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The Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition (VACC) is in the throes of the autumn edition of the popular Bike to Work Week campaign. Until this morning, the weather had been blue skies & falling leaves, but the fresh rainfall hasn't stopped the km's from being logged and' [...]
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It's here! Check out our latest issue:
Momentum Magazine #42
Out on the web, in the stores and in your mailboxes:
– Why yes, it is the answer to the "Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything!"
This issue's pages are packed with:
FeaturesFinally read Stephen Irving's Twitter posts and discovered this nice video - sure it's from a while ago, but that makes no difference to me.
There is a very good and thought-provoking article at the link above, from Bike Portland.
Well worth a read. Some may lament the notion of bikes as primarily a 'utility' or 'appliance' but where cycling is 'normal' that is perhaps the reality.
This was brought home to me when I [...]
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One of my favorite parts of working at Momentum Magazine is all of the cool people I have met over the past few years. Every now and then, the really special ones are worth sharing.
This past summer I spent some time with Daniel Penn, an aspiring chef who was looking [...]
If you have not seen it yet it is worth watching. If you've seen it, well, watch it again and marvel at the brilliance of Benny Zenga (Winking Circle) and co.
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It’s a well-kept secret that car free cities are gaining force around the globe. More locales than ever are saying no to the pollution, noise and street-space-monopolizing presence of the automobile. These cities all seem to place a high value on creating safe, walkable and bikeable streets for everyone. [...]
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It was a day of bicycles, music and community magic on Saturday, August 29 when the Pleasant Revolution Tour came to Vancouver, BC to help host the Vancouver Bicycle Music Festival.
The Ginger Ninjas and friends started their West Coast Tour (all ridden by bike) in [...]
I honestly had no idea this was a capital-S Sport. I mean, I've seen my share of stunning bike skills and incredible athleticism on two wheels before, but this is as legit as Olympic Ice Dancing. The crowd! The medals! The glory! What next...London 2012?
This video features wunderkinds Carla and' [...]
Vancouver, BC - There has been a lot of ongoing mud slinging against cyclists in the mainstream media, especially in regards to rules of the road. A lot of this I believe was sparked by a single lane on Burrard' [...]
We note with some interest, and a tip of the helmet to Jack Thurston's The Bike Show podcast, a web site called mybikelane.com ("Get out of my bike lane!") where anyone can post photos - and license plate numbers - of motor vehicles parked in bike lanes.
Vancouver is [...]
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I was cruising the treehugger.com bike feed when I came across an article entitled "Is My Electric Bicycle Lame?". In it Trevor Reichman laments about being judged by other "Cyclists" - capitalization is for effect - as being lazy and wasting resources by riding an e-bike:
"I’ll always remember the" [...]
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The Bike 4 Life: Healin' from Killin', Bike Ride for Peace was held July 25, 2009 in Oakland, CA. By all accounts, the 2nd annual ride was a great success as it rolled from Lake Merritt to DeFremery Park on that sunny summer afternoon.
Led by the infamous [...]
I wish I could have been in Oakland last week for the Bike For Life Ride!
The July/August issue of Momentum features Tyrone Stephenson and his scraper bike building friends in Oakland.
http://www.momentumplanet.com/features/scraper-bikes
Luckily John Hamilton of Street Films created this film from the event which took place July 25, [...]
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The Alliance for Biking and Walking has awarded a $30,000 matching grant to Miami-based Green Mobility Network. The grant was made possible by Planet Bike and is the first in a series of special grassroots bicycle advocacy grants to be given by Planet Bike in 2009.
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Dahon, the world leader in folding bicycles, will provide free membership to Transportation Alternatives for the first 350 consumers who buy a Dahon folding bike in New York City between June 1 and October 31, 2009.
Transportation Alternatives is New York City’s leading advocacy group for cyclists, [...]
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The Tour de France this week has the media world swept away with lycra and spandex. On the opposite side of the bike racing spectrum falls the Brompton World Championships, where get this, the dress code is a suit and tie! This year's 4th annual race has just been' [...]
Ran across a very well done guide to Denmark on 2 wheels. Focuses on possible cycling vacations, scenic areas, places to stay, etc.
Useful information if you are thinking of traveling in Denmark, and an excellent example of how to promote vacation cycling, if you are interested in doing that.
You can [...]
My apologies to Neil Armstrong. You'd think by the number of media folks at today's Burrard Street Single Lane Physically Separated Bike Path Trial (up to 3 cyclists per media person today at the peak is my thumb in the air guesstimate) launch, that something monumental had happened.' [...]
