Happy Mother's DAY - Mother Earth...
I have a present for you... Next Mother's Day, in honour of YOU and all mothers... I think that I will offer free rides for the whole day to all MOTHERS and GRANDMOTHERS in my pedicab(s) at the Forks in the centre of Winnipeg!
A gift of some people powered transportation that doesn't hurt the Earth.
A gift that celebrates our fresh air and the rich heritage of our downtown at a speed where you can actually see and hear and smell what is going on around you in a vibrant and living city.
A gift that overcomes mobility impairments for those mothers or grandmothers who cannot walk the trails and explore the footpaths and cycling paths as easily as they might have in younger years... if they had the time!
Maybe a romantic gift of a mother and a father, or even a mother and father and their first child... riding together in celebration of motherhood. (First hand experience soon taught me that after a baby comes into a family, the opportunities for romance sometimes become much fewer and farther in between!)
So there's my Mother's DAY gift... to MOTHER EARTH and to all Mother's who find me in downtown Winnipeg next Mother's Day in May, 2009... (Gratuities accepted!!!) I look forward to recognizing and appreciating however many mothers I can fit into my pedicab(s) between sun up and sundown. I will include pictures in next hear's BLOG!
Ecorider (Len)
Eco-Ride brings in Main Street Pedicab
Classic Look comes to Winnipeg
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Friday, May 9, 2008
Misplaced Guilt
"Oh, I could never ride in a pedicab, because I would feel so guilty to have a poor cyclist pulling me around!"
I don't know how many times I have heard this, and it made no more sense the 50th time than the first time I heard it.
Let me get this straight... a member of Joe Public feels guilty to ride in a vehicle that uses NO gas, and that emits no carbon dioxide. They feel guilty because I am enjoying the fresh air, nature, historic sights all around me, the pleasure of their company while they explore their natural and historic surroundings with me. They feel guilty because I am getting exercise, and enjoying the fresh air on interesting 10 minutes trips, in a city full of nature and historic sights and entertainment venues and fascinating shopping, and they will probably get to enjoy the exercise themselves taking a 20 minute walk back to public transportation or their parked vehicle. ( I lost 13 pounds in 2 months driving a bicycle rickshaw last year, and was in the best shape I have been in for years... while making money and new friends)
They would feel guilty getting around our Downtown being transported by a human powered pedicab, but they don't feel guilty riding downtown in their cars alone, or navigating a congested downtown in their heavy gas guzzling vehicles, and then spending more time and money than a whole pedicab trip would take looking for a rare parking spot? They don't feel guilty burning fossil fuels in a multi-ton vehicle when they are the only occupant, but they feel badly when 2 or three of us are being moved by muscle power?
You know, muscles get stronger when we use them, and most of us could use a lot more walking and cycling, and would live longer healthier lives as a result!
PLEASE... don't feel sorry for me while I am having the healthy time of my life transporting tourists and Winnipegers alike around our central downtown area. Feel sorry for what the city will look like a century from now if we keep congesting it with more and more cars, and if we design our downtown area to cope with the cars, rather than to service the population.
No matter what city you live in, join the active transportation movement and improve the look and feel of your city, and yourself!
Next time you are driving around in your heavy and expensive automobile, look out the window and you might try feeling sorry for the City and for all those blokes around you, with their windows rolled up, driving just THEMSELVES around. Feel bad for THEM and feel badly for the environment.
And for those of you that are using public transit, or your own bicycles, or your own feet... good for you. Take a break and go for a ride in a pedicab. It won't hurt the environment whether you are using your own power or my power! And it is amazing how beautiful the urban environment is when you don't have the air conditioning on and windows tightly sealed shut, shutting out the fresh air and the sounds of nature and the human side of the city.
Misplaced guilt? If I am fortunate enough to have 4 or 10 or 20 pedicabs operating in the city over the next few years, don't feel sorry for our student drivers who are helping pay for their university and community college educations. Don't feel sorry for the aboriginal and Metis youth who will be driving pedicabs and helping you explore a city that is so rich in Metis and First Nations' heritage. Don't feel sorry for the fit over-40's who might drive you around and share their wealth of accumulated knowledge of the sights and sounds of the city. Don't feel sorry for yourself if you take a pedicab to a museum or restaurant or entertainment event downtown, and if you need to get 15 minutes exercise walking back!
Our pedicab drivers will be well treated and well trained. They will only work in 4 hour shifts at a time, and they will be well dressed for the elements. They will be independent operators with high standards of safety and training, and they will have control over their own hours and working conditions. They will NOT be adding to the planet or the city's pollution. They will be friendly and they will be having fun. The city will be a quieter and more humane and more vibrant place because you are riding with them.
Let's rethink the way we look at the world, and examine why we would feel guilty at utilizing human powered transportation, but on a daily basis many of us never question the impacts of non-human powered transportation behemoths!
Hmmm.... A paradigm shift might be in order, instead of the incessant shifting of automobile transmissions. I challenge you all to think about the world and how we USE it and MOVE in it, in a different way. Take the Active Transportation challenge, no matter where you are in the world!
Len (Ecorider)
I don't know how many times I have heard this, and it made no more sense the 50th time than the first time I heard it.
Let me get this straight... a member of Joe Public feels guilty to ride in a vehicle that uses NO gas, and that emits no carbon dioxide. They feel guilty because I am enjoying the fresh air, nature, historic sights all around me, the pleasure of their company while they explore their natural and historic surroundings with me. They feel guilty because I am getting exercise, and enjoying the fresh air on interesting 10 minutes trips, in a city full of nature and historic sights and entertainment venues and fascinating shopping, and they will probably get to enjoy the exercise themselves taking a 20 minute walk back to public transportation or their parked vehicle. ( I lost 13 pounds in 2 months driving a bicycle rickshaw last year, and was in the best shape I have been in for years... while making money and new friends)
They would feel guilty getting around our Downtown being transported by a human powered pedicab, but they don't feel guilty riding downtown in their cars alone, or navigating a congested downtown in their heavy gas guzzling vehicles, and then spending more time and money than a whole pedicab trip would take looking for a rare parking spot? They don't feel guilty burning fossil fuels in a multi-ton vehicle when they are the only occupant, but they feel badly when 2 or three of us are being moved by muscle power?
