About: John Luton
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http://www.capitalbikeandwalk.org
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I’ve been cycling for transportation since 1969 and have lived cycling every since.
For several years I cycled competitively and touring off an on, cycling to destinations within reach of my home in Victoria and took the big leap with a friend to go touring in England.
Afterwards I ended up in Ottawa where I absorbed a more Canadian experience called winter. It didn’t discourage my cycling though and a few years later I had opened a bicycle store with some friends.
We were soon one of Ottawa’s most popular stores and introduced mountain biking to the capital. Winters had me touring again, chasing the sun to Mexico, Guatemala, Jamaica and Ecuador. All have been great places to ride.
I made it back to Victoria in 1994 where, alongside a busy job, I managed to get back into racing on the road, on the track and occasionally on the trails.
I had a career change when governments changed in 2001. I had always worked a political life and it helped me launch my next endeavour as full time bike advocate, helping to make Victoria the cycling Capital of Canada.
For the last year I’ve been a Victoria city councillor and it has broadened my focus, but my bike still gets me where I want to go.
Posts by John Luton:
By John Luton
 We’ve been feeling under attack by the weather lately. Spring was cool and wet, and summer seems to be blowing into town with full gale force winds.
For a bicycle rider, it’s always about the weather. How wet, how cold and which way is the wind blowing. But, as someone once said, I can’t remember who, there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing.
Still, the roads and trails seem full enough, despite the wild variety of weather we’ve had of late. Bike to Work Week, a Victoria tradition for 16 years now, saw almost a thousand bikes an hour crowd through checkpoints on the popular Galloping Goose. Out and about across the region I saw evidence of touring cyclists exploring the backroads, panniers loaded up and pouring over maps by the roadside.
With cycling, you don’t get rained out like a round of golf or a baseball game, but it does take some preparation. I kept the fenders on longer than usual and the outfits I usually reserve for winter were kept clean and ready for my daily commute or a trip on some errand or another.
We are a green city and I suppose we do need to be watered now and again. But I am looking forward to the hot, dry weeks of summer and a spin out to the lake for a swim or a long climb up to some viewpoint or another, to take in the expanse of the city or the subtle palette of the Sooke hills in the background. The changes of the seasons are inevitable, and welcome.
There’s no end of other reasons to ride. The racing season is on and the training rides are filling up with Victoria’s ambitious young riders. Morning and afternoon rush hours see a constant pulse of bike traffic going to and fro. The waterfront is busy with weekend riders of families and friends enjoying the scenery and taking in the vistas. Kids are pedaling to the parks.
No matter the season, no matter the weather, there’s always a reason to ride. Think I better go for one myself.
By John Luton
It’s been awhile since my last blog, but there were some good riding days sprinkled in amongst the rain showers of March.
It’s true. It does rain in Victoria and sometimes, it seems, I’m halfway through a sunny ride when a dark cloud sneaks in to water the flowers for the annual count in February. Victorians love to count their billions of blooms and share the news with friends from more wintry climes.
I’ve nudged my bikes over the 1,000 km mark for the year so far but it never seems to be enough. The pink snow of the cherry blossoms are filling gutters a couple of weeks early and every road I’m on is flanked by clusters of feral daffodils, a ray of sunshine in the riot of green. What other splashes of our colourful palette am I missing when other tasks keep me off the road.
I try to find time, on weekday mornings, after the commuters have parked for the day and the roads grow quieter, to explore the subtle changes of season and the fragrances of spring. My work day is eclectic and I can justify playing hooky when I know I’ll be putting time into an evening meeting or work session.
I’be been checking out new pieces of our rail with trail project, out in the heart of Langford where they are trying hard to be bike friendly. At other times I’ve circled the airport checking in on their new trail and, hidden behind the municipal hall, a new mountain bike dirt park for kids.
Bicycle lanes are also in progress in the area and I wanted to have a look at those too. Elsewhere, I’m exploring a bike race course that rural Metchosin wants to host and too often, lately, analyzing places where some of our cycling network is struggling to stay intact.
It’s all good though. If I’m lucky enough to start before the rain falls, I’m usually warmed up well enough to enjoy the ride anyway. Don’t know who said it first, but it’s a truism that there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing.
Gotta go. I hear a bakery meeting calling my name and I’m hoping to skip the short way there for a longer ride if I can.
By John Luton
 Cherry Blossoms in Victoria Like a ray of sunshine through a cloudy sky a few hours opened up in my day. I grabbed the time and went looking for a ride to fill the morning before one meeting or another loomed over my schedule.
It was a blustery day and the trees were being in every direction. It wasn’t clear where the wind was coming from, or where it would blow me too. Best, as always, to ride into the breeze at the start and take advantage of a tailwind to push me home when the legs are tired and the hills are behind me.
Waves were crashing the beaches along Dallas Road along Victoria’s waterfront as I warmed up for a westerly pedal. No sooner did I get down the road, though, when the wind seemed to change direction and I had to recalibrate. As I headed through downtown, the scent of spring was in the air, and the pink palette of cherry blossoms painted rows of trees lining the streets.
Better test my legs, I thought, and off to the forests and hills of nearby Saanich I headed, hoping to catch some respite from the tumultuous winds. I wasn’t alone. Out along the shores off Prospect Lake another cyclist rolled by me and I quickly matched his pace. I stayed with him for a few kilometres before he veered off in another direction and I pushed on towards the city again.
Heading back to home the sun still shone but I found myself struggling against a headwind. No matter though as a reward was there waiting. A croissant our two, a bowl of fresh fruit, a hot expresso and the feeling that many warm days lie ahead.
I know it’s February, but it is Victoria, and spring is almost always in the air.
By John Luton
 Cycling Along Dallas Road Well, here it is. My first blog for Tourism Victoria. I’m looking forward to sharing stories from time spent in the saddle or occasionally, exploring Victoria on foot. It’s a great place to ride and a great place to walk. Did you know that more people here choose cycling or walking for transportation than in any other city in Canada? It’s not just the weather but it does help.
This morning I had to drag myself away from the computer where one task or another always awaits, but the lure of the bike was stronger. It was a sunny, pleasant sort of February day in Victoria. Crocuses poking through in gardens around town, gentle waves washing up along the shoreline, joggers out for a run along the cliffs of Dallas Rd on the city’s southern coastline. 8 or 9 degress (that’s celsius of course). Perfect winter day.
Managed to squeeze in 30 km or so in the brief time I had. Missed the lunchtime crowds that clutter the Galloping Goose trail that connects the city to the suburbs and beyond. I would have liked to put in some more distance – and some more shoreline – but duty called. Took the short route home to check out suburban Shelbourne St. where local transportation planners are starting to look at the future of the corridor. In the cycling capital of Canada, it’s a street that needs to catch up. I’ll drop into an open house this week to offer up some ideas for a better cycling environment.
Just felt like pushing the pedals today so I skipped the fish store across from Fisherman’s Wharf and my favourite Sushi Shop on Shelbourne in Saanich. I’ll have to get back later in the week.
You know how it goes when you are cycling – ride to eat, eat to ride. Victoria has it all and fueling up at the bakery sure beats pumpin’ gas.
See you on the road.
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