“The Central Valley Greenway is a 24-kilometre pedestrian and cyclist route in Metro Vancouver, running from Science World in Vancouver to New Westminster, though Burnaby. The Greenway officially opened on June 27, 2009 with opening celebrations, guided bike tours and walking tours on sections of the Greenway. Despite its official
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I love it when I see a story with a distictly Momentum-ish flavour in a mainstream media outlet. They appear with delightful frequency these days and affirm that bicycling is growing in the public consciousness. I love that these papers are also able to create beautiful imagery, and great reporting [...]
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Join Bikes on the Drive and the Vancouver Indy Coffee Scene this Saturday for a bike tour of East Vancouver coffee shops.
The East Van Biking Coffee Tour
Sponsored by: Bikes on the Drive & Vancouver Indy Coffee Scene Meet: 10:30 am at Bikes on the Drive 1350 Commercial Drive ~ [...]Our 2009 Reader Survey is now on-line! Fill out our on-line survey for a chance to win one of our fabulous prizes. Your responses help us shape our editorial and advertising plans and goals for 2010. We need to hear from you!
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This August the Ginger Ninja's are spearheading the Pleasant Revoluntionary Tour and the West Coast Tour of the Bicycle Music Festival!
Tour Dates:
August 15 - Eugene, OR
August 16 - Portland, OR
August 22 - Seattle, WA
August 29 - Vancouver, BC
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I must have an abnormal skull. I mean, it seems to be the right shape for a human head, but after trying on dozens of different helmets I was beginning to feel slightly, er, different.
I put each model of Bern on my head at Interbike, hoping that one of [...]
[image:PDX Bike Wedding 2009 038cMOM.jpg]On a mostly sunny Saturday afternoon in Portland Bonnie Hildebrand and Pete Hoebel got maried. Nothing unusual about that – weddings happen all the time. But not so often in the middle of a large traffic circle, nor do those assembled usually pedal off to a nearby [...]
[image:Cargo and 80s ride 083.jpg]On a rainy, muddy afternoon in Portland, Oregon cargo bike builders and riders gathered for a timed contest of cargo carrying ability.
Surprisingly, all survived. As did all of the eggs involved in the second phase of the contest.
For photos of this part of the Pedalpalooza phantasmagoria, [...]
Not anymore! Over the past year and a half I have seen so many different types of' [...]
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There are many and varied themes for the 200 or so rides that happen as part of Pedalpalooza. One that inspires cyclists to turn out in droves is food.
In this case Tacos certainly inspired the 50 or more riders who came for the ride.
You can see photos of this [...]
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Laura gets to San Francisco via bicycle and BART. Laura picks up Matt Reamer’s Car. It’s an amazing 1997 Toyota station wagon, that to say the least… is battle weary. There is a program on NPR about Piracy in Somalia and International Sea Law. Laura is feeling a [...]
I have already blogged about my view on helmets.
My view on bicycling helmet and other bicycling related "crackdowns" like the one the Vancouver police are currently conducting is that the police should be consistent and rather than gratuitously giving tickets out where it is easy for both them [...]
Just a quick one...
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I was at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show this past February putting on an ArtBike! event and happened to meet Amarins Harrison as she and her young daughter we looking at artwork children in Indianapolis had made about bicycles.
She told me that her, her husband and [...]
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A while ago I wrote an article for the Momentum print magazine, arguing for the use of cyclo-cross (CX) bikes as sporty city bikes:
http://www.momentumplanet.com/node/326
After the article was published, I had a number of bicycle geeks personally comment to me on how CX bikes may seem appropriate on [...]
Momentum Magazine is putting together our next issue and the theme is DIY (and "Do it Together") with a bike flavour.
In particular, we are featuring bike accessories, bike-able clothing and the bikes themselves.
Please send in one or two photos (high resolution, please) of your project, including brief answers to [...]
As a bicycling photographer, I have a perpetual pain in the neck from lugging my gear around on my shoulders and back. I have my eyes on an Xtracycle and can’t wait to build up my old Marin frame with the FreeRadical Kit and get down to some serious hauling [...]
Transport for London has done it again with a great follow-up to their "Do the Test" Cycling awareness video (remember the one on the basketball court?)
Thanks to Chris Brennan of Toronto for sending this in.
[...][After a brief hiatus, I am back!, I'll be blogging less frequently probably 1-2 times a week. Starting a new job so my head is full with all kinds of non bicycle related stuff which means less time for bicycle blogging].
It's been approximately 2 years (I started June 27, [...]