You know, muscles get stronger when we use them, and most of us could use a lot more walking and cycling, and would live longer healthier lives as a result!
PLEASE... don't feel sorry for me while I am having the healthy time of my life transporting tourists and Winnipegers alike around our central downtown area. Feel sorry for what the city will look like a century from now if we keep congesting it with more and more cars, and if we design our downtown area to cope with the cars, rather than to service the population.
No matter what city you live in, join the active transportation movement and improve the look and feel of your city, and yourself!
Next time you are driving around in your heavy and expensive automobile, look out the window and you might try feeling sorry for the City and for all those blokes around you, with their windows rolled up, driving just THEMSELVES around. Feel bad for THEM and feel badly for the environment.
And for those of you that are using public transit, or your own bicycles, or your own feet... good for you. Take a break and go for a ride in a pedicab. It won't hurt the environment whether you are using your own power or my power! And it is amazing how beautiful the urban environment is when you don't have the air conditioning on and windows tightly sealed shut, shutting out the fresh air and the sounds of nature and the human side of the city.
Misplaced guilt? If I am fortunate enough to have 4 or 10 or 20 pedicabs operating in the city over the next few years, don't feel sorry for our student drivers who are helping pay for their university and community college educations. Don't feel sorry for the aboriginal and Metis youth who will be driving pedicabs and helping you explore a city that is so rich in Metis and First Nations' heritage. Don't feel sorry for the fit over-40's who might drive you around and share their wealth of accumulated knowledge of the sights and sounds of the city. Don't feel sorry for yourself if you take a pedicab to a museum or restaurant or entertainment event downtown, and if you need to get 15 minutes exercise walking back!
Our pedicab drivers will be well treated and well trained. They will only work in 4 hour shifts at a time, and they will be well dressed for the elements. They will be independent operators with high standards of safety and training, and they will have control over their own hours and working conditions. They will NOT be adding to the planet or the city's pollution. They will be friendly and they will be having fun. The city will be a quieter and more humane and more vibrant place because you are riding with them.
Let's rethink the way we look at the world, and examine why we would feel guilty at utilizing human powered transportation, but on a daily basis many of us never question the impacts of non-human powered transportation behemoths!
Hmmm.... A paradigm shift might be in order, instead of the incessant shifting of automobile transmissions. I challenge you all to think about the world and how we USE it and MOVE in it, in a different way. Take the Active Transportation challenge, no matter where you are in the world!
Len (Ecorider)
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Planned obsolesence - but not necessarily for bikes!
Today I went for a breakfast at the Pancake House at the Forks, and they had 1958 prices all day to celebrate their 50th anniversary. 29 cents for a cup of coffee! Pancakes and waffles an breakfast specials... $1.29 to $1.99 ! And the restaurant was all decorated with LP 's and 45's and album jackets and balloons... I am sure that some of the younger generation has no idea what an LP or 45 are, other than looking like giant CD's!
New, new new... that is the way modern technology operates. Some things are practically obsolete by the time they come out onto the market. Printers, computers, digital cameras.. DVD players... Flash drives.. it all changes so fast..
But when I cycled in Holland, I was so impressed at the OMA and OPA bicycles that were kept fixed and repaired, and were 50 years old and still operating efficiently. As a matter of fact, I borrowed a bicycle from a farmer while staying near the old carriage house where generations of my family made carriages as a trade. I went for a long early morning ride to the North sea, and to 2 fishing villages, and when I got back, the farmer told me that my Dad had borrowed exactly the same bicycle at the end of world war 2, 20 years earlier, and had ridden almost the identical route! However, at the end of the war, there was no rubber, so instead of tires he rode on wheels with rope wrapped around them! That was the only difference. (It must have been a bit of a rough ride, with rope wrapped around the rims and no tubes or tires!)
So let's celebrate the technology of the bicycle and appreciate that a simple and well constructed bike from 50 years ago can still do the job of transporting people ecologically and inexpensively!
There is new technology of mountain bikes and derailleur gears and shock absorber forks and composite and alloy frames and disk brakes... and on and on... some of the technologies are very helpful. But the plain old standard bicycle has NOT changed all that much, and it is still a simple but amazingly efficient technology.
The LED lights that run forever on a couple of AA batteries and provide life-saving visibility at night for cyclists are one of my favourite technologies.
So let's appreciate the new technologies, but let's also celebrate the standard bicycle and hope that bikes stay affordable for functional use for all ages and sizes and shapes of people for years to come!
When it came to picking out a Pedicab design, I was fascinated with the highest tech recumbent bike, (electric assisted), from Germany.. the EcoTaxi. But 93% of the market that I surveyed preferred the classic horse and buggy - like Main Street Pedicab, with a more standard mountain bike at the front. It suits the historic feel of our old warehouse district and downtown area, even though it is not the most high tech solution to pedicab transportation. But it is reliable and very safe and durable, and it even operates better going up hills, because you can stand up and use body weight to get going...
So there you have it... The newest technology is not always the best!
Affordability and safety and accessability and durability.. these too are important.
Len (Ecorider)
New, new new... that is the way modern technology operates. Some things are practically obsolete by the time they come out onto the market. Printers, computers, digital cameras.. DVD players... Flash drives.. it all changes so fast..
