Today in Toronto another cyclist was killed by an automobile, something that is unfortunately not uncommon, as illustrated by this map of bicycle fatalities in the GTA (click on each mark for more info):

Each death further discourages people from riding in the city, as it creates the perception that it is not safe on Toronto's roads. I was an avid cyclist in this city for decades, and only stopped due to health reasons. I obtained my driver's license only three years ago, and since then have spent quite a bit of time thinking about how cars and bikes share the road.

When I was a cyclist I was aggressively anti-automobile. I generally regarded cars as mortal enemies who sought to snuff me out and splatter my brain on the road. Now that I'm a driver, I'm a little less anti-automobile, but not by much. I still regard bicycles as having more rights to the road than I do, and when driving I try to do my best to help out cyclists.

I've always loved Kids in the Hall. I used to go and be part of the audience for the tapings of their old show here in Toronto, and their skits continue to pop into my head at all sorts of weird moments.

So yesterday I was recovering from an exciting event the day before, and still thinking about the intersection of community, technology, politics, and culture, when the KitH song "These are the Daves I know" jumped into my head.

Davids are wonderful human beings. I've known and loved many Davids in my three point three decades of this life. In fact Jesses have a unique relationship with Davids as Isiah chapter 11 describes Jesse as the father of David, Jesse of course described in that chapter as root.

Here in Toronto there has recently been a conflict brewing between two Daves I know, and last night as I saw this dispute seep into tweets, the Bruce McCulloch song got me thinking about Daves in general, and some of the Daves I know.

As in addition to being wonderful, Davids also tend to be powerful. And I must say I've known some rather powerful Davids. As it stands the mayor of Toronto is David Miller. I no longer like him that much, but I did contribute to his first successful mayoral campaign, and he's been in the news lately as he wants even more executive power.

However two other powerful Davids that are making waves in Toronto right now are David Crow and Dave Forde. I like both of these Daves, unfortunately I'm not sure they feel the same about each other, which is too bad, as united these two Davids could enable quite a bit of positive change.