An interesting article was in the paper this morning. Calgary bylaw officers are going to be hitting the bike paths to crack down on speeding cyclists. The speed on most paths is 20 km/h (or 12 mph). This morning I was rolling down the pathway at Edworthy at 20.5 mph and I was getting passed. Surely there are more important things to worry about than the speed cyclists are going when they are trying to get home from work. We all have a responsibility to ride defensively, and in the case around Edworthy where they have separate running and biking paths I think you should be able to ride at your own speed. Much more hazardous are the folks out for a walk that wander aimlessly on the cyclists only path, or cross the path without checking to see if traffic is coming. I kind of feel like cyclists can't catch a break. On the pathways we get ticketed, on the roads we get honked at by the drivers that don't want us there. On the flip side - my 4.15 mi ride in to work was fabulous (and law-breakingly speedy)! I can't wait to race on Sunday...
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And as a total aside, Cirque du Soleil's Corteo last night was AMAZING! I've seen eight different Cirque shows now, and this was by far my absolute favorite... The athleticism of these people is awe inspiring, and the creativity is mind boggling. I have no idea where they come up with some of this stuff.
13 comments:
Wow, everyone must be speeding to get the law involved. Kick some butt on Sunday.
That's ridiculous. They need to concentrate more on speeders on Deerfoot instead of cyclists on biking paths, sheesh.
I love Cirque, glad you had a great time!
Almost everybody hates bikers in NYC, but they hate everyone back, so it's even. No speed limits here yet, though.
And have fun at Strathmore, that's just as important (if not more so) than doing well.
Good luck!
Cirque du Soleil is great! You'll have a blast!
HAVE FUN AT YOUR FIRST TRI!!!!!!!!!!
Wow, the cops up there must be bored is all I can say! I mean seriously...have there been bad accidents? And to your point, are they going to ticket the people on the wrong paths? Here the bike paths are limited to 10 mph...it's no wonder bikers are on the roads!
Enjoy your race! looking forward to hearing about it. Weird with a cyclist only path that they would care...really don't they have better things to do?
Cirque du Soleil shows are sow amazing.
WHAT?! That's ridiculous! I think it's physically impossible to ride a road bike at 20 kmph unless it's uphill. I say if you see one of those cops, throw tacks under his wheels.
Sad...here they are trying to get people OFF the roadways, only to make life more difficult for them.
I was thinking about your post today though when I was just bumbling down the path/sidewalk on my mountain bike (probably only going 10mph), and a cop was standing on the sidewalk pointing a radar gun right at me. Although, I'm pretty sure he was pointing it at the cars next to me...but still. Made me think of this post.
Good luck at your tri!
Forecast for Sunday!
Nice weather!
You strong!
Best wishes!
Good luck with the tri!!
That's ridiculous about the speed limit for cycling...c'mon do they not want people to work out??
Awesome about the Cirque show!! Have you seen either Love or O out in Vegas??
I'm waiting and waiting! I can't wait anymore! how'd it go?
Leana,
I've follow your blog and enjoy reading about your adventures! Glad that you enjoyed SWT so much (it was one of my first ones last year). I have to disagree though on your take on the cycling speed on pathways. The pathway system here in Calgary are used by all people - kids, families, elderly, and commuters. I commute to work as well, and yes, I find at times it is annoying to keep the speed down, but when it's busy or it being used by runners, walkers, etc - the city has to enforce a limit.
I have moved into longer distances in tri (half im's) and as such, am on my tri bike a lot - the few times I rode on the path to Edworthy to do hill repeats, I will keep my speed down. It's just not safe - esp when you are clipped in - a dog or a kid or even a freakin squirrel could pop out in front of you and not only are they going to get hurt - you will too. Alas, I hit the highways to ride (Hwy 1A, Horse Creek Road, Bearspaw Rd) - as long as you're not stupid and are paying attention, drivers will respect you as much as you have to respect them.
Good luck in Quebec!
C
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