In Seattle, it was heralded as an urban paradigm shift. In China, it was cited as evidence of a declining national character. In Victoria, the capital of British Columbia, it felt positively genteel. I’m speaking of dockless bike-share systems, and after reading about them being implemented in cities all over the world, I finally got …
Remember the war on cars? The hyperbolic and mostly mythical idea that cyclists, a “special interest group,” were successfully ramming such horrors as bike lanes down the throats of unsupportive legions of car drivers? Since the peak “war on cars” battles of four or five years ago, the hot war has cooled a bit because …
During municipal election season, you may find yourself opening your door to a candidate who wants your vote. Sadly, not all would-be politicians will share your enlightened view on the benefits of a bike-friendly city. So how are you to know if this is a candidate who deserves your vote? We are here to help! …
Read more “Five questions to help determine if your city council candidate will improve cycling”
There’s a giant urban bicycle experiment happening right now on the streets of Seattle that may change the way everybody gets around. Or it may lead to an epic flop that burns through venture-capital cash and leaves the streets littered with derelict bikes. Either way, the last month has ushered in a new wave of …
Read more “‘Uber for bikes’ is here, and traditional bike-sharing companies are feeling the heat”
I’ve always been a bit annoyed with the bike-friendly reputation of Vancouver. Yes, it has always had a lot of people on bikes, but for a long time, that came without the installation of much high-quality bike infrastructure. All that has changed in recent years, so I took a trip recently to see if it …
Read more “Is Vancouver really as bike friendly as it thinks it is?”
A new study offers perhaps the most definitive reason yet why society should be doing more to encourage cycling, and serves as another reminder that the health benefits of cycling far outweigh the risks. This British study took a comprehensive look at the health benefits of bicycle commuting, and the results are staggering. Over the …
Read more “Forget all the other reasons you should be riding a bike. This is the one that matters”
On my most memorable ride this year, a 70 km highway ride up the highest paved mountain pass in Canada, I wore a helmet. On my recent mountain bike trip into the Rockies of southern B.C. , I wore a helmet. But in my last video, in which I rolled through the streets of Calgary’s …
Read more “Most of the time I ride a bike, I wear a helmet. But not always. Here’s why.”
My home city of Calgary made waves last year by installing an entire downtown network of separated bike lanes, all at once. Here’s a spin through the city a year later, to assess its success.
In the past decade, Peter Walker has seen a fundamental change in London, the city in which he lives. In that time, Walker, a writer for The Guardian who has for years penned the paper’s popular bike blog, says people on bikes have gone from a marginal place on the city’s streets (he says he …
Read more “This British writer just wrote a totally convincing argument in favour of urban cycling”
It was while screaming downhill, past hundreds of other cyclists who were slowly climbing in the opposite direction, that the thought crossed my mind. “Huh,” I thought. “This is a thing.” That was on the weekend as I happily rode the Highwood Pass for the first time, a local highway that, for a few weekends …
Read more “This temporary car-free haven shows how people on bikes flock to safe routes”