Giving New Meaning to “Cargo Bike”

Photo by Mark Green / The Urban Country

In China it’s not uncommon for bicycles to carry an inordinate amount of cargo. When I visited Beijing in 2007 I saw bicycles carrying loads of vegetables that would make a dump truck driver envious.

This picture was snapped the other day by The Urban Country’s China correspondent Mark Green in Shanghai, China.

Mark says this particular cargo load was stacked more than 10 feet deep:

“It’s pretty common to see ridiculously high stacked bikes here, but this one caught my attention because of the way the driver seat is cut out, reducing visibility to about 70 degrees. Extra body armour I suppose.”

That’s what I love about the Chinese. They can make practical use out of almost anything, and very little goes to waste. They always manage to find a way to re-use almost everything.

While most people in China yearn for the western luxuries that we enjoy here in North America, many of us in North America yearn for the pragmatic lifestyles of many of the Chinese.

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Australian Councillor Who Gets It

My friend and documentary filmmaker Mike Rubbo recently made a very inspiring short film that captures a day spent with Australian city councillor Jackie Fristacky. Jackie is a city councillor in Yarra City area of Melbourne where she previously served as Mayor in 2005-2006.

What sets Jackie apart from your typical city councillor is that she commutes to city hall on her bicycle and travels to meetings using pedal power.

In the video, Mr. Rubbo rides the train from his home in Sydney to Melbourne to spend a typical day with the Australian councillor.

In some European cities, it might be normal for a city councillor to ride her bike everywhere - but in Australia (and likewise here in Canada) Jackie is considered a rare breed.

Jackie has helped lead the push for Yarra City to boast the highest rate of cycling in all of Australia – at just under 10%. Imagine what Jackie could accomplish if Australia rescinded its helmet legislation.

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The Bike Path That Almost Was

Video by James D. Schwartz / The Urban Country – Music by danosongs.com

Yesterday I ventured out to the suburbs of Toronto to video record one of my favourite bike paths on Eglinton Ave West in suburban Etobicoke. The 5km+ unobstructed bi-directional bike lanes is a rarity in a city where most unobstructed bike lanes are primarily for recreational use rather than for commuting.

Photo by James D. Schwartz / The Urban Country 

The video shows the entire length of the bike path – from Martin Grove Rd. in the west to Jane St. in the east with playback at 8x the actual speed. You can see in the map below how the bike path ends and there are no bike network connections (ending point is marked by an orange square):

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Bike Sharing in Car Capital of the World?

Photo by Mark Green / The Urban Country (Jan 2010)

Can bike sharing possibly succeed in the world’s largest automobile market?

It doesn’t sound logical, but it’s a reality on a planet that simply doesn’t have enough space for all of its inhabitants to drive a car.

Bicycles are a practical and low-cost solution to the major baggage that comes with the automobile. The automobile has been the root cause of many modern day issues, including: pollution, gridlock, stress, wars, climate change, obesity and urban sprawl.

My friend Mark recently moved back to Shanghai where he had previously lived for 3 years before returning to Canada in 2008. Mark was pleasantly surprised to return to Shanghai to see the bicycle sharing system gain momentum after the city initially launched in September 2008.

Here is a typical bike lot outside a Shanghai subway station:

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Forgetting About the Joneses

Back in March 2009, a mock Nissan commercial surfaced on YouTube that pits Hyundai against Toyota, starring Andy Richter and James Adomian.

I thought a slight change to the ending of the video would be more appropriate. (Hopefully the lawyers over at Nissan are sympathetic to us cyclists).

The video highlights something that we have talked about on The Urban Country over the years. People are always trying to out-do their neighbours – keeping up with the Joneses, as they say – which tends to drive our society to consume more and more.

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Other “keeping up with the Joneses” articles on theurbancountry.com:

• Redefining Freedom (October 3, 2008)
• The New American Dream (October 19, 2008)
• Middle-Aged Men Powering Through Midlife Crisis (August 11, 2009)

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Automobile commercials normally do a great job to convince people that they need to upgrade their car every couple years to the newest and greatest model, and many people succumb to this illogic by buying a new car every couple years.

