British Columbia Chat

[blues2cruise]

She also is restricted to speeds under 60 km per hr. But then if she wasn't worried about the experienced rider clause why would she concern herself with the speed limit clause? We have already had too many deaths on Bikes this year and summer has just started.

Be very carefull riding with an inexperienced rider. We have such a fellow in our group and he has already been the cause of two other riders going down (him to) with some broken bones. Amazingly he got off with only some road rash. Why is it that it always seems to work that way?

Anyhow , leave them plenty of space.

She does at least follow the speed limit clause. That's why we went along Marine Drive instead of Upper Levels. She rode staggered behind me or on occasion inline but far behind. Then I followed her to observe and offer pointers.
I know what you mean about the carnage on the roads. Since I started motorcycling in the fall, there have been so many crashes....almost all of them young, inexperienced people riding beyond their skill and ability. It is so sad. The message just isn't getting through.

[blues2cruise]

I was riding today with dr_bar and honda599, both very experienced riders. We met a noon for what was planned as a couple of hours. Well, 6 hours later I am home.

honda599 led the way through Langley to the Albion Ferry and out through some back winding roads in the Mission area. Knowing that I'm a new rider, honda599 kept the pace at a reasonable level. I believe after all the twisty roads today, my skill level jumped up a notch. I felt a little "challenged" but not pushed. Being challenged a bit while in your comfort zone is good.

We stopped for some refreshment in Mission(it was a hot and sunny day) and then started making our way back. All in all it was a terrific day.

Thanks honda599 for inviting a rookie to ride and to dr_bar for joining us. It great for us rookies to have experienced riders who are willing to play tour guide.

[putput]

Yes blues you were correct about the figure8,a friend just took the test and its very easy,6 cone test,u turns ,fast stop ,slow ride ,I can manage all that so its just a matter of getting some time off work and getting in to take it. I managed to get the figure 8 down now though and after mastering it all the other manovers seem easy .

[blues2cruise]

Hiya, putput. Glad to hear you have mastered figure 8's. Everything else will seem easy after all that hard work.

Go online to the motor vehicle website or is it ICBC website and make your appointment online. Maybe it will make you find the time from work. Just think.... less restrictions....yay

[old-n-slow]

Well I hope everyone had a good long weekend riding. Weather was good here on the Island, at least any of the places I was at. Did some garage sales on saturday looking for pocket novels and surplus computer stuff. Let me just say that most people had other things besides garage sales in mind for the long weekend as they were few and far between.

The SCRC bunch did a ride from here to Lake Cowichan and met with the SCRC riders from Nanaimo and points north. 18 bikes. Unfortunately I was not able to be with them. The highways get plenty busy on the last day of the holiday weekend so might not have been that great a ride..

[blues2cruise]

I went to Pender Harbour for the weekend. I was sitting at the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal for 3-1/2 hours before we could get on the boat and leave...due to the crash.
It was a nice ride once I got the other side though, because for once, the roads were dry.
What a difference it made for me and my level of confidence to be able to ride that road dry instead of wet.

[blues2cruise]

Sunday afternoon dr_bar and I took advantage of the good weather (and his few hours before he had to go to work) to go for "short" spin on our bikes.
We headed up and over Burnaby mountain to get to North Burnaby and then over the Iron Workers Memorial Bridge all the way up to the top of Cypress Mountain.
On the way up the air was so fragrant with all the summer lilac trees and a lot of clover growing along the sides of the road. Mmmmmmm, smelled so-o-o-o good. About halfway up though the air begins to get thinner and cooler and there weren't anymore blossoms perfuming the air.

After a few moments to enjoy the serenity and fresh air of the mountain top, we headed back down and stopped for a few moments at the view point. Can't see much anymore because the trees have grown so tall. There was a small glimpse of the tall ships, though.

dr_bar was talking to some cyclists about the unruly behaviour of the sport bikers who go up and down the mountain roads. They seem to have forgotten that there is a speed limit and that other folks use that road. Some of those sport bikers go excessively fast and really lean into the turns not giving one thought to the fact that there are cyclists on the road. It is just plain wrong that a cyclist has to scramble to move out of the way because a motorcyclist is abusing the highway. It is our responsibility to move over and give the cyclist room. Listen up, you guys..... public highways are NOT your personal race tracks.

