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Dear Vancouver: Riding A Bicycle In Normal Clothes Should Not Be A Defiant Act Of Rebellion 12

Dear Vancouver: Riding A Bicycle In Normal Clothes Should Not Be A Defiant Act Of Rebellion
BIXI bike collage from Montreal, Canada – Photo courtesy of Chris Bruntlett via Instagram  Our friend Chris Bruntlett recently returned to Vancouver from a vacation that included stops in both Toronto and Montreal. In an article in Hush Magazine, Bruntlett elegantly summarizes his travel experiences while lamenting Vancouver’s sport/recreational bicycling culture and British Columbia’s unfortunate ...

Copenhagenize Bicycle-Friendly Cities 2011 18

Copenhagenize Bicycle-Friendly Cities 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 ...

McGill’s Bicycle Ban & Pedestrian Fear 31

McGill’s Bicycle Ban & Pedestrian Fear
Photo “Message to McGill University cyclists” courtesy of Polly Peterson  Trying to make sense of the phenomenon of pedestrians’ fear of bicycles in North America. In May 2010, McGill University in downtown Montreal became a car-free pedestrian-only zone. The eradication of automobiles on the school campus was a great step forward, but like most progress ...

Montreal Bicycle Ridership Up 35-40% 22

Montreal Bicycle Ridership Up 35-40%
Photo courtesy of zmtomako / Flickr A new study finds that bicycling is on the rise in Montreal. In 2010, the city experienced a 35-40% growth in ridership over its 2008 bicycle ridership counts. This is an encouraging sign that the city’s significant infrastructure investments and bike sharing scheme have contributed to an increase in ...

Toronto to Montreal Kayak Adventure 41

Yesterday I arrived in Montreal after 11 consecutive days alone on the water. At times I had a feeling of freedom and saw some amazing scenery, and other times it was challenging and repetitive. But overall I really enjoyed the experience and I’ve definitely become a better kayaker as a result of the range of ...

Toronto to Montreal Solo Kayak Journey 2

Photo by James D. Schwartz / The Urban Country – Lake Ontario – 4 July 2009 In about 9 hours, I’ll be departing on a solo kayak journey from Toronto to Montreal to raise money for Noah’s Ark home for children in the Philippines. Noah’s Ark provides a temporary home for malnourished children; providing food, ...

Montreal Dawson College shooting 1

Everyone has already heard about the Montreal shooting at Dawson College in Quebec in which one person has died so far. Since everybody has already heard the details, I won’t discuss the details of the events that took place, but instead I’ll discuss other similar shootings and also how much worse it could have been. ...