Column: "Water theme for Earth Day", and: MRBERT!

My column in the Maple Ridge News of April 10, 2015 is about our 4th annual Cycle Recycle and about the launch of MRBERT:

"At the upcoming Earth Day event on April 18, HUB is going to have lots of bikes to give away! We saved some bikes from the Recycle Depot, and we've also had quite a few donations from individuals this year, especially of kid's bikes. So thank you to Ridge Meadows Recycling Society and all those who donated their bikes! They've all been cleaned already, and one of our committee members is presently hard at work doing some needed repairs.

Read more...

Note that we've made a change of plans with regard to the Cycle Recycle. Since we have over 20 bikes to give away, we decided to have two draws instead of one. The first one will be at 11:30 am by Ross Davies of KEEPS, the second one at 1:30 pm by Queen Elsa (Frozen).

Some of MRBERT's members: John, Dave and Alex

Earth Day 2014: HUB's Cycle Recycle photos

Here are some photos of our annual Cycle Recycle at Earth Day 2014 in Maple Ridge:

Bikes have all been cleaned and are ready to go

Barry trucked all 16 bikes and the parts box over to Memorial Peace Park - photo: Geoff Hancock

Hmmm...what's this all about? Free bikes? Really?

There are Gerry Pinel of GETI and John McKenzie, who's keeping a close eye on his bike.

Dave takes his job as Chief Mechanic pretty serious... - photo Geoff Hancock

with Geoff as his assistant.

Barry checking some brakes and Dave looking for more work - photo Geoff Hancock

Dave replacing a broken pedal - photo Geoff Hancock

Barry pumped all the tires to perfection - photo Geoff Hancock

Lindy Sisson, Exec. Dir. of the ACT, announcing the winners of the draw - photo Geoff Hancock

The best part of the event: the happy faces! - photo Geoff Hancock

Cycle Recycle at Earth Day 2014 on April 26

HUB will be back at Maple Ridge Earth Day 2014 with our Cycle Recycle. The Earth Day event happens this year on April 26, from 10 am to 2 pm.

It looks like we may have more than 10 used bikes to give away.  Some kid's bikes, some adult bikes; a great selection.

I just found out today that we'll get a prime location this time in Memorial Peace Park instead of our regular, rather hidden location in front of the Leisure Centre; this time we'll be between the bandstand and the ACT, right in the middle of all the action.

Drop by in the morning to take a look at the bikes we have. Enter a ticket for each bike you're interested in. You can only win one bike though! The draw will be at 1:00 pm, by Lindy Sisson, Executive Director of the ACT. The winners of the bikes will have to be present during the draw; if not, we'll have to draw another ticket.

Some of the bikes may need some minor repairs, so we'll be busy with that in the morning. Good opportunity to learn something about bike mechanics!

We'll borrow the bike engraver from the RCMP Crime Prevention Unit. Good idea to have your name or driver's licence engraved on your bike. If it ever gets stolen, it'll be easy for the RCMP to find its rightful owner. Good reason to bike to Earth Day, if doing it just for the benefit of the environment and your health weren't good enough reasons yet!

To find out more about what's happening at this year's Earth Day, check out the information on the Ridge Meadows Recycle website, and the Celebrate Earth Day in Maple Ridge facebook page.

Earth Day 2013 Cycle Recycle

Thanks to the donors of the bikes: individuals, Maple Ridge Cycle and Ridge Meadows Recycling Society, and above all our volunteers Barry, Dave and Geoff for making this year's Earth Day Cycle Recycle once again a huge success! We had a record 15 bikes to give away, and they all found happy new owners!

Here are some pics of our Cycle Recycle:

Getting ready for the crowds

The bikes were pretty good quality this year

Lots of interest

Alex Pope dropped by to proudly show off his new vintage ride (no, he didn't get it from our Cycle Recycle!)
Photo: Ross Davies of KEEPS

GETI Fest 2012 photos

GETI Fest 2012 was a lot of fun. According to estimates by the Haney Farmers Market, the number of visitors must have been close to 3000. Every year it gets bigger and better!

The purpose of GETI Fest is to raise awareness of the need to transition to a less fossil-fuel dependent economy, and cycling is one of the many ways for people to help themselves and their communities to do this. HUB is one of the many Action Groups of GETI, and as such we were involved in this 2nd annual GETI Fest.

At this year's GETI Fest, as a cycling advocacy group our HUB Committee was quite excited to join the Lougheed Area Girl Guides in celebrating the Day of the Girl. Women only comprise 25% of the cycling population in North America, and HUB would like to see more cycling infrastructure that will entice more women to start cycling for transportation. Women generally are more risk-averse than men, and feel more comfortable on separated facilities, away from car traffic.

We did another Cycle Recycle (free used bike give-away). 10 Bikes - some donated and some rescued from a sad fate of ending up as scrap metal at the Recycle Depot - got new owners. Some of the bikes that are dropped off at the Depot still have quite a bit of useful life left in them, and it makes one more aware of how wasteful our society has become. Dave and Barry taught some basic bike repair skills before the winners took home their bikes.

