I C H

I'm in Recreation and Leisure Studies at Mohawk College and I Cycle Hamilton

Name:

Edward O'Hara

{no pic yet}

Where do you ride and how often? 

I commute from Pearl North to Mohawk College daily. I ride everywhere and anywhere. In the summer I ride at least 10 to 15 thousand kilometres of road. When I worked in Toronto I was known to commute from Hamilton to Toronto by bike and still have time for a shower before an 8am start. I've also ridden across Canada from east to west.

A short story about you and your bike:

My old Peugeot that I rode across Canada was stolen last year. That made me sad. The end. This video sums it up for me!

 

 

Traveling between the lower and upper city(ies) by bike

I've written before that traveling by bike between the lower city and the upper city is rather troublesome, quite apart from the challenge of the incline. The two halves of Hamilton are so poorly connected, especially for bicycle traffic, that it really feels like two cities. This gets even worse in winter because the two paths--one heading west from Dundurn through Chedoke to Scenic Drive, the other heading east from Corktown Park (not sure if it's actually called that) to Mohawk around Kenilworth--normally rather peaceful and pleasant (though not all that convenient for a central destination on the mountain), are not winter maintained. That leaves winter riders, either because of snow, ice or mud, with one lane going far west into Ancaster along Main West-cum-Wilson Street and another mediocre lane up the Jolly Cut leading to Concession and U. Wellington.

My partner and I had reason to make our way to U. James and Rymal to do some shopping recently and, being car-free and doing just about all our local travel by bike, made our way from the Locke South neighbourhood to the Jolly Cut and from there along U. Wellington to Stone Church. When visiting one of our local bicycle shops, Hammer City Cycle, off U. James and Southbend, we usually head up the same way but take Inverness over to U. James, then Fennell to West 1st, etc. But U. James is a veritable expressway on which it is not pleasant to ride for any length of time, even for an experienced rider, and given the distance we had to traverse, we decided to stay on U. Wellington.

Upper Wellington St & Towercrest Dr. Road narrows and hill begins.

See narrow dirt shoulder on right, muddy when wet and rough when dry again.

But U. Wellington has its own issues. Over the LINC and right after Towercrest Drive, U. Wellington turns into a narrow two way street with dirt shoulders. And it goes over a hill. Some people got rather upset at us as we proceeded up the hill on that stretch. One redneck in a pick-up truck gave my partner the finger and yelled out the window to get off the effing road when he was able to pass her (I suppose after cresting the hill so he could see oncoming traffic). As we are habituated to handling such situations, she'd smiled and waved. This had enraged him so that all the way down the hill towards Stone Church he'd kept pumping his one-fingered salute out the driver-side window. She kept on smiling and waving. Perhaps to make a point, or simply because so much attention was devoted to the salute, he then ran the red light through Stone Church.

Stone Church was a welcome relief, with its pleasant bike lanes, between U. Wellington and U. James. And that is the story of cycling infrastructure in Hamilton. It's a seemingly haphazard patchwork of lanes appearing suddently and then disappearing again, dumping riders back into traffic. The key to safe defensive cycling, especially in urban environments, is to be maneuverable, visible, predictable and in communication with surrounding traffic. This patchwork of cycling infrastructure is part of the reason why so many people continue to ride on the sidewalk and cycling continues to feel dangerous. Good infrastructure gets people out there, but when it suddenly disappears they are left to suddenly rejoin traffic or hop onto the sidewalk. They feel forced into a decision between danger and the law. Cyclists are not predictable when they dart in and out of traffic between parked cars, or hop on and off the sidewalk, nor when infrastructure that provided a measure of predictability suddenly vanishes.

All too often, on my walks along Dundurn South with its well-used bike lanes, I see people (of all ages) riding in the bike lane. If they happen to be heading northbound, they frequently ride into the pedestrian crossing at Main and then proceed to ride on the sidewalk because their lane suddenly disappeared. If we want this city to become more cycle-friendly, to have a more active, healthy population, and to see more people opt for the bike rather than the car in town, we must stop this nonsense of interrupted and patchwork bike infrastructure. We need to combine the vision that I know a number of staffers and some councilors have with the political will and commitment to go all out and build an coherent, connected, complete cycle- and pedestrian-friendly infrastructure. One thing that will likely require is to get rid of the clause allowing individual councilors to veto infrastructure going through their ward. A progressive city must be a unified city. Work it out in council, then implement it city-wide!

