Cars and Bikes

Between 1975 and 2008 Transport Canada Statistics reports that 2,315 cyclists have between killed by cars. The above picture gives an idea of what this looks like, showing 2200 people gathered for a running race.

In that same time period 255,000 people in Canada have been injured by cars while riding their bikes. To put that in perspective the population of Saskatoon is 230,000 (below).

"PARIS OF THE PRAIRIES"

I find the battle between cars and bikes interesting. In general cars do not respect bikes as legitimate vehicles with a right to be on the road and cyclists respond by living up to lowered expectation. People generally conduct themselves in part based on the expectation placed on them by their circumstances. For example I say things at a bachelor party I would never say at work even if the same people are present. Just go out for beers with co-works next Friday after work to see this phenomenon in action.

The same rule applies to cyclists. When I drive my car I generally abide by the laws of the road. When I ride my bike along the same streets in the same after work rush I seem less likely to abide by all the rules. I don’t go running red lights or weaving in and out of traffic but like after work beer time I defiantly apply a less conservative interpretation of the rules of conduct.

It’s a positive feedback mechanism; the less respect cyclists get on the roads the greater their feeling of lowered expectations and the less likely they are to follow the rules, angering more motorists who in turn lose more respect for cyclists lowering expectations further.

In cities like New York things has deteriorated to all out war. Cyclists join urban riding clubs for protection and even hire riding coaches to teach them how to “street ride”.

Campo teaches folks how to "street ride," a culture mixed with bike messenger-styled aggressiveness (yes, we scream at drivers and pedestrians not giving us the right of way) and staying safe.

READ MORE: DAILY NEWS ARTICLE

If every cyclist followed traffic rules as strictly as motorists I think much of the animosity between the two groups would be alleviated. Driver respect would increase thus increasing the expectations placed on cyclists which would further reduce lawless cycling behavior and ultimately make the roads safer for riders.

On average 23 cyclists are killed In New York by cars. There are no winners in war only dead cyclists and manslaughter charges.

23 NEW YORKERS

Second-hand Rant

It takes 4.6 minutes for a cigarette to be smoked according to the Canadian Cancer Society.

The average human takes 12 breaths a minute (Principles of Anatomy and Physiology, 6th edition, New York: Harper-Collins, 1990)

This means that there are approximately 55.2 breaths of smoke in a single cigarette.

[4.6 minutes times 12 breaths a minute equals 55.2 breaths to finish a cigarette]

I understand that there are all kinds of different variables that would affect the amount of time it takes someone to smoke a cigarette including the type of cigarette and the type of smoker. I also understand that the smoke from the end of the cigarette is different from the exhaled smoke. According to the Canadian Cancer Society the smoke exhaled by a smoker is only slightly less toxic then the smoke from the end of the cigarette as the smoke inhaled is pulled through a filter. The Cancer Society also mentions that of the 4.6 minute burn time of a cigarette only 30 seconds are inhaled by the smoker. So for the intent of this argument it is prudent to say that in each cigarette there is approximately 55.2 breaths of smoke, each containing more than 4000 chemicals of which several are know carcinogens.

Now like most people in North America I am subjected to second hand smoke despite my best efforts to avoid it. I work downtown and in my daily routine I, on average, inhale second hand smoke 8 to 10 times a day.

[I get my first hit as I get off the bus in the morning and walk by the University campus main building entrance, I get hit a second time as I enter my office building. I get a third hit as I leave my office building for my daily tea run and a fourth time returning from my tea run. I take my fifth “drag” leaving at the end of the day; my sixth is at the university on the way back to the bus stop. Once at the bus stop I am hit at least once if not twice by people either at the stop or walking by.]

These are my guaranteed drags and don’t include the random hits I get whenever I’m outside walking anywhere.

So if I am taking at least 8 smoke filled breaths a day that means that I am subjected to 188 smoke breaths a year.

[52 weeks/year minus 5 weeks of holidays equals 47 weeks times 4 work days/week equals 188 days a year]

That means in a year I take 1,504 smoke filled breaths which is equivalent to 27.2 cigarettes if we remember 55.2 breaths taken to finish a cigarette.

