The Sauganash Trail

By John Greenfield

The Sauganash Trail is short and sweet. This new rails-to-trails, AKA the Valley Line Trail, officially opened June 21 in the Sauganash community on Chicago’s Northwest Side. It’s only one mile long, running from Bryn Mawr to Devon near Kostner, and after you check it out once it may be years until you ride it again. It’s basically a road to nowhere, terminating abruptly at busy Devon, a mile from any recommended bike routes.

But it’s a delightful little path, extremely well designed and executed and it’s already getting great use by locals. If you lived nearby you’d probably find yourself using it several times a week for accessing Bryn Mawr to pedal downtown, for strolling, walking your dog, jogging or helping your kids travel safely around the neighborhood.

The trail is located on an old railroad embankment now owned by ComEd and the City of Chicago is leasing the right-of-way for a dollar a year, says Maria Castaneda, spokeswoman for the Chicago Department of Transportation, which helped plan and build the project. It’s the city’s third rails-to-trails after the Burnham Greenway and the Major Taylor Trail on the Southeast and Southwest Sides, respectively. The Bloomingdale Trail is currently in the works for the Near Northwest Side.

The biggest challenge of building the path was replacing old railroad structures at Rogers and at Peterson with bike-ped bridges, says Castaneda. Since this work involved disrupting the traffic below the bridges it was done during off-peak hours.

View from the bridge over Peterson

“People in the neighborhood love the trail,” says Pat Malloy, assistant to Ald. Margaret Laurino (39th). “Some people have said they were skeptical at first – they were worried about kids hanging out there causing problems. But actually this seems to improve the situation from when it was an abandoned rail line. Now any time of day you’ve got people walking, skating and biking, so troublemakers have to worry about being seen by their neighbors.”

Malloy says another big perk is that kids who live on the north side of the community no longer have to cross four-lane Peterson to get to activities at Sauganash Park. Now they can get up on the trail via a dandy access ramp at Thome, ride or walk over Peterson and exit via the off-ramp at Rogers, just south of the park.


The path may eventually link up with other greenways, says Malloy. The suburb of Lincolnwood is looking into extending the trail north from Devon while the Cook County Forest Preserve District hopes to build a path through the LaBagh Woods along the Chicago River, connecting the south end of the Sauganash Trail to the North Branch Trail.

Last Wednesday I encountered cyclists Paula Getman and Mike Kenny at the southern end of the new path. They had discovered it by accident as they followed the signed route to the North Branch Trail and had just taken a quick spin up and down the Sauganash. “The surface is great and I love the little exit ramps,” said Kenny. “This is a great way to cross Peterson, that’s for damn sure,” sais Getman.


“This is a little strip with great potential,” she added. “It’s like the little bits of riverwalk along the Chicago River – they’re great as long as they last and hopefully they’ll all connect some day.”

The path was in fact smooth as glass and free so far of the gang graffiti that constantly has to be painted out on the Burnham Greenway and the broken glass that plagues the Major Taylor Trail. Inside the pleasant green tunnel with a soundtrack of chirping robins it’s easy to imagine you’re no longer in a city of three million.

At Devon, a sign in the median portrays Sauganash, “The Englishman,” a Potowatami chief born Billy Caldwell to a Wyandot Indian mother and an Irish father and educated by the Jesuits at Fort Detroit. Sauganash settled in Chicago in 1820 and was elected as a judge a few years later, eventually controlling a 1,200 acre tract of land at the current site of the neighborhood. But in 1836 he sold most of his land and relocated to Iowa join his tribesmen who had been forced west by the federal government.

As I returned south I met Bob Gorman, a local, and Michael Wacker, visiting from Lake Geneva, WI, who said they were out for a stroll and to discuss business. “I like that they replaced the old tracks,” said Gorman. “They were a gathering place for troubled youth." Wacker says he grew up nearby, “So there’s a nostalgic element for me.”

Michael Wacker

Passing by Sauganash Park, I saw a couple of young moms taking full advantage of the new trail’s potential for car-free intra-neighborhood travel. Having picked up their young kids from day camp, they were also pushing toddlers in strollers while walking the family dogs along the bike path.

Day campers at Sauganash Park

Mayor Daley's Bike to Work Rally Address

[At Friday's Bike to Work Rally, seated from left: Mayor Richard M. Daley; Greg LeMond, the first American to win the Tour de France; Andy Clarke, Executive Director of the League of American Bicyclists; unidentified; Alex Wilson, Director of West Town Bikes, who received an Individual Achievement Award from the mayor.

