Sex sells when it comes to custom choppers

Apparently sex sells when it comes to bicycles too! You don't see this very often in bicycle advertising, but I guess we can expect it more and more as bikes appeal to the mainstream... What a cool chopper though! Apparently built by a Barcelona-based company called Make Bicycles.

Also found in some more mainstream advertising...

Walrus Magazine article on cycling in Toronto

I really enjoyed reading an article in Walrus Magazine on urban cycling. It is really exciting to perceive bike commuting as an exciting sport involving avoiding multifarious dangers while speeding through the city. This article really represents, but reminds us of the dangers in graphic passages. Much needed - thanks Walrus!

Express your unique personality with a Cruiser Bike!

There are some wicked cruiser bikes around, easily customized to make a statement for each particular owner. They no doubt are inspired by some of the custom Harleys rolling the streets. It's great to see people expressing their unique personality through their bike, like the above Electra Rat Fink.

Leicester UK may be first "Cycling City" in England

Leicester has been shortlisted for Cycling England’s Cycling Towns and Cities programme, which would result in a grant of around $13-million that may be put towards increasing the cycling facilities in the city and encouraging cycling by that city's residents.

We need such a program in Canada to encourage cycling and keep our residents fit while reducing emissions and traffic/parking issues. The healthy competition between cities for such a grant would surely bring about change in a short time!

Who says kids shouldn't ride in the Tour

This is one fast kid! Check out the video (with French commentator)...

4th Annual Pedal for Peace bicycle ride underway

In Damascus, Syria, around 300 women activists from 28 countries are cycling for 12 days to highlight the plight of Arab women. The women will visit the Golan Heights and Palestinian refugee camps in the course of their journey. Many of the women are riding a bicycle for the first time!
Check it out online at http://www.followthewomen.com

African Bicycle Ambulance - Sweet!

In many African villages, no access to cars and long distances to hospitals can threaten lives. Enter the bicycle ambulance, pictured below. This sweet ride will carry a patient the distance required without the expense of a car, which could blow the hospital's meagre budget.


From an article about the Bicycling Empowerment Network printed in Bikeradar.com:

In a recent assessment of the link between transport and healthcare, the Bicycling Empowerment Network Namibia (BEN Namibia) found that people living with HIV/AIDS are hit hard by the lack of transport. Patients either miss their treatment because no transport is available, or spend most of their income (up to US$8 per month) on paying for lifts in private vehicles, leaving little money to pay for the food that is an essential part of their treatment. The situation worsens in an emergency, when rural dwellers may pay up to US$66 to reach the nearest hospital.

In order to change this picture, in October 2006, BEN Namibia launched a bicycle ambulance manufacturing plant in Namibia’s capital, Windhoek. Bicycle ambulances are ‘stretchers on wheels’ that attach to normal bicycles and tow a sick person or pregnant woman to a hospital or clinic where no other transport is available. In other African countries where bicycle ambulances are in use, there have been marked declines in infant and maternal mortality rates.