bike

The Town of Velsen, North Holland

February 6, 2014 Hansonthebike 0

Reading Time: 3 minutesIn all likelyhood, you have never heard of Velsen in the Netherlands. I have, but I have never been there. Today, I received a blog from BicycleDutch (written by Mark Wagenbuur) in my inbox. It is one of the few blogs I follow as it gives me a good picture of what is going on in the Netherlands. Contrary to popular belief, I am not often in the Netherlands. The last time I visited the Netherlands is already about 2 years ago and I have no plans to go there soon either. Usually I am not reblogging stuff that others [Read more…]

Can you Bike, Skate and Walk to Work on Winter Bike to Work day?

February 5, 2014 Hansonthebike 0

Reading Time: 5 minutesNext week, February 14, 2014  is Winter Bike to Work Day. It is a day to celebrate winter cycling worldwide. Winter cycling is easier said than done as cycling in winter requires some preparation. If you haven’t biked in winter -and I mean serious winter, as in -20C to -30C (-4to -22F) sans wind chill, not those -2C Copenhagen ‘winters‘ extended autumns, you are likely thinking that winter cycling is a crazy thing to do. Not really. But you need a well equipped bike, a few extra layers of clothes and serious maintenance on your bike. It is not the [Read more…]

5 Gorgeous Dutch Bike and Ped Bridges + 1 Bike Garage

December 13, 2013 Hansonthebike 0

Reading Time: 3 minutesNetherlands’ cities have been building some fantastic bike infrastructure in 2012-2013. And not only in Amsterdam, but throughout the country. I collected some pictures from Twitter, Facebook and the web. Unfortunately, I don’t know who took the pictures, but I trust someone can let me know. Here are some pictures and a clip of a bridge in Zoetermeer (near The Hague)  that is nearly finished. Plus one new bike parking garage for 1500 bikes (which is fairly small for a Dutch city). Of course, it is not always the cheapest option that is chosen, but don’t underestimate the effects of beautiful design. It puts [Read more…]

Ottawa's 2013 Annual Plaid Parade Recap (with pics)

October 27, 2013 Hansonthebike 0

Reading Time: 5 minutesDespite a cool Sunday (5C or 41F), about 150 people or so came out to cycle in the second annual Ottawa Plaid Parade. This year we started at the City Centre’s Art-is-in Bakery. Not a great back drop for photography, but lots of space to get together before the start. The tour followed the O-train pathway, connected with the Ottawa River Pathway and then turned south near the stacked stones in the Ottawa River. We then  made our way back through Tunney’s Pasture and then turned east towards the Carleton Tavern on Parkdale. The ride ended a bit abrupt on [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…]

2013 Draft Ottawa Bicycle Plan in 1500 words

October 10, 2013 Hansonthebike 0

Reading Time: 9 minutesI read through the draft Ottawa Bicycle Plan last night (update: I improved it a bit here and there on Thanksgiving, removing typos, adding headers and more insight in budgets). A document of nearly 150 pages that outlines the vision for the next 18 years. I think it is a very solid plan, perhaps one of the best I have read. It is clearly written by cyclists with lots of input from the public and Citizens for Safe Cycling, Ottawa’s bicycle advocacy group since 1984. It is all compassing, from infrastructure to education, from winter cycling to fall sweeping. From [Read more…]

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Crowd Sourcing the Ottawa Cycling Map

July 3, 2013 Hansonthebike 4

Reading Time: 2 minutesAfter the long weekend it is now back to work for bike advocacy. The City of Ottawa maintains a map with different layers on line. The existing cycling facilities layer was recently updated – and can now be viewed on GeoOttawa- this is publicly accessible information. Please take some time to look over whatever part of the city you are most familiar with- and send in any changes to Melody (Melody.Andrews@ottawa.ca)  by email. If your suggestion is complicated- please include a screen shot. Remember the map should show what’s out there today—for example the O-Train pathway is on the map since it [Read more…]

Canada Day: Checking Out the Capital by Bike

July 2, 2013 Hansonthebike 5

Reading Time: 7 minutesWe’re not big crowd fans. We’d rather be on our own on days like Canada Day, than be with 500,000 others in down town Ottawa. There is not much attraction in seeing people with flags wrapped around their shoulders and belting out “O Canada’ at any given moment, in pubs, in buses, walking along the road or sitting in parks. But it is a day off, the weather was nice and that makes for a good bike ride. To stick to the Canada Day theme, we thought we should cycle past about 20 national treasures in the Nation’s capital. We [Read more…]

Vanier Prime Candidate for High Bike Modal Share

June 4, 2013 Hansonthebike 8

Reading Time: 4 minutesVanier is a former municipality in Ontario, which was amalgamated with the City of Ottawa in 2001. It is situated at the east end of down town, east of the Rideau River. It only got the name Vanier in 1969, after Governor General George Vanier. It was unfortunately also known for being rough around the edges. But it has a an urban maple groove and a sugar shack in its former city limits. Lately, like Hintonburg, it is going through some real change. There has been gentrification, there are active  community groups  and there appears a new pride in the [Read more…]

The Weirdest Bike Ride. Ever.

June 4, 2013 Hansonthebike 9

Reading Time: 6 minutesHow I ended up cycling with three MP’s Last Saturday was the National Health and Fitness Day in Ottawa. Or was it Sunday? Or Monday? It is not entirely clear to me when I read the website of John Weston, MP for West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast. Dick Louch (Velofest) told me Sunday night there was a bike ride on the Hill the next day (Short for Parliament Hill in Ottawa among Ottawans) to celebrate the Health and Fitness Day. It was the same day that Olivia Chow’s National Transit Strategy Bill was voted down. Oddly, no one I asked had heard [Read more…]