Why Canada does not have more elite cyclists

[jordan5000]

I found this article today about a woman who was killed biking in Ottawa (Canada's capital) and it shows why cycling really has never caught on here and why Canada does not have more cyclists at the elite level, this country is not cyclist friendly at all and it's a shame. With nearly 35 million people Canada should have more cyclists. Here's the link to the article http://www.ottawacitizen.com/health...+Street+when+doored+parked/5531940/story.html

Can anybody tell me what makes cycling in European countries so safe? Are there strong laws or just more of a general respect for cyclists?

 

[Afrank]

The European countries have a longer history with bikes, bikes were the dominate form of transportation in many European counties at one time.

 

[Bag_O_Wallet]

I found this article today about a woman who was killed biking in Ottawa (Canada's capital) and it shows why cycling really has never caught on here and why Canada does not have more cyclists at the elite level, this country is not cyclist friendly at all and it's a shame. With nearly 35 million people Canada should have more cyclists. Here's the link to the article http://www.ottawacitizen.com/health...+Street+when+doored+parked/5531940/story.html

Can anybody tell me what makes cycling in European countries so safe? Are there strong laws or just more of a general respect for cyclists?

Not sure I follow your logic on this one.

It's an extremely unfortunate incident here, but I don't think you can draw any relation between this, or this type of event and Canada historically not having a sporting infrastructure that attracts talented athletes and develops them into talented cyclists.

 

[jordan5000]

My point is people here don't have a safe place to cycle, they've tried making improvements but most haven't done much.

 

[Ragerod]

It's a deterrent but I would imagine there are bigger reasons for it. A lot of effort has been made to make London safe for cyclists over the past decade but it would all be for nothing if cycling wasn't being promoted heavily. The recent success of British cyclists has helped as well.

I don't know Canada very well but I assume it's all been built for the car so everything is spaced out more so than Europe. There's also the issue of climate and I know Canada has decent summers but how cold and long are the winters?

The big problem is usually a culture issue. Attitudes like "people that cycle do so because they can't afford a car, not because they enjoy it " and so on. That's what needs to change and safer roads will help that be achieved but it's not everything.

 

[Nielsa]

Well most young Canadian athletes tend to end up in hockey, no? Lacrosse, CFL... They also did well in the Vancouver winter olympics, so cycling has to compete with a whole bunch of sports for the Canadian talent pool.

 

[pedaling squares]

I don't believe that you can establish a link between the number of people who take up cycling as a sport and the safety of the average urban commute. I didn't take up cycling as a kid because nobody I knew was doing it. It just isn't a large part of our culture, with a nod to Victoria, BC and several towns/cities in Ontario and Quebec where there is a far greater cycling culture.

Mountain biking, especially freeriding, is far more prevalent among youth. I'm sure that you'd see a huge percentage of Canadian athletes if they had a competition for launching your bike across a 30' gap. And that sure ain't safe!

 

[rzombie1988]

Couple of reasons to think about:

- The weather. Seriously, I think you'd have to be a fool to cycle during the winter there, if it's even possible.

- It's not even on Canada's radar as a sport.

 

[jordan5000]

True, it's not too popular but it isn't popular in America, bigger population yes but they still have multiple riders and teams, as for the weather: the first snow fall comes in December where I am (the capital), and snow remains usually until the first week of April, but sometimes into late April depending on the year and snow often comes in November.

 

[rzombie1988]

USA has no interest in cycling as a sport. Ask for any cyclist besides Lance Armstrong and you will get blank stares. I've only ever met two people in real life who knew anything about cycling here. I don't ever see it changing either. Having cycling races ending before noon is never going to capture any interest.

 

[Gosta1]

the first snow fall comes in December where I am (the capital), and snow remains usually until the first week of April, but sometimes into late April depending on the year and snow often comes in November.

Weather is more of an excuse than an actual problem imo. Sweden and Norway have shown that it is possible to produce quality
cyclist in climates similar too Canada. It's just a question of adapting. Norwegian cyclig clubs on junior level actively use cross-country skiing in their off-season programme. Long distance speed skating is another good alternative to cycling in the winter.

