More than 100 cyclists and their friends showed up November 2 for Citizens for Safe Cycling's 2010 Annual General meeting.

The main attraction was Finnish engineer and cycling consultant Timo Perälä, who talked about winter cycling in Finland. He lives in Oulu, one of the more northerly cities in Finland, whose climate is only slightly milder than Ottawa's and where it regularly snows and sleets in the winter.

He talked about how to encourage winter cycling, the major reasons why Finns do and don't cycle in the  winter, the historical and cultural factors that encourage cycling, the network of cycling/pedestrian paths and shared roads in Oulu, and the investment his city makes in ensuring paths and  roads are cleared for walking and cycling.

Bike/pedestrian routes have higher priority for winter maintenance than car traffic routes. His city uses no salt on cycling routes – so bikes don't get damaged –  and instead uses grit. It ensures that every major cycling/walking route is  cleared by 7 a.m. so cyclists have a safe route to work and school. And it makes a point of removing snow banks where they might melt and cause black ice to form.

The cycling/pedestrian network is completely separated from roads using underpasses, so cyclists do not have to wait for other traffic: like the NCC mixed-use paths in Ottawa, but much more extensive and better-connected (and designed completely differently from and without the conflicts inherent in segregated bike lanes). The entire network is lit at night. The network is currently 613km long, and is being expanded by 10-20km each year. The population of Oulu is expanding each year, but the per-capita length of roads is not increasing, while the length of bike/ped paths per capita continues to expand.

Timo was introduced by Ottawa-Centre MP Paul Dewar, who recollected his  experiences as a winter cyclist in his former profession as school teacher. Dewar and the Embassy of Finland contributed to the cost of bringing Timo to Canada. Timo's presentation was warmly (and a bit enviously) received by the audience, with many questions afterward, and further discussion at the end of the meeting.

A video of Timo's presentation will be up soon on the CfSC website.

New board elected

In the business section of the meeting, Hans Moor was elected President, and Alex deVries vice-president. Three new directors joined the CfSC Board: Terry Evans took over as Treasurer, and Nancy Biggs and Risa Sargent were elected as Directors.

Peter Sloan was thanked for his four years of capable work as Treasurer, Will Hallam was recognized for his many years as Membership Secretary, and Zlatko Krstulich was thanked for his hard work as President (he resigned in June to take a position with the City of Ottawa, and Hans Moor took his place).

Name change defeated

At the 2009 AGM, a motion was passed asking the CfSC Board to prepare a shortlist of possible new names for CfSC. After polling the membership, the Board presented a list of two: the current name and "Safe Cycling Ottawa".

After a full discussion, a motion to change the name of the organization to "Safe Cycling Ottawa" was presented, and was defeated. The name will remain "Citizens for Safe Cycling". Those who spoke in favour noted that CfSC had considerable name recognition, particularly after many popular initiatives this year, and emphasized cyclists' responsibility and their role as citizens of Ottawa. Those who spoke against noted the name did not include "Ottawa" and that it was harder to say.

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