April 6, 2007 — Here’s the latest news from Velolove for April 2007 – Vancouver-Point Grey ‘Wake Up’ to Gateway – Volunteer for BEST at Earth Day – Register for Bike to Work Week – Radiant City – Mini Bike Monday – Intro to Bike Mechanics for Women – Pedal Revolutionary Bike Radio! – Midnight Mass Bike Ride – Margaret Charles Chopper Collective Ride – Step It Up Vancouver – Vancouver Bicycle Advisory Committee Meeting – Earth Day – Weekly And Ongoing Events And Announcements

Check these out:
www.mentalspeedbumps.com/
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYErxLrVmbI
www.lcc.org.uk/documents/Allabilitiesnewcontacts.pdf
http://bikebiz.co.uk/news/26304/Spend-more-on-advocacy-urges-Trek-boss

Vancouver-Point Grey ‘Wake Up’ to Gateway
HELP WANTED: 30 Volunteers

Following on the heals of the well attended Delta rally against the Gateway Project is the door-to-door distribution of Gateway to Global Warming newspaper in the Premier’s riding. Campbell only won this seat (as an incumbent) by 2200 votes. Volunteers are needed for Saturday, April 14, 9 am to 10:30 am. We will meet at 8:45 am in the parking lot of Kits Beach and give out street assignments and newspapers.

The Gateway 30 Network wants to cover the riding and still make it to the Step It Up Rally at 11 am later that day. After we do the Premier’s riding we’ll be doing other cabinet ministers’ ridings.

To volunteer, please contact Donna Passmore (Transportation Campaigner, Fraser Valley Conservation Coalition and Coordinator, Gateway 30 Network) at 604-536-2790 or email donna8@telus.net

Volunteer for BEST at Earth Day

Earth Day on April 22 is one of the world’s largest celebrations of our planet and environment. This year, with the importance of the environment rising to the forefront of the global consciousness, Earth Day Vancouver has the opportunity to blossom as one of the city’s landmark events. Volunteer for BEST Valet Bike Parking at Earth Day!

Better Environmentally Sound Transportation (BEST) will be providing free valet bike parking at this year’s celebration at Jericho Beach. We need volunteers to help us park bikes! It’s a fun and easy way to become involved with Earth Day and is much appreciated by the many cyclists who attend the event. Volunteers who help out for 2.5 hours will receive a free BEST T-shirt and water bottle.

The Earth Day Vancouver Celebration takes place Saturday April 21 from 11am to 5pm at Jericho Beach. Help BEST and the environment this Earth Day by volunteering with valet bike parking.

BEST will also be providing valet bike parking at events throughout the summer, including:
The Alcan Dragon Boat Festival- June 16 and 17
The Commercial Drive Festivals- June 17, July 22, and August 19

Contact Sarah at sarah@best.bc.ca or call 604-669-2860 to sign up!

Bike to Work Week
Register Today!

Now recruiting — Workplace Champions (aka Team Leaders)

Bike to work week is May 28 to June 3. Take the initiative at your workplace and become a team leader. Spread the word to encourage your co-workers to register and bike to work during BTWW and reap the rewards. Encourage your company to become an Employer Partner. And if you have a tent and some people power, we can guide you on how to build a commuter station in your community.

We need volunteers. If you have some time and enthusiasm to share we would love to hear from you.

Visit www.vacc.bc.ca/biketowork and follow the step-by-step guide to make Bike to Work Week a success. It’s easy, and it’s free. The first fifty people to register a team in the Lower Mainland will get a free Bike to Work Week T-shirt!

For more information, contact Mia Kohout, VACC Bike to Work Week Program Director, at 778-833-3773 or biketowork@vacc.bc.ca

Radiant City
Friday, April 6 to Thursday, April 12

Radiant City, a documentary about suburban sprawl, opens in Vancouver on April 6 for one week only!

Sprawl is eating the planet. Across the continent the landscape is being levelled — blasted clean of distinctive features and overlaid with a zombie-like monoculture. Politicians call it growth. Developers call it business. The Moss family calls it home. Welcome to Radiant City.

