Winnipeg cyclists are calling on the city to maintain bike infrastructure and ensure safety of those who bike during winters.<\/p>\n
As temperatures drop and roads get icy, advocates and officials call for caution on slippery streets, those who commit to cycling in winter say they face daily challenges on the road.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love cycling, but it is tricky and can be a bit dangerous at times,\u201d says winter bicyclist Adam Johnston. \u201cBecause you hope to get home safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rodney Kennish switched to biking as a primary way of getting about the city just this summer. It is his first year navigating winter cycling and he says, proper clothing and equipment help adjust to snowy roads.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople think it\u2019s the cold, that bothers you when you are cycling. It\u2019s not. You can dress for it. It would be the same as going for a walk or for cross country ski.\u201d<\/p>\n
But what makes Kennish\u2019s daily commute difficult is drivers, he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is absolutely, I don\u2019t wanna say zero respect, but it\u2019s next to minimal amount respect to for what the rules of the road are,\u201d Kennish says. \u201cEspecially, how to keep cyclists safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Winnipeg has a network of over 400 kilometres of cycling infrastructure, including multi-use paths and protected bike lanes.<\/p>\n
Kennish says, in many cases, cyclists have no other way, but to share lane with vehicles and says, it makes many cyclists uneasy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think any cyclist wants to share the roadway with vehicles. Drivers and vehicles will kill us. If we make a mistake or if they make a mistake,\u201d Kennish says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIdeally, what I\u2019d like to see is designated cycling infrastructure and that infrastructure being maintained\u201d<\/p>\n
Lynda Van De Laar, a nurse who commutes by bike, agrees with Kennish.<\/p>\n
\u201cCurrently cyclists, but also pedestrians are almost treated like (second-class) citizens. The snow from 141 Wellington Crescent got cleaned onto biking lane and I don\u2019t see anyone fixing that,\u201d says Van De Laar.<\/p>\n
Many in cyclists get close calls on roads which Johnston says, it makes him think about quitting cycling.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, I sometimes think I shouldn\u2019t, but at the same time if I stop biking, I feel like I\u2019ve lost.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Winnipeg cyclists are calling on the city to maintain bike infrastructure and ensure safety of those who bike…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":374208,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-374207","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=374207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374207\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/374208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=374207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=374207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=374207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}