At least the plaza at U. James & Rymal had reasonable bike parking.

Found Nishiki bike: anyone lost one?

Because my partner and I go for lots of walks, and we happen to enjoy a little train watching too, we spied a bike (I won't reveal the location at this time) lying at the bottom of a bridge near the tracks. It looks to have been a decent bike, a mixte frame, built in Japan using Honda tubing. The poor thing looked so sad--handlebar twisted halfway around, wheels bent in various places, both pedals broken off--like a person who had fallen off a building, legs and arms bent in unnatural positions. 

Since it was on CP Rail property, I looked up their number and called them to let them know that I run a cycling advocacy website and that I'd seen this bike near the tracks at the bottom of a bridge and could post it. Might I be allowed to retrieve it? The lady hemmed and hawed and finally took my information in case workers came across it, so they could contact me. Could they not be directed to that spot to retrieve it and give me a call? Ultimately, having seen the poor thing there for almost 3 weeks, I jumped over the fence, scampered down to the bottom and retrieved the thing myself and carried it home. 

I will check with the Hamiton Police to see if someone's registered the serial number with them. I think there is a mandated waiting period for people to come forward. Anyway, if anyone has lost a bike and it sounds like this may be yours, please send me a detailed description and, if possible, its serial number.

Always some bikespotting on Dundurn South

A couple of photos from Dundurn South shot last Saturday, on my birthday. Always riders on Dundurn South. Can't wait for construction on King St into Westdale to be finished, as well as Main St coming back, and for the lanes to be extended on Dundurn all the way to York. 

Older man dressed comfotably for cooler weather

Younger nicely dressed rider, same stretch

Bike parking facilities at Mohawk College and Hamilton Public Library downtown

Bike pad in front of fancy new building at Mohawk College (only 1 bike there Friday afternoon, on last day of classes)

Though nice, it seems they're mighty proud of the relatively small bike parking station

The station in the back, with secure parking, is more impressive

I like that bikes can be parked in secure area, upright, and with wheels locked in

From Mohawk College we went to the Hamilton Public Library downtown to pick up some materials. The bike rack was, as usual, very much used. And though I saw a number of cyclists go by, I didn't get a lot of good, clear images (I need to learn more about my camera--settings may have been inadvertently altered as shutter speed seemed too slow).

Parking in front of downtown HPL

Too bad she appeared blurry... :-(

The blur?

Hamilton's embarrassing grate problem a danger to cyclists

As readers (as well as facebook friends and twitter followers) may know, I recently had the opportunity to not only get CAN-BIKE 2 training, but to follow that up with CAN-BIKE instructor certification. This post isn't really about that training, but it was on one of the training rides through town with our instructor, national CAN-BIKE examiner James Herman, that the problem of Hamilton's sewer grates came embarrassingly to light.

We had begun our ride in the east end near Main and Kenilworth, making our way through downtown to experience some of the challenging arterial left-hand turns some of us had been talking about in class. We proceeded up Hunter St. W. At Hunter and Locke St. S. the leader of that stretch of our ride stopped to wait up for the rest of us. There, at the corner, she noticed a sewer grate with the drainage bars parallel to the direction of travel.

An example of a parallel-bar sewer grate

Our instructor was shocked. He thought most cities in Ontario had by now corrected dangerous sewer grates. My partner and I, having for decades used only mountain bikes, hybrids and cargo bikes, all with fairly wide tires, simply hadn't paid much attention to the matter. We thought we'd seen one or two of them of late. Some of our classmates, however, maintained these were still to be found all over the place in Hamilton. I mentioned to James that I'd bring this particular dangerous sewer grate to my councillor's attention. As we rode off, James and I chatted a bit more about the matter and he said folks at the City must surely know about the danger such grates represent and suggested that this one had probably been simply missed. He did urge me, however, to report it to the local councillor and to mention how shocked he had been to see such a danger still on our streets.

Those who don't cycle, and even those who ride only bikes with relatively thick tires, may not be aware of the danger sewer grates present to cyclists. Akos Szoboszlay, in the preface to a legal article on sewer grates on moderntransit.org explains it this way:

Drainage Bars are placed in the gutter area for water to flow into them during rainstorms and flow eventually into rivers, etc. Until circa 1970, these were aligned with the road, enabling a bicycle wheel to fall through. If the front wheel falls through, it means a sudden flip-over of the bicyclist and a good chance of head injury. (This happened to a friend of mine.) If the rear wheel falls through, it destroys the rear wheel. (This happened to me).

