We have a great program in Canada designed to get old cars off the road, and now it will help to add more bikes on them with the support of bike companies such as Norco; the initiative is called Retire Your Ride.

The President of Norco, John Williams shared recently:

“…This is a joint program with The Bicycle Trade Association of Canada, Government of Canada and The Clean Air Foundation.  Essentially anyone in Canada who scraps a pre-1995 vehicle is eligible for a $300 federal rebate that can be used towards the purchase of a new bike.  Norco has also agreed to supplement the discount on a range of bikes through participating dealers. This may get some media attention as the federal government is sponsoring this program with $92 million committed over four years.” Very cool! And if you live in the lower mainland, don’t forget to add the benefits of the Scrap It program for an extra $1200 toward a new bike, whew!!

The other item of note, locally here in Vancouver anyway, is the test trial of the conversion of a car lane on the Burrard Street Bridge to a dedicated bike lane. There is a little write-up about it on the VACC website. Of course there is some controversy; but my biased opinion sees way more positives than negatives. Lots of good news in the bike world these days!

Getting youth on bikes. That’s key. You get them on bikes at a young age, and it’s in their blood forever. Bikes are a huge part of the future, whether that be for transportation or fun. Once a cyclist, always a cyclist. That’s the mission of the Sprockids program, and it’s being relaunched and rebranded in hopes of spreading to as many schools as possible. 

So I spent the last couple days visiting some schools in North and West Vancouver doing a short demo and telling them about Sprockids. Brent Martin, the man responsible for the relaunch wants to see that this 19 year old program, created by Doug Detwiller, in as many schools around the globe as possible. It’s no easy goal, but so crucial in inspiring todays sedentary youth of a life full of health, fun, and environmental stewardship. I’m sure you’ll hear more as things progress and grow.

All the best,

Ryan

A few months ago, I went to Galiano Island, BC for a little relaxing trials riding retreat. Here is a little video summery of the trip. Alex did an awesome job editing this together!

I have enjoyed reading Sarika Suzuki’s diary from the trip she made to Europe with her dad to film a documentary on sustainability. An excellent read with some obvious and eye opening thoughts and observations. I highly reccomend the read, got to:

The Suzuki Diaries at CBC Online

You can watch some of the interviews online aswell, be sure to watch the piece from Ikea in Copenhagen – they actually have bike trailers to take all your stuff home with, brialliant! 

This prompted me to youtube Copenhagen cycling, check out this amateur video of a cycling city, extraordinary! Yes, it is possible, and the benefits are truly endless.

For more cycling, Copenhagen style, this is a great website:

Copenhagen Cycle Chic

Ride ON Everyone, lets all strive to be a little more like Copenhagen!! I know I’m inspired!

Check out this list of interesting reasons to ride your bike. A few unique ideas are listed. The bottom line formula with all this pro bike stuff is: Bikes + Environment = Good News.