Hot Post Of The Month

Dec 27, 2014

"Best" Bike Stories in Calgary 2014

2014 was another year forward for bicycling in Calgary. More people choosing to ride, more bike infrastructure going in, bigger and better bike events, and a generally bike-friendly city administration working harder then ever to make cycling a real choice for more people.

The following list of "Best Bike Stories" was suggested by the #YYCBIKE people on Twitter after we asked for their suggestions.  It is by no means complete so if you feel like we missed something, let us know by leaving a comment of your "Best Bike Story".

Happy Christmas and a jolly New Year!


WINTERPALOOZA!

Inspired by the successes of Cyclepalooza over the last few years and driven by the anecdata (one of my new favorite words) suggesting more and more people were choosing to cycle in winter, #Winterpalooza was born.

Events including ice racing, a vegan/veggie dinner ride, winter-bike-to-work day, a photo booth, and many others spanned just over a week and helped highlight the growing legion of Calgarians who are choosing to embrace winter on a bike rather than hiding from it.

Winterpalooza 2015 is coming up this February and promises to be just as much fun as last year.  Hope you can make it!


CENTRE CITY CYCLETRACK NETWORK PILOT!



After many years of hard work/advocacy and much hand-wringing by certain members of council, a majority of council finally gave the go ahead for a small network of cycletracks in the centre city area.  While not complete, it signals a huge leap forward in accepting bicycles as a year 'round transportation option for people in the downtown area of Calgary.

The network is due officially open July 2015 with the pilot lasting just over a year. Hope to see you out enjoying them!


LIVE EVENT COVERAGE!

2014 was the first time that a local TV station decided that using traffic helicopters to film 8 people on bikes, out for a legal ride in safe conditions was a good use of their economic and human resources. 

It was like the OJ chase all over again. But way more boring and nobody was hurt.

In reality, the story was really about an "Uncle Fred"  baiting media and anti-bike politicians into a wanky kind of pseudo-hysteria that accomplished one thing - raising the profile of cycling issues in our city.  Thanks "Uncle Fred".


ELBOW RIVER BRIDGE TRIO IS BACK!

The Floods of 2013 devastated Calgary and surrounding areas as well as knocking out bridges all over the region. 3 pedestrian bridges in downtown Calgary were also washed away, critically wounding the pathway network and making it difficult or for some, impossible for others, to use their bike for transportation and recreation.

Thankfully, the bridges were rebuilt relatively quickly and are all now reopened! Rejoice!

Huge thanks to the City of Calgary for rebuilding them and making them better than ever!


BIKES IN THE STAMPEDE PARADE!



Thanks to the incredible effort of Kimberley Nelson, the nice folks on the Board of Bike Calgary, and the volunteers at Cyclepalooza, bicycles were finally seen in the Stampede Parade!

With their banner "On A Steel Horse We Ride" leading their "float" members of Calgary's bike community and various bicycle advocacy groups paraded their western-themed bikes and outfits in front of thousands of live spectators along the route and millions of views on TV.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 What will 2015 bring? :)



No comments: