Bicycle Culture ← The Urban Country ← Page 9

Wishing Death On Other Cyclists 87

Oct

2011

Ottawa woman in flip flops, not wearing helmet – Photo by Chris Traynor / ratemyvelo.com A couple weeks back I came across an angry rant about Critical Mass which featured a photo of scores of cyclists being plowed by an automobile with the caption “When is something like this going to happen in Chicago thanks ...

Alain Delorme’s Totems Series 5

Sep

2011

Series Totems 2010 © Alain Delorme In May 2010 I visited Shanghai, spending a great deal of time observing how migrant Chinese workers use bicycles for utilitarian purposes. I was astonished by the capacity of goods that can be transported by bicycle and intrigued by the gap between these workers and the wealth that surrounds ...

Giving Up On Public Transit: Interview With Megan Siegel 70

Sep

2011

Toronto bicyclist Megan Siegel – Photo by Doug Estey Two years ago Megan Siegel moved to Toronto from the Maritimes. After commuting on Toronto’s scenic (but dreadful) Queen streetcar for 7 months, Megan was ready to call it quits on Toronto and head back to the east coast. “I lived on Queen Street East and ...

Copenhagenize Bicycle-Friendly Cities 2011 18

Sep

2011

The Copenhagenize Index of Bicycle-Friendly Cities 2011 The Danish firm Copenhagenize Consulting recently released its list of the top 20 bicycle-friendly cities in the world for 2011. The “Copenhagenize Index” as it’s called, puts Amsterdam in the #1 spot, scoring 54 out of a possible maximum score of 64, with Copenhagen itself placing second with ...

Contest: Win a Bike Painting By Mike Rubbo 6

Sep

2011

Mike Rubbo at his first bike art gallery in Sydney Australia (July 2011) / Photo by Mike Rubbo The Urban Country is holding its first contest, and you are invited to enter. Entering the contest to win a painting by the talented Michael Rubbo is as easy as mounting an upright bicycle. All you have ...

The Bicycle as a Status Symbol 33

Sep

2011

Man & son ride a bicycle past an Audi car in Shanghai – Photo by James D. Schwartz / The Urban Country One of the biggest barriers to increasing bicycle transportation in many western countries is the fact that it is difficult to express one’s wealth and status on a bicycle. People are generally drawn ...

Rediscovering The Bicycle 17 Years Later 13

Sep

2011

Rediscovering the freedom of the bicycle. Photo by Robert Lawson for The Urban Country 31-year-old Robert Lawson hadn’t owned a bicycle since he was a 14-year-old teenager growing up in Vancouver, Canada. Three months ago – four years after he first moved to Toronto – Robert, a Senior Policy Advisor for the provincial government, decided ...

Baby And The Bicycle 15

Aug

2011

Photo of baby Sofia by Jamie Morren – All rights reserved Today’s post is about two things that play a prominent role in my life right now: my baby and my bicycle. We took our baby Sofia for her first foray into modeling: an outdoor photo shoot. I decided to bring my bicycle with me ...

How To Win Over Non-Cyclists at a Dinner Party 18

Aug

2011

Bicycle Film Festival Panel Discussion at the Gladstone Hotel (Aug 10, 2011) – photo by Erin Simkin / Bicycle Film Festival Toronto Last Wednesday I participated in a panel discussion for the Toronto Bicycle Film Festival. The title of the panel discussion was: “Building Bridges: How to tell good stories and win over non-cyclists at ...