Pet Peeves on the Goose

Anonymous Author I’ve been cycle commuting to school and work for about 40 years now and it’s fantastic to see more and more people bike commuting on our trails. As ridership increases however, I’ve seen some worrying trends emerge. Here are a select few etiquette requests to make sure everyone’s ride is safe and enjoyable. 1. Lights – as the summer recedes and our days get shorter the need for bike lights increases.

Please make sure your headlight is angled down towards the ground a few feet ahead of you. If pointed straight ahead, they can be blinding to oncoming users, potentially causing an accident. Many lights have low, medium, and high output settings and in most cases the low setting is sufficient and, as a bonus, saves battery power. Additionally, please avoid using the flashing or strobe settings after sundown.

This setting can be very disorientating for other trail users and can also promote epileptic seizures in those susceptible. 2. Speed - please maintain a reasonable speed, slowing down especially around bends or corners. Always assume there are other cyclists or pedestrians around blind spots and use your bell in advance. If you are a slower rider, make sure to stay to the right to allow others passing on your left. 3. Overtaking – give pedestrians and other cyclists plenty of space when passing and use your bell or clearly say “on your left” in advance. You’ll often get a wave or a “thanks” from those being overtaken. On narrow sections or when there’s oncoming traffic, please wait to overtake until it is safe to do so. You may lose some momentum, but will avoid a crash. 4. Paying attention – keep your head up, eyes forward, and use all your senses. Earbuds and headphones and checking your phone while riding means you may not be aware of your surroundings because your hearing is compromised and your reaction time will therefore be slower. 5. Riding two abreast – Where the trails are narrow and/or busy, please stick to riding single file. There is not enough room on some sections of our bike trails for riding two abreast. If everyone heeded these points our trails would be much more relaxing and safe for everyone to use. Fall Riding Traditions: Michael Fisher

ACapital Bike tradition for many years has been to organize group costume rides for Halloween, formerly called Spooks and Spokes, and Christmas, now called the December Lights Ride. The rides always attract large numbers of riders of all ages, out to enjoy the fun and sights of the season. In this post COVID reawakening, it feels so good to be out and about again. Part of the tradition is to immerse yourself in the joy of the season by decorating your bike or dressing up. One year a couple of enterprising riders wore dinosaur costumes while riding their bikes for Halloween. On the December ride one year, Greg, who is famous for his impressive decorations and costumes, transformed his bike into Santa’s reindeer sleigh. That was the year the rain gods decided to “bless” our ride, and we were envious of Greg’s plastic rooftop providing some shelter. During the holidays there’s no better way to see the lights displayed on houses around our beautiful city, and lights flashing from over 100 bikes always bring oohs and aahs from neighbourhood kids who think a parade is passing their house. While drivers struggle to find parking on crowded streets, our cycle tours glide by in a glorious cacophony of laughter and light. The rides are in the cooler and wetter months of the year, so dress warmly for maximum enjoyment. Riding in the dark when you are wet and cold is not fun! It gets dark early during each ride, so safety means wearing a helmet and having working front and back lights. Each ride will be a maximum of 10-15 kms over 1-2 hours, so it is a sedate pace for even the most novice of cyclists. We hope to see you there!