It's not just your handlebars you take in your hands when you get on your bicycle, but your life.
Last month was a particularly bad time to be a cyclist in the city.
During little more than a week, five cyclists were injured after tangling with vehicles. A Free Press carrier suffered fractures to her nose and jaw and a broken leg after being struck head-on by a car. A 16-year-old was treated for minor injuries after being hit, smashing the car's windshield. A 46-year-old broke an ankle after being hit by a motorist.
This past Monday, a 17-year-old was virtually uninjured after a Winnipeg Transit bus struck her and dragged her underneath the vehicle about 12 metres.
But last week, a 20-year-old bicyclist died from injuries after being struck by a car in an isolated area of Transcona while on his way to work.
The spate of collisions comes at a time when the city is beginning to greatly increase the number of kilometres of bike trails. After years of slowly putting in place features to help cyclists, earlier this year the city boosted its annual trail-creation budget from about $200,000 to $1.7 million.
Last month, this money resulted in the opening of Phase 1 of the Northeast Pioneers Greenway along a portion of the former CPR Marconi Line from Springfield Road south to Herbert Avenue. The city is also putting in bike trails beside Bishop Grandin and McGillivray boulevards.
The city has also appointed a civic bureaucrat as its first active transportation co-ordinator to set up a committee to advise on trails and to help plan new ones. But because so many bicyclists were recently hurt, the Free Press asked some key people their views on the state of bicycles and cycling in the city and what can be done to make things safer.
Kevin Miller, Co-chairman of Bike to the Future, a group representing the city's cyclists:
Miller said every bicyclist needs to be armed with skill and knowledge before venturing out on the city's streets.
He said that's why his group, which wants to make cycling safe in the city, is setting up a bike-riding safety program here.
"It's true -- and motorists say it all the time -- there are yahoo cyclists out there and that's a problem."
Miller said his group -- which is holding a forum about the future of cycling in the city at the University of Winnipeg's Bulman Student Centre on Oct. 11 from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. -- is also meeting with the province to try adding bike safety to the education curriculum as they have in British Columbia.
But Miller said bicyclists also need to be supported and that's where the city comes in.
"The city's street system is designed to take motorists. To a great extent, transportation corridors like Pembina and Henderson fail cyclists."
Miller said when the city renovates its aging streets, it will include improvements designed for bikes, such as bike lanes. But, he said, sometimes the city has to be reminded, so his group makes sure it has members advising on the projects.
"We want it to get to the point that any time a street is done, the active transportation co-ordinator has to sign off on it before it goes ahead," he said. "Collisions will always occur, but hopefully they can be minimized."
Miller said the city's appointing of Kevin Nixon as the city's active transportation co-ordinator is a good sign.
"That is the most profound action the city has ever done to recognize bicycling is a legitimate type of transportation," he said.
On that note...
Brian Smiley, Manitoba Public Insurance:
Because Autopac is the insurer that has to pay out when a bicyclist is injured, it's in their best interests to provide safety tips to riders.
Smiley said that's why the insurer provides bicycle rodeos for children where they are provided with safety tips, including proper hand signals and rules of the road.
"One of the biggest tips is obeying the rules of the road," he said. "Follow stop signs and signals. And cyclists need to be very visible. You have to have a flashing light on your helmet or the back of your waist. You need very bright clothing."
Smiley said when bicyclists are injured by a motorist, whether or not they are at fault, MPI can assist them in several ways, including income replacement if they lose time from work or replacing broken glasses.
"If the bicyclist was not at fault, we will replace the bicycle, minus depreciation," he said.
Smiley said MPI will even pay out a benefit if the bicyclist is fatally injured.
Kevin Nixon, The city's active transportation co-ordinator:
Nixon said his role during his two-year secondment from the planning department is to focus on pedestrians, rollerbladers, skateboarders, and bicyclists. During that time, besides an advisory committee being set up, a detailed action plan with time-frames will be set up for trails and other bike needs through the city.
Nixon said most potential bike projects are still in the proposal stage, but next year the city will be looking at constructing the bike-trail portion of WinSmart from The Forks to the Jubilee underpass.
"It's a very green thing to do," he said. "It reduces greenhouse gases. It increases peoples' health.
"And safety is a big issue."
Nixon knows of what he speaks. He is an avid cyclist himself and while he might drive to work, most of the time his bike is in his trunk.
"Twenty years ago I bicycled to the University of Manitoba. A study has found that there is a cusp population that would cycle and walk to work if things were a bit different. We're trying to improve things that bit to get them to bicycle and walk."
Const Clyde Raven, Winnipeg Police Service:
Raven, who just completed his fourth year as part of the force's bike patrol unit, said he sees first-hand in front of his handlebars the interactions between bicyclists and motorists.
