Bikes Belong

Bikes Belong

"I not allowed to drink and drive, You won’t let me use my cell while I’m driving. Can’t smoke in my car when my seventeen year old is with me,  I have to move over when passing a stopped police car and slow down while passing a construction zone or a tow truck, I can't race, the roads are getting crowded, what the frak is that cyclist doing out here?"

A cyclist? In Winter??? On this road? Is he crazy?

If you bicycle in the winter, you hear that a lot. Are you crazy? Aren't you afraid of being killed? Aren't you cold?

I ride a bicycle often in the winter. I've heard those questions, and it’s easier to answer "Yes" to all three. But lately, I've noticed a small revolt against winter cycling, and I’m thinking that winter cyclists need to speak out.

The first hint of this was in a University of Waterloo Daily Bulletin of Dec. 7. A presenter was quoted as telling some international students, "Don't bike in the snow and ice -- it's stupid and not safe."

Then I heard Murray Wood’s comment on NewsTalk 980 today encouraging the outlawing of winter cycling while he was ranting about gas prices.

After learning that winter cycling is prohibited, at various Canadian Forces Bases, I began to ponder this. Ironic really, knowing that Ottawa is pushing "active transportation" as a part of its health and climate agendas. One base website even promotes a bicycle spinning class. But don't bring your bike.

It’s time for this cyclist to speak out.

Winter cycling is legal. Bicycles, cars, motorcycles and buggies are all entitled to use the road year-round, except where local bylaws prohibit.

If studded tires were legal for motorcyclists, you might see them tackle icy roads, but few want to face winter temperatures at highway speed wind chills. Winter bicyclists, active like cross country skiers, dress in layers. You might start out cool, but after some vigorous pedaling, you warm up and find you aren’t concerned about the cold…plus bicycle studs are legal.

Winter cycling can be safe. Follow traffic laws and put lights on your bike, Wear a high visibility vest or jacket. Use side streets to avoid major traffic, on the occasional day when the streets are not packed or cleared and are deeply rutted, try the sidewalk. Switch to knobby tires or studs. Keep your bike lubricated and use your head, courteously signal your intentions to other drivers, ride a straight line and behave predictably. The Prime Directive for all drivers, both two and four wheeled, is “don’t be a dufus”.

Share the road, bikes and cars both belong. It’s no more trouble to pass a bicycle in the winter than it is to pass a snowplow or other slow moving vehicle.

Next time you pass a cyclist, look for a bag of groceries, a school knapsack or a work lunch box. Some people ride to reduce their ecological footprint. Others do it for health reasons. Some do just for the fun of it. And some ride because a blizzard has forced all cars off the roads, frozen them so solid they won’t start, they don’t like to scrape windows or they want to ride because they like the sound of their studs tearing at ice or hard-pack snow, or they want to ride because the March thaw has made it barely warm enough to wear their shorts.

Yeah, those ones are crazy