4 posts tagged “bikes”
Their I sit on asphalt delivery guy gets our his car apolgizing. It a short 2.5 k ride with slight incline. I normally take the 10 Ave bike street home. Today was different I decided to stop at the store and get some dinner. It was about 5:30 and it was dark. I was riding with my helmet and two small but working bike head lights. I rode up 13 Ave at a normal speed holding a quart of milk and sandwich in small shoping bag. A door up opens quickly and I tired to move around but before I new it I was feel down. Hitting my Right Shoulder first. It hurt and I was a bit shook up. I could feel my shoulder and knee burning. The man in the 1980' BMW got out of his and apolgized. Although that it was nice that he apologized. I felt that he was selfish for not looking before he open his door and threw my off my bike
Well I now at home with a sore shoulder and a bruise ego but I think hopefully I be ok.
Brian
Last nights Critical Mass ride started with the air of a party. The First Biker I met came by with an open box of chocolates. Of course there was normal talks about bike and the holidays. It really was not a massive group about 30 bikers were at the Art Gallery. One female biker was talking about trip she taken to Mexico were she was acting as observer journalist. Her skills likely came useful later in the nights ride.
For the benefits of readers that do not live in the Vancouver area our City will be Hosting the 2010Winter Olympics and Vancouver's Mayor has made cracking down on social disorder a top priority. Biking with-out a helmet was named as a top cause of social disorder in Vancouver. In this backdrop there increased reports of Bikers in Vancouver getting tickets for running stop signs and not having lights on bikes at night.
At about 6pm the group of Mass rides grew to about 80 rides. I always amazed the range of people that come to ride on Critical Mass. There are the people you expect Young Bike Messengers riding their fixed gear bikes. It the riders you don't except that make the ride so joyous. A guy used his bike as RV with BBQ and cooler attached to a extra long frame. Their are older folks that ride 3speeds with mental fenders and young guys riding an extreme mountain bike with disk brakes rotors that rival the size and stopping power of a full size SUV.
At the start of the ride there were a few announcement about a party at local club with a cover charge that seemed like the main concern to the ride leaders. I always wondered if the people make that important annoucement get a cut of the door take. There was very short safety briefing by a guy who told us that all riders were part of one big bus.
The group was off we went down one set of blocks and turned up Granville Street and then past the Main Library down to Hastings street up the hill toward Commercial drive no real problems except that the riders has spread out over about three blocks.
All of a sudden a gray unmarked police car blocks traffic for the ride at a Commercial Drive intersection at this point I knew the ride was going to have problems I have never seen VPD help a Critical Mass ride before so I decided to speed up and catch up with the pack next thing I know women tells the pack to pull over and we stop by old body shop and wait.
Reports and rumors fly someone got a ticket for not having a helmet, someone else got a ticket for not having lights on their bike and then after about five mins a clean cut guy who has said he was from Toronto a few mins before ride started rode by the pack yelling out "I going home this is getting weird".
The pack talks about if bikes should go back to the police site to support the rider(s) that got sited. No one really seems to want to turn the ride into an all out confrontation and group stays put for about 10 mins listing to box radio playing dance music. Then another cell phone call comes in and its reported to the group women making the announcements at the start of the ride had been arrested and being taken away in a wagon.
The women with cell phone asked people to go back the site of the police incident but there were conditions and well I broke off with a group of about ten riders that decided to the club that was hosting the after ride party that really was not going to be much of party after all. When I got club a young guy that ride a home-made that put him high up in the air started tried to make everyone feel bad because we did not go back to support the other riders.
I decided to nicely tell this guy I did not agree with him and last thing I heard out of his mouth was I glad I did not get a ticket. Which was how I felt myself and I decided to ride home and eat dinner.
Updated Jan 1pm
A rider that was corking (or interacting with drivers) stopped an un-marked police car he was ticketed and two other riders intervened on the corke's behalf were ticked by police for not wearing helmets. One female rider that was very vocal was hand cuffed by police and taken by wagon and later released before being brought to the station for booking. (This is a typical tactic of VPD. Vancouver riders will have to wait for the next Mass to if this type of incident occurs again.
I took this dutch bike for a ride. To be fair I took women's bike since I have short legs it was the only that really fit me.
The bike has very upright ride and good tries, but i felt its really not a bike Vancouver with the type of hills we have here. It great bike for riding short distances on flat ground. The I rode had 8 internal gears which would work good for riding over bridges and up some hills, but the bikes internal shoe brakes do not have the kind of stopping power I have grown to enjoy with current bikes hand pull disk brakes.
The bike has very good fenders and pump and lock built-in.
But for over 1000.00 you could likely but two good bikes with disk brakes for the price of the 8 speed model.
