Thud! Another.Williams is terrified.
Thud! Again.
Thud! Lorne Falkenstein lies on the hood.
Thud! John Thompson, a bruiser of a man, pushes Falkenstein through the windshield.
Williams receives Falkenstein and shattering glass.
Thompson slips off the hood, rolls onto the ground, and sees scattered bodies and bikes everywhere. It looks “like a war zone.” He hears Williams say, “Oh my God, what have I done?”
The decisive moment — no more than several seconds — is over. The peloton, as seamless and fluid as a school of fish, and seemingly impervious to outside forces, lies wriggling on the asphalt, destroyed. Mike Lesko had been leading the pack. When he looked over his shoulder, he says, “all of a sudden, they just seemed to bunch up and fly everywhere.” Curnoe, Dale Nichol, Jorn Pedersen, and Bill Harper were the first four human dominoes. Falkenstein did cpr on Curnoe. Green and yellow bile came out of the felled cyclist’s mouth. It was gruesome, but the cpr worked. Curnoe was breathing. Then Falkenstein went off to help other riders. The ambulance arrived and whisked Curnoe fifteen kilometres to the regional hospital. In all, six men and one woman required medical attention, but Curnoe, fifty-five years old and in great shape, was the only rider killed. Falkenstein’s sense of guilt was profound. What if he hadn’t left Greg’s side, he kept asking himself.
(Months later, the doctor who treated Curnoe ran into Harper. The medical opinion was that the injuries were so massive no one could have survived them. Harper asked the doctor to emphasize this point to Falkenstein.)
vote nihilist — destroy your ballot
Harper, the fourth rider, remembered seeing the floating barn, and then waking up in the hospital two days later with a concussion and double vision. His ear had dangled by a thread of flesh but had been sewn back on. Gradually, he realized he’d be in a wheelchair the next day, Tuesday, attending his buddy Greg’s funeral. He pictured his first ride with Curnoe two decades earlier, an eighty-kilometre tour to St. Marys and back. Curnoe was riding a civilian bike, not a racer, but he completed the entire loop.
Curnoe’s death was bitterly ironic. Biking had been central to his artwork for twenty years. He was first exposed to Dadaism, cubism, and Surrealism in 1954, when he enrolled in a special arts program at London’s H. B. Beal Technical and Commercial High School. Three years later, drawn by the gravitational force of the larger city centre, he moved to Toronto to study at the Ontario College of Art. He didn’t have much time for his professors, but one of them, Graham Coughtry, was knowledgeable about the art movements that so piqued his curiosity. Then, in 1958, he met Michel Sanouillet, owner of a French bookstore in the Gerrard Street Village and the author of a book on Marcel Duchamp. The young artist couldn’t believe it — stuck in a city where no one seemed to share his love of Duchamp or, for that matter, the German expressionists, he’d found a Dada scholar in a modest shop in Little Bohemia!
Back in officialdom, oca returned Curnoe’s lack of respect by failing him in his final year. His response? Tear up the big city script, vow never to return, and head back to London, where he hooked up with Michael Snow, the filmmaker Jack Chambers, and the poet James Reaney, and where regionalism quickly became a defining feature of his work. In 1961, Curnoe’s first solo exhibition was mounted, and his magazine, Region, published its inaugural issue. His first gallery (also called Region) opened in 1962, and the next year he formed the Nihilist Party of London, Ontario, its first political campaign launching with a poster of then premier John Robarts, his eyes covered with the slogan Vote nihilist — destroy your ballot. In 1965, he formed the influential noise collective the Nihilist Spasm Band (which continues to this day), and the National Gallery of Canada bought its first Curnoes. From there, it was straight up: Canada Council and Ontario Arts Council grants; infamy for his anti–Vietnam War commentary, in a large mural at Dorval Airport in Montreal in 1968; representing Canada at the xxxvii Venice Biennale in 1976; and his large show, Retrospective, touring the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the National Gallery, and the London Regional Art and Historical Museum in 1981. Curnoe’s mixture of regionalism — what critic Sarah Milroy described as “the notion of making art out of a passionate loyalty to one’s immediate surroundings and community and not in slavish imitation of international styles” — and Dadaist tendencies would remain potent throughout his career.
long shadow
Comments (10 comments)
John Laidlaw: A wonderful article - and staring out with as good a description of why us "utility cyclists" ride as any I've ever seen or come up with.
Yes - cycling has its dangers. though I've not had the run of ill luck Bill reynolds has, I've chewed my own fair share of asphalt over fifty years and more.
I've had at least one wipe-out that was directly attributable ot my torquing through a corner, trying to make the advance green. The intersection of Cook and Finlayson Streets, in Victoria, slopes from NE to SW, and I was coming from the Norht, turning East. A poor situation, with a lot of reverse camber. As I flew around the corner, my rear wheel must have hit a bit of sand on the road - to the best of my knowledge, there was no pedal strike - and I went down, sliding on my yellow jacket. I realised that I was now in the middle of the road, with cars going past north and south, on either side of me. I must ahve been out for a couple of seconds. When I tried to move, my legs, for a moment, went on strike - most disconcerting. I got up, shaken but unbloodied, and then realised I'd put paid to my rear wheel - already on a fourth or fifth incarnation. I carried it to the first corner I could reach - the NE one, where I was approached by a lady, who fearfully asked if I were OK. She'd been behind me, in her mini-van, and feared she'd clipped me as I went down. I assured her I was shaken, but otherwise OK, and she offerd me a lift home, which I accepted. When I finally took my helmet off (I wore them, then, because I'd been doing so, to get my daughter to do it all the time, and felt naked without one.) I found an alarming crak in the foam at teh front, and then discovered the back had been crushed. I'm now a believer.
