BIKE MINDS

Bikes + Career

Update: the event will be taking place inside due to the somewhat unpredictable weather forecasts.

Our next BIKE MINDS event is on June 19, 2025. Once again, we’ll be meeting at the Ottawa Bike Café on 79 Sparks Street in Ottawa.

This month’s theme is:

BIKE MINDS + Career

This month BIKE MINDS is collaborating with the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP) to put on BIKE MINDS + Career. The event will feature four people who have made a profession of working on bicycle facilities, programs, or in some other capacity advancing the state of the bicyclosphere.

BIKE MINDS + Career is a place to hear how some have built their career with the help of bikes and how others have used their life experiences to improve active transportation for the next generation.

Each story will be allocated approximately 8-10 minutes. At the end of the storytelling, there will be an open question period, where members of the audience and storytellers will be able to ask you questions.

Schedule of the evening

Note: We are starting at 7 pm instead of 6:30 pm (below is the new schedule)

6:30 pm – doors open for our event. This is the time to buy your food and drinks if desired
7:00 pm – stories start
8:00 pm – stories end/mingling time
8:15 pm – café doors close

The Speakers

Farid Mullally

Nature enjoyer, violinist, transportation engineer

In high school, I had to write a primary research essay on something. I chose the benefits of segregated cycling infrastructure. Little did I know that it would get me my first co-op in civil engineering, and would send my career into the world of transportation planning and design.

Farid grew up in Ottawa and graduated from University of Waterloo in civil engineering. He works in the field of planning and designing our transportation systems to be more sustainable in everyway, which includes bikes. Farid is fascinated with the decisions we make that shape our built environment and affect the way we act as humans. He loves to be a part of forming vibrant communities and transforming society for the better. He also enjoys staying active outdoors in all seasons and sharing the joy of music with others.

Erin Blay

Multimodal Mama

As a transit planner and lifelong “fair-weather” cyclist, I explore how cycling has shaped my personal journey and deepened my belief that no one is one mode—and that resilient cities are built through intentional choices that center human movement and the lived experience.

Erin is a transportation planner with over fourteen years of experience making it easier for people to get where they need to go. She’s worked with cities, towns, Indigenous communities, and regional agencies to improve transit service, support rural and intercommunity travel, and design infrastructure that works for everyone. Alongside her transit work, Erin champions cycling and other active transportation options as part of a more connected, inclusive, and sustainable transportation system. A Registered Professional Planner and member of the Canadian Institute of Planners, Erin is passionate about creating practical, people-first solutions that support mobility, equity, and resilience in communities of all sizes.

François Pirart

Active Mobility Advocate, Strategic Thinker, Happy Father

François Pirart is originally from Belgium. He studied geography and environmental planning in Belgium, England and the Netherlands. He came to live in the National Capital Region in 2010. Since his arrival, he has been involved in numerous sustainable transportation projects, including leading the City of Gatineau’s “Plan directeur du réseau cyclable”. He is now Senior Transportation Planner at the NCC where he leads long-term planning projects, such as the Parkways Planning and Design Guidelines.

Melcsi Tasnádi

Ocean, autumn, Magyar Mum

Melcsi has been riding a bike since they were a child. Taking transit to school or hopping on their bike to get to their kayak trainings alone from the age of 11 provided a sense of freedom, fun, and adventure. Outside of work, Melcsi enjoys travelling, swimming in the Balaton, gardening (though right now it is confined to house plants in a flat), and spending time with family and friends. Melcsi’s favourite way of exploring new places are by foot, transit/train, and bike.

Melcsi was born and raised in Budapest, Hungary. Melcsi’s vault into planning walkable/cycleable and child-friendly cities, and carving out a specialization in mobility planning was sparked by the lack of options, disjointed and unsafe walking and cycling network while living in downtown Toronto. Melcsi decided to pursue a degree in urban planning from the University of Waterloo. Melcsi has previously worked for the City of Ottawa as a co-op student, and currently works in the private sector as a mobility planner. Melcsi thrives on making cities more child-oriented, green, and fun where walking, cycling and transit are intuitive, reliable, convenient, and ordinary.

Robin Bennett

adventurous, urban cycling advocate, urban planner

I emigrated from England as an infant to Eastern Ontario and lived in rural villages due to father’s career as a large animal veterinarian. Started cycling early in life for pleasure and to get to activity places like beaches or the local city, which was Cornwall, 30 km away. I became more aware of the efficiency of bikes for transportation when I borrowed my cousin’s bike in England and delivered it to his summer home in Belgium via Netherlands and Germany in my late 20’s.

After this experience, I have used bikes whenever possible to explore many cities for fun and as part of my career as a bicycle transportation planner. During my 20s, I worked three years in the Arctic, followed by four years of backpacking around the world, using bikes wherever convenient.

I gained my Master of Urban Planning at McGill by the late 1980’s and ended up in Ottawa in the mid 1990s. After several years volunteering and eventually chairing the former Regional Cycling Advisory Group, I was hired as the city’s first Cycling Facilities Coordinator, starting in January 2000 and retiring as a Project Manager within the Active Transportation Planning unit in March 2025.

I remain passionate about urban transportation cycling in Ottawa and the potential to address a multitude of urban problems through significantly increasing the number of residents who choose it as a means of transportation.

Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals is a community of practitioners working to create more walkable, bikeable places. We foster peer knowledge sharing, advance technical expertise, and support the professional development of our members who work in government, consulting firms, and in non-profit organizations in the fields of transportation planning and engineering, urban design and planning, public health and active living.