Last Friday, June 13, Mayor Richard M. Daley addressed a crowd of hundreds of bicyclists at Chicago’s annual Bike To Work Rally in the mayor's eponymous plaza. Notably, Daley memorialized cyclist Clinton Miceli, 22, who was killed that Monday when an SUV driver opened a door Miceli’s path, throwing him into traffic. The following is the mayor's speech, edited a bit for clarity.

Good morning. Thank you very much Ginger, Rob, from Channel 5 for those kind remarks. Thank you for MC-ing. Let’s give them a round of applause. Greg LaMonde, a hero for all of us, world-champion cyclist, three-time Tour de France winner. Let’s give him a round of applause. Welcome to Chicago.

I want to thank all those who are participating in the Bike to Work Rally, all of those that made a difference here over many, many years in making this city a bike-friendly city. All the advocacy groups, all the cyclists, all the bike shops, all over the city that have really made the city what it is today.

Like any thing else, riding a bike is dangerous. At this time I’d like to have a moment of silence in memory of a young man, Clinton Miceli, who unfortunately was killed this week in a collision with a car. Let’s just have a moment of silence for Clinton. [Five seconds of complete silence.] Amen.

With Clinton in mind I ask everyone operating a motor vehicle or bicycle, please obey all safety laws – share the road. Use common sense when you open the door of a car. This has become a more bike-friendly city. So I ask anyone in a car: when you park your car please use common sense in opening the door because you’re going to save someone’s life from serious injury.

This is a great rally because we’re really embracing what we’ve done for many, many years in this city: alternatives to vehicles. You’ve been environmentalist, those who’ve biked to and from work and on weekends. Bicycle riders were doing this long before gas prices started going up. Every day you help save the environment.

I want to thank all those who have participated in this wonderful rally, all the sponsors, all the government agencies: Department of Transportation, CTA, the Park District and those who have participated with us in regards to this bike rally.

What we’re trying to tell people is get informed going to and from work, working with parking plots, developers and making it bike-friendly going to and from work. We hope to build more bike stations here in the city of Chicago, not only in the downtown area but all over the city.

I also want to thank the CTA for their great response in regards to a bike-friendly CTA system. Public transportation, walking and biking, it all goes together. I just want to congratulate everyone being here, those who ride their bikes to work every day, those who enjoy it, this is a wonderful family occasion.

One of the things that we’ve been talking about and that we have now coming to the city of Chicago is a criterium that is coming July 27 on a Sunday. Some of the world’s greatest cyclists will take part for the first time in Grant Park. I hope that there will be many of these in the future.

[I’d like to see] more bike trails, especially longer ones in the downtown. I hope to get 50 miles, using the railroad tracks, that’s my dream some day, so all of us don’t have to go out to other states to do the 50-mile or 100-mile bike rides that many of us want on the weekends. I just want to thank all of those who participated and worked with us to make this bike rally so friendly. Have a wonderful day - go biking. Thank you.

Metra-sexuals

Public transit and bicycling can be routes to romance

By John Greenfield

[This piece also runs this week in New City magazine, www.newcity.com.]

It might seem like living car-free would make dating difficult. But as Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay’s steamy El-train scene in“Risky Business” shows, alternative transportation can actually rev up your love life. Here’s testimony from Chicagoans who really “get around.”

Aurora Butterfly, a poet and co-organizer of the World Naked Bike Ride, says she’s had her share of make-out sessions on deserted Metra cars. But the CTA’s #66 Chicago Ave. bus was where she first flirted with relatively well-heeled suitors. “One was a voice-over artist who was deliciously beautiful, and the other was a successful animator and e-entrepreneur who looked like Batman,” she reports.

“Since it was the morning commute, they were too tired to lay it on thick,” she says. “It was more of a hunt-and-peck, secret glance style of courting, peeking over the marketing textbook.” Dating professionals was a nice change from her usual starving-artist types, says Butterfly. “They were thoughtful enough about the environment not to drive downtown even though they owned cars,” she says.

“Pete,” a musician, was entering the Damen Blue Line station soon after 9/11 when he saw an older lady standing on the stairs, wailing. After a young woman helped him get assistance for the senior, the two of them talked on the platform about how after the Trade Center attacks it seemed important to look out for other people.

