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I tried out the Glasgow detour for the IHT tonight.

It is horrible.

I'm just confident enough of a rider that I'm fine fine with it and just kind of roll my eyes and go "okay, here we go..." but it's absolute garbage that they're proposing that the general public that use a completely segregated trail should mix into 4-lane traffic at 60+ km/h.

The best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! part: When you're heading NB, and detour off of the IHT just after the bridge and head over to Glasgow... when you get to Glasgow...

...they made their sign backward. So they put it on the West side of the post so the arrow would face North, which you don't see as you approach from the East. If you didn't know the Detour was on Glasgow, you'd just blindly keep going ahead forever.

I cannot even.
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So, I had an unpleasant experience on my bike ride home from my office in Cambridge...

I was coming North/East on Cedar, from Charles. I passed King and stopped behind about 4 cars at the light at Weber.

The light went green, and our little train proceeded through. All of the cars in front of me turned left onto Lancaster, as did I. EXCEPT!

When I turned, the car waiting on Krug decided she’d had about enough waiting, and went. She went right at me. Full bore. She saw me and just went. We locked eyes and I yelled “HEY!!!” three times at her before dropping an F-bomb and she kept going.

THEN!!!!!!

She yelled “I HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

I won’t say on a public forum what I wanted to do at that point. But it’s a sunny day and I’d just had a lovely ride so that was that.
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(05-16-2018, 08:07 PM)Canard Wrote: So, I had an unpleasant experience on my bike ride home from my office in Cambridge...

I was coming North/East on Cedar, from Charles. I passed King and stopped behind about 4 cars at the light at Weber.

The light went green, and our little train proceeded through. All of the cars in front of me turned left onto Lancaster, as did I. EXCEPT!

When I turned, the car waiting on Krug decided she’d had about enough waiting, and went. She went right at me. Full bore. She saw me and just went. We locked eyes and I yelled “HEY!!!” three times at her before dropping an F-bomb and she kept going.

THEN!!!!!!

She yelled “I HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

I won’t say on a public forum what I wanted to do at that point. But it’s a sunny day and I’d just had a lovely ride so that was that.

That is a pretty unpleasant experience, especially as you may have cars going on the other side of you, thus no easy escape.

Not to defend drivers, but that corner is generally one where drivers get very confused.  Perhaps she did believe she had the right of way, not that it makes the experience better.  The one directional stop sign seems to be difficult for people to grasp, they don't really understand WHO they're stopping for--in Europe they often have priority signs which show who yields to whom.  Or perhaps she was just tired of waiting and felt that she had the right of might over a bicycle.  But either way, the city really could make improvements there.

I think it was someone here who pointed out that aggressive drivers often act that way towards other cars as well, but the experience of being bullied while in a car is quite different from that of being bullied while on a bike.

I very much like the few driver training programs (usually professional driver training programs) which put those professional drivers on bikes near the vehicles their training to drive. 

Glad the trail is open though, weather permitting, we will be riding it this weekend.  I'm impressed you bike to Cambridge daily...that's an impressive bike commute.
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Not daily Smile a couple of times a week if its sunny! On cloudy or rainy days I drive and I can’t do two back-to back days of riding - my knees won’t take it.
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(05-16-2018, 08:25 PM)danbrotherston Wrote:
(05-16-2018, 08:07 PM)Canard Wrote: I won’t say on a public forum what I wanted to do at that point. But it’s a sunny day and I’d just had a lovely ride so that was that.

That is a pretty unpleasant experience, especially as you may have cars going on the other side of you, thus no easy escape.

Not to defend drivers, but that corner is generally one where drivers get very confused.  Perhaps she did believe she had the right of way, not that it makes the experience better.  The one directional stop sign seems to be difficult for people to grasp, they don't really understand WHO they're stopping for--in Europe they often have priority signs which show who yields to whom.  Or perhaps she was just tired of waiting and felt that she had the right of might over a bicycle.  But either way, the city really could make improvements there.

This is part of why I think serious consideration should be given to closing the Lancaster crossing of the railway track. All those people who use that part of Lancaster could be funnelled down Margaret or the new access roads at the new interchange instead.

The corner of Krug and Lancaster could use some modification as well. Given the location, I think that simply closing one of the branches should be considered. Imagine if the Lancaster branch was not accessible from there — no more confusion.
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(05-16-2018, 09:11 PM)Canard Wrote: Not daily Smile a couple of times a week if its sunny! On cloudy or rainy days I drive and I can’t do two back-to back days of riding - my knees won’t take it.

I've had knee problems off and on but seem to have moved past them with a few different things, first was learning how to spin 90-100rpm so I could make effective use of the crazy low gears available on some of my bikes, effectively learning to spin instead of mashing the pedals. It took a bit of work and it looks kind of silly but it worked for me! Now when I ride solo I try to keep the cadence in that range rather than focus on speed.

The other thing was bodyweight exercises that help strengthen all the muscles that support the knee. The work I do often puts me on my knees as well so they get more abuse than they did when I worked at a desk. The exercises I got from a physiotherapist but youtube is full of videos demonstrating the same kinds of exercises... they are quick to do and don't require any kind of equipment.

Also that driver needs to spend some time back in driving school if they think they have the right-of-way at that intersection.
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I'm pretty sure I've discussed these things before, but besides what clasher said, you can also try adjusting your fit. You want your knee angle to be as open as possible to reduce stress on the joint. Raising the saddle will do that, once your hips start rocking, you know you've raised it too far.e
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I'll second that. Competitive cycling aside, the stress on the knees should not be so bad with proper fit. My knees are bad (can't do indoor court sports, for example) but cycling doesn't cause any problems for them.
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Yes, I know, and I don’t want you guys to waste any more time or forum space on me complaining about my knees. Sad I’ll keep trying to figure it out but I am tall and it’s all leg and I prefer to ride very upright (think Dutch) so it probably all combines to problems.

I’ve never sat on a road bike all hunched over so I don’t know what that would do for me.
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I don't think the upper body posture should matter much. The distance from the seat to the pedals has to be right, though.
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Without changing the bars, he's going to be restricted in how high he can raise his seat and still maintain an upright posture.
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Well, I can’t raise the seat any higher or else I’d tip over when I stop. The seat is at a height where when I’m stopped I’m on my tip toes. I like having it as high as possible.

I also have those handlebars (on both my bikes) where I can slide them up on a tube-within-a-tube and then there’s an angle pivot as well, which I also have very high. It’s super comfortable for me - sort of the exact opposite of a road bike. Smile

[Image: 26887972546_852bef12a8_b.jpg]
Actual picture of me. Boots and all.
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I drop off the seat when I stop, so that does not limit my seat position. And if you look at the photo you posted, from that height you would not be able to reach the ground while sitting down, either.
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