Many people prefer to ride bikes such as road bikes, racing bikes, or vintage 10-speed or fixed-gear bikes, all of which typically have skinny tires. Think of bikes with drop bars, the kind that were pretty much universal before the ubiquitous mountain bike came on the scene in the 80s. Of the group of 8 on our training ride that day, half rode bikes with skinny tires. These tires, running across one of these grates, are often thin enough to fall through the slots. The likelihood of severe injuries resulting from accidents caused by a front tire being swallowed up in a sewer grate is extremely high as this type of accident most often involves the bike coming to a sudden and unexpected stop, catapulting the rider over the handlebars.

Over the next few days my partner and I paid some attention to sewer grates during our travels--we are a carfree household and go everywhere by bike, plus I ride a bike for a living--and found that there were indeed many dangerous grates on the streets in the core. We saw a great deal more dangerous examples than safe. Before I present a long list, let me show you some examples:

A very typical dangerous sewer grate in Hamilton's core

Double dangerous grates, with cracked asphalt presenting further danger, appearing on both sides of Hunter St. W. at Locke South (east side)--cyclists preparing to turn left onto Locke or right could both be caught in these

Dangerous grate inside the bike lane on Stinson St. at East St., taking up half of the lane

Perhaps the most dangerous type we've seen, located on Sterling, near McMaster, just to the right of a bike lane students use 

And the fix is so simple. Sometimes it simply involves rotating the grate so that the bars are perpendicular to the direction of travel. Where this is not possible--perhaps there is something barring the grate from being inserted any other way--a grate of a slightly different design can be installed. See below for images of acceptable variations.

 The grate has simply been turned so as to have slots perpendicular to the direction of travel (it does appear that the square in which it sits has an indentation so that the grate only fits one way, which means the whole thing may have to be adjusted)

A herrinbone design with no slots in the direction of travel

A perforated design with no slots long enough to catch a wheel

Each of these examples of bicycle-safe sewer grates is also from Hamilton's streets, so it is apparent that the City is aware of the issue and has knowledge of and access to safe grates. Why then are only a small number safe? That likely has to do with attempts to save money by scheduling replacement of dangerous grates only when an area containing them comes due for resurfacing, or some such practice. Some municipalities in the US, for example, where federal and state legislation requires that bicycle-safe designs be installed, grates installed before 1970 are grandfathered in, meaning they do not have to be replaced.

It may be pointed out that cyclists should not be riding that close to the curb in the first place, which may well be correct. However, the wording in the Highway Traffic Act (HTA) stipulating how cyclists are to make use of the road is not very clear nor precise. It goes something like this:

any vehicle moving slower than the normal traffic speed should drive in the right-hand lane, or as close as practicable to the right edge of the road except when preparing to turn left or when passing another vehicle (from Cycling Skills, published by the MTO).  

Though the HTA does not clarify further, the writers of Cycling Skills do:

For cyclists, you must ride far enough out from the curb to maintain a straight line, clear of sewer grates, debris, potholes, and parked car doors.  You may occupy any part of a lane when your safety warrants it. Never compromise your safety for the convenience of a motorist behind you .

CAN-BIKE interprets the legislation to mean that cyclists should be as far to the right as is safe and practical. They suggest about 1 metre from the curb or parked cars, which would take them out of the line of most sewer grates and other side of road hazards such as debris and cracked pavement, and 1 metre from traffic.  

Not only is the wording of the HTA as it pertains to bicycle traffic not very specific, but there is no mandatory training for cyclists, so the majority of riders don't know the law. Many do not even know, nor do many motorists, that bicycles are classified under the HTA as vehicles and belong on the road. This is one reason we see so many cyclists still riding on sidewalks, incidentally the most dangerous place for them to be. Also, many cyclists, given how the balance of power on the road is skewed in favour of motorised traffic, do not feel safe on the road. Many motorists neither feel, nor know, that cyclists legally belong on the road, nor know how to behave around them. And our infrastructure is almost entirely designed around the automobile. Cyclists who feel unsafe on the road, even if they do stay off the sidewalk and ride on the road, are likely to ride as close to the curb as they can in an attempt to stay as far away from traffic as possible, which puts them right in line with the grates.

