During Bike Week, and possibly beyond, I will feature some cyclist profiles here on the wire. These will be profiles of regular people who ride bikes in the city. There might be the odd courier or cycling advocate thrown into the mix for good measure but, by and large these will be ordinary people who just want to ride.
Cyclist Profiles are a regular feature on I Bike TO.
Name / Occupation / Age
Sonnet L’Abbe/ poet / 33
What do you use your bike for?
Pretty much riding everywhere — every day I commute to work. Not after it gets really snowy but the cold doesn’t deter me.
How often do you ride?
Every day.
How long have you been commuting by bicycle and what made you decide to do it?
Well, I got a job and moved to where I live about three-and-a-half years ago and it is perfect bike commute distance. Wait, I had a bike before and I biked a lot then, but didn’t bike every day to work. It was only once I lived a nice 15 minute-ride away that I started commuting.
Can you give a brief description of your route?
Wonderfully flat ride along college from dovercourt and college to Beverley. There is a bike lane for part of it. Traffic is pretty congested in the morning, but because of the bike lane it is not so bad and there are lots of commuters. I think drivers on College are pretty aware of bikers.
What’s the best thing about commuting by bicycle?
I love the daily workout that doesn’t feel like a workout. I remember what my friend said to me after she switched jobs and had to switch and take transit, when she used to be able to bike…she said; you can’t buy that — the benefit of a bike commute. It’s both exercise and environmentally friendly. It wakes you up and it’s cheap. You just can’t purchase that as a product… anyway, she really missed her bike commute. And when I am off biking for winter, I do miss it.
Any advice for new riders?
Helmet.
What would you say to convince someone who is considering commuting by bicycle to get on board their bike?
It’s just such an easy and cheap way to get around — if you have the option — if you live downtown why wouldn’t you? It’s a no brainer.
What do you like about biking in Toronto? And dislike?
I like that I can get almost anywhere downtown in Toronto — I do think it is a fairly friend bike enviroment downtown, as opposed to the suburbs. I dislike the street car tracks, but I like the streetcars so I am very careful to cross at a safe angle.
Where is/are your favourite place(s) to bike in Toronto?
Well, I can tell you what my favorite bike ride was. It was when I went out to the bluffs with my office mate. It was a brutally long ride, but I’d never been there. It was just a really great experience to take this really long ride to such a beautiful place. And then put the bike on the streetcar to come back. I was beat and I was wearing the wrong shoes.
What’s your favourite cycling street in Toronto?
Harbord.
What’s your favourite piece of cycling kit/clothing/gadget?
Brakes.
Scary bike stories?
I just got hit a couple weeks ago. I was in the bike lane at College and Bathurst going east on College and the car beside me made a right had turn in front of me. I was a little banged up and shocked, but, yes, I was fine. There was an ambulance and the whole thing. It was a little scary. I’ve fallen on my College route before — bad falls, twice — the helmet saved me. I certainly would have hit my head really hard.
No, the cop didn’t charge the driver with unsafe driving, but did attribute fault to him. He [the policeman] told me that he was going to do that, like I might be really angry. And, I said I just wanted to talk to him, the driver, and the cop was worried because he said it often doesn’t go well when two people from an accident ‘talk.’
The policeman said because the driver didn’t ram me — that is, run into me with the front of his car — because he turned into me and my bike hit the side of his car, well, he said “you could have been safer…” to me. The driver was shaken too, he was in tears, bringing his wife and his wife’s mother to the hospital. He really didn’t need to be charged to know he had done something wrong.
It was just an accident, but even if nobody is to blame, bikers are really the vulnerable ones.
How could the City help you enjoy riding more?
More bike lanes.
How did you start biking?
My dad taught me on a banana seat bike in Calgary.
What sort of bike do you ride?
I have a hand-built bike from Velotech by Chris. He’s been really good to me. I love my bike. I had to get this one because my last bike was stolen off of the UofT campus.
Helmet or no helmet? Helmet.
Bikelane or no bikelane? Bikelane.
Anything else?
What are they going to do about the wobbly bike posts?
Crossposted to I Bike TO
2 comments
Would the cop have said, “you could have been safer…â€Â, if the driver had made a right turn into a car?
Silly me, policing is for the protection of property, not rights or safety.
When the cop said “you could have been safer” he really meant “you shouldn’t be riding a bike; it is childish, too dangerous in this city and you might dent cars when they hit you”.