But when I cycled in Holland, I was so impressed at the OMA and OPA bicycles that were kept fixed and repaired, and were 50 years old and still operating efficiently. As a matter of fact, I borrowed a bicycle from a farmer while staying near the old carriage house where generations of my family made carriages as a trade. I went for a long early morning ride to the North sea, and to 2 fishing villages, and when I got back, the farmer told me that my Dad had borrowed exactly the same bicycle at the end of world war 2, 20 years earlier, and had ridden almost the identical route! However, at the end of the war, there was no rubber, so instead of tires he rode on wheels with rope wrapped around them! That was the only difference. (It must have been a bit of a rough ride, with rope wrapped around the rims and no tubes or tires!)
So let's celebrate the technology of the bicycle and appreciate that a simple and well constructed bike from 50 years ago can still do the job of transporting people ecologically and inexpensively!
There is new technology of mountain bikes and derailleur gears and shock absorber forks and composite and alloy frames and disk brakes... and on and on... some of the technologies are very helpful. But the plain old standard bicycle has NOT changed all that much, and it is still a simple but amazingly efficient technology.
The LED lights that run forever on a couple of AA batteries and provide life-saving visibility at night for cyclists are one of my favourite technologies.
So let's appreciate the new technologies, but let's also celebrate the standard bicycle and hope that bikes stay affordable for functional use for all ages and sizes and shapes of people for years to come!
When it came to picking out a Pedicab design, I was fascinated with the highest tech recumbent bike, (electric assisted), from Germany.. the EcoTaxi. But 93% of the market that I surveyed preferred the classic horse and buggy - like Main Street Pedicab, with a more standard mountain bike at the front. It suits the historic feel of our old warehouse district and downtown area, even though it is not the most high tech solution to pedicab transportation. But it is reliable and very safe and durable, and it even operates better going up hills, because you can stand up and use body weight to get going...
So there you have it... The newest technology is not always the best!
Affordability and safety and accessability and durability.. these too are important.
Len (Ecorider)
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Rough roads
Bike tires are much smaller than car tires. That means that they have less friction on the roads, and whether on a bike or a pedicab, they move with an amazing mechanical ease.
A slight downhill, or a tailwind, and moving is practically effortless.
Some of my favourite cycling now occurs on packed limestone pathways through forest trails. It is not quite as smooth as pavement, but the ride is quite adequate, and easier to keep in repair.
So talking about repair, concrete and asphalt and pavement can be a nightmare when every unfilled crack jars your bike wheel and body. And then there are the open drainage grates JUST a bit bigger than the bike tires... Deadly.
And gravel and glass uncleaned from even the most well travelled bike commuter streets.
So how much effort would it take, and how much of a maintenance budget, to patch the worst cracks, that are an inconvenience for a car, but can kill a cyclist? Not that much...
So here is my dream.... some simple maintenance and repair that would encourage more commuter and fitness cycling... and might save some lives.
In the meantime, I try to use quiet side streets and sidewalks if necessary, to avoid the worst cracks and hazards.
I ride slower and safer than most, and like I mentioned in a previous BLOG... I don't search for the shortest distance between 2 points, but rather I look for the safest and the most interesting. Riding around some of life's obstacles. A novel idea!
Ecorider (Len)
A slight downhill, or a tailwind, and moving is practically effortless.
Some of my favourite cycling now occurs on packed limestone pathways through forest trails. It is not quite as smooth as pavement, but the ride is quite adequate, and easier to keep in repair.
So talking about repair, concrete and asphalt and pavement can be a nightmare when every unfilled crack jars your bike wheel and body. And then there are the open drainage grates JUST a bit bigger than the bike tires... Deadly.
And gravel and glass uncleaned from even the most well travelled bike commuter streets.
So how much effort would it take, and how much of a maintenance budget, to patch the worst cracks, that are an inconvenience for a car, but can kill a cyclist? Not that much...
So here is my dream.... some simple maintenance and repair that would encourage more commuter and fitness cycling... and might save some lives.
In the meantime, I try to use quiet side streets and sidewalks if necessary, to avoid the worst cracks and hazards.
I ride slower and safer than most, and like I mentioned in a previous BLOG... I don't search for the shortest distance between 2 points, but rather I look for the safest and the most interesting. Riding around some of life's obstacles. A novel idea!
Ecorider (Len)
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Choosing the BEST possible Eco-Taxi
How did I choose the model of pedicab that I wish to use?
I got recommendations from practical and smart friends such as Chad and Kim, who have a wonderful tandem bike rental business at the Forks in Winnipeg. Chad found Main Street Pedicabs on the Internet, out of Colorado, and recommended them. They have a very safe, well designed and rugged pedicab. It is also very aesthetically appealing and has a very nice "heritage" horse and buggy type of look, (minus the horse!) I also found the VeloTaxi recumbent on the Internet, and had some very helpful documents, background materials and hints for purchase and operation forwarded to me by the manufacturers. Beyond technical information, both companies really believe in forwarding the ecological cause of moving people by human power.
So with my initial basic research done, I rigged up a regular rickshaw to an inexpensive recumbent bike, and I learned by doing for several months last year.
I learned that even small hills are really tough on a recumbent bike with 400 pounds of people behind it! I learned that 8 to 10 minutes gets you just about anywhere in downtown Winnipeg with a pedicab. I learned that kids and seniors and every age in between enjoy riding in a bicycle rickshaw. I learned that people with mobility impairments and impaired vision REALLY appreciate the mobility that a pedicab can bring to them. I learned that it is very rewarding to take visitors on tours, and to help them get to know a new city and its heritage and natural wonders.
So now I am going to spend 4 months learning a lot more about what transportation and hospitality services people will really appreciate through the use of a pedicab. I will be trying out 2 models... the Main Street Pedicab with a conventional mountain bike in front, and a German model, the VeloTaxi... which has a roof, smaller seating area, but a really innovative recumbent bike design on the front. I will let you know how they both perform... The reaction to both designs by those I have surveyed has been unanimously positive and exciting and very supportive...