I ride, almost all the time, in traffic, and have always been aware of what's behind me. I've taken to using lights, even in bright daylight, as every little bit of visibility helps.
What I have discovered is that, with the usual lamentable exceptions, traffic (drivers) have become much more accepting of cyclists in general. Now - if only the cyclists were themselves, as accepting of drivers on the roads, as willing to make sure the drivers have the best chance of seeing them, and avoiding them, as they could wish.
May 13, 2008 09:47 EST
Pat T: My thoughts here: http://freedomisacupcake.blogspot.com/2008/05/2-wheels-good-4-wheels-bad.html May 15, 2008 09:51 EST
Anonymous: Never bother to call a cop when you get hit as a cyclist. They don't care and they don't do a thing.
Last time I got cut off twice by the same driver in a goddamn minivan, the second time sending me head over habdlebars as I braked hard to avoid being a hood ornament, I called the pigs and after 7 and a half hours the wench rolled up and told me there was no traffic violation since I didn't hit the van. Just me falling off my bike she says.
She didn't want to check the video cameras of the stores in the area or do any "police work".
Got sideswiped in front of a cop, tell her what happened and she writes the licence plate down, hands me the paper and says call the police! My mistake for thinking she was the police. A hat, badge and gun will do that.
Stupid cops. Don't even get me started about the lazy thugs as they drive or even ride by cars parked in the bike lane or driving cyclists off the road and do nothing. Can't expect a cop to do his/her job. I have learned that from nth number of encounters involving more than just cycling (i.e. being threatend with a gun, assualted, etc.)
U-lock justice friends, that is all we really have.
Hope you are okay, my encouter with the van left me limping for a week.
One night I would love to put one of those metal bike poles for locking up your ride in the middle of Dundas and lock a bike to it. See how the drivers like their lane being taken by someone with no consideration who needs to park. May 16, 2008 14:04 EST
Andrew Sullivan: Not long after I finished reading Bill Reynolds's article about bicycling, a group of Toronto bike activists blocked the Gardiner Expressway. Their reason was, apparently, that they wanted bike lanes on Bloor St.
I thought the activists had something in common with Mr Reynolds. Just as Mr Reynolds was willing to inconvenience and endanger pedestrians by riding on the sidewalk with two casts on his arms (because, well, he wanted to), the activists were willing to inconvenience and endanger drivers on the Gardiner because they wanted something to happen at the other end of town.
This is what dealing with bicyclists in Toronto is like. Totally respectable-looking people — the sort that Toronto the Good used to be made of — will happily run you down on the sidewalk, dinging their little bells and expecting you to get out of the way. The police on bicycles blithely glide past the no bicycling sign in Riverdale Park. Brownian motion is more predictable than the behaviour of many cyclists in traffic. The stop sign on the TTC streetcar door is, apparently, just for cars, which is why I did not see the bicycle hit the guy with the cane as he stepped away from the streetcar.
I know, I know, you personally ride carefully and according to the rules. The problem is that, once a significant number of bicyclists are unpredictable, they all are. As a pedestrian, I have to assume every cyclist is a jerk, because if I bet otherwise I run too great a risk of getting creamed.
I used to ride everywhere. Of recent years, I have mostly stayed off my bike, because I'm ashamed to be associated with the yahoos that are zooming around on two wheels, acting as though the world owes them something. I've been doored. I've taken right hooks. I know the dangers, and I know how to ride in the city. But I'm embarrassed to do so.
The reason many people treat bicyclists as though they are annoying children is because that's how many of them act. They wanna ride on the sidewaaaalk. They wanna have a bike laaane. They want the space they are legally accorded on the road, but they don't want any of the restrictions that come with it. I suspect what they really want is that childhood feeling of freedom that came from being able to go fast, and damn anyone who will get in their way.
We all want everything to go our way. And it's certainly true that many motorists are lousy drivers, careless of anything that is in their way and that isn't an automobile (and, in fact, of many things that are). But if bicycles want to be treated with any kind of respect on the road — or by the rest of the urban polity — they have to act with some respect for the rest of us too. If instead they act like children with a new toy, they shouldn't be surprised at the treatment they get. June 05, 2008 06:05 EST
Anonymous: Andrew,
To clarify, from what I understand, the ride on the Gardiner on May 30th had no direct link to advocating for bike lanes on Bloor. This error has since been corrected by several media sources. Although a couple of bikes had flags on them referencing the need for these lanes, there were different flags as well. Folks have been asking for bike lanes on Bloor St for years - perhaps the media picked up on the Bloor St. issue because it was most familiar and because no specific reason was given by any of the participants.
