Name / Occupation / Age:
Katrina Lee / Planner, Designer / 34
What do you use your bike for?
Mostly as a means of transport, leisure and for all types of cargo- Simple - my bike is my car!
How often do you ride?
Everyday in the summer, day or night, and as much as I can in the Winter when the roads are dry.
How long have you been commuting by bicycle and what made you decide to do it?
I sold my car when I left the film business, became a student and moved back to Montreal. After a long harsh Quebec winter, I needed to be outside as much as possible and have the city fully accessible to me. To make this happen, I went out and bought the first crappy CCM second hand bike. I paid too much for it too. That was the summer of 2003. I’ve been riding since.
Can you give a brief description of your route?
I stay close to the downtown core and so any route is possible although I prefer to take back streets rather than main ones. On a daily basis to work – east on Dundas from Ossington, through the Alexander Park, cut through the Queen.West neighbourhood, down Portland, then Camden until Spadina. Takes less than 10 mins which is awesome!
What’s the best thing about commuting by bicycle?
Firstly, that it simplifies my everyday life while having fun and a sense of mental freedom at the same time. I really miss it in the winter when I can’t ride as much.
Secondly, it’s just part of life like eating, sleeping etc. Not much in my daily routine needs to be altered just because I cycle instead of drive, and it doesn’t matter whether I’m dressed in torn jeans or a ball gown. Also, the city become so accessible when you feel like you can get virtually anywhere, park without problems, and at no cost!
Of course, I can’t forget the daily contribution to an environmentally friendly Toronto.
Any new advice for new riders?
- Make sure you get a bike you are comfortable with and that meets all your needs as a cyclist. There are so many types out there now and getting the right kind for you is an important personal choice to make if you’re going to enjoy cycling for as long as possible.
- Riding slowly is ok– everyone in Toronto is always in a rush from point A to B. There’s nothing wrong with taking it easy on a bike.
- Watch out for those street car tracks and car doors that swing open!…oh yeah, short sighted cab drivers too.
What would you say to convince someone who is considering commuting by bicycle to get on board their bike?
See my answer for the best thing about commuting by bicycle. Also:
For those with a socially conscious mind – it promotes a healthy lifestyle and environment, and the more people there are commuting, the more the city has to pay attention to our needs.
For those a little more image oriented – biking can be a great fashion statement especially if you get one that reflects your personality. I quote my dear friend, Tom Glenne of the band thetomglenne5.5, while he was in Amsterdam: “imagine you're at a busy intersection of a canal bridge, crowds of people and bikes around, big mess, and suddenly a stunningly beautiful woman wearing what'd pass as evening wear sails through it all without even blinking on an old style bike. wouldn't you be tempted to try to catch up if she gave you a smile as she shot past ?”
What do you like about biking in Toronto?
That compared so many other places, it is a bikeable city. Toronto is also reasonably flat which helps since I only have 3 gears. My friend visiting from Spain was really impressed and commented on how great the cycling is here. I think there is still so much to improve, compared to Copenhagen or Amsterdam, but it’s still so good to hear this. I’m also glad there that a there are now so many bike advocates these days.
What do you dislike about biking in Toronto?
- That to make significant changes to the bike infrastructure of Toronto, there are so many cultural and conservative mindsets that need to be changed. Where’s the “provide them and they will come” mentality?
- The vehicular traffic that constantly go into bike lanes to park or turn right. I believe that this is illegal and don’t understand why this law isn’t enforced?
- Pedestrians who are oblivious to the ringing of a bike bell and who step off sidewalks without looking out for bicyclists.
What is your favourite piece of cycling kit/clothing/gadget?
I love my bike so there are so many - my disc brakes (great braking when it’s raining), chain cover (great for skirts), bear seat protector for my brooks saddle (great for my butt) and loud ice cream truck sounding bell.
How could the city help you enjoy riding more?
I enjoy riding all the same. The question should be more about what can be done to encourage more commuter cycling. The city is concentrating on providing more bike paths which is great but they should take a look at the design and placement of new or existing ones. Unless the level of safety of the paths is improved, i.e. restricted to vehicular traffic, those who are scared of cycling in a city will still not bike.
Instead of being beside the curb, doesn’t it make more sense to have street parking zones on the left side of the bike path with a concrete barrier between the two? That way, a car will never cross through a bike path to park. Even better, raise those paths up one level, like a sidewalk, and provide dedicated traffic lights for the bike lanes. The more that is done to raise the level of cycling as a form of commuting, the higher the likelihood that cyclists will be respected.
