{"id":1929,"date":"2007-05-28T13:06:10","date_gmt":"2007-05-28T17:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingtoronto.ca\/?p=1929"},"modified":"2013-01-21T14:41:46","modified_gmt":"2013-01-21T19:41:46","slug":"cyclist-profile-john-the-messenger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2007\/05\/28\/cyclist-profile-john-the-messenger\/","title":{"rendered":"Cyclist profile — John the messenger"},"content":{"rendered":"

During Bike Week<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n

Cyclist Profiles are a regular feature on I Bike TO<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Name \/ Occupation \/ Age<\/strong>
\nJohn Martin\/ cycle messenger and stained-glass artist\/ 35<\/p>\n

What do you use your bike for?<\/strong>
\nWork and well, largely work\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

How often do you ride?<\/strong>
\n6 days a week.<\/p>\n

How long have you been commuting by bicycle and what made you decide to do it?<\/strong>
\nWell I ride for work, so my job is riding, so, I don’t know… the romance of the road. Haha. I thought it would be a fun job, but didn’t intend to be doing it this long. It will be 10 years in October.<\/p>\n

Can you give a brief description of your commute route?<\/strong>
\nJust College and Dufferin into the downtown core\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6usually along College or Dundas or Queen depending on where my first call is. Sometimes Harbord.<\/p>\n

What’s the best thing about commuting by bicycle?<\/strong>
\nNot getting stuck in traffic<\/p>\n

Any advice for new riders?<\/strong>
\nAssume every car is about to hit you. Just make sure you have an escape strategy for every car… doors opening, unexpected U-turns, stopping suddenly in front of you… drivers are cocooned in their little metal worlds and they’re not aware of what is around them — only what is in front of them.<\/p>\n

What would you say to convince someone who is considering commuting by bicycle to get on board their bike?<\/strong>
\nAs long as you don’t ride like an idiot — it is safer than you might think.<\/p>\n

What do you like about biking in Toronto?<\/strong>
\nThe freedom that it affords you to access all our city has to offer.<\/p>\n

And dislike?<\/strong>
\nProbably the lack of cycling infrastructure. I wouldn’t say bike lanes per se, but bike-friendly streets and proper locking posts and facilities. Get rid of the lollipops. Have you seen what is happening in Parkdale — those posts<\/a> are fucking brilliant — there are multiple lock up points per post. Why is it that psychiatric survivors and an artist can come up better locking posts than City Hall?<\/p>\n

What’s your favourite cycling street in Toronto?<\/strong>
\nHarbord.<\/p>\n

What’s your favourite piece of cycling kit\/clothing\/gadget?<\/strong>
\nDisc brakes and the Crank Brother’s multi-tool<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Are you a member of any cycling organizations\/clubs?<\/strong>
\nNope.<\/p>\n

Favourite bike stories?<\/strong>
\nRiding in the Himalayas four times. Forty-five-K downhills\u00e2\u20ac\u00a630 kilometre climbs\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6real chai\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6and the mountains.<\/p>\n

Scary bike stories?<\/strong>
\nToo numerous to tell.<\/p>\n

How could the City help you enjoy riding more?<\/strong>
\nEducate drivers that cyclists are another vehicle and not a piece of sports equipement, that we get a lane.<\/p>\n

How did you start biking?<\/strong>
\nTurning around and seeing that my dad wasn’t holding the seat anymore and then falling.<\/p>\n

What sort of bike do you ride?<\/strong>
\nRocky mountain Vertex 70 and a Misfit single speed 29er.<\/p>\n

Helmet or no helmet?<\/strong> Situational.<\/p>\n

Bikelane or no bikelane? <\/strong>No bikelane with a caveat: allowed use of full lane.<\/p>\n

