Beyond Strava Cycling Club

[TYMSMNY]

ah I see. awesome. I guess I'll see you all on the road... or.. the beyond strava page at least.

[megavolt]

Registered. Looks like none of you ride east from downtown.

[benyl]

Too scary to ride in the east side of the city. haha

[megavolt]

Just gotta ride fast... crack/meth heads can't run very fast. If you really try hard might be able to outrun a bullet... :P

[HHURICANE1]

Just joined up.

[phreezee]

Lots of PRs broken yesterday, good job guys!

I've extended my commute a bit this week to take advantage of the nicer weather.

[bigboom]

I hate to be the buzzkill around here because i'm definitely a cycling advocate but I just want to say that maybe we keep the strava segment competitions off the pathways...the last thing we need is pedestrians complaining about speeding cyclists and bringing out more bylaw enforcement.

I'm definitely not innocent of speeding on the pathways especially when i'm late for work but calgary has only recently become more cycling friendly and the last thing we need is to piss off pedestrians.

Doing laps up the edworthy hill and climbs would be awesome competition but for flat TT type stuff on MUP's lets not broadcast it to the world on here

flame away...

[phreezee]

As always, just use common sense. If there's traffic, slow down and be respectful of other users.

Those "segment competitions" are meaningless anyway, since there are so many variables. That's why I give kudos mainly for PRs.

Use it track your progress, and ignore the segment leader boards if you want. Use for just the social aspect. There's something in it for everyone.

[benyl]

I look at some of the KOM times and ask myself how it is possible given pedestrians and other traffic.

Last night was crazy busy on the paths.

[phreezee]

The following is an aside from Strava, and just a rant by me

I don't think the city has gained any acceptance for cycling, but infuriated the majority with experiments like 10th St. The city is only being more concious of cycling so they can deflect from the real problems of poor infrastructure, poor transit, and high parking fees. Just by some of the threads on this forum, I'd venture to say there's more opponents to cycling now. I have not seen any real changes in the past few years.

Last month I jogged by a By-law officer with radar at over 10kmh and watched him pull over average middle aged people on cruiser bikes. Of course there was a camera crew there also, and when the wife saw it on the evening news that night, she laughed and asked "why are those people being pulled over?" It's ridiculous.

I think an honest discussion is needed regarding speed.
Most cyclists I encounter are travelling 25-35kmh on the pathways and it would be far better to accept the norm and educate the public so they are aware rather than hide it.

I fully understand wanting public acceptance and not creating negative views, but we need an honest starting point. 10-20kmh limits are not reasonable. Real solutions would be to up the limit and educate the public, or dedicated pathways.

/end rant

[benyl]

I posted this to my facebook yesterday:

"At the start of my commute home, I have to ride about 500m on the road before reaching the path on the bow river.

Today, a motorist was kind enough to point out that "you're not a car!" I was completely caught off guard by this comment as no one has said anything to me in the last 10 weeks of riding.

He was correct as neither I nor my bicycle is a car. Captain obvious. And well, a complete douche canoe."

Fuck him and where he comes from. I have lost 10 lbs and take 1 car off the road and that helps with traffic.

I do agree that we should have dedicated bike lanes where the limit is 30+

[bigboom]

I agree that yes there is still a lot of public education to be done but I started commuting about 5 years ago. When I first started there was very little in the way of cycling acceptance/infrastructure/popularity.

Take a look at the new finger trap bridge if that bridge was built and completed a few years back there is no way there would have been a dedicated bike lane.

Another change that has been made on my commute is on 3rd ave west. It leads directly onto the pathway with priority given to bike traffic.

Even with the 10st bike lanes at least they are trying...in terms of volumes of people cycling it has exponentially grown over the last 1-2 years, the number of commuters i see now is way higher even in the winter months.

Earlier this year I rode and chatted with 2 bylaw officers on the pathway after catching up to them (obviously i was going a bit faster then 20km/h) he said their main intent is not to slow down cyclists but to ensure that the pathways are being shared properly and safely.

I'll make an analogy to road cycling...as a roadie i'm always upset when a car bullies me because they have the power to kill me/injure me with very little effort. I liken cyclists on the pathway to cars and pedestraisn to roadies...we can seriously hurt pedestrians so we need to be a little more aware and cautious of what we are doing.

I have seen way to many ignorant cyclists cutting it too close when dealing with pedestrians...i can probably blow through the pathways at 40+km/h if i wanted but all it takes is a ring of a bell/pass and a pedestrian turns left instead of staying on the right and i seriously hurt someone.

I think the only real way to co-exist properly is to have dedicated cycling infrastructure and i'm not sure if any of you have heard of Bike Calgary but they are an organization trying to support cyclists...
http://bikecalgary.org/ join the organization and you'll be updated on all of the intiatives they have.

Oh and in no way shape or form am I saying anyone here is ignorant I'm jsut saying there are idiots out there that ruin it for everybody.

[phreezee]

I fully agree with your message of staying safe out there.

There are idiot cyclists, drivers, pedestrians, dog owners, etc. Minimize your risks and those immediately around you. As Beyond says, "govern yourself accordingly" LOL

I once had a cyclist tailgate me, call me an asshole while blowing by me as I slowed down for a pedestrian and then proceed to almost run into the pedestrian.

I've also had cars cut me off turning right inches in front of me. I've had a driver yell "fuck you, bike boy" for absolutely no reason coming out of Tuscany.

It's the world we live in and all you can control is yourself.

[benyl]

hahaha:

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a70_1348113498

[lilmira]

I don't understand why people walk on a dedicated bike path when there is a big wide walking path right next to it.
Then you stare at them, the dotted line on the ground and they give you a confused look lol.

At one of those charity walks, everybody walked on the bike path. I had no other choice but to use the bigger walking path, works for me.

[msommers]

Captain of the douche canoes You can't even get off your bike and attempt to rip the guy out of his car because he'll probably just run you over!

Regarding safety, it's just a fact that common sense and common courtesy doesn't exist in the average citizen, and thus have to protect your own interests at all costs even if that means slowing down for people or completely being in the right but swallowing it. Plenty of my friends that also commute to work in the core have their share of stories with idiot drivers and just randoms calling them out like, "Get a car you poor ass", while she responded, "I have one but thanks!" I've only biked through the core a few times to go pick up my car from the night before and even then it's past rush hour and I still feel on edge. I don't know how you guys put up with it.

[phreezee]

Lots of people at the office saying this week is their last week for the year. Weather has been pretty nice, but it will suck when it's dark for both rides in and out. You guys have all your lights in order?

[benyl]

go in late, leave early? haha

[phreezee]

For the first time in ages, the forecast was spot on about the rain! Brought my rain gear

[phreezee]

I'm taking Friday off, looks like everyone is slacking this week

Beyond.ca
Week of Sep 24 - Sep 30
17 RIDES
187.1km DISTANCE
7hr TIME
1,200m ELEVATION