Vancity Theatre, 1181 Seymour Street near Davie
April 6-11, 7:15 & 9:00pm
April 12, 1:45 & 4:00pm

“Suburbs are the greatest misallocation of resources in the history of the world.”
– James Howard Kunstler, author of The Long Emergency and The Geography of Nowhere

“Suburbia is cheap and easy. Housing developers can bulldoze every tree and throw up hundreds of single-family homes, cover them with vinyl siding and sell them – and they can do it all outside of the existing city infrastructure, without considering public transport.”
– Jim Brown, co-director/writer, Radiant City

View the trailer at: www.radiantcitymovie.com

For more information, visit www.hellocoolworld.com/radiantcity or email radiantcity@hellocoolworld.com

Mini Bike Monday
Monday, April 9

This Monday, April 9 2007, is a holiday… the perfect time for Mini Bike Monday! Meet at noon at the Science World gazebo and go on a mini-bike ride of the seawall and downtown. We will distract shoppers, confuse tourists, annoy drivers… generally act like fools. Ride leaves at 12:30 pm.

Participants must be riding a disproportionately small bike… usually 16″ wheels or smaller but up to 20″ is fine too. Pass this on to mini bike lovers1

Form more information, visit http://minibikearmy.blogspot.com

Intro to Bike Mechanics for Women
Monday, April 9

Empowering women one bike at a time! Jett Grrl Bike Studio offers intro classes, covering flat fix, drivetrain maintenance, and basic brake adjustments. Advanced classes offered as well, plus a full service repair shop. All classes are hands on, 5 people max, w/ detailed written handout provided. Cost is $40/class.

Boys are welcome too :o)

Time: 6:30 to 9:00 pm
Place: 1925 Adanac Street near Victoria Drive (back door)

Check out www.jettgrrl.com for more details and to sign-up. Or call 604-255-5097 / email jett_grrl@hotmail to reserve a space.

Pedal Revolutionary Bike Radio!
Thursday, April 12

And every other Thursday, from 5:00 to 6:00pm, on CiTR 101.9 FM

News about bike civic politics, chopper bikes, legal issues, bike maintenance, culture, fun and of course Critical Mass! Your hosts: Ifny, iamlachance@gmail.com, and Conrad Schmidt, ninemonkeys@blaze.ca, 604-537-2044.

Pedal Revolutionary Bike Radio needs to hear from you! If you have a bike related event or announcement, email pedalrevolutionary@gmail.com or during the show phone 604-UBC-CiTR (604-822-2487).

Web site: www.bikesexual.org/cm/radio
Blog spot: http://pedalrev.blogspot.com
Listen live over the Internet: www.citr.ca/default.asp?id=19&mnu=19

Midnight Mass Bike Ride
Thursday, April 12

Do you have a bike? Do you like riding it? At night? Wear some warm socks, dig up some bike lights, and pack yourself a nice hot beverage — the next midnight ride is tonight, the night before Critical Mass.

Meet 11:45 pm at Grandview Park (Commercial Drive at Charles Street — across from the Havana and Turks) and ride at midnight.

The ride happens the 2nd and 4th Thursday of every month, so mark your calendars. Tell your bike loving friends, and hope to see you there!

For more information and videos:
www.midnight-mass.blogspot.com
More photos at www.flickr.com/photos/midnightmass
http://bikescape.blogspot.com/2007/03/hybrid-shmybrid.html


Margaret Charles Chopper Collective Ride
Friday, April 13

On the Second Friday of every month, Vancouver’s freak art bike collective invites you to ride with this post-apocalyptic gang of delimitation riders.

Meet 6:30 pm at the Science World Gazebo (1455 Quebec Street) and ride at 7:00 pm or so.

For more information, visit http://mcthree.blogspot.com


Step It Up Vancouver
Saturday, April 14

This April 14th, the National Day of Climate Action, tens of thousands of people will gather all across Canada and the U.S. at meaningful, iconic places to call for action on climate change. Do your part for the world and join them! Call for the reduction of Co2 level’s by 80%.

1:00 to 3:00pm
Vancouver Art Gallery, 750 Hornby Street, Vancouver

For more information, visit www.endtheheat.org/ or email info@endtheheat.org


Vancouver Bicycle Advisory Committee Meeting
Wednesday, April 18

On the third Wednesday of every month (except August) the Vancouver Bicycle Advisory Committee meets 5:30pm in Committee Room 2 (on the third floor) at Vancouver City Hall (453 West 12th at Cambie) to address cycling-related issues in the city of Vancouver and advises City Council on those issues.

