Cycling in Canada

I have borrowed a mountain bike and been cycling around Albert County, New Brunswick.  There is a mandatory helmet law here for adults as well as children.  I am unable to report on how well respected, or enforced, this law is, as I have not come across another cyclist on my travels (save a few young children riding helmetless on the pavement).  [Postscript: I have now seen a few, but the only adult I have seen wearing a helmet was in the City of Moncton and he was on the pavement].  If the Provincial legislature were serious about promoting cycling they could usefully start by cracking down on the pet dogs that are permitted to roam the rural roads.  Many roads here have virtually no traffic.  The wildlife is generally shy.  Locals tell me they seldom see bears, but I spotted one this afternoon on my ride.  Travelling more slowly and more quietly on a bicycle makes it possible to see a lot that is hidden to the motorist.  At first I thought I saw a very large dog but as I got closer it was clearly a black bear,  I slowed right down, unsure what to do, and was somewhat relieved when a pick up truck coming the other way caused it to spring back into the woods.
Domestic creatures (dogs) are intrigued by the unusual sight of a cyclist and are inclined to give chase; so far I have been able to outsprint them but if I encounter one going uphill a confrontation seems possible.
I am starting to stick to 'busier' roads where the occasional passing car means that owners have trained their pets to stay off the roads and the more dangerous wildlife is likely to be some way back in the woods.
Motorists here are generally highly considerate of cyclists; this may be the opposite of 'safety in numbers'.  I am sufficiently unusual to be noticed and it is easier to give a cyclist plenty of space if nothing else is around and I am probably the only cyclist they pass in a week.
It is good to have challenges that differ so much from those I face on the usual commute into work.

Albert County, New Brunswick...more bears than people

The Mail Must Get Through

My post arrives at home delivered by a postman on a bicycle.  He has always seemed very happy with his job and shows a healthy interest if I happen to be tinkering in the garage with one or other of my bikes on a Saturday morning when he arrives.  Certainly if I were a postman I would very much rather deliver on a bicycle then by van or by cart.  It is a very great shame that the outgoing chief executive of the Post Office, Mr Crozier, called time on the delivering of mail by posties on bicycles.  His replacement, Ms Greene, is under some pressure to reverse this decision.

Ms Greene is moving across the Atlantic having previously headed the Canadian postal service.  I happen to be writing this post in Canada and am having an opportunity to observe first hand a culture more motor-centric even than our own.  Infrastructure is quite unambiguously devoted to the private motor car.  Only the very hardy few cycle here.  Postal delivery through the letterbox has, save perhaps in some city-centres, been abandoned for van drops into multiple mailboxes on street corners, in the suburbs, or has to be collected by the customer (almost invariably by car) from the village post office, in rural areas.  The elderly and disabled are reliant upon friends, neighbours or relatives to go and pick up their post for them.

The internet has of course transformed the postal service everywhere.  It is rare now that I write a letter to a friend or relative or send a cheque through the mail.  E-mail and internet banking have done away with the need for all that.  Instead I order a lot of goods over the internet and rely upon my postie to deliver parcels of books, bike parts and electronics to my door.  This can, though, still be done by bicycle using cargo bikes or even tricycles where necessary.

Mr Crozier has justified his decision by refering to Health and Safety considerations but this is perplexing.  Posties will be healthier delivering on a bicycle and cyclists will be safer with fewer vans on the streets; witness my close shave with a Post Office van last month.

CTC have launched a campaign to seek to persuade Ms Greene to reverse Mr Crozier's decision.  This campaign has my support.

The Canadian postal service is not, I think, one to emulate.

Car Sick Highway Engineers

Even in a car sick motor centric society like ours this takes some beating.  There are roadworks on Staines Bridge which means it has been narrowed.  The Highways Engineer has scrubbed out the cycle lane markings and instructed cyclists to dismount.
The above is a still from one of my Headcam videos here
I make some further intemperate comments on youtube; but really how can Highways Agencies employ people who think like this ?

