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Moronic Cyclist Stupidity!
Hi there.
I am 57 and I am a long time resident of Toronto and am an avid bicyclist who commutes 30 kms daily via bicycle. I saw in the Saturday, May 31, 2008 edition of the Toronto Sun that 200 cyclists decided to have a protest demanding bicycle lanes on Bloor Street. In their infinite wisdom (full sarcasm mode here) they decided to ride their bicycles up the Jarvis Street on-ramp around 7 PM. Apparently they took over three lanes of the westbound Gardiner Expressway - YES! you read that right EXPRESSWAY! Some of these cyclists even had children with them. What on earth were these people thinking? The Gardiner Expressway is an elevated road that is usually quite busy. They are lucky no one was injured or killed. Bicycle lanes on Bloor Street? Are these people serious? Bloor Street is a *VERY* busy east to west arterial road that does not have room for bicycle lanes. If the city of Toronto were to remove the parking along this road it possibly could help traffic flow better because you would have at least two lanes each way. Blocking traffic on the Gardiner Expressway is a really good counter- productive way to protest. I wonder how many motorists who were held up by these irresponsible cyclists or read the newspaper about it now think all cyclists are idiots? Such behaviour is not conducive to promoting bicycling (and cyclists) as a sane and efficient transportation alternative. I find it really hard to believe that any parent would take a child up onto the Gardiner Expressway either on a bicycle or in a bicycle trailer whilst *KNOWING THAT TRAFFIC WAS NOT BEING STOPPED BEFORE THAT ONRAMP!* As far as I am concerned all 200 of these cyclists demonstrated irresponsible, negligence and pure idiocy. Three of them were arrested. Pity that. There should have been far more. There would have been but many of the cyclists threw their bicycles over the fence at the Dunn and Jameson exit and escaped on foot. Unfortunately the responsible cyclists are the ones who will be the ones to experience the rise in driver ire that this protest is liable to have generated. Witnesses stated that these cyclist were weaving in and out of traffic and that many cars had to swerve to avoid them. At least one motorist coming up the Jarvis Street onramp stated that he saw cars nearly plow into cyclists as the cyclists came off the onramp. It took nine police cruisers to force the cyclists off the Gardiner Expessway at the Dunn Avenue/Jameson Street exit. Damn those moronic bicyclists who behave in such irresponsible behaviour and/or ride in an irresponsible manner! They are a plague on bicyclists who do ride in a responsible manner in an attempt to share the road. Oh, I noticed in the newspaper article that many of these cyclist were members of the Critical Mass Bicycle Ride. Perhaps that explains such bizarre behaviour. Well, one thing is certain; if they want to tick off motorists and alienate the public they are sure going about it the right way. Peter |
Moronic Cyclist Stupidity!
On Jun 2, 4:42 pm, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
Hi there. I am 57 and I am a long time resident of Toronto and am an avid bicyclist who commutes 30 kms daily via bicycle. I saw in the Saturday, May 31, 2008 edition of the Toronto Sun that 200 cyclists decided to have a protest demanding bicycle lanes on Bloor Street. In their infinite wisdom (full sarcasm mode here) they decided to ride their bicycles up the Jarvis Street on-ramp around 7 PM. Apparently they took over three lanes of the westbound Gardiner Expressway - YES! you read that right EXPRESSWAY! Some of these cyclists even had children with them. What on earth were these people thinking? The Gardiner Expressway is an elevated road that is usually quite busy. They are lucky no one was injured or killed. Bicycle lanes on Bloor Street? Are these people serious? Bloor Street is a *VERY* busy east to west arterial road that does not have room for bicycle lanes. If the city of Toronto were to remove the parking along this road it possibly could help traffic flow better because you would have at least two lanes each way. Blocking traffic on the Gardiner Expressway is a really good counter- productive way to protest. I wonder how many motorists who were held up by these irresponsible cyclists or read the newspaper about it now think all cyclists are idiots? Such behaviour is not conducive to promoting bicycling (and cyclists) as a sane and efficient transportation alternative. I find it really hard to believe that any parent would take a child up onto the Gardiner Expressway either on a bicycle or in a bicycle trailer whilst *KNOWING THAT TRAFFIC WAS NOT BEING STOPPED BEFORE THAT ONRAMP!* As far as I am concerned all 200 of these cyclists demonstrated irresponsible, negligence and pure idiocy. Three of them were arrested. Pity that. There should have been far more. There would have been but many of the cyclists threw their bicycles over the fence at the Dunn and Jameson exit and escaped on foot. Unfortunately the responsible cyclists are the ones who will be the ones to experience the rise in driver ire that this protest is liable to have generated. Witnesses stated that these cyclist were weaving in and out of traffic and that many cars had to swerve to avoid them. At least one motorist coming up the Jarvis Street onramp stated that he saw cars nearly plow into cyclists as the cyclists came off the onramp. It took nine police cruisers to force the cyclists off the Gardiner Expessway at the Dunn Avenue/Jameson Street exit. Damn those moronic bicyclists who behave in such irresponsible behaviour and/or ride in an irresponsible manner! They are a plague on bicyclists who do ride in a responsible manner in an attempt to share the road. Oh, I noticed in the newspaper article that many of these cyclist were members of the Critical Mass Bicycle Ride. Perhaps that explains such bizarre behaviour. Well, one thing is certain; if they want to tick off motorists and alienate the public they are sure going about it the right way. Peter Here, here. Lewis. ***** |
Moronic Cyclist Stupidity!
