2009 Urban Country Mash-up Video

2009 Urban Country Mash-up by James Schwartz on Vimeo.

A tradition that began in 2005 on The Urban Country is an annual mash-up of video clips that I took with my digital camera throughout the year. The central theme of the video is to promote living a healthy, active, lifestyle and to cherish the outdoors.

Cycling is a common theme in the videos over the years, and a substantial amount of the cycling footage this year was on the bike trails along the Welland Canal in May 2009. The Niagara region (Ontario, Canada) has some amazing cycling trails which I will profile in an upcoming article/video in the winter or spring.

Also featured in this video is footage from my Toronto to Montreal solo kayak adventure in July 2009, and cycling along the trails on Toronto’s Centre island. The Toronto Islands comprise the largest urban car-free community in North America - so it is no wonder the paths are a pedestrian and cycling Mecca.

Read more »

The Sit-Up Cycling Revolution

Photo ‘Toronto Morning Rush Hour’ by James D. Schwartz / The Urban Country (May 2009)

A few days ago I was propositioned by a sales rep for an online retailer to promote their cycling clothes. Such E-mails are very common when you run a website, and 99% of the time I simply ignore them.

This time however, I felt the contents of the website would generate some interesting dialogue. The online retailer is called “sharethedamnroad.com” and they sell “cycling jerseys that make a difference”.

Photo courtesy of sharethedamnroad.com

Make a difference indeed. First of all I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing skin-tight lycra clothing on my bike. Even when I competed in a triathlon this summer I wore my kayaking clothes rather than the typical cycle racing gear. I was obviously there for fun rather than to win.

Read more »

Leaders Should Learn from Copenhagen

Photo courtesy of Rob Inh00d 

The 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Copenhagen has ended - and not surprisingly it lacks a binding agreement between the parties.

This conference was particularly significant because it was identified by the 2007 Bali Road Map as the point in time where an agreement should be reached for climate change mitigation beyond 2012 (the year the Kyoto Protocol expires).

In my last article on the Copenhagen conference I noted that the leaders of our countries are akin to coaches of sport teams. The coach can put in a framework to build and develop a team, but it’s the team itself that can win the game.

To extend this analogy a bit further, we can say that the coach of the team can influence and inspire the team through their actions or their words.

Canada should be ashamed that its coach (Stephen Harper) has (not surprisingly) neither inspired Canada through his actions nor his words on the topic of climate change. Harper didn’t even have the courtesy to speak to the delegates at the conference as most other world leaders had done.

Read more »

Copenhagen 2009 – We Have Ourselves to Blame

Photos courtesy of Corriere Della Sera.it

Only one week remains at the Copenhagen Climate Summit (COP15). Delegates from around the world are hoping to hammer out an international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Environment ministers started arriving in Copenhagen yesterday and world leaders will be arriving this coming week.

With the Kyoto protocol expiring in 2012, the goal of the Copenhagen conference is for 193 delegates to agree on an agreement and framework to combat climate change.

Agreement isn’t worth the paper it is written on

It doesn’t matter - an agreement isn’t worth the paper it is written on. Remember when Canada ratified the Kyoto treaty and committed to reducing emissions to 6% below 1990 levels during the 2008-2012 period? By 2004 Canada’s emissions had ballooned to 27% above the 1990 levels. The United States didn’t even bother to ratify Kyoto but still managed to contain their emission increases to just 16% above 1990 levels.

Governments and individuals love to blame other people and countries. Prime Minister Stephen Harper blames China and other developing nations for making it unfair for Canada to sign on. Environmentally-conscious citizens love to point their finger at Stephen Harper for his inaction on climate change.

All of the finger-pointing is pointless. We are all responsible for our unsustainable lifestyles. Let me repeat: WE ARE ALL RESPONSIBLE FOR OUR UNSUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLES.

Ordinary people need to be willing to make sacrifices

Expecting your President or Prime Minister to singlehandedly solve the problem is like a hockey team relying on the coach to win the game. Yes, the coach does have the ability to implement a framework to build a winning team, but at the end of the day it is up to the players to rise up and win the game.

Read more »

Toronto Yearns for Bicycle Superhighway

Photo and video by James D. Schwartz / The Urban Country

On October 30 2009, the first section of the West Toronto Rail Path officially opened. A 2.1KM stretch from Cariboo Ave. in the north to Dundas St. West in the south, the rail path provides cyclists an automobile and traffic light-free route.

Although a positive step in the right direction, this $4 million path will be of little use for prospective cycling commuters until the full length of the proposed path is completed - or until it connects cyclists with a better network of cycling routes (Check out how they do it in the Netherlands).

The rail path was originally hailed as a possible future bicycle superhighway, but cyclists have criticized the trail for its lack of separation between pedestrians and cyclists.

When I first learned about this path a couple years back, I was excited about its potential. If implemented properly, cycling commuters could ride to work from the northwest side of the city without having to deal with traffic lights or automobiles. It’s a cycling commuter’s dream.

Unfortunately it will be several more years before the remaining portion of the path is completed – if it ever gets completed. The plan is to extend the trail further east to Strachan Ave., but the ideal state would see the trail extended all the way to Union Station.

The following video is a tour of the path based on footage I took this morning featuring Metric’s “Gold Guns Girls” (acoustic version).

Read more »

A Cycling Revolution With Mikael Colville-Andersen

Mikael Colville-Andersen is no stranger to the spotlight. Colville-Andersen is the founder of Copenhagen Cycle Chic – a hugely popular blog that profiles stylish female cyclists who take to the streets in Copenhagen.

Colville-Andersen has become somewhat of a worldwide ambassador of a cycling movement that is captivating much of the western world.

This man represents the notion that anybody can ride their bike to work in style and when you open your closet it is packed full of cycling clothes – your regular clothes.

Colville-Andersen also runs the popular website Copenhagenize.com, where he preaches that the success of cycling in Copenhagen can be implemented anywhere in the world.

Mikael is known as “Denmark’s leading bicycle ambassador” and speaks and advises governments all over the world through his company “Copenhagenize Consulting”.

Oddly enough, Mikael claims he’s “not into cycling”. Rather he sees himself as someone who can help create “liveable cities”. He believes the bicycle is a tool that can make our cities more sustainable, friendly and liveable.

The following exclusive interview created by my filmmaker friend Michael Rubbo with footage from videographer Violeta Bran-Lafourcade looks under the hood of this fascinating cycling ambassador:

James D. Schwartz is the editor of The Urban Country. You can view all of James’ articles here.

Photo courtesy of itspaulkelly