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General cycling issues (Is Toronto bike friendly?)

Filip said:
Drivers are always demonized on this website (especially in this thread) yet I don't think I've ever had to dodge cars going through red lights or coming down the sidewalk at 30km/h when I'm on it.

Respect for cyclists is earned, and most don't respect them right now.
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As a pedestrian, I often have to dodge cars almost making turns into me when they don't have right of way. And a car hitting me is much more likely to result in death than a bike hitting me.
 
Sure. No one disputes that. I think the issue is that cyclists can, and do, injure pedestrians, and need to respect pedestrians and pedestrian crossings. Most cyclists do. But the fact that a car that ignores flashing crossing lights, or zips past a stopped streetcar with passengers getting off an on, is way more likely to result in a fatality than a bike doing the same thing doesn't mean that we should be unconcerned about the risk of injury caused by cyclists failing to pay any heed to pedestrians. It's common sense - nobody is entitled to break the law and in doing so place other road users at risk.
 
steveintoronto said:
It's been a while since I've done the Belt Line. On Saturday I did GO to Rouge Hill Station, and then the Bluff Path west, up the Doris McCarthy Trail to Bellamy, and then up to Eglinton GO Station, just a short trip really....but then curiosity got the better of me, I love tying together segments to make a longer and better trip, so took the path from Eglinton GO to Brimley, found a track through the continuation of that green corridor to get me almost to St Clair and Midland, past the Scarborough station along St Clair until Kennedy, through the cemetery until Birchmount, through St Clair park to almost Warden, down the Gus Harris Trail to almost Pharmacy, laneway through Crescent Town to Vic Park, up to the beginning of the Taylor Creek Park Trail, onto the Don Valley and Bob's your cycling uncle across town...

There's obviously some on-street, but the vast majority is trail. Real happy with myself, albeit repeated it Sunday to fine tune it and maximize the green running.

Any other suggestions most welcome! The trick is to get across Toronto with maximum trail in green areas.
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I do a lot of the same kind of riding (when I can), but you're a lot farther east, so the Warden Woods/Crescent Town/Taylor Creek part of what you described is the only part I'm familiar with. (One day I'll get out to the east end and ride the waterfront to the Rouge and beyond ...).

One of my longest routes has been, starting from around St Clair & Dovercourt, up to Belt Line, east to around Davisville, Colin/Edith to Chatsworth Ravine, across to Sunnybrook, Barber Greene/Greenbelt to Moccasin Park, Victoria Village/Wexford to Kennedy Station, southwest to Warden Woods, zigzag down to Balmy Beach, MGT to the end of the Don Trail, turnaround at Pottery/Brick Works, Milkman's Lane, Sherbourne, Front/Wellington, Dan Leckie, MGT to Roncesvalles, across High Park, down Windermere, up the Humber to just north of St Clair, down the Railpath.

I also like trying to follow the parts of the Belt Line that didn't get turned into a trail (around South Kingsway) but it's very approximate.
 
Filip said:
Drivers are always demonized on this website (especially in this thread) yet I don't think I've ever had to dodge cars going through red lights or coming down the sidewalk at 30km/h when I'm on it.

Respect for cyclists is earned, and most don't respect them right now.
Click to expand...

I've lost track of how many motorists blast through making left turns long after the green and amber arrows disappear and the walk signal comes on. Or how many who don't stop before making a right on red, nearly clipping pedestrians with the right of way. And how many cars make full and complete stops at stop signs?

Does this mean I have to disrespect all motorists, if that respect is earned?
 
Filip said:
Drivers are always demonized on this website (especially in this thread) yet I don't think I've ever had to dodge cars going through red lights.
Click to expand...

I have. I've seen cars going through reds 2 or 3 at a time. I've had to jump out of the way numerous times while crossing on a green ped signal where a driver had insufficient patience or consideration to obey the signed rule about yielding to peds. And I'm sure I'm not the only one who's tried to use a crosswalk only to observe a driver completely ignoring its existence. Cars are far more of a danger, and a more frequent one, to me as a law-abiding pedestrian and cyclist than 99.99% of other cyclists out there.
 
Skeezix said:
Sure. No one disputes that. I think the issue is that cyclists can, and do, injure pedestrians, and need to respect pedestrians and pedestrian crossings. Most cyclists do. But the fact that a car that ignores flashing crossing lights, or zips past a stopped streetcar with passengers getting off an on, is way more likely to result in a fatality than a bike doing the same thing doesn't mean that we should be unconcerned about the risk of injury caused by cyclists failing to pay any heed to pedestrians. It's common sense - nobody is entitled to break the law and in doing so place other road users at risk.
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I'm not excusing cyclists from breaking the law. I'm just saying that motorists don't deserve my respect any more than cyclists since a portion of both groups exhibit the same type of behaviour.
 
the lemur said:
[...] Cars are far more of a danger, and a more frequent one, to me as a law-abiding pedestrian and cyclist than 99.99% of other cyclists out there.
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That's not my experience. Cars are far more of a danger (especially those left turns), agreed, but we differ on the frequency. As someone who walks from the Danforth to the Financial District (and then back again) most days, cyclists are far, far less likely to stop at pedestrian crossings than cars. And at stop signs it's usually cyclists, more so than motorists, who aren't paying attention and almost clip me. The numbers are not even comparable.
 
The other issue is snow which makes Toronto a limiting place for riding a bike. 5-6 months ride time per year for me. Elevated laneways like the one on Sherbourne are ridiculous when you see the handful of bicyclists in winter.
 
You easily get more than 6 months of cycling if you are willing to put on gloves and a jacket. You can usually do April - November (8 months) pretty easy, March-December (10 months) if you are pushing it. I do all year round typically, but in winter use the TTC on days it snows and the deep freeze days when its -20 out. Probably average 2 or 3 commutes a week on bike even in January and February.

Its really not hard to do either, just gotta make sure you dress for the weather. balaclava, gloves, and jacket, and you are good to go all year round. A balaclava is at most a $20 investment anyway.
 
LNahid2000 said:
I'm not excusing cyclists from breaking the law. I'm just saying that motorists don't deserve my respect any more than cyclists since a portion of both groups exhibit the same type of behaviour.
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Except motorists are liable for an entire litany of fines, consequences (criminal, civil and financial) and are almost always caught.

Cyclists do the damage, do whatever they need to do and bike away - Bob's your uncle. They have no requirement to carry ID or anything identifying them when interacting with the police or facing fines.
 
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