monkeymartian

I’ve been pleasantly surprised over the last couple of weeks at the number of other riders I’ve seen during the morning commute. Being creature of habit, I regularly see three riders each morning. Most of them are traveling the opposite way that I am, but it’s nice to give and receive that special bike rider wave.

I have to thank the fellow riding ahead of me last week for cluing me in to an alternative that cuts down my time on Rodick road (this street is the one I’ve been ragging on lately). There are two sections of paved/gravel paths that follow the ravine from 16th all the way down to Apple Creek. There is only one street crossing, and a quick detour through a school yard. Brilliant! I think the shortcut really is shorter, and it’s a nicer ride.

Last Friday on my first commute to the new office, I broke my helmet mirror. Stupidly, I put my helmet down on the ground while unlocking my bike and the next thing I heard was the “snap” of the mirror bit breaking off the stick bit. This is the second one I’ve busted in about four years. I think part of my general misery over the last couple of days has been not having the same situational awareness as before. I’ve really come to rely on the mirror to keep me aware of what is going on behind me so I get fewer surprises. Off to find a new one I suppose. I tried to fix the old one but it was too broken to mend with epoxy. I wonder if they make idiot proof ones?

This morning I had a bit of a smile on my face as I zoomed over the 407 overpass on Rodick. The police had set up a speed trap at the bottom of the hill. I can cook pretty fast down this hill and tried to get them to put the radar on me. I put a big grin on my face and zoomed down towards them and shouted “How fast!?” All they did was give me a big smile and the thumbs up. It looks like their day was brightened a little, as was mine.

So after several commutes north and south on Rodick Road in Markham, I have some additional comments.  Rodick was signed recently as a bicycle route by the Town of Markham.  I commented last week that this street was busy, but manageable.  I think I’m changing my mind about that statement.  The street really is a better alternative than Woodbine, but the traffic seems to be getting to me a little bit, particularly on the stretch between 16th Ave. and Miller Ave.  Traffic is fast, there is lots of it and the lanes are very narrow.  I’m guessing that Rodick was picked for bicycle route signage as it’s pretty much the only mid-block alternative to Woodbine, but I think it really is a poor substitute for a ‘real’ bike route.  The sign is essentially meaningless.

Yesterday owing to poor network connections at the office, I left early to attempt to work from home.  I decided to head over to Leslie street and try my luck there.  Instead of heading all the way up north on Leslie, I decided to head east near the high school to ride on a pathway I’d seen on google maps.  This path goes all the way out to Bayview Avenue, south of Hwy 7.  The path is mostly gravel, and was a bit damaged from the weather but rideable and a nice change of pace from the roads.  From Bayview I continued east on Langstaff road, another signed bicycle route.  The traffic was sparse in the midafternoon.  I’d hate to be around there when the GO train arrives.

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No route can be perfect, but I’m really not digging the new commute so much.   The additional distance is all on the types of roads that I don’t care to ride on.

I got a couple of notices in the mail this week.

First, the pedestrian and cycling master plan for York has been completed. The plan can be found online here: http://www.york.ca/Departments/Planning+and+Development/Pedestrian+and+Cycling+Master+Plan.htm

Comments on the plan should be sent to:

Mr. Choy Cheah, Manager of Transportation Planning
The Regional Municipality of York
Infrastructure Planning Branch
Planning and Development Services Department
17250 Yonge Street
Newmarket, ON L3Y 6Z1

Also, the second public communication centre for the Bathurst Street improvements Class EA has been announced for Tuesday May 13. Details Below:

Tuesday May 13
Open house from 6 PM to 7 PM
Presentation at 7 PM, followed by a Q&A session until 9 PM
Richmond Hill Country Club
8905 Bathurst Street
Richmond Hill

I decided to use ‘route 2′ based on my previous recce mission. Of course as soon as I got my gear sorted and saddled up, it started to pour rain. How’s that for auspicious? Much of the route is familar to me, as I’ve been riding it for about a year and a half. The new office means an additional ~5km of riding, but at least the additional streets are adorned with Markham’s new bike route signs. One of the new roads I use (Rodick) is a narrow four laner, and this morning it was quite busy, but manageable. A quick traverse across 14th Ave. and I’m at work.  I’ll see how my legs fare after a full week of commuting.  The new route is about 50% longer than the old one.   I’ll have a round trip of 30km instead of 20, so I think it will be manageable.

The office is located in a bit of an industrial park wasteland, and there are few viable lock-up alternatives for a bike. As I figured it was going to rain today, I rode the De vinci and locked it up to a stout real-estate sign out front. I won’t be riding the Canti-Rom unless I can park it inside. I’ve been luck over the last four years that I had a place indoors to park my bike. I’m hoping that I can do the same at the new office.