Bicycle Culture ← The Urban Country

“Not Much Can Go Wrong With That Bike” 4

Jun

2013

Sofia on Daddy’s cargo bike – Photo by James Schwartz / The Urban Country Last night my wife took her car to the grocery store and when she tried to start it again, the battery was dead. I grabbed my cargo bike and went to a nearby mechanic to borrow their mobile booster pack to ...

“Bicycling makes me feel like I’m a part of the city instead of feeling apart from the city" 4

Jun

2013

Screenshot from YouTube video by Vancouver Cycle Chic Below is a wonderful video by our friend Chris Bruntlett and the folks over at Vancouver Cycle Chic featuring Vancouver librarian Cecily Walker, as she introduces her city as a great place to live and to get around by bike. Vancouver, as you probably know, rests inside ...

Dignified Older People On Bicycles 2

Jun

2013

Older people on bicycles in Amsterdam – Photo by Marc van Woudenberg / Amsterdamize In the midst of Toronto Mayor Ford’s crack scandal was a revelation about how Canadian society views adults who ride bicycles for transport. A 45-year-old man who is in the middle of the scandal was recently approached at a TD Bank ...

House Moves By Bicycle 4

Jun

2013

Transporting cargo by bike in Portland, Oregon – Photo by Ryan Good On a visit to Shanghai in 2010, I snapped dozens of photos of people transporting large objects by bicycle – including a bathtub and a full sized refrigerator – among other large household items. Here in Canada or the United States, it would ...

Urban Bicycling Is For Lazy People 49

Jun

2013

Lazy people riding bicycles in Copenhagen – Photo courtesy of Mikael Colville-Andersen / Copenhagen Cycle Chic Here in Canada, as in the United States, people tend to generally view bicycles primarily for recreation or sport. Thus, when someone asks me how I arrived somewhere and I tell them I rode my bicycle, they naturally assume ...

Copenhagen Bike & Breakfast 1

May

2013

Cargo bike sofa – Photo by Mikael Colville-Andersen for Airbnb listing Wouldn’t it be wonderful to travel to your favourite cities around the world and to stay in a reasonably-priced flat in the heart of the city and have bicycles readily available to tour around town? Add to that, a friendly and passionate host who ...

Using Google Search To Reveal Public Perception 2

May

2013

Google Bicycle – Photo courtesy of Leon Hoffman One useful and amusing way to identify current trends and to gauge public perception on a topic is to use Google Search Auto-Complete. To do this, simply start typing in a phrase on a topic of your choosing, and watch Google complete the sentence using data from ...

Home Depot Trip By Bicycle 6

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 8

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 20

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 ...