[188 days times 8 smoke filled breaths a day equals 1,504 smoke filled breaths a year divided by 55.2 breaths in a single cigarette equals 27.2 cigarettes]

27.2 cigarettes a year, that is #%@&#*@ insane!!!!!!!!

27.2 cigarettes a year just to go to work. How is this legal? I really want to hear a smoker defend forcing me to smoke 27.2 cigarettes a year against my will.

What about the alcoholics’. They should be allowed to pass out shots of whiskey on the street corner. Here kids have a swig, sorry you have no choice, it’s the price of walking down this public street, it’s my right to drink and thereby force you to drink….

Somebody please explain this one to me. If I were to stand out front of my office building and shout obscenities at passersby it wouldn’t be long before I was arrested and most likely fired, however, it’s perfectly legal to spew toxic cancer causing chemicals. I thought it was “freedom of speech” not “freedom to poison my fellow man”.

Cancer Society estimates 100,000 men, women and children die from cancer a year related to second hand smoke. Why are we putting up with this? Seriously…….

I spend 350 hours on the trainer improving my cardiovascular fitness so I can ride my bike faster, now if I could only quit smoking……

Let The Girls Play

My wife grew-up in Northern Ontario in the 80’s and was subjected to a fairly average set of gender roles for the era. Her father worked out of the home as a teacher. Her mother ran the household and held several temporary jobs throughout her life. Her father, skied, played hockey, played baseball and ran. Her mother skied ……a little.

My wife has a brother. He played just about every sport you can name. He is an exceptional athlete who grew up to be a physical education teacher….makes sense.

When my wife talks about her athletic career it usually involves a story that ends with her getting hit in the head by the ball. She claims to have been cursed with poor coordination. When I ask my wife’s family (mother, father, brother) about her athletic abilities it seems to have been decided early that brother was the athlete and sister (now wife) was the academic.

This is likely a fairly common story for women of our generation. Gender roles exist for a reason. Men and women are different. They are generally interested in different things and are driven by different social pressures especially as young people.

However, when you consider the potential benefits of woman playing organized sports versus allowing them at young age to decide they are “not the sporty type” or worse assigning them the “uncoordinated” curse it might be considered negligent.

The following is a list of some of the benefits a woman can expect if she makes sport part of her life. The list is part of a summary document produced by the Woman’s Sports Foundation in East Meadow, NY. The foundation was started by tennis super start Billie Jean King. The statistics come from various sources and are referenced on the Woman’s Sports Foundation website so I won’t bother to reference each point.

When a woman makes sport part of her life she is…..

· significantly reduces her risk of stroke,
· less likely to suffer from osteoporosis,
· less likely to suffer depression,
· more likely to graduate from high school ,
· more likely to go to university and 15% more likely to earn a degree,
· significantly less likely to suffer from an eating disorder,
· more likely to engage in volunteer work,
· more likely to vote,
· 50% less likely to be pregnant as a teen
· less likely to be sexually assaulted
· 50% less likely to develop breast cancer

The list goes on and on and on………….

When the athletic component of a woman’s life is dismissed or when she is allowed to dismiss it herself she not only misses out on all of the fantastic fun of playing but also deprives herself of countless benefits.

My wife didn’t play as a young girl and as a result she doesn’t play as a young woman. She has found it difficult to make sport part of her life and struggles to stay active. She feels guilt associated with taking time away from her family to indulge in sport.

I, as a man, am expected to play! My wife, as a mother, is not expected to play. Combined with the dismissal of her athletic abilities at a young age it is not hard to see why sport is not a big part of her life.

So let the girls play.

The Lance-France Phenomena

I registered a legitimate 355 hours to my training log since January, spin-torturing myself in the basement for 12 hours a week.

Hours and hours of mind numbing base training. I watched what I ate, I got lots of sleep, I felt strong and managed to trim down to 144 lbs.

