Bikes and bags (suite)

      
Then one day, I somehow clicked on one of these random links which took me to the Po Campo website. Honestly, and I don't receive any money from them, it is the best thing that has even happened in my "cycling career" (whatever that means).
Those bags are just awesome. Take a look at those pictures from last summer.

Crazy no? Stylish, fresh, summery, roomy etc. You name it!
Yet not perfect...
When you add the 3rd bottle of wine coming back from the store, the bag gets all tipsy...

Sadly collapsing on one side....

Well, you get it, right.
This is NOT a grocery bag. It is a lady's hand bag. So packing it too much with the wrong stuff does NOT work. Especially if said bag does not sit directly on the rack but on an uneven pair of locks, LOL!!!
But it also means that the whole yoga mat thing won't fly either. This is NOT a gym/yoga/whatever bag: it is a hand bag!
Just my opinion of course, but based on quite some experience....

This Po Campo Logan Tote is the old model. It has been totally redesigned (not sure what was wrong with the previous design). The new one seems shorter at the base (which is good as this one is longer than my rack) which makes it possible to attach it to the rack at the front and at the back. It also looks taller and roomier. The base looks floppy instead of sturdy so the bottom of the bag droops. It's "vegan", whatever that means (couldn't care less about that one!).
 The new collection is totally diaper oriented which is cool. As an new auntie, there may be one gift or two in the pipe...

Since last summer, I have bought two additional bags:

1. The Loop Pannier, i.e. the professional/computer bag (that can  NOT hold any of my computers) that I use the most. Folks, this is the ultimate bike bag.

2. And, ahem, a second Logan Tote, brown just like the Loop Pannier above, so I have one for the summer and one for the winter. No comment.

Compare this:

Versus this!

 And it is not just a fine urban companion,

It does handle quite well in a country setting!

They are very sturdy. I have already thrown the yellow Logan in the washing machine more than once and it fared pretty well. The pictures above are post-wash.

UPDATE: Went to Dumoulin Bicyclettes today. By the way (and I am not getting paid here either), they are the best urban cycle shop or rather boutique in Montreal!! They have everything from foldies, to cargo Babboes, to Levi's commuter pants, to Batavus/Linus/Gazelle/Opus, to a complete selection of Brooks saddles, grips, bags, tools etc., to... well, yeah... Po Campo bags!! Starting this Spring they are stocking this brand with the latest collection. And they managed it so it is cheaper for me to buy directly from them rather than ordering on the Po Campo website. Good for all of us.
So I could not resist and bought yet another one, this time for my sister, as a gift.

Check it out! It is exactly as I described above.

Lovely! I hope she likes it.

Anyhow, these bags have solved (almost) all of my carrying problems.
"Almost" because there are issues only a basket can solve. Soon, when I find some free time (I am desperately busy these days!!) I shall write about the freaking Nantucket basket that died on me in less than a year!

Bikes and bags

      
Oh boy! This is a VERY old post, something I wrote some time last summer and forgot at the bottom of the pile. Well here it is...

******

Finding a way to elegantly carry our stuff around is every urban's cyclist worst nightmare.
Once past the initial fumbling with the bicycle's setup and options, one soon realises that some sort of device is needed to carry our loads. Regular lady's purses are fine when small, but past a certain size, they flap around or keep sliding to the front, threatening your balance on top of being plain annoying.

Yet, a quick look at what bike shops feature will have fast convinced anyone that such accessories are really for dorks (and yes, these are all mine!):

- Ugly panniers (Voyager)

Hideous trunk bags (Louis Garneau)

Yuck.
Ok, honestly, they're not that bad, proof is, I purchased them. Just not appropriate for urban cycling. Once you're off the bike, they do not have any elegant contraption allowing you to carry them around that is not uncomfortable or awkward.

Fast forward a few years and I come across this one (Axiom):

Its base is sturdy, made of some sort of rubber, and it does have a strap so you can carry it on your shoulder. However, it's kind of heavy, it attaches with a hooking system that's pretty basic, it will hang sadly at your bike's side and will flap once you pick up speed or hit a curve. Perfect for going to the market, doing the groceries and running errands.
Nicer, but still not "it".

Finally, on day,  in a fit of rebellion over the lack of choice, I decided to embark on a Graal quest for an appropriate bicycle bag.

To be continued...

Montreal's BIXI anthem

    
Da Grytions rocks the casbah! Totally hilarious!!!
I only found out about this very recently, can you believe this? Well of course, when one does not watch TV, what can you expect...

