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One Wheel All You Need in China 1

One Wheel All You Need in China
Ever had a wheel stolen off your bicycle and had to push your bicycle home with just one wheel? I know I have. It’s not a good feeling – but it would have been no match for this Chinese bicyclist. This video was picked up by our China correspondent Mark Green after it was posted ...

Online Guide For Safe Bicycle Facilities 4

Online Guide For Safe Bicycle Facilities
Last week at the National Bike Summit in Washington DC, the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) released its new online Urban Bikeway Design Guide. The bikeway design guide is an online resource providing cities with solutions to create complete streets that provide enhanced safety for bicyclists. The design guide was unveiled by NYC ...

Japan Earthquake & Tsunami: Role of the Bicycle 10

Japan Earthquake & Tsunami: Role of the Bicycle
Photo courtesy of Toshifuni Kitamura, Getty Images / March 11, 2011 In the aftermath of the massive earthquake and ensuing tsunami that hit Japan on Friday afternoon, millions of people were left stranded at their workplace and tens of thousands displaced from their homes with few options to transport themselves to safety. Those who were ...

Billboard Hijacking To Promote Urban Bicycling 6

Billboard Hijacking To Promote Urban Bicycling
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

Anonymous Thank You Letter For Bicyclists
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 ...

Sympathizing Road Rage 17

Sympathizing Road Rage
Photo courtesy of Spanish Flea  Friday’s extreme road rage incident in Brazil where a motorist plowed through dozens of bicyclists has revealed something about our society. Something that we already knew, but seems to be hitting epic levels. Motorists are angry. They are frustrated with being stuck in traffic while reminiscing on the “old days” ...

Bicyclists Must Obey Laws If They Want to Share the Roads 52

Bicyclists Must Obey Laws If They Want to Share the Roads
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

Critical Mass Carnage (GRAPHIC VIDEOS)
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

Bicycles In Jamaica
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

New Bicycle Advocacy Project: ratemyvelo.com
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 ...