Categories: cycling | drivers | toronto
Yesterday, someone asked me how I was finding cycling in Toronto.
"Oh, it's great!" I gushed. "I love it. Toronto is so great on a bike."
But how are you finding the awful Toronto drivers? they wanted to know. And I was actually taken aback.
"I haven't really found them bad at all," I said. I didn't really know what he was referring to.
Well naturally I jinxed myself, and today I am enraged at Toronto drivers. Without going into ranting details that will bore anyone but me, I will say that I *screamed* at a driver for the first time in my 8-year cycling career today, and also had a terrible experience while trying to make a legal left-hand turn at a busy street. Apparently the only thing more enraging (far more, it would seem) than a car holding up traffic to turn left... is a cyclist.
Which leads me to my next point. A reader a while back commented on my "Google Bikemaps Please" post (via email) and said:
As a long time bike commuter, the safest thing you can
do on a bike is act like a car. If the map gives you
car directions, you should follow them for the most
part.
Right now, in this moment, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say... fuck that. You know why? Because I realized tonight that I exist with a constant state of low-level fear in me, every time I ride on a busy road. Every time I hear a car coming up behind me, my nervous system reacts. It's often subtle, but it's pervasive, and it sucks. It sucks to fear for your life while you're trying to do the right thing.
Drivers are not careful about cyclists. They turn right in front of you and don't notice (or care perhaps) that they've cut you off. They yell at you out their windows for slowing them down on their way to the next red light. They pass too close and freak you out. They open their car doors into your path.
Besides all THAT, street-level pollution is disgusting, and poisonous, and you only get one set of lungs.
So tonight, I will admit that I am in a bad mood because I had two bad experiences today, but I am here to say that I will take side streets when I can. I will take alleys. I will do my best to follow the rules of the road, but if I occasionally need to go the wrong way up a quiet residential side street, as long as there's no cop on said street, I'll do it. And I don't think it's so bad.
At least I can enjoy the ride.
Best of luck with your
Thu, 2007-06-28 01:11 — Karen (not verified)Best of luck with your cycling adventures, Sarah! I find that the street structure in downtown Toronto is not conducive to finding longer roads that aren't frequented by cars...which just means lots of weaving. Then again, I hardly ventured outside of the West Queen West / Chinatown area on my bike due to my paralyzing fear. My fear of Toronto is only eclipsed by my fear of Burnaby highways! And let it all out at a critical mass...unless, of course, you feel it is foolish.
Be sure to check out the new bike maps
Sat, 2007-06-30 15:44 — Sandy Kemsley (not verified)As frustrating as Toronto drivers are, you can likely avoid a few stresses by using the new bike map to find bike-friendly streets (those with bike lanes) as well as bike paths: http://www.blogto.com/city/2007/06/2007_cycling_maps_are_out/