Admittedly, I know next to nothing about how things look when in comes to the structure around cycling in Canada, but you've delivered some quality winter athletes over the years, so it shouldn't come down to a reluctance to train in wintertime.

Also, training in coarse conditions gives you an edge over other riders that haven't been through the same "treatment" in training. Remember stage 16 in this years TdF?

 

[42x16ss]

The big problem is usually a culture issue. Attitudes like "people that cycle do so because they can't afford a car, not because they enjoy it " and so on. That's what needs to change and safer roads will help that be achieved but it's not everything.

I don't know how true this is in North America but it is the prevailing attitude here in Australia. Most people seem to judge "quality of life" on important things like material possessions, earnings, luxuries and frequency of indulgences rather than trivial stuff like work/life balance, physical/mental/emotional health and general wellbeing.

 

[Michele]

I don't know how true this is in North America but it is the prevailing attitude here in Australia. Most people seem to judge "quality of life" on important things like material possessions, earnings, luxuries and frequency of indulgences rather than trivial stuff like work/life balance, physical/mental/emotional health and general wellbeing.

Not trying to fool anyone, but I reckon one aussie poster use to mention about his pay compared to cyclist's and I noticed cause it happened more than once so it felt quiet curious.

 

[42x16ss]

Not trying to fool anyone, but I reckon one aussie poster use to mention about his pay compared to cyclist's and I noticed cause it happened more than once so it felt quiet curious.

Large elements of the Australian population are disturbingly materialistic . Too much value is placed on:

1. how much one earns
2. how little effort they need to put in day-to-day.

A worrying amount of people can't comprehend choosing to commute by bike, that's what a car is for right? And actually riding it for sport??? Why would you want to do that....

 

[usedtobefast]

Canadians are super mellow people, and they are not driven like other folks can be. here in the US, Hawaiians are kind of like that. just don't make them angry

 

[BroDeal]

Peter Griffin will tell you why. Freeloaders don't make good cyclists.

 

[Orvieto]

Canada's relative lack of a presence in cycling comes down to two things: weather and lack of a tradition.

Yes the weather is bad and we spend the winter on our trainers or cross-country skying, but the lack of a tradition is the bigger factor. Every promising athlete is chanelled into one sport - hockey. All other sports are an afterthought and cycling is particularly unorganized.

That being said, we did produce one Clara Hughes, who to my knowledge, is the only athlete to win multiple medals at both winter and summer olympics (speed skating and cycling). She'll be after another in London.

 

[180mmCrank]

There are lots of people riding bikes in Canada and some of them are quite good... Tara Whitten, Zac Bell to name but two of a number.

The real reason is lack of funds. Currently these guys are living in crappy unfurnished digs in Southern LA sitting on plastic garden furniture! This is because there is no velodrome in Canada. Their coach is commuting back and forth because he has a day job as BC development coach which pays more than a National Team coach.

Cycling took off in the UK because of Lotterry Funding. Along with other Olympic sports like swimming, rowing, sailing...

It is not always about money but in this case it is.

T

 

[Kwibus]

I'm not sure if I agree with the OP about cyclists being safer in Europe. There is a huge difference between the Netherlands and Italy for example.

In the Netherlands there are bike lanes all over the place since we use bikes for normal transport a lot as well. Not just for the sport.
This year I've been to Tuscany (Italy) again and there are no bike lanes at all. a traditional dutch cyclist would be scared like hell to ride his bike.
The italians don't use their bike to get from A to B, but only for the sport so that's a big difference with Holland, but I was surprised at how the riders behaved. They always ignore trafficlights and on roundabouts they just act like a car. It would get them killed in Holland, but in Italy the car drivers certainly seemed to respect the cyclists which was nice to see.

Funny is that Italians don't respect other car drivers

 

[Christian]

I think a lot also has to do with the difference in roads. Look at a race such as Amstel Gold for example, where they race on tiny, windy roads with constant up and down and steep percentages at times. Countries such as the BeNeLux are full of these and it's a real pleasure to ride on them, as you rarely ever cross a car.