Reserve your spot today

As usual, you can sign up at our Eventbrite site now. There is space for about 100 people as we are aiming to do the event outside this time (Weather permitting). Entrance is free, but please cancel your reservation if you decide not to go after all. If it is fully booked, don’t hesitate to sign up on the waiting list. If you are in luck, someone cancels and you might get a notification that places are opening up again.

Overcoming Obstacles

A group of people sitting in a cafe listening to a speaker at BIKE MINDS.

After exactly five years since our last in-person event, BIKE MINDS returned to the physical stage on Tuesday January 28, 2025 in Ottawa, in the cozy, intimate setting of the Ottawa Bike Café. Here’s a recap written by our volunteer Suzanne.

I really enjoyed the Bike Minds session last night. I felt like, if we had heard the stories in advance we might have chosen a different theme title called “Changing Our Path”. All of the speakers shared their life journeys, with a notable mention to how cycling contributed to changing a potential path that they were happy to diverge from.

Gene, mentioned how fixing his bike wheel, out of desperation and lack of funds, as a teenager got him a job and exposed him to a different community that might have contributed to saving him from a life of crime. HIs gratitude and joy with finding his people in the cycling community, and having some fun adventures, were evident in the big smiles shown on every one of his slides.

It was wonderful meeting everyone on Tuesday. Great blog as well. I look forward to the next event. – Gene

River shared their journey of discovery through, riding long distances to manage their anxiety and substance abuse to embracing life as a non-binary person with ADHD and Autism. They reflected on being vulnerable, but feeling at home with their new identity and discoveries through bikepacking and unicycling.

Cassie talked about recognizing transportation inequity when she became a mom, and started trying to navigate the city with a stroller and small children. This led her to returning to school to get her masters and becoming a cargo-bike riding, transportation equity advocate with organizations such as Kidical Mass, For Our Kids Ottawa, and School Streets Ottawa.

Thanks to the whole Bike Minds team for a really well-run event. I thought the atmosphere was perfect and appreciated lots of great conversations after the stories.

And thanks to the other storytellers. I really appreciated hearing your stories and being able to share the stage with you. See you out on the bike paths! – Cassie

Mike’s path correction is ongoing. He is biking away from cancer. Mike shared his story of an ordinary life, interrupted by cancer, and how cycling may have saved him once, and hopefully twice. In the face of a devastating diagnosis, cycling gave him something that he could control and is here to tell us his story.

Good news! We are now planning our next BIKE MINDS Ottawa event. Join our mailing list to hear about it first, and feel free to submit your own story at any time.

Bikes + Leadership

It’s hard to believe that Bikes+Leadership marked our fifth event in our vitual series that began last summer. On June 24th, we heard stories from leaders across Ontario, Canada who are enabling and encouraging more people to get around by bicycle.

Jamie Stuckless kicked things off with a recollection of her impressive career as a champion of local cycling initiatives all across Ontario and how she has grown along the way. Lanrick Bennett Jr. then added the story of how his daughter, after discovering a love for cycling, went on cycling “strike” and became active in her community in advocating for more safe cycling infrastructure.

Third, we heard from Christopher McGarrell, who shared how he started cycling with a friend to get out of a rut during the pandemic in 2020, which evolved into open rides and eventually the Mandem Cycling Club with dozens of people joining each ride and over 5,000 followers on Instagram. Fourth was Hans Moor, who shared the story of Ottawa’s first protected bike lanes and his advocacy leadership in making them a reality as head of Bike Ottawa.

Finally, we concluded the evening with a virtual mingle and some questions from the audience.

Jamie Stuckless (3:26)

Jamie Stuckless is a policy advocate and transportation professional who is passionate about supporting people making change in their communities. She has turned her love of cycling into a decade long career in Ontario’s active transportation sector, leading successful advocacy initiatives to fund hundreds of kilometers of cycling infrastructure, increase active transportation to school, and engage thousands of stakeholders in meaningful policy discussions.

Through Stuckless Consulting Inc. she now works on transportation and sustainability projects across North America.

Go directly to Jamie’s story HERE.

Lanrick Bennett Jr. (18:17)

Lanrick Bennett Jr. is the Managing Director at 8 80 Cities. He held previous positions as the Hub Manager at Artscape Wychwood Barns, Regional Advisor in the Ontario Provincial Government and Education Officer at the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. He is a year-round urban cyclist who champions protected cycling infrastructure in multiple forms.

Go directly to Lanrick’s story HERE.

Christopher McGarrell (32:47)

Originally from Scarborough, Christopher is the founder of Man Dem Cycling Club in Toronto. Founded in the summer of 2020, the club is open to anyone who enjoys riding a bike, and it quickly grew to over 1000 members.

Go directly to Christopher’s story HERE.

Hans Moor (45:58)

Hans Moor, known by the alias HansontheBike, lives in the National Capital Region of Canada. From 2010 to 2015, Hans was president of Bike Ottawa, Ottawa’s not-for-profit, volunteer-based safe cycling advocacy group. He has maintained a blog about cycling since 2010 with over 300 posts and works seasonally in Ottawa as a bicycle tour guide. Hans’s work has earned him the City Builder Award from the Mayor of Ottawa and several other awards. Ottawa’s mayor once tweeted that “Hans is more popular than I am“.

Go directly to Hans’s story HERE.

Join the BIKE MINDS Movement

Special thanks to the volunteers that made the event possible: Catherine, Rie, Suzanne, Gerry, and Robert.

Spreading the joys of cycling through storytelling has proven to be a powerful tool for empowering people to bring change to their communities. Why not join the effort? Here are some ways you can join the movement:

Complete Our Feedback Survey: provide input to inform our future events
Submit Your Story: be considered as a storyteller for a future event
Join Our Team: join the team of volunteers that makes the series possible
Host a BIKE MINDS: host your own affiliate BIKE MINDS event. Get in touch and we’ll tell you more

Our next event will be sometime in Fall 2021. We are always accepting stories – consider submitting yours today!

