Bicycle Culture ← The Urban Country

Home Depot Trip By Bicycle 4

May

2013

Cargo bike with hockey equipment – Photo by James Schwartz / The Urban Country A couple Wednesdays ago I needed to make a run to Home Depot to pick up some plywood and hardware for some small renovations I am doing in my loft. The same evening I was planning to meet my brother at ...

Sitting Side Saddle on Batavus Fryslan 4

May

2013

Photo courtesy of Peter Bojanczyk for The Urban Country On Sunday I bought a used 2011 Batavus Fryslan bicycle that I spotted on Craigslist to replace my 2010 Fryslan that was stolen in March. Last night we tested the rear rack while my 210-pound colleague Al sat side saddle while we transported ourselves from one ...

Rachel McAdams Gets Around Toronto By Bike 19

Apr

2013

Rachel McAdams and Michael Sheen bicycling at Queens Park in Toronto – Photo credit Sean O’Neill After starring in The Notebook in 2004, Rachel McAdams launched herself onto Hollywood’s A-list. It would hardly be surprising if Rachel had soaked up the Hollywood lifestyle by buying a large mansion with 6 cars in the driveway and ...

Top 20 Bicycle Friendly Cities in the World

Apr

2013

Our friends at Copenhagenize Design Co. have launched their 2013 Copenhagenize Index, where they painstakingly combed through data for 150 cities to come up with their 2013 index of top bicycle friendly cities in the world. Amsterdam tops the list once again, with Copenhagen trailing behind at a close second, while Canada’s only city, Montreal, ...

You Are Wasting Your Life Away Sitting In Traffic… 9

Apr

2013

… But at least you aren’t on a bicycle. Or so that’s the message being portrayed by the local newspaper’s automobile section. Every year we see more and more bicycles on the streets here in Toronto. Instead of acknowledging that more people on bicycles means less traffic congestion for car drivers, many drivers seem to ...

Help Todd Find a Tandem Bicycle

Apr

2013

Photo of Todd and Daegan with their tandem bicycle in 2012 – Photo from 500 Kindnesses Blog Last year, our friend Todd O’Reilly pedalled 1,500km with his 13-year-old son Daegan in a 25-day charity ride, from Toronto to Ottawa, to Montreal and then ending in New York City. But instead of asking for donations for ...

Tabloid Columnist Calls For Bicycle Ban in Toronto 16

Apr

2013

Amsterdam Cycle Chic – Photo by Mikael Colville-Andersen In a series of columns in a Toronto tabloid, columnist Mike Strobel has called for a ban on bicycling in the city in order to address traffic congestion, comparing bicyclists to psychos in his anti-bicycling rant that spans three articles. Strobel’s outrageous nonsensical articles reveal more than ...

Bicycles Are For People Who Can’t Be Late 9

Mar

2013

Businessman in Amsterdam – Photo courtesy of Mikael Colville-Andersen Bicycles may be a healthy way to get around a city, helping to reduce traffic congestion and pollution. But they are often the fastest and most reliable way to get around a city too. On Tuesday I had a client meeting downtown Toronto at 3PM. The ...

Vintage Photo: Please Mr. Motorist… 1

Mar

2013

Photo courtesy of Carlton Reid via Flickr, and spotted on Facebook via Hypothyroid Mom via @ausyeda What a lovely way to provide drivers a friendly reminder to be cautious around bicyclists. James D. Schwartz is the Editor of The Urban Country and is based in Toronto, Canada. You can contact James at james.schwartz@theurbancountry.com or ...

In Memory of Mary Thompson & Peter Root 5

Feb

2013

Peter Root and Mary Thompson in an undated photo (Photo courtesy of Jerry Root) Last week we covered the sad story about British Bicycle Bloggers Mary Thompson and Peter Root, who were tragically killed in Thailand after bicycling around the world since July 2011. I didn’t personally know Mary or Peter, but their untimely deaths ...