Bike city

Dorothy Bartoszewski | Image: Lindsay Siu | Published: June 03, 2008

What’s your ride? Fixie, mini or cruiser? Road, mountain or city? And what’s your scene? Freak bikes, bike showgirls or naked rides? Sunday cruising, or Critical Mass? Or do you just like pedaling along the seawall on a sunny day?

Whatever bike style turns your crank, you’re probably not alone. Bicyclists, bike-based communities, and groovy forms of bike culture are bustin’ out all over Vancouver.

Some of these communities have an activist bent, like Critical Mass, the monthly group ride that aims to encourage cycling while showing drivers that bikes “aren’t blocking traffic; they are traffic.” Others provide avenues for personal expression, like the freak bike folks who vie to weld together the funkiest (although not always the most stable) “Frankenbikes.” Fitness (and a competitive streak) propel the aerodynamic road cyclists who log four-hour Sunday tours, while thrills and the threat of spills draw the log-balancing mountain bikers. Meanwhile, those who join Beverly’s Dial-a-Doo Wig Ride for cruiser (and wig) aficionados are all about easygoing fun.

Whatever’s behind the drive to ride, sustainability advocates are applauding (and trying to accelerate) the biking boom. Bikes are high-impact stealth weapons against climate change. Sustainable transportation consultant Richard Campbell says personal vehicles produce a whopping 30 per cent of Metro Vancouver’s greenhouse gas emissions. So every time a bike subs for an SUV – or even a hybrid – the climate scores. And bike rides could conceivably replace a lot of car rides: the average car makes 2,000 trips of three kilometres or shorter every year. According to TransLink, in Metro Vancouver one-third of trips to work are under five kilometres.

Biking instead of driving also cuts down the air pollutants behind smog, which contributes to serious health problems such as asthma. Transport Canada estimates the transportation emissions spewed between 1997 and 2020 will cost our health-care system somewhere between $11 billion and $38 billion.

Bikes are extraordinarily efficient transportation, in terms of turning energy used into distance travelled, points out Campbell. And they also make superb use of natural resources, when you consider the metal, plastics and energy that go into making a bike, compared to a car. Campbell explains that an underground parking space costs about $40,000 to build, while above-ground ones cost at least $5,000. “Then there’s the materials and energy to build and maintain the roads, bridges and parkades cars need,” he adds. “A dumb bike is better than a Smart car,” Campbell quips.

“If everyone on the planet drove even a small car we’d be in a lot more trouble than we’re in now, but everybody could sustainably ride a bike.”

While everybody might be able to sustainably ride a bike, most Vancouverites won’t practically be able to ditch their car (or cars) entirely anytime soon. However, Campbell’s stats do underscore the collective benefits of cycling rather than driving whenever possible, even if that’s only for a quick trip to the corner store.

But even if people don’t drive any less, but simply bike more, society wins. Biking reduces the risk of health problems such as heart disease, high blood pressure and obesity. A recent U.K. study suggests that new cyclists biking short distances can reduce their risk of death by up to 22 per cent. Furthermore, according to Campbell, “bikes build community. They put a face to the vehicle. You’re more likely to stop and say hello to a friend on a bike than in a car.”

The good news is that biking in Vancouver is growing. The number of bike trips to work in Metro Van doubled in the past decade, an increase that planners attribute to improved biking amenities such as more bike paths.

That’s precisely what got mobile hairstylist Beverly Penney back on a bike. Penney had grown up cycling, but gave it up when she came to Vancouver because she found biking on Vancouver’s mean streets too nerve-wracking. Once bike paths became more available, Penney got back in the saddle, choosing a particularly cushy one when she picked a cruiser (the vintage and recent retro-styled bikes built for style and comfort, with wide, well-padded seats) as her trusty steed.