Want to keep the stories rolling? Check out more recaps and videos from our past events below:

Bikes + Career

Overcoming Obstacles

Bikes + Leadership

Bikes + Children, Pt. 2

Our first Bikes + Children episode was so inspiring we just had to host a second one! Children, Part 2 was the theme of BIKE MINDS’ fourth virtual event on April 21st, 2021.

Chris and his daughter Emily shared a fun story of their bike trip abroad where, despite Emily renting a bike that was too small for her, their family cycled 200km over four days – with lots of ice cream along the way.

Céline inspired and amazed us all with the story of her family’s nomadic life, having cycled 74,000km over 10 years, with two daughters born along the way.

Next, Robin brought about a different type of inspiration, sharing her story about her family’s multi-year switch to biking that started with her husband joining a charity ride and ended with her family ditching their SUV and living car-free.

Cécile closed off the evening with a suspenseful story of her son’s first leap of independence riding to school on his own for the first time, and the flurry of thoughts she felt as she anxiously waited for him to come home that day (spoiler: he made it, smiling from ear to ear!).

Chris and Emily McCue (2:43)

The McCues went on a family cycle trip in Normandy France when Emily was 8. It was 200km in 5 days and she rode it on a 20” bike. There were some tough times along the way, but they saw and experienced great things. Emily’s longest day was 65kms.

Chris McCue is an avid cyclist and an occasional photographer & guitarist, though if you ask him, he will say he’s more of a guitar owner than guitar player. He also enjoys spending time with family, camping, canoeing and hiking.

Emily McCue is eleven years old and is a competitive swimmer. Emily has many hobbies such as playing ukulele, knitting, all types of art & reading. Emily really enjoys cycling with her family & friends, and has completed some cycling and triathlon events.

Go directly to Chris and Emily’s story HERE.

Céline Pasche (11:44)

For the last 10 years, Céline and her family have been nomads on the roads of the world. They have cycled 78,000km on four continents, from China to Alaska, from Syria to New Zealand. Celine’s two daughters, Nayla and Fibie, were born along the way. The Pasches are now exploring the Great Northern Horizon.

The family documents their travels on their website, As A Way Of Life. They speak at events and webinars on a range of topics and have even published a book, Nomads in the Heart of the Elements.

Go directly to Céline’s story HERE.

Robin Richardson (24:45)

Robin has lived and cycled in small towns and big cities in California, New Jersey, Washington, and Ontario. After their family ditched their SUV for an active travel lifestyle, Robin became more active in her efforts to improve safety for active transportation in Toronto, and joined the Bike Brigade, a volunteer organization which makes deliveries to folks in need. Her next project is to offer a selection of electric cargo bikes for rent, helping people see how easy it is to swap car trips for bike trips. Her mission is to entice more people to give cycling a try!

You can find Robin on Twitter and Instagram @CanadaRobin, and you can keep up with her new cargo bike loaning company @HappyFietsCA.

Go directly to Robin’s story HERE.

Cécile Lecoq (38:44)

Cécile came to Ottawa from France as an exchange student in 2006 and never left. She’s passionate about sustainable mobility and determined to walk, bike and bus the talk. Her family has been happily living car-free for the past two years. Apart from cycling, reading about transit and listening to urbanism podcasts, Cécile enjoys spending time with her two boys, learning to play the guitar, and (hopefully soon) going to the theatre.

You can find Cécile on Twitter @cecile_lecoq.

Go directly to Cécile’s story HERE.

Join the BIKE MINDS Movement

Special thanks to the volunteers that made the event possible: Catherine, Rie, Suzanne, Gerry, and Robert.

Spreading the joys of cycling through storytelling has proven to be a powerful tool for empowering people to bring change to their communities. Why not join the effort? Here’s some ways you can join the movement:

Submit Your Story: be considered as a storyteller for a future event
Join Our Team: join the team of volunteers that makes the series possible
Host a BIKE MINDS: host your own affiliate BIKE MINDS event. Get in touch and we’ll tell you more

Our next event will be sometime in Summer 2021. We are always accepting stories – consider submitting yours today!

Want to keep the stories rolling? Check out more recaps and videos from our past events below:

Bikes + Children, Pt. 2

Bikes + Children

Bikes + Empowerment

Bikes + Children

What could possibly be more positive and inspiring than stories related to kids and cycling? Children was the theme of the third BIKE MINDS virtual event on March 5th, 2020, and the Zoom audience was buzzing in anticipation.

Bradley shared the story of helping his special needs daughter find freedom and joy through cycling and eventually bike camping, bringing many of us to tears – especially when his daughter made a surprise appearance at the end! Next, Janice shared how, after realizing some of her students did not have access to bicycles, she started a massive community initiative that delivered 150 bikes to members of her community in one summer. Third was Karly, who shared their story of realizing the power of cycling through a bike trip with a supportive uncle, despite not seeing themselves as athletic. We closed off with Lotte, who travels the world teaching the Danish Cycling Games to school children, starting movements everywhere and sparking the next generation of bicyclists.

Bradley Fisher (2:15)

Bradley Fisher is a lifelong Chicagoan, teacher, husband, and father of two amazing daughters. He’s determined to live a life infused with adventure, nature and discovery. Passionate about inclusive bicycle travel, he’s never happier than riding with his special needs daughter, whether on a quick errand, a day ride, or a week long tour through the mountains of Idaho on their adaptive tandem, aptly named “Lilia’s Wings”.

Bradley is a member of the Out Our Front Door exploratory adventure organization. You can reach out to him at bradley@oofd.org, and learn more about OOFD’s Bike Camping for Everyone adaptive program here.