Finally spring came and race season began. I raced hard all spring and early summer and was happy to see the training pay off. I suffered less, got reasonable results and felt good about what I had accomplished.

Now it’s August and when it comes to riding I’ve got two flat tires in my mind.

Excuses NOT to get on the bike are becoming easier and easier to find. I’ve put on 10 lbs and feel my fitness slipping away.

I’m surprised by my loose of discipline. Even with some big races still left in the season I can’t seem to rekindle the drive that kept me on the bike through the long dark winter.

I got a little sympathy on my club ride last week, when a veteran racer threw me a bone remarking that “everyone has a hard time training in August”.

Even a small taste of athletic adversity helps me realize how special the pro athlete actually is. Pro cyclists are not only genetically gifted but have a supernatural discipline, a drive, a desire to suffer that far surpasses the normal mortal human.

Since I have fallen off the training wagon an unexpected thing has happened. My fans, and when I say “fans”, I mean the people I bore weekly with training updates and race reports (family, friends and co-workers). My fans have become more interested in my cycling. They are asking more questions, they are listening to my stories, and they’re showing real genuine interest.

To be fair my family (wife, kids, mother, step-father, brother and sister-in-law) have always and continue to support me regardless, but for my friends and co-workers (mainly co-workers) they seem to have found some pleasure in my difficulties. Since I started complaining about my training troubles my cycling has been the hot topic of our daily walk to the coffee shop. I have even had a few co-workers ask about coming out to watch a race. I’m calling it the Lance-France affect.

The Tour de France cycling fans, especially the French Fans have found a new place in their hearts for poor Lance Armstrong who struggled to keep a podium position at this year’s Tour. As outlined in the NY Times article and documented extensively in cycling news reports.

How things have changed for Armstrong since the last time he competed here, in 2005, when he completed the last of his seven consecutive Tour victories and was seemingly entrenched as the antagonist.

Back then, French fans yelled the word “Doped” as Armstrong rode by. Spectators held fake syringes with his name written on them. Some people spat on him, showing their disgust for the man who has been dogged by doping allegations at this race.

But now, the 37-year-old Armstrong has become a sympathetic figure in the country that once seemed to dislike him the most.

“There was a lot of negative stuff, and very, very aggressive negative stuff — and that’s gone,” Armstrong said last week after one of the Alpine stages of this Tour. “I’m pleasantly surprised.”

I believe the Lance-France phenomenon goes beyond the obvious short comings inherent in human nature. I think the Lance-France phenomenon is a form of arrogance, spectator arrogance.

Fans of cycling often comment on the egos or the arrogance of pro cyclists. To be honest I don’t see it. The only thing cycling has taught me is humility. Even when I win I feel lucky. I know my fitness is temporary, I know there is always someone faster, I know it is only a matter of time before I'm back struggling for a mid pack finish. The club I ride with is full of accomplished cyclists including Olympic triathletes and many Cat 1 riders. I have yet to feel an once of arrogance.

The arrogance in cycling is manufactured by the fans and media expectation, no more real than the hate between Hulk Hogan and the Rowdy Roddy Piper.

I’m sure there are arrogant pro-cyclists but it is my contention that their arrogance has nothing to do with the sport in fact I would suggest their arrogance would be worse if they had chosen a career in say medicine. The suffering needed to be a pro-cyclist only helps to curb arrogant thoughts.

So set aside your own ego and enjoy the achievements of suffering. If you feel the need to pass judgement stop and ask yourself would I be willing make the same kind of sacrifice. 

Head in the Sand

A new cycling video has gone “viral” online in the past week. It’s not a grainy account of some ridiculously impossible stunt but rather a satirical look at cycling, particularly road cycling. The video is called “Performance” and features MC SpandX.

Watch "Performance" by MC SpandX

I watched the video as I'm sure you just did and was mildly amused. Well I’m sorry to spoil the ending but the video is not an independent expression of cycling art as it would have you believe but rather a piece of indirect marketing by an online bike shop “Performance Bicycles” . As exposed by Bike Snob NYC this video if full of subliminal marketing including flashes of a banner promoting Performance Bicycles fall sale. SHAMELESS!!