Aside from that, the ride up and down the mountain was great. We had to take it easy on the highway, though, as dr_bar was getting low on fuel. It was touch and go as to whether we would make it to a gas station.

After fueling, we headed back over the bridge to make our ways home. Just as we reached the HOV lane (my new favourite place to ride) the rain started. And, wow did it ever rain hard. It felt like hail pelting my face. I was glad I had a face shield to put down.

It stopped raining almost as soon as I got home.

[old-n-slow]

It is just plain wrong that a cyclist has to scramble to move out of the way because a motorcyclist is abusing the highway. It is our responsibility to move over and give the cyclist room. Listen up, you guys..... public highways are NOT your personal race tracks.

On the other hand, from what I see of cyclists out our way they have even less regard for the law. On the island, my guess is that fewer then 20% of cyclists even bother to wear the mandatory helmet. And of course with the fine only being $29, even the police can't be bothered to pull them over. Down the road when one of them gets killed in an accident we will hear from the media, lamenting on why is it that the youth of today don't appear to be "getting the message". I think they are "getting the message" all too well.

Sorry. didn't mean to turn this into a rant. Was only thinking to comment on what a nice ride you seemed to have. Tomorrow I license my bike again. First time on two wheels in over two months. I broke my foot a while back, makes it danged hard to ride let me tell you.

Cheerio

[blues2cruise]

Sorry to hear about your foot old-n-slow. Glad to hear you're going to get out riding again. Good timing since the weather is finally decent.

I always wear a helmet when I am out on my bicycle. You are right, though, that a lot aren't bothering to wear helmets. I didn't know the fine was so little. No wonder the police don't hassle them.

It still doesn't excuse motorists (bikers included) from crowding the cyclist off the road. On Monday, as I was cycling home along Kingsway (where there is 3 lanes) a car came whizzing past me in my lane. Scared the heck out of me. There was a parked car ahead and so it was stupid for him to be in my lane in the first place. After he pulled out he then pulled in to the gas station. He had an N on the back of his car.
I followed him in to the gas station and asked him if he the new driver. He said he was, so I gave him a polite short lecture about not sharing the lane with a cyclist. I told him he was supposed to move over. He said he was sorry, but I'm not sure he understood.

I'll be looking for your first summer ride story soon.

[old-n-slow]

Ha. I was riding till I broke my foot. Was a downer to be sure. Went right out and canceled the insurance on my bike. No sense paying over a hundred bucks a month for insurance when you know it ain't going anywhere.

I licensed my old Yamaha (XS650) this time instead of the Harley. Plan to get it onto collectors insurance and thought it would be easiest if it was licensed. Besides it is a lot cheaper to insure and i don't know how much riding I'll be doing. Sure can't see any problems with the foot so should be good to go. Have plenty of unused miles to make up now.

I know all about riding a cycle (pedal type that is) Over here we have a few areas that have a so-called bicycle lane marked off with paint alongside of the driving lane. Obviously the danged engineers that dreamt up that idea have never ridden a bicycle in traffic. It just deludes the cage drivers into thinking that is is alright to roar past the cyclist at full speed. After all they have their own lane right...... Ya right ----- a stupid lane all of three feet wide and right beside the racing dinosaurs that scram past at a distance of two feet and a speed of anywhere between the 60 km limit and 30 over.

At least we have a few corridors that are exclusively for cyclists and walkers As well as roller bladers etc, that the cars cannot get access to. Those areas make cycling enjoyable. I can go from my place to all the way downtown with only a few hundreds yards shared with the idiotic dinosour drivers.

Yikes. another rant.

Well you are right of course but it is hard to blame the motorist all that much when we constantly see the flagrant disregard of traffic laws by cyclists. Out here they disregard virtually all laws except for teh law of physics that states two things cannot occupy the same space at the same time and it is particularly bad when one is a cyclist and the other a huge metal monster.