My cycle training session

I have mentioned before on these pages that I was planning to have a session of cycle training and the particular concern, that I voiced when I booked, was over the aggression I was attracting from some motorists.
I met my instructor, Colin, at the Imperial War Museum and it was immediately apparent (and I do not blame cycle training organisations for this) that there were hoops to be gone through before we could take to the roads to deal with bikeability level 2 and 3. First the bike check which resulted in a rotating downwards of my brake levers to make it easier to cover the brakes the whole time (I commute on a flat bar bike). Then on an unused tennis court I demonstrated the ability to look behind without falling off and to do an emergency stop.

Finally on the roads Colin followed behind and had the following suggestions:

- Cover the brakes the whole time. I think this makes sense in heavy traffic and I do it instinctively if I am unsure about surrounding traffic. Novel idea for me to do it all the time.

- Road positioning. Was essentially good though I unconsciously come out before turning left (an HGV turn). I suppose I am trying to widen the turn and will think in future about slowing more and maintaining my position in the road until I can see into the left road before making the turn. Also left and right turns into a major road from a side road are made from the same position in the centre of the lane. This was news to me I have been taking the centre of the road before turning right and letting left turning traffic past to my left but this is apparently frowned upon.

-Signalling. I should not have signaled when in a left hand only lane. Apparently signalling with thumb at the top of the hand rather than at the bottom appears more assertive and is therefore recommended.

-Speed. My speed was appropriate, but when slowing when I had priority over a vehicle just in case he pulled out, it is better to carry on soft pedaling otherwise some motorists might think I was stopping.

-Right turn into minor road. My instructor would have liked me to take position in the centre of the road even earlier than I did (which I felt was quite a long way in advance of the junction).

It was not possible in Southwark to replicate my dual carriageway riding but we discussed it at length at the end of the two hour lesson. Colin at least affirmed that my road positioning was appropriate and his suggestion was 1.2 metres out from the kerb. I am generally in that region (the lanes are 3 metres wide). There was some discussion about slowing and letting traffic past but I think we agreed this was not a practical solution. The advice I got was that I am attracting hostility from bad motorists, not good ones, and I was firmly encouraged to report abusive behavior to the police. I have, of course, tried that and got nowhere (I will keep you posted on the correspondence I intend to have soon with the unsuspecting Metropolitan Police Commissioner and the Chief Constable of Surrey on that topic.)

Overall, a useful session with some interesting observations and some reaffirmation that the hostility I am encountering is not due to inappropriate riding on my part.  I left with a piece of paper confirming that I have achieved bikeability level 3.

Etape Diary Monday 19th July

A leisurely start to the day but became more stressful as the taxi to the train arrived late and took 10 minutes to get the bike boxes into the back. The 1144 train turned out however to be running late. Hardly surprisingly dozens of cyclists needed to get bike bags and boxes onboard and there was hassle fitting them all on board exacerbated by the fact that the doors to my carriage had malfunctioned. Safely aboard we travelled northwest to Bordeaux before whizzing off to Paris. The train was a little late which only increased the stress of getting across Paris on the crowded Metro. With a bit of mutual assistance Angus and I managed alright and probably much faster than any taxi. I was, though, beaten to the Eurostar check in by two guys who had travelled light and not dissembled their bikes – so they rode from Montparnasse to Garde du Nord. This struck me as a good idea which I will look into if I ever do this again. It would save the shoulder wrenching experience of the Metro. There is one thing our transport services do much better here than in Paris and that is step free access.