I intend on making my pedicabs available to owner operators for $20 per 4 hour shift, but only to operators who have a valid driver's license, and who have taken a 2 day hospitality and safety training program to become eligible to become independent contractors, serving the public with pedicab service. I look forward to feedback from my readers and from my customers as to what works the best for them...
My first Main Street Pedicab should be running on the streets and pathways of Winnipeg within 2 weeks. I will post some pictures of our amazing scenery, and the first ecological and happy customers that go traveling and exploring the downtown with me!
In the mean time, take a look at the pictures at the end of the blog postings, for one more glimpse of the "Eco-Taxis" that are on the way to Winnipeg Manitoba!
I am going to try and post active transportation, cycling and pedicab comments daily throughout the summer, (excluding Sunday, so that my fingers have one day off!)
See you tomorrow...
I got recommendations from practical and smart friends such as Chad and Kim, who have a wonderful tandem bike rental business at the Forks in Winnipeg. Chad found Main Street Pedicabs on the Internet, out of Colorado, and recommended them. They have a very safe, well designed and rugged pedicab. It is also very aesthetically appealing and has a very nice "heritage" horse and buggy type of look, (minus the horse!) I also found the VeloTaxi recumbent on the Internet, and had some very helpful documents, background materials and hints for purchase and operation forwarded to me by the manufacturers. Beyond technical information, both companies really believe in forwarding the ecological cause of moving people by human power.
So with my initial basic research done, I rigged up a regular rickshaw to an inexpensive recumbent bike, and I learned by doing for several months last year.
I learned that even small hills are really tough on a recumbent bike with 400 pounds of people behind it! I learned that 8 to 10 minutes gets you just about anywhere in downtown Winnipeg with a pedicab. I learned that kids and seniors and every age in between enjoy riding in a bicycle rickshaw. I learned that people with mobility impairments and impaired vision REALLY appreciate the mobility that a pedicab can bring to them. I learned that it is very rewarding to take visitors on tours, and to help them get to know a new city and its heritage and natural wonders.
So now I am going to spend 4 months learning a lot more about what transportation and hospitality services people will really appreciate through the use of a pedicab. I will be trying out 2 models... the Main Street Pedicab with a conventional mountain bike in front, and a German model, the VeloTaxi... which has a roof, smaller seating area, but a really innovative recumbent bike design on the front. I will let you know how they both perform... The reaction to both designs by those I have surveyed has been unanimously positive and exciting and very supportive...
I intend on making my pedicabs available to owner operators for $20 per 4 hour shift, but only to operators who have a valid driver's license, and who have taken a 2 day hospitality and safety training program to become eligible to become independent contractors, serving the public with pedicab service. I look forward to feedback from my readers and from my customers as to what works the best for them...
My first Main Street Pedicab should be running on the streets and pathways of Winnipeg within 2 weeks. I will post some pictures of our amazing scenery, and the first ecological and happy customers that go traveling and exploring the downtown with me!
In the mean time, take a look at the pictures at the end of the blog postings, for one more glimpse of the "Eco-Taxis" that are on the way to Winnipeg Manitoba!
I am going to try and post active transportation, cycling and pedicab comments daily throughout the summer, (excluding Sunday, so that my fingers have one day off!)
See you tomorrow...
Monday, May 5, 2008
Why an EcoTaxi?
Eco-Taxi: a bicycle taxi (OR PEDICAB) that is ecological... that runs quietly on pedal power along bike paths and footpaths river trails and streets in the centre of the Prairie city of Winnipeg, Canada. Unfortunately, I could not use this as business name in Canada, because the name is already taken by a fridge magnet company! Such are the cruel tricks that life plays on us! So my Eco-Taxis will be called Eco-Ride Pedicabs... at least officially!
Why take an Eco-Taxi in Downtown Winnipeg?
1) To do your part in lowering your carbon footprint for transportation
2) Because it is quiet and fun!
3) You will have a built in "guide" or tourism ambassador who is friendly and knowledgable about the the rich history and heritage of Downtown Winnipeg and its surrounding communities.
4) You will have easy access to directions to nearby restaurants, shopping, museums and other points of interest
5) It is safe and effiecient and fast door to door service
6) You will help Downtown become more beautiful and interesting just by being one of the Eco-Ride passengers!
7) Affordable
8) Saves additional parking hassles... and even includes a free parking shuttle service at the Forks on weekend mornings!
9) Extends opportunities for mobility impaired passengers to explore the downtown
10) Promote employment of aboriginal youth and students, with an employment policy that affirms gender equity and First Nations' and Metis oppportunities
11) Less cars being used Downtown means a more ecological and a more efficient Downtown area...
12) Fitness benefits... when you get a ride one way to a destination, you get the opportunity to get fit walking back!!!
13) Weather protection from wind and rain (and snow in the winter), and at the same time, it is open to the fresh air!
14) Usable for functional transportation or for mini-tours and Tours of the Forks site, St Boniface, Osborne Village, Old Market Square... and all of Downtown Winnipeg
15) Available for hourly rental for weddings and special events
16) Extended Tours as far as Assiniboine Park, Fort Whyte Centre, TransCanada Harte Trail, Lockport, Lower Fort Garry and even the famous Bridge Drive Inn for Ice Cream!
17) Winnipeg residents and visitors: post YOUR reasons to take an Eco-Taxi and include and E-mail address, and I will award the winner with an extended tour, free special event, or the fulfillment of your winning dream ride via Eco-Taxi!
18) Is romance a good reason to take an Eco-Ride? At ANY age?
Len (Ecorider)
Why take an Eco-Taxi in Downtown Winnipeg?