On board they chatted and complimented each other’s eyeglasses as other passengers looked on. She gave him her business card as she got off the train, saying she’d love to go out some time. “I swear one guy in the train gave me a thumbs-up,” says “Pete.” Three weeks later he finally got the nerve up to call her, she invited him over to her apartment, and one thing led to another.

“Hannah” and “Dan” first met while building chopper bicycles at sessions organized by the Rat Patrol bike gang. She’s Jewish; he rolled with the Scallywags, punk-rock Christians whose members ride double-tall bikes and are sworn to celibacy before marriage.

The two mechanics got to know each other better on the Perimeter Ride, an all-day, all night, 100-mile bike tour around the city, ending with skinny-dipping in Lake Michigan. Needless to say, “Dan” gave up his vows. Nowadays the couple lives together at the Hub, a housing co-op owned by riders from Critical Mass. Vive le velo love!

Bike, ped and transit facilities in Cleveland, OH

By John Greenfield

There’s only one major bike lane in Cleveland, but it’s a really good one.

I recently spent a long weekend in this city of about 500,000 (roughly three million metro) located on the south shore of Lake Erie at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River. It’s a highly underrated town. With its lakeshore to the north, rather than the east, it’s basically a miniature Chicago flipped 90 degrees to the left. But Cleveland also boasts some pleasantly rolling terrain; lush green spaces; really cool old architecture and super-friendly people.


I was also pleasantly surprised to hear about some exciting transportation developments in the Forest City, as it’s called. I got the skinny from Ryan McKenzie, who used to work on walking, bicycling and transit projects for the nonprofit EcoCity Cleveland and now runs the local car sharing service CityWheels.

Ryan and his wife started the car service with their own money and no help from government funds or charitable donations. “It’s pretty idealistic and naïve and we’ve suffered for it,” he says. “But I think we’ll persevere and get our pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.”

Currently, City Wheels has 200 members and only four cars: two at University Circle near Case Western Reserve University and two at nearby Oberlin College. But six more cars will be placed in downtown Cleveland, Shaker Square and Cedar Fairmount in June. Ryan is also hoping a federal grant for $500,000 will come through this summer, allowing him to add 30 more vehicles to the fleet, which should allow them to break even.

Well, how is bringing a bunch of cars into the city going to help with congestion and air quality problems?

“In a mid-size, conservative, Midwestern city like Cleveland car sharing helps people have the courage to own fewer cars,” Ryan explains. “It’s like the patch for smoking. It helps you quit the addiction but still have some access to the nicotine.”

Ryan says that by eliminating the need to own a second or even first automobile, car sharing helps members embrace walking, biking and public transit and reduce their miles driven by over 50%. Some clients have sold their vehicle or avoided a planned purchase, and when they do drive it’s a hybrid or other “greener” car rather than a noisy, polluting beater, he says.


I originally met Ryan a few years ago when he came to town with City of Cleveland staff to study our bike facilities. “Seeing and riding on bike lanes in Chicago has helped a lot,” he says, adding that the visits also inspired Cleveland to install 500 Chicago-style inverted U bicycle racks over the past two years. Indoor bike parking was created at the local city hall and there’s a budget to build a bike station near the Cavaliers’ basketball arena.

Short stretches of bike lane were recently striped as part of improvements to the 2/3 mile-long Detroit-Superior bridge downtown. The rehab also included converting six travel lanes to four to make room for a wide sidewalk with sheltered benches and public art pieces that doubles as weather vanes and sun dials.


But the big transportation news in Cleveland is the construction of a bus rapid transit line along the east side’s Euclid Ave. Corridor. The system features dedicated bus lanes and futuristic-looking shelters on raised medians in the center of the street. Customers will be required to pay at the kiosks in advance, speeding boarding times.

Due to this forward-thinking plan, as well as quality existing bus and light rail service, last year the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority was rated North America’s best public transit system by the American Public Transportation Association. As a bonus, the new bus line is paralleled for several miles by that first-rate bike lane I mentioned.


But there seems to be a disconnect here: why is Cleveland getting a space-age rapid transit system when it has only a smidgen of bike lanes?

“The City is underfunded, understaffed and demoralized,” Ryan explains. “They barely have the resources to fill a pothole or stripe a street line.” Since the City is responsible for maintaining the roads and has trouble keeping up with routine maintenance, it’s hard to get support for new bike lanes, he says.