Etape Diary Sunday 18th June

Already awake by the time of the 5 am alarm call. Breakfast at 0530, not a time at which I have much of an appetite. Then some time preparing bidons and finding room in jersey pockets for route card, food, telephone, wallet and (last but not least) some aspirin.
At 0620 I decided it was sufficiently light to venture out and I found my way to the correct start pen by about 0640. The Avenue de Pyrenees and the area surrounding Park Beaumont was packed with 10,000 cyclists. At 0700 a siren sounded and around 8 minutes later I rolled over the start. There was an immediate slightly hairy dip down to the station and a sharp left over the Gave River followed by a fairly speedy undulating ride until we hit the Parc National du Pyrenees at Escot and the start of the day’s first climb the Marie Blanque, a vertical climb of about 1,000 m over about 6 miles. The terrain was wooded providing shade from the early sun and was comfortable enough. The road did narrow though and there was congestion particularly as we picked our way past ambulances and other slow moving vehicles. Fortunately I was over the top before the congestion deteriorated to the point where people had to dismount and walk.
Over the top there was a fast descent and a flat stretch through woods with a bubbling brook on our right hand side. Then came the Soulor which took us up to about 1,500m over around 9 miles. With the heat increasing I found this harder but still manageable.
Over the summit and as I was picking up speed on the descent I heard a Frenchman yelling at a sheep. He was scaring the animal across the road into my path. I missed by a couple of feet and that was my scariest moment of this year’s etape. There was then a long long descent which took us almost to the foot of the Tourmalet. The field was a t last beginning to thin and groups were forming with gaps in between.
As we started to climb again I clocked up 100 miles in a steep sided gorge with a river to the right and cliff to the left. At this point I had been going for 6 ½ hours and I thought a silver at 8h15m could be achievable. It would require just 12 miles in an hour and three quarters.
However I had not reckoned on the energy sapping properties of the Tourmalet on a hot day. I had climbed this mountain before in the 2008 etape, though from the other side and on a positively cold and wet day. Early in the climb I was offered a coke from a Cyclefit feed station but I felt I could manage without and didn’t feel like stopping – that may have been a mistake. Before long, like most of my fellow etappers to whom I have subsequently spoken, I cracked. My feet were killing me and I was draining liquid from my bidons faster than I could get them refilled.
The locals were marvellous with their pouring of cold water over our heads. Some of the water offered was said to be ‘potable’ so I gulped it down. At the water stop at the treeline I gulped, filled bidons and sprayed my feet with water (unlike Mt Ventoux last year this water was on tap).  I took a couple of precious aspirins. Thus fortified I set out for the top. This could now be seen through the clear mountain air in the far distance. I ground on slowly as the kilometre signs counted down the distance to the summit. The last 2 km are the longest I have ridden on my bike. People were asking for and getting pushes up the mountain from the many spectators who had congregated near the top. Eventually after a final switchback to the left the summit was in sight and I passed over with a time of 08h40m for a solid bronze. Details of my ride can be found on my Garmin record..

I just had to rest my feet at the top before descending to La Mongie and begged a first aider for a half bottle of water shared with a similarly dehydrated rider. Eventually with loose shoes I headed down to the finish village and had my meal before heading down the mountain to Lourdes to catch a train back to Pau.  On the way this sign caught my eye (1.5m = 5 1/2 feet).

I smuggled my bike aboard the train with a young Englishman who had done a stonking time to the last climb and then, like me, had cracked and taken forever to cover the last few miles.
Once back in Pau I just made it for the planned dinner at 7.30 with Alex but, alas, he struggled on the mountain too and did not make it back. (Postscript: actually he was busy recording a video for the BBC).  So after a few bananas, snacks and whatever I could lay my hands on it was to bed for a deep sleep.

Etape Diary Saturday 17th June

A chance to explore the city of Pau. Its most noteable feature is the castle standing guard over the river and the passes from the Pyrenees. Stumbled across a plaque reporting where Lord Allenbrooke (the World War II CGS) had spent his early life; a reminder that there had been a British Military post here for many years after the Napoleonic Wars. We checked out where the start pens will be with but demonstrating admirable efficiency there was no sign of the chaos to come.. For lunch there was pasta in the City centre coupled with very slow service. For dinner the Garmin found us a small restaurant with very good steak and desserts. A dull day, it actually rained on us quite hard in the evening.