Even experienced and confident cyclists, of which there are growing numbers, including those who have training in safe vehicular riding, of whom there are relatively few, are at risk of running into dangerous drainage grates. The reason for leaving a metre from the curb is not only to avoid the grates and other side of road hazards, but also to leave themselves an out in cases where motorised vehicles come too close. In such a situation, a cyclist may be forced to take evasive action by moving closer to the curb, which could put them in line with dangerous sewer grates.

I have not been able to determine whether there is federal or provincial legislation mandating cycle-safe sewer/drainage grates, as there is in the US, but many jurisdictions have switched over to cycle-safe designs. Halifax, for example, has a section on their cycling page specifically addressing the issue of sewer grates, and other road hazards, and asks cyclists to report such directly to the Halifax Regional Municipality. In Toronto the Toronto Cyclists Union is working with Transportation Services and Public Works and Infrastructure to connect cyclists to the 311 City hotline to which cyclists may report dangerous sewer grates and other hazards. In Hamilton, the only thing I could find in that regard was a panel from a public information session for Shifting Gears, Hamilton's Cycling Master Plan, on designing cycling facilities. But to say, as it does, that the City is working to improve sewer grates with a standard design to make them bike-friendly is not very encouraging. There are plenty of bike-safe designs on the market already, including from a local Hamilton castings company.

The proliferation of dangerous sewer grates across the city not only presents a severe danger to Hamilton cyclists, now that more people are beginning to ride their bikes, but it also presents a potentially costly liability. There have been many cases across North American, including one in Montreal earlier this year, of cities being successfully sued over bike crashes resulting from dangerous sewer grates. It is a very sad story of a teacher who was left paralyzed after she was catapulted from her bike because of a dangerous sewer grate. Despite city laywers arguing that the crash was caused by a wrong move on the teacher's part, Justice Catherine Mandeville ruled that "the sewer grate was unsafe and was directly responsible for the incident." Legal advice on nolo.com also suggests that cities are likely to be held liable in cases where cyclists are injured because of a dangerous sewer grate. The argument is this:

Bikers have a right to ride on a safe road; a direction-of-travel sewer grate presents a serious unexpected hazard; and there are simple, inexpensive remedies for the problem, none of which the city or county employed to eliminate the danger.

There are good reasons, then, for the City of Hamilton to replace all these dangerous sewer grates. First, of course, is concern for the safety of Hamilton cyclists. The risks are many and consequences severe. Second, if cyclists do get injured because of getting caught in a dangerous sewer grate, especially since the solutions are so simple, the City would very likely be held liable. I suspect most Hamiltonians would neither want to see a cyclists get seriously injured, nor would they want their tax dollars spent on awarding damages in a lawsuit that could have been avoided in the first place. Yet, were someone thus injured, Hamilton's ever-increasing number of cyclists would stand firmly behind such a lawsuit. 

It is time our streets be made safe for all users. Replacing dangerous sewer grates with bicycle-safe ones is one of the simplest things that can be done immediately. Since I spend my working days cycling Hamilton's streets, I will continue to document unsafe sewer grates. I will create an online map with the locations of dangerous sewer grates, to which I shall provide a link shortly, and encourage my fellow cyclists to survey their own neighbourhoods to add points to the map.

Cycling advocacy polarized: vehicular cyclists against those seeking cycle-friendly infrastructure

While doing research on another cycling-related topic, I came across a somewhat dated article by Avery Burdett on vehicularcyclist.com entitled Bikeway Activists in the Wrong Lane, versions of which were published in the Ottawa Citizen, October 20, 1998, and the Kitchener-Waterloo Record, November 25, 1998. Disturbed by it, I was about to link to and comment on the article on ICH's facebook page, but quickly realized I had more to say on the topic than a status update would allow.

Before I get into what bothers me about the article, let me say that there is much we can learn from vehicular cyclists to make cycling safer. Indeed, CAN-BIKE training, which I was fortunate to receive recently and hope to pass on as an instructor, is largely based on the work of John Forrester, the American father of vehicular cycling. Furthermore, since I view CAN-BIKE courses as great training in defensive riding, not unlike that offered by good commercial transport companies to their drivers, training that not only gives students a good understanding of the Highway Traffic Act and how cycling is addressed therein, along with other related legislation, but also teaches them about traffic dynamics and cycling principles (there are many), bicycle type, fit and inspection; handling skills; crashes and collision avoidance, etc. I would love to see such training incorporated into the elementary school curriculum, beginning in grade 3 or 4, and made a mandatory part of driver training.