1) To do your part in lowering your carbon footprint for transportation
2) Because it is quiet and fun!
3) You will have a built in "guide" or tourism ambassador who is friendly and knowledgable about the the rich history and heritage of Downtown Winnipeg and its surrounding communities.
4) You will have easy access to directions to nearby restaurants, shopping, museums and other points of interest
5) It is safe and effiecient and fast door to door service
6) You will help Downtown become more beautiful and interesting just by being one of the Eco-Ride passengers!
7) Affordable
8) Saves additional parking hassles... and even includes a free parking shuttle service at the Forks on weekend mornings!
9) Extends opportunities for mobility impaired passengers to explore the downtown
10) Promote employment of aboriginal youth and students, with an employment policy that affirms gender equity and First Nations' and Metis oppportunities
11) Less cars being used Downtown means a more ecological and a more efficient Downtown area...
12) Fitness benefits... when you get a ride one way to a destination, you get the opportunity to get fit walking back!!!
13) Weather protection from wind and rain (and snow in the winter), and at the same time, it is open to the fresh air!
14) Usable for functional transportation or for mini-tours and Tours of the Forks site, St Boniface, Osborne Village, Old Market Square... and all of Downtown Winnipeg
15) Available for hourly rental for weddings and special events
16) Extended Tours as far as Assiniboine Park, Fort Whyte Centre, TransCanada Harte Trail, Lockport, Lower Fort Garry and even the famous Bridge Drive Inn for Ice Cream!
17) Winnipeg residents and visitors: post YOUR reasons to take an Eco-Taxi and include and E-mail address, and I will award the winner with an extended tour, free special event, or the fulfillment of your winning dream ride via Eco-Taxi!
18) Is romance a good reason to take an Eco-Ride? At ANY age?
Len (Ecorider)
Saturday, May 3, 2008
A BASKET CASE - "carrying" on with life!
No, the Ecorider is NOT a basketcase... not yet, anyway..
But this is a short post about "carrying on" - more specifically carrying things ON a bike. It is about adding a simple and VERY USEFUL accessory to my bike... a small black wire basket!
I visited the most amazing garage sale a few days ago. The couple who held the sale took quite an interest in my recumbent bicycle, and after a few minutes of shopping, out came the nicest gentleman with 2 brand new 20 inch tires AND tubes in perfect condition... that he thought would fit my wheels. So he measured my wheels, and sure enough, I left the sale with 2 tires in new condition, and tubes, for $3! They weren't even out in his front yard for sale... he just thought I might be able to put them to good use, so he went and found them in his garage!
Before I was finished shopping, out he came again with a $20 bicycle basket that he had bought down south in California, years before, and sure enough, it installed beautifully on the front of my bike. He showed me how it locked into place automatically when the basket handle folded down, and how it released when you lifted the handle up. Then he installed it for me, and my total bill was now up to $11. \
Wouldn't you know it... for another $4 I found a nice solid maple wooden chair just the right size to sit on when playing my cello, so I bungie corded that to my handlbars perched on my new front carrier!
Then I found a voodoo doll, believe it or not, that had 20 common ailments written on it, like stiff neck, sore knee, upset stomach, balding, sexual dysfunction... but I told them it wasn't worth the posted 25 cents because it didn't come with a pin, so it wouldn't work. A few minutes later out of the house came the owner with a nice 2 inch straight pin to stick into the respective ailments, so it was now a functional voodoo doll, and well worth the 25 cent asking price!
I stuck my new voodo doll friend under the bungie cord, and off I rode back towards my house, with quite an assortment of new acquisitions. Voodoo doll, large wooden cello chair, 2 tires and new tubes, and front basket to pile all the "new' and useful acquisitions on. It was even a more strange sight than my recumbent bike usually is, with the assortment of incongruous odds and ends piled up somewhat haphazardly just below my line of vision!
I often attach a small bike trailer to my bike, and carry groceries, shopping acquisitions, or even a small collection of garbage if I am traveling through a nature trail, and I get a chance to pick up what other's may have carelessly dropped.
I hardly notice the extra weight once the bike and trailer are moving, and it is amazing how much can be carried in one small trailer. Instead of riding with one hand and one sore arm full of groceries, I am now using my new basket for short trips to the nearby local grocery store, and I don't even need any plastic bags to put $20 to $30 worth of groceries onto my bike.
Reduce... reuse... recycle.. there's my story for today. A small and handy basket on my relaxing recumbent bike, purchased at a second hand garage sale of used but useful things that someone else wasn't utilizing... and I can tell a simple story about being a more ecologically friendly and ecologically responsible urban dweller. I shop in smaller amounts when I shop by bicycle, but I find that I can buy things more carefully and less wastefully in these smaller amounts. I just don't need to fill an SUV or a truck with groceries for a family of 3!
Trailers and bike baskets are very functional and useful accessories for urban cycling. I wonder why we don't see more baskets and trailers behind bikes... and a few less cars and trucks and SUV's... especially for local shopping trips close to home?
Len (Ecorider)
But this is a short post about "carrying on" - more specifically carrying things ON a bike. It is about adding a simple and VERY USEFUL accessory to my bike... a small black wire basket!
I visited the most amazing garage sale a few days ago. The couple who held the sale took quite an interest in my recumbent bicycle, and after a few minutes of shopping, out came the nicest gentleman with 2 brand new 20 inch tires AND tubes in perfect condition... that he thought would fit my wheels. So he measured my wheels, and sure enough, I left the sale with 2 tires in new condition, and tubes, for $3! They weren't even out in his front yard for sale... he just thought I might be able to put them to good use, so he went and found them in his garage!