Go directly to Bradley’s story here.

Janice Battista Lowe (14:33)

Janice Battista Lowe is a high school teacher out of Malton, Ontario where she has been an educator for over 12 years. Janice has a specialty in Youth Outreach and started a community based organization called The G.L.E. Movement, which stands for Grow, Lead, Excel. Janice’s venture into the cycling community was sparked by the pandemic and the lack of bicycles in her school community of Malton. This then propelled her Summer Cycle 2020 initiative to target that need.

This past January, Janice was awarded the 2020 Phil Green Award by the City of Mississauga’s Cycling Advisory Committee, an award that recognizes a Mississauga resident or group who has shown exceptional effort to promote cycling in the community.

Go directly to Janice’s story here.

Karly Ross (26:16)

Karly Ross has been riding a bike since they were a child. From fun adventures with family to adapting to restrictions on urban mobility, they see cycling as a source of freedom and adventure. Beyond biking and growing food in their garden, they also tutor math and study computer science, all while playing with data and fostering community development as a member of the board of Bike Calgary. Drawing on early experiences of bicycling, these days their main passion is active transportation narratives and connecting others with the stories that inspire and illuminate mobility choices and challenges.

Go directly to Karly’s story here.

Lotte Bech (37:43)

Lotte Bech is Architect and Urban Planner and Consultant in Urban Cycle Planning. She is a member of Cycling Embassy of Denmark and the International Committee of the Danish Cyclists’ Federation. She is promoting Cycle Culture with Danish experiences on cycle education for children. She is a Cycling Games enthusiast sharing the method “Learning by Playing” on events, workshops and pilot projects in schools. So far cities in Colombia, Chile, Mexico, Peru, Brazil, Ecuador, Taiwan and Japan are practicing the Danish Cycling Games. She also organizes “Bikeable City Masterclasses” in Copenhagen for foreign urban planners, politicians and NGOs.

You can access the book by the Danish Cyclists’ Federation with 20 cycling games for children for free here.

Go directly to Lotte’s story here.

Join the BIKE MINDS Movement

Special thanks to the volunteers that made the event possible: Catherine, Rie, Suzanne, Gerry, and Robert.

Submit Your Story: be considered as a storyteller for a future event
Join Our Team: join the team of volunteers that makes the series possible
Host a BIKE MINDS: host your own affiliate BIKE MINDS event. Get in touch and we’ll tell you more

Due to popular demand (and more great story submissions), BIKE MINDS will return in Spring 2021 with a second edition of Bikes + Children. See you there!

Want to keep the stories rolling? Check out more recaps and videos from our past events below:

Bikes + Fate

Bikes + Limits

Bikes + Growth

Bikes + Empowerment

How has cycling empowered you to bring change to your own life and the lives of others? Empowerment was the theme of the second BIKE MINDS virtual event, and storytellers from across the world were challenged to ponder these questions when they shared their stories.

Bikes + Empowerment was held on November 18, 2020 at 8PM EST continued the BIKE MINDS Virtual series, which kicked off in August 2020 with Bikes + Fate. With the help of BYCS and the Bicycle Mayor program, we assembled a diverse range of storytellers from Ecuador, Argentina, Mexico, Australia, and Japan.

The Zoom chat was abuzz throughout the event, with reactions of inspiration, laughter, and support. We heard stories from a lifetime cycling advocate, a mother who was determined to continue cycling after having children (and purchased the only cargo-bike in her city to do so), an entrepreneur who has helped his community rediscover the bicycle through tourism, an architect who is fostering a cargo-bike culture in Japan, and a beach-loving Australian who created a community bike ride that is for everyone.

Areli Carreón (4:15)

Areli Carreón is a founding member of Bicitekas A.C. in Mexico City, which has promoted the use of bicycles as a means of transportation and as a means to create more humane cities since 1998. Areli was elected Bike Mayor of Mexico City during the 6th World Bycicle Forum in Mexico City. She is co-author of Mexico City’s Manual of Urban Cycling, among other documents on urban cycling and public policy. She is a member of the civic coordination of 35 organizations promoting the recognition of the right to safe, accessible, and sustainable mobility in the Mexican Constitution that will mandate the passing of the first Road Safety Law in Mexico.

Go directly to Areli’s story here: https://youtu.be/WAYqNiL20FQ?t=255

Jimena Perez Marchetta (20:12)

Jimena Perez Marchetta is a bike-enthusiast, passionate social worker and feminist who believes in the power of teamwork, towards encouraging sustainable mobility in the region. She is the co-founder of “Argentina en Bici”, a national organisation created by civilians. Also, with some of her friends she created “Las Bicibles Salta”, in the city of Salta, Argentina. Jimena is Bicycle Mayor of Salta City and has a diploma in Leadership for Transformation (UPAP-UNSAM). In 2020 she was elected as a remarkable woman of transport by the TUMI organization. In 2017, Jimena co-designed and installed the first private-use bike hangar in Latin America.

Go directly to Jimena’s story here: https://youtu.be/WAYqNiL20FQ?t=1212

Cristian Saenz de Viteri (28:08)

Cristian Saenz de Viteri is General Manager of Iguana Bike Tours S.A., a teacher at the University of Guayaquil, and bicycle mayor of Guayaquil. He is Ambassador in Fundación Enseña Ecuador and a member of the international network “Teach For All”. He is an engineer in International Business Management (UCSG) and holds a master’s degree in Educational Management and Leadersip from the UTPL and a diploma in Public Policies.

