Wear a Helmet And Get a Cycling Utopia 15
[Photo] This photo of a “frivolous and reckless” Santa Monica cyclist courtesy of Bike by the Sea Shawn Micallef recently wrote an article on the Spacing.ca Toronto blog where he argues that anyone who wants better bicycle infrastructure in Toronto should wear a helmet if they expect to be taken seriously. Micallef claims that anyone ...
Why Do Cyclists Blow Stop Signs? 13
All photos by James D. Schwartz I came across this unique stop sign while walking the dog at the Exhibition grounds here in Toronto. It is a regular stop sign outfitted with a secondary stop sign that reads “CYCLISTS MUST STOP”. The implicit message that I gather from this stop sign is that regular stop ...
I Am Responsible for the Gulf Oil Spill… 5
Photo courtesy of IBRRC on Flickr I am responsible for the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill. I claim responsibility for the 11 deaths, 17 injuries from the explosion, and the millions of marine and wildlife that have been killed or displaced as a result. Yes, I am responsible for releasing an estimated 1.9 million to ...
Bicycles for Transporting… [fill in the blank] 6
All photos by James D. Schwartz / The Urban Country Earlier this month I posted 30 photos of Utility Cycling in China. That post generated a lot of interest because like me, you are probably intrigued by how the Chinese use their bicycles for practical purposes – like pizza delivery, garbage pickup, cargo shipping, etc. ...
Shanghai Cycle Chic 10
All photos by James D. Schwartz / The Urban Country During my recent trip to China I was fortunate enough to spend a few days in Shanghai. Before I went to China, I promised Mikael Colville-Andersen that I would snap some photos of “Cycle Chic” action while biking around Shanghai. Mikael popularized the term “Cycle ...
Life at 430km/h 7
Photos and video by James D. Schwartz / The Urban Country Imagine you could build a train that could take you 100KM in less than 15 minutes. Where would you put this train? From your home to you workplace? To your Grandma’s house? I had the pleasure of riding the Shanghai Maglev high speed train ...
The Americanization of China? 2
All photos by James D. Schwartz / The Urban Country Today is my last day on Hainan island – China’s southernmost (and smallest) province. Hainan is developing at an extremely fast pace. Hainan was designated as a Special Economic Zone in the 1980’s, and earlier this year China announced its intentions on turning Hainan into ...
Pedaling Haikou City, China 5
Video by James D. Schwartz / The Urban Country Have you ever wondered what it’s like to ride a bike in China? The short film above shows footage of me pedaling around Haikou City yesterday – the capital of the province of Hainan, China. Haikou’s population is somewhere around 1 million people – and I’d ...
Utility Cycling in China 23
All photos by James D. Schwartz / The Urban Country (May 2010) In big Chinese cities – like it or not – bicycles are a vital ingredient to keep the cities moving. From pizza delivery, to painters, to garbage pickup, to cargo shipping, to transporting people – bicycles are everywhere in cities like Shanghai and ...
Handicap Bike Parking 14
Photo by James D. Schwartz / The Urban Country In Shanghai, there are a lot of bikes.. a LOT of bikes. With the high costs of car ownership, heavy pollution and traffic congestion, bikes are still a great alternative and you can quickly get around the city. However, bikes are still generally considered to be ...