The BikeBike Blog

Jan 23, 2014

Red Light Running Menace

You hear and read this refrain often from drivers who complain about cyclists and are not in favour of more bike infrastructure -

"As soon as those cyclists start obeying the rules of the road and stop zig-zagging, running red lights, rolling through stop signs, blah blah blah...then I'll give them more respect..."

I got so sick of hearing and reading it that I decided to REALLY watch other drivers when I was walking, and especially driving. And what I saw, after looking a lot more closely kinda freaked me out.

If you spend any amount of time walking and cycling in Calgary, you know that many drivers blow red lights regularly and roll right hand turns on red lights with abandon. The Calgary Herald reported on the issue a couple years ago - and to quote the article, "the picture isn't always pretty".

No shit. There is a pedestrian/cyclists hit by a car almost twice a day in this city. The total number of bikes + people hit by cars in 2011 was 733 based on Calgary Police Service statistics.

I've also done my own anecdotal study of the issue while walking to work along 17th Ave SW a few times in the last 4 months and my observations are just as scary.

Basically, I walked from 45 St SW to the shop and along the way stopped at the signalized intersections and counted the red light runners over the course of a complete signal cycle. These are the intersections I stopped at - 37 St, 33 St, 29 St, 26 St, 24 St, and Richmond Rd.

The truly scary part - the vast majority of intersections had at least 1 driver run/roll a red, more often, more than just 1.

Here's what I was able to sort out -

There are close to 1000 signalized intersections in the city

@amf673 @BikeBikeYYC @yyctransport @bikecalgary around 1,000
— Malcolm Logan (@YYCTRGM) January 23, 2014

It takes 2-4 minutes for a full signal cycle

@BikeBikeYYC @yyctransport @bikecalgary @MetroFletch between 60 and 120 seconds. Bigger intersection = longer typically.
— Malcolm Logan (@YYCTRGM) January 23, 2014

In an effort to be conservative, lets use the rush hours as our timeframe - 6:30-8:30am and 4:30-6:30pm - just 4 hours - instead of an entire 24 hour day. And lets also only use 1/3 of the signalized intersections, again to stay on the conservative side of things.

So, we have...

- observed 1.3 infractions per signal cycle
1.3

- lets use a longer 4 minute signal cycle, giving us 15 cycles per hour
1.3x15=19.5 infractions per hour

- then use the 4 hour time window
19.5x4=78 infractions in 4 hours

- then the 329 (third of the 1000ish signals in the city)
78x329=25662 infractions at 1/3 of Calgary's intersections in 4 hours

- which works out to a conservative estimate of 6415 per hour!

6400+ red light runners and rolling red light right turn infractions are happening every daylight hour - day after day, month after month- you get the idea. And the real numbers are probably much higher. Yet, there is no obvious enforcement of this dangerous driver behaviour, no police crackdowns or blitzes - no TV/radio spots encouraging good behaviours, no newspaper articles - it's as if everyone is resigned to believe that the death and mayhem is just a cost of doing business in our car dominated society.

Where is the traffic enforcement? Where is the awareness campaigns for drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists? Where is the outrage at all the suffering that we don't need to be experiencing or paying for in lost productivity, insurance claims, and lives shortened?

The next time you read or hear someone ranting that cyclists don't deserve safe spaces to travel in, remember these numbers and remember where the true menace lies - often behind the wheel.

Winterpalooza 2014 Photo Booth

What an event! So much fun and so much excitement surrounding it had those of us that organized it buzzing for days after. The first Winterpalooza Festival has been a blast - cannot wait for next year.

First off, we'd like to thanks Katherine from the City's bike office for partnering with us on this project - we couldn't have done it without you!

So, without further adieu - click here for the web album

Jan 6, 2014

Winterpalooza 2014!

This is going to be so much fun!

Following in the footsteps of the popular Cyclepalooza summer bike festival, its winter sibling aims to show people how easy and fun riding in the winter can be.

There are already events of all kinds on the calendar - ice racing, foodie rides, winter cycling photo booth, biking to tobogganing, winter bike to work day, and even a dance party! But there is room for more events, and just like with the summer festival, more events will make the festival even better.

So, talk to your biking pals, and plan on hosting an event. It can be really simple or crazy elaborate - it's up to you!

