ELECTION DAY!!!!

Across the province of Ontario today citizens will be out in numbers to cast their ballot and be part of the democratic process. It is my hope that many will choose to ride their bicycle to travel to the destination point to cast that all important election ballot. The secret ballot and the right for people to choose their leaders is one of the corner stones of western society. Make your voice count and cast that ballot today...and, do it by bike :)

I rode my bicycle to the near by school to cast my ballot, and (sadly) since there were no bicycle racks I walked my bike right into the school and many who were there couldn't help but look at my Pashley and comment on how beautiful she was. It is always a nice feeling to receive comments on our bikes. I even received compliments by the crossing guards and from people at the local bank branch too :)

Questions questions and more questions

My bicycle bell. How little use we think of the bell...and how so important it is when we cycle. I will write more about the usefulness of a bell another time. But for now, I have something else to discuss. I found out first hand the other night as I cycled out on the town that my bell was stuck!!!! I was annoyed and confused. How does a perfectly functioning bell just get stuck? More importantly, was it something I did to it? Or was it violated by a passerby as it sat locked up and unattended? And why would someone want to damage someone else's property? I know these are questions that I will never get an answer for but one can't help but ask. Human nature I guess. Anyhow one quick phone call to curbside cycle and I was told more bells were on order. On a brighter side I guess I can consider this a reason to visit curbside, a great bicycle shop and of course where I purchased the Pashley :)

Public Spaces

Well Last week Toronto hosted the awe inspiring Jan Gehl from Gehl architects to host a free lecture at the Toronto Architecture Society at the University of Toronto. I've seen him before but only on youtube. This was the first time to appreciate him in person...well..sorta. I arrived just at 6pm when the lecture was going to start but I had no idea that hundreds of others also were planning to arrive at the same time. So Alas, I had to be happy with watching him over the live video feed.

I wish planners, engineers and city staff from Toronto and the suburbs were there to appreciate what he had to say, otherwise, his message may have fallen on deaf ears. He truly is a visionary - planning cities for people AT walking speed. If you are interested in Jan's message then search for him on youtube.