On the other hand, construction projects like the Euclid Corridor that are largely bankrolled by federal money are easier to push through, Ryan says. “But it was a tremendous struggle to get the bike racks, the bridge and the bus rapid transit,” he says. “The process took years and quarts of blood were spilled.”

Ryan says community activists have to be very vigilant in Cleveland and not declare victory when a project is planned but when it’s installed. “There’s not the commitment from government here for alternative transportation projects,” he says. “It’s not like Mayor Daley who says, ‘I’m a cyclist and I’m all for it.’”


I asked Ryan for a list of local bike landmarks to check out. That Sunday morning after a breakfast of frittata and espresso at Presti’s Bakery in Little Italy I took a spin downtown on Euclid. Parts of the avenue were still heavily under construction as all aspects of the streetscape are being improved: sidewalks, roadway, street trees, benches and lighting. But several of the Jetson-esque bus kiosks were already in use and for the most part the bike lane was a smooth ride.


I crossed over the Detroit-Superior Bridge into the Ohio City neighborhood and headed to Fridrich Bicycle, 3800 Lorraine Ave., a family-owned shop that’s been in business since 1883. It’s a big, utilitarian space that feels like a hardware store, in a good way. There’s lots of interesting old-fashioned accessories like wire and wicker baskets and large rubber mud flaps to screw onto your fenders.

I rolled on and crossed the Columbus Ave. Bridge to an industrial area within an oxbow of the Cuyahoga to check out the Ohio City Bike Co-op. Similar to Chicago’s West Town Bikes and Blackstone Bike Works, the co-op offers an earn-a-bike program for kids, bike safety and repair classes and more.

I didn’t have time to check out the city’s nine-mile lakefront trail or the Towpath Trail which winds more than 100 miles through the Ohio and Erie Canal Reservation. But downtown I got to speak with a couple of cyclists who were on their way home from cheering a friend in the Cleveland Marathon.


Jack Lavelle, an elementary school student told me he’s usually comfortable biking on local streets but always wears a helmet. David Postel actually goes to college at Loyola in Chicago but he grew up in Lakewood, a suburb of Cleveland. He says that while less people bike there, Cleveland is actually a very easy place to get around.

“Drivers are courteous to bikes and transit is really good,” David says. “There are free trolleys downtown. The transit workers are friendly and the buses are clean and they all have bike racks. And our train system has as many stops as Chicago’s El, but most people in Cleveland don’t know that.”

The Ride of Silence

By John Greenfield


Wednesday, May 21, I rode in Chicago’s Ride of Silence, part of a worldwide tribute to bicyclists who have been killed by motor vehicles.

The memorial originated in Dallas in 2003 after endurance rider Larry Schwartz died when a bus sideswiped him on a deserted highway. This year cyclists in almost 300 cities participated, demonstrating that bikers should be allowed to ride safely, without fear of being struck by cars.

Although the message of the Ride of Silence is similar to that expressed by Critical Mass participants, its means are different. Instead of taking over the streets, memorial riders roll slowly in single file, wordlessly. Rather than celebratory, the mood of the procession is solemn and contemplative.

The ride had special resonance in Chicago because this has been a bad year for bike fatalities. According to CDOT figures from 2001 to 2005 an average of six cyclists per year were killed in crashes here; at least three died between February and April of this year alone.


While previous local rides drew at most 50 participants, about 200 showed up at Daley Plaza this year, including family and friends of young people who died this year: Matthew Manger-Lynch, Tyler Fabeck and Amanda Annis. Many people pinned signs to the back of their shirts or bags commemorating them, as well other fallen Chicago riders like Ryan Boudreau, Blanca Ocasio, Tom McBride and Isai Medina.

Organizer Elizabeth Adamczyk distributed cloth armbands to cyclists: black for those who were there to honor others; red for those who had been injured by cars themselves. “You’re a survivor if you’re wearing red,” she said.

Lauren Vega, who sported a “You’d look hotter in a helmet” sticker on her own headgear, wore a black armband. “I’ve only had one crash,” she said. “It was me versus the alley and the alley won. I’ve never had an altercation with anything moving, but this ride is just a good idea.”

Before the riders hit the street, Adamczyk addressed the crowd. “We’re here to raise awareness that cycles have a right to share the road legally,” she said. “We’re not here to be confrontational with motorists. We’re going to let the silence roar.”

