Cycling Outside Waterloo Region

[clasher]

I am not 100% on which stretch of River road in Richmond they are on but I am guessing that it's between no6 road and Westminster hwy. I doubt the speed limit is over 60, there is no shoulder of any sort, just a ditch on one side and the Fraser river on the other.

It's maybe 8km between no7 road the Westminster hwy. There's also a major highway that runs parallel to River road so if someone is in a rush I don't know why they'd chose the winding narrow road. Google says it's a 11 minute drive right now and 26 on a bike, so a group ride should be under 20 to cover 8km.

If it was a tractor there's no choice but to wait unless the tractor chooses to pull into a driveway.

To me it seems like a tempest in a teapot, if one is a rush and on that road they've messed up. If you're there for the scenery (it's not that nice imo) getting stuck behind a group ride gives one a few more minutes to look at the river.

[danbrotherston]

… the person in the video just seems to think it means they get to first all the time.

…

Not clear to me. It looked like the bicycle group was just going at their speed for as long as they want. It’s not appropriate for slow-moving traffic (of any kind) to slow down all traffic to their speed indefinitely. It’s reasonable for motor vehicles to have to slow down as they approach and wait for the bicycles to pull over or change their configuration but not reasonable to expect motor vehicles to simply drive at 30km/h until the cyclists make a turn, however long that might take. The roads in question are engineered for traffic running at 60-90km/h for a reason.

And I say this as somebody who generally agrees with the cyclists’ view of a situation. I’m no friend of the motorist, in general.

It has been extensively studied and the "share the road" signage leads to greater confusion and driver (and cyclist) entitlement to the roads. It quite clearly doesn't improve the roads.

As far as sharing the roads...where should the cyclists pull over? Do they need to pull into a driveway and stop? That seems excessive to me? How slow do they cyclists have to be traveling, and/or how many cars must be waiting before cyclists are required to stop to allow them to pass? The trailing vehicle can overtake any time it is safe, but under no circumstances should the cyclists squeeze right to permit an unsafe overtake. Obviously, when the road widens and gives an opportunity for safe overtaking, the cyclists should not prevent that. But even if we accept that standard, we're still going to have loud and probably occasionally fatal disagreements on the roads about what constitutes widening to allow safe overtaking.

The reality is our country roads only work as well as they do because despite the loud complaints of drivers, rarely are they actually held up for a significant period of time, traffic on our rural roads is so light, that overtaking is actually reasonable easy. Cyclists tend to avoid riding on the roads where that isn't the case for any extended period of time.

[Pheidippides]

Cycle of problems: What can be done to reduce bike deaths?
Sunday, July 8, 2018 on Cross Country Checkup: Bikes vs. cars

With the recent spate of cycling deaths in Toronto, bike activists and road safety experts alike are demanding major reforms in cities across Canada. 
Bike lanes, bike bans, no right turns, lower speed limits — even car bans. There's been plenty of peddling, but not much movement.
Who is to blame for cycling deaths in Canada? What has to change to stop them?

Join Duncan McCue live on Sunday, across six time zones, on CBC Radio One, and streaming on cbc.ca and on the CBC Radio app.
1 p.m. PT, 2 p.m. MT, 3 p.m. CT, 4 p.m. ET, 5 p.m. AT, 5:30 p.m. NT.

Toll-free number during the broadcast: 1-888-416-8333
Email: checkup@cbc.ca
Twitter: @checkupcbc
Facebook: CBC Cross Country Checkup

[danbrotherston]

Cue victim blaming.

Frankly, I'm not going to tune in to hear that...I don't need to hear more from the "general public" on this issue.

[jamincan]

In general, I always found Cross Country Check-up to be rather insufferable. I don't know if it has changed, but I'm not really interested in hearing how George in Picton doesn't see why cyclists shouldn't need to get a license and should just ride on sidewalks if they don't want to be killed.

[clasher]

I didn't listen to the whole thing since I was only near a radio for a few minutes but they were interviewing some Canadian from Fort Mac that now works for Copenhagenize; he made a stupid comparison about "those spandex dudes" of which he isn't, and that they were just advocating for regular citizens... like road riders just crawl into the ground and don't participate in regular life the rest of the time? I'm sure he had some other good stuff to say but I kind of tune out when someone has to make a case that people out for recreational purposes don't deserve safety and infrastructure the same way someone going to the store does, like WTF.