Before I was finished shopping, out he came again with a $20 bicycle basket that he had bought down south in California, years before, and sure enough, it installed beautifully on the front of my bike. He showed me how it locked into place automatically when the basket handle folded down, and how it released when you lifted the handle up. Then he installed it for me, and my total bill was now up to $11. \
Wouldn't you know it... for another $4 I found a nice solid maple wooden chair just the right size to sit on when playing my cello, so I bungie corded that to my handlbars perched on my new front carrier!
Then I found a voodoo doll, believe it or not, that had 20 common ailments written on it, like stiff neck, sore knee, upset stomach, balding, sexual dysfunction... but I told them it wasn't worth the posted 25 cents because it didn't come with a pin, so it wouldn't work. A few minutes later out of the house came the owner with a nice 2 inch straight pin to stick into the respective ailments, so it was now a functional voodoo doll, and well worth the 25 cent asking price!
I stuck my new voodo doll friend under the bungie cord, and off I rode back towards my house, with quite an assortment of new acquisitions. Voodoo doll, large wooden cello chair, 2 tires and new tubes, and front basket to pile all the "new' and useful acquisitions on. It was even a more strange sight than my recumbent bike usually is, with the assortment of incongruous odds and ends piled up somewhat haphazardly just below my line of vision!
I often attach a small bike trailer to my bike, and carry groceries, shopping acquisitions, or even a small collection of garbage if I am traveling through a nature trail, and I get a chance to pick up what other's may have carelessly dropped.
I hardly notice the extra weight once the bike and trailer are moving, and it is amazing how much can be carried in one small trailer. Instead of riding with one hand and one sore arm full of groceries, I am now using my new basket for short trips to the nearby local grocery store, and I don't even need any plastic bags to put $20 to $30 worth of groceries onto my bike.
Reduce... reuse... recycle.. there's my story for today. A small and handy basket on my relaxing recumbent bike, purchased at a second hand garage sale of used but useful things that someone else wasn't utilizing... and I can tell a simple story about being a more ecologically friendly and ecologically responsible urban dweller. I shop in smaller amounts when I shop by bicycle, but I find that I can buy things more carefully and less wastefully in these smaller amounts. I just don't need to fill an SUV or a truck with groceries for a family of 3!
Trailers and bike baskets are very functional and useful accessories for urban cycling. I wonder why we don't see more baskets and trailers behind bikes... and a few less cars and trucks and SUV's... especially for local shopping trips close to home?
Len (Ecorider)
Friday, May 2, 2008
PURR! Planning an Urban Recreational Ride
May 2 - Purr is the sound a contented cat makes. It is also my acronym for the most important component of my urban commuting and cycling strategy. PLANNING an URBAN RECREATIONAL RIDE... PURR.... I don't ride fast, but I do ride CONTENTED!
My BLOG postings are probably a little too long. So are my commuting trips into Downtown Winnipeg and out to our Fort Whyte Alive Ecological Interpretive Centre... My longer trips are. however, safe and healthy and always interesting.
So I plan a route that is scenic, not necessarily short. I leave 10 or 20 or 30 minutes earlier than I would have to if I was going to be an "alpha cyclist", merging with the automobile traffic and confronting every car that I can... a life and death race ... to where?
See, that's where my attitude towards active transportation differs from some of the more maniacal cyclists and the carbon dioxide spouting car drivers.
I follow the bends in the rivers, and watch the wildlife, when I get the opportunity, rather than taking the shortest straight line distance between 2 points on a busy and congested and dangerous street. It costs me a couple of minutes, but they are minutes that add value to my life! I take quiet side streets that are safer and more interesting than if I followed the same route day after day... So what if it costs me a few more minutes...
And in the winter, I will leave 30 minutes early, and ride for 20 minutes in 20 below (celsius) weather,before a nice 20 minute breakfast stop, half way to my favourite environmental education centre at Fort Whyte. Warmed up and well fed on one of Winnipeg's notoriously inexpensive breakfast specials, I ride for another 20 minutes, and then stop for a Tim Horton's coffee... the sign of a true Canadian. Then I ride my last 10 minutes, circling around several frozen lakes, and I arrive before I can even frost up my eyelashes and balaclava. (I have a special humidifier mouthpiece to warm up the air when if is between -20 and -40 below). So I plan warm-up stops on the coldest days of a Winnipeg Winter, and I ALWAYS enjoy my bike rides to Fort Whyte Centre. (I usually stop for a beer on the way home, and it serves to quench my thirst AND warm up my feet)
So for me, it is all about planning to take a little extra time and to travel a little slower, and a little safer, and with a lot less gas consumption and CO2 emissions than some of my fellow urban commuters. I am very proud of the fact that EVERYONE that rides a bike to Fort Whyte can save $6 to $8 on a free admission... and this is not a short term gimic but is an integral long term philosophy and policy of the Fort Whyte Alive Centre to promote lowering our carbon footprints. Wouldn't it be neat if there was free admission to some of our sports events, our symphony and some of our museums and heritage tourism destinations... for those who cycle to these events! (Maybe free admission could apply on certain special days... like all summer, for example?)
During Fort whyte Alive's 42 km Eco Adventure race this year on Earth Day, I rode my bike downtown at 6 am, and dropped it off WITHOUT using a car or truck or SUV, like many of the racers did. I hitched a ride with 2 fellow racers in a fule efficient small car, and dropped off my roller blades and extra runners on route. I had hitched a small trailer to my recumbent bike, so after paddling, (portaging), running, and roller blading all the way to Downtown Winnipeg, I just picked up my roller blades and extra equipment as I cycled back. (That was the plan, but some nice volunteer race marshals carried my heavy roller blades back to the start/finish for me!) So, I was the 5th fastest MASTERS EcoAdventure racer this year, or the 3rd slowest.. But I was among those who used the least extra energy, thanks to those who shared transportation with me, and thanks to a little bit of careful planning ahead of time. One of the amazing human resources staff at Fort Whyte Alive has already suggested that they might try getting a couple of volunteer van drivers to offer rides to 10 cyclists next year, who are willing to ride their bikes downtown to the bike transfer zone. Great idea! So I didn't win with the fastest time, but I may have won a small ecological victory of sorts...
