Where’s my subsidy?
We recently had our Bike to Work Week here in Victoria and there was a noticeable increase in cyclists for a week or so (at least when the weather was good). It got me thinking about other incentives that might be used to encourage more people to ride. It came to me when my father-in-law told me about how much of a tax rebate he got on his $30,000 hybrid car (a reduced emission vehicle): $4,000, between both the Federal and Provincial governments. Cyclists who choose to commute in a zero-emission way, while also reducing their financial burden on the health care system, get... $0. Not only that, but every cyclist on the road reduces the demand for oil and parking and, in an ironic way, helps keep the price of gas and parking as low as it is – we use less and they use more. Is there something wrong with this picture? It may be time that cyclists insist on something more than free T-shirts and some press recognition once a year.
Cyrus Farivar
Victoria, BC
Helmetless Riders Ruffle Readers
I really enjoyed reading issue #34 of momentum, but I noticed a glaring flaw with most of the photos. That is most riders are not wearing helmets! The cover shot of a young woman in a dress complete with dressy pumps riding with both hands off the handlebars seems to be really irresponsible. When her fancy shoes slip off those platform pedals she could end up with a nasty head injury. Or those uncapped handlebars could take a good sized biopsy out of those good looking legs.
Stanton Van Valkenburg
Minneapolis, MN
Momentum Editors respond:
The photos in question were all taken in New York, which does not require adult cyclists to wear helmets. The New York Times, however, reports: “On average, there are 23 bicycle fatalities in the city each year, and in 94 per cent of those cases, the rider was not wearing a helmet, according to a 2006 city report. Nearly three-quarters of the deaths were caused by head injuries.”
My own helmet proudly displays a Momentum sticker on the back, and I wear it every day.
– Terry Lowe.
Yes, we sometimes choose to print photos of people riding bikes without helmets. We like to see what people look like and a magazine full of helmets is not quite as personable as a magazine full of people. Safety is undeniably the top cycling priority. If we sometimes favour aesthetics over didacticism, it is not because we are anti-helmet or that we ignore their role in protecting us from injury. We encourage safe cycling behaviour and trust our readers to make the choice that is right for themselves. I wear a polka-dotted Nutcase helmet.
– Amy Walker
Keeping the San Francisco Boys and Girls Club Biking
Just read my first momentum magazine, which I found on a train. I loved it!
Wanted to add a story about a new Mountain Bike Program for SF youth at the Boys and Girls Club of SF’s summer Camp, Camp Mendocino. This 2,000 acre camp, located in the California redwoods between Willits and Fort Bragg, (along the “Skunk” train line and Noyo Rivers) has been serving disadvantaged urban kids for over 75 years offering such programs as hiking, nature, boating, fishing, horseback riding, sports, photography, and recently, ecology and environmental leadership. But there has never been a Mountain Bike program due to no funds to purchase bikes. Money is not easy to come by for non-profits.
In 2007, Sports Basement donated 27 decent mountain bikes and the kids discovered mountain biking, probably for the first time. It was by far the most popular activity!
As a bicyclist myself, and SF Boys/Girls Club Alumni and Camp Mendocino volunteer, I poked my head where these bikes were stored in March of 2008. The summer hires were gone and I had a hunch these bikes probably needed some TLC. To my horror, there were only three bikes out of 27 that were rideable. The worst damages were severely bent rear wheels, broken derailleurs and gear/brake cables, along with the usual cleaning and tuning up issues.
Now I’ve always wanted to be a bicycle mechanic, but never got around to it. I barely knew how to patch a tire. The co-operative “Bike Kitchen” in SF, where you can join for a small fee and folks there will help you understand your bike better, offers classes in bicycle maintenance as well as ongoing support from experienced bike mechanics. After four night classes, and lots of reading and learning from my mistakes, I was able to bring this fleet back to life in time for the summer of 2008 so kids can continue to enjoy the pleasures of riding safely in the redwoods of California.
I am personally determined to not let this mountain bike program die, and will ensure its success until I can’t turn a spoke wrench any longer.
Thanks to The Sports Basement for donating the bicycles (and helmets!), The Bike Kitchen of SF for training people for almost nothing, and the SF Boys and Girls Club for allowing me to contribute to this worthy cause.
Fernando Aguilar
San Francisco
Cyclists Can Improve Behaviour Too
Charles Montgomery’s “Bike Rage” article includes examples of motorists’ poor behaviour with which I can readily identify as a year-round commuter cyclist. However there is also another side that is rarely taken up seriously in momentum and other cycling advocacy magazines. Here is what I observe and experience daily about the habits of too many cyclists:
- Ride through red lights
- Ignore the courtesy procedure at 4 way stops
- Short-cut the wrong way through traffic circles on bike routes
- Weave at speed in and out among pedestrians and slower cyclists on the Burrard Bridge
- Ignore the instruction to “dismount and walk bicycle” at construction sites where the temporary crossing has to be - shared with pedestrians.
Indeed this last point is the most blatant and discouraging for those of us who want a more positive image for cyclists. My guess is that 90 per cent of cyclists do not get off and walk their bikes. They ride around mothers with strollers, elderly people and anyone else who is crossing. I have seen cyclists many times ride right by construction workers posted at such sites to remind cyclists to dismount.
Michael Clague
Vancouver, BC
News From Jamaica
I Love your Magazine!!!!!
I’m a US Peace corps Volunteer (its like the Canadian CUSO program) serving in Jamaica. Though we are geographically close, we still get mail very late, and when we get good magazines we share them around.
I just had the unmitigated pleasure of reading issue #30 cover to cover and enjoyed every bit of it. I really enjoyed the “by the people, for the people” vibe of your magazine.
The photos of riding in high heels were great, the Cuban coverage, the info on loving your front brake (and what a great tattoo that graphic would make!) and, of course, the emphasis on undervalued great mechanics.
I also invite you to check out www.smorba.com a local Jamaican biking organization. They have a festival every year with local and international participants, including a relay race where contestants ride around a track carrying increasingly heavy and unwieldy items (like weed wackers, propane canisters, and cases of beer).
Love the magazine, keep up the good work, and when I get back to North America, I’ll definitely be contacting you for a subscription!
J.J. Doherty
Mavis Bank, Jamaica
Back Issues
My name is Michael Dudley and I’m a librarian at the Institute of Urban Studies at the University of Winnipeg. First off I wanted to say that I love the magazine! I’ve waited years for a publication that addressed the interests of the commuting and utilitarian cyclist, having found all the other more sports-oriented cycling magazines offer little of interest to me. My one regret though is that I only just discovered momentum! Which brings me to my main question – can I order back issues for our library? I get a lot of city planning and urban studies students doing research on human powered transportation who would love to have access to momentum.
Michael Dudley
Winnipeg, MB
Back issues are available on our website. Look under “Catalogue” for print issues, or under “Archives” for online issues. – Ed .
-- Send us your feedback. We seek to continually improve our coverage of self-propelled culture, and we need your help! Tell us about your local cycling scene. Send us your photos too. Letters may be edited for length.
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