This kind of conduct by companies seems to be standard practice these days. I'm not sure if it only seems this way as information becomes more and more available or if societies degenerative spiral is reflected by the companies we support in our market place.

This unscrupulous behavior by companies is only annoying in cases like Performance Bicycles but downright sinister in many other industries. Like the fact that my disposable shoes are made by a 10 year old child kidnapped from his villages in rural China to work in factory city.

Is this true…. maybe? Do I bother to find out? I guess I really don’t want to know, or maybe I am too busy to care, or too overwhelmed with information to distinguish the trust. This bombardment of information allows me to ignore these inconvenient possibilities.

I find that once I do have reliable information my conscious does kick in and I somehow find the energy to make the right decision. My wife has much more of this kind of energy then I do and she often drives change in our family. She just finished reading Slow Death By Rubber Duck which documents some of the chemicals that we Canadians are exposed to in the products we buy and use. Everything from carcinogenic store receipt paper to formaldehyde in baby shampoo.

The fact that I, as a North American consumer, am being inundated with countless chemicals is something I have definitely been aware of for awhile. What I was really shocked by was the process by which these large chemical companies are allowed to have their products sold in the market place.

Basically a chemical company invents some new chemical. A good example is a fire retardant chemical from DOW Chemicals that is currently used in just about everything you can think of. The chemical is tested by DOW and as long as it doesn’t kill all the rats in the lab they deem it to be safe. There is no independent testing of the product instead the responsibility is placed on the medical community to prove through decades of research that the chemical is harmful and usually a bunch of people have to die before the research even starts.

Mean while Dow employs a bunch of people to lobby the government to improve fire safety of electronics suggesting fire retardant chemicals are used to save lives.

“Just think of the children”!!

The result is a house full of electronics spewing cancer causing chemicals propelled by little cooling fans through vents on the back.

Hey, this is only one side of the story, maybe it’s not true. I mean the authors of Death by Rubber Duck wouldn’t have much of a book if Chemical companies were acting in the interest of the greater good, right???

Ahhh…. the sound of my head being plunged back into the preverbal sand.

COOL 2WHEELERS

Like most cyclists part of why I love riding are the bikes.

I love bikes.

Some of my favorites include:

Calfee Bamboo Mountain Bike

How cool is this bike. It is apparently as strong and stiff as aluminum with the feel of carbon.

They also do a road bike. I want one. Check out the video.

For those cycling parents out there who feel the pressure to have their childern on two wheelers before they are five years old, I found the perfect product. The walking bike. Video

Finally the dream bike.

Check out what TREK has done with their new Madone series road bikes. The Project One website lets you build a custom Madone, components, paint scheme, sizing, very cool. The only problem is once you have finished your deam bike they tell you the price. The last one I build was $11,800.

Not likely a purchase I will be making any time soon.

Life Without Wife

Fatty’s wife Susan died on Wed August 5th at 7:25 pm after a 5 year battle with cancer. Fatty is a cyclist that writes a blog with a few more subscribers then Bike Envy. Along with Bike Snob NYC and Lance Armstrong’s twitter page, Fatty represents a significant online cycling voice. Fatty not only uses his blog, fatcyclist, to discuss cycling issues but he has also used it to tell his wife, Susan Nelson’s, story.

Susan survived much longer than expected and inspired the largest Livestrong cycling team ever assembled (more than 500 people) to fundraise more than $500,000 in six months. Without a doubt Fatty’s well written, brutally honest account of Susan battle with cancer facilitated the impact of Susan’s story.

Reading Fatty’s blog over the past few months I could not help but empathize and ponder the obvious question of what would my life be like without my wife. The insights provided by Fatty brought me a better appreciation for what my wife means to my life as it currently exists.

Without wife, my life would cease to exist as I know it. I would cease to exist as I currently do.

I don’t mean to be dramatic or to overstate this but how else can I describe someone who has influenced all of the decisions I have made for over a decade.

