It started as a well-meaning attempt to offer some alternatives to backpacks. Backpacks are great, obviously, but sometimes when using a bicycle for getting around a city, a backpack can be a burden. A sweaty, heavy, burden. Things went a little awry, however, when Doug got involved. Doug is a guy in my neighbourhood who …
Read more “Proof you can haul pretty much anything on a bike”
“I’d like to ride my bike more, but I’ve got to take the kids everywhere.” That’s a pretty common sentiment among parents these days, and it’s easy to see why. Kids today are scheduled and busy and in need of transportation constantly. Lindsay Bliek certainly understands it. She’s mom to two busy young girls. But …
One of the things I love about watching Stranger things on Netflix is the scenes of the preteen heroes riding their bikes around their messed-up town. Yes, I’m a bike nerd. The kids’ bikes are more than just props. The bikes separate the kids from the adult world and give them the freedom to explore. …
Read more “Maybe children ride bikes less often today because their bikes make it hard”
You could drive a car to work every day. But then you’d be missing out on an opportunity to make your life both safer and healthier. So says research from the team of Dr. Kay Teschke from the University of British Columbia, who looked at the relative safety of different modes of transportation. When it …
Read more “How your commute can contribute to a long and healthy life”
Three years ago, you probably had never heard of Almetyevsk, the central Russian city of 150,00 that was founded in 1953 to serve the petroleum industry. I know I hadn’t. But since then, Almetyevsk has become a kind of legend in the bike world by transforming itself into the best bike city in Russia, and …
Read more “If this Russian oil town can become a bike haven, what’s your city’s problem?”
At the tail end of last season, I did what I once thought I would never do: I bought a winter bike. For nearly a decade, I rode a crappy, 20-year-old single-speed mountain bike because, mostly, I feared riding a good bike. Winter in my city rust: salt, slush, muck and grime that eat components …
Read more “Here’s how my ‘perfect’ winter bike held up through its first (brutal) winter”
My blog earlier this winter offering tips for keeping your feet warm on a bike prompted some questions, so I thought I would expand a bit in video format. So here it is: Five tips for keeping your feet warm on a bike: the expanded edition. For more videos like this, susbscribe to our YouTube channel. …
Read more “More tips for keeping your feet warm while riding a bike”
There’s a scene in the 1942 Orson Welles film The Magnificent Ambersons that has some eerie parallels to today. The scene, set around the early part of the 20th century, is a confrontation between the maker of new-fangled “horseless carriages” (automobiles) and the old guard. In the film, the automobile is a metaphor for the …
Read more “We need to choose what kind of city we want before we let the robots do it for us”
It’s been a long, cold winter for many of us, so it felt like the perfect time to add a little bicycle fun to the world. The challenge: Build a bike that will smoothly roll over ice. The result: Success! Mostly. Check out the video to see more. Follow Shifter on Youtube, Facebook or Medium. Follow Tom Babin on Twitter, Facebook or Medium. …
Read more “We built an ice-bike to ride on frozen ponds. And it’s amazing”
When should I ride a bike? Here’s a guide for choosing the right trips.