Go directly to Cristian’s story here: https://youtu.be/WAYqNiL20FQ?t=1688

Jullietta Jung (47:58)

Jullietta Jung is a beach-loving, Korean-born, Australian living in Sydney Australia. By day she leads the work at Transport for NSW to look at data to develop cycling insights. She’s been working there for the past 5 years in various transport planning roles. By night Jullietta is better known as the founder of Sydney Night Rides, a community of people who enjoy riding bicycles. Sydney Night Rides is not a cycling group and it’s not an advocacy group. It’s a safe space for people to enjoy a ride around Sydney at night.

Go directly to Jullietta’s story here: https://youtu.be/WAYqNiL20FQ?t=2878

Gakusen Iwasa (58:11)

Gakusen Iwasa is from Yokohama, near Tokyo, Japan. He’s part of the new generation of urban visionaries and bicycle advocates in Japan. In 2017, he took the master class by Copenhagenize Design. Then, Gakusen started to import the Danish cargo bike “Omnium” in order to make cargo bikes more popular in Japan. Now, he’s tackling making streets more friendly for people through the Cycling Embassy of Japan. He’s also interested in holding a Bike Minds event in Japan.

Go directly to Gakusen’s story here: https://youtu.be/WAYqNiL20FQ?t=3491

Special thanks to the volunteers that made the event possible: Catherine, Rie, Suzanne, Kayla, Francisco and Robert.

Join the BIKE MINDS Movement

Submit Your Story: be considered as a storyteller for a future event
Join Our Team: join the team of volunteers that makes the series possible
Host a BIKE MINDS: host your own affiliate BIKE MINDS event. Get in touch and we’ll tell you more

BIKE MINDS will return in Winter 2021 with another virtual edition with the theme Bikes+Children. See you there!

Bikes + Fate

How did unexpected or unplanned events lead you to cycling and where you are now? Were there any random encounters or coincidences in your past that helped to create your love of cycling? Fate was the theme of the first BIKE MINDS virtual event, and storytellers from across Canada were challenged to ponder these questions when they shared their stories.

Bikes + Fate was held on August 12, 2020 at 8PM EST and signaled the debut of BIKE MINDS into the “virtual” event space. Our team of volunteers gathered stories from across Canada, from Olds, Alberta to Halifax, Nova Scotia for another night of stories.

Despite lacking the usual comforts of our in-person events – laughter, applause, and sometimes beer – the event was a hit. We heard about the interface of cycling with physical ability and migration, raising children who cycle through the winter, and the challenges and rewards of fostering a culture of cycling in one’s own city.

Matt Pinder hosted the event and opened with a powerful speech drawing attention to the need for actively anti-racist behaviours from everyone involved in cycling, if we truly want to create a space that is comfortable for everyone. He challenged the audience with the questions: “Does your community group have diverse representation where people are not being tokenized? When you make a demand of your politicians do you first reflect on your privilege and the impact of your requests on communities more vulnerable? Do you partner with or volunteer with organizations that focus on equity or that serve communities facing systemic oppression?”

Jillian Banfield (8:55)

Jillian Banfield is Halifax’s Bicycle Mayor. A disabled woman who found the freedom of movement – and the love of her life – through cycling, she passionately advocates for all the things that make active transportation more accessible.

Go directly to Jillian’s story here: https://youtu.be/1qP6ENG6xBg?t=535

Erin Riediger (21:00)

Erin Riediger is an architectural intern from Winnipeg, with a passion for humanist architecture and safe equitable cities. Erin’s podcast, Plain Bicycle follows a group of Canadians who travelled to the Netherlands to fill a shipping container with second hand Dutch bicycles, with the hopes of importing everyday cycling culture into North America.

Go directly to Erin’s story here: https://youtu.be/1qP6ENG6xBg?t=1260

Saba Shahsiah (34:45)

Saba is a member of BIKEPOC, a social cycling group creating safe spaces where BIPOC women, trans, femme and non-binary identifying folks in Toronto can ride their bikes and be empowered together. Riding a bike for her is an act resisting the status quo, and a tool for her independence and agency.

Go directly to Saba’s story here: https://youtu.be/1qP6ENG6xBg?t=2085

Felix Lee (51:17)

Felix Lee is a quirky cyclist who is passionate about all things single speed. He is a racer, an organizer, and a Cycling Canada official. He lives in rural Alberta with horses and chickens and cats.

Go directly to Felix’s story here: https://youtu.be/1qP6ENG6xBg?t=3077

Arcy Canumay (59:45)

Arcy Canumay grew up cycling on the neighbourhood streets of Metro Manila in the Philippines. For 5 years, he lived in Tokyo Japan and regularly cycled to the train station and around his neighbourhood. Now in Canada with his family, he is the Bicycle Mayor of Waterloo and is actively working with organisations and the community to make cycling a safe transportation option for everyone in the city.

Go directly to Arcy’s story here: https://youtu.be/1qP6ENG6xBg?t=3585

Kelly Granigan (1:11:52)

Kelly Granigan is a Professional Engineer by trade. In her personal life, she is passionate about the environment, and finding creative ways to save a little more money, while increasing overall happiness for her family. She lives with her partner and 2 kids in Edmonton, Alberta. Edmonton is a very car-centric city, but Kelly and her family find joy in moving about via foot, bike, and transit, year round.

Go directly to Kelly’s story here: https://youtu.be/1qP6ENG6xBg?t=4312

Special thanks to the volunteers that made the event possible: Catherine, Rie, Gerry, Suzanne, Kayla, and Robert.

The BIKE MINDS team hopes to host another virtual event this Fall, but we need more stories to make that happen! Do you have a bike-themed story to share? Submit it here: https://bikeminds.ca/submit-a-story/

Bikes + Limits

Mar 3, 2020 @ Curbside Cycle, Toronto
Story & photos by Robert Zaichkowski. Originally posted on Dandyhorse.