She then read from a poem written for the occasion by Mike Murgas ending, “Tonight’s ride is to make others aware / The road is there for all to share / To those not with us or by our side, / May God be your partner on your final ride.”


Cyclists then rolled out of the plaza, heading west on Randolph St. with riders and police cars “corking” the late rush-hour traffic. As we headed north out of the Loop, almost all riders respected the request for silence and the relative hush made the line of bicycles seem like a funeral cortege, in an effective way.

Although the front of the line stopped at all stoplights, the rest of the procession did continue through intersections as signals changed from green to red, so a few blasts of car horns did break the calm. But overall, bystanders seemed intrigued by the long string of serious, silent bicyclists as we headed up Wells St. and Lincoln Ave. to Lincoln Park.


I had to leave at Fullerton, but friends told me the riders stayed on course with little static from cars. The cyclists visited the sites of recent fatalities on the North Side, most of them marked by white-painted Ghost Bikes locked nearby with signs memorializing the fallen.

First they headed to the intersection of Lincoln / Damen / Irving Park in North Center, where Matthew Manger-Lynch, 29, was hit by an SUV on February 24. From there the group rode south to Western Ave. and Logan Blvd., a complex crossing in Logan Square where Tyler Fabeck, 22, was struck by an eastbound driver on Aril 20.


After rounding Logan Square’s Centennial Monument, the procession continued to the corner of Kedzie Blvd. and Armitage Ave. where two young women were killed within the space of a few months. On September 11 of last year Blanca Ocasio, 19, was hit by a right-turning garbage truck. Amanda Annis, 24, was struck there on April 30 when a car ran a red light.

The ride concluded at the Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western, where Isai Medina was killed by a vehicle that hopped the curb as Medina stood on the sidewalk with his “chopper” bicycle.

All of these people will be missed by their loved ones for many years to come. Chicago’s Ride of Silence served as a reminder to motorists to drive with care and be mindful of their vehicles’ potential to take lives.

How to Get Started in Bike Racing & Spectating

[This article runs in the May 22 issue of Time Out Chicago:
http://www.timeout.com/chicago/articles/sports/29734/breaking-away]

By John Greenfield

“I love speed and Chicago is all about speed,” says local bike racer Shane Winn. He says the focus of racing here is criterium (laps around a closed course on city streets) and track (riding single-speed, fixed-gear cycles on a velodrome.) “It’s a gladiator phenomenon.”

If you dig velocity, there are over 30 teams in the area, many of them geared towards mentoring newbies. But if you’d rather kick back with a beer and a brat while watching chiseled folks in lycra zoom past, it’s gonna be a great summer for spectating. Get up to speed at chicagobikeracing.com, with info on teams, rides and races.

XXX Racing-AthletiCo (xxxracing.org) is one of the biggest, most inclusive local teams. To get involved, just show up for one of their Saturday training rides, leaving at 7 am from Wicker Park, 1425 N. Damen, for a 50-mile roundtrip to Highland Park and back. There’s a “no drop” policy for the first half; ride home at your pace.

For a taste of the track, head to the Northbrook’s Ed Rudolph Velodrome, Meadowhill Park, 1500 N. Maple Ave. (northbrookvelodrome.com). Established racers compete on Thursday nights but on Fridays from 6/13 to 8/15 between 6 and 10 pm, all ages and abilities can participate in the Developmental Bike Racing Series.

The big news this year is the debut of the Chicago Criterium on Sun. 7/27. Part of Mayor Daley’s campaign to bag the 2016 Olympics, this showcase will be the first Loop crit since 1987 (Google “Chicago Criterium.”) Races starts at 7 am. Thousands of people will flood Grant Park for the event, which features $40,000 in prize money, most of it earmarked for the pro competition at 2:25 pm.

The races take place on a mile-long circuit of streets: Jackson, Columbus, Balbo and a rare closure of the northbound lanes of Michigan Ave.“It’s going to be a great event for fans: high-intensity with lots of turns which makes for a very exciting racing,” says Anne Davis from the Mayor’s Office of Special Events.

Two other crits are coming to the city’s South Side this summer. XXX-Racing hosts the Sherman Park Criterium on Sat. 6/14, with races starting between 8 am to 4:40 pm (xxxracing.org.) Spectators are invited to bring barbecue fixins and a live DJ will spin at the park, 1301 W. 52nd St. in the Englewood neighborhood.

