Ride along

“The Ride for Heart is always a happy event. I get to ride for a great cause with my family and it marks the start of summer for me,” says my youngest son. Well, it marks the start of summer for me, too. It was an amazing day on the Gardiner Expressway and the Don Valley Parkway. We had a fabulous time. It’s a great way to remember all of the family and friends whose lives have been touched by cardiovascular disease. Thank you all, from the bottom of my heart, for your generosity, goodwill and kind words.

And speaking of cycling—you knew where I was going when you started to read today’s column—it’s time to think about how we ride, here in the County. First of all, if you know me and—many of you might—you know I had a semi-serious accident on my bicycle in 2011. It could have been a lot worse than a few broken bones, but I was wearing a helmet. Yup, the brain bucket saved me from a serious head injury. I suffered the classic cycling injury, a broken collar bone and a couple of cracks and scrapes. The shoulder, in a side fall, is typically the first bit of all y’all that hits the pavement. The sound of the collar bone breaking is intriguing, if not a bit nauseating. It is the first sound you get. The very next is the sound of your head hitting the road. If you’re wearing your helmet, it’ll be a plasticky kind of clunk, followed by a head bounce or two. I suppose if your unprotected melon were to hit the pavement it would make a squishy thunk, without much bounce. When I see folks chugging along on their bicycles, not wearing a brain bucket, I want to scream.

A lot of idiots tell me, “I wasn’t going very far,” or “I’ve never had an accident before. I don’t need a helmet.” By definition, an accident happens by chance. Unexpectedly. Get a freaking helmet. Wear your freaking helmet every freaking time you go for a ride. It doesn’t matter how far or for how long.

Next, while I’m on a tear about cycling, cyclists need to share the freaking road with the motorists. Cyclists need to develop a healthy respect for something travelling at 50 to 80 kilometres per hour, and that outweighs you and your bike by hundreds of kilograms. So, if there’s a paved shoulder (and we have a few here and there) and you’re riding your bike, get over onto the shoulder. No paved shoulder? Then use some common sense. Get a mirror so you can see what’s coming and move over a bit to accommodate. Learn the hand signals and use them. Traffic lights and signs are for people using the road. If you’re on a bike, and on the road, those signs and signals are for you, too. And it’s not okay to ride facing traffic. What kind of an idiot does that? (No, wait, I see that idiot on the Loyalist Parkway almost every day. When she gets into Picton, she rides on the sidewalk, cuts across the roads and the highway without checking for oncoming traffic and she never wears a helmet. Motorists— you need to watch out for her. She’s an accident waiting to mess up your day.)

Am I done? Well, just about. If you’ve got youngsters who are learning to ride, for goodness sake, teach them the rules of the road. Make them wear a helmet. Show them how to control their bike at all times. Tell your kids not to be idiots on the road. In a confrontation with a motor vehicle, the bike always loses.

theresa@wellingtontimes.ca