Guests are welcome. If you’d like to speak to the committee, please contact Nicole Ludwig at 604-871-6399 or nicole.ludwig@vancouver.ca

For more info, see www.vancouver.ca/ctyclerk/civicagencies/bicycle


Earth Day
Sunday, April 22

www.calendar-updates.com/Holidays/Canada/earth.htm

Celebrated every April 22, Earth Day is one of the largest, most celebrated, environmental events worldwide.

More than 6 million Canadians join 500 million people in over 180 countries in staging events and projects to address local environmental issues. Nearly every school child in Canada takes part in an Earth Day activity.

First launched as an environmental awareness event in the United States in 1970, Earth Day is celebrated as the birth of the environmental movement. On April 22, 1970, Arbor Day activities were modified to emphasize the critical importance of the environment and to make the American public aware of the destruction of the earth’s natural preserves. Earth Day, was observed by twenty million Americans, most of them students. The sponsors of Earth Day hoped to start an environmental movement that would alter industrial practices and human consumption.

Earth Day is a powerful catalyst for change. The first Earth Day, spearheaded by Wisconsin Governor Gaylord Nelson and Harvard University student Denis Hayes, involved teach-ins that addressed decades of environmental pollution. The event inspired the US Congress to pass clean air and water acts, and establish the Environmental Protection Agency to research and monitor environmental issues and enforce environmental laws.


Weekly and Ongoing Events and Announcements

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Tuesday Fixie Ride. Meet 7:00 p.m. at the Science World Gazebo (1455 Quebec Street). Info heyfixie@gmail.com
http://fixedvancouver.com/Forums/forums/3/ShowForum.aspx
http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/fixedvancouver/

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Wednesday Pie Rides around Stanley Park, over to Canada Place, across to Kits, and out around UBC (if desired). Afterwards, a bite at Calhoun’s on West Broadway. Meet 5:30 PM at Canada Place (west side). Info: Henry H at hulbert AT vcn.bc.ca or http://vbc.bc.ca/upcomingrides.shtml

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Wednesday night Pedal Play Bike Fix and Skill Share. 6:30 til 9:30pm at Pedal Metal Studios, 194 West 3rd (alley entrance). Open to all Pedal volunteers — if you aren’t one already we’ll make you one. Expect to join the bike polo folk truing wheels and building mallets.

Stand time is by donation, $5 per hour suggested. A small stock of used parts available for rummaging futilely through. For details, phone 604-875-8679.

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Fast Night Thursdays! Every Thursday, 9pm at Grandview Park. Ride fast & hard. See you there.
http://fixedvancouver.com/Forums/forums/12/ShowForum.aspx
http://fixedvancouver.com/Forums/forums/thread/1591.aspx

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Friday Cruiser Ride. Weather permitting, meet 7:30pm at the Lost Lagoon Roundabout. We won’t stay past 8:00pm so don’t be late! Get your weekend rolling! Info: bryn@vancruisers.ca or www.vancruisers.ca
http://vancruisers.ca/Members/bhughes/events

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Saturday Morning Trails Ride to the UBC Endowment Lands, Stanley Park, or another destination. Meet 9:45 am at the Coffee Shop at 6th and Arbutus. Info: Mark F at vbc AT vbc.bc.ca or http://vbc.bc.ca/upcomingrides.shtml

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Saturday Leisure Ride following bike routes around Vancouver, going to Iona Island or crossing to the North Shore. Meet 10 am by the coffee shop at 6th and Arbutus and ride till about 1:30 pm. Info: Richard W at wardric AT vcn.bc.ca or http://vbc.bc.ca/upcomingrides.shtml

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Saturday EastVan Bike Polo. Hot bike polo action every Saturday on the tennis courts at Grandview Park around 1:00 pm (we go elsewhere in bad weather, but usually meet at Grandview first or send someone by to grab stragglers). Bring your own bike (but not your pretty one — the game is a little rough on bikes). Mallets are supplied (though if you get hooked, as many of us have, you’ll likely want to build your own).

www.myspace.com/vanbikepolo
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/eastvanbikepolo
http://fixedvancouver.com/Forums/forums/thread/194.aspx

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Freak Bike Sundays. Race Minis, Choppers, Utility Bikes, Trailers or Chariots. Got an idea we will give it a shot. Every Sunday afternoon between 12-4 pm or til whenever. Staffed by Jim and/or Sailor Neale. 194 w 3rd ave in the alley. http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/1678/choprv6.jpg

Some materials readily available. Welding and consumable donations sought and accepted graciously. Hourly rate applicable/negotiable. For details, phone 604-875-8679.

