u/2Tun21

I am just curious, on some rides with friends, I keep getting asked "Why do you have a kickstand" and I point out I use my bike outside of just riding on the weekend. But it seems like there is a real dislike of kickstands on bikes. Most center around weight, others around aesthetics. I actually think the rear mount kickstands look really fine when in transit mode, and the utility of the stand is undisputed in my mind. If I have to grab something, or be off the bike, the stand goes down, and boom, the bike is stable. I don't have to search for something to lean the bike against, I always have a support ready to go.

Anyway, I don't get the hate, but maybe one of you has a better explanation of why the kickstand deserves the disdain it gets from like, 90% of the biking community?

Was a really nice day in the city today, got out to the river, rode around some parks, everything felt crisp and fresh. I had to stop on the bridge because the river was so glorious looking with a great blue sky.

J'espère que ta journée a été géniale aussi!

Heads up that there is a police operation happening on Rue Magnus, police have blocked off the street in front of the house. At least 4 patrol SUVs are at the location.

https://saaq.gouv.qc.ca/en/road-safety/modes-transportation/bicycle/accessories

Since the Gatineau and MRC des Collines police love to enforce this, and I like having nice pedals, I modded my pedals to meet the stupid requirement for reflectors. Tape was less than eight bucks at Canadian Tire, and I have a lifetime supply based on the length of the roll. Cut some strips, pasted them to the pedal axle, boom, reflectors so bright they can be seen from space.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/unep-climate-paris-global-warming-9.7329305

Thanks Cars. Not entirely your fault, but significantly your fault.

No idea how to dig us out of this. Had a somber ride around town on my bike today, just really depressing that we knew this could happen, could have prevented it, but leadership ignored it because everyone at the top was just making so much money.

Council is back from our summer constituency break, and I wanted to give you an update on some major improvements we’re making to Calgary Transit.

We’ve modernized the behind-the-scenes technology that tracks and manages our fleet of more than 1,000 buses and shuttles across Calgary.

The new system connects operators with our Transit Control Centre. It provides better navigation, construction and detour information, and better communication when there’s an incident or emergency.
Crucially, this means you’ll be seeing much more accurate bus locations and arrival times when you’re planning your trip.

You’ll also start seeing new information screens onboard. They show upcoming stops, estimated arrival times, requested stops and service updates.

They’re already installed on 100 buses and shuttles. Starting in October, we’ll begin installing them across the entire fleet.

We’ve also launched the new 503 Symons Valley Express between Sage Hill and downtown.

It makes fewer stops and runs in both directions throughout the day. That’s a change from the old express model, which was mostly built around getting people downtown during the morning rush and back home at the end of the day.

The new 500-series will run throughout the day and connect into transit hubs and local routes, so it works for more than the traditional downtown commute.

The 503 is the first route. We’ll be watching how it performs as we look at bringing this type of express service to other parts of Calgary.

Lastly. We are getting more out of the service we have, but we need more of it, period.

We know there’s tremendous need for more service, especially along the Green Line corridor. The Calgary region has been adding around 100,000 people a year, and our transit service needs to keep up.

That’s why, as we head into the budget, I’m working to get a net increase in transit funding overall, with a particular focus on the Green Line corridor.

Thanks Calgary. There’s more work underway, and I’ll keep you posted.

Remember, it's cyclists who are entitled.

Carbrain blames illegal/dangerous activity of fellow carbrain on cyclist.

So I was thinking about this, since as someone who is on a bike, we get called "entitled" a lot. I'm going to put aside the number of motorists I see rolling through stop signs, blowing red lights, on their phones, and various other actually dangerous things that you shouldn't do when in control of 1.5 tons of rolling steel.

Let's just talk about us. Looking at the above photos, the first three are crossings, some that are heavily trafficked by bikes, how many of us actually get off our bike like that sign tells us to do?

For the next two photos, where there is a stop sign on a MUP for bikes, but not for cars going the same direction, how many of us actually come to a full stop, vs the Idaho Stop?

My personal opinion on these, is that the bridge is just an MUP, and can be crossed on a bike. The stop signs are pointless, and probably encourage accidents more than they prevent. I'd much rather just a yield sign for bikes, so I know that I have to slow and let cars through, but not stop.

Final photo is just a weird area I encountered recently, where there is what looks like a crossing, but no indication for cars to yield to bikes. It isn't for pedestrians, and the approach for the bikes does not have a stop sign, so I just wondered who had priority? From what I've seen, cars just ignore the bikes waiting there and don't even bother slowing down (although the STO drivers always stop, which is kind of them!)

This was all prompted by a question about reflectors, since QC law requires front and rear, pedals, and tire/wheel reflectors, none of which can be replaced by lights, which seems silly. Also, the bikes must ride single file law, which is objectively more dangerous, as is the law requiring bikes to be as far to the right as possible on a road, which in practice prohibits 'taking the lane', the safest way to cycle and be visible if there is no other alternative than riding on the road. It just bothered me a bit that our objection to some of these rules/laws was seen as entitled, by people who don't seem to have ever tried biking. Curious what the communities thoughts are on these things.