Bike Summit 2010, Bike Commercials and a Rogues Roost Trivia Win!

So I've had a busy couple of weeks there. First off, I have to apologize for not posting in so long. Especially to my one and only official subscriber.

Sorry folks, sorry!

Went to the Nova Scotia Bike Summit a couple weeks ago. This gave a bunch of groups and municipalities all over the province the opportunity to come together and share what they've been doing, what has been working and what hasn't been working to get more people on bikes, or to maintain and expand the little infrastructure we do have.

In all there was about 60 people there from all over the province! It was great to put names to faces and great to see what major projects have been in the works for everyone over the past couple years. I had to present about a couple things we have been working on. FUN!

After the summit, everyone got together to do a smooth 25k ride out to the Habitation, which is a historic site not far from our meeting place at Annapolis Royal. The ride itself was nice, but I was the only person on a mountain-bike, which made it pretty tough to keep up with everyone.

Apparently, when I was passing people, the knobby tires I had on made me sound like a truck.

Right after the summit, I had to switch gears and work on a project that I've been developing over the past two years. I'm essentially making biking commercials that I hope will encourage more people to start cycling as a mode of transportation. The shot below is from Idealbikes (one of Halifax's best bike shops) while we were in there shooting some footage at their shop. I actually just saw the post-edited versions of these commercials and they look pretty incredible!

Finally, I finally won a round of trivia at the Rogues Roost! I've been going on and off for about 3 years and have never won. However, me and my friend Sarah (and two of her co-workers) went the other night, we tied another team, and I had to win a game of rock-paper-scissors in order to get our trophy (gift certificates). So essentially a double-win for me that night!

Biking is going to be really cool this summer! Get your helmet on and that 10-Speed dusted off tout-suite! Bike Week 2010 starts with a Critical Mass ride on the 28th, with a route that I don't think anyone will see coming! HOLLA!!!!

Rough Ride for Halifax Critical Mass

Last month's Critical Mass ride got tangled up with the police last month. I can't say I'm surprised, as police involvement is usually involved in many rides to some capacity. What frustrates me is the borderline split personality disorder of Halifax Police. Some months they are kind and courteous towards the Mass, and even escort us during the ride. Other times they are aggressive and very grabby, which is a scary thing when you are on a medium-paced ride with two wheels. I've even had one officer on a motorcycle come up from behind me while I was stopped and try to push me over. I know enough at this point that if you get nabbed by the cops, you get asked 20 questions, none of which you can really give a good answer to, they get frustrated, ask for your ID, rifle through their little law book in their cars and promptly fine you for something. In response to his push, I steadied myself and busted out of there.

Three people were fined last month however, which lead to a "Critical Mass Meeting". A handful of people including myself showed up. It was nice to see that people care about what happened and want to help out the people who got fined.

On another cycling note, the Halifax Cycling Coalition was contacted by the US Consulate General last month about a city planner that will be in Halifax at the end of the week. Roger Geller has been the Bicycling Planner for the City of Portland, OR for the past 15 years. If you don't know about Portland, it's essentially THE cycling Mecca in the US. It will be nice to see and hear what ideas would be feasible in Halifax. He's also meeting with the HRM Active Transportation Advisory Committee. I hope he inspires them to invest their efforts into getting Halifax a Bicycle planner of it's own. I made a poster for this event that I will try and attach below.

That's about it from me. Keep it real you guys!