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...

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.

I 'm biking in the rain!

Love these two pictures both courtesy of Montreal Cycle Chic.

 

I'm biking in the rain...

 I'm biking in the rain!

Why?
Because it so happens that I got caught under that very same downpour early June, on my way back from the Bilboquet on Laurier. Came back soaked up.
Actually, since real *summer* kicked in, I found myself caught in every single downpour, carrying groceries, going the the market or to appointments. Every time, I came back drenched down to the underwear.

So what? I am not dead.
As long as I am on a segregated cycle lane, who cares? My bike got to enjoy a nice wash down. I got a nice shampoo and shower, tropical spa style. Salad got an advance tossing. The cheese might not have appreciated though.

Tonight it's pouring outside again.

 

Supposed to drag until tomorrow. Will I get caught in it again?
Oh well, c'est la vie.

UPDATE (10-08-2011): I did.

A night out

We stepped out on one evening to get some fresh air and enjoy the city.

Cruised through the Quartier Latin (shitty picture I know). Random on-street bike parking. Not many of them... Well it's Sunday night, what do you want!

We went through a quiet area, nicely planned to slow traffic down. Notice the little space left to allow bicycles through.

These babies stave unwanted traffic off. Just walk or bike!

Forward to ice cream paradise: Le Bilboquet on Laurier. Ad hoc parking in the front, on a very slow night (only seven bikes!).

Then, on to the Nuits d'Afrique festival.

Oh, and all of this on cycle path of course!
Just love this city really...

At last some recongnition!

I finally received my July-August edition of Momentum magazine.

This month's editorial titles: "Catching Montreal's Joie de Vivre". Editor Sarah Ripplinger relates how she enjoyed the city, the Tours and our dynamic and vibrant cycling culture. In particular:

"The message that came back to me again and again was that cycling is a normal and completely accepted part of the Montreal lifestyle. As Jean-François Pronovost, vice president of development for Vélo Québec, explained when I asked him why there wasn't more push-back from motorists with the creation of yet another separated bike lane: "We've had separated bike lanes for a long time now, at least since the early 1980's. It's normal for us." Another key factor seems to be having access to bike share. Pronovost said the downtown bike lanes and BIXI bike share have both helped to boost the number of  cyclists he sees on the streets.

Going to Montreal was like travelling to the future of cycling in other major metropolitan centers. I can see it happening in New York City, Minneapolis, Seattle, San Francisco, even Toronto. And I can tell you, after having experienced riding with other cyclists in Montreal's separated bike lanes and integrated cycling routes, when it happens in your city, it will be a welcome sight indeed."

Emphasis is mine. You can read the rest of it here.

Now, that's some real journalism accurately reporting the facts and fairly portraying reality.

Le pourquoi du comment: some background

Ever since I began exploring the internet for cycling information, the virtual cycling community has never ceased to amaze me for its dynamism and resourcefulness. Places like Portland, San Francisco and others were being celebrated to no end as cycling heavens.

However, sometimes, some things would just so ring wrong in my ears: as a regular Montreal cyclist, details from these descriptions would simply not balance out... little tidbits of no individual importance but which collectively created a cognitive dissonance in the back of my head.

Somehow, the more I explored the blogosphere, the greater that cognitive dissonance became, as I read countless bloggers wax on lyrics about achievements that sounded so trivial... to me.

“Woohoo!! They've painted the second bike lane of the city on street so and so and it runs over 100 m!”

Commentators would join in the rejoice and the city would be celebrated as one of the greatest cycling cities in North America.

While happy for them, I could not help but think about the segregated bike lanes, each running a few blocks from my home, dating back from the 1980's, that every Montrealer and their dog takes for granted.

Finally, in 2008, equipped with my Norco Lady Vermont under one arm and dear hubby under the other, I arrived in New York to attend the Five Boro Tour. We endeavoured to cruise around town in search of the oh-so-celebrated wonderful cycling culture. Oh boy! Death breathed down our neck the entire week-end, especially on Staten Island... But I finally understood why every single progress was such a big deal: they were starting from far behind and swimming upstream a megalomaniac car-obsessed culture. No wonder even the smallest victories were so huge. My thoughts did not go any further however, and the dissonance, while tamed and muted, kind of remained and would pop up every time articles celebrating such and such city's vibrant cycling culture.

Fast forward a few years to this past June. Mikael Coleville-Andersen comes to Montreal to present his “Four goals for promoting urban cycling” conference. His passage is well covered by the Montreal media who just love when Europeans come all the way here to tell us how much we are like them.

And indeed, it seems that Montreal has got that little something that could (finally) propel it into the league of the grown ups (i.e. Amsterdam & Copenhagen) as the leading North American cycling city... if only... if only someone had the political balls... but more on that some other day.

“Montreal is not receiving all the credit that it deserves”. At last, someone finally articulated what has been in the back of my mind for all those years. This post has been a real eye opener for me as all of what he is describing is completely taken for granted by Montrealers, while being totally ignored by the international cycling community.

Yet, Mikael is so taken with our dear Villa-Maria that he comes back home all confused, still thinking about it... and announces that he shall be back: no problem, your groupies will await your return!!

This is how I came to the realisation that I should create a blog where I would intend, at my very humble scale of course, to contribute to reveal this wonderful and vibrant cycling to the world.