By the way, this is *very* old news... They're talking about keeping BIXI  as a year round thing. Now THAT's a really good idea to increase winter cycling... I would use it if it were available in the winter...

Overcrowded bike paths

 

How many cities can pretend to have this kind of problem hum?

Well, believe it or not, our bike paths are overcrowded, or so it seems. Now, I have made that comment a million times, yet some people seem to remain quite skeptical about this. I totally understand as most North American cities are nowhere close to experiencing this so it is hard to imagine for those who have not been in Montreal recently.

However, it is becoming a problem, not just for cyclists anymore but for pedestrians and municipalities as well. Westmount is one of the many municipalities making up "Montreal".

Here is an article from the Montreal Gazette. Integral and original version can be found here. I did not write it. I have inserted my comment in colour.

*****************

Overcrowded Westmount bike path has become safety hazard: group

Residents propose new routes for cycling trail

By RENÉ BRUEMMER, The Gazette September 28, 2011
 

"The two-way de Maisonneuve bike path that traverses Westmount should be changed to a one-way bike lane running westward, with eastbound cyclists diverted onto Ste. Catherine St. W., says a citizens advocacy group.
Westmount Citizens for Safe Cycling is also recommending cyclists be routed around Westmount Park, that bike lanes running in each direction be added to Ste. Catherine St., and other east-west thoroughfares in the municipality, [...]"

I have no idea who these folks are, so I cannot determine whether friends or foes. 
Yet they are totally right in what they are saying here. What they are recommending corresponds to the newer generation of bike paths: one way only, going in the same direction as the street they are on, allowing for more space each way, i.e. instead of sharing the space for a come lane and a go lane, the entire width is dedicated to a single direction.
De Maisonneuve and Ste Catherine are two parallel streets that go in opposite direction and cross downtown entirely.

"[...] and enforcement be stepped up because the de Maisonneuve path is becoming a dangerously overcrowded commuter throughway.
"Fundamentally it's a safety issue, because cycling certainly has outgrown what that path was intended for when it was opened," said Don Taddeo of the 25-member WCSC, who lives on de Maisonneuve Blvd. [...]"

For the record, that path was opened in 2008 and, as it crosses the entire downtown area, it was always meant to be a commuting throughway.

"[...]As an infrastructure it's inadequate - and given the volume of traffic it accommodates, it's unsafe" for cyclists, motorists (?)  and pedestrians.
The group presented an 18-page brief in early September to Westmount's master traffic-planning committee, formed to find solutions to the municipality's burgeoning congestion.
The number of cyclists using the de Maisonneuve path that connects Notre Dame de Grâce (i.e. NDG)  to downtown has jumped to as many as 500 an hour during peak hours, studies have shown.[...]"

That's actually not that much. There are sections of the cycling network that see a lot more cyclists than this. But I agree that, as they are, the infrastructures are totally insufficient. 

"[...] Of that group, 88.5 per cent ignored traffic signals, a WCSC survey found. [...]"

Totally irrelevant to the discussion and weakens their argumentation. If they are trying to help solve the problem, they should NOT single out, wag fingers at or antagonise cyclists. Everybody knows nobody respects any of the traffic rules in this city and pedestrians are just as bad as cyclists.

"[...] The width of the bike lanes are narrower at several points than the minimum proscribed by Vélo Québec and the provincial transport department, sightlines for cars and cyclists at intersections are restricted, and the path is intersected by numerous streets, lanes and driveways. [...]"

All of this is the result of sucky municipal/administrative planning. In particular, the lack of sightline at intersections is worsened by the fact the the Code rule saying that cars should never park within 5m of any intersection is never enforced by the Police. Everyone complains there is no money in the coffers of the City: this is easy money, how come they are not grabbing it?

Well, you cannot encourage something, all be it passively, and then bitch-and-complain about it.

"[...] The brief notes car traffic along de Maisonneuve Blvd. used to intersect Westmount Park via Western Ave., but in 1976 the city closed the avenue to bridge the northern and southern portions of the park. Now, cyclists on the bike path have replaced the cars, Taddeo said, posing a hazard to pedestrians. [...]"

That's entirely the authorities' fault, who failed to see that cycling is no longer only a recreational activity but has become full fledged transportation again. This was already a visible trend in 2008. 
Bike paths used for transport should never go through parks, sidewalks or other pedestrian turf.