I have never been to Canada but it has been my impression from travelling to the US many times that most roads are not at all cycling-friendly. I can especially recount one incident where I was driving east on I-95 from Seattle to Yakima and came across a bike race that was actually being held on the shoulder of the highway.

That being said I am sure some places in the US and Canada are much more bike friendly than others, Vancouver and Portland come to mind for example. But in general I believe many people simply don't have access to cycling-friendly roads.

 

[gurumuka]

Comes down to one thing, everyone's kid is the next Wayne Gretzky. Nothing gets me going more than the hockey mentality in this country. My kid goes to a school where the competitive hockey playing kids get credits for there sport and the non-hockey kids get nothing.
I have seen many kids who would/could be really great at other sports but their parents won't let them play because "My little Billy is going to the NHL oneday!!"

Truly f@%&ng pathetic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[fanadian]

There are lots of people riding bikes in Canada and some of them are quite good... Tara Whitten, Zac Bell to name but two of a number.

The real reason is lack of funds. Currently these guys are living in crappy unfurnished digs in Southern LA sitting on plastic garden furniture! This is because there is no velodrome in Canada. Their coach is commuting back and forth because he has a day job as BC development coach which pays more than a National Team coach.

Cycling took off in the UK because of Lotterry Funding. Along with other Olympic sports like swimming, rowing, sailing...

It is not always about money but in this case it is.

T

While I completely agree on the fact that funding for cycling in Canada is pitiful, we do in fact have velodromes. There are six outdoor velodromes in cities such as Calgary and Edmonton, and indoor velodromes in Burnaby and London. However, the one in London was built in an old hockey arena (figures) so it is only 138m, with 50 degree bankings. The Canadian national track team practices in LA because they have a state of the art facility and is Olympic length.

Canadian national track team in LA

 

[ferryman]

Don't know the answer but one of the first riders to make an impression on me was Brian Walton in the Tour of Britain (goodness knows what year). The guy just seemed to ooze class compared to the other riders. A bit of a climber if I remember correctly.

 

[Catwhoorg]

And just how useful are outdoor velodromes in Calgary and Edmonton ?

How many months of the year are they closed due to conditions ?


Still a side issue.

The UK will have three top class velodromes shortly (Manchester, Glasgow and London), plus plenty of others indoors and outside.

Two top quality (east/west) and a smaller indoor one per province is what I would thing of as being a decent infrastructure for Canada.

British cycling is THE example of just how good funding can help an olympic sport.

 

[rhubroma]

I'm not sure if I agree with the OP about cyclists being safer in Europe. There is a huge difference between the Netherlands and Italy for example.

In the Netherlands there are bike lanes all over the place since we use bikes for normal transport a lot as well. Not just for the sport.
This year I've been to Tuscany (Italy) again and there are no bike lanes at all. a traditional dutch cyclist would be scared like hell to ride his bike.
The italians don't use their bike to get from A to B, but only for the sport so that's a big difference with Holland, but I was surprised at how the riders behaved. They always ignore trafficlights and on roundabouts they just act like a car. It would get them killed in Holland, but in Italy the car drivers certainly seemed to respect the cyclists which was nice to see.

Funny is that Italians don't respect other car drivers

Nor do Italian car drivers respect cyclists. It's chaos. Total chaos. Come on man in Italy riding a bike is for sacred monks, thus they don't feel the need to obey the traffic laws of modern civilization, on the grounds that their mission involves a higher dimension.

Besides that, Italians are anarchists at heart, even though they invented the State as such. One must be free. Cycling is, after all, freedom and meditation. So why bother with the rules of profane society, which take all the fun out of everything anyway? And why bother with traffic lights? Or all these machines that transport humans, which are arrogance and prepotency personified, when the bicycle is simply a more noble way to get around? So they take over the roads and say vaffanculo to any driver that flips them the bird or honks their horn with rage. Cycling in Italy is a heathen ritual.

Cycling, though, is dangerous on the roads of today wherever you go.

I think Canada is no less dangerous than most places, but is too damn cold to have a serious cycling tradition. Climate is everything.

Holland, by contrast, is flat as a pancake mostly. I think the only place in Italy with a comparable cycle-to-get-around culture is Ravenna, though Florence has many people who ride like this too.