In an unexpected development in the world of cycling, Walmart has started selling recumbent bikes. As befits a big box store, it is not a great recumbent, but at $ 275 US - roughly half the price of previous introductory recumbents - this may open the world of recumbent riding [...]
Ah, what a wonderful change from the rain of yesterday. Tuesday afternoon bright and sunny as downtown Vancouver cyclists gathered in front of the Art Gallery. Warm and happy people partaking of coffee, bagels, and the camaraderie of many others who rode to work on this fine May day. The [...]
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I'm in love with the tweed cycling movement which started appropriately in Saville Row in London and is capturing the sartorial imaginations of cyclists in cities and towns around the globe, most recently in Chicago and San Francisco.
Momentum has been dressing up in tweed' [...]
The first day of Vancouver's May 2009 Bike To Work Week dawned cool and wet. But that didn't stop the hardy cyclists who showed up at the Langara Commuter station, located at 50th and the Ontario Bike Route.
Coffee, food, prizes, free bike servicing, advice and more helped riders ignore the [...]
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So I live with Nan from B. Spoke Tailor, her sweet sweet four year old son Sammy and a wonderful kindergarten teacher named Ashley. None of us have cars… well Sammy may have some toy cars, but he’s more of a Lego and train man.
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This weekend Nan’s friend Molly [...]
Last Thursday my evening started off at an extremely well hosted soiree at Studio Forbes.
I met up with Mia and we danced our way around the room taking pictures of people looking spiffy in their bicycling best, said hello to our SFBC friends, all the while trying to track down [...]
On Friday night I was lucky enough to attend a fundraiser hosted by David Baker for the San Francisco Victory Gardens. David Baker is a San Francisco based architect that builds buildings for bikes, and not for cars. David Baker was profiled in the November/ December issue [...]
This past Sunday was the first of six Sunday Streets that will be happening in San Francisco this summer. Sunday Streets is based on the popular Ciclovia model that started in Bogota, where streets are closed to cars and opened to bikes and pedestrians. Last year I was [...]
This past Sunday was the first of six Sunday Streets that will be happening in San Francisco this summer. Sunday Streets is based on the popular Ciclovia model that started in Bogota, where streets are closed to cars and opened to bikes and pedestrians. Last year I was [...]
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Blog written by Laura Brennan, Momentum's new Bay Area Account Manager. Email Laura at laura(at)momentumplanet.com
Context: Sea Otter is a sports event in Monteray, CA. The Momentum crew went to see what this sports event was all about, and to make contacts with cycling brands to ask them what they are' [...]
This last weekend Copenhagen what the host of something
that had disappeared from its cultural landscape for almost fifty years.
When people do something and it becomes a part of the daily culture eventually
somebody starts to play around with the activity.
For the competitive types among us, a desire to push hard [...]
Momentum. It's what keeps you going while riding your bike. Riding through deserted roads and traffic-calmed areas of town, it's easy to 'forget' to stop at a stop sign, all thoughts on keeping that cherished momentum going.
However, in most places, running a stop sign - even when safe - [...]
SOMA's much anticipated mixte frame has hit the streets of San Francisco, and the rest of North America is soon to follow. Thanks so much to Brad at American Cyclery (specializing in making a bike just the way you want to ride it) for building one up for [...]
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So many publications are getting on the bikestyle bandwagon. We say, "Oh Yeah!" - the more the merrier.
This is going to be a fabulous year for bikestyle.
Here's a nice slideshow from the New York Times celebrating the "It man" on two wheels.
They're not taking about the guy that' [...]
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Today Matt sent me a link to a story on the BBC about Poland's Constitutional Court upholding a ruling to keep on treating drunken cyclists as they would drunken motorists. Read the story here.
Having been a drunken cyclist, and having the notion that cycling and alcohol seem [...]
Momentum received the shipment of a Larry vs. Harry Bullitt Clockwork cargo bike a few days ago.
Since I am in charge of the cargo reviews, I went spent the evening assembling the bicycle that came in a box large enough to use as a casket. Fortunately the danes had thought [...]
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Little known by the rest of the world (after all, why else would they speak a foreign language except to keep secrets from us) the Dutch have a long history of child labour and workhouses.
The photo above, taken at great risk, shows a group of [...]
Minneapolis, MN - March 30, - Seeking to combine social networking with art, branding and customer acquisition, cycling gear maker Banjo Brothers plans to release a piece of cycling-themed micro-fiction, by Minneapolis writer Ian Pratt through itsTwitter feed on April 2, 2009
The fictional story, which takes place in Minneapolis, will [...]