We also had a bike decorating station, and did a bike rodeo. I was quite happy about the numbers of bikes we saw. I didn't count them, but I think we probably had about 15 kids with their bicycles decorating their bikes and/or doing the rodeo. Next year we'll have even more!

We had an absolute hoot with the (non-fossil-fuel powered) People-in-Motion parade. A large group of kids on their bikes were at the head of the parade, following the District's electric truck. The kids were clearly in control, commandeering the driver of the truck, Director of Operations Russ Carmichael, to go "FASTER!! FASTER!!". He kindly obliged and sped up a little bit, but afterwards I heard that the poor Raging Grannies at the tail end of the parade were rather out of breath trying to keep up. Sorry, Grannies!

Here are some of the photos that we took:

practicing cycling skills, with the help of Girl Guide volunteers and some useful props

Slow Race

Lots of bikes in the People-in-Motion Parade!

HUB gave away 10 bicycles at our Cycle Recycle

HUB Bicycle Valet

MP Marc Dalton and Mayor Ernie Daykin performed the draw for the Cycle Recycle 

Click here for more photos.

GETI Fest 2012

We hope you'll join us for the 2nd annual GETI Fest, in Memorial Peace Park, on Sat. Sept. 22 (10 a.m. – 3 p.m.).

For those of you who don't know about GETI, it's an organization through which all individuals and groups in the Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows (Golden Ears) area can work together in a co-ordinated fashion to create a resilient, vibrant, supportive and caring community. This is achieved through local Action Groups that help us meet our needs for food, energy, shelter, sustainable livelihoods and much more, while reducing our carbon footprint and our dependence on fossil fuels. Our local HUB Chapter is one of the many Action Groups of GETI.

Apart from the celebration at GETI Fest of GETI's achievements so far, our HUB Committee is especially excited this year to join the Lougheed Area Girl Guides in celebrating the Day of the Girl at GETI Fest. In order to overcome the many challenges that our world faces today, it’s important to recognize the important role girls and women can play in changing our world for the better. 

If you think cycling has nothing to do with women's emancipation, think again. In the late 19th and early 20th century, cycling has done a lot to give women more freedom and make them more independent. Here's a quote from women's rights activist Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906):"Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel…the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood.” 

Presently, only about 25% of cyclists in North America are female. The "cycling infrastructure" that has been built here since mid last century or so has consisted of at the most some white lines and bike symbols on our roads, and it obviously hasn't appealed very much to most women, who generally are not looking for the adrenaline rush that you feel when competing with cars for space on the road. Most women prefer a more peaceful experience, away from car traffic. In countries where cycling is perceived to be safer, such as in the Netherlands, the number of women who bike is much higher. In the Netherlands about 55% of cyclists are women. Many of them own a car, but choose to use their bikes, because it's an enjoyable, convenient, fun and healthy way to get around.

More separated and safer infrastructure in our neck of the woods will give today's Girl Guides and women of all ages the ability to make that choice as well.

HUB's share in the activities at GETI Fest:

 9:30 - 10:30 Cycle Recycle (free bike give-away) #1*
10:00 -  3:00 Artisan Fair / Action Groups / free bike parking / food
10:00 - 11:30 Bike decorating
11:00 - 12:00 Parade
12:30 -  1:30 Cycle Recycle #2*
12:00 -  2:00 Bike rodeo (we have only a few bikes available for those kids who don't have their own bike with them)

*Cycle Recycle #1: tickets to be entered by 10:00. Draw between 10:00 and 10:30;
Cycle Recycle #2: tickets to be entered by 1:00. Draw between 1:00 and 1:30

Events like GETI Fest can only happen with the help of many volunteers. If you would like to help out, please send me an e-mail (jchow23708@yahoo.ca).

Looking forward to seeing you at GETI Fest!

Earth Day 2012 Maple Ridge, April 21

What a gorgeous day we had for this fantastic event! Over the last few months Ridge Meadows Recycling Depot helped us collect 16 bikes that were in good enough shape for our bike-give-away. In the morning Jim Coulter, publisher of The News, drew the names of the lucky new owners, and in the afternoon MLA Michael Sather and Councilor Al Hogarth helped us draw 8 more names. After the draws, the bikes were washed, and Dustin of Maple Ridge Cycle did some repairs on some of the bikes. By the way, Maple Ridge Cycle is going to move to its new location soon, off of Lougheed. Owner Troy will have more space. I saw he's already stocking up on bikes. He's got quite a selection of cruisers. Troy has lots of plans, a.o. he wants to start organizing family rides! Can't wait to see his new shop.

I haven't seen any photos yet of the happy faces at our Cycle Recycle station, but for me this was the best part of Earth Day!

Here are some bikey photos of Earth Day:

I was blown away by the Stromer electric bike that I tried. Great for the hills in Maple Ridge, and you can do longer distance rides too. One charge will take you as far as 80 km. Check out the website: www.stromer.ca

Stromer electric bikes
photo credit Alex Pope

I also tried a neat Bullitt cargo bike, from Transportation Alternatives. Takes a bit of getting used to! Here's the website: http://www.transportation-alternative.ca/ and a photo:

Looks like the Bull-itt and the Return-it guy were made for eachother!
photo credit Martin Waliszewski

bus bike rack
photo credit Ian and Vicki McLeod