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I don’t get why these boards hate me and refuse to post my posts. They show up and I make one little edit and POOF. Is there just a backlog of a million posts from me just floating in cyberspace? lmao. One more try.
Yeah. Tuesday was very, very interesting.
I left late that day to give the ploughs a chance to go through. I wasn’t too surprised when they hadn’t gone out then yet either, assuming they’d save it for later in the day so as to get the bulk of the snowfall.Boy was I wrong. They were egging out every last drop of that “24h after snowfall” line.
I reported my whole commute leg to 311 and the plows rolled out. Contacting them on twitter seems very effective as they’ll respond back. They got around to all the online tickets as well.But I’m sure they were extremely busy the past few days on account of the ice.
When reporting the ice as followup please mention that the bulk of it was due to late snow clearing. They have to make sure their contractors know that if they leave it too long to get trampled on by normal traffic then its going to be nearly impossible for them to remove without large formations of ice.
I get it’s hard for them to respond to sometimes on time but they could’ve rolled out by 10am that day in the busy sections like Eau Claire.Here’s Bowmont Tuesday evening.
Grab the numbers on the buses (both the route and the bus number on the back), time of incident, and file it with calgary transit. I’ve had to put in tickets on a few buses for poor driving, including passing on the right, and I’ve always gotten an email back about actions being taken followed by a period of not having trouble in that area for a while.
Lights enough to see what’s in front of you is good of course.
You must get up really early. I haven’t seen any ice yet. My double ice spikers turn heads they’re so loud. I wish they were as quiet as humming bees.
Tonight riding home around 5pm I didn’t see anyone without lights, but 80-90% of who I did see had annoying blinking white lights. One dude was blazing along on his roadie at 35kmh with a literal strobe light. Street signs were reflecting a disco rave. What is wrong with people? You’re going to blind everyone on the pathway just so you can have a car swerve towards you on the road because you’re also blinding them and causing the fixation effect with the blinking? Where did common sense go.
You forgot to charge your front whites and they’re low on battery, that I can understand putting it on a blinky mode home. Anything else and there’s zero reason not to have it solid, pointed down and on a medium setting when on the pathway.
I don’t know. Maybe it’s personal preference on the road. But not on a pathway. Lots of pedestrians in my view reacting to his idiocy. 100% pointed straight ahead.Goodbye October.
Tires are finally on and 100% overkill. Hopefully that means no excuses from me getting to work on time all season, and the city leaving some compact layers around for me. Seems random which contractors go to bare pavement and which do hardpack.Lots of info there matt. Have you left any suggestions at 311 under Community Traffic – Cycling Inquiries?
https://calgary-csrprodcwi.motorolasolutions.com/Public/Home.mvc/Index
Good ride today. I worked from home Tuesday because I’m a wuss. And my balloon tires slide sideways at the slightest hiccup. Definitely misjudged that wind though. Jeans were not the play. Put on my pogies once I got in the door too. Will probably be too warm for them the rest of the week but I’d rather be too warm and take my mitts off than have sad fingers. Guess it’s time to order those tires.
Hey Richie, still have the ice spiker? I might take you up on that. Had a set of the ice spikers from mec in my cart but haven’t pressed order. Is it a 54-559?
Has anyone estimated the % time saved riding an ebike on their commute versus a regular hybrid commuter bike? I’m wondering what the time savings/% average speed increase would be to determine if worth investing in for a longer commute.
It’s an interesting question, I think, because you have to factor in the pathway speed limit. If the vast majority of your route is on pathway, then it won’t change much aside from making everything more consistent. If you’re doing it purely to go faster, I would recommend against this just because the more people causing problems the more crack down there will be. If it’s mostly on road, more options open up. The first person to cause a serious scene on an ebike is going to cast a huge shadow on the public’s mind.
Here’s my experience. This summer I bought an ebike. I was worried that having that power available, I would be more inclined to make poor decisions, such as going when I shouldn’t or riding faster than I should. Or misjudging.
Before, I was too weak and too sick to keep up with anybody on the pathway. When I first started I could easily ride 25-28kmh in the summer, but slowly and slowly I found myself dipping under the 20kmh speed limit or often crawling at 10-15kmh. Which really put a damper on my commuting. The ebike makes everything consistent, even if I’m not feeling well.It also makes it possible to keep up with the speeders on the pathway. To see what they’re really doing. To evaluate peoples/pedestrians complaints.
Without a doubt, those folks whizzing on the pathway are maintaining 30kmh. The fastest fellow I followed behind for a several km clip was maintaining 35kmh. It’s given me perspective: is 20kmh really an appropriate speed limit for a commuter bike path? Would I endorse a 30kmh speed limit (or rather, 32kmh, as is the popular 20mph moniker)?My opinion is this. Yes, I think 30kmh is an okay speed for the pathway system.
However. Every single person I found doing that speed was the same person who was not giving others ample warning when passing. They would not ring a bell, or would not merge into the full other lane. They would not slow and were very pushy about passing. On THEIR time. In short, they did not care at all about the experience of anyone else except themselves. If the other person did not figure out they were passing they did not care. And that I can’t support at all. I’m comfortable enough saying fuck those people. If you do this, fucking stop. That’s it. Point blank.Riding an ebike gave me perspective on how users want to use the pathway in regards to speed. But to my first concern, about whether it would encourage me to ride worse, I actually found the opposite. The bike made up for any of my weaknesses and inconsistencies, which meant that passing when I shouldn’t pass did not become more of an issue. I did not misjudge passes, because in every scenario I played it safe knowing I’d have the ability to make up for it and the momentum was not a problem. I had the power, and I did not need to “use that power” against “others” to “get my way.” The power meant I could wait.
Do I feel like everyone on an ebike would respect this? No. Would they ruin it for everyone else? Yes. I think that people by nature are selfish. So I’m torn.The basic math is simple but extremely variable.
If you’re riding a hybrid bike and averaging 20kmh, but every so often you dip to 10kmh or have several start or stops, it’s going to be very different on an ebike where you’re averaging 25kmh, with no dips, and your stops are faster to get going. But what of hills, conditions, and distance?For me, my commute is 18km and the route home is all uphill. It has several roads. On my hybrid, while sick, it was hard for me to maintain a steady speed. So let’s say the morning ride would be around 45m on average, ranging 40-50. And the afternoon ride would be around an hour and 20 minutes, ranging 1:10-1:30. In the winter or poor weather, add another 10-20 minutes. The ebike made it so both ways was a consistent 45m. If I was speeding, at best I saved up to 35 minutes. So, not really worth it in the grand scheme of things. I think if speed is imperative, and the distance is long, it crosses into automotive territory for consideration. Ten minutes isn’t enough for me to change modes or ride recklessly, especially when there’s some common sense available to balance the situations.
If we think of it in terms of regular time/speed/distance.
An 18km route at 20kmh with no variation and no stops will take 54 minutes. At 25kmh it’s 43.2 minutes.
For a 10km route, 20kmh is 30 minutes. 25kmh is 24 minutes. 30kmh is 20 minutes.
For a regular bike, factor in speed variation/skill level at speed maintenance, wind factors, and uphills (or down).
For an ebike, consistency is much easier, wind becomes no problem and hills become no problem. You can maintain the same speed, or very close to it. So on average, I would say it does not necessarily make the commute faster at all, unless you have factors that prevent consistency. If consistency (health, wind, hills, skill) is an issue, the ebike can save time.For me it was night and day and I would not look back. I love the ebike and wish I could subsidize them for everyone in the city. But I’d need to think about it more. For example, do I unleash 32kmh beasts, or 25kmh? Definitely no throttle [and frankly the rest of the world doesn’t even consider those bikes, as they shouldn’t]. I think a torque sensor or combined torque sensor is a must as well. Then battery level becomes a consideration, and weight… The “perfect” ebike doesn’t exist yet. But hopefully soon.
I think the fall weather will definitely come back. We always get a spell of that. As they call it… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_summer
However I’ll be buying my winter tires pretty soon here… Since they’ll likely be an online order and will need to wait for delivery. Considering some mr tuffy liners to go with them but maybe I’m just being overly paranoid about what I’ll need with a 60lb ebike.
Think I’ll do the ice spikers, even though I have a feeling this winter will be pretty “neutral.” In the off chance we get that weak el nino, plus the fact I’m going to work earlier in the mornings now when everything (could be) still frozen, better safe than sorry? Hmming hawing.
Took the bike out for a spin on Monday morning. Full road commute. Was awful! Great by noon though.
weird. well. copy paste. trim me if my post double posts.
<Hey Crivak… just curious about your sub-optimal experience with the Gravdal. I used to run a Hakkapolitta and nobody seems to carry those anymore and I needed a new front so Gravdal it was. The Hakka is now on the back for the winter wheelset. So was it on your front tire or back or both? Do you run higher or low pressure? Was your flat as a result of something penetrating it… or sidewall issue… seating it… etc…?
The Gravdal was on my rear. I purchased 35mm Marathon Winter Pluses from BowCycle, but they only had one left in stock. So they put on the Gravdal to compensate. They only had a 38mm left, so the bigger tire went in the rear. The first flat was along a side road in Bowness that was nothing but ice and snow. It was a mystery as to why it went flat. I stopped by BowCycle as well and they couldn’t figure it out, but replaced my tube for me and checked the rubber. The second flat was a thorn of sort, and I’ve been pulling steel threads from cars out of it as well. It just seemed like, compared to the Schwalbes, it had no puncture guard. To be fair, the Schwalbes puncture resistance is a high bar to meet.
I dropped the bike off last winter at Ridleys so they could put my winter tires on for me while I was at work. The fellow there wanted to put the Gravdal on front because it is more aggressive than my marathon winter, but I insisted it be placed on the rear since I did not trust the tire. To give it credit, no flat last year. I ran a mix of high and low pressure depending on the conditions but nothing that affected the flats I believe. Maybe the gravdal is just really reliant on a highly resistant tube, where the marathon can protect even a lower end tube.
As for studs. I think it’s definitely personal choice. My first winter I didn’t use winter tires. But if you tend to ride fast in the summer, winter might be a culture shock. A fellow here in Calgary recorded this video, “Do you need winter tires?” https://youtu.be/boxgUF3ZahQ
Most would recommend at least a single studded tire in the front. Since if you lose control of the front, you probably lose control of the bike moreso.
Here’s an older video where I rattle around after an icestorm without studs (marathon 700×32). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaW_qnRlFbI
My advice would be if you feel like you might need them or want them, even for mental reassurance, then you can’t go wrong with a pair of marathon 700×35/38 winters. And they’re reasonably priced all considering. Regarding timing, still humming and hawing myself. Calgary weather keeping us on our toes.hm. am I crazy? did my post not go through? maybe I shouldn’t stay up so late. it says the post is there.
Oh. Might as well share this.
Don’t normally have the GoPro on or running anymore as I swapped to a rack and pannier. My mount was always on my shoulder strap so still deciding where the best place for it is now. However I took the backpack with me this week to get a video from 2019 before the snow falls. It’s from midweek so unfortunately I missed the “golden” showing on Friday.Here is my commute ride from Silver Springs to Inglewood. Word of warning I used my Spotify overlay and it rendered very loud, so mute or reduce it before playing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUZj6Rb4XJoInteresting. Your experience with the Gravdal is opposite mine. It’s the only tire I’ve ever had a flat with in five years. The marathon pluses were bombproof, though…
Perhaps I should give the 45NRTH another shot.Cold and rainy, but this is the golden season for sure. Lots of good yellows and oranges.
I should probably be thinking about studded tires for the new bike. Thought I might swap back to the normal winter bike but I can’t imagine giving up the pedelec quality of life anymore. Running some Big Apples right now and the ride feels like a jackhammer sometimes though. Not sure how a swap to something like the marathon winters will be, even at 40mm or whatever they reach to now. Any suggestions? Pretty sure I still have some time/weeks to think about it before needing to get them in on pavement to set.
I guess a tire size might help here, huh. I’m not sure actually. Company site lists 55-559 big bens. So assuming some sort of 26. Will have to look on the sidewall tomorrow morning.
Oh I missed this post.
So there actually was an issue a while back regarding that very same overpass, and transit overpasses in general regarding bicycles. It was on Twitter, so I might have to do some digging, but maybe the same user will show up and post it again or tell their story.
The long and short of it is a sign randomly showed up declaring for bicycles to dismount at the transit overpass. “No Bikes” or something like that. There was pushback because it is labelled as a regional pathway, and many university goers used it as their commute route. This particular post was from a professor, I believe?
Anyway the result was that a ward Councillor stepped in and had it clarified. As a regional bicycle route. The sign was removed.
I believe this was Druh. She might be a good first stop in someone to ask.So, I believe there is simply some red tape here because of Calgary Transit. Two different parties are trying to make rules for something and it’s getting confused or jumbled. Especially for the Peace bylaw officers who are just trying to do their job.
Shortly after all this I was looking at that route myself and was curious. Then I took the route a few times so I could get video of it.
It’s an important connection to be sure. But I hated riding it. It absolutely is not good bike infrastructure and I can see why they wouldn’t want people riding it, especially while busy or with a wave of train goers just getting off. It was fun to do the route once to see it but I absolutely avoid it for my regular route. Dunno what I’d do about it if the University was my destination though. 311 would hate me 🙂My recommendation?
Put in some 311 tickets for a new overpass bridge. For example there are two bridges at Dalhousie Station. If Dalhousie has two, why shouldn’t the heavier use University have two? Preferably a better design than the dalhousie small one though. And with a better ramp than what they have at the uni now.New crossing at the (greatly) needed Parkdale Blvd/Kensington Road intersection.
Happy to see it pop up the past few days and in heavy use.
