a few montreal bike-riding observational photos

Note to readers: apparently we were in a bad mood when we wrote this post (more accurately: rant, rant, rant, and rant some more).

We get home from our bike ride home from work in a ranty mood sometimes, probably because so many people are trying to kill us, and doing it on purpose.

Don't read this if you don't like it when we call idiots who threaten our safety "idiots who threaten our safety." It's not an insult, it's a FACT.  And when these people threaten the safety of the weaker members of society (sidewalk riders, we're talking to you here), we are going to tell you what actually we think of your antisocial sidewalk-riding behaviour.

Apparently this post has upset some delicate readers, and not just the ones who see themselves here and don't like it one bit. Too f***ing bad to the people who are trying to kill us, this is what we think of you when you treat the world as being the place where you and your f'ing selfish and/or brain dead idiocy come first.

As for the delicate readers who get upset easily: our advice is to stop reading now and click here for some happy thoughts.
____________________________________________________________________________

car driver using boob-based cellphone mounting system to evade no-cellphone-while-driving laws

We are both amazed and appalled at this innovative hands-free method of cell phone use while driving.  But mostly appalled.

We don't think this what the law implies when dictating hands-free methods of cell-phone use are legal.  But we'd love to see it tested in court.  People will just ignore any law they don't like, it's the Quebec way.

Stop reading now and click here for some happy thoughts.

recent rains cause Cote-Ste-Catherine bike path debris hazards

Debris hazards ignored by the street cleaning forces of Montreal which however do work hard to make sure the car lanes are spotless.

Runner on road... in the middle of road!

Notice the bike sharrow... he sure didn't, or more likely he is doing it on purpose to f*** over bike riders, which we think is his true intention since this is in the suburb of doucheville (TMR/VMR).

Stop reading now and click here for some happy thoughts.

Runner owning the road in upper-middle-class enclave of doucheville TMR/VMR. Clearly anti-road-safety behaviour isn't confined to the lesser-educated or lower-income classes.

Stop reading now and click here for some happy thoughts.

This is a good example of the modern me, me, me, and f-you-you-you behaviour.  Sometimes your extreme individualism does create a problem.  We've seen this guy cause cars to veer out of his way. What's wrong with him?

Speaking of "what's wrong with you?" non-running pedestrians are now also ignoring the sidewalk:

nice sidewalk which is completely ignored by this pedestrian

This "walk in the street" behaviour is a new trend in pedestrian behaviour that we completely don't understand.   What went wrong with this women's decision-making process to create this behaviour of completely ignoring the sidewalk?  We see this craziness occurring more and more frequently and it frankly baffles is. Science? Please answer this question!


Stop reading now and click here for some happy thoughts.

St-Croix blvd in St-Laurent undergoing rebuilding, and will have new bike lanes when completed

And slowly bike riders get a network of bike paths to travel safely across Montreal.This street's new bike path is another gap being removed to create a continuous trans-montreal bikepath network.

More heavy rain erosional debris blocking piste cyclable Cote-Ste-Catherine

I think we all know that the city won't clean up this debris for months or possibly until they do their typical crap job of spring cleaning in 2013.

Stop reading now and click here for some happy thoughts.

 Young Salmon on bixi on Van Horne

This rider didn't understand he was doing anything wrong. Point A to Point B via the shortest possible route? What could possibly go wrong?  Did we mention a bike rider died in 2011 a few metres from where this photo was taken?

Stop reading now and click here for some happy thoughts.

An example of a couple of responsible runners demonstrating that the sidewalk is perfectly adequate for running

We respect runners who grasp the basic concepts of personal safety when running. 

Nice sidewalk, but this runner prefers being completely oblivious to her personal safety

Stop reading now and click here for some happy thoughts.

Just another clueless runner ignoring the sidewalk... or is this one of those road-warrior type runners?

Stop reading now and click here for some happy thoughts.

Upon closer examination, definitely a road-warrior type. His careless and negligent attitude about street safety and his interference with what part of the street where bikes by law are required to use will never ever change. (aka the big-muscles small-brain hypothesis)

Is the sidewalk broken and that's why you ignore it?

Stop reading now and click here for some happy thoughts.

Reduced speed limit in construction zone: hahahahahhahaaaa!

Road safety speed limit laws are completely ignored by the typical Quebec driver.

Stop reading now and click here for some happy thoughts.

An example of what VMR/TMR thinks is a perfectly adequate road surface for cycling

Well, the first step is labeling the routes bike riders are expected to use to travel through Montreal. Actually making these routes safe for bicycle riders to use is a distant second (or 102nd) priority.

Stop reading now and click here for some happy thoughts.

Did someone strip out the headset from this bike? Wow that's seriously cheapskate!

Another sad, sad bike.

Dandelion fluff and Bixi docking station

We love dandelion fluff.

(A kind reader points out that this is probably fluff from aspen trees)

chainless/spokeless bikes are prohibited, clueless riders still permitted

Stop reading now and click here for some happy thoughts.

this style of useful multiple-bike parking stand is disappearing from Montreal streets

Often these are being replaced by the merchant-purchased bike stands of the useless front-wheel-only style (but cheapest to purchase) bike stand.

Bike rider playing chicken with pedestrians at "pedestrian" crosswalk

Charge!
Or more likely in Montreal: "Tasse-toi callisse!"

Before: unhappy bike's woes ignored by 1000s of people

After: one darn happy-looking happy bike showing its gratitude

We always pick up fallen bikes. It only takes a few seconds. No bike deserves to be walked on (or stomped on, which we have witnessed).

but.. what does it mean?

more morons treating sidewalk as their own personal bike autoroute

Sorry, we meant to describe sidewalk riders as inconsiderate jerks, not morons. Apparently there's a difference.

Stop reading now and click here for some happy thoughts.

It's good to ride bikes... just NOT on the sidewalk!

Let's scare the old people!  No wonder pedestrians are getting their revenge and are choosing to walk on the bike path and deciding that occupying our tiny patch of the street is safer than using the sidewalk.

OK, relax.. take a deep breath... think happy thoughts.. imagine pretty colors...

Seriously, relax and try to have fun, but also make the cognitive decision to ride your bike safely so you don't buzzkill someone else's sense of peaceful happiness.

Tour de nuit's parade of night riders owning the streets on the closed route of the Tour. Unfortunately many will ride the same we-don't-stop-for-anyone-or-anything way on regular streets!

The tour de l'Ile organization could do a lot better in educating riders about bike safety and the reasons why obeying the rules of the road is a good thing for everyone involved.

Quiz: why are Montreal bike riders so lawless? 

Answer: Because they that's the way they learned to drive cars.

We don't understand why the carnage isn't several orders of magnitude greater. (sorry to use advanced mathematical concepts, translation: we are surprised there aren't daily deaths).

You read this rant all the way to the end?  You need to click here for some happy thoughts.