"[...] The WCSC suggests the two-way bike path be phased out over two years.
In its place, a one-way bike lane running westward delineated with painted lines would go from Wood Ave., to Claremount Ave., with a detour around Westmount Park via Ste. Catherine St.
Eastbound cyclists would be routed onto Ste. Catherine St., at Claremount Ave., and transferred back to de Maisonneuve at Wood, one block west of Atwater Ave.
The move may placate residents, but would likely frustrate cyclists forced out of their way on a route that includes a steep downhill pitch with a traffic light at the bottom, followed by an uphill slog.
The WCSCWestmount Ave., and Côte St. Antoine Rd. [...]"

This is all freaking bullshit. 

Again, I don't know who these folks are but this part of their plan is totally lame.

First of all, for some reason, in Montreal, it simply cannot take less than ten years for an idea to go from concept to administrative reality, et encore. Go figure.

Then, they want to remove from cyclists a straight-line throughout path and swap it for a tortuous "turn here, then left, then right" type of detour shit-path. 

And such shit-path will no longer be a protected path anymore (with a border or within a park) but will only be bullshit paint on the road.  Right now most of it is a bollard delineated path.

And not happy with imposing a detour to cyclists, then we'll have to go down a slope, climb back up, bear tons of lights and negotiate even more intersections.

So, we get short-changed.

Now, I am all for sparing and protecting parks but they need to propose something where everyone gets something, win-win style. 

And anyways, cyclists will not respect this. I know I won't. I will continue cycling through the damn park just as I never dismounted during the summer festivals and cycled through the crowds on the Maisonneuve path to no end.

Note to the authorities:

I don't take crap like this anymore and I am not the only one. Show us respect and we will respect you. Do not build a deficient facility and then bitch-and-complain that people are using it too much. Do not have a path running through a park or festival area and then complain when cyclists use it to get around the very way it was intended. Grow balls, use your $@!?&@# brains to plan properly and everyone will be happy.

Build decent facilities and we will use it. Give us crap and we'll shit on it. As simple as that.

"[...] The master traffic planning committee was to present its findings to Westmount's city council Tuesday night.
"When I opened the bicycle lane (in 1992, i.e. the section that runs through the park), it was intended for recreational use and it's really transmogrified into a means of transport, which is good," Westmount Mayor Peter Trent said Tuesday afternoon. "But the problem is we do get a tremendous number of complaints from people on the street. [...]"

All your fault. Should not have waited until the situation got to this point. 

For the record though: 

Westmount is an extremely high income area, a very bourgeois neighbourhood, golden ghetto-style, that has a particularly high proportion of elderly people who get scared pour un oui ou pour un non. They can get heart attacks at the very sight of their own shadows. So they are scared of bicycles, which is understandable. We all know cyclists are reckless delinquants who snatch old ladies handbags and cycle away with an evil laugh.
Yet, they are not scared of driving those Mercedes down three blocks to go get a loaf of bread, which is somehow a lot less understandable. 

Oh, and while we are on the subject of big fancy cars, wished those elderly eyesights got checked a bit more seriously, you know, could spare the city quite a few deaths every year, particularly among pedestrians. Ahem.

"[...] The municipality is open to converting the path to a oneway lane, Trent said, "but where do you put bicycles going the other way? Our eastwest arteries are completed blocked. [...]"

No they're not. Somebody simply does not have the courage to put their foot down on that nonsense.
Take a full lane from both Ste Catherine and de Maisonneuve, build decent PROTECTED bike paths and that's it. There is NO reason to be driving in that area, there are more metros stations and bus lines than needed in the sector. If needed, increase their frequency. People drive down there because it's feasible. Prevent it and the mess stops.

"[...] I do know one thing - we have a real conundrum. We can't handle the cars, we can't handle the bikes and sometimes we can't handle the pedestrians. [...]"

Then somebody is lazy. Or incompetent. Or both.

"[...] It's really a problem. [...]"

No it's not. 

You're the problem. Grow @#%@?& balls, that's all that is needed.

Hint: a colleague of yours grew quite a nice pair over there in the Plateau area and it is working.

The problem will only get worse once work begins on the Turcot Interchange, Trent noted.

Hell yes! This is gonna be an absolute mess but one that they'll have to suck up on their own. The Turcot interchange is one of the dumbest projects this city has ever gotten into.

rbruemmer@ montrealgazette.com

© Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette

Nice videos: more bicycle fashion

  
Levi's has decided to enter the urban cycling market via the commuting crowd's needs.
It has come up, so far, with a pair of jeans and a jacket. Actually, they aren't even new items, they are recycled versions of items already on racks.

I actually went and checked them out. Over-hyped and nothing I can fit my big ass in. Remind me of those damned American Apparel high waisted jeans designed for those whose legs you can floss with!



