Pedal to the mettle

Today marks the end of Bike to Work Week and the beginning of Bike Month in Vancouver. This page is a former regular cycling commuter, but as a result of a change in employment, I switched my religious affiliation to Pedestrian. The distance between my home and my office makes for a pleasant walk, and on the bike it would be a short and stilted commute.

While this city puts the rest of the country in terms of the number of active cyclists, we are still, in some respects, a few spokes short of a wheel. Cycling connections to other Lower Mainland municipalities remain inconvenient because of the megaproject obsessions of Translink and the Ministry of Transportation. Bad driver behaviour continues to threaten cyclists, particularly hotheaded leadfoots who treat cyclists as a threat to their fuel-injected manhood and equate the term "Bikeway" with the term "shortcut". It also doesn't help that many cyclists undercut the credibility of fellow riders by refusing to wear helmets, ride on sidewalks or against the traffic, and pass others without signalling.

While its one thing to celebrate our two-wheeled wonders, it's another to, as far as events like the World Naked Bike Ride let us, seriously address these issues so that people are less reluctant to put down the car keys and pick up the handlebars. Enjoy the ride, and use what's under the helmet to help others join the ride.