Dec 31, 2013

Top Bike Stories for Calgary in 2013

2013 was another great year for cycling in Calgary. The city has continued to see more people choosing to cycle more often, even in winter. Although many wish the pace of bicycle infrastructure installation would move faster, myself included, we should consider 2013 another great leap forward for a more healthy, safe, and connected Calgary.

I have asked the #YYCBIKE Twitteratti to weigh in on their bike story moments from the last year - here are the responses and a few of ours (in no particular order):

1. The Calgary Parking Authority is planning on adding more bike parking spaces in the parkades they operate downtown. This is welcomed news as there are not enough secure public bike parking spots downtown.

Bike parking in downtown parkades. #top10yycbike #yycbike @BikeBikeYYC
— Joshua Crough (@smokeycrow) December 28, 2013

2. 3 years old? What?! Wow! This festival continues to grow, evolve, and enlight all who enjoy it. CANNOT wait for 2014!

@BikeBikeYYC Cyclepalooza!
— Calvin French (@psysal) December 28, 2013

3. The floods in June devastated the entire city and disrupted the lives, and livelihoods, of thousands of Calgarians. Not only were roads and transit affected, the city's beloved pathway system took a very big hit. 3 bridges along the Elbow River as well as all the main bridges in Fish Creek Park were washed away making access by bicycle very difficult, or impossible, for thousands of Calgarians.

At this writing, all of the Elbow bridges are still out. The bridges in Fish Creek have also yet to be repaired.

@BikeBikeYYC the flood - our poor pathways & bridges! Plus bikes came in handy after.
— Ryan (@carfreeyyc) December 28, 2013

4. I was watching the final stage of the Tour de Alberta late at night, on a sofa in Amsterdam, stoked on the fact that the race went down the Crowbomb! How cool is that?! Chapeau to all the Albertans that made the event so successful!

@BikeBikeYYC The @TourOfAlberta #top10yycbike
— Tom Babin (@TomBabin) December 28, 2013

5. A fabulous event, well attended by the fashionable, irreproachable, and otherwise jaunty folk astride bicycles. Bravo Josh!

Riding with 140+ other Calgarians dressed in tweed on Victoria Day! #top10yycbike #yycbike @BikeBikeYYC
— Tweed Ride YYC (@TweedRideYYC) December 28, 2013

6. There is something about a fun ride through the city, with a huge group of strangers, that just never gets old. Many of the rides this year saw groups of 70+ - astonishing for us to contemplate. Exciting to see so many new faces on bikes!

@BikeBikeYYC the Full Moon Rides! #top10yycbike
— Ryan (@carfreeyyc) December 28, 2013

7. Nenshi on a bike! On the newly announced 1 St SE cycletrack no less :)

@BikeBikeYYC #Top10yycBike Does @nenshi on a bike count? pic.twitter.com/Ik1VQ14PuY
— Kimberley (@BluHrGirl) December 28, 2013

8. The rise of fatbikes, or more importantly, the rise of winter cycling in Calgary. More people are choosing to ride deeper into the colder months than ever before. Winter cycling products are becoming more available and innovative. New bike designs too, like fatbikes, are making winter cycling more accessible - and fun - than ever before. And more safe bike infrastructure, like the 7 St cycletrack, encourage more people to keep on pedaling.

Raise your hand if you've seen a huge increase in the number of people winter cycling in your area over the last few years.

@BikeBikeYYC the rise of fatbikes
— Pedro (@MeAndMyBikes) December 28, 2013

9. Calgary's very first physically separated cycletrack opened on 7 St SW. While the usual "bikelash" type complaints were levelled against the new infrastructure, its hard to argue with the numbers of people who use it - 4x more than the city expected. Here is a short video I took of the cycletrack on opening day.

@BikeBikeYYC opening of 7th street bike lane
— mike styczen (@mstyczen) December 28, 2013

10. Which brings us to this - if bike lanes are so bad, where is the "bikelash"? Besides the Calgary Sun ranting and raving that bikes are going to take away your liberty, force you to sell your car, and generally ruin your life, there has been veryu little negative blowback in Calgary regarding new bike lanes. Personally, I think most Calgarians are reasonable people and as such, understand that making it easier for people to ride bikes in this city is nothing but a good thing.