So there it is... Plan your trips, and you can save energy, be ecologically friendly, appreciate the scenery and nature, and you might even have time to stop for breakfast, coffee and a beer... all without gaining any net calories!
It works for me!
As I peddle (pedal?) my EcoTaxi service this summer around the Heart of our City, I will probably NOT take the shortest and fastest routes. I will be slower, and more interesting and healthier and more ecologically friendly than the city dwellers and tourists who get where they are going a few seconds faster than me ... Most of the destinations around our downtown area are within 8 minutes cycling from the central FORKS area... So how much time could we gain, anyway? It's about the journey people... not just who gets to the destination first......
Hmmm.. Is the first one to get to the end of their life the winner? Or sometimes, can a slower and more interesting route carry its own advantages?
Len (Ecorider)
My BLOG postings are probably a little too long. So are my commuting trips into Downtown Winnipeg and out to our Fort Whyte Alive Ecological Interpretive Centre... My longer trips are. however, safe and healthy and always interesting.
So I plan a route that is scenic, not necessarily short. I leave 10 or 20 or 30 minutes earlier than I would have to if I was going to be an "alpha cyclist", merging with the automobile traffic and confronting every car that I can... a life and death race ... to where?
See, that's where my attitude towards active transportation differs from some of the more maniacal cyclists and the carbon dioxide spouting car drivers.
I follow the bends in the rivers, and watch the wildlife, when I get the opportunity, rather than taking the shortest straight line distance between 2 points on a busy and congested and dangerous street. It costs me a couple of minutes, but they are minutes that add value to my life! I take quiet side streets that are safer and more interesting than if I followed the same route day after day... So what if it costs me a few more minutes...
And in the winter, I will leave 30 minutes early, and ride for 20 minutes in 20 below (celsius) weather,before a nice 20 minute breakfast stop, half way to my favourite environmental education centre at Fort Whyte. Warmed up and well fed on one of Winnipeg's notoriously inexpensive breakfast specials, I ride for another 20 minutes, and then stop for a Tim Horton's coffee... the sign of a true Canadian. Then I ride my last 10 minutes, circling around several frozen lakes, and I arrive before I can even frost up my eyelashes and balaclava. (I have a special humidifier mouthpiece to warm up the air when if is between -20 and -40 below). So I plan warm-up stops on the coldest days of a Winnipeg Winter, and I ALWAYS enjoy my bike rides to Fort Whyte Centre. (I usually stop for a beer on the way home, and it serves to quench my thirst AND warm up my feet)
So for me, it is all about planning to take a little extra time and to travel a little slower, and a little safer, and with a lot less gas consumption and CO2 emissions than some of my fellow urban commuters. I am very proud of the fact that EVERYONE that rides a bike to Fort Whyte can save $6 to $8 on a free admission... and this is not a short term gimic but is an integral long term philosophy and policy of the Fort Whyte Alive Centre to promote lowering our carbon footprints. Wouldn't it be neat if there was free admission to some of our sports events, our symphony and some of our museums and heritage tourism destinations... for those who cycle to these events! (Maybe free admission could apply on certain special days... like all summer, for example?)
During Fort whyte Alive's 42 km Eco Adventure race this year on Earth Day, I rode my bike downtown at 6 am, and dropped it off WITHOUT using a car or truck or SUV, like many of the racers did. I hitched a ride with 2 fellow racers in a fule efficient small car, and dropped off my roller blades and extra runners on route. I had hitched a small trailer to my recumbent bike, so after paddling, (portaging), running, and roller blading all the way to Downtown Winnipeg, I just picked up my roller blades and extra equipment as I cycled back. (That was the plan, but some nice volunteer race marshals carried my heavy roller blades back to the start/finish for me!) So, I was the 5th fastest MASTERS EcoAdventure racer this year, or the 3rd slowest.. But I was among those who used the least extra energy, thanks to those who shared transportation with me, and thanks to a little bit of careful planning ahead of time. One of the amazing human resources staff at Fort Whyte Alive has already suggested that they might try getting a couple of volunteer van drivers to offer rides to 10 cyclists next year, who are willing to ride their bikes downtown to the bike transfer zone. Great idea! So I didn't win with the fastest time, but I may have won a small ecological victory of sorts...
So there it is... Plan your trips, and you can save energy, be ecologically friendly, appreciate the scenery and nature, and you might even have time to stop for breakfast, coffee and a beer... all without gaining any net calories!
It works for me!
As I peddle (pedal?) my EcoTaxi service this summer around the Heart of our City, I will probably NOT take the shortest and fastest routes. I will be slower, and more interesting and healthier and more ecologically friendly than the city dwellers and tourists who get where they are going a few seconds faster than me ... Most of the destinations around our downtown area are within 8 minutes cycling from the central FORKS area... So how much time could we gain, anyway? It's about the journey people... not just who gets to the destination first......
Hmmm.. Is the first one to get to the end of their life the winner? Or sometimes, can a slower and more interesting route carry its own advantages?
Len (Ecorider)
Thursday, May 1, 2008
May Day in Manitoba
Celebrating May 1st on my recumbent bike... with a beautiful ride down the Harte Trail, with a nice tail wind at my back... I saw 2 magnificent deer while I was cycling down one of the newest portions of the Trans Canada Trail within Winnipeg. And out of my experience comes the topic for my second blog posting.
This summer, the last 2 km of limestone trail should be built through a square mile of Assiniboine Forest... connecting Fort Whyte Alive Nature Centre, (which has anther square mile of urban forest and prairie habitat...) with the Harte Trail to Beaudry Park... almost 20 km of trail. 2 square miles of habitat in the midst of the most expensive residential districts in Winnipeg. What a miracle! What a resource! And yet our city is planning on developing 4,000 homes alongside the Harte Trail, where now there are only fields and forest and swamps and trees - AND HABITAT!
So here is my May Day wish... that instead of just more housing and development, that the entire 10% land dedication for park space go to carefully chosen habitat preservation BESIDE the Harte trail, so that it becomes an artery linking natural areas, instead of becoming a thin thread that is a lifeline for only the narrowest selection of surviving species of flora and fauna. What if we look ahead 50 years into the future, and 2 or 5 or 8 habitat areas have been preserved along side the Harte Nature Trail? That would mean that there would be habitat reservoirs for deer and rabbits and songbirds and remnants of typical prairie vegetation that still remain along this now abandoned and naturalized railway line of the past. It would mean that in a century, there might still be predator populations living in an oasis of meadows and bush to naturally control a viable predator and prey ecological balance. It would mean that instead of a tiny ribbon of green amongst the houses and roads, we might actually be able to preserve a viable lifeline between habitat areas right in the midst of our prairie city.
And I believe it just might be possible with a careful allocation of our 10% land development dedication, to preserve and expand this unique and valuable natural heritage. We already have over 2 sections... over 2 square miles... of habitat connected by cycling and pedestrian trails.
My May Day wish... is that my grandchildren will also be able to cycle past the viable homes of deer and prairie roses and foxes and great horned owls... along a Trans Canada Trail linkage in an urban area, that maintains its ecological integrity.
I would say that it was impossible, if I had not been a student representative for our Resident Advisory Group almost 40 years ago, when a handful of farsighted individuals suggested that a mile of young forest could be kept in the middle of the city of Winnipeg... and then they worked together to make Assiniboine Forest happen. Now I put out the gauntlet for an even grander vision... that we add just enough meadows and forest adjoining the Harte Trail to create homes for the birds and plants and animals that will be a legacy for centuries... rather than just building homes and urban infrastructure for humans within our community.
By the way, on my trip out of the city from Downtown Winnipeg today, I saw over 50 citizens walking and cycling and walking dogs and enjoying nature within the city. If 50 unnoticed people are out on these trails for 10 hours a day... that would be 500 unnoticed people a day! That's 15,000 unnoticed people a month! Entirely ignoring winter usage, that could be upwards of 100,000 people visits a year - along one amazing natural trail system.
I wonder if my May Day challenge has any chance of coming to be? (I am sure that several million insects, birds, trees, plants and animals would like to think so... if our natural community members could think ahead into their own future!) And speaking of the future, what a natural legacy for education of our children we would be constructing... or not destructing...
Happy natural cycling, hiking and active transportation to all!
Len (Eco-Rider)
This summer, the last 2 km of limestone trail should be built through a square mile of Assiniboine Forest... connecting Fort Whyte Alive Nature Centre, (which has anther square mile of urban forest and prairie habitat...) with the Harte Trail to Beaudry Park... almost 20 km of trail. 2 square miles of habitat in the midst of the most expensive residential districts in Winnipeg. What a miracle! What a resource! And yet our city is planning on developing 4,000 homes alongside the Harte Trail, where now there are only fields and forest and swamps and trees - AND HABITAT!
So here is my May Day wish... that instead of just more housing and development, that the entire 10% land dedication for park space go to carefully chosen habitat preservation BESIDE the Harte trail, so that it becomes an artery linking natural areas, instead of becoming a thin thread that is a lifeline for only the narrowest selection of surviving species of flora and fauna. What if we look ahead 50 years into the future, and 2 or 5 or 8 habitat areas have been preserved along side the Harte Nature Trail? That would mean that there would be habitat reservoirs for deer and rabbits and songbirds and remnants of typical prairie vegetation that still remain along this now abandoned and naturalized railway line of the past. It would mean that in a century, there might still be predator populations living in an oasis of meadows and bush to naturally control a viable predator and prey ecological balance. It would mean that instead of a tiny ribbon of green amongst the houses and roads, we might actually be able to preserve a viable lifeline between habitat areas right in the midst of our prairie city.
And I believe it just might be possible with a careful allocation of our 10% land development dedication, to preserve and expand this unique and valuable natural heritage. We already have over 2 sections... over 2 square miles... of habitat connected by cycling and pedestrian trails.
My May Day wish... is that my grandchildren will also be able to cycle past the viable homes of deer and prairie roses and foxes and great horned owls... along a Trans Canada Trail linkage in an urban area, that maintains its ecological integrity.
I would say that it was impossible, if I had not been a student representative for our Resident Advisory Group almost 40 years ago, when a handful of farsighted individuals suggested that a mile of young forest could be kept in the middle of the city of Winnipeg... and then they worked together to make Assiniboine Forest happen. Now I put out the gauntlet for an even grander vision... that we add just enough meadows and forest adjoining the Harte Trail to create homes for the birds and plants and animals that will be a legacy for centuries... rather than just building homes and urban infrastructure for humans within our community.
By the way, on my trip out of the city from Downtown Winnipeg today, I saw over 50 citizens walking and cycling and walking dogs and enjoying nature within the city. If 50 unnoticed people are out on these trails for 10 hours a day... that would be 500 unnoticed people a day! That's 15,000 unnoticed people a month! Entirely ignoring winter usage, that could be upwards of 100,000 people visits a year - along one amazing natural trail system.
I wonder if my May Day challenge has any chance of coming to be? (I am sure that several million insects, birds, trees, plants and animals would like to think so... if our natural community members could think ahead into their own future!) And speaking of the future, what a natural legacy for education of our children we would be constructing... or not destructing...
Happy natural cycling, hiking and active transportation to all!
Len (Eco-Rider)
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