The Beverly Hills Cycling Classic (bapa.org) on Fri. 7/8 is a 100K, 50-lap crit, a great excuse to trek down to the remote neighborhood of Beverly and take in its historic mansions and surprisingly hilly terrain. The race starts at 6 pm at a festival at 107th St & Longwood Dr.

Bicyclist who like to swim and run as well might want to give the multisport scene a “tri.” A good way to get your feet wet is the monthly happy hour and clinic hosted by the Chicago Tri Club, first Wednesdays at Fizz, 3220 N. Lincoln Ave. at 6:00 pm (chicagotriclub.com.)

The area’s most popular multisport event is the Accenture Chicago Triathlon (chicagotriathalon.com), with about 6,500 competitors in the main race on Sun. 8/24, starting with swimming at Monroe Harbor, 101 S. Lakeshore Drive.

On the other side of the racing spectrum, the Chicago Couriers Union and other messengers are bringing the 11th annual North American Cycle Courier Championships to town with City-sanctioned, closed-course races in Garfield Park, 3400 W. Washington St., on Sat. 8/30 and Sun. 8/31 from 10 am – 4 pm (chicagonaccc.com.)

Although the main “alleycat” races will be messenger-only, “civilians” are welcome to compete in the sprint, trackstand, skid, and bike polo competitions. Organizer Augie Montes promises “There’ll be all the jack-assery you might expect.”

Is the Bike Safety Ordinance Being Enforced?

Police will be fining dangerous drivers this summer, as well as lawbreaking cyclists

[This article runs in the May 22 issue of Time Out Chicago:
http://www.timeout.com/chicago/articles/museums-culture/29680/just-the-ticket]

By John Greenfield

In March bicyclists rejoiced after City Council passed Mayor Daley’s new bike safety laws which assign $150 fines for drivers who endanger bikers, $500 for actions that result in a crash. The ordinances cover fouls such as passing within three feet of a bike and opening a car door into a pedaler’s path.

But the deaths of two cyclists in April, killed by cars in Logan Square within a few days of each other, beg the question: are police enforcing the new laws?

No, said a dozen bikers responding to a query on the Chicago Critical Mass listserv last week. Brendan Neuman reported when he got “doored” by a car last week in Greektown, an officer who witnessed the crash failed to cite the driver.

Police spokeswoman Monique Bond confirms that the number of tickets written so far is probably extremely low, because of the newness of the ordinances.

But Chicago Department of Transportation spokesman Brian Steele says the laws have already raised awareness. “With all the media coverage this received, our hope is people who saw the TV coverage or read the news said ‘Hey, I need to be more careful when I drive.’” He adds his department is working on a flyer for distribution to all officers this summer to make sure they know about the safety ordinances.

But aldermen have also requested that CDOT help reign in dangerous cyclists. “Are we going to insist that bicycles obey the rules of the road?” asked Ald. Bernard Stone (50th) at a hearing before the laws passed. In 2005 Stone vetoed the construction of a bike bridge, citing its proximity to a senior center.

Ben Gomberg, Chicago’s bike coordinator, responded that the City was looking into ways to increase compliance. One strategy from the City’s Bike 2015 Plan is: “Develop and implement an enforcement program targeting particularly dangerous bicycling.”

As a nod to the aldermen’s concerns, the flyer will also remind officers about laws that apply to bikes: cyclists must ride in the street, not on the sidewalk (if over 12); use a headlight and rear reflector at night; and stop at all stoplights and stop signs. Steele acknowledges that the memo should result in more tickets for bikes as well as cars. “Those laws are there for a reason and they should be enforced.”

But the last time the police announced a crackdown on bicyclists, with plans to fine Lakeview lawbreakers $25 to $250 in summer 2005, the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation stated in a bulletin the CBF believes “enforcement efforts should focus on traffic with the greatest impact on safety” – i.e. cars.

Spokeswoman Margo O’Hara confirms the CBF would like to see the City’s limited police resources used to ticket cars, not bikes. After all, drivers injure bicyclists, not the other way around, she says.

O’Hara adds the perception of reckless bicycling as a widespread problem may be fueled by media bias in reporting deadly crashes. “They often blame the victim, focusing on what the cyclist was or was not doing. You only get the driver’s perspective because the cyclist has been killed.”