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Port Mann & Highway 1 Expansion -ˆ Charge Up the Opposition

As you may know, although the provincial NDP has been raising some good questions regarding the Port Mann Bridge and Highway 1 expansion — they have not taken a firm position against it, for fear of losing voters in Surrey. This stands in contrast to the strong position they took in opposition to the proposed coal fired power plants in Princeton and Tumbler Ridge — which they have raised repeatedly, and which seem to be in serious jeopardy now.

Given the increased awareness of climate change issues, there will be an internal debate within the NDP about whether or not to change their position on the Port Mann issue (i.e. To stand up in opposition to the twinning and highway expansion).

Please email your MLA (find contact info here: www.leg.bc.ca/mla/3-1-1.htm), with a copy to transportation critic David Chudnovsky at david.chudnovsky.mla@leg.bc.ca , would be very helpful right now. Please send letters as soon as you’re able. Just something simple is all that’s needed — expressing your opposition to the expansion and your wish that the NDP take a strong stand.

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Call For Bike Shorts!

It’s that time of year to turn your thoughts to making a GREAT (short) bike movie. Bike Shorts: International Cycling Cinema (aka Bike Movie Night) is coming up on its fourth straight year and it needs your film-making prowess to make it happen. The rules and regs are:

1. Movies must be bike-themed or bike-ish in some fairly obvious way.
2. They must be short: 2 min., 5 min., 8 min., and 20 min. only if it’s really interesting.
3. It’s easier if the movies are in digital media (like DVD or mini-DV). But if your art calls out for film, we’ll work with you.
4. Deadline for submissions is May 7, 2007.
5. The perks and benefits of participation are many (if somewhat obscure).

Shorts from previous years are at http://bikeshorts.blogspot.com/. Suggestions for films made by others or you’d like to see are also welcome. For more information, and for submissions and suggestions, contact Tannis Braithwaite at tannis.braithwaite@gmail.com

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On-line Petition Asking For Cycling Tax Incentives

An on-line petition has been created that calls for the Canadian Federal Government to create cycling related tax incentives. Please consider signing the petition and passing this on to your friends and other lists.

www.gopetition.com/online/10170.html

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Bike route remains unplowed or uncleared?

Although bike routes are not a priority during the initial days following a storm, they should be cleared or at least receive cursory salting. If not, contact your city or municipality engineering department. If you live in Vancouver, contact the Neighbourhood Transportation Branch of Engineering Services at 604-871-6070 or cycling@vancouver.ca

And remember, many European cities keep bike paths clear in the winter. Make sure your mayor and council know that. For Vancouver, send an email to mayorandcouncil@vancouver.ca or contact individual councillors at http://vancouver.ca/ctyclerk/councilmembers.htm

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Eco-rage and Idling Hot Line

There’s an idling complaints hotline at 604-257-2404 where you can phone-in licence plate numbers of offenders. Better to make a quick phone call than suffer a coronary from Eco Rage! For issues regarding idling transit busses, in addition to the hotline you can call Translink at 604-953-3040 with your concerns.

In July, 2006, Vancouver City Council unanimously passed an anti-idling bylaw to cut air pollution. Drivers who leave a car running for more than three minutes face a $50 fine and the fine doubles to $100 for anyone caught leaving a car running. As of January, 2007, fines are to be imposed. The District of North Vancouver passed a bylaw against idling in 2000, but has yet to ticket anybody with a $45 fine. The City of North Vancouver has had the bylaw on its books for a year.

For more information, visit the website at www.idlefree.ca

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Critical and Midnight Masses are places to meet awesome bikers outside of the web, but what about online?

Come check out www.fixedvancouver.com/ to chat and mingle with fellow cyclists from all over the city. Want to organize a bike ride? Post about it and get people to join you! Or talk about how the last ride went and share some of your pictures.

Despite the name it isn’t just for fixie riders — all bikers (of the pedal variety) are welcome.

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Want to talk about bicycle issues and Critical Mass in Vancouver?
Are you planning bike related events or have announcements?

Join the Velolove discussion list!

For more information or to join, visit:
http://lists.velolove.bc.ca/mailman/listinfo/discuss
Or email vancouver@velolove.bc.ca


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! www.velolove.bc.ca !
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_ _ __.. .__o Last Friday of Every Month
– -_–.- _`<,_ 5:30 pm Van. Art Gallery
( ( (( (_)/ (_) Wear a Costume!

THE REVOLUTION IS NOT MOTORIZED

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