It’s funny to think about what memories stay with us as we get older; little snapshots of our life’s history.
Psychologists believe that memories associated with strong emotional reactions are the ones that stay with us the longest.
Cst. Khoa N. Hoang
Now I can’t remember how I felt at the time, but I can visualize getting my first bike like it was yesterday. I can only assume that I felt like many other receiving a bike for the first time.
My father and I walked by a house on garbage day in 1986 and there it was, a kid’s bicycle that was only missing a chain. Without hesitation he walked it home beside us. By next morning it had a new chain and rode like the Cadillac of bikes freshly picked from the trash!
“No training wheels” my dad told me, we simply couldn’t afford it. So living on the wild side I learned to ride my bike in a parking lot on Nepean Street in downtown Ottawa. I was the happiest kid in the worldand like many people I haven’t received any additional bike training since.
You can imagine my excitement when told I would receive police bike training. “What else could I learn?” I thought to myself. After all, I’m the crazy kid that rode with no training wheels! But boy did I learn lots throughout the two day course.
I’ve taken three cycling courses since becoming a community officer with the Ottawa Police Service and am on schedule to become a cycling instructor this fall. At the end of every course, I’m absolutely amazed at all the bad habits that I had taught myself throughout the years.
We all do that, don’t we? Convince ourselves that what we do makes sense… That all our bad habits serve a greater purpose so it’s ok to keep doing them? Like not wearing a helmet, going through red lights, and riding on the sidewalks.
None of this self-created logic is safe, especially in a quickly urbanizing core like Ottawa’s downtown community. Traffic is noticeably higher than the days of yesterday and parking lots are no longer empty.
Two cyclists died last year while riding bicycles downtown, and many more have been seriously injured. Yes it’s true, the eternal war between cyclist and motorist rages on every day. But there’s of lot of education required on both sides regarding road safety. After all, how many of us would probably fail a driver’s test if we had to take one today? Would we pass today with all those bad habits we developed?
The Ottawa Police Service targeted both drivers and cyclist last month in an effort to increase road safety awareness. We took to the streets and stopped cyclists on the sidewalk, targeted bikers who road through red lights or stop signs, and ticketed motorist that failed to share the road. Cyclist must follow the same rules as cars, simple as that. Enough is enough. The message we’re hearing from you is loud and clear, we need safer roads for our families.
The City of Ottawa has organized two levels of bicycle training this summer which I highly recommend. CAN-BIKE is a widely recognized cycling course in Canada and only cost around $100.
With 46 courses taking place throughout the entire city this summer, the cost of not knowing road safety when cycling may be far too great. The cost of knowing, however, is that you’ll keep yourself safe and be able to share safe practices with your children who may one day ride with no training wheels.