My wife has changed me.

I am more like her;

she is more like me;

we have been forever altered by association.

Life without wife would not be my life but some altered version, like you see in time travel movies. So just in case my marriage is protecting the human race from being enslaved by apes I will stop writing and give my wife an appreciative backrub.

My thoughts are with Fatty as he embarks on his new life.

HOCKEY SUCKS?

Growing up in Northern Ontario in the 80’s cycling was not a sport I was exposed to. I played soccer, baseball and of course hockey.

Hockey, hockey, hockey!

My brothers played, my friends played, I’m not sure I knew anyone who didn’t play hockey. In the summer it was power-skating and hockey school to prepare for the next season. I remember being called away from the daily neighborhood road hockey game to go to my ice hockey game.

I have fond memories of playing hockey mostly related to the time I spent with teammates off the ice in hotel pools, in the bus on road trips and at backyard barbeques. I also have some less positive memories from my years as a hockey player.

I remember two Dads fighting in the bleachers at a tournament in Minnesota,

I remember yelling obscenities at referees’ as a ten or eleven year-old,

I remember a parent punching one of my coaches over ice time for his kid,

I remember my team manager passed out drunk in the bleachers during the finals at a tournament in Sioux St Marie, Ontario.

My five-year-old son played hockey this past winter and I discovered that minor hockey has not changed much in the fifteen years I have been away from the sport. I was shocked to witness parents’ cheer as a five year old was escorted to the penalty box tears streaming down his face. I’m still not sure how a five year old even got a penalty; I guess I should have asked the twelve-year-old referee.

My son has tried gymnastics, swimming, skating lessons, indoor and outdoor soccer, and skiing (cross-country and downhill). He even raced his mountain bike for the first time last week. He seems to love sports and is usually excited about participating. Hockey was the first sport he did not like. We found ourselves coaxing him into the rink and bribing him to get on the ice.

Six months of weekend tournaments and five am practices,

Six months of watching fathers pushing their kids to tears,

Six months of mandatory shifts at the arenas concession stand.

Six months of “do I have to go”

Needless to say neither my wife nor I put up much of a fight when our son decided he didn’t want to play hockey this coming winter and instead he would rather try snowboarding.

I got really excited when he mentioned bmx racing, I guess we’ll see once spring comes.

24 hour of Adrenalin Podium Acceptance Speech

I bike.

It’s part of how I define myself. It serves me in so many ways. It gives me time away, it keeps me fit, it provides my mother-in-law Christmas gift ideas.

Part of my cycling involves racing. It started with the 24 hours of Adrenalin and from there has expanded to other endurance events, XC racing (Alberta Cup, Canada Cup), road racing and this season cyclo-cross.

I find that racing can create a false importance around my cycling. Especially in the past two season coinciding with a few decent results.

Am I being responsible to my family, or has my hobby brought my life out of balance?  

I think this is a question that many parents of my generation struggle with. I know my riding is not always fair to my wife, but I like to think that overall I have found a balance between my hobby and my responsibilities.

My wife sums it up best when she often explains my cycling by saying ….

“I wouldn’t want to be married to you without cycling”.

I think she means that I wouldn’t be the same man without cycling. I wouldn’t be as patient with our children, I wouldn’t have the same energy, I would probably be over weight… passionless… miserable.  

I do however, from time to time, ride too much and become unbalanced. The false importance of racing overtakes my consideration for family. When I do get out of balance an interesting thing happens.

I start to have a reoccurring daydream while I ride. I imagine being at a big race and winning. I picture myself standing on the podium. The race organizer offers me the microphone to say a few words and I give a teary-eyed podium acceptance speech thanking my wife and the “sacrifices made by my family to allow me to be here” I usually go on about the amount of time away and all the extra responsibility my wife accepts.

I know that when guilt dominates the tone of my daydreamed race winning podium acceptance speech it’s time to take a break from the bike.  Now that I can recognize when I’m out of balance the only question is can I make the responsible decision.