The New Canadian Tire Bike Commercial Bugs Me

WARNING - mini rant ahead...

Canadian Tire has a very long history in Canada as being THE place that many kids get their first bike from.  You know that bike, the one poorly assembled by the neighbour who was "into bikes", heavy as a boat anchor, and covered in decorative plastic crap? 

Indeed, that bike was probably a BSO (bicycle shaped object) but it was your BSO and you loved it no matter what because it offered you that feeling we all fall in love with when riding a bicycle, even a crappy bicycle - freedom!

Remember this ad from a few years back?  A tear jerker for sure but real in that many of us remember being that kid desperately wanting that sweet red bike in the Canadian Tire (or Eatons, Sears, etc) catalogue more than anything else in your life.

But then along comes this - 



Right form the beginning it comes off as some sort of unreal suburban fantasy bike land, with the children happily commandeering the roadway and flaunting the law as if they're hosting their own critical mass to the local park.  You'd think this is some neighbourhood in Vancouver or Portland where everyone pedals and no one drives anywhere. They're even making the old lady down the street nervous, bloody cyclists.

But there are problems with this world they are trying to illustrate - 

Problem 1 - Lots of parents these days won't let their kids ride bikes to the park on their own because they're terrified that they'll be run down by some errant, distracted, speeding driver.  It's hard to argue with that perspective when so many neighbourhoods are outright hostile to children playing in the streets and community design that favours the movement of cars first and the safety and movement of people last.  The community shown doesn't even have sidewalks!

Problem 2 - Where are all the cars?

Problem 3 - The Canadian Tire Guy du Jour.  I hate this guy!  I cannot tell if his expression is meant to convey a sense of shame, coolness, or incredulity - maybe all three?  It he ashamed to be riding that toy?  Is he just too cool for school with his motorcycle helmet on?  Or is he just skeptical that any of this could happen in real life?

I know, I am definitely over analyzing it but there are so many things that tweaked me I wanted to post it and get your opinion.

What do you think?

New 10 St NW Bikelanes - Traffic Chaos or Hot Air?

A cyclist heading south on 10 St NW new bikelane. Photo Credit - Calgary Herald

The City of Calgary sprung a surprise on everyone this week with the installation of a pilot project bike lane on 10 St NW, running from 5 Ave NW all the way up to Confederation Park and beyond. 

With this new project, they have instantly created one of the best bike routes in the city because it actually connects to something - the downtown core to the central NW via the Kensington/Sunnyside neighbourhoods and passing right beside SAIT/ACAD.  People who live in this area now have a safe, connected route where none existed before.  Thank you City of Calgary!

On the flipside, the City has also created an awful lot of animosity and negative press by the way this project happened - essentially out of thin air, with no warning, and no consultations with communities along its route.  As I understand it, 10 St NW was slated to be repaved this fall and this route has been "on the books" for close to a decade.  If the new bike lanes were painted now it would save a lot of money because the roadway would not need to be repaved next spring. 

Fair enough.

But some notice would have been a good idea to help educate motorists and journalists on the full scope of the project.  Instead, local reporting seemed to focus on the "traffic snarls" and chaos with no mention of the full scope of the project and the reasoning behind it.  The city should have sent out information to the media on how this was being implemented so the story would be less about bikes vs. cars and more about the creation of a neccessay cycle link and implementation of the Comprehensive Cycling Strategy which was passed in the spring.  Let's remember that 59% of Calgarians also said they would cycle more if they felt safer.

The reality is that traffic has not actually been horribly affected - but based on the news stories in local papers you'd think that people were having to get out of their cars and push them down 10 St NW.  Even The Mayor is not impressed. 

Funny thing though, there have been exactly ZERO traffic reports on the snarls and chaos on 10 St NW since the lanes went in - no radio mentions, no mentions on Twitter using the #yyctraffic hashtag - nothing but crickets...

So, here is my advice to the City - please, please, please get a communication strategy sorted with regards to upcoming cycle infrastructure installations - press releases to media detailing the full scope and schedule of projects would be a good start. 

Respect on the Roads

I had an interesting conversation with a fellow at the shop yesterday that I have to share - mostly because his attitude about cyclists on the roads bothered me for the rest of the day.

It started like this -

Man - Why do cyclists ride in the middle of the lane on 4 St SW?
Me - Well, first, because cyclists are allowed to use the full lane under the HTA, and second, because the lanes are narrow on that road making it unsafe for a car to pass a cyclist in the same lane.
Man - Why don't they instead ride on 2 St SW, there is a bike lane over there.
Me - My guess is many don't ride there because that road doesn't take them where they need to go. 2 St does not go into the core, 4 St does.
Man - Why do cyclists always insist on riding past all the stopped cars at lights? When they do that I get very frustrated because I have to repass them again and again and it slows down traffic.
Me - Well, sir, that is one of the advantages of cycling is that you can filter past long rows of cars in heavy traffic. Do you get frustrated when repassing the same cars in traffic?
Man - But when cyclists do that they slow down traffic.
Me - Bikes do not slow down traffic sir, traffic slows down traffic.
Man - Bikers need to show more respect, by doing that they disrespect drivers and that makes us frustrated and angry. (A female customer in the shop is quietly listening to our conversation and at this point she starts to bristle...)
Me - Sir, if you want to talk about respect I think you need to realize that when a cyclist "disrespects" you all that can happen is that you get upset. When a driver "disrespects" a cyclist they can potentially kill them or seriously injure them, depending on what they do. There is a big difference.
Man - (starting to visually upset that I am confronting him) Well, I think that cyclists need to ride more safely. It's dangerous out there, that's why I drive to work instead of cycling.
Me - You know, if you cycled to work more often you would help make the streets safer for everyone, drivers too. You would also have a better understanding of what it's like for cyclists and perhaps have more empathy for your fellow citizens who cycle.
Man - I don't think so.
Me - Exactly.

(Then he leaves the shop with his wife, who I have to say, was supporting my arguements)

After he left, a female customer who was listening to the exchange pipes up that she wanted to jump on him at his "respect" comments - "He should have seen the so-called respect I was given yesterday by a driver who squeezed me off the road."

Normally I try to avoid those sorts of conversations with customers that are in the shop because I do not want them to feel uncomfortable about our shop but part of me is wondering if that's a good idea. That part of me feels that those sorts of attitudes need to be confronted head on with the hope that perhaps I can help them have a different perspective on cyclists.

This fellows attitude seems to be very common here in Calgary and I am loathe to let it go unchallenged.

Have you had a similar conversation with a non-cyclist lately? Do you avoid challenging these kinds of attitudes or face them head on?