Crossposted to I Bike TO<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 whoContinue reading “Cyclist profile — John the messenger”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4021,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,21758],"tags":[5812,315,22089,5808,2493,965,5805,5806,5809,5811,5807,26,22085,316,19,5810],"class_list":["post-1929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bikes","category-community","tag-35-what","tag-artist","tag-bikes","tag-cycle-messenger","tag-cycling-advocate","tag-cyclist","tag-haha","tag-john-martin","tag-just-college","tag-little-metal-worlds","tag-messenger","tag-people","tag-politics","tag-queen","tag-toronto","tag-vertex"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCyclist profile - John the messenger - Spacing Toronto<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2007\/05\/28\/cyclist-profile-john-the-messenger\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cyclist profile - John the messenger - Spacing Toronto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"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 whoContinue reading "Cyclist profile — John the messenger"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2007\/05\/28\/cyclist-profile-john-the-messenger\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Spacing Toronto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2007-05-28T17:06:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-01-21T19:41:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/farm1.static.flickr.com\/248\/517981177_aa45085262.jpg?v=0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tammy Thorne\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Spacing\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Spacing\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tammy Thorne\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2007\/05\/28\/cyclist-profile-john-the-messenger\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2007\/05\/28\/cyclist-profile-john-the-messenger\/\",\"name\":\"Cyclist profile - John the messenger - Spacing Toronto\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2007\/05\/28\/cyclist-profile-john-the-messenger\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2007\/05\/28\/cyclist-profile-john-the-messenger\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/farm1.static.flickr.com\/248\/517981177_aa45085262.jpg?v=0\",\"datePublished\":\"2007-05-28T17:06:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-01-21T19:41:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/0b9c43e1c5cec910066c03921f25ab5d\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2007\/05\/28\/cyclist-profile-john-the-messenger\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2007\/05\/28\/cyclist-profile-john-the-messenger\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2007\/05\/28\/cyclist-profile-john-the-messenger\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/farm1.static.flickr.com\/248\/517981177_aa45085262.jpg?v=0\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/farm1.static.flickr.com\/248\/517981177_aa45085262.jpg?v=0\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2007\/05\/28\/cyclist-profile-john-the-messenger\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Cyclist profile — John the messenger\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/\",\"name\":\"Spacing Toronto\",\"description\":\"Canadian Urbanism Uncovered | Toronto Architecture, Urban Design, Public Transit, City Hall, Parks, Walking, Bikes, Streetscape, History, Waterfront, Maps, Public Spaces\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/0b9c43e1c5cec910066c03921f25ab5d\",\"name\":\"Tammy Thorne\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fb4dd1ed07af695d17ee8b21cc8dc122?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fb4dd1ed07af695d17ee8b21cc8dc122?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Tammy Thorne\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/spacing.ca\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/author\/tammy\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Cyclist profile - John the messenger - Spacing Toronto","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2007\/05\/28\/cyclist-profile-john-the-messenger\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Cyclist profile - John the messenger - Spacing Toronto","og_description":"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 whoContinue reading \"Cyclist profile — John the messenger\"","og_url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2007\/05\/28\/cyclist-profile-john-the-messenger\/","og_site_name":"Spacing Toronto","article_published_time":"2007-05-28T17:06:10+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-01-21T19:41:46+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/farm1.static.flickr.com\/248\/517981177_aa45085262.jpg?v=0","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Tammy Thorne","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Spacing","twitter_site":"@Spacing","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Tammy Thorne","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2007\/05\/28\/cyclist-profile-john-the-messenger\/","url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2007\/05\/28\/cyclist-profile-john-the-messenger\/","name":"Cyclist profile - John the messenger - Spacing Toronto","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2007\/05\/28\/cyclist-profile-john-the-messenger\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2007\/05\/28\/cyclist-profile-john-the-messenger\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/farm1.static.flickr.com\/248\/517981177_aa45085262.jpg?v=0","datePublished":"2007-05-28T17:06:10+00:00","dateModified":"2013-01-21T19:41:46+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/0b9c43e1c5cec910066c03921f25ab5d"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2007\/05\/28\/cyclist-profile-john-the-messenger\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2007\/05\/28\/cyclist-profile-john-the-messenger\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2007\/05\/28\/cyclist-profile-john-the-messenger\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/farm1.static.flickr.com\/248\/517981177_aa45085262.jpg?v=0","contentUrl":"http:\/\/farm1.static.flickr.com\/248\/517981177_aa45085262.jpg?v=0"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2007\/05\/28\/cyclist-profile-john-the-messenger\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Cyclist profile — John the messenger"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#website","url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/","name":"Spacing Toronto","description":"Canadian Urbanism Uncovered | Toronto Architecture, Urban Design, Public Transit, City Hall, Parks, Walking, Bikes, Streetscape, History, Waterfront, Maps, Public Spaces","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/0b9c43e1c5cec910066c03921f25ab5d","name":"Tammy Thorne","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fb4dd1ed07af695d17ee8b21cc8dc122?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fb4dd1ed07af695d17ee8b21cc8dc122?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Tammy Thorne"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/spacing.ca"],"url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/author\/tammy\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4021"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1929"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1929\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38510,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1929\/revisions\/38510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}