The BIKE MINDS storytelling series has covered a wide variety of bike related stories since its inception in 2018 involving themes such as belonging, travel, career, and growth. The storytelling event even launched in Ottawa this past January with a second Ottawa event currently in the works. The theme for the Tuesday, March 3, 2020, event at Curbside Cycle was “Bikes and Limits” – illustrating how the power of bikes can be pushed to the limits, though there was no limit to the energy of the event’s emcee Janet Joy Wilson.

Jun Nogami

Jun Nogami – a University of Toronto engineering professor and author of the Biking in a Big City blog (and a regular dandyhorse contributor) – kicked things off in the fast lane by talking about the World Human Powered Speed Challenge, for which he is the U of T team’s faculty advisor and a chief timing official. The challenge is held annually at Battle Mountain, Nevada, on a straight section of State Road 305 known as the world’s fastest track. Riders have five miles (8 km) to accelerate and a 200 metre window where their speed is recorded before slowing down for one mile (1.6 km). The bikes are essentially recumbents with an aerodynamic shell. While earlier bikes such as the one Canadian Sam Whittingham used to reach 82.82 MPH (133.26 km/h) had clear windshields to see through, newer “camera bikes” and their aerodynamic improvements broke the record by at least 3 MPH (4.8 km/h) when first introduced in 2015 with the current record standing at 89.59 MPH (144.17 km/h).

Anne Fleming

Anne Fleming’s story was about a kayaking and mountain biking trip she and her husband took in Newfoundland 20 years ago, which she started with a brief aviation history about Gander. The town of 11,000 people welcomed over 6,000 during the September 11 attacks and was an important refuelling stop for early transatlantic flights since the airport was built in 1935 including during World War II. The area was known for wood, bogs, lakes, and rivers while a long hill – which Fleming likened to Poplar Plains – tested her limits. When the “tick mist” cleared, she saw the remains of a DC-4 plane crash from 1946 which she was not prepared to see, but her guide told an inspiring story. The crash prompted the largest rescue effort at the time which helicopters had to be de-assembled before being delivered to Newfoundland. 18 survivors were rescued over two to three days and the crash was featured in a CBC Land and Sea episode in 1992.

Mark Franklin

Mark Franklin is the founder of Career Cycles and spoke at a past BIKE MINDS event in 2018. His talk focused on his experiences as a trip leader for Backroads Active Travel based in Berkeley, California in which he led 25 people on a ride from Banff to Jasper. The job posting for trip leaders called for those serving others, hard working, sophisticated conversationalists, and problem solvers to meet the demands of an upper middle class clientele. After the application and interview, candidates then had to go to California for a weekend event where 60 people would compete for ten spots. They would respond to situations such as a suitcase being left behind, trying to raise and lower helium sticks, and go through tests involving problem solving, teamwork, mechanics, and public speaking. Franklin later designed his own trips including career counselling and left the audience with a new word – liminal – which refers to a transitional stage.

Najia Zewari

Najia Zewari moved from Afghanistan to Canada six-and-a-half years ago and co-founded the ck out of the Gateway Bike Hub in Thorncliffe Park. She reflected on how she felt depressed upon moving to Canada given she couldn’t connect with her surroundings. Through the Afghan Women’s Organization, she was among 15 women who took up CultureLink’s Bike Host program and Evergreen Brickworks also helped with bike training. Despite only being aware of her surroundings in 2017, Zewari’s experiences led her to learn bike mechanics through the Gateway bike hub, a group ride to Open Streets, and work with Markham Cycles before the Women’s Cycling Network started in October 2019. Zewari noted how the bike was a tool for empowerment and helped connect her with more communities.

Michael McMahon

Michael McMahon is a self professed “web geek” and talked about riding the BT700 with Melanie Chambers in which BT stands for butter tart. The BT700 is a 770 kilometre bike loop in Southwestern Ontario which starts and ends at St. Jacobs – a Mennonite community north of Waterloo – and passes through Owen Sound, Collingwood, and Orangeville. The ride is held at the end of the season with trail apples, tastings of beer, wine, and cider, crazy elevation gains, and close friendships made from such intense experiences. While there were several highlights, McMahon also mentioned some challenges such as how bringing a backpack was not a good idea, his tires were too narrow to handle some of the rougher terrain (40 mm tires were recommended), and some of the nights were as cold as 1’C in Mono Cliffs.

The final BIKE MINDS Toronto event for 2020 called “Bikes and Boundaries” will take place at the Ontario Bike Summit on Sunday, April 5 with tickets being available on March 20. The emcee left us all with a final message: We all can be “spokes” people for change, one story at a time.

Bikes + Growth

Jan 30, 2020 @ Curbside Cycle, Toronto
Recap and photos by Janet Joy Wilson & Jun Nogami. Video production and editing by Ryan Shissler, Low VELOcity Cycling. Originally posted on Dandyhorse.

Bike Minds is “a bicycle-themed storytelling event where guests share positive, personal, and inspiring stories related to cycling.” There are three gatherings scheduled for Toronto in 2020. Last night was the first one, on the theme of Bikes and Growth. We were hosted by Curbside Cycle who were good enough to close early and clear their showroom floor to accommodate the audience.

Our emcee for tonight was the one and only Janet Joy Wilson, founder of The Reading Line.

Julia Huys

Our first speaker was Julia Huys, who was 19 when she went on a 3,400-km bike tour from London to St. John’s with her father. She saw it as an opportunity to share one of her father’s favourite pastimes. In the end, what she learned was to slow down and to appreciate simpler things. They averaged an incredible four flats a day. (Someone should have asked which brand of tire they were using!)