Quite frankly, I could not care less about the technical bullshit really. Don't believe in it anyways... What's wrong with a little water? Hot dude though.

H&M on the other hand seems to have preferred a more... I don't know, laid back, cool chic approach, whatever that means.



Love the interracial couple. Feels good to have some company...

Again, nice contributions to the positive Zeitgeist. Those are always welcome!

Along the Claire Morissette

 

Back to Montreal and its cycle paths.
On my way to Canadian Tire, I took those pictures: random day, at random hour, for a random errand.
The easiest route is through de Maisonneuve bike path a.k.a the Claire Morissette bike path.

So, we start on the René-Lévesque path all the way from under Jacques Cartier bridge to Berri St. corner.

Up Berri St.

Turned left onto de Maisonneuve St
Corner of Sanguinet St. (I think). Anyways, always blasting that red!

Nearing St Laurent St. a.k.a. The Main, red light District...

On Place des Arts,

Where stupid design,

Encourages pedestrians to walk on the path.

This must be Bleury St.

Hum, University St.?

So, I am pretty sure this is McGill College

 Peel St.

Drummond St.

Crescent St.

Bishop St. or Mackay St.?

Nearing Concordia University bike parking,

 In front of the John Molson School of Business, girl with set of tires. Ah! Memories... Of both carrying similar load in similar fashion AND attending said school... Oh well, time flies.

Somewhere before Atwater,

There we are.

 
Terminus, tout le monde descend!

Important! Public consultation on sharing the cycle network

The city of Montreal will be holding public consultations throughout the boroughs to discuss fair and proper sharing of the the cycle network.

We all know that cycle paths are not only used by cyclists, the users for which they were conceived, but by joggers, dog walkers, stroller pushing parents, wheelchairs, mopeds, e-scooters, roller-bladers, skateboards and plain old obnoxious pedestrians.

The issue of who should or not not have access to the network will be à l'ordre du jour. If you are in Montreal, please book the relevant dates in your agenda.

I truly hope that we can get those *freaking* electric mopeds ruled out once for all.

Now before anyone sends me loads of bitchy e-mails, THIS is what I am talking about:

Those need to go: they are bulky, heavy and dangerous. They will fight back, expect a big turn out at the city Hall as they got screwed by the sellers who promised them they could go on cycle paths forever. Tough luck, everywhere in the world they are being expelled from them.

Normal e-bikes are fine. Like these.

Basically, the cut-off is you should be able to pedal it like a normal bike. If you cannot handle a Tour de l'Ile on your "bike", get out of the path.

Now, pedestrians. Well, there are pedestrians and pedestrians:

- You have those, obnoxious, PITA pedestrians who pay no attention, don't give a fuck about your bell ringing, step right in front of you and insult you. These need to be steeply fined. 

These are general assholes anyways and cause problems to all. They are the same who jaywalk left and right, cause accidents everywhere, smoke in your nose where it is prohibited, yell in their cell phones in libraries, cut you off and overtake you on the right on the highway etc.

By that, I mean there is no "pedestrian issue" with these, there is a general common sense and manners issue.

- The other pedestrians can be lumped with the joggers etc.

With these, we usually have an infrastructure issue. They will be on the path because there is no sidewalk, or the sidewalk is too narrow, full of holes, of obstacles, too busy (i.e. not big enough), poorly designed, was located in an area that should be exclusively pedestrianised or was stolen from them!

Below, example of a well designed path where it is clear, by design, that only cyclists are allowed, with proper sidewalk next to it..

Poorly designed "path" where said path looks like some plain old sidewalk.

Of course, pedestrians do not realise they are on a bike path! In addition, Place des Arts (the location in this picture) is a central location in Montreal where virtually *ALL* the festivals are held. Why cut a bike path across this area? You know there will be permanent conflicts with peds. As a matter of fact, the path was closed virtually all summer with cyclist dismount signs everywhere. And this was true for most of the Maisonneuve path: around Berri (picture below), Crescent, McGill College etc. Fucking useless!

Another example: sidewalk/footpath too narrow AND stolen from pedestrians. In the Parc Lafontaine, one of the nicest bike path sections of Montreal, both bike path and footpath are extremely busy.

The bike path is pretty decent,

Wikimedia Commons image

But the footpath is tiny. Normal a good chunk of it was allocated to the bike path!

Wikimedia Commons image

This area is source of major conflicts with joggers and dog walkers, who, understandably also want to enjoy the park!

