Rush Hour in Toronto At –11 Celsius 19
Toronto commuters – March 29th, 2011 – by James Schwartz / The Urban Country I snapped the above photo on my phone during my morning commute to a client office yesterday morning. It wasn’t the shot I was looking for, but I love it no less. The shot I was looking for showed 18 bicyclists ...
The Bicycle City Film – Lifting People out of Poverty
Photo by Greg Sucharew / The Bicycle City What happens to an impoverished developing nation town when you flood it with 20,000 bicycles? You lift three times that number of people out of poverty. That is the premise of The Bicycle City – a feature length documentary film by Director/Producer Greg Sucharew. From the Bicycle ...
Bicycle Culture Sells Condos 8
All photos by James D. Schwartz / The Urban Country Despite everything that has happened with the economy and real estate market with our neighbours in the United States, Toronto has continued developing new condominiums across the city without pause. Everywhere you look, you can find construction cranes in Toronto – it’s actually a bit ...
A Celebration of People on Bicycles in New York City 6
While down in New York City last weekend I managed to take some video footage of everyday New Yorkers who choose bicycles as their mode of transportation. I put this short film together that celebrates these New Yorkers who are contributing to making New York a better place. Although my hometown Toronto seems to have ...
Billboard Hijacking To Promote Urban Bicycling 6
All photos courtesy of Dr. Paul Martin and Mike Rubbo After a week of very negative thoughts due to the Brazil Critical Mass mow-down, we are starting this week off in a more positive light thanks to the kind lady who handed out thank you letters and cash to bicyclists here in Toronto last week. ...
Anonymous Thank You Letter For Bicyclists 5
Photo courtesy of Tom Polarbear / TorontoCranks Earlier this week, random people on bicycles in Toronto received a thank you letter from an anonymous lady. On the outside of the letter was written “Thank YOU ($ gift inside)”. The lucky bicyclists opened the envelope only to find a $5 bill along with a typed letter ...
Bicyclists Must Obey Laws If They Want to Share the Roads 52
Photo of a hectic intersection in Groningen, Netherlands by tup wanders A common argument made to justify actions like Friday’s terrible incident in Porto Alegre, Brazil is that people on bicycles have no right to share the road and don’t deserve any courtesy from drivers until they obey all traffic laws. This is also a ...
Critical Mass Carnage (GRAPHIC VIDEOS) 133
Screenshot from the aftermath (see embedded videos below) UPDATE (April 20th): Brazil Critical Mass Update – Interview With Ricardo Neis On Friday night an angry motorist mowed down a group of about 150 people on bicycles riding for Critical Mass in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The motorist accelerated his vehicle directly through the group of riders, ...
Bicycles In Jamaica 2
All Photos by Tim C for The Urban Country A friend recently returned from a trip to Jamaica and managed to snap some photos of everyday Jamaicans using bicycles for transportation in that island country. Bicycles are an economical and efficient way to get around, so it’s no wonder that some locals use bicycles to ...
New Bicycle Advocacy Project: ratemyvelo.com 5
Screenshot of www.ratemyvelo.com – James D. Schwartz / The Urban Country Yesterday I officially launched my latest bicycling advocacy project – Rate My Vélo – a website that allows people to upload photos of people on bicycles, and vote on other people’s photos. The website mixes Mikael’s Cycle Chic™ style of advocacy with user-contributed content ...