Julia shared some beautiful photos accompanied by journal entries. The tour obviously went well, as she has also done circle tours of Lakes Superior and Michigan with her dad since then.

Video credit: Ryan Shissler, Low VELOcity Cycling

Kevin Dunal

The next speaker was Kevin Dunal. He and his wife have been car free since August 14, 2018. He said that we are all creatures of habit, and that keeps many of us from examining how much a car is really necessary in our lives.

What has he learned from this experience?

Using car share in the downtown area is easy when you really need one.
Think of transportation as a service: use what you need.
There is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing
They feel much more connected to the city.
And, finally, everyone’s favourite: not paying for a car justifies buying more bikes.

Ryan Shissler

Next up was Ryan Shissler who said that moving to Canada (from Michigan) was the best mistake that he ever made.

Ryan shared his experiences with depression, under the weight of significant student loans. His slides charted his trajectory, both in terms of debt load and state of mind. At one point he was working three jobs and needed a car. However, the expense of running a car was pushing him further into debt, and so he switched to biking. Even so, initially things were not so easy.

He eventually got to a better place, in part from making friends though cycling. The happy ending to his story is that he now has a job that includes biking, as the communications lead for Cycle Toronto.

Video credit: Ryan Shissler, Low VELOcity Cycling

David Shellnut

David Shellnut is a personal injury and human rights lawyer who in recent years was recovering from both an assault and also being “right hooked” while riding his bike. He talked about the way that the trauma has changed his outlook on biking. He was angry and frustrated, and it was difficult to get back on the bike. He recommended reading an article by Bronwyn Graves, published in NOW magazine in June 2019.

He is now supporting the cycling community as the Biking Lawyer, and gave us some advice on what to do if you are ever in a collision.

Video credit: Ryan Shissler, Low VELOcity Cycling

Robert Zaichowski

Robert Zaichowski is a long time cycling advocate, as well as a current member of the Cycle Toronto board.

His day job is a chartered accountant, and his comfort with data has lead him to use statistics to affect change. His analysis was part of a lobbying effort by Cycle Toronto that eventually got the City to double the annual cycling budget to $16M.

He and Albert Koehl have been tracking the slow pace at which the City has been installing cycling infrastructure; some of this has been published in dandyhorse. He closed by saying that we should keep asking questions, collecting data, and sharing our stories with people outside of this room.

Video credit: Ryan Shissler, Low VELOcity Cycling

Agata Rudd

Our final speaker was Agata Rudd, who told us about the tour that she and her husband did in 2014: over 5,000 km by bike in Southeast Asia over five months.

She observed that everywhere they went, they saw environmental degradation, in the form of trash strewn by the roadside, or plastic pollution on every beach in every country that they visited. This really cemented her interest in reducing waste, even during the tour. She and her husband now have a small child, and she has founded BikeSeed, a group to encouraging family biking, particularly with small children.

Video credit: Ryan Shissler, Low VELOcity Cycling

Afterwards, there was plenty of time to talk with the speakers and others. Curbside was also offering a 15% discount on accessories.

Thanks to all the speakers, the Bike Minds volunteers, Curbside Cycle, and also Amsterdam Brewery for the variety of bike themed beer, for a fun and informative evening! We can all be spokes-people for change … one story at a time.

Ottawa Debut

Jan 29, 2020 @ Mill Street Brew Pub, Ottawa
Story by Laura Mueller. Photos by Mark Davidson

The first-ever Ottawa edition of BIKE MINDS opened on Jan. 29, 2020 with a confession from event co-founder and host Matt Pinder to the sold-out crowd: BIKE MINDS isn’t just about storytelling – it’s an advocacy event. The launch of BIKE MINDS beyond Toronto featured a grab bag of tales, from personal reflections to trip recollections, and even a first for the event – a cycling-themed poem.

Linda Collette

The evening began with a trip back in time on a Rocky Mountain adventure with Linda Collette and her friend, Denise. While the story took place 20 years ago, the sense of independence that Linda derives from cycling is still very much present to this day.

A mix of travel guidance, bike-repair advice and spectacle, Linda’s story did not fail to entertain. After recounting some of the iconic trails that formed the backdrop for the adventure, Linda scored some points with the bike mechanics in the room by explaining her MacGyver repair techniques, using cutlery to fix a flat tire and even replacing a bolt with a shoelace.

The climax of the story came when Linda described her friend flying over her and landing straight in the frigid Athabasca River – complete with a splash of water to the face for Linda to illustrate the point!

Denise Inglis

Denise began her story by asking the audience what their lives would be like if they couldn’t ride a bike. Far from a thought experiment, she was describing the reality of many women in her community – in particular, those who are newcomers to Canada.

As a cycling instructor, Denise was recruited by fellow Velo Vanier volunteer Rose Anne Leonard to teach women how to ride a bike. Rose Anne, who ran the Velo Vanier’s free bike-share program, noticed that very few women took advantage of the service. Determined to change that, she recruited potential students by reaching out to women when they came to collect their children after school. Soon, Denise found herself instructing a new type of student.

Her very first student, Esther, made great progress in a matter of hours. Since then, Denise has taught many more women how to cycle – following in the footsteps of the Netherland’s renowned Mama Agatha.

The 2019 Bruce Timmermans Award winner also garnered a lot of questions about her other volunteer cycling gig as a meal-delivery courier for Meals on Wheels, operated out of the Good Companions Centre. Click here for more information.

Paul Galipeau

Paul learned to ride a bike before he learned to read and is a prolific routebuilder with the Ottawa Valley Bikepacking Collective. Through past positions with Parks Canada and the Rideau Trail Association Board and currently as RideWithGPS Ambassador, Paul’s passion for human-powered geographic exploration of Ottawa has unlocked an approach to self-supported endurance adventures that nearly anyone can take on. Follow Paul on Instagram @paulmsg.

