©Barry Sandland/TIMB – Making the move from runner to cyclist
“I started about five years ago. In the summer months, I get out three to four times a month. Today is a 30 km ride to Ottawa and back. I used to do a lot of jogging, but it was too hard on my knees. So now I ride a bike.”
©Barry Sandland/TIMB – No spandex, no lycra – this is old school
“Contrary to most people in North America, I have been riding my bike since I was 15.” Continue reading
©Barry Sandland/TIMB – I struggled to leave this rider in my dust. No success…
“Drivers are terrible here. They cut you off all the time. They have signs for cars and pedestrians, but often I do not know what I am supposed to do, where I can go. A motorcycle cop gave me a ticket for speeding once.”
But are you proud of that?
“Yup.” Continue reading
©Barry Sandland/TIMB – Newbies to the cycling environment
“To be honest, we are new to cycling. We came from Sudbury to Ottawa and there is no infrastrucure like Ottawa’s. We never thought about moving to this area, but when we came out to see the house, the parkway was filled with cyclists and runners and inline skaters. We knew we wanted to be part of that. It was a big selling feature.” Continue reading
©Barry Sandland/TIMB – With hundreds of cyclists relying on a dependable ride every day, Velo Villo mechanics have a steady role to play.
“I am fixing bikes every day.” Continue reading
©Barry Sandland/TIMB – The world can be tackled one ride at a time
“I use the panniers when on holiday. In a few weeks, I leave for Costa Rica for a 1,500 km tour. A small tour. Costa Rica is a small country. When I was younger, I used to ride longer. I did tours of 7,000 kms in a month, riding 200 kms a day.”
©Barry Sandland/TIMB – I could not tell if this was a touring rider or a local – turns out it was a bit of both.
“Riding all around the world is something more in my mind than in my heart.”
©Barry Sandland/TIMB – Foldable bikes do far more than short commutes
“I usually do lot longer tours. We were in Morocco doing 100 kilometres a day. You carry everything in the panniers. The foldable works very well. I have over 50,000 kms on this one. Big tours in the USA, like that.” Continue reading
©Barry Sandland/TIMB – Riding a foldable everywhere
“I have been riding 30 years. Now I do about 13 kms a day and you get reimbursed by the employer.”
©Barry Sandland/TIMB – Slowly, cycling all across Europe is improving.
“I want to see, all over Europe, the situation for cyclists improve. I am a doctor and have worked in emergency clinics. I would see cyclists and motorcyclists come in with broken bones and the story was always the same. ‘The driver did not see me’.” Continue reading
