Bicycle: 1 Phnee: 1

[mousme]

I didn't mention it in my last entry, but I have a new bicycle icon. Not quite representative of what I do with my bicycle, but it's nice and peaceful-looking.

Made it to work in 25 minutes this morning, due to no traffic and not having to stop every few minutes due to bicycle-related mishaps. I still had to stop halfway up Courcelles and walk my bike up part of the hill, but I am pleased to report that I got just as far up the hill as I did yesterday, and walked the bike the rest of the way to the traffic light. I am tired today and usually have breakfast when I get to work, so I was worried I'd run out of steam earlier, but it turned out okay.

The bike did score a point when I was trying to get it down the stairs. My pannier was heavier today (bringing lunch and books and stuff to work), and so the bike nearly got away from me and I bashed my elbow against the brickwork of the house, skinning it rather painfully. It's fine now, other than a small scab and some redness, but it's still a point for the bike. Right now the overall score is 7 to 2. Maybe tonight I'll try storing it in the shed out back.

I have been trying to follow dizietsma's advice, by riding safely but assertively, and following traffic rules as though I were driving a car. I signal my intentions (thank goodness I remember them from driver's ed.), stop at red lights and stop signs, and generally try to behave. I'm also really, really visible thanks to my shiny new yellow safety vest. The one thing I'm not clear on is whether I should or am allowed to change lanes like a car for left-hand turns. I have been going under the assumption that I am, but hanging out in the left-hand lane on a two-or three-lane street is pretty stressful. It beats getting off and walking the bike across the intersection, but if it turns out that's illegal then I will submit and walk my bike where needed.

Anyway, so far so good. If I can keep this up, I think I'm going to enjoy biking to work. It sure beats having to take the bus and the metro (which takes about as long, overall), although it felt kind of strange to leave in the "wrong" direction today. I may alternate taking my bike and taking public transit until I'm in better shape, physically. Right now my posterior is quite sore, lemme tell ya. I'll see how I'm feeling tomorrow morning.


I think that perhaps I won't go by St. Patrick anymore, though: it's under construction, and the lack of visibility there makes me a little nervous. It won't change much if I go via Jacques-Hertel and Monk, at least I don't think it will, and it'll avoid people honking at me (I believe the guy was just trying to "alert" me to his presence behind me, but all it did was startle the shit out of me: dude, I'm on a bicycle, which means I could hear you coming a block back!) and coming too close for comfort in order to pass by.

I bought myself two books on bicycling in Montreal yesterday, and I'm going to read those today, to see about getting around

Comments

[ai731.livejournal.com]

The one thing I'm not clear on is whether I should or am allowed to change lanes like a car for left-hand turns.

Yes, you are allowed and you should.

I was walking my bike across a busy, under-construction intersection yesterday on my way home from owldaughter's, and a car cruised through the intersection like I didn't even exist... *sigh* There will always be crappy drivers and the ones who believe bicycles don't have the right to be on their road.

I like the Jacques-Hertel and Monk route better than St. Patrick, too.

[palmir.livejournal.com]

I signal my intentions (thank goodness I remember them from driver's ed.),

Forget the right-turn signal from that class *right now*. Mirror the left-turn signal with your right arm (point in the direction you're going). That way drivers don't have to remember the arm signals from *their* driver's ed classes.

The one thing I'm not clear on is whether I should or am allowed to change lanes like a car for left-hand turns

Yes, you are. For a 3-lane road, the action looks like this: Head check, move to the left part of the lane, signal/head check, move into center* of middle lane, head check, move to left part of middle lane, signal/headcheck, move into center of left lane for turning. Note that this generally only becomes dangerous on high-speed, many-lane streets where it is harder to see you, and drivers have less time to react. Keep in mind that drivers can't see over vehicles that are taller than their car, so try to avoid merging in front of trucks and buses and other large cars.

* Move to center of the lane because these lanes will invariably be narrower than the right lane. TAKE THAT LANE! Don't let drivers think they have enough room within their lane to pass you. Because they don't.

[bodhifox.livejournal.com]

Down here you have every right to as much space as a car, unless it is on a restricted freeway. You can't ride bikes side by side though in the same lane, because duh, you couldn't with a car. And people do tend to take all the space you give them to pass in a car if you ride too far the right. My bicycle icon does not reflect accurately what I do with my bike either, but who knows, sometime, perhaps.

[whiskeygirl8.livejournal.com]

In my experience, being in shape will not help your butt pain. No matter what kind of shape I've been in (save for when I was a kid), bikes have always hurt my butt, be they stationary or regular bikes.

[dizietsma.livejournal.com]

Apart from the (insanely worded) rule requiring you to ride on the "extreme" right hand side of the roadway, you have the same rights as cars in terms of road position. That includes pulling into the left-hand lane in order to perform a left turn. If this intimidates you (and hell, turning left from Sherbrooke onto St Denis intimidates the shit out of me some days) you are also able to "box" the intersection like a pedestrian would do: ride over to the opposite side then wait on that corner for the lights to change. That approach is a lot safer and less harrowing on busy roads.

As for saddle-sore, expect it to go away after about a week if you're riding every day. If it gets too much, take a rest day. If it doesn't go away, consider a different saddle.

[chasingthenuns.livejournal.com]

be careful for the people turning right on red. if they do that in canada. i hate them.

http://bicycling.511.org/traffic.htm
that site's helpful.