Paul inspired and entertained the crowd with his TED Talk-style tale of following his heart – a.k.a. the boundary of the City of Ottawa.

Aiming to inspire, Paul encouraged attendees that if they were attending BIKE MINDS, they too were the kind of people who could bike the 300 km perimeter of the city in 24 hours. In fact, he’s looking for people who’d like to do just that this coming summer.

It will be Paul’s second time making the trek. The odyssey began in 2017, when he mapped out a route that closely followed the heart-shaped boundary of the city’s limits. An avid trip mapper, he posted the route to a local cycling group on Facebook, but didn’t get any takers.

Fast forward 638 days and Paul found himself home alone with a free weekend. Thinking the journey might take 48 hours, he set off from the Prince of Wales Bridge, heading west. Along the way, he couldn’t help but notice the irony of the Ottawa welcome signs, which promote Ottawa as a bike-friendly city – in rural locations devoid of any cycling infrastructure. But, the signs do send a message to drivers to share the road, and to Paul, that seemed to be working.

When he reached Ashton Village west of Ottawa, Paul was ready to throw in the towel, but a hot meal got him back in the saddle and he kept going until his bike lights burnt out at 1 a.m.

After a few hours of sleep, he was back at it, hopping barriers and exploring parts of the city that would be impossible to traverse by car.

If you are interested in joining Paul to repeat the journey this summer, you can get in touch with him via Instagram @paulmsg. If you’ve biked the perimeter of Ottawa or another municipality, Paul encourages you to use the hashtag #loopyourcity to share your trip.

Jay Heins

Jay is a dad, husband, son, entrepreneur, and huge Bon Iver fan, in that order. Works with Tanya at home doing education technology consulting. Escapes to the Gatineau Park by bike when things get hectic and thinks in poems while riding. Ambivalent racer: loves flow moments, dislikes crashing. Helps with organizing and comms for local cycling events including Tuesday Night Crits and the Eastern Ontario Cyclocross Series.

Jay treated the crowd to a creative interlude and a BIKE MINDS first – the performance of an original poem.

To open, Jay reflected on the parallels between riding a bike and reading poetry – the pleasure, vulnerability and joy, measured in moments. Jay thinks of poems while riding his bike.

The poem Jay wrote and performed is called Machinery of Joy.

Chris Bouchard

Next up was Chris Bouchard, who recently moved to Ottawa for a job in academia following a decade-long career in active transportation planning in the City of Toronto.

While they worked with brilliant minds in Toronto, Chris noticed a gap. Even the most perfect transportation plan would not get people home safely because transportation is a social process.

That’s where the machinery of government comes in – something that Chris is now studying and writing a book about.

One story Chris reflected on is a network of cycling trails that were built not with the support of a pro-cycling mayor, but rather, under the leadership of Rob Ford. The mechanics of how different governments are implementing cycling infrastructure is now the focus of Chris’s work as a researcher at the University of Ottawa.

Chris came to urbanism from a very interesting starting point, having hand delivered Jane Jacobs’ manuscript for Dark Age Ahead while working as a bike messenger.

Shawn Smith

Shawn’s story, entitled “My Journey of Self Discovery: Cycling at the Speed of Life” detailed a journey from childhood to transportation engineer and author, illustrated by photos.

As a child growing up in the east end of Ottawa, Shawn experienced the freedom of getting around on his own by bike, and celebrating cycling by displaying his elaborately decorated bike in a local bike parade.

But like many teenagers, he soon traded his two wheels for four and lost touch with cycling for a whole decade. Eventually, while working as a highway engineer at the provincial Ministry of Transportation, Shawn took a temporary posting in Thunder Bay. There, he rediscovered his love of cycling through a 4km commute, which he often extended by taking the scenic route.

When he returned to his office in Toronto, Shawn tried biking to work, but felt something was lacking. He formed a bike users group at his workplace and felt the success of a few wins: indoor bike storage was added, and the group held lunch-and-learn sessions for other interested staff.

Shawn wanted to do more to influence his colleagues and his profession. He made the leap into an active transportation role in York Region, where he was able to see the implementation of his big idea for a median cycling facility to protect cyclists from highway ramps.

Now back working in Ottawa, Shawn also published a book, called Happy Trails, which details 40 biking and hiking adventures in and around the Greater Toronto Area.

Cécile Lecoq

Cécile came to Ottawa from France on a one-year exchange program in 2006, and never went back. She’s passionate about sustainable mobility and determined to walk, bike and bus the talk. When she’s not reading about urbanism, she enjoys spending time with her two boys, playing the piano and going to the theatre.

Cécile’s story opened with a description of observing Car Free Day by making the nerve-wracking, 15 km trek to work by bike for the first time since moving to Aylmer five years prior.

She never considered herself a motorist. In fact, Cécile works at a transit agency. But she had been driving to work every day for one reason – her 18-month-old son.

Cécile detailed a struggle that many parents face – the search for affordable and accessible daycare. When she was offered a $7 per day daycare spot for her youngest son, she jumped at the chance – only to later discover how difficult it would be to take him there by bike and get to work on time.

Eventually, Cécile decided to make a change – she gave up the affordable daycare spot for a more convenient (but more expensive) option. That allowed her to get back to commuting by transit, giving her time to read books en route, which she thinks led to a promotion at work.

Later, when their car needed to be replaced, Cécile’s family decided to get an electric cargo bike instead. This big improvement in her quality of life all started with that one Car Free Day bike commute.

The Ottawa volunteer team was proud to host this debut event but needs your help to keep the series going! Submit your story today and be featured at one of our next events.