This commercial is different - it highlights how ridiculous “keeping up with the Joneses” really is. It also shows how angry drivers can become when somebody else has an advantage over them (even if it shows a greatly exaggerated and unrealistic response).

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Bicycle Friendly Workplaces

Bicycle-friendly workplaces can help overcome a major barrier to commuter cycling. Although I didn’t list “bicycle unfriendly workplaces” as one of the major barriers to cycling in a recent article, it can be extremely discouraging if a place of business doesn’t provide at minimum, a safe place to lock up your bicycle.

Businesses have begun to recognize that supporting commuter cycling can benefit their business. In the Netherlands, a recent study concluded that a 1% increase in cycling to work can save 27 million Euros in lost productivity and improve health among employees.

Many businesses in the Netherlands pay their employees on a per-km basis to ride their bike to work, while others use a point system where workers can save their points and purchase products. Company bicycles are also provided by some Dutch employers to encourage cycling.

• Read more about Cycling in the Netherlands

BikePortland.org has a good list of bicycle-friendly businesses in that cycle-friendly US city and Copenhagen has also done a great job of encouraging people to ride their bike to work.

Here in Toronto, the City has been handing out awards to bicycle-friendly businesses since 2001. The 2009 Bicycle-Friendly Business Awards will take place on January 19th, 2010 at the Gladstone Hotel and we will find out who this year’s most bicycle-friendly businesses are.

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Hating Cyclists on Facebook

Today I stumbled across a Facebook page entitled “There’s a perfectly good path right next to the road you stupid cyclist”. Cyclist hate groups on Facebook are common, but this one in particular is more distasteful than others I have come across because it boasts more than 31,000 fans, and it in no uncertain terms explicitly promotes the murder of cyclists for simply being on the road.

The description for the group reads:

No matter how far to the left you are, you're taking up my road.
My car is hard, and i am not slowing down!

Status updates include messages such as “saw a cyclist stack it today!” (Nov 29th), with 396 people who like it, and 116 comments, including the following:

Carly Foster - epic fail. Thats so funny

Kristen Hawkins - yayyy!!!! stupid cyclists ill run them over!

Kay Leggat - Ha ha that will teach them stupid stupid stupid cyclists

Ashley Gibson - cyclists suck balls n if i ever hit one i will have no sypathy for them. fukn pilow byters!

The discussions page also contains some interesting exchanges between the cyclists and the anti-cyclists – including this note from one Adam Fry:

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Winter Cycling in Toronto

This morning I set out for a pleasant bike ride along Lake Ontario in Toronto. I originally brought my dog with me, but her paws didn’t fare well with the salt that was plastered on the sidewalks here to melt the ice.

It also didn’t help that it was –15C (5F) (or –26C (-14.8F) with the wind chill).

One of the major accomplishments we have made in Toronto in 2009 is that our Waterfront trail is now being cleared of snow on a priority basis.

Sure enough, the trail was clear of the minimal snow we have seen so far this winter:

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2010: The Year of the Tiger

I can hardly believe that another decade has now ended – how fast time passes. We are now in 2010 – the year of the Tiger (officially beginning on Chinese New Year – February 14th, 2010)

Tigers do not find worth in power or money. They will be completely honest about how they feel and expect the same of you. On the other hand, they seek approval from peers and family. Generally, because of their charming personalities Tigers are well liked. Often, failing at a given task or being unproductive in his personal or professional life can cause a Tiger to experience a depression. Criticism from loved ones can also generate this type of Tiger reaction. Still, like all felines, Tigers always land on their feet, ready for their next act in life, pursuing it with unyielding energy and hunting it infallibly.

2009 was a great year for raising cycling awareness around the world. A wave of enthusiasm toward cycling has materialized and several European cycling advocacy websites have gained much popularity as several countries look to the Netherlands and Denmark for guidance on improving the state of cycling at home.

Early in December we highlighted Mikael Colville-Andersen - the man behind Copenhagen Cycle Chic and Copenhagenize.com. I also wanted to point out one of my favourite cycling advocacy websites – David Hembrow’s “A View from the Cycle Path”. David illustrates how cycling can become the primary method of transportation with proper investments in bicycle infrastructure. Even on New Years Day, Mr. Hembrow was out on his bicycle in the snow in Assen, Netherlands where he lives.

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