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One of the several walk and bike bridges in the ravines

Cycling in Toronto was a challenging experience

June 14, 2018 Hansonthebike 5

Reading Time: 11 minutes“It is safe infrastructure that makes people bike, not more uniforms”.Last week we visited Toronto. Karen had meetings and I tagged along for a day and a half. Because we booked the train in time, our tickets were only $100 return each in economy class. On the way in I had to listen to Dora the Explorer on the Ipad of the young traveller in front of me for an hour and a half. The lady across the aisle at the windows seat had her feet up on her partner’s lap. For reasons unclear to me, we were an hour [Read more…]

bike share Vancouver

The Battle of the Bike Share Behemoths

March 9, 2017 Hansonthebike 4

Reading Time: 2 minutesBike share might be slow in taking off in in Ottawa, but in other parts of the world it is serious business. There is currently a bit of showdown happening in China between the two main bike share behemoths in the bike share world: Ofo and Mobike. Ofo The two largest Chinese bike share companies are looking to expand. Ofo just announced it will start a bike share system with 500 bikes in Cambridge, UK. In February 2017, Ofo raised no less than 450 million USD. It is also working on the introduction of bike shares in Silicon Valley and Singapore. [Read more…]

The Most Beautiful Bike Path in the World is in Liguria

September 8, 2014 Hansonthebike 0

Reading Time: 6 minutesMention you have been to Italy, and people usually assume you have been to Rome, Venice, Tuscany and Pisa. The odd person mentions Capri, Sicily or even the Italian Alps, but few will ever ask if you have been to Liguria. Liguria Liguria is the province that stretches from the French border, past Genua towards Cinque Terre along the Mediterranean. Think Cannes, Nice, Monaco and then start from the border at Ventimiglia along that same coast eastbound. It feels like time stood still in Liguria and that is perhaps because it is mountainous (the Alpi Maritimi); perhaps that has kept [Read more…]

Citizens for Safe Cycling AGM 2013 recap

October 15, 2013 Hansonthebike 0

Reading Time: 5 minutesWe aim to be the least boring AGM in Ottawa and according to several members we are successful in that. Organising the AGM starts already a year in advance, by securing the Tom Brown arena. In spring we start to discuss a speaker and in the summer we put the to do list together, analyse improvements (not enough coffee) and we start to prepare the financial reports. As a non profit incorporated organisation, lots of work happens behind the scenes to make sure that everything is accounted for.  The trick is to keep things simple and standardised in order to [Read more…]

Entering Ottawa

Bixi Bikes are a Great Asset for Canada’s National Capital Region

April 8, 2013 Hansonthebike 2

Reading Time: 4 minutesTwo years ago, I suggested to a manager at the Westin in Ottawa that they should embrace cycling tourism more, being located right on the canal with its pathways, a World Heritage Site no less. He paused and then asked “But Hans, who arrives on a bike with three suitcases?‘” I had to explain to him that his guests might want to go for a bike ride after a dull day in a congress or perhaps stay longer if they knew about the many local bike routes. Meanwhile, the Minto on Laurier and Lyon has dozens of bikes out for [Read more…]

Ottawa’s Wellington West Fashion Show

September 17, 2012 Hansonthebike 3

Reading Time: 4 minutesWellington West in Ottawa is probably the hippest place in Ottawa. Last weekend, the Business Improvement Area organised a ‘Taste of Wellington West’. Food could be sampled, antique cars were on display (some very cool ones actually), there was a kids bike ride, RightBike offered free bike parking and there was a fashion show, with bikes offered by RightBike Ottawa and regular citizens of Ottawa as the models. While I rarely buy clothes as I hate shopping, I do enjoy watching the fashion show. Here are a few impressions. If anyone can help me with the names of the models [Read more…]

Visiting Charleston, South Carolina

June 19, 2012 Hans on the Bike - Ottawa, Canada 0

Reading Time: 5 minutesApril is not a great month in Ottawa, so my wife and I had planned a trip to South Carolina and Georgia’s low country along the coast. The coast line resembles very much the Dutch coast line of about a thousand years ago before the Dutch closed the gaps between the sand banks. That in it self doesn’t make it a holiday destination, unless you are a geography buff, but the lush green and warm weather definitely do. Ottawa’s ski season is over in April, the weather is usually not something to write home about, the trees are still bare [Read more…]

Video: “Summer Cycling in the City of Ottawa”

June 6, 2012 Hans on the Bike - Ottawa, Canada 0

Reading Time: 2 minutesTwo nights ago, I gave a presentation in Kitchener Waterloo about cycling in the Netherlands and Ottawa. Talking about another country is one thing, but feels sometimes somewhat remote.  I find it much more useful to add some of the work that we do in Canada. My latest presentations saw therefore some time allocated to Ottawa too. People seem to really appreciate the stories (and some great pics) about Ottawa’s growing interest in cycling as a means to get around. Over the years, we have had our share of foreign speakers but I think Ottawa is now at a point with [Read more…]

Images of a Bike Friendly Weekend

May 29, 2012 Hans on the Bike - Ottawa, Canada 0

Reading Time: 4 minutesI can’t believe it either, but today I carried the tripod of the camera of an Ottawa Sun reporter. Such is life in Ottawa. In the newspaper, you tell your story, no matter if the newspaper writes favourably about your mission or not. And then you chat about holidays, the weekend and all that. I was walking down Laurier when I saw the Ottawa Sun reporter having lunch and was spontaneously interviewed about non cyclists in the bike lanes. I never heard cyclists complaining about it, but apparent opponents of the bike lane are upset that the bike lane is [Read more…]

Ottawa Moves – part 2/3 – Andrew Wiley Schwarz

November 18, 2011 Hans on the Bike - Ottawa, Canada 0

Reading Time: 5 minutesAfter Gil Peñolosa’s talk at Ottawa Moves the night before , it was time for Andrew Wiley Schwarz on a sunny Thursday morning, November 3 to talk about bike and pedestrian infrastructure in New York City. Andrew works for the New York City Department of Transportation as an Assistant Commissioner. His talk was a frank case study and lessons learned on New York City’s changes in the urban landscape. From studies, NYC discovered that there were more pedestrian movements than they’d thought there were; they also learned that parks don’t connect in NYC (sounds familiar?). People moved around in isolated areas instead of [Read more…]