([EMAIL PROTECTED]) writes:
> On Saturday, June 16, 2001 at 4:01, Peter James <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> wrote on "Re: [obc] Paving highway shoulders," saying..
> ...
> I like your thoughts about the effect at intersections, of which
> there are lots, and which I hadn't thot thru. You gotta take the lane
> when it's necessary for your safety, and avoid driver surprises.
>
> But I think of a road in Quebec, beyond 3 Pistoles, where the
> expressway ends and all the maritime truck traffic goes onto a 2-lane
> road with no shoulder. Once I took to the gravel shoulder when 2 18-
> wheelers and I were all approaching the same point in the road.
> Didn't want to test my rights as a cyclist & take the lane instead.
>
In the Ontario context, excluding Northern Ontario, there's very few
journeys that require us to use major highways. It's almost always
possible to put together a much more interesting & less stressful route on
paved byways. I'll offer up the Cruise Route to Kingston as an example
(head swelling). I would grant that a journey to North Bay, for example,
would require using Hwy 17 beyond Deep River, but there are alternative
routes that are no longer all the way to Deep River. The biggest tragedy
is that they are not signed or shown properly on maps - Les Humphreys has
posted on more than couple of occasions of finding cyclists on 17 - coming
in from Arnprior - when the alternative route is probably more direct.
It's arguable that the money could be more usefully spent, in some areas,
on a comprehensive signing & mapping program.
SNIP
>
> If we really want to be visible, we have to occupy half the lane or
> more. I think it's safer to ride 2x2. Then the paved shoulder serves
> as it should, as a safety buffer.
>
Absolutely. Riding in a decent-sized group two abreast is so much safer
that I just can't fathom all these people riding single file, inviting
motorists to pass where it's not safe. Shoulders are there solely as a
place of last refuge - and cyclists need that refuge just as much as
everybody else. If we use when we don't need it, what will we use when we
need it?
> Tom
>
> --------- Questions answerered, answers questioned.
> Tom Trottier, President <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> http://abacurial.com ICQ:57647974
> 400 Slater St. Suite 415, Ottawa ON Canada K1R 7S7
> +1 613 291-1168 fax:+1 613 594-5412 (877)247-8796
>
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--
Peter James
Ottawa, Ontario
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