Here, here. Lewis. Lewis, being a Brit and all, you should know that the correct term is "hear, hear!" |
Moronic Cyclist Stupidity!
On Jun 2, 4:42 pm, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
.... Oh, I noticed in the newspaper article that many of these cyclist were members of the Critical Mass Bicycle Ride. Perhaps that explains such bizarre behaviour. Well, one thing is certain; if they want to tick off motorists and alienate the public they are sure going about it the right way. Peter Sure, but how do you distinguish between a CM ride and the regular Saturday club ride? |
Moronic Cyclist Stupidity!
In article
, Sir Ridesalot wrote: Hi there. I am 57 and I am a long time resident of Toronto and am an avid bicyclist who commutes 30 kms daily via bicycle. I saw in the Saturday, May 31, 2008 edition of the Toronto Sun that 200 cyclists decided to have a protest demanding bicycle lanes on Bloor Street. In their infinite wisdom (full sarcasm mode here) they decided to ride their bicycles up the Jarvis Street on-ramp around 7 PM. Apparently they took over three lanes of the westbound Gardiner Expressway - YES! you read that right EXPRESSWAY! Some of these cyclists even had children with them. What on earth were these people thinking? The Gardiner Expressway is an elevated road that is usually quite busy. They are lucky no one was injured or killed. Bicycle lanes on Bloor Street? Are these people serious? Bloor Street is a *VERY* busy east to west arterial road that does not have room for bicycle lanes. If the city of Toronto were to remove the parking along this road it possibly could help traffic flow better because you would have at least two lanes each way. snip Calm down Sir ShortsInAKnot. Lest you think I'm an apologist for the Critical Mass(holes?) my thoughts and those of many others are on record at the board referenced below. Join in the debate, you'll be addressing directly some of the participants of last Friday's Tour de Gardiner. http://www.ibiketo.ca/node/2234#comment-4113 Yes these people, and many others, are serious about bike lanes on Bloor St. Why shouldn't they be? Bloor is a major east/west artery in the heart of the city, it bisects the U of T campus, it is a commercial and entertainment corridor; and it links up with the bike lane on the Bloor St Viaduct, a major route for commuting cyclists: IT IS THE MOST LOGICAL PLACE FOR BIKE LANES. But don't take my word for it: Over 15 years ago, in 1992, a Route Selection Study for on-street Bicycle Lanes done for the former City of Toronto by the firm Marshall Macklin Monaghan concluded that Bloor St. was THE NUMBER ONE CHOICE. What other street do you recommend: Dundas, Eglinton, Lawrence, Sheppard, Yonge, Bayview, Avenue Rd. etc... Or do those streets not "have enough room" as well? The fact is to motorists roads never have enough room and any vehicle that intercedes between them and their destination should be disallowed. There are NO bike lanes of any significant length on ANY major arteries in all of Toronto. If you've ridden extensively in the city you'll know that it's only the major arteries that provide passage over 400 series highways, ravines and railways -- these are EXACTLY where bike lanes belong. I suppose you're content to have bicycles relegated to secondary side streets that do not and cannot take cyclists where they want to go, where bicycle lanes are often installed because they occupy room that motorists and everyone else considers of little value. The continent over, cars have completely co-opted what was once an inclusive commons and transformed it into a motorized sewer. Great swaths of our urban spaces have had pedestrians and every vehicle other than autos designed out of consideration. Don't begrudge cyclists their intent of inserting themselves back into consideration on their own streets, of reclaiming from cars a measure of civility and space that has been so thoroughly ceded. Thankfully there are cyclists in Toronto that aren't self-defeating in their outlook, that are ambitious; they envision and are working toward building a city in which bicycles and bicycle specific infrastructure are a significant presence on *major* streets. Bicycle lanes on Bloor is part of their plan. |
Moronic Cyclist Stupidity!
