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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 ...

Contest: Win a Bike Painting By Mike Rubbo 6

Contest: Win a Bike Painting By Mike Rubbo
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

The Bicycle as a Status Symbol
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 ...

Time to Protect Cars From Reckless Pedestrians? 10

Time to Protect Cars From Reckless Pedestrians?
Pedestrians on Queen Street in Toronto – photo by deena mephistopheles Linwood Barclay from the Huffington Post Canada wrote a brilliantly hilarious satire piece about how pedestrians are infringing on drivers’ right to unimpeded access to our streets. From the article: Say what you will about Toronto Mayors Rob and Doug Ford, their latest proposal ...

Rediscovering The Bicycle 17 Years Later 13

Rediscovering The Bicycle 17 Years Later
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 ...

‘i share the road’ campaign 10

‘i share the road’ campaign
from the i share the road campaign website Yesterday some of you might have seen a sneak preview of a new initiative I am working on: a campaign called ‘i share the road’. We are giving away stickers to give people the opportunity to voice their support for sharing the road between people on bicycles ...

Motorists Prime Beneficiaries of Socialism 116

Motorists Prime Beneficiaries of Socialism
The freedom of driving (or not) – a Toronto traffic jam by wyliepoon Whether they like it or not, most motorists are socialists. The American media tends to generally associate the term socialism with social assistance such as welfare, but socialism comes in different forms. That same media is also littered with driver self-pity over ...

On The Inferiority of Bicyclists and Gay People 54

On The Inferiority of Bicyclists and Gay People
“Amsterdam Summer” by Michael Stallmeister / RateMyVelo.com Last night I visited a friend in the “Beach” – a trendy area in the east end of Toronto comprised of a popular stretch of beach frequented by tourists and residents alike. Throughout the night I encountered two separate incidents in which I was ridiculed for riding a ...

Bicycle Infrastructure in Unexpected Places 16

Bicycle Infrastructure in Unexpected Places
Photo by James D. Schwartz / The Urban Country On the weekend we rented a car and drove to Niagara to visit family and have fun in Niagara Falls while Grandma babysat the little one for us. En route to the Falls while driving through Niagara “wine country” I was pleasantly surprised to encounter a ...

RIP Jack Layton: 1950-2011 4

RIP Jack Layton: 1950-2011
Photo of bike lane memorial for Jack Layton on College Street by Martin Reis I was deeply saddened this morning to wake up to the news that Jack Layton had succumbed to cancer. Layton gave me hope for Canada, and hope for the world. That politicians can work hard to make things better in our ...