"Even we, as police officers, have to be very vigilant," Raven said. "Motorists don't give us a wide berth. Each summer, two or three times, I'm almost killed. Motorists just don't see cyclists and motorcycles."
Raven said many cyclists who are ticketed for riding on sidewalks can't believe it is against the law. The officers handed out about 100 tickets for bicycle infractions this year, out of a total of 2,000 offence notices issued for various offences. Under the Highway Traffic Act, it is illegal for bicycles with wheel diameters bigger than 16 inches (32 centimetres) to be ridden on a sidewalk.
"Every summer we get an old lady picked off by someone on a bike," he said.
"Everyone says it's too dangerous to ride on the road. Can it be dangerous? Yes, it can be, but what contributes to that? I think cyclists have a bad reputation and I think that's because many don't follow the rules of the road.
"Anybody breaking the law is giving all cyclists a bad name. If everyone followed the law, the public would learn to respect cyclists and give the cyclist a wide berth the next time they go by."
Raven said on the positive side, the unit did hand out more than 120 envelopes filled with $25 worth of Canadian Tire dollars to bicyclists they spotted following all the laws this summer.
And as for infrastructure, Raven, having pedalled through San Francisco last month during a fundraiser by several officers for the Children's Wish Foundation, said he appreciated the marking of a bike lane on major traffic routes through that city.
"The big, thick, white line on the pavement isn't a physical barrier, but it feels like it makes you safer," he said.
Ken Allen, Spokesman for Winnipeg Transit:
Allen said the city came up with a program to allow bicyclists to put their bikes on racks at the front of the vehicle and hop on the bus in 1999.
Since then, 35 transit buses have been outfitted with the racks for the 60 Pembina route, the only route that has them. The free program runs during the main bicycle season from May 1 to Oct. 31.
Allen said this route makes the most sense to have the bike racks on because it is the major one from downtown to the University of Manitoba.
"They are used by about one person per day," he said.
"There's room for these bike racks to be used more."
Neophyte cyclists are reminded to remove their bikes from the front of the bus because many forget the first time they use the service.
For more information about the bike and bus transit program, go to www.winnipegtransit.com/main/bikeandbus.jsp
Don't hit me, driver -- it'll delay your commute
Geoff Kirbyson
"Aren't you afraid of getting smoked by an SUV?" one of my editors asked me as I clicked my cycling shoes into my pedals.
"Every day," I replied. "Every day."
I've been riding my mountain bike to work from March to November for the last nine years. As a one-vehicle family, my wife and I have found this far easier than having to juggle our schedules and those of our two kids, Mia, 9, and Alex, 6, all year round.
I simply throw my work clothes in a backpack and head out for the 12-km trek every morning. It takes a little longer but it's cheaper than buying a second car. And I get an hour's worth of "free" cardio every day.
Some people pat me on the back for doing what's right for the environment, too. I don't tell them I used to love throwing Styrofoam into my parents' woodstove at Victoria Beach when I was a kid. (It burned such cool colours!)
Every cyclist on the road has his or her own reasons for being there. But the foundation of those reasons has no doubt been shaken over the past week as a half-dozen of our comrades-on-wheels have been felled, including one who was killed.
Just as with drivers, there are good and bad cyclists on the road. Most of us, though, have a very healthy fear of getting up close and personal with several thousand pounds of metal travelling 60 km -- and usually more -- per hour. We're well aware of the potential consequences of a wrong move. If you, car driver, make a mistake, you're probably booking an appointment with the body shop. If we make one, we're probably being rushed to the hospital. Or the morgue.
We do our best to hug the right-hand side of the road and we cringe when we feel the whoosh of wind as you whip by us. I believe technically we're entitled to an entire lane but we scooch over and recite the rosary under our breath rather than incite a riot of angry leadfoots behind us.
Most of us are unfailingly polite to drivers, too. We wave when you give us the right of way, motion us through or back off to keep us from having to jump up temporarily on to the sidewalk. But you forget all of us when one guy flips you the bird after a near-miss.
Sure, we're camouflaged by helmets, sunglasses and gear but everybody knows a cyclist. It could be a family member, friend, co-worker or neighbour -- or one of their kids. Think about them every time you rev up to pass a cyclist to save a few nanoseconds on your way to or from work.
And if time really is your motivation for throwing the fear of God into us, do a quick risk-reward evaluation. Sure, you might save a couple of steps once you get to your destination, but what if you hit one of us? What then? You've got to pull over, get out of your car and maybe even interrupt your important cellphone conversation to call 911 so we can get some medical attention.
What if some of our blood gets on your shirt as you peel us off your grill? That's two trips to the dry cleaner. And when the cops show up you'll have to give a statement, maybe even go to court.
All it takes is one accident to wipe out all the time you've saved from speeding by cyclists. So please slow down and we won't let our injuries keep you from getting where you want to go.