I can imagine a lot of the calls were just about how cyclists are just scofflaws and they need more lights and safety vests and helmets and padding and maybe a big steel cage around them too...

[ijmorlan]

In general, I always found Cross Country Check-up to be rather insufferable. I don't know if it has changed, but I'm not really interested in hearing how George in Picton doesn't see why cyclists shouldn't need to get a license and should just ride on sidewalks if they don't want to be killed.

Hey, you take that back! George in Picton is a good friend of mine!

[Canard]

Did a section of the Kissing Bridge Trailway yesterday.  It's cute; probably would have enjoyed it more on a warmer or sunnier day but I'd do it again.  Lots of variety in the type of maintenance or trail condition, though.  And it's very straight:

   

   

[jamincan]

I highly recommend checking out the Elora-Cataract Trailway. The full-length is 47 km, which would make for a nice, full-day trip, stopping in Belfountain for lunch (there are some good spots there).

[clasher]

I'd second the Elora-Cataract trail, I haven't checked out the Forks of the Credit provincial park but I believe one can enter the park on the trail. There's some nice road riding in that area, particularly forks of the credit road and also I'd suggest riding past the Chetlenam badlands, even though it's closed it's still quite scenic from the road and easy to take in while slowly cruising by. There is another rail-trail right near there but I have never ridden it and can't recall its name right now.

[timio]

The Caledon Trailway runs from south of Terra Cotta Conservation Area to Tottenham through Caledon.

[jamincan]

I think you're probably thinking of the Caledon Trailway. A friend and I actually rode from Kitchener to Orillia almost entirely on rail trail using the Elora-Cataract Trail, the Caledon Trailway, and the Oro-Medonte Rail Trail.

The amazing thing is that you could actually bike from Goderich to Midland using rail trail almost the whole way except for a few small gaps.
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/28203736

[danbrotherston]

It's the gaps that worry me when planning such a trip. I worry I will get there, and I will be faced with riding up a freeway with no shoulder, or turning around and going home.

Sadly, the best way I've found to figure out how the options are is to go through it section by section on streetview, which is no guarantee of accuracy.

Something like CycleON might have eventually provided such reliability, but even in Quebec, with La Route Verte, I'm not convinced I'll have a safe trip.

When it comes right down too it, I just don't have any trust in our cycling infrastructure in North America.

[Canard]

We actually rode the Elora Cataract trailway - I thought I'd posted photos here, but I guess I didn't!  We've done it a few times actually.  We park in Elora and head North East toward Erin and back.  Our first time we was over 60 km I think, my first ride that far.

Today, we decided to check out the G2G Rail Trail (Goderich to Guelph).  The webpage makes it look passable but both of us were somewhat skeptical... rather than chance it we hopped in the car and drove the whole trail from KW to Goderich, stopping at many of the crossing points to check where it actually was in good shape.

...I'm sad to report that only really the last few km in Goderich are usable on anything other than the most hardcore mountain bike you've ever seen.    Most of the trail is unmaintained, just two ruts (if that) and knee-high grass and weeds, and rocks everywhere.  It's amazing that this could one day be a super-long connection, so I really hope they get some money thrown at them to do this.

   

   

   

   

   

[clasher]

I think you're probably thinking of the Caledon Trailway. A friend and I actually rode from Kitchener to Orillia almost entirely on rail trail using the Elora-Cataract Trail, the Caledon Trailway, and the Oro-Medonte Rail Trail.

The amazing thing is that you could actually bike from Goderich to Midland using rail trail almost the whole way except for a few small gaps.
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/28203736

Yup it's the Caledon trail I'm thinking of... I usually do the climb up Mississauga road instead of using the trail. I don't mind the rail trails but generally prefer riding secondary and gravel roads nowadays, but any rail trail that has bridges on it will pique my interest. I've ridden from Barrie to Orillia a few times but never taken that trail either, the road that runs along it is quiet enough riding for my tastes.

It's the gaps that worry me when planning such a trip. I worry I will get there, and I will be faced with riding up a freeway with no shoulder, or turning around and going home.

Sadly, the best way I've found to figure out how the options are is to go through it section by section on streetview, which is no guarantee of accuracy.

A bit of research isn't really that bad of a thing to do, I use streetview and satellite when I plan a driving trip too.

Another rough trail worth avoiding is the one that goes from Port Elgin to Walkerton, it's doable on a cross bike but better on an MTB since it's mostly a trail used by ATVs and dirtbikes.