After a month long examination of what makes me bike or not bike in Kanata I have come to a some conclusions (for now anyway). The following are the factors that negatively affect my chances of choosing to get somewhere by bike:

1. distance/time
2. weather
3. bad roads
4. lack of appropriate equipment
5. hills

The purpose of this exercise was to come up with ideas of what can be done in Kanata to improve walkability and bikeability of the neighbourhood so that more people would choose to get around in that way. My disclaimer is that I have no talent for understanding other people, especially majority of people so what works for me might not be relevant for anyone else.

Distance/time:
In Kanata the easiest way to get around is by car. There is no denying this and I don’t have an issue using the car to get places and do stuff. Roads are fast, usually not congested, there is plenty of free parking, you can dump a lot of stuff in the trunk, lock it and continue on your merry way. You don’t have to worry about the bad weather or heat or UV rays (unless you open the sun roof) etc… If you are going to bike for more than a kilometre, you need an excuse other than convenience. Most people would pick exercise or environment, for me is that I hate driving and that I want to encourage active lifestyle habits for my kids by setting a good example.

Weather:
Some people say that there is no bad weather, only bad clothing. I am nowhere near that level of zen especially in the light of the thunderstorms rolling through Kanata in the last few days. We do get nice weather though so you have to be ready to take advantage of it at the spur of the moment. Having an easily accessible bike that you can use in normal clothing really helps. We rearranged our garage so that the bike I use the most is quick to get out. It is not the perfect solution and I will probably lose my bike parking when we get the minivan (ugh!) but it is ok for now.

Bad roads:
Improving the infrastructure is key to increasing the level of cycling. There is a lot going on in Ottawa with respect to this (new lanes, etc…) but I am not sure how much of this is trickling down to Kanata. Does anyone know? I suppose I really ought to find out. I did join “Citizens for Safe Cycling” out of curiosity.

My conclusion from the last month’s experiment is that Kanata is pretty sweet biking wise in the residential interior, but as soon as you hit a major thoroughfare (March, Terry Fox, Hazeldean, Eagleson) there be monsters. Yes, some of these roads have bike lanes painted on, but that does not make them good infrastructure. Another issue is with shopping areas, particularly Centrum and the strip mall off of Carling (with Chez Cora). An exception and a honourable mention go to the Signature strip mall which looks like whoever designed it actually wanted people on foot or bicycle to shop there.

I am not really sure exactly how these problem areas can be improved. I think it is important for cyclists to be physically distant from cars or trucks rushing at 80km/h. I also think that cyclists should be able to bike as fast as they can (up to 30 or 40km/h) if they are to get anywhere from Kanata. One requirement nixes the painted bike lanes on existing rads, the other nixes multi use paths.

Equipment:
Between the two of us we own six bikes with original purchase price between $100 and $1000. The more expensive bikes have more mileage on them and are driven on almost daily basis, the cheaper bikes are taking up space in the garage and will probably be sold for change if we ever get around to it. It is a bit hard to give a good argument to someone considering bike as transportation without really being sure whether they will stick to it to take $600 or more to a specialized bike shop with staff old enough to shave (be they men or women) when there are so many nice bikes at Costco for $200.

Even with a good quality bike, bike transportation is not a given. A sweet $2000 road or mountain bike is no good for a shopping trip if you have to change into clip shoes, have no panniers and no mudguards if it starts to rain.

I was recently talking to a co-worker who has a 18 month old kid and he was wondering whether he should get a bike seat or a trailer. My answer is both, but I don’t think that it is the right option for someone who will only cycle occasionally for recreation.

(This paragraph sound very consumerist and I hate it for that, but I have had enough bad experiences with poor quality sports equipment to make me somewhat bitter. I have also struggled to use good quality equipment for uses that it was not meant for (i.e. trailers for short trips and shopping). I am trying to speak form experience and not from “look! shiny!!!” perspective.)

Hills:
I just have to live with hills.