{"id":2603,"date":"2008-02-11T19:00:42","date_gmt":"2008-02-12T00:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingtoronto.ca\/?p=2603"},"modified":"2013-01-21T15:30:04","modified_gmt":"2013-01-21T20:30:04","slug":"winter-cyclist-profile-geoffrey-bike-pirate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2008\/02\/11\/winter-cyclist-profile-geoffrey-bike-pirate\/","title":{"rendered":"Winter cyclist profile – Geoffrey, Bike Pirate"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Name \/ Occupation \/ Age<\/strong>
\nGeoffrey Bercarich\/ Student \/ 23<\/p>\n

What do you use your bike for?<\/strong>
\nI bike to and fro between York University and my home at Queen and Shaw.<\/p>\n

How often do you ride?<\/strong>
\nEvery chance I get I ride my bicycle.<\/p>\n

How long have you been commuting by bicycle?
\n<\/strong> Since 2001. I started riding a Bike Share<\/a> bike to and fro between home and high school.<\/p>\n

What would you say to convince someone who is considering commuting by bicycle to go for it?<\/strong>
\nIt’s cheap and effective. It brings speed, liberty and freedom to persons in transit. You’re not trapped in a tunnel or encased in a car’s cage.<\/p>\n

When did you start commuting in winter and why?<\/strong>
\nSince 2001. I never saw a problem with riding in winter.<\/p>\n

What are the biggest challenges for winter bikers in Toronto?<\/strong>
\nThe disappearance of poor city street infrastructure under plowed snow, like bike lanes and much needed curbside. You must take your place as a cyclist in the lane-way, sometimes blocking the cars.<\/p>\n

What could the City do to make winter biking better?<\/strong>
\nPlow the roads to the curb. Plow the bike trails that are not connected by roadways.<\/p>\n

What reaction do you get from co-workers?<\/strong>
\nSame as in summer; disbelief that I ride a bike. More so in winter than summer. People at York University do not ride bikes, and I am taking environmental studies.<\/p>\n

What’s the best thing about commuting by bicycle in winter?<\/strong>
\nThe speed of getting through slow, bogged down cars in traffic. Every car in winter
\nis slower and on alert for snow and ice that can brake their car’s… paint.<\/p>\n

Do you use a different bike for winter riding?<\/strong>
\nI constructed a special bike for winter. I constructed it from a donated frame from Bike Pirates<\/a>. I built new wheels with a fixed gear for added breaking power, and used special touring tires for good traction. It’s my winter bike so I clean it every night after my daily ride.<\/p>\n

Can you give a brief description of your route?<\/strong>
\nIt’s 20 miles. I try to avoid hills as much as possible. Biking up to York I go up Caledonia, until the 401. Then I’m stumped by car traffic. I get by.<\/p>\n

Where are your favourite places to bike in Toronto? Least favourite?<\/strong>
\nThe Martin Goodman Trail. I learned to ride a bike on that stretch of pavement. It’s unfortunate that there are extra poles that are designed to catch cyclists in their ride and cripple them. I have had friends hit hard by these traffic calming instruments near the Queen\/King bridge that links to the lake shore. The Martin Goodman Trail has been, and is, my least favourite and also best place to ride.<\/p>\n

What do you like about biking in Toronto in winter? And dislike?<\/strong>
\nThe feeling of a simple life. There are greater opportunities to be the only vehicle on the road during the dead of winter. It’s my dream to ride on a car-less road.<\/p>\n

Have you ever combined transit and biking or used a bus bike rack?<\/strong>
\nNo, I don’t trust bike racks. Subway travel is hard to handle with the bike.<\/p>\n

What’s your favourite piece of winter cycling clothing?<\/strong>
\nA proper shirt is key. Wool it up over winter, it can save your life.<\/p>\n

Any bike gadget\/gear winter cyclists should not go out without?<\/strong>
\nGloves. Some people get desperate and use cooking mitts — and they do the trick to stop wind chill. Always were tights or long underwear to help keep your knees warm and in proper rotation.<\/p>\n

Are you a member of any cycling organizations\/clubs? If so, which ones?<\/strong>
\n Bike Pirates<\/a>. I got a good winter bike there. The Community Bicycle Network<\/a> helps me stay informed with bike mechanics.<\/p>\n

Favourite winter bike stories?<\/strong>
\nThe winter storm before Christmas that stopped all cars in their tracks. I used their tracks as a bike plow system to do my “Holiday Shopping”.<\/p>\n

Scary winter bike stories?<\/strong>
\nEvery time you fall (you fall a lot more in winter then in summer) it’s no good, but it’s easier to fall on ice and snow then asphalt, I think.<\/p>\n

Anything else? <\/strong>
\nLook into the Martin Goodman Trail traffic calming posts in front of the Boulevard Club <\/a> (page 2, item 2) <\/em>on Lakeshore. Cyclists are the only real traffic calming tool.<\/p>\n

Make it safe for bicycles and you will calm car traffic to a safe pace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Name \/ Occupation \/ Age Geoffrey Bercarich\/ Student \/ 23 What do you use your bike for? I bike to and fro between York University and my home at Queen and Shaw. How often do you ride? Every chance I get I ride my bicycle. How long have you been commuting by bicycle? Since 2001.Continue reading “Winter cyclist profile – Geoffrey, Bike Pirate”<\/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":[7,21758,13,9],"tags":[2072,2045,7701,1158,965,23,5198,1813,1448,26,7700,316,7702,7699,7698,19,55,592],"class_list":["post-2603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bikes","category-community","category-green-space","category-traffic","tag-boulevard-club","tag-car-traffic","tag-car-less-road","tag-christmas","tag-cyclist","tag-environment","tag-geoffrey-bercarich","tag-martin-goodman-trail","tag-paint","tag-people","tag-poor-city-street-infrastructure","tag-queen","tag-queenking-bridge","tag-real-traffic-calming-tool","tag-subway-travel","tag-toronto","tag-weather","tag-york-university"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWinter cyclist profile - Geoffrey, Bike Pirate - 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\/2008\/02\/11\/winter-cyclist-profile-geoffrey-bike-pirate\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Winter cyclist profile - Geoffrey, Bike Pirate - Spacing Toronto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Name \/ Occupation \/ Age Geoffrey Bercarich\/ Student \/ 23 What do you use your bike for? 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