From the driver’s point of view - right now, there are many complaints about the lack of respect from a cyclist towards vehicular traffic. With proper bike infrastructure, cyclists will be more inclined to stick to bike paths, stop weaving through traffic and running red lights. For example, I follow the road rules more in Copenhagen where the bike paths and infrastructure make so much sense, than in Toronto.
Scary bike story?
Cycling through traffic in Copenhagen during 5pm bike rush hour for the first time, not knowing the proper hand signals of the culture and almost causing a domino effect bike accident. I also almost got rear ended by a cab this spring at Queen and Portland – that was bad too.
What sort of bike do you ride:
Pashley Princess Classic.
Helmet or no helmet?
No helmet, although I don’t suggest that others follow this example.
Bikelane or no bikelane?
Either one since bikelanes here don’t make cycling that much safer.
Comments
Zhan (not verified)
"The vehicular traffic that
Tue, 07/03/2007 - 11:15"The vehicular traffic that constantly go into bike lanes to park or turn right. I believe that this is illegal and don’t understand why this law isn’t enforced?"
A. Yes, cars parked in the bike lane is dangerous for cyclists and illegal. Pick up those "don't park in the bike lane" flyers for free at Urbane Cyclist and post them on the cars that do that.
B. Cars should pull into the bike lane to turn right. That's why the solid line becomes dashed. It is the proper thing to do and also the safest. Cyclists who try to pass right turning cars on the right are just waiting to be hit. It may be annoying for the cyclist, but it's not that hard to go around on the left or wait a few seconds behind the car as it turns.
With that said, I had a wonderful experience with right turns along Gerrard St. last week. I was biking west along Gerrard and at Yonge, a car was turning right, properly taking the bike lane. One cyclist was patiently stopped behind the right turning car. I was a bit behind so as I approached, I glanced to my left, and move to the left to pass the right turning car. A motorist honked at me even though there was plenty of space. She then yelled a few profanities and zipped by me. A bit further along Gerrard, at Elizabeth, a car turned right and did not use the bike lane (at least he signalled). The car behind that one was the same one who had honked at me earlier. She had come to a complete stop to turn right, so naturally, I kept on going along in the bike lane, albeit very cautiously. I think she wanted me to stop to let her turn right. This was emoted when she angrily yelled "STO-O-O-P" at me. After I passed her, she made her right turn and called me an "a**hole." This incident clearly indicates that motorists have no clue how to handle right turns with bike lanes. First, she didn't like it that I had taken her lane to pass on the left at Yonge. Then, she didn't like the fact that I passed her on the right when she failed to take a lane that fully belonged to her.
I almost think that bike lanes should disappear altogether at right turns. Motorist won't have to worry about blindsiding cyclist who think that bike lanes are a magic shield from cars.
Anyway, the moral of the story is that right turns are dangerous for cyclist in a bike lane. Never pass right turn vehicles (bikes or cars) on the right.
cyclist (not verified)
Instead of being beside the
Tue, 07/10/2007 - 17:43Instead of being beside the curb, doesn’t it make more sense to have street parking zones on the left side of the bike path with a concrete barrier between the two? No. It's horrendous. You're stuck there behind slower cyclists, you are invisible to right-turning motorists, you can't do a proper left turn. Cyclists are part of traffic and should be on the road. Quit complaining about drivers doing the right thing and just learn to ride the bike like a legal vehicle that has the right to the road instead of trying to make us pedestrians on wheels. If you want to be a pedestrian, why not just leave your bike at home?
herb
"cyclist": quit being a jerk
Tue, 07/10/2007 - 19:55This is border-line trolling. At the very least if you're going to make such remarks put a real name down or risk getting deleted.
It seems as if you've picked up John Forrester's fanatical exclusion of any infrastructure to help cyclists as well as his snobbish attitude towards any cyclist who is not as skilled as he is. John has long made the argument that separated bikeways are dangerous, yet we see European countries such as Denmark and The Netherlands that have an abundance of bikeways as well as slower and constrained urban automobile traffic and have much lower cyclist injuries and deaths than the U.S. John Pucher, Professor of Urban Planning, makes an excellent argument (pdf) that Forrester largely ignores these larger issues.
Educating all the cyclists out there to drive like a vehicular is not going to be enough to shift the trip modal split towards bikes. It's going to take some drastic infrastructure changes which will involve a variety of tools such as separated bikeways, speed bumps, road tolls, bike lanes, roundabouts, and other automobile traffic calming measures that won't impede bike and pedestrian travel.