Last example is the Old Port which is a so-called"mixed" area. Perfect example of too busy an area for telling cyclists they can use it.

Image: Alex Drainville

 
So, unless these infrastructure deficiencies are addressed, problems will persist.

Now, for the other users:

- Roller blades and skateboards *BELONG* in the bike path, end of discussion.

- Strollers get in bike paths when the sidewalks suck. Fix'em and parents will go back on it.

- Wheelchairs: well, I don't know what to say. I know my opinion will sound very cruel and insensitive to many.

By law they belong on the sidewalk. The chair is a substitute for legs and does not have a vehicle status. Therefore, they are pedestrians who, by law in Montreal, belong on the sidewalk.

I do not have any personal problem in sharing the path with them. But it would be much better if they lobbied to obtain better sidewalks. Same with parents with strollers.

They might want to remember that all sidewalks corners have be lowered for their convenience. If they abandon them now, no one will be there to push for their improvement. In the same fashion that cyclists cannot ride the sidewalk, I truly believe wheelchairs should not use cycle paths.

Yet isn't it filthy hypocritical coming from someone who claims rights to BOTH path and road and occasionally rides the sidewalk? Well, yes. That's why, whatever the final decision, I am ok with wheelchairs.

I am sure a big crowd will show up, it will be a blast!

Full communiqué below, in French.

*****

Montréal, le 12 septembre 2011 - La Commission permanente sur le transport et les travaux publics invite la population à participer à l'assemblée publique itinérante qui portera sur la question du partage du réseau cyclable montréalais, et ce afin de donner suite à une demande citoyenne.

Conçu à l'origine pour répondre aux besoins des cyclistes, le réseau cyclable montréalais fait actuellement l'objet d'un partage. On constate que ce réseau est également utilisé par des personnes qui se déplacent à pied, tant au pas de marche qu'au pas de course, en patins à roues alignées, en planche à roulettes, en aide à la mobilité motorisée ainsi qu'en scooter et en vélo électriques. 

Par conséquent, la commission devra se pencher sur la problématique de la compatibilité entre ces différents types de déplacements sur les voies du réseau cyclable montréalais. Ainsi, dans le cadre de cette assemblée, il est prévu de réserver la première séance publique à la présentation de l'information technique caractérisant la configuration du réseau cyclable montréalais et les différents groupes d'utilisateurs se côtoyant sur ses pistes. Les représentants de la Division des transports actifs et collectifs, de la Direction des transports de la Ville de Montréal, se chargeront de cette présentation. À cette occasion, le public aura la possibilité de poser des questions aux experts. Par la suite, les personnes qui le souhaitent seront invitées à prendre la parole lors de l'une ou l'autre des trois séances réservées à l'audition des commentaires et au dépôt des mémoires. Quant à la dernière séance inscrite au calendrier 2011, elle vise l'adoption des recommandations de la commission, le cas échéant.

L'assemblée de consultation publique se tiendra comme suit :

HEURE:  19 H 00

DATES ET LIEUX:

- Le 22 septembre 2011 − Présentation du dossier (Centre-ville)
Hôtel de ville, salle du conseil, 275 rue Notre-Dame Est / Métro Champ-de-Mars

- Le 26 octobre − Audition des commentaires et dépôt des mémoires (Nord-Ouest de l'île), Centre communautaire de l'Est, 9665 boul. Gouin Ouest / lignes 68, 268, 213 et gare Sunnybrooke

- Le 27 octobre − Audition des commentaires et dépôt des mémoires (Centre-Est de l'île), Arrondissement de Ville-Marie, salle du conseil, 800 Boul. de Maisonneuve Est / Métro Berri-Uqam

- Le 23 novembre − Audition des commentaires et dépôt des mémoires (Sud-Ouest de l'île), Arrondissement de Verdun, salle du conseil, 4555 rue De Verdun / Métro Verdun

- Le 1er décembre − Adoption des recommandations (Centre-ville)
Hôtel de ville, salle du conseil, 275 rue Notre-Dame Est / Métro Champ-de-Mars

Documentation
Le document de soutien à l'assemblée publique peut être consulté dans les bureaux Accès Montréal et les bureaux d'arrondissement, les hôtels de ville des villes de banlieue, de même qu'à la Direction du greffe, salle R-134 à l'hôtel de ville de Montréal. Le document est également accessible sur le site Internet des commissions : www.ville.montreal.qc.ca/commissions

 

Inscription Les personnes qui souhaitent participer à la période de questions et de commentaires du public sont priées de s'y inscrire, à l'avance, en communiquant avec la Direction du greffe au 514 872-3770 ou par courriel à l'adresse suivante : commissions@ville.montreal.qc.ca. Il est également possible de prendre la parole en s'inscrivant sur place, et ce 30 minutes avant le début de la séance.

