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Hola, Amigos! Has it seriously been 6 years??

Hola, Amigos! Has it seriously been 6 years??
I can hardly believe that 6 years has gone by since I last made a habit of regularly writing on this blog. Although I put the pen down to focus on other priorities in life, I have still been using my bike as my primary mode of transportation (when I am not run commuting to ...

Life Hack: IKEA’s $2.00 Bicycle Ski Rack

Life Hack: IKEA's $2.00 Bicycle Ski Rack
Life Hack: $2.00 IKEA Bike Ski Rack – Photo by James Schwartz / The Urban Country Two years ago my girlfriend Roxy and I each picked up a pair of Nordic skis, which allowed me to re-take-up cross country skiing; a hobby that I had thoroughly enjoyed as a kid. Over the past couple winters, ...

The Stolen Bicycle Recovery Operation

The Stolen Bicycle Recovery Operation
Craigslist ad for Dylan’s stolen Trek hybrid bicycle It all started with an instant message from my friend Dylan, who had recently had his bike stolen from downtown Toronto: “James, look at this. It’s my bike for sale on Craigslist. What should I do?” Dylan knew that I had a bike blog, and I had ...

My Dutch Cargo Bike Stolen & Recovered in Less Than 10 Minutes

My Dutch Cargo Bike Stolen & Recovered in Less Than 10 Minutes
James’ Babboe Dutch Cargo Bike – Photo courtesy of Andrea E. It was only a few minutes after my 5 year old daughter’s school concert production came to an end when I received the phone call from my friend Brad. My ringer was still muted to avoid disrupting the concert; but I could feel it vibrating ...

Too Cold To Take Public Transit 90

Too Cold To Take Public Transit
The last two days have seen immensely frigid temperatures here in Toronto. I have still been using my bike on a daily basis throughout the winter, but Tuesday proved exceptionally cold when a friend and I pedaled a few kilometres to a computer store that evening. This was a rare occasion in which I was ...

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 ...

Toronto Flood: Just Another Ordinary Day On A Bicycle 8

Toronto Flood: Just Another Ordinary Day On A Bicycle
Toronto storm photo courtesy of Ann Darby (deftonia11)  On Monday evening, Toronto was hit by a massive storm that resulted in a record 126mm of rainfall. The city experienced massive flooding as a result, causing cars to become submerged, and train passengers forced to swim to safety. The city’s underground subway system was shut down ...

Quote Of The Week: Bicyclists Are People 8

Quote Of The Week: Bicyclists Are People
Toronto City Councillor Gord Perks, who was previously thought to be an ally of Toronto bicyclists, isolated most of them by publicly calling them “idiots”: Our quote of the week comes from our friend Duncan Hurd, who responded to Councillor Perk’s comment: We strongly urge Councillor Perks to read our post on bicycle helmets and ...

“Cars Kill So Many People It Staggers The Imagination” 5

“Cars Kill So Many People It Staggers The Imagination”
Car crash carnage – Photo courtesy of Atomic Hot Links  Yesterday we discussed how bicyclists are encouraged to break the law because of bad road design. Coincidentally, on the same day the Toronto Star wrote an article entitled “Lawbreaking cyclists putting everyone in danger”. The author cites a middle age woman who was riding the ...

Direct Routes For Bicycles 4

Direct Routes For Bicycles
Bike Map Holder – Photo courtesy of Mr. T in DC Cities in Canada and the United States have long catered to automobiles, providing drivers with a comprehensive network of roads with direct routes to their destinations. Bicycles, as a mode of transportation, have largely been ignored over the last several decades here, and people ...