But vehicular cyclists, as a more or less organized group, have become too entrenched in their position, their heels dug too deeply in, to see other ways of moving forward. Their argument, as put forward in the above article and elsewhere, has some validity, but only, I would argue, within the current culture.

Our roads were initially improved because of the Good Roads Movement launched by cyclists in the 1880s and 90s. With the sudden rise of the automobile, and especially its mainstream affordability after WW2, the roads improved at the behest of cyclists became increasingly designed around the automobile. Cycling was quickly relegated to a transportation option for the poor or a recreational and sporting activity for the privileged. The ensuing culture obsessed with and built around the automobile, though it faced brief challenges during the oil crisis in the 70s, created a transportation system wherein the automobile reigns supreme. Everything is designed around it, from highways and expressways to downtown streets, alleyways, entire residential neighbourhoods, and even parks and recreation areas. In such a culture, where the Highway Traffic Act has included (left intact from earlier times, perhaps) wording that classifies the bicycle as a vehicle under the law, yet has left little space for it in its design of infrastructure; where the balance of power is immensely skewed in favour of motorised traffic; where automobile/bike collisions are largely blamed on the cyclist, underinvestigated, or quietly ignored; in such a culture the arguments of entrenched vehicularists make some sense.

What vehicular cyclists (as a movement) don't seem to see is that we (the infrastructure/design/culture advocates) are advocating for a shift in the balance of power in our transportation systems. We are advocating not just to be allowed on the streets, to be given a little bit of space with traffic so we can run with the bulls, but indeed to change the culture and the design of transportation and urban design. Painted lines are a meagre start, I'll agree, and they may indeed inconvenience motorists, provide them with the notion that cyclists belong in the confines of the bike lane, and even provide some cyclists with a false sense of security leading to taking greater risks, but they are a start. Where we hope our culture will get to, where we hope the transportation system will move to, is a place where all modes of transportation are at the very least valued equally and provided for accordingly in infrastructure design. In such a culture, and such a transportation system, examples of which we see emerging in various places around the world, including American cities (see videos below) and well-established in certain European cities (Amsterdam and Copenhagen are shining examples), there is an abundance of cycling-specific infrastructure. And they are the safest places, and most functional, for cyclists--much safer than any vehicular cyclist could hope for sans infrastructure.

In a cycling culture, for lack of a better term (the term won't be necessary when we achieve it), a culture wherein the balance of power is shifted not only towards equality between modes, but towards favouring modes--cycling, walking, public/mass transit--that are better for the environment, our health, and our economies, there is lots of infrastructure to separate bicycle traffic from motorised traffic along arterial streets. But that doesn't mean bicycles are restricted to those separated areas. They may use other streets as well and still be safer because of various traffic-calming measures employed, most notably much lower speed limits, and because of greater numbers of cyclists. Good design brings cycling numbers up. That has been, and is being, proven consistently. And where numbers are up, obviously, there are fewer motorists on the streets and more motorists that are also cyclists and thus understand the needs and behaviour of the bicycle.

Allow me to share some videos for illustration purposes, some of which have appeared on ICH before: 

How the Dutch did it (yes, it was featured here recently):

 

Copenhagen rush hour (love watching this, every time): 

 

Boulder, Colorado, a Platinum-rated bike-friendly city (rated by The League of American Bicyclists):

     

Portland, OR (another Platinum Bike City):

 

Davis, CA (America's first Platinum Bike City):

 

New York City (an enormous city that still has challenges, but has made huge strides):

 
Minneapolis, MN (rivalling Portland for top cycling-friendly city in America):

 

What do each of these cities have in common to make them havens for cycling? Cycling infrastructure. As long as we insist that cyclists must take their place alongside motorised traffic, ridership will remain low and consist mainly of a population of males between 30 and 50. Bicycles are unique vehicles, and while they should have equal access to our streets, only when the design of infrastructure begins to favour cycling and more people feel safe will they heartily take up cycling in large numbers. I would like to see all arterial roads in the city have a separated bike lane about 8-9 feet wide and residential streets throughout have traffic calming measures in place, chief among them low speed limits.  