The group ride ended up down near the on ramp and made an unplanned 'strength in numbers' decision to go for it. They approached the relatively slow late rush hour traffic with extreme caution, and as cars slowed further and openings in adjacent lanes became available, the group filled the full roadway. From first hand accounts, those drivers directly behind the cyclists were smiling, waving, giving thumbs up and even had a few passengers taking photos of the unusual sight - any cars further back would have simply been in slightly slower than usual traffic. I don't understand how you think this group 'endangered' drivers on the Gardiner. June 11, 2008 11:20 EST
Jeff Glen: A beautiful story. I took my car off the road over seven years ago and have rode every day since - I even biked across China to Mt. Everest basecamp, Nepal, India, Thailand and Cambodia. From all of this experience I have learned one thing, bicycles and cars can not share the road (especially in Vancouver). We need dedicated bike lanes period. I think adding these bike lanes will also get more people cycling which truly is a great way to get around. There is definitely a personal satisfaction to being your own form of transportation. For Andrew: for the cyclists who cut off cars, ride on sidewalks and generally take risks - they are no different than car drivers who do the same. Jerks are jerks! However most of us are cautious and aware of pedestrians, it is just that a 3000 lb car kind of puts you on the defensive. Please be patient and remember we are doing a hell of a lot for air quality! June 13, 2008 20:01 EST
ZarbeS: Thank you Bill... and Walrus. September 01, 2008 17:57 EST
Pat T: @John Spragge:
Sir, you hit the nail on the head. Here here!
Cyclists are singled out, because they are 'the other' on the roads. they are the exception, the minority. Every infraction of theirs is magnified, while the wholesale enormity of automobile-based destruction, death, and lawlessness is ignored because it is altogether mundane... Like beating one's wife used to be.
The untenability of the 'pro-motorist, anti-cyclist' is so obvious it's become the proverbial elephant in the room, and for motorists to confess to their complicity in planet-wide degradation perhaps involves a bit too much cognitive dissonance. September 03, 2008 18:09 EST
nike dunk:
What do you
have in your closet?
How long ago
was it when shoes were just footwear? You threw them on to go play out in the
back yard, or down on the playground. Today, however, having a pair of sneakers
has taken on a whole new meaning, especially when dealing with sports shoes.
What has really made the sneaker culture huge is the sport shoe industry, with
Nike and Adidas pulling up the front. These sports icons have been worn and
styled by not only top athletes, but by people in the music industry.
They say that it was the Nike Dunk
that started it all off. In 1985, Nike brought out the
Nike Dunk.
Originally these sneakers meant for the college community of basketball
players. Instead, this style of sports shoes started the sneaker sub-culture.
Although this style of sneaker was designed to be used during high intensity
basketball games, the spotlight quickly turned to the fashion of wearing them,
what they looked like, and which ones you owned. Twenty years later, Nike has
brought the Nike Dunk back on
the courts with all its retro style and performance.
But why stop
with basketball shoes? In 2000, Nike decided to jump into the skateboarding
scene with the new Nike Skateboarding product line.
With
Nike SB has come the
Nike Dunk SB. For years, before
skateboarding came out from the underground scene, skateboarders utilized the
rugged design of basketball shoes. Nike decided to capitalize on what Vans and
DC shoes had been monopolizing for years, and take what was already an amazing
sneaker, and fit it into the needs of skateboarders. What the
Nike Dunk
SB brought in the way of performance was extra-padded tongue and their
patented Zoom Air insole. In the way of style, this sneaker has already come out
with six series, and names for them like Grip, Forbes, and Vipers.
Another blast
from the past would be the Nike Air
Force 1. These sneakers first came out in the early 80’s. And like the
hip hop culture, their popularity grew. However, this band did not reach their
full fashion peek until 2002 when Nelly released the song “Air
Force Ones”.
The other major
sports shoe brand is the Adicolor
Shoes, an Adidas Original. The design became so popular because the
plain white canvas was adaptable by painting, drawing, and spraying on your own
personal design, and even accessories were sold to help you in your creativity.
In 2006 they pushed the envelope further with a new color series using artists
and designers from all over the world.
Another huge sneaker that was popular with the hip hop world was the
Adidas Superstar. A very raw
and controversial Hip Hop group that helped skyrocket the
Adidas
Superstar to stardom was Run-D.M.C. This cutting edge group was known for
wearing their Superstars out on stage, and even wrote a song dedicated to them
called “My Adidas”. Whether its Nike or Adidas, clean out that closet, dust off
your old sneakers, and get into the game.
December 29, 2008 22:49 EST
nike dunk :
share our story:
A insomnia frog
A Joyful party
Bear in eggs
Big alligator
Birds and bear
Carving and desert
Chickens and ducks
Clever crow
Crystal ball's dream
Hungry fox
Mom's birthday
Only one goal
Piglets temper
Small white and black pig
The camel is angry
The old dog
The poor and the rich
Broken dreams
The little princess
Dance bear
spring
The little princess
Three rats
A selfish giant
December 30, 2008 00:45 EST