In Momentum No. 36, I wrote a short article on disc brakes as an information piece for people who might not otherwise know much about the technology. Personally, I have found disc brakes to be quite handy, especially in the winter (I ride down a mountain everyday - [...]
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Who needs an engine, fuel, gears, pedals, etc.?
The 'Greenbird' clocked 126.1 mph (202.9 km/h) , eclipsing the old record of 116 mph, set in 1999.
Info and photos at [www.greenbird.co.uk]
Now that would be an interesting sight - a fleet of these cruising along an interstate highway, powered only by the wind.
Just [...]
Well its official... Spring has sprung!
And how do I know you might ask? Well, I am not one of those factonistas, you know those cultural elites who read about things in books. Nope, when I want know when spring is I don't check a book, I check' [...]
Many who I have encountered in the past month will know of my passion for the bicycle beard.
No one quite knows me as well as my dear friend Kyla Kinzel who sent me this picture today from the BBC
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Look at the original here
I haven't found a beard so intertwined' [...]
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What to do, what to do? You have two sons, age 5 and 8, who you want to take riding with you. Perhaps a Tandem/Triple bike, but then they can't see past you and you can't keep an eye on them. Hmmm. Well, if you are Jim Gallant of [...]
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I heard it said before that I am a glutton for punishment. Many friends question my sanity for the numerous hours of riding I do each week in the pouring rain here in Vancouver.
Just the other day at the Departmental tea (a tradition every Thursday morning in our department) [...]
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A banner from the Taipei Bicycle Show that caught my attention.
Describes a Zen level that we (male cyclists) all want to reach.
Since I ride a recumbent, I usually achieve this enlightened and comfortable state.
Diamond frame riders will have to speak for themselves.
Thanks to TheNHBushman.com for the image.
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The 5th Annual North American Handmade Bicycle Show was a veritable feast for the senses. Well, the eyeballs anyways. Everywhere you looked, you were treated to some serious eye candy, bike porn, whatever you call it. Indianapolis, for three days at the tail end of winter, was a cyclist's dream.
Glistening' [...]
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Only in Japan, you say? Why not here?
Imagine those gas and propane powered machines replaced by clean and healthy human-powered versions.
Cleaner air, and much quieter, except for the sound of working muscles and vigorous breathing. More exercise, better health, and employment for summer students (among others) looking for work. Which [...]
When Meghan Cahill, Communications Director with the League of American Bicyclists accepted my last minute request for Momentum to sponsor the Washington Bike Summit, I jumped at the chance to visit the American capital. "Amy," I said one mild Vancouver winter day in February, "we're going to visit Obama!"
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OK,' [...]
This will be my first and last post on the controversial subject of bike helmets. Based on my experience of riding without a helmet in Amsterdam, Bremen, Rotterdam, Friedrichshafen and Antwerp where I felt safer riding on the physically separated "no car" commuter bike paths without my helmet than I [...]
Cars raced in the Indianapolis 500 have 15" wheels, and they can go up to 230mph. Knowing this, bringing a bike with 20" wheels to town should get me around town 33% FASTER.
Okay, so my math doesn't quite add up there. I brought a folding bike with me for the' [...]
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Chuck Harris, the lovely mirror-making man from Ohio, has produced about 88,000 (!) rear-view bike mirrors with bicycle artwork inside for glasses and helmets since 1969. We were fortunate to bump into Chuck at NAHBS and ask him a few questions.
MOM: Tell us how you started making the mirrors.
Chuck Harris: [...]
The No Excuse Zone is an interesting idea from that came to my attention via Gordon Price at Price Tags. The No Excuse zone is a zone where healthy person could cycle within half an hour and if a person lives and works within this zone, then he [...]
Momentum was happy to return this year to the 5th Annual North American Handmade Bicycle Show. This year’s show was held in Indianapolis, Indiana and featured 115 exhibitors including bike craftspeople, makers of components, bike accessories and clothing as well as services for cyclists and bike media. The show has [...]
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Greetings from Indianapolis!
Amy, Mia, Tania and I are having a great time here at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show - we've met lots of great people and had a good look at our "future builders". There is a lot to drool over at this show and the' [...]
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As I was learning about changing the tube of my second flat tire this month from Niall and Ben, I kept thinking, nothing's changed in 20 years! Bicycles still have tires which still have tubes which still get annoying flats which I still don't enjoy changing today just like [...]
Sometimes things are not valuable by virtue of what they are, but by what they can become.
So when I happened upon an abandoned car top carrier in a back lane, it wasn't just a discarded plastic box that I saw, but rather a waterproof, large capacity, bicycle cargo trailer that it could become.
Some' [...]
Not sure what to make of the news "Cyclists being banned from miles of express routes designed to transport officials and athletes through London in high-speed convoys" during London's 2012 Olympics and for Vancouver 2010 "Some of our existing bicycle routes may have to be temporarily altered during" [...]
I have been inspired by the change of government in the USA and I was preparing myself for the inevitable disillusionment but then I realized how cynical and ridiculous that is. Regardless of where we stand, as avid bicyclists I think we can agree on this: we all can help [...]
Yes we can! North American cities like Vancouver and Toronto can have segregated bicycle paths that feel subjectively safe like small towns in Holland. We have the money, we are not poor, we just need vision and will. (Hat tip to David Hembrow's excellent Assen vs. Maple Ridge. [...]
The crew at Momentum Magazine HQ is getting ready to hit the road on an East Coast Adventure. We'd love to meet you, so if you are going to be at any of the following fabulous places then make sure to find us and say hi!
Feb 23 - Chicago, IL' [...]
I am thinking about creating a bicycle game for commuters using mobile devices like Nokia N series phones, iPhones and Blackberries or anything with cellular connectivity that enlivens their commute and informs their commute rather than distracting them. Anybody got an example of a cool bicycle game out there? If [...]
The BBC reports JCDecaux is having difficulty sustaining its business model where they are responsible for all repairs and replacements.
JCDecaux's current contract gives JCDecaux the rights to sell advertising on 1,600 city-wide billboards in return for running the 20,000 bike share program.
Could it be that JCDecaux is also [...]
Call me a paranoid old man of 44 years but I really think that wearing headphones while bicycling (or jogging or walking the dog or ...) is dangerous. Why? Because you can't hear approaching bicyclists or cars and you get lulled into a false sense of security. I get the' [...]
Forgive my "Batavus Blindness" but for commuters I don't understand the appeal of single speed bicycles like the ones that my friend Zack Rosen sells at Mission Bicycle in San Francisco without chain guards or enclosed drive trains or built in lights or built in fenders' [...]
Showing his green credentials and a good deal of ingenuity, an enterprising Chicago cyclist delivers sex toys, videos, and all-important lubes by bicycle.
He and his girlfriend reasoned that they could get pizza any time of night, so why not sex toys?
Thus was born the Kinky Llama, which promises one hour delivery.
For [...]
A bicycle courier in New York tested seven sets of front and rear lights in the New York Times and recommended the Blackburn Flea lights. Never heard of the Flea lights until now, so I am intrigued by the Flea's magnetic charger that allows it to be charged [...]
Yesterday I celebrated the two-year anniversary of being with my sweetheart. Were it not for bikes and bike cultural gatherings, we might not have met. I was reminded of another anniversary this morning - but it's a sad one.
Bicycle lover, promoter and preserver, Sheldon Brown passed away a year ago [...]
Still in love with Batavus bicycles. Even more so after reading about their philosophy in an interview with Toronto's Curbside:
QUOTE
Most of the bikes I have seen in Toronto are mountain bikes. These bikes are OK for a ride during the weekend, but not suitable for commuters. If I [...]
Wouldn't it be cool if you could buy your bicycles tax free?
In the Netherlands there is a tax law (called “fietsenplan” or “bedrijfsfiets”) to promote cycling. An employee can purchase a bike once every three years with pre-tax salary. You thus save 35-50% on the cost of the bike, depending' [...]
Pictured above is the very very dangerous bicycle path on Vancouver's Burrard Street bridge!. Roads and bicycle and pedestrian paths should be separated [...]
OK, I am definitely NOT a bicycle geek when it comes to chains, frames, headsets, gears, etc. but I have to admit I love geeking out about inexpensive, fun bike lights. And there are two items I recently came across that perked my interest.
First, the bring your own [...]
If you are interested in commuting by bicycle, bicycle paths and learning from the rich legacy of bicycling in the Netherlands, then the "A view from the cycle path" blog by David Hembrow is a must-read. His blog's the next best thing to being in Holland and commuting there! [...]
A very well done four minute video showing how cargo bikes have helped coffee workers in Rwanda. No Spandex or fashionable bike wear here, but a practical example of the good that bikes can do to make people's lives better. Good music too.
Recommended viewing.
Thanks to the Urban Simplicity blog' [...]
DavidNiddrie, Amy Walker, mk, ronrich
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