There are many examples around the world--not just Europe--of ways to move forward and get more people to choose cycling, walking and public/mass transit instead of the car. Vehicular cycling will continue to play an important role in educating people, equipping them with the knowledge, skills and techniques to ride safely. Infrastructure design factoring in other modes will move us into a healthier, more active future.

Let me leave you with the following, which may sound like a dating ad:

My advocacy derives from and combines both vehicular cycling and cycle-friendly infrastructure and design/culture change approaches. I'm looking for other advocates who appreciate the sound knowledge of traffic dynamics, principles of cyling, handling skills, collision avoidance techniques, bike design and fit, as well as touring and organized cycling theory, who also appreciate and would like to join me for stimulating conversations on urban design, complete streets and alternative transportation, exploration of bicycle culture, watching bike porn (beautiful bikes of all shapes, sizes and types), utilitarian and social urban rides, nudging government officials (municipal, provincial, federal), long rides by the beach, and more. We could be so good together! 

Night riders as we approach winter

I'm glad to still see lots of people riding, even as the weather gets colder. Hope to see people throughout winter and will try to have my camera with me more often to document.

I'm not a fan of people wearing safety vests while riding because it makes cycling look like such a dangerous activity, but for some people perception is reality. With improvement in infrastructure and greater cycling numbers I expect such safety wear to fade. I was happy to see this rider cycling properly with good signalling and lane positioning. 

Riding nicely upright. Too bad I couldn't get a closer view.

A little blurry, but I still thought the lighting was neat.

A little light on the right (your left)...

Too many cars and too few bikes... Think of the how much more efficiently that space could be used since most are single occupant vehicles returning from work.

I had said I'd post about sewer/storm drains today, but I was made aware of a particular one I should document before my post. Stay tuned.

CAN-BIKE training and certification

Over the past month my partner and I received CAN-BIKE 2 and CAN-BIKE instructor certification.

The group preparing to head out to the school lot for practice teaching

The CAN-BIKE 2 training, which we had wanted to take years ago but were unable to due it not being offered in Hamilton for many years, was held over 1 intense 3-day weekend in late October. Jihan had registered for it sometime in the early- or mid-90s, but due to limited enrollment (she had been the only one), it had been cancelled. This time, following interest both in the community and in the public health department, a national examiner was brought in to train 7 of us.

Our instructor and national examiner James Herman

Despite the group being comprised of seasoned cyclists, with people's involvement in cycling ranging from sports (mountain biking, trials, triathlons, randonneuring) to utilitarian riding (commuting and cargo hauling), we learned a lot in these courses. I think we all agree that, no matter how experienced we were, we all acquired knowledge, skills and techniques to make us safer and ultimately better riders. I see CAN-BIKE 2 training essentially as the cycling equivalent of a good defensive driving course.

Class time was balanced very well with relevant outdoor instruction. We spent time after each block of in-class theory either practicing newly acquired techniques and skills in a school parking lot or through extensive rides through the city. These rides emphasized putting into practice the principles of vehicular cycling learned in class while armed with new skills and techniques to deal with various road and traffic conditions, including collision avoidance. The principles of vehicular cycling, based on and adapted from the work of John Forrester in the US, very much emphasize following the rules of the road and behaving as traffic. And as I've often pointed out, here and elsewhere, bicycles are vehicles under the law (Highway Traffic Act). 

The CAN-BIKE instructor certification was held over two intense weekends and had us not only hone our skills and further practice the principles taught, but also learn about passing on what we've learned and will continue to practice. A significant portion of this course then involved practice teaching. We were each assigned modules from the curriculum materials (both theory and practical skills, classroom and outdoor) to teach our classmates.

I had my camera with me on the last day (as did Larry Strung, one of our classmates and a photographer) to capture some of the experience. Below is a selection of images from the practice teaching sessions.

 Andrew, our instructor, and Jacqueline

Sid practice teaches signalling

Eritia lays down obstacles for her practice teaching lesson

James running through Eritia's slalom course

Everyone listening to Larry's lesson on threshold braking

While Hamilton now has some newly certified CAN-BIKE instructors--I happily among them--classes expect to be offered beginning sometime next spring or summer. I will of course be busy throughout winter riding Hamilton's streets with my cargo bikes, delivering goods for and between local businesses. I look forward to contributing to making Hamilton a safer and more cycle-friendly place both by teaching these courses as well as through continued advocacy. 

Look for a post tomorrow on Hamilton's embarrassing storm/sewer drain problem....

Returning from shopping?