You'd be good to also read this: http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/01/02/the-case-for-physically-separated-...
Looking at actual cyclists behaviour in Toronto's bike lanes reveals that cyclists here rarely make vehicular left-turns.
herb
roundabouts
Tue, 07/10/2007 - 20:05Now I'm not as sure if roundabouts are better for cyclists or not: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundabout. Wikipedia says they can be dangerous for cyclists. From my experience and from what I heard of bike routes in Vancouver that have roundabouts, roundabouts are a quick way for cyclists to travel along side routes without having to stop at every four-way stop.
An example in Toronto is Broadway, though there they cheated by putting in stop signs and a roundabout.
darren
types of roundabouts
Tue, 07/10/2007 - 21:20Herb, even though the wikipedia site doesn't classify them like this, there's a big difference between the type of roundabout seen at the intersection of two arterial roads and the type that can be used to calm traffic in the middle of a neighbourhood.
The ones that I saw in Vancouver, and that you see in the Bike TV video about Berkeley, are designed with a large island in the centre that forces a car to slow down as they round the island.
This is different from the large roundabouts in the UK that are designed to have cars get through as fast as possible. In the UK, even many of the small roundabouts in residential neighbourhoods don't even have an island, and instead just have a painted white circle, allowing the cars to cut over the circle and take the corner at high speed. I wouldn't see either of these UK roundabouts as an improvement to our roads, but the Berkeley style ones could make a huge difference on our our "designated bicycle routes" instead of 4-way stops.
-dj
anthony
Other roundabouts in the city
Wed, 07/11/2007 - 22:46There's also the roundabout at Elm Ridge & Old Park, but it too has stop signs, not yeild signs. And it's rather large.
But the one does does seem to work pretty well most of the time is the one on Windemere Ave at Coe Hill Dr.
I'd like to see more like this.
There are other intersections that I'd like to see turned into roundabouts, but that should be it's own thread somewhere else.
John Spragge (not verified)
Roundabouts & other matters
Thu, 07/12/2007 - 05:33Baby Point Road and Humbercrest Blvd in the West End have a Broadway-style traffic island in the intersection; useless as a roundabout.
As for separated cycling facilities: I like the idea of separated cycling lanes. Separated lanes have a huge number of advantages, with safety from cars and motorist harassment the most important. Unfortunately, in the context of Toronto, two issues arise: first, the city has to maintain them in the winter, and second, they have to allow safe crossing of cross streets and safe turns into local streets. I support bike lanes of all types, but they only work if they get people where they want to go.
Darren_S
being a jerk
Wed, 07/11/2007 - 08:24Come on Herb. Keep it up and you will not get an invitation to "Make a like car and ride the 401" event next week.
joe
Broadway Roundabouts
Wed, 07/11/2007 - 09:27I used to live on Broadway... those roundabouts are useless...
But, a lot of people don't know that they used to be bigger - unless they've repaved the road recently, you can still see the previous, larger diameter of them by the seam in the pavement ... they were 12-18 inches bigger all around.
Cars actually had to slow right down to get around them, as opposed to right now where they slow down moderately and just steer through the intersection (only one of them has stop signs).
I suspect drivers complained about slowing down so the city changed the size (this would've been in the mid-90s, sometime), but speeding cars still crash into them. Broadway recently got speedhumps (last summer) too.
If the roundabouts were the original size, they'd be fantastic at a ton of residential intersections all over the city to slow cars down. They look nice too... trees and shrubs are planted in the middle.
vic
Separated lanes
Tue, 07/10/2007 - 22:04I have to mostly agree with "cyclist".
I'll use those goofy separated lanes in Montreal and other parts of Quebec as an example. There were SO many things annoying and wrong with them that I lost count:
I've never experienced well-designed separated urban bike lanes yet. I'm sure they exist, but I've never seen them.
It's a matter of design. You can't just make a separated bike lane and call it a benefit for cyclists. It could very well be more dangerous.
If they're going to put in separated bikeways, they really need to design and implement them properly. They should function with all the benefits of regular roads, but just without automobiles on them.
BoGoWo
Katrina's travels (and tribulations)
Mon, 06/30/2008 - 11:06Unfortunately for TO, Katrina, a former active member of Architecture4HumanityTO, has taken flight again, this time to Denmark. We all miss her infectious smile, and wise approach to the environment. [ which reminds me, i'll have to see if her blog is active again,
she suffered a lapTop 'crash' while travelling the Mediteranian, and i lost contact ].