@BikeBikeYYC @bluhrgirl @blmabr @rrrichardzach Could, yeah. The "echo chamber" didn't do too much against.
— Ryan (@carfreeyyc) December 28, 2013

Dec 30, 2013

Multimodel Fatbiking

With no car of my own, and none available to easily borrow I decided it was time to fire up the multimodel experience and head down to Fish Creek Park for some fatbiking on trails that, at least in summer, are super fun to explore.

With the West LRT line passing close by my house and the Ctrain network extending all the way down to Fish Creek I figured it would be an easy, relatively fast, and warm! option for getting down there and back without a car.

All aboard the fatbike express!

Temperatures when I was at the station waiting were around -11c with it forecast to drop a little throughout the day. Total time to get from my front door to Canyon Meadows station (start of the ride) was a reasonable 45 minutes.

Fish Creek Park was also damaged in the June floods and as a result many of the designated mountain bike trails were impassable or simply gone altogether. Navigating through the park to find the good trails was a little bit of guessing, remembering past rides, and blind luck.

Perfect conditions.

At one point I found myself out on Fish Creek itself, riding along in a ski/snowshoe trough that seemed to have followed the entire length of the creek through the park - cool! That was pretty unique but I wanted to find my way back into the forest singletracks that meander throughout the valley bottom so I veered off into the forest at my earliest opportunity.

I might like these trails better than West Bragg Creek!

I was able to find my way onto some great trails that had been snowshoed and walked on making for some very sweet ups and downs through the forest, plenty of open side slopes with amazing views, and even some deer sightings.

The trail network in the park is amazing! I know people love riding the West Bragg Creek trails (45 min. drive west of Calgary) but I'd suggest giving Fish Creek a try if you haven't yet. With trails running everywhere you could play in there for hours and have a blast, all within the city limits. How cool is that?

2 hours later I was back on the train for the ride back to my little corner of the city. By the time I was done the temperature had dropped a few degrees, I was completely soaked from the effort and glad to be relaxing for the ride home.

My only hiccup was on the trip back - I wish I had brought a fresh sweater to throw on under my jacket to keep the damp, chilliness away. Nothing serious but I'll definitely remember for next time.

Dec 19, 2013

Winter Cycling Wear - Sean's Fatbike Commute

Perhaps the most asked questions and concerns from people when you tell them you cycle in the winter are -

"How do you stay warm?"
"What do you wear?"
"Are you nuts?!"

Edworthy Park, Calgary

Staying warm is not as big a deal as many might think. While riding in temperatures below -20c present bigger challenges, anything warmer than that doesn't require much in the way of special preparations.

For 0c down to about -15c most people will find that simply adding another layer to what they normally wear in cold weather is enough. It goes without saying that good gloves, a scarf or neckwarmer, and warm headwear are mandatory in the wintertime. It's very possible to be very comfortable in cold conditions - in fact, the biggest challenge is often over heating.

Double sundog rainbow man! Whoa dude!

So without further adieu, below is what I was wearing on my "long way to work" fatbike ride today. My ride took about 1-1/2 hrs and the temperature was a nippy -23c with not much wind. I was chilly for about 5 minutes (Protip: this is what you want to aim for) but quickly warmed up.

Winter cyclechic, 'Berta style!

Starting at the bottom and working up -

- 45nrth Fasterkatt winter cycling boots

- Hot Chilly's knee high wool ski socks

- cycling bibshorts

- Levis Commuter 511 jeans

- Ibex Woolies 150 long johns

- Mission Workshop Sanction Backpack

- Ibex Woolies 150 Long sleeve tshirt

- BikeBike mid-weight lond sleeve wool jersey

- Ibex WoolAire Jacket

- Louis Garneau Lobster style gloves

- Buff "poler" neck warmer

- Ibex wool beanie

- Lazer helmet

After arriving at work I simply peeled off the wool long john's and changed into my work shirt and shoes.

What do you find is the key to enjoyable winter cycling for you?

Oct 18, 2013

Ped Shaming?

Well, my tweet this morning complaining that the Calgary Police Service seems to be blaming the victims in a series of hit-and-runs over the last few days has got more than a few knickers bunched.

All in all, great to see so many people engaged in the conversation but still saddened that a few folks still don't see the real issue here - streets designed to move cars at all costs, including the cost to human life and human communities.

Here is the link to the CBC article in question as well as a link here to the other reports of pedestrian deaths this month.

See below...

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