Les commissions permanentes sont des instances de consultation publique instituées par le conseil municipal et le conseil d'agglomération. Conformément à la Loi sur les cités et villes et à la Charte de la Ville de Montréal, leur mission consiste à éclairer la prise de décision des élus municipaux et à favoriser la participation des citoyennes et citoyens aux débats d'intérêt public.

La Commission sur le transport et les travaux publics est présidée par M. Luis Miranda, conseiller de ville et maire de l'arrondissement d'Anjou. Quant à Mme Elsie Lefebvre, conseillère de ville à l'arrondissement d'Ahuntsic-Cartierville, elle agit en tant que vice-présidente. Les membres de la commission sont : M. Maurice Cohen, conseiller de ville à l'arrondissement de Saint-Laurent; Mme Véronique Fournier, conseillère de ville à l'arrondissement du Sud-Ouest; Mme Ann Guy, conseillère d'arrondissement à l'arrondissement de Verdun; M. Beny Masella, maire de la Ville de Montréal-Ouest; M. Alex Norris, conseiller de ville à l'arrondissement du Plateau-Mont-Royal; M. Lionel Perez, conseiller à l'arrondissement de Côte-des-Neiges−Notre-Dame-de-Grâce; M. François Robert, conseiller d'arrondissement à l'arrondissement de L'Île-Bizard−Sainte-Geneviève; M. Edgard Rouleau, maire de la Cité de Dorval et M. Bertrand Ward, conseiller de ville à l'arrondissement de Pierrefonds-Roxboro.

Nice videos: Flying Pigeon

The revival of a mythical Mao-era bicycle.
An icon from a time when the three "must-haves“ of every citizen was: a sewing machine, a watch and a Flying Pigeon bicycle.

The video itself is terribly romantic with a tidbit of nostalgia and some healthy dose of multicultural flavour: there you go! A winning proposition.


The Flying Pigeon Bicycle from yulu canada on Vimeo.

Now, I do not know the first thing about these particular bicycles... Some have criticised them for being terrible rattling clunkers. One can wonder if those horrible "bicycles imported  from China" to help Cuba survive its post-sovietique era oil shortage were not some of these...
Yet others are huge fans and have set up full websites dedicated to these little sweeties.
In anycase, the marketing is brillant and first class, from people who actually *get it*. Major League I say.

I wonder though where these images were filmed. Looks terribly like Vancouver to me...

How to survive Peak Oil: the power of community

Last part of the Peak Oil serie. This one is a pretty long one: one hour!
If you can, it would be very educational to watch from beginning to end. It builds up on the little introduction video "How will you ride the slide?", as well as on the documentary "The End of suburbia".

Basically, the problems evoked in "The End of suburbia" have already been experienced by Cuba but on a smaller scale and for different reasons. Yet, that experience is absolutely relevant in regards to what is coming our way. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba, who used to receive oil directly from there, found itself stranded for energy and had to make do from one day to another with almost no oil.

I strongly advise watching the entire documentary, yet if only transportation issues interest you, they start at 37:17 and ends at 40:00.






*********

Watch part one of the serie - "Peak Oil: How will you ride the slide?"
Watch part two of the serie - "What Peak Oil means: the End of Suburbia"

Nice videos: Amsterdam loves bikes

Now, do not drown your keyboards in saliva...



One day... maybe... sigh... maybe we'll get there... some day...
Sniff.
Ok, I'm fucking depressed now...

Nice videos: High fashion cycling

Further indicating a possible "mainstreaming" of cycling, high profile designers have chosen to communicate on this theme.

Armani



3.1 Phillip Lim



Now, is any of this a sign that cycling is becoming mainstream?
Those who believe in this theory seem to forget that fashion does not follow the crowds, it precedes it, it is avant-garde, sometimes engaging into areas where, well, not everybody follows them...
Then, another obvious point is the fact that these folks do not really care about cycling per se. It is the newest trend for them right now but we simply do not know how long designers will be interested in cycling. Their new-found caprice may last one season before scuba-diving or bare-ass skiing or whatever takes over.

Therefore, it is nice, we should definitely highlight it and surf the wave: it contributes to the positive zeitgeist, but I would not count on it in lieu of straightforward advocacy for decent infrastructure and laws.

A revolution?

Montreal Cycle Chic just published this picture:

A Dutch bike in Montréal?
Wow, now that's a major revolution... Actually, it is the third one I see, having previous spotted two of them in the Plateau area.
Are things changing in the capital of old three speed beaters and raggidy duct-taped junk road bikes...?

Fruixi

Building on Bixi's success, the city authorities designed a new program, called Fruixi.
Some less priviledged neighbourhoods in Montreal are complete food deserts, particularly when it comes to fruits and vegetables. So the idea was to take advantage of the mobility and flexibility of bicycles to bring old fashioned markets into these neighbourhoods.

They are basically trikes and they will carry whatever is in season. I caught their schedule taped onto a lampost:

What Peak Oil means: the End of Suburbia

Now, we can choose not to look at the bigger picture. After all we are all free to think that, hey, cycling is just a fun activity, a sport we practice, it has no context, it is not political, bla bla bla...
Why not after all? I am not worried about the cycling ostriches pushing these theories. They already cycle anyways! The day shit hits the fan, they'll know what to do.

It is the others that I am worried about. This next video continues on the issue of Peak Oil and what it will mean for North American societies. I think it is well worth watching the whole thing.

Whoever is already at ease with the idea of calve-juice fueled vehicles is well damn ahead of the pack. Now this will definitely reconcile the many cycling gangs once for all.

And I say: bring it on! Just cannot wait for the show to begin!


*********

Watch part one of the serie - "Peak Oil: How will you ride the slide?"
Watch part three of the serie - "How to survive Peak Oil: the power of community"

Gangs of cyclism

As in any activity developed or mature enough to have a substantial base and a critical mass, the bigger community will further divide itself into sub-groups, tribes or factions. This is absolutely normal. Normal and healthy. Confrontation between (even the bickering among) these groups eventually generates progress, new ideas, so long as the general interest is kept in mind by all. Any social movement pushing a specific agenda experiences this phenomenon. Most manage to keep some sort of balance between these tribes and keep those tensions in check, the goal being to avoid jeopardizing the movement. The key idea here is to avoid jeopardizing the movement.

Well, that's not the case with cyclism.
 Anyone who thinks (or pretends) that cyclists are one big united community, "We are family!" type of cotton candy picture is living in a severe bubble-gum cyclotopia.

There are several nomenclatures for the different cycling tribes. This one is mine:

- Commuters

- Urban cyclists

- Sports

- Recreational / week-end / occasional / fair-weather / fitness

- Vehicular

Some of these groups overlap: vehicular cyclists tend to be commuters but are also present among sports cyclists. Most urban cyclists commute. Yet these distinctions make sense to me as they separate different mindsets and realities.
Particularly, people often wonder about the difference I make between commuters and urban cyclists. This differentiation is really mine, I have not seen too many people emphasize it so much.

Basically, urban cyclists are those for whom a bike is the only transportation vehicle, along with maybe public transport in the winter and some occasional car-sharing (i.e. Communauto). They do everything with their bikes. Commuters on the other hand seem to overly focus on their commute. Going to work and back, that's about it. For other activities, a significant proportion of them seem to revert back to their cars, which they usually still own as opposed to urban cyclists who do not own cars. Urban cyclists will live in town or very close. Commuters will live slightly outside of the city core, but in an environment that is still considered "urban". They'll bike to work, but if they have to visit friends or family or get groceries, all the sudden, there are all kinds of good reasons why it is not feasible yet for them.
I actually have lots of respect for this; I see it as an intermediary step toward full urban autonomy. Usually after a few years, they sell their cars and move into full urban mode.
The progression usually follows this pattern:

Casual-leisure-part-time cyclist => Commuter => urban cyclist

Now, back to the greater picture. Among cyclism's sub-groups, some do not and have not always behaved with cycling's best interests in mind. Cycling has got two main internal enemies:

- Those who do not care at all because cycling is only and exclusively a sport to them:

They cycle like others go to the gym or play hockey. They will load their bikes on their SUVs and drive up to their recreational centers, sometimes honking at and endangering some of their fellow cyclists along the way. Traffic, commuting, transportation mean only one thing to them: cars.

These really are motorists and nothing else. They are like foxes in a hen house. If allowed to much say in cycling organisations they will block any progress towards better cycling infrastructure and will oppose traffic calming measures as if their lives depended on it.

- Those who are very comfortable with the way things are: 

Crazy traffic, psychopath maneuvering, criminal speeding, bring it on! They love it, gives them such hard-ons... Just merge in with the freaking traffic and "drive" your bike like a car... three, four, five lanes... gotta love them! Just make sure you signal all right, so the dude coming at 70 km/h behind you will give you all due respect for that oh-so-visible fluorescent jacket. And as you switch from lane to lane to make that left turn, make sure you are pedaling at traffic speed with 2 years old junior in the back seat, pooky the chiwawa bobbing his head in the front basket and one week worth of groceries hanging and clanking in the side panniers.

(Meet Pooky!! Yeah, I know, that's not a chiwawa... Just for the sake of argumentation, let's pretend it is)

These folks are called vehicular cyclists. 

For them, if more people do not cycle, it's because they're too chicken. They're whinnies and pussies who need to be shaken up. So they'll offer cycling classes. Organise all sorts of campaigns. They'll push gear like it's cocaine. Then they'll shove you into traffic. Manage!

Mind you, they'll never encourage their own children, wives (yeah, most are men, surprised?) or grannies to attempt any of this. But YOU yes.

These folks are absolute enemies of cycling. They are a selfish little clique of elite cyclists who only care about themselves. They are not interested in see cyclism grow or in making it easy for beginners. On the contrary, they want to keep it a chasse-gardée for their own little elitist and egocentric enjoyment.
They are the worst type as they can go largely unnoticed until it is too late. By the time people realise what is happening, it is usually too late: they've taken over most prominent cycling organisations and started advocating against infrastructure improvements, claiming bike lanes and bike paths are dangerous.

They've controlled most western cycling organisations from the seventies up to very recently. They've preached their nonsense for all these years. Results: none! Cycling rates never passed 2% in any of the countries in which they have wrecked their havoc.

They've got to be squashed to silence and verbally beaten down to a pulp as they have been harming the cycling community for too long.

Now, I am NOT saying that all sports cyclists are so careless, nor that all vehicular cyclists are that thick. Lots of them are perfectly fine people. However, in general, urban/commuting cyclists will usually not receive much help from these people.

Strategically speaking, it would much better to forge alliances with:

- Pedestrian associations 

- Health associations of all kinds promoting sound lifestyle policies and comprehensive disease prevention

- Child obesity concern groups 

- Child safety groups

- Lots of school administrations would love to see car traffic decrease in their areas

- Folks against sound pollution and urban noise (they exist)

- Elder leisure groups who like to walk and visit their towns

- Architectural heritage folks who like to preserve cachet and correct the mistakes from the 60s and 70s (like the movement for the removal of urban highways)

- Better living, liveable environment folks

- Voluntary simplicity folks

- Those in the degrowth movement (stronger in Europe)

- Peak oil activists (those ones really rock the cashbah)

- Those for the empowerment of minorities, of people living in poorer neighbourhoods and for the integration of immigrants

- Student associations

- Political parties who are very clear on cycling infrastructure issues

- And of course urban planners of the new school type

That's a lot of folks. Properly ganged up, there is no reason for the situation not to change fast.

(EDITED for pictures and links)

Follow-up post:" Ganging up: TRANSIT"

Partners in crime

Meet Lady Vermont, my accomplice since 2007. She is a "comfort hybrid" that I had to fully equip: kickstand, rear rack, mudguard, basket, bell and lights. Yep, she came totally naked just like most bicycles available back when I was in the market for one.

 

I desperately looked for what I did not know was called a "dutch" bike, and kept wandering from store to shop, haggard, babbling confusingly about childhood memories of "not being folded over my bike" and "having a straight back and the handlebar coming to me". Those few shop employees who even paid me the slightest of attentions quickly shut me up with firm and definitive "such bikes don't exist anymore".

Alas, I had to face reality and deal with the fact that, given the circumstances, the best I could get was this, a "comfort city and path" bicycle.

Additional information: detailed specs and geometry.

Not so bad after all, far from ideal but functional. Double suspension makes it very heavy, it weights a healthy 20 kg which is carefully NOT mentioned anywhere in Norco's literature. Yet I heroically lift it up and down one level of stairs every time I need to ride without much problem. Weight is overrated.

Thanks to dear hubby's tweaking I am able to sit bolt straight which is crucial for me. 

To be noted: all the gizmos I had to add to make that baby useful in an urban context, ended up simply doubling its price. That would have purchased some decent "dutch" set of wheels.

That's life I guess. For the moment we're both partners in crime. She is still way better than the *thing* I used to ride even before this one. Ahem! Even the *thought* of it is an embarrassment... Well, this is Montreal after all, I did fit in nevertheless, let me tell you!
One day though I shall replace her. For now I am taking my sweet time...