Les Bonnes Choses

Ask anyone who knows me, and they will tell you that one of my major rant topics concerns urban sprawl. One of the outcomes of urban sprawl is that you have to have a car to get anywhere, as retailers move into those bleak parking lot malls anchored by a big-box store. Even if distance isn't a factor, sprawling cities are designed around moving cars around (London doesn't even do a particularly good job at that), so eventually, you're going to hit a major thoroughfare. Now, London is maintaining a ridiculous fantasy about being green, and healthy. If you go to the City of London map and display bicycle routes, you might get the impression that you can hop on your bike and go from anywhere to anywhere in the city with ease (pedaling effort aside). I believe the appropriate word to use here is "fraud".

Most of the "routes" on this map are actually just relatively quiet streets, relative being the key word. Where they exist, the dedicated bike paths are lovely, taking you for a scenic ride along the Thames. However, what they have labeled as Bike Road Routes (signed or otherwise) should be removed from the map until they meet some minimum safety standard - a painted lane marker would be nice, as would the repair of the potholes and cracking asphalt that I routinely have to avoid. A couple of weeks ago, while cycling along a section of Huron that is marked as a bicycle path, I hit a pothole, jarring my saddlebag off the back of my bike, and narrowly avoided having it get run over by the SUV that was coming up behind me. I might also mention that my laptop was in my saddlebag. Given that the signs might give the impression that the routes are safe for cycling, I think there's a lawsuit just waiting to happen.

I no longer remember why the hell I bring this up now, other than perhaps that it's tangentially related to my possible second attempt this week to get my M1 motorcycle license - my first attempt found me lacking a key piece of identification. Apparently an Ontario driver's license is insufficient ID when applying for an Ontario driver's license. Go figure.