In case no one has seen it yet, Albert Howell had an opinion piece in the Globe about what he does to stay safe while he's biking Toronto.

It apparently garnered a lot of "letters to the editor", mainly because of Albert's admission that he does ride on sidewalks at times, when he doesn't feel safe on the roads.

I'm not anti-car, I drive a car; cycling is simply an easier way to travel through my neighbourhood. I just don't think I should have to take my life in my hands just to get around and until the government makes it safer, I will do whatever I need to avoid being added to an already too long list of cyclists killed in traffic.

I think it's important to mark the difference between a creative cyclist (like Albert), who does the occassional sidewalk riding, or going-the-wrong-way on a residential one-way street, and the ones that do it all the time (my personal pet peeve). I personally cross busy intersections like a pedestrian (although I don't get off and walk my bike), because I've found that drivers are all ragey and impatient if I try to make a left turn like a vehicle. It's not worth the trouble and stress to be yelled, honked and intimidated by a schmuck in a big car to do it properly.

Reading Darren's posts about suburban riding, I can understand why most cyclists in the GTA ride the sidewalks - firstly, the arterial streets in the 'burbs are built like expressways (4-6 lanes wide, no parking, no trees...), and secondly, everyone drives there, so the sidewalks aren't used by pedestrians.

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