Sorni mischaracterizes Critical Mass yet again:
One purposely disrupts traffic (****ing off drivers and engendering bad will), while the other is /part/ of traffic and looks to promote cooperation. =v= Bull****. Critical Mass *is* traffic. Indeed, the title of the first documentary about CM points that out, duh. One has a political agenda and the other does not. =v= Oh really? What political agenda is that, precisely? My observation is that there are as many agendas as participants. One recruits jerks and the other rejects them. =v= Again, bull****. Anyone is welcome at Critical Mass. That "recruits jerks" exactly as, um, traffic does. _Jym_ |
Moronic Cyclist Stupidity!
On Wed, 4 Jun 2008 14:55:53 -0700, "Bill Sornson" may
have said: DennisTheBald wrote: On Jun 2, 4:42 pm, Sir Ridesalot wrote: ... Oh, I noticed in the newspaper article that many of these cyclist were members of the Critical Mass Bicycle Ride. Perhaps that explains such bizarre behaviour. Well, one thing is certain; if they want to tick off motorists and alienate the public they are sure going about it the right way. Peter Sure, but how do you distinguish between a CM ride and the regular Saturday club ride? One purposely disrupts traffic (****ing off drivers and engendering bad will), while the other is /part/ of traffic and looks to promote cooperation. One has a political agenda and the other does not. One recruits jerks and the other rejects them. It's pretty easy to tell the difference if one has eyes and ears. CM ride groups also vary in their approach; the few CM rides I've been on have avoided being directly confrontational while still maintaining a high profile. Much depends upon choice of route, choice of timing, and (of course) the sanity of the participants. I guess we have a few more who are just there to ride, rather than to make a statement about anything but bikes. The police never gave any of us a hassle on the rides I did, and as far as I could tell, the group didn't give them a lot of reason to want to do so. It *is* possible to make a statement without alienating the people you're trying to persuade...and those who don't get the message are probably not persuadable anyway. It makes little sense to change someone from a disinterested spectator into an active opponent, as was doubtless the case with the Gardiner invasion. (I've driven that freeway; those idiots would have been hard-pressed to find a dumber stunt IMO.) -- My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail. Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature. Words processed in a facility that contains nuts. |
Moronic Cyclist Stupidity!
On Jun 2, 6:01*pm, "Pat" wrote:
Here, here. Lewis. Lewis, being a Brit and all, you should know that the correct term is "hear, hear!" Thanks, Pat, you are correct and I certainly deserve a reprimand for that. Kind regards. Lewis. ***** |
Moronic Cyclist Stupidity!
On Mon, 2 Jun 2008 14:42:43 -0700 (PDT) in rec.bicycles.misc, Sir
Ridesalot wrote: As far as I am concerned all 200 of these cyclists demonstrated irresponsible, negligence and pure idiocy. as far as i'm concerned it's none of your business, and you are just an anti-bike busybody. PLONK. |
Moronic Cyclist Stupidity!
On Wed, 04 Jun 2008 22:19:40 -0400 in rec.bicycles.misc, Luke
wrote: Bloor is a major east/west artery in the heart of the city, it bisects the U of T campus, it is a commercial and entertainment corridor; and it links up with the bike lane on the Bloor St Viaduct, a major route for commuting cyclists: IT IS THE MOST LOGICAL PLACE FOR BIKE LANES. bike are traffic. they don't need to be stuck in a cycling ghetto on the edge of the street where they can be doored and squeezed against the curb by bus and truck drivers. bike lanes are useless. a wider outside lane with room for cyclists is actually useful. |
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