uvic and gordon head

For the first time since my family and I started riding bicycles together (again-- as adults), we didn't ride the Galloping Goose.



Instead, we took a leisurely roll to UVic, where I spent my post-secondary years before graduating in 2005, and then around calm, suburban, flat, impeccably-paved Gordon Head. (Pothole? What's a "pothole"?)



UVic has made some serious bike rack investment since I was there. The "centre" of the University, a fountain/green area in front of the library, is now ringed with racks. And not those out-of-vogue squishy hanging triangle racks that waste space because you can only fit one bike in each "slot" and one misplaced speciman can cut the capacity in half... (deep breath)... but much more spacious models. Some covered. After all, if there's one thing a campus like this has, it's plenty of space.



All in all, it was great to travel by bicycle to places that I normally associated with car, bus, or foot travel. I did ride to UVic my first year there, but after one frustrating flat I just... stopped. Lost interest, I think. (My parents house is also at the top of a serious hill. And I mean serious. That might have had something to do with it.) Riding to a familiar place is like recalibrating the distance-memory in my brain; I begin to perceive that place in bicycle-terms instead of by other modes. I believe we all do this as we expand our "I've ridden there" vocabularies/mental maps, destination by destination, neighbourhood by neighbourhood. UVic, Gordon Head: check!

introducing: the hornby bicycle lanes

Thank you, Hornby bike lane, for being six shades of awesome.



Oh, and for being MY route to and from work.



Some intersections have 2-phase lights:
1. right-turning vehicles get green, bicycles/pedestrian have red
2. right-turning vehicles have red, bicycles/pedestrian have green

Personally, I find this quite civilized and safe, but am curious about how it will fare with unobservant and impatient people (both in bicycles and motor vehicles) who aren't paying attention to which light they should be looking at. (Pedestrians are already used to "delayed walk" arrangements and most here tend to look suitably ashamed when they accidentally get in the way of a vehicle that has the right-of-way.) Despite spending 15 minutes of my lunch break the other day standing at the corner of Hornby and Georgia, watching the yellow-jump-suited city worker with a STOP/SLOW sign nudge everybody into the grooves of this new system, I have no predictions. For sure I'll be following it's evolution closely.



The banks of racks confused me at first (although the same on the Dunsmuir bike way changed my mind, if you recall), given that they aren't always in front of anything important in particular. (I think this bank is near Georgia, but there are others in less trafficed parts of the route.) However, it's occured to me that they're meant more to act like parking lots and help people avoid having to ride down streets (like Georgia) that are busy and have no bike lanes, just to get closer to the actual "main attractions", like Granville Street or Pacific Centre. Park on the bike route, where you won't have to deal with cars or intersections or searching for a parking spot, then walk the 2 blocks to the mall.

Because there's no reason to avoid walking, even when you're cycling, oui?



Here the path swoops east a few metres, then back again, acting almost like a traffic-calming device. This makes a lot of sense to me, given that it's a raised, crosswalk-cut section in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery.



The Vancouver Art Gallery! A city landmark. Can you image rolling up on your bicycle to the front door, dressed in all your finery? You lock it mere steps from the entrance (new racks, FYI) and saunter in to some fancy 'do' or to get your dose of culture.

The Dunsmuir route didn't affect me on a regular basis, as it goes east from my work and I go west, but Hornby is smack dab in the middle of everywhere I go. I'm elated to be rid of riding Pender St. and and am loving my daily commute using this new infrastructure.

Even, let it be said, in the pouring rain.

roll on up

On the north side of Vancouver City Hall there's a bicycle ramp leading up a flight of stairs.



Compared to a motor vehicle or even pedestrian ramp, that's a seriously small footprint!

I saw the sign a few seconds before I realized what it was talking about, such a subtle addition it is.

Hm...
How much does it cost?
Is it hard to install?
Who makes them?
Does the city have plans to install any more?

I gave it a try. Swoop! Easy enough and far more appropriate than carrying your bicycle up the stairs, especially when it's made a of heavy steel or when you're wearing footwear inappropriate to carrying large loads. Now that I've noticed this, I'll keep my eye out for more.

free parking

Although I was skeptical about the implementation of on-street racks as the barrier separating the new Dunsmuir bike lanes from car lanes between Granville and Seymour, I'm happy to see that they are, at least, being used.



BCIT has a campus near that corner and I think there are a number of ESL schools nearby as well, which may account for the use (and possibly, unconsidered by me earlier, the initial decision to install them?).

While I remain aware of the potential negative emotions they may invoke in non-cycling drivers, I do concede that a full lineup may certainly invoke positive emotions in many others.

Like me.

dunsmuir bike lane

It's a wheel forward for Vancouver: a 2-way, on-street, separated bike lane running E-W across the city into the central business district. Dunsmuir Street is forever changed!



Don't those cars look speedy? For some segments, the safety-enhancing divider between cars and bikes is a row of planters like this. I like how it serves a dual purpose by also integrating more greenery into the "concrete and glass" streetscape. These days, nobody is going to complain that adding plants is a waste. (Nobody that likes to breathe air, at least.)



It looks like they're automatically collecting usage data. Hard evidence! Maybe, if things go well, we could get a counter?



There's new signage, of course...



...and changes to the intersections. Some right-turns (across the bike lane) are now prohibited in a few places, which may take some time for regular drivers to get used to and cause extra confusion for infrequent drivers.



I'm unsure about my opinion on the decision to use racks as the divider on one stretch. At first thought, it doesn't seem like a good way to foster goodwill in drivers towards the bike lane. Jury's still out on this one.



I accidentally caught this chic cyclist while photographing the one half-block without a physical barrier between cars and bikes.

Overall, it's been a frequent conversation topic these past few weeks. My coworkers had a variety of reactions:

"It looks very European."

"I felt so safe!"

One said that it made her ride to work quicker, another has tried riding to work again after having spent the last while commuting by skytrain, and a third, who doesn't currently own a bike, seems to be inspired by the enthusiasm of me and the others and is looking into picking up a used one so he can get back into riding again. (He's a motorcyclist, so gets "on few wheels" points for that, too.)

Our resident department curmudgeon was complaining about it but he complains about everything so in a way that just validates it as 'normal'. It's change. Change is inevitable and hard, even when it's